Wii got it!

December 28, 2008

Merry Christmas everyone!! We have had such a wonderful week! Who knew that this “relaxing” thing could be so fun!! It will be brutal when school starts again and I have to get up 6 hours earlier than I am now!!!

We had a fun week preparing for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we made tons of Christmas goodies and delivered plates to our friends and neighbors on the ice covered streets. (Apparently that warehouse that held all our city salt for the winter was destroyed during the summer floods, so we have a salt shortage.) We also got Alayna’s hair cut and it looks adorable. She says she looks like “Alice” from Twilight. (Don’t worry- she didn’t see the movie, but with Twilight fanatics around here, she was bound to learn about it.)

Christmas was such a beautiful day. Everything turned out just perfect. Thank you so much for all the wonderful gifts you all sent to make it such a great day. We had a relaxing day playing games, watching movies, and really enjoying time as a family.

The kids have been working since June to earn a Wii by doing chores, helping around the house, etc. They have worked very hard and finally reached their goal! We surprised them with the Wii for Christmas. I should have caught the reaction on videotape because it was absolutely priceless! Tyler had a blood-curdling scream which was appeared to be a mix of sheer terror and total joy. It was hilarious. Yesterday, Bob created brackets and we had a family Wii tournament all day. Apparently I don’t use my right arm very much because I can barely use it today. The kids love it and have each created some pretty funny mii’s.

One day Bob and the kids went out to play in the snow. They built forts (took 1 hour) and then proceeded to have a snowball fight (lasted 5 minutes). They all came in freezing and scarfed up some hot cocoa. The funny thing is the next day we had this HUGE thunderstorm that came through and melted all the snow. That night it totally froze into sheets of ice and then it dumped about 1-2 inches of snow. Always exciting weather here I tell ya!

I think that is a quick summation of our week. Hope you all had a wonderful and joyous Christmas and are having a relaxing vacation.

Kickin' it in the snow!

Getting ready for Survivor Party

1st grade concert

More snow

Can you say "frigid"???

December 21, 2008

When we moved here 4 years ago, we quickly learned what it meant when the weather man said it was going to be “frigid”. We now know that “frigid” is when the wind-chill is -35, the car doors are frozen shut, your car will barely run once you actually get inside, you can see your breath in the car, and when you inhale the inside of your nose completely freezes creating tiny hair icicles in your nostrils. Bet you didn’t know that- you’re welcome!! It is -33 right now and they ended up having church today. That was an experience. It is nice to be home and warm now.

On Monday, I survived an observation by the principal. After long hours of great stress and about 12 hours of prep, it turned out to be a huge success. (2 down one more to go) That night it snowed hard (I think we got about 5 inches). They had school on Tuesday, which was surprising, but I stayed home with Tyler and Alayna who still had that horrible cold (and was able to escape the dreaded Reading Committee Meeting!) Alayna’s music concert and gymnastics were cancelled because of the weather. (insert jig of joy here)

On Wednesday, Kayla helped babysit for a woman in our ward who just found out she has breast cancer. Then Marisa and Kayla helped babysit kids at the church so parents could go shopping for Christmas.

We had a massive storm hit Thursday evening. Alayna’s concert was rescheduled for Thursday night and they still held it. She was so absolutely adorable-(you could almost believe the innocenceJ) She even had a speaking part and did a fantastic job! I hope Bob can post some of what he taped. It continued to snow and snow and snow. That afternoon I went to Walmart to get supplies to make ice cream cone trees in my classes. I was up all night wondering if our last day before break would be cancelled. By 5AM they posted that it was cancelled- I bet you could hear my “hallelujah” song all the way out there in Utah! I crawled back into bed and slept 6 more hours than I usually do. If I could give you a definition of “heaven”- that’s what it would be! We hung out and relaxed (after the weekend deep cleaning, my poor kids)

Saturday was spent doing some major shoveling, making Christmas gifts, and practicing for sharing time (at night Bob went to a friends house to watch “the game”. Not exactly sure what game that was but I guess it was an important one?) The kids shoveled for hours only to have the 40 mile an hour winds blow the snow right back on the driveway. They had the “winter-in-Iowa-really-sucks” look on their faces.

When we woke up this morning, we were shocked to death that we still had church. We are all sick except Bob I think. The kids (and Bob) did a fantastic sharing time. We did an adorable puppet show acting out the Christmas story called “The Last Straw”. It was a HUGE hit! Now the kids (and Bob) are practicing their “Sunday band” which includes Tyler on the trombone, Bob on the trumpet, Kayla on the clarinet, and Marisa on the violin. They have been practicing Christmas music lately and they sound great. Maybe I can secretly tape them and post it on the blog?

By the way, we will soon be posting our end of year picture slide show. I know some of you have been waiting patiently for that!

A special Happy Birthday to Grandpa Ribera tomorrow. We have a fun week of relaxation and several movie marathons planned (like the mummy). I have decided I will need someone to physically tie me to the couch so I can force out some relaxation. We also wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! We hope you have a warmer one than us!!

Gingerbread House