Well, my goal was to update my blog weekly while I am sitting here listening to my Monday night class. As you can see, that hasn't been happening. As i sit here and browse through the blogs I follow, I have a nagging little though in my head about my goal. I guess I don't want to just sit here and ramble that I have the expectation of myself to share "milestones" or "big" happenings. I guess this is where I have slipped a bit. I need to train myself to write what is happening regardless of how monumental it is.
The last few months have been busy. School is going well, so far, I am maintaining my 4.0 GPA. I am thinking that I may have to lower my standards as keeping up that pace might kill me. Work....well, this is normally my down time, but with the Common Core being adopted and the need to transition our assessments to it, my life has been busier than ever. I am still enjoying my job, but the stress level is continuing to rise and I am not sure how long I can keep this up. I guess time will tell. Allen and I have spent the last 9 months working with 7 Webelos Scouts. We are the proud "parents" of these 7 guys ALL getting their Webelos Advancement AND their Arrow of Lights. Justyn will be getting his award at the April Pack Meeting and I am so proud of him and this group of boys. I feel like our mission has been accomplished. We were called to this position 4 years ago with the expectation that we would be moved to a lower group to be able to work with Justyn when he came in to scouts. Well, that never happened, so we have waited the 4 years for him and his buddies to get to us. Now that they have all achieved, I am ready to be done and I and tired :). I fell like we have run a marathon and are finally finished!
We have finished basketball and two seasons of Allen being the coach. I am so proud of him. He did such a great job with the boys and helping their skills to grow. It isn't easy to coach Justyn and I am amazed at overall how well they both did. We are now moving into Baseball season. I am excited for this. Justyn has a great motivated coach and I am looking forward to the new season.
Justyn's skiing has been amazing. On Saturday, Allen and his Uncle Bev took him. He went down 2 black diamond slopes. He is doing amazing and I am so proud of him. I need to go and watch him. That is the hard part about me not being a skier. I have to hear about it second hand. I also wish that skiing was cheaper. Right now, Justyn can ski for free through the 5th and 6th grader program, but Allen can't. I think that this is a great recreational activity that they can do together, but to afford it is something else!
We have a lot on the horizon a hopefully pictures to share soon.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
ALTA--FIRST SKIING TRIP
In the state of Utah, 5th and 6th graders can get a ski passport that lets them ski at 14 resorts 4 times each for FREE! We decided to try this out and get Justyn a passport. It finally came, because we applied for it REALLY late, and we decided to try it out. Allen was a big skier growing up and spent alot of time on the slops and wants his kids to learn and see if they will like it to. Now Allen hasn't skied for about 13 years and he was nervous about getting hurt. We took off Friday afternoon and headed to Alta. It was a BEAUTIFUL day! Absolutely GORGEOUS!! It was sunny and bright blue skies!! We had such great fun! Justyn took to it so fast and within and hour was going down the hill and not crashing at all. I was so fun and so fun to see my boys doing it! I can't wait until we take them up again!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
SUPER BOWL APPROVED!!
We are soooooo excited! The Packers are on their way to the Super Bowl! We are definitely Super Bowl Approved! GO PACK GO!!!
Monday, January 10, 2011
THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR
Christmas was wonderful this year. I so wanted to make sure that I slowed down to enjoy the season. It was hard to do this as I again left everything to the last minute and had so many grandiose plans that didn’t come to fruition, BUT I did take time with my family. Allen was gone to India for the first 2 weeks in December so that added on an extra layer of stress around the holidays. What was so wonderful was that our home was in a position that I could decorate and enjoy the feeling, sights, and sounds of the holidays. I love to see the lights and purely simple and beauty of my decorations. I also LOVE the feeling that is in my home around the holidays and the smells and joy that comes once the decorations are up. I think that is why I so love having them up early and dread taking them down. My house feels so sad and bare without them.
One great thing this year was my sister and her family came up and spent a few days right before Christmas Day. We made cookies and I loved watching them decorate them. They were so cute. Santa also made a surprise visit Christmas Eve morning while they were here. The boys were SO excited to see him. I am so glad that they came. They really made my holiday—even with the hustle and bustle of that time and trying to tie up the loose ends.
We have tried to start new traditions with our boys on Christmas Eve since we are now home for that night. We take them out to dinner and then go shopping for each other, come home, and wrap presents. We then open one present—new pjs of course and then we listen to my Grandma Sitterud read the Christmas Story. What a wonderful gift that we were given when Brother Law gave our family that recording that he did in the 1970s. We will FOREVER have her as part of our Christmas. This year we also watched the movie A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey. I liked it and so did the boys, although there were a couple of parts that Jayson was hiding his head.
My goal next year is to get my shopping done early and focus on Christ more.
