God's Country: Caught in a Whirlwind

Whew! It has been a busy couple of months. Just last night Tom commented on how crazy it has been with birthdays, vacations, schooling, and, as of late, the stomach flu--ugh. I don't know if it will slow down any time soon. This may just be the new normal! I have some updating to do. We'll begin back on January 14 with Michael's birthday. I scheduled a snowboarding lesson for him on the local ski hill, Granite Peak. He had a blast! Thomas and I joind him after his lesson for night skiing!

We took a trip that weekend to Iowa City so that Michael could visit his best friend Colin Evans. Unfortunately, my camera was out of batteries (anyone else have this problem in their house?). I don't have any pictures of the weekend, but we have great memories of the trip! Valentine's day was celebrated with a breakfast of heart shaped pancakes! This was the first time we had tried this, but I think it might be a new tradition.

Isabelle's birthday was February 18. She woke up to confetti and perky bear pancakes. She chose a Funfetti boxed cake for her day and the kids all helped to frost it. Yes. I made a boxed cake. And YES, I allowed the kids to frost it. I'm growing!

Isabelle's party was held on February 27th. As a special surprise I invited her friends from Iowa City to join us for the weekend. She was completely taken off guard when they showed up at the door.
Saturday was the day of the big party. We decided to to an Olympic Bash at the local YMCA. I sent out invitations in the shape of a torch which said "Let the Games Begin" along with an athlete registration form for the RSVP. Upon arrival at the Y each child was given a healthy bagged lunch complete with Gatorade. They were also given their country assignments. We did a parade of athletes and then the kids separated into two teams--eastern hemisphere and western hemisphere. We began the games with a friendly yet dangerous game of dodgeball. Then came "around the world" which was really a hula hoop contest. The final players were Marilla Von Haden representing Israel and Michael Hogan from Cananda. Check out the hips on this guy! Marilla won, steady as she goes! (sorry about the angle. I don't know how to rotate the video)

We continued the party with a soccer tournament, rock climbing, and swimming. Then we headed back to the house for the medal ceremony and "opening ceremonies". Don't forget the cake and this time I decorated it. As if they hadn't had enough action, the girls decided to go sledding in our backyard. This was definately a party to remember!