Basketball

Watching Mikayla at basketball practice is hilarious!! She could be the very best out there, but really wants to just play around!! At least she will rebound!

Snow Skiing!!!

We put it on the calander in early January that some friends of ours were going snow skiing on the 23 (a day of no school)!  So Isaac and I prepared on Saturday to go on Monday.  We rose early to get there early, they're only open from 9-5.  We got there about 9:30, signed all the waivers, got all of our equipment, and arrived for our group lesson.  Since there are 5 of us, there were only 2 people in our group that were not a Ralston! 
The lesson went well.  Jacob, Erica, and I all listened and worked hard to follow instructions.  Poor Isaac spent most of his lesson helping Mikayla who did not take to skiing very well!  I think she was the most excited about skiing before we got there.  At the end of the lesson, our instructor told Isaac and i that we should go far away from Mikayla.  To completely leave her alone on the bunny hill slopes.  He wasn't kidding either.

Mikayla during the trip --- So like i stated earlier, Mikayla struggled a bit in the beginning.  She wasn't sure she liked this at all.  I actually saw her at one point sitting and playing in the snow.  So during our lunch break, she watched a movie with a friend.  She decided that she wanted to go back out and ski.  No one went with her.  By the time I met back up with her, the place was closing in about 15 minutes and she was smiling from ear to ear and having a blast.  She was sad it was almost time to go.  She was skiing really well.  She would pop off her skiis and walk back up the mountain (using her skis as canes, of course) then ski down! 

Erica during the trip --- Erica never ceases to amaze me.  She is such a dear and never gives up on anything.  Erica started the day falling A LOT.  I think she spent more time trying to roll over and get back up, than she did on her skis.  However, we left her alone as well.  By mid day she was ready to go to the larger bunny hills, then she even made it to the green slopes (the easiest, but still had to ride the chair lift to get there)!  Amazing, right?!

Jacob during the trip --- Jacob is very quick to give up on anything and everything that might be a little difficult for him.  I guess he is afraid to fail, so would rather sit out than not try at all.  So he went through the lesson, tried a couple more bunny hills, then did the escalator lift with Isaac and fell.  he quickly decided he was done.  He went inside and Isaac was pretty sure he cried a little.  Lucky for us, one of his Young Men leaders from church came by and asked about Jacob.  Brother Harmon went to find him.  Before we knew it, it was lunch time and Jacob was having a blast.  Jacob conquered all the green slopes and even went down 2 of the blues.  LIKE WOW!!!!  Isaac and I were so incredibly proud of him.  I'm so glad he decided to go back out with his friends and Bro Harmon.

Isaac during the trip --- you probably remember that Isaac didn't get to participate much in the lesson.  He must've heard a few things, because before i knew it, Isaac was a pro!!  He was encouraging the rest of us.  Isaac seemed to have a blast.  I'm not sure if skiing was what he was most excited about, or just getting to be with us, but he was super happy all day!

Me during the trip --- you can imagine that I was excited for everyone to get to go.  The time together would be priceless, but there was a pretty big part of me that was scared.  After my year of injuries (being in the hospital in May, hurting my ankle shortly after that, breaking my knee cap shortly after that), and knowing that I blew my knee snow skiing when I was a senior in high school, i was scared!  The instructor during our lesson thought I was doing great.  Isaac was also very encouraging.  I just knew in my heart that there are no "take backs" if you get hurt!  LOL!  So i had a lot of fun playing around on the bunny slopes.  I then worked up enough gumption to go up on the escalator lift and go down that bunny slope!  I did that with Erica and Isaac!  Lots of fun.

I hope we have enough money to go back on the Feb 20 for President's Day...the next Monday that we are off work and there's no school!!!  Thank you Wisp Resort for having cheap Mondays!!!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

So, during our crazy day this past Saturday (I posted about it in the Asking for Help post), you may recall that I handed off Mikayla to a fellow teammate's mom for transportation between basketball pictures and basketball game.  Well, when I returned to her game to watch, I sat beside this particular mom.  She caught me up on the game happenings, then started talking about the car ride.  She said that Mikayla got in her vehicle and said "Wow! Why is your car so messy?" As I started to apologize, she stopped me and said, "no, it really is messy in there".  Anyway, she explained to Mikayla that it would seem that they have one of everything in their minivan.  Very cleverly, Mikayla resonded with, "Then why are there three basketballs?"!!
Needless to say, I was very glad to see her laughing as she recalled the situation.  Mikayla doesn't really miss a beat!!  I guess that's why we adore her so!

Happy Tuesday!!

Asking for Help

So, for those of you that know me, you know I don't really ask for help very often.  However, with Isaac out of town this weekend, I had to ask for help.  So many people actually helped.  I guess it goes to show that if you actually ask, people are willing!  But yesterday, my 3 children were supposed to be in 3 different places all at the same time.  Erica and Mikayla both had basketball pictures at 2 different schools, then basketball games at 2 different schools from even pictures!!  Jacob had a Scouting Event where they helped run a food drive for an elderly community. Erica also had a birthday party to attend...it was a really good friend or we may have skipped that one. There really was no way I could've made all that happen without help.  So after I took the 3 of them for their bowling leagues, I took Erica to her place and asked her coach for help.  Then I stopped at Mikayla's place and asked a fellow teammate's parent for help.  Then on our way for Jacob to find his Scout shirt, we called and arranged for a ride to his event, and the ride even offered arrangements for Jacob to get home!  So I left home after dropping Jacob and went to Mikayla's basketball game, then after that one, headed over for Erica's game, but I had missed it, and her sweet coach waited for me to arrive.  Got home in time to gather my stuff for "It's Great to be 8" that I was in charge of at church.  I'm so glad I thought enough in advance to remember to plan out the program and make all the copies and the gift bags in advance....cuz there certainly wouldn't have been enough time during the day to make that all happen!
All in all, I'm so grateful that I was surrounded by people who were willing to help me.  What a blessing it was to see the kindness of others shine through!

Loss in the Family

I've been a part of Isaac's family for about 15 years now.  In that time, I've been loved and have loved all of them as if we've been in the same family for all my 36 years.  Well, Isaac's sister lost her second full-term baby this week.  We have all been very sad, but I simply cannot imagine how she is doing.  Her and her husband have dealt with the loss of 2 children and his father passing away, all within 4 years. 
Isaac has flown there to be with them for the funeral which will be tomorrow.  I hope and pray that A & E grow closer together as a couple and as a family with their son through this very difficult time.  And even when the family members have all gone back home, they know how much they are loved and prayed for daily.

Dear Sweet Oldest Child of Mine

My son is such a little terd sometimes!  Because he's a history buff, he's really been questioning 'where we came from' and different things about what we believe, etc...  So, we've expressed to him that he needs to pray earnestly and read his scriptures, because he can't just go off of what Isaac and I believe, he needs to trust in his own beliefs.  I guess he had some sort of revelation and hadn't shared that with us because last Sunday during testimony meeting he shared. 
I should preface this with the fact that I'm the Primary President now and with the beginning of the year, we divided the primary into Junior/Senior primaries again (like I can't believe anyone would ever have 3-11 year olds all together anyway....and i don't even care about numbers).  We also meet from 1:00-4:00 this year, so the previous primary isn't out until 2:00 and we are supposed to come in by 2:20.  So i snuck out of Sacrament at 2:03 to go make sure the room was ready... and it seemed that testimony meeting was slowing down!  Well, low and behold, my son got up!  He stood up at the mic and began with "I figured since my dad is working, and my mom just stepped out, that now is the perfect chance for me to get up here"!  LOL!!  Anyway, he went on to say that he'd been questioning a lot of things and finally got his answer and felt good about it and wanted to share. 
Needless to say, I found it funny how he began his testimony and am super proud of him..............but still i wish i would've heard it with my own mommy ears!!
Have a Happy Day!!

New Year, New Post

So I know I haven't written for almost a year!! However, in that year, I've been very busy.... We moved to a new town in Maryland... Gaithersburg! Also this past year I went through 5 weeks of physical therapy for my ankle, which ended up being my arch. Then, shortly after that, I broke my knee cap. So I spent all summer in a long knee stabilizing brace.
Let's see...we planned to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, but 2 weeks before, Isaac broke his ankle.
Jacob is in 7th grade now, Erica in 4th, and Mikayla in 1st!! They are growing up so fast. In 2 years we will start our like 7 year stint of having kids in Seminary! LOL!
Now that I realize I can post from work, and can't Facebook from work, I will have to get on her more often. I read some of my old stories that probably would've been forgotten had I not kept it in a blog!! So, I guess I won't have a lot of memories from 2011, but 2012 will the year of blogging for me!! So many funny, happy, sad, crazy things happen, I need to work harder to blog so I can remember.