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!
One great thing this year was my sister and her family came up and spent a few days right before Christmas Day. We made cookies and I loved watching them decorate them. They were so cute. Santa also made a surprise visit Christmas Eve morning while they were here. The boys were SO excited to see him. I am so glad that they came. They really made my holiday—even with the hustle and bustle of that time and trying to tie up the loose ends.
We have tried to start new traditions with our boys on Christmas Eve since we are now home for that night. We take them out to dinner and then go shopping for each other, come home, and wrap presents. We then open one present—new pjs of course and then we listen to my Grandma Sitterud read the Christmas Story. What a wonderful gift that we were given when Brother Law gave our family that recording that he did in the 1970s. We will FOREVER have her as part of our Christmas. This year we also watched the movie A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey. I liked it and so did the boys, although there were a couple of parts that Jayson was hiding his head.
My goal next year is to get my shopping done early and focus on Christ more.
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
What an amazing time of year. I know that it also brings a certain amount of stress… trying to find the right present, braving the hoards of people in stores, fixing the Christmas lights
for the 8th time because they keep breaking.
But there is nothing more beautiful than soft falling snow, the shroud of peace that it brings, a simply decorated Christmas Tree and knowing that the Savior lives and loves me. That is the peace that I am striving for this season.
ALLEN: Change is not a word necessarily in Allen vocabulary or part of his life. He likes things ste4ady and straight and doesn’t like too much variance. Allen is working for Teleperformance and managing his team here in the U.S., India. They have been making transitions with the Canadian team. In fact as I sit here and type on this December evening, Allen is on an airplane headed to India to help facilitate this transition. I am trying to keep in the for front of my mind that we will be home for Christmas and not worry or be upset that he is gone during the holidays. I have to be thankful that he is employed and that this is part of him having a job. We did go hunting this year and I truly believe that it was a blessing from above for us to be able to go. We needed the break and to take the time to enjoy being together as a family and to go camping. Allen did succeed in getting game this year, but had a blast being there. Allen’s one goal for the fall was to be able to have us park in our garage this year and not out in the snow. I was so impressed with his drive on this project. He built many shelves in our garage to add some storage for our stuff that has no home yet. AND he is the proud father of a clean garage that both our cars can park in. It has been SO nice! He is now making lists of what needs to be accomplished in the house again since the weather has turned cold. Hopefully we will be able to capitalize on those projects.
JENNIE: I am working for the Utah State Office of Education as the Elementary Math Assessment Specialist and have taken on many other roles there as well. I work with some of the most amazing people! I am certainly blessed to have the opportunity that I do. My year has been full of work, travel, and playing with my kids. My travels have continued this year with trips to Orlando, Savannah GA, and again to Atlanta. I will be going BACK to school again this January to finish my Administration Certificate. No time is an easy time to do it and the longer I wait the harder it will become, so I am just trying to keep my eye on the prize and get it done. I am not looking forward to homework AGAIN! I have also taken time to focus on some things I enjoy, like perfecting my cinnamon roll and Apple Pie recipe. Hmmmmm I need to make another pie! Allen told me no cooking while he is gone, funny thing is, that is what I crave doing while he is gone.
JUSTYN: Well Justyn has surpassed my shoulders and is now working on taking it to the top of my head and he has now passed me in shoe sizes. He is so tall. Justyn had a great year. He has played Jr. Jazz and excelled in his skills. He played baseball again and made the All-Star team. It was so much fun to watch him play and succeed and have the opportunity to play at a higher more competitive level of baseball. His team even made it to the state tournament this year! He has been a great student and is excelling in math and science. He just won his class Geography Bee and will be participating in the school bee next week. Justyn all had the pleasure of finally having a broken bone. I can’t believe that we have gone this long without having on. He broke his wrist this summer riding his motorcycle. He had to have a cast 2 times for it to heal. To top it off, we just found out last night that he broke his left arm now. He was playing at school and one of his friends fell on it. We are waiting to get yet another cast. He is becoming a wonderful young man. He still enjoys taking care of his brother and they are great buddies. Justyn is becoming quite the accomplished cook. Allen has been teaching him how to make several different dishes. His new favorite is Yorkshire Pudding.
JAYSON: Oh my 3 year old!! I think that we have hit the terrible twos over the last few months. WOW! Jayson is growing fast, too fast. He talks up a storm and comprehends so many things. He is learning and growing. He loves his new daycare and is having the opportunity to go and do some fun activities. He loves playing with cars and reading. He is also becoming quite the little athlete too. He loves noodles and crackers. He also loves fresh fruit and vegetables. Our next adventure is potty training. He is digging in his heals and rearing his ugly stubbornness, but I am determined to get this done. Jayson is also a loyal Cougar fan. He went to several games with us this year and know exactly what to do when the fight song starts playing. It has been fun to watch him get excited for a game. He is still my cuddle buddy and our climbing monkey. If he can’t reach it, he will find a way to get there.
