Pagosa Springs...

Completely fabulous...but not for everyone.

We visited Pagosa Springs last week for our Spring Break and had a great time. The boys spent a couple of days skiing at Wolf Creek Ski Resort and Rachel and I spent hours and hours in the water...we figure she spent about 15 hours in the pools over three days.


Jake and Ben at the beginning of day one.


Jake mastering the snowboard.


Ben in huge moguls.

We stayed at The Springs Resort where we had unlimited access to all 18 of the hot spring pools as well as a "cold pool." It was awesome. Our friend Rachel is now actually swimming and she LOVES it. I felt a bit water-logged on Friday after four hours in the pools but Rachel was content to give me a break by following up with a long shower and then a bath. Fish. She's a fish, I say. She was too tired however to walk to lunch so we settled for Frosted Flakes and microwave popcorn. Not exactly a gourmet trip by any means, the Mexican food the first night was terrible. Like maybe-got-food-poisoning terrible. Avoid The Elkhorn Cafe at all costs.

But really nothing says vacation like sugared cereal and jigsaw puzzles. (Except maybe good food and the beach.)

At the end of day two.

Dave worked the boys on the slopes to the point of exhaustion and nearly died on his final run as the boys waited for him in the lodge. We're sure glad he wears a helmet. The drive was not too bad, only four hours, but a bit deserted. And again not too many good food options.

The hot springs were very relaxing and not too stinky (obviously, since Rachel endured it for hours on end) and honestly, I think healing. But like I said, not for everyone. The water was an opaque white in some of the pools and had floaties in almost all of them. The "cold pool" was the only freshwater pool there.

I loved it all but as I hop in the shower now, a week later, there is still the faint scent of sulphur and minerals on my skin. It's weird but I think it gets absorbed into your system through your skin and STAYS. Not for everyone...and those of you I'm thinking of know who you are. I, myself, am up for another visit ANY TIME.

Some Good News, and Some Bad News...

I attended a "special stake meeting" this morning to find out about ward boundary changes. I left everyone at home so as not to have to wrestle people on those terribly uncomfortable metal folding chairs. The meeting lasted a full two hours and when I got to the car I called home to check in. Dave informed me he had good news and bad news for me when I returned home. I asked for the good news over the phone. His reply was that there would be something for me to blog...



That is not exactly "good news", if you know what I mean. He said the bad news would have to wait for me to be here in person. Great.


I immediately considered an injury to one of the boys considering their demeanor when I left, but then realized that they would not have been laughing hysterically in the background of aforementioned phone call if someone were hurt...so I came up with the next most likely scenario, and wouldn't you know it-I was right.

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Dave finally managed to break a window. I thought it would be throwing a football in the house (since one table lamp was already a casualty of such actions) but today it was the highest window in the living room broken by a Wii remote.


If you look closely you can see the remote sitting in a pile of broken glass from the inside pane. The outside pane is intact but cracked. That was done from the loft playing Wii Sports tennis without the strap on. Do you think he was swinging hard enough? No wonder he had tennis elbow a while back...




Oh, man. I can't wait to get an estimate on that damage...good thing it wasn't one of the kids.

Cotillion 2009

It all started in December when I signed the boys up for their first cotillion classes. Ben was in class with Evan and Jacob, while Jake was signed up with Trevor and Will. I don't think I would have made them do it if they didn't have friends signed up too. It was so nice to have carpools for the boys! A week or so before classes started the boys were very keyed up about the whole thing. Almost every dinner conversation revolved around cotillion expectations and Dave's "funny" advice. Dave did cotillion when he was in junior high, plus he's just a good person to give hilarious advice (if you're 9-13 years old, and not a mother). Hilarious.

Come January 14th, we made sure suits were correct sizes and white shirts and ties were clean and ready to go. As with most things at our house we had two totally different reactions/temperaments being exhibited on that first stressful night.

Ben was feeling overly confident and handsome. "Mom, come do my hair." Which quickly changed to "Mom, it's fine already. I want to look GOOD but not TOO good." Every mirror he passed by warranted a stop and comment like, "I could be the President's son I look so good. Heck, I could be the President." This is Ben's way of coping with a new, stressful situation...

