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Tag: holidays

Channeling Frankenstein

Channeling Frankenstein

This Halloween week I decided to channel Frankenstein* by getting eight stitches in my thumb. Okay, so maybe the whole thing was unintentional, but it’s festive nonetheless. Saturday, the day I sliced my thumb, I handled sharp chicken wire, hammer and chisel, wire cutters, and a pipe cutter without incident. Dinner time is when it got dangerous. I was opening a gigantic can of hominy to add to our posole that had been simmering away all day. Our can opener…

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First Fireworks Show

First Fireworks Show

There has been a dearth of fireworks in our lives since having kids. Something has always prevented us from venturing out with our kids to one of the big shows on the 4th of July (rain, fire bans, a deep love for bedtime, etc). We decided this year was the year we finally introduced our children to the great American tradition of pyrotechnics. (Technically, we did take Cooper to see an impressive Cherry Blossom festival fireworks show on the Mall…

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Easter 2015

Easter 2015

We’ve had some pretty exciting Easters, and while this one definitely wouldn’t fall into that category, it was nice to have a low-key Easter this year. On Easter morning, the kids came out to find their Easter buckets (yes, buckets). They were excited to get warm weather pajamas, a special gift (a book for Cooper and Hello Kitty silverware for Ellen) as well as a somewhat spiritual movie (and personal favorite) The Prince of Egypt. After reading the Easter story…

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A Full Week

A Full Week

I recently read an article titled “Busy is a Sickness” that struck close to home. I’m a high-functioning, chronic sufferer of self-induced busynesss as well as the complaining symptom that often accompanies it. Since reading the article, I’ve been trying to change some of that about my life. This last week was a bit of a challenge to that goal. Between having my sister visit, putting on a church event, trying to be involved with a community issue, and getting…

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Recovery Weekend

Recovery Weekend

I’m sure most people feel the same way, but we don’t take it slow very often. Most days, life is like a treadmill set one notch higher than a pace I’m comfortable with. Just like in training, pushing yourself can be empowering, make you stronger, and help you reach your goals faster, but it also can lead to serious injury or burnout, which is why rest is so crucial. This weekend was a much needed recovery weekend. We decided to…

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A Merry Christmas Whirlwind

A Merry Christmas Whirlwind

This year Christmas sprawled across two weeks which in some ways was lovely, but in other ways was exhausting. We celebrated Christmas at home on the 20th then travelled to Utah to celebrate Christmas with my family. By the time we made it back to Colorado more gifts had accumulated on our front porch and so we had what felt like third Christmas. Even now that we’re in the first week of January, I keep coming across bits of wrapping…

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Eight Years Ago

Eight Years Ago

Eight years ago, all I wanted for Christmas was an engagement ring. And I didn’t care if it came out of a gum ball machine, I just wanted the question behind it to be asked. Noel and I had known each other for close to a year and I was anxious, impatient really. Marriage was something we had discussed, but Noel gallantly wanted to tie up a few financial loose ends before we made anything official. Several couples we knew had met and…

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Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving 2014

Danielle (Noel’s sister) joined us for Thanksgiving this year. The kids were so excited and it wasn’t just because she works for a chocolate factory. We decided to treat her to a beautiful tour of the Colorado outdoors and took her on a very windy snowshoeing trip. The pictures make it look still, but Ellen seriously got picked up by the wind at one point. Thanksgiving morning we went to our church’s Turkey Trot. Noel and I took the coveted…

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Halloween 2014

Halloween 2014

A few weeks before Halloween I was talking with some of my mom friends and they were sharing what their kids wanted to be for Halloween. It made me feel a little bummed since my kids just stared at me blankly when I asked, “What do you want to be for Halloween?”  (Ellen didn’t really have a concept of Halloween and Cooper struggles with open-ended questions.) As I was mulling over this “problem” it occurred to me that I just wasn’t…

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4th of July

4th of July

When we moved to Colorado four years ago we didn’t fall into the category of people that are devastated to leave “Zion.”  I can honestly say that Colorado is “home” and that I love living here, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling a little homesick for Utah every now and again. With the birth of my first nephew I was especially missing many of the things in Utah that are near and dear to my heart, so we decided to…

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