Once again, we are so grateful to have you in our lives, for your love and kindness. We are grateful to our Father in Heaven for all of his blessings and the guidance he had given to us this last year. We hope you each feel of His love this year and express you gratitude and love to Him and those around you. May you have a beautiful holiday season with those you love!
for the 8th time because they keep breaking.
But there is nothing more beautiful than soft falling snow, the shroud of peace that it brings, a simply decorated Christmas Tree and knowing that the Savior lives and loves me. That is the peace that I am striving for this season.
ALLEN: Change is not a word necessarily in Allen vocabulary or part of his life. He likes things ste4ady and straight and doesn’t like too much variance. Allen is working for Teleperformance and managing his team here in the U.S., India. They have been making transitions with the Canadian team. In fact as I sit here and type on this December evening, Allen is on an airplane headed to India to help facilitate this transition. I am trying to keep in the for front of my mind that we will be home for Christmas and not worry or be upset that he is gone during the holidays. I have to be thankful that he is employed and that this is part of him having a job. We did go hunting this year and I truly believe that it was a blessing from above for us to be able to go. We needed the break and to take the time to enjoy being together as a family and to go camping. Allen did succeed in getting game this year, but had a blast being there. Allen’s one goal for the fall was to be able to have us park in our garage this year and not out in the snow. I was so impressed with his drive on this project. He built many shelves in our garage to add some storage for our stuff that has no home yet. AND he is the proud father of a clean garage that both our cars can park in. It has been SO nice! He is now making lists of what needs to be accomplished in the house again since the weather has turned cold. Hopefully we will be able to capitalize on those projects.
JENNIE: I am working for the Utah State Office of Education as the Elementary Math Assessment Specialist and have taken on many other roles there as well. I work with some of the most amazing people! I am certainly blessed to have the opportunity that I do. My year has been full of work, travel, and playing with my kids. My travels have continued this year with trips to Orlando, Savannah GA, and again to Atlanta. I will be going BACK to school again this January to finish my Administration Certificate. No time is an easy time to do it and the longer I wait the harder it will become, so I am just trying to keep my eye on the prize and get it done. I am not looking forward to homework AGAIN! I have also taken time to focus on some things I enjoy, like perfecting my cinnamon roll and Apple Pie recipe. Hmmmmm I need to make another pie! Allen told me no cooking while he is gone, funny thing is, that is what I crave doing while he is gone.
JUSTYN: Well Justyn has surpassed my shoulders and is now working on taking it to the top of my head and he has now passed me in shoe sizes. He is so tall. Justyn had a great year. He has played Jr. Jazz and excelled in his skills. He played baseball again and made the All-Star team. It was so much fun to watch him play and succeed and have the opportunity to play at a higher more competitive level of baseball. His team even made it to the state tournament this year! He has been a great student and is excelling in math and science. He just won his class Geography Bee and will be participating in the school bee next week. Justyn all had the pleasure of finally having a broken bone. I can’t believe that we have gone this long without having on. He broke his wrist this summer riding his motorcycle. He had to have a cast 2 times for it to heal. To top it off, we just found out last night that he broke his left arm now. He was playing at school and one of his friends fell on it. We are waiting to get yet another cast. He is becoming a wonderful young man. He still enjoys taking care of his brother and they are great buddies. Justyn is becoming quite the accomplished cook. Allen has been teaching him how to make several different dishes. His new favorite is Yorkshire Pudding.
JAYSON: Oh my 3 year old!! I think that we have hit the terrible twos over the last few months. WOW! Jayson is growing fast, too fast. He talks up a storm and comprehends so many things. He is learning and growing. He loves his new daycare and is having the opportunity to go and do some fun activities. He loves playing with cars and reading. He is also becoming quite the little athlete too. He loves noodles and crackers. He also loves fresh fruit and vegetables. Our next adventure is potty training. He is digging in his heals and rearing his ugly stubbornness, but I am determined to get this done. Jayson is also a loyal Cougar fan. He went to several games with us this year and know exactly what to do when the fight song starts playing. It has been fun to watch him get excited for a game. He is still my cuddle buddy and our climbing monkey. If he can’t reach it, he will find a way to get there.
Once again, we are so grateful to have you in our lives, for your love and kindness. We are grateful to our Father in Heaven for all of his blessings and the guidance he had given to us this last year. We hope you each feel of His love this year and express you gratitude and love to Him and those around you. May you have a beautiful holiday season with those you love!
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