Missionary moments

My mom and dad are serving an 18 month mission in Norway. My dad served there when he was 19 and had never been back until about 5 years ago, when he, my mom, my dad's brothers/sisters and spouses and even my sister and her husband went - we helped watch their 5 kids while they were gone....We only had Lea at the time...... :) They've been there now since Aug 2009 - we love getting emails, seeing pictures and chatting with them on skype. They travel ALOT and some members travel great distances to get to church and go as often as they can. Some traveling up to 5 hours one way just to attend church. So my parents travel to see the members (less active, active and investigators) wherever they live. Their recent trip was to Mo I Rana this past weekend, about a 7 hour train ride from Trondheim where they are living. My mom does not speak much Norwegian but is learning and my dad translates for her. She always says her Norwegian comes out with a Spanish accent. :)

1st day there - notice the nice weather, no jackets, my mom in short sleeves.......

Beautiful colors and my beautiful mom

My mom/dad's apartment - celebrating Christmas with the Sisters and Elders

I think this is my dad's first self portrait - not sure I've ever seem him do that before. He loves to take pictures and said their drives go much quicker when it's dark because he can't stop to take pictures of the beautiful scenery.

4:30 pm in Mo I Rana - some places never get daylight and during the summer it's the land of the midnight sun as the sun never goes down. Not the same nice weather when they got there in August, but they love it nonetheless and are enjoying the people and taking care of the sisters/elders and anyone else in need. My parents are great that way - always helping and serving and both very talented in all aspects of life.

One other quick story - this little bunny is at a members house. My parents went there one day to visit with the family and my mom got too close to the cage. Pretty soon the bunny was nibbling on the bottom of her skirt. She had to go home and mend her skirt. Lucas thought this was so funny that a bunny would eat Grandma's skirt - he laughed and asked me to tell the story again. :) The next time my parents went to visit this family, my dad took this picture - there is more distance between my mom and the cage now. Apparently, the bunny has nibbled on the owner's pants when she was standing too close. Bad little bunny!

Soccer season - Fall 2009

This never made it from October or November, but we made it through another soccer season with Lea. If you have been a reader since the beginning of last year, you know soccer was not Lea's favorite sport or favorite anything. Several meltdowns about clothes, playing and just being there in general. Sad for me because I love soccer and would have played, but I was a little over the age limit for her age group. :)

This time around, she was excited and played with several of her friends from last year. The Thundercats had a winless season and would even tell you the score at the end of each game. If you asked any of the parents....we seriously didn't keep track. Honest. It was a little disheartening for them to lose so much and only score, I think, 5 goals in 6 games. Most coming in 2 games, so there were some games they didn't score at all. But they improved and became more aggressive as the weeks went by. A few highlights of the year:

Go, go, go!!!

Taking a break - it was surprisingly hot at some of these games (reminder it was the end of October and beginning of November) - our umbrella came in handy.

Listening to Coach Kartchner

Playing goalie - she's a natural!

Battling for the ball against her friend Alyssa (from school)

Abbey chillin' on the sidelines

Side game with Miss Erin

Hanging out in the shade - you'd be surprised how fast these 2 sunburn!

Another great season - Lea and Ethan. Next season starts in January - love Arizona!!

More Christmas!

Christmas was a quiet, lazy day for us - just the way I like it! The kids went to bed great and didn't get up once!!! Santa's helpers had blocked the living room so no little eyes would sneak a peek while busy at work sorting, filling stockings and putting together the big items. :) Enjoy the pictures!
Christmas Eve - puppet Nativity

 the 3 Wise Men (one little wise boy as substitute for a wise man)

 Abbey as the Star and sheep - she refused to put them on at first, throwing them to the ground, but now loves them.

 

Lea and Jeff reading Luke 2

Christmas Eve dinner at Panda Express - what a cooperative bunch....

 Christmas morning: not allowed to enter until all are awake and ready to go. So much excitement, could ya just move so we can go!!!!

 Lea 6 1/2, Lucas 3 1/2, Abbey 1 1/2

 A modest "Barbie"

 Sunglasses and little bit of chocolate "lipstick" - the girls LOVES her chocolate

 A duel - that was a daddy gift.....guess how long before there were tears involved.......

 

 A concert to "Shake your Tail Feathers"

Special Guest appearances by:

 Courtesy of Disney's Christmas Day Parade

 Lightening McQueen and Mater

 Demi Lovato

 The Jonas Brothers - ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! :)

 

 a family walk with the new stuff

 Jeff getting his exercise

During nap time, Lea and I went to see Princess and the Frog. She liked it, but there were some dark moments with the voodoo magic that brought her tears and asking to go home. But it was an enjoyable to time with me and my girl - she's so grown up!

BYU vs. Oregon State

Dec 22nd, 2009 :We endured a major rain/thunder storm that took out our satellite for several hours....I was really nervous we wouldn't be able to even watch the game. But never fear, we enjoyed the rain, enjoyed the game and loved every minute of the BYU win! Lea was the only awake when it was raining and asked to go jump in some puddles - sure have a great time. :)

Las Vegas Maaco Bowl - GO COUGARS!

Game recap: an email to my mom and dad in Norway
BYU wins 44-20. They were down 7-0 to begin, but came back to put up 37 un-answered points. Great game for BYU! :) It was super windy there and the kickers had a horrible time punting, kicking field goals, etc. There were a couple of 6 yard punts.....by both teams.

Fun to watch and very few OSU fans (part of our Twin Lakes family are avid OSU fans) - looked like mostly BYU fans, but it was hard to tell, everyone was so bundled up.

Love ya, alison

Dad's response:
WHAHOO!!! Sounds like a successful party at your house.  Rub it in at TL (Twin Lakes) this summer!! Love, Dad

(haha I love it!)

Findlays, my Jeff, Geoff and crazy haired Abbey

"BLINK"

Someone little was using my camera......

Is Lea asleep or just pretending....what do you think!?

BYU football

Utah Pregame Fireside
Saturday 11/28/2009 01:15:00 PM
Posted by Carey Hoki, BYU Athletic Communications

Last night's fireside was more of a musical fireside, with numbers by both players and coaches on the team.

The first number was "I Heard Him Come," performed by McCall Clark, a friend of the team. Academic All-American and team captain Matt Bauman, along with defensive lineman Brett Denney were next. They played "Nearer My God to Thee" on their violins, with linebacker Grant Nelson accompanying them on the piano.

Manase Tonga, Spencer Hafoka, Travis Uale, Anthony Heimuli and Tevita Hola stood up next to sing a Tongan hymn. Offensive coordinator Robert Anae, his brother Alan and Mark Atuaia added two Hawaiian songs.

The final musical number featured the entire team as it stood to sing, "We'll Bring the World His Truth."


me: How cool is that?! I love it!

Happy Thanksgiving

So Friday is Christmas, I thought it was about time we posted some pictures of our humble Thanksgiving. Maybe I'll mail Christmas cards by Valentine's day too.....maybe.

Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite holidays - lots of food, lots of people and just a lot of fun times. Well at least that's how I grew up. This time, there was a lot of food, very few people and just as many fun times. Grandma Riz came from Vegas and we thoroughly enjoyed having her stay - the kids love to have visitors as do Jeff and I. We were hoping for a few more, but we'll take what we can get. Our neighbor Kristie came over and watched part of the Packer game with us. She's a big Packer fan and it was fun to have her in our home. This is the first time in 4 years, I'm about ready to bust out of my shell and start getting to know my neighbors......we at least re-meet them every year on Halloween. (that's another story) Actually we talk to Kristie as much as we see her - she works the night shift in the ICU of St Joseph's Hospital and the main reason we hardly see her. Enjoy the photos - this tells a lot. haha! More photos to be added from Grandma Riz's camera.

I also played volleyball that night from 8 - 12:30 am....I was worn out and they played for another hour!! Went Black Friday shopping at noon... :) Still got great deals!

Breaking bread for stuffing and getting sidetracked by the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

the stash

 Got Turkey?

Grandma Riz

 

 Lucas and his puzzles - keeps him busy and learning

Lea playing "BLINK" with Grandma