He does look GOOD!

Jake on the other hand was working himself up and getting more and more angry and belligerent with me as time wore on. "Why did you sign me up? I'm going to be the worst dancer there. I'm the ugliest person alive. I hate you." A completely different tone. Oh, the drama.

He looked GREAT and luckily someone else was driving him so he had to snap out of it a bit and relax.

Fast forward several weeks later and we have two boys who were enjoying and excited about cotillion. The obstinate 13-year-old of course was not copping to having fun, but as I drove him and his friends and observed class, I found out the truth. He even wanted to practice dancing with me at home so I know he turned a corner somewhere in there.

The "little boys" had a costume night and I really should have taken pictures of the girls. They were so darling.

The banana costume was very original, just like Ben.

After the party and dinner we had to stop at Dave's work. Ben wanted our picture "in front of blood." Weirdo.

The final night parents are invited to attend. I knew that sons would dance with their moms and daughters would ask their dads. What I did not realize was that I would be dancing for nearly 45 minutes. That's a lot for someone who has not been taking dance classes! I was pitiful at the Tango but Jake was very kind to me. In fact, Jake is an excellent dancer. He really knows how to lead and explain steps. Ben had fun with me once he got over the fact that he had to dance with his mom (uncool) and realized EVERYONE was in the same boat.

I wasn't expecting 4 (for Jake) or 6 (for Ben) classes to make a difference for my boys. We did it for the experience really, but the truth is that there is a subtle, recognizable difference in some of their behavior. Here's to holding doors, "sophisticated" conversations with adults, making eye contact when you shake hands with someone, and of course, the Foxtrot.

A much happier, more confident cotillion attendee.


Jake ate dinner at the final cotillion party with his peers while on Ben's final night we attended with his friends and their families and then went to dinner at the Tavern. It was a great couple of nights. I'm so thankful to have boys. There's nothing like the love of a son...except the love of TWO sons. Thanks, guys. Until next year.

Ben cutting loose.

A First for Ben

Do you recognize what this is? It's a yellow card.

Today we drove up to Denver for a soccer tournament. Ben's team was playing up there to prepare for the spring season. We knew it would be a tough tournament. In the opening game the Snow Leopards looked good but not 100%. We lost 1-0. In the closing minutes of the game Ben was playing "sweeper" and he went head-to-head against a guy going straight at the goal.

Ben was charged with his first yellow card for a bit of a shove from behind, though to his credit, it seemed incidental and he was really going for the ball. The card came out, the ref (an older man, not a kid) yelled at him a bit, and then the ref got out his notebook and wrote down Ben's number and team name. The penalty kick was no good so there was really no harm done, except to Ben's tender heart.

To my knowledge, that is the first card given to anyone on our team. There's a first for everything I suppose, but seeing as how Ben is not the most aggressive or fouling player on the team, it was surprising to have it be Ben. He was devastated. Completely heartbroken. He hung in tough until the final whistle and handshakes with the opposing team and then he rushed me at the sidelines and began sobbing.

I only document this event so that in years to come when he is still playing soccer, or whatever it is he chooses to play (lacrosse? football?) he will laugh that it ever upset him to be carded. We're told that as the kids get older more and more cards are expected in each game. Demanded even. It's a good thing to be playing hard enough to be carded...just not a red card.

Ben's a great kid.

A great soccer player.

A great teammate.

A great friend.

A great brother.

A great son.

We love him so much and are so proud of the person he chooses to be everyday.

(Photo from yahoo image search...not our actual ref, who was much older and actually very good)

With love and respect, we acknowledge you as the FIRST PLAYER to receive a YELLOW CARD on the Snow Leopard football club (that's how their coach refers to it). Way to bring it, Ben!

Time flies

I have been feeling terribly nostalgic lately. It seems my kids are growing up so fast. I can't seem to wrap my brain around how quickly time flies.

It's not all "wine and roses" (as the expression goes), but it does seem to be sailing by very quickly. Rachel tells me nearly every day about something that she has "learned in preschool" (whether or not that is accurate is another story) but it makes me realize how independent she's becoming and how much other people are beginning to influence her.

Ben has stories every single day of his antics at school, as well as those of his friends and the ever changing sagas surrounding their third-grade crushes. Oh, man. Things are moving quickly with him.

Jake departed today for school in a rush. His parting words (and actually his ONLY words to me today) were "I Hate You." I was not offended at all and not surprised either. Dave was here for the farewell and he couldn't understand it. To me it was par for the course because Jake obviously was running late and probably was tired. He often blames me for things when life gets stressful. Didn't we all do that at that age?

I know he loves me and knows I love him. Even when he can't manage to say anything nice.

Facebook has been funny lately with all the pictures from my youth. Here's one from when I was in seventh or eighth grade.

Mom, I probably owe you an apology for being such a pill while I survived my early teen years. Sorry for blaming you for everything. Also, sorry that I ever called myself "fat". (I honestly don't remember ever being that skinny!)

I'll be looking forward to an apology from Jake in 25 years or so. Somehow, I know that's just around the corner...

Valentine's Day 2009 Remembered

How we celebrated together...




Our little playgroup decorated sugar cookies.


We hosted our playgroup friends after a two-hour delay for the BIG kids. (I did not use your recipe Mom and the cookies were NOT very good, but not to worry, they still worked to transport frosting and candy to the mouth quite well.)





And poor little Rachel found herself under the weather just as our friends were arriving. She slept through all the decorating and most of the fun but awakened to tell everyone her stomach hurt, which in the end amounted to nothing terrible, but did serve to clear the room. Imagine, no one wanted to share that love.


The next day was actually Valentine's day and Rachel was much better by then. We had a quiet day without Dave because, as it turns out, he was on-call. We ran a few errands and picked up Slayton's BBQ for an at-home-picnic feast. Very delicious and lovely, with the people I love the most.



I surprised Dave by taking him to see Brian Regan, a comedian, at the Pikes Peak Center. That guy is so funny. Check out one of my favorite bits in the following post.



Will it work? We'll see. Yes. It does work. I'm amazed and quite pleased with myself.

Oh, and Dave got me some flowers and took me to California for a romantic getaway a week before Valentine's Day. GRRREAT present.

Brian Regan at the improv

This is one of my favorite bits by one of my favorite comedians.

U.S. 12th President, Zachary Taylor

Ben's first research paper (to be completed at home) was due last week. Grandma and Papa did a great job getting Ben to work on the paper while Dave and I were in California and Ben did a good job finishing it up on Sunday. I would love to have seen him do his oral presentation but I was NOT invited, you might even say I was uninvited. Oh, well. At least he let me get a picture.

Happy Valentine's Day

California Dreamin'

Grandma and Papa came for a visit so Dave and I could head to California for a little kid-break. The kids had a great time and Rachel is still calling me "grandma" from time to time. I know how sweet and exhausting Rachel can be so I'm sure they had fun visiting and were ready to recover after four days of fun.

I love that Sadie has to be right in the middle of everything here, like always.

Dave planned this trip a while ago, knowing that the winter blues start to set in for him about this time (he is from Southern California...). Well, ironically, the weather here in Colorado was lovely while we were slammed with rain three of the four days there.

At The Harbor Grill where Dave had his first job as a busboy 23 years ago. Looks the same.

Nonetheless, we hit In-N-Out, Trader Joe's, fabulous sushi (found with my iphone app, Urbanspoon), The Harbor Grill, and shopped the sales at South Coast Plaza (what I really mean is shopped at Sears). My iphone proved to be invaluable with the GPS and google maps action.

We also hooked up with some of Dave's buddies from high school. He even managed to get out surfing with Nick, whom we haven't seen in more than 12 years!

Fun vacation inspite of the rain, rain, rain.

Does anyone recognize the church in the distance? We sure didn't at first, "Is that one of the missions, Dave?" But then as we passed I recognized a golden angel on top rather than a cross. Duh.