Some Accomplishments

 Not many accomplishments occur during the winter months, at least in our family, but we had a couple of accomplishments. 

The first one was getting a treadmill down into our basement, before Christmas, and up and running just recently. Our friends had given it to us and we had Victoria help us move it out of their basement at the very end of the summer before she went back to school. She's a strong girl! That thing was so big and awkward though, it took way too long and about did us in! We got it to the garage and left it there. First, we had to decide where we were going to put it. Our house isn't very big, though we do have a decent-sized basement. The problem with the basement is that the ceilings are extremely low. It works just fine for our not-very-tall family, however, when we sat back and thought about Austin running on a treadmill, we realized it would be difficult for him in a year or two when he gets a little taller. His head would be hitting the ceiling! The treadmill is mostly for him to do some runs when the weather is bad. I'm not a fan of treadmills, though I have gotten used to using them a tad from stays at hotels. Now that my kids sleep in more, I've been utilizing the treadmills in the hotel fitness centers.

After lots of measuring and a few months of thinking and deciding, we finally went with putting the treadmill in the laundry room, where my bike on the trainer was. The ceiling is slightly higher there, plus it hasn't been redone yet and is completely disgusting, so when Austin gets too tall for the treadmill, we can just take out the ceiling and he can run with his head in a space in the rafters. Seriously. I think it will work. If not, Erik can use it until he's too tall. I have run on it twice now and Jason's been walking on it, so I think it turned out!

We can fold it up like this if we want more space to do laundry.

Though it's not too crowded if we keep it down.

Here's the ceiling. You can see the hole to the right that is already there and we haven't done anything to it. We'll probably just take it all out when we need to.

I plan on printing up a poster of a road scene to hang on the lower part here and we can look at it instead of all my old photo albums!

Here's my bike now, right next to the weights. It's nice to have it out in the main area of the basement for a change. I do ride it a lot during the winter.

The other accomplishment is that Erik was sustained as a Teacher today and Austin as a Priest. Since Austin was ordained first, he was able to join the group as Erik was sustained. It was a sweet and spiritual moment! 

18th Birthday!

 Another milestone birthday- Kade is 18! For a little while now, at all his appointments, all the doctors and specialists have been reminding me that Kade will be in charge of his appointments and healthcare business. It feels kind of abrupt to me. I still hope to be involved in his healthcare, but at least I don't have to go to all the appointments or make them. He is in charge of his schedule now!

Since Kade isn't in color guard this year, he's been able to focus more on orchestra and his viola as well as have some time for playing around on his guitar and electric bass. He has a few art classes in school and really loves his honors zoology class. He enjoys spending time with friends. 

On his birthday, I made a full breakfast, per his request, of waffles, bacon, hash browns, and orange juice. It was the first and only time he was up by 9 over the break, except Christmas. That's when he wanted breakfast, but it was a backward day because his siblings were still in bed, even though Austin and sometimes Erik or Victoria are usually up by then.

Cool whip on the waffle!

He opened presents after breakfast, got to have leftover PR food for lunch, and 3 of his best friends over by 2:00 to hang out and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Another friend joined them for dinner at Applebes's before they came back here to play some games and have cake with everyone. It was the quietest birthday "party" we've had here in a while! The family went to dinner with him for his birthday celebration a few days before so he could enjoy his friends at Applebee's. He told us we could join them there and sit at another table nearby, but I didn't want to go out twice (dinner out is so expensive with teens now!), nor not sit at the same table as him!! 

It's all wrapped up in foam here, but this is his skateboard rail. 

TMNT comic book.

Socks

Skateboard ramp

Erik got him a Splinter Funko Pop.

Kade opened Isa's gift earlier because she didn't wrap the TMNT cars.

Friend dinner!

Red velvet cake!

Friend gifts!

When we went out to celebrate as a family we went to The Burger Spot and had such a great time laughing together, eating good food, and playing games together when we returned home. 

Jason and I got our own table!

Happy 18th Birthday Kade!!

Christmas Week

I liked Christmas falling on a Wednesday this year. It made it easier to do some things before the actual holiday. However this year, instead of doing more holiday activities the day before Christmas Eve, we went a few hours up north to go skiing/snowboarding. We had been planning on going the day or two after Christmas, but since Victoria was scheduled to work then and the entire state of Michigan was to get rain, we opted for the 23rd, when it would snow.

That meant leaving a few hours after church on Sunday, missing the caroling activity, to drive the 31/2 hours up to Crystal Mountain. Luckily, Jason, Austin, and Erik had caroled with the youth in the Stake 2 weeks earlier and Jason, Austin, and I got to sing in the ward choir for 2 Sunday performances, so we got in some good Christmas music. I felt fulfilled by my visits to friends and neighbors throughout the week leading up so I could let go of the tradition of singing carols at the retirement home this year.

We arrived at our hotel Sunday night and passed the brightly lit Crystal Mountain there. Since it's near Traverse City, which does have some inclines and hills, I think Crystal Mountain is a legit hilly area and not a reclaimed landfill.

The day of skiing/snowboarding was a success! We enjoyed the new experience at this ski resort. Kade tried snowboarding for the first time and did extremely well. Jason and Victoria hadn't skied for a few years and picked it up where they left off, though Victoria had to be careful on her still-healing sprained ankle. Austin looked fantastic on his snowboard and managed not to break any bones this time. Erik really surprised me with his ski skills, going in and out of paths through trees on black diamond courses with Austin. That last time we went when Austin and I had to leave early due to his broken arm, Erik really got a lot of practice in the rest of the day! I felt decent on my skis, though since I own mine, I need to get them waxed because when the slopes evened out, I would stop moving. 

New coats!

Kade finishing a practice run on his snowboard.

Jason finishing a practice run.

Everyone was behind me on the lift.

Kade was super tired!

Towards the end of the day, Kade did have a final fall (he fell a few times that hurt some of his extremities) that hurt his head, so we took him to the medic to see about a concussion. His eyes weren't dilated, but he had a headache and was a little light-headed. Austin and Erik were still going down the slopes when the rest of us were at the medic with Kade. They agreed that we could leave 30 minutes earlier than we had planned. It was good we did since the snow that had been falling all day kept falling and the roads got worse and worse. The defrost in our Explorer was having issues, which added extra stress to our drive. The 3 1/2 hours took 7 hours and we got home close to midnight. We try not to think about that!

So, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were very restful. Kade still had a headache, but we went to the Remingtons for Christmas Eve dinner and to act out the Nativity. We opened our Secret Santa gifts when we returned home, as well as our matching pj bottoms, which I have never actually done, but really enjoyed doing this year. 

Another family and Angelisa and Erin joined us as well.

Austin and Erik were wisemen.

New pjs and our secret Santa gifts!

On Christmas, we slept in a bit longer than in previous years, opened stockings and gifts, played games, talked to family, and had the missionaries over for Christmas Puerto Rican food. We ended the day watching A Christmas Story. 

First thing!

Luke liked his canned food.

New shoes!

Erik got a Nintendo Switch!

Kade got some 90s rock CDS!

Austin got some sweatshirts.

Getting ready for a mission!

Varsity jacket!

It did rain the next few days, so we're glad we went on our ski trip when we did and we have now fully recovered and enjoyed a quiet Christmas.

A Special Day!

 A couple of months ago, Victoria informed Jason and me that she wanted to receive her temple endowment this Christmas season. She had actually been talking about it for longer than that, but this was the time she decided she was ready for. She has had some good conversations with friends at BYU I who have been endowed, a lot of them dancers which will help with the dancing/garment-wearing aspect. Some of them have been on missions, some are married or are preparing to marry, and some, like Victoria, just wanted to receive greater blessings from being endowed in the temple. A few weeks after she told us she wanted to receive her endowment, she decided to go on a mission, though that would be in the late summer, after she performs with the Dance Alliance again. In the meantime, she will increase her relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as she wears the garment and attends the temple. 

We enjoyed the Spirit as we participated in those ordinances with her yesterday and shared it with a few close friends from our ward. 

The Detroit, Michigan Temple!

We actually had sunshine that morning!

These are currently all members of our bishopric, their wives, and one daughter!