Motivation

I've been going through some old pictures, and I came across one from a hike Jason and I took while we were dating, almost 6 years ago. It was a steep hike, and was a pretty good work out for us young, fit college students. We were sitting at the top enjoying the view when an old man came hiking up behind us. His name was George and he was 82 years old. We didn't pass him on the trail, and since he came up maybe only 15 min. after we did, he must have been keeping pace with us. Every time I see someone old and active, I feel like putting on my running shoes, because they remind me that I want to be like that.

*And my shirt - I was so naive, I didn't know what it was talking about when I bought it. Anyone who really knows me will not be surprised by that.

I read this quote on a blog and loved it. John Wayne movie where a father is talking to the daughter:

"Becky! Come here. Somethin' I ought to tell you. Guess now's as good a time as any. You're going to have every young buck west of the Missouri around here tryin' to marry you - mostly because you're a handsome filly, but partly because I own everything in this country from here to there. They'll think you're going to inherit it. Well, you're not. I'm going to leave most of it to, well, to the nation really, for a park where no lumbermen'll cut down all the trees for houses with leaky roofs. Nobody'll kill all the beaver for hats for dudes nor murder the buffalo for robes. What I'm going to give you is a 500 cow spread on the Upper Green River. Now that may not seem like much, but it's more than we had, your mother and I. Some folks are gonna say I'm doin' all this so I can sit up in the hereafter and look down on a park named after me, or that I was disappointed in you - didn't want you to get all that money. But the real reason, Becky, is because I love you, and I want you and some young man to have what I had, because all the gold in the United States Treasury and all the harp music in heaven can't equal what happens between a man and a woman with all that growin' together. I can't explain it any better than that.

So the other morning I was sitting at the kitchen table reading, when out of the corner off my eye I saw something move by the closet door. I looked over, and out runs a mouse. Ran out, ran back in. That night we set traps and 24 hours later found this in our crawl space:

We are hoping that's the only one, though we still have traps set up. It is really weird, though, that we had a mouse. This is the nicest place BY FAR that we have lived since being married (actually, since ever for both of us, I think, since our townhome is pretty new). We've lived in places that are 80 years old, and never saw mice.

So I, of course, expected Jason to dispose of our little friend. He's always been my big harry spider-getter. And once in a very old basement apartment we lived in, he came home to see a 3 ft snake lying in our living room. He bonked it on the head and threw it outside (and never told me about it for over a year, after we'd moved out, because he knew I'd make us move). But when I asked him to throw out the mouse, he was soooo grossed out. When it comes to blood, and apparently mice, he has a hard time. But I assured him that his man job of disposing of a little mouse corpse is a lot easier than my woman job of making babies.
And he did it. And this picture is not posed.

Mornings at our house

We have no car, it's cold outside, visitors are rare, so why not play legos and build forts all day in our jammies?







I want my kids to stay these ages forever. All that bigger-kid stuff is too complicated for me.

PS I can't end this post without mentioning that these legos (over $100 worth) were $2 at a yard sale. A huge proportion of the things we own are from yard sales, but legos are a rare find.

Basketball Stars

I thought these were so fun I just had to make my own.

The referee wasn't cooperating too well, and I hope sometime I'll get around to getting a cooler backdrop (gymnasium floor?). But I have a feeling that will never happen, so here it is. My own version of dreams of flying. (And yes, Levi's bball outfit is about 2 years too small).

Christmas newsletter

1. The birth of baby Dana is, of course the highlight of our year. Being born in a small town brought on many red-neck jokes from Jason. “I think this is as close as having a baby in a manger as you’re ever going to have.” “Are they going to give you a rope to chew on for pain?” “That ER Dr looks like a caveman.” After it was all over, he said, “I liked this hospital. It was peaceful and uncrowded.”
2. Jason graduated with a Master’s in Accounting. I would expand on this one, but I think talking about accounting will probably put you all to sleep.
3. Levi’s proving himself to be somewhat of a remarkable child. When he gets a piece of candy, he usually eats part of it, and hands the rest back saying he doesn’t want to eat too much or it’ll rot his teeth and make him feel sick. Jason thinks Erin is brainwashing him. Erin thinks she is teaching him.
4. Jason sold alarms again this summer on the East Coast. We lived literally right on the beach. Our apartment also had a pool. Too bad our children are too young to remember the summer they were totally spoiled.
5. Beach-front property gave us easy access to the boardwalk, where Levi learned to scooter. He got pretty dang good, going fast and doing tricks. Everyone stopped to ask, “How old is he? He’s good!” Once a man said, “Did you know your son is famous? Everyone is talking about the baby on the scooter!”
6. Erin is steadily increasing the health of the family, by coercing, I mean serving the family more and more nutritious meals. Mostly meatless, lots of whole grains and veggies, serving up homemade yogurt and green smoothies, a daily dose of raw garlic, and most recently drinking cayenne pepper – good for the heart. Ha ha. Just be glad you’re not in our family. Erin hopes next year there will be many more quirky diet tricks she can add to this list.
7. We just moved into a townhome where we are renting, looking for a home to buy. This was our 14th move in our 4 years of marriage. We are hoping that move #15 will be into our first real home, where we will actually live for an entire year! I can’t even really imagine a whole year without moving…
8. Dana is a million dollar smile baby. When people look at her, she usually gives them such a big smile, they think (and say), “Gee! She really likes me!” And they walk away smug. Dana is also learning to crawl, and just got her first tooth (yesterday, actually).
9. Jason started his career at a public accounting firm. He is really liking it, trying to squeeze in time to study for the CPA exam. We are grateful for his job in this economy.
10. Some lights went out on our tree, and Santa came and took the tree to his workshop to fix them! Jason is having so much fun this year with Levi finally big enough to understand the concept of Santa. Dana, on the other hand, is (partially) getting Levi’s old toys wrapped up under the tree.
We are so grateful to have all of you for family and friends. We are so grateful for the Savior and his birth that we get to celebrate this time of year. Merry Christmas!
Love,
Jason, Erin, Levi, and Dana