sundance

(me and the boys, enjoying a beautiful sunny day at the base of Sundance, by the fire.... I could have stayed there all day)

To sum up my week, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good:
-we had a night out as adults to the BYU vs. San Diego BBALL game, it was so fun. My ears are still ringing. Go Jimmer.

-we took a drive up to Sundance Sat. morning. It was wonderful to get out of the house. It was a gorgeous day and I loved feeling the sunshine on my face! It is good for the soul, especially after another long, hard week. We sat by an open fire, watched the skiers come down the mountain, ate snacks, wandered through the shop and deli (which made me want to eat there, just because it looked so idyllic). It was the best 2 1/2 hours of my week. Getting outside and being with my boys was uplifting. It was also fun to dream about going to skiing together next year, when we can buy some gear!

The bad bad bad:
-Another week of sickness. Yes, I must have jinxed myself. Sunday night Will started throwing up, just after 10pm..... and by Friday morning, was still throwing up. Not to mention, the fevers, runny noses, and coughs all week long as well. My poor little man, he has not been himself, this illness has taken a toll on him. He just sits around, lays on the couch and stares off into space. He's lost all appetite, and we even had to take him to the dr. because we were afraid of dehydration. Now, Sunday, he's still feverish, still sad, still not eating (unless it's popsicles, or Doritoes.... at this point, he gets to have whatever his little heart desires), and we are still praying and praying that he gets better and that we won't be headed back to the Doc again tomorrow.

After two consecutive weeks of sick boys, I literally feel like I'm about to go crazy. Thanks for supportive family, we're surviving. All I have to say is that I'm glad January is over! I hope that the Spring comes quickly!!

***One more thing, I read this, this week and it was so inspiring. Please read it, if you have a little doubt in your life, have had, or think you will ever have a challenging time, it will inspire you too, I promise. My favorite part:

"And because of my faith—even in the seemingly worst of times—I recognize with peace and gratitude that in reality it is the best of times" - Richard C. Edgely

just thinking

(my cute little family outside one of my most favorite spots in OH.... I miss it)

I guess it is time for an update. Not much new and exciting going on around here, just trying to stay afloat through a pretty stressful time. One thing is for sure, we are SO blessed and grateful to such supportive family, who go out of their way to take care of us.

Some good things this week:

-we got a package from Grandma M! We LOVED getting packages when we lived out of state from Grandma M, they are always full of treasures and excitement. I'm happy to know they are not a thing of the past.

-we got to celebrate my nephews 6th birthday with him, enjoy his BBALL party, and eat lots of yummy cake. It is fun to see the wonder of the world through a 6 year old's eyes.

-we spent time with my parents who were in our neck of the woods for a few days, always fun. Not only was it my parents, but we were so lucky to meet up with Wes and Lorinda in Provo for dinner. That's always a fun time also!

-some friends and colleagues of Scott invited us over for dinner. It was a blast, I just love getting to know new people, especially those you have a connection with. All of us have lived in MN and gone to school for an MHA at the UofM. Not only that fun tidbit, but one couple was from MN and WI. Oh boy, how I just loved hearing that MN accent again, it seriously made me miss a lot about MN.... namely the State Fair. I am determined we will go back as a family and go to the fair again! It was also a great time because I just needed to get out after a long week, talk to some adults and laugh. :)

Some not so good things this week:

-MAINLY, Eli has been sick for almost 8 days straight. He's got some awful virus, making him cranky, clingy (which I secretly like), not eating a single thing, and POOPING more than I ever thought possible. Not just poop, runny, leak out of your diaper and clothes, EVERY single time, like 8 times a day. Sorry for the visual, but it has been a seriously rough week. One day it was so bad that he went through several pairs of clothes and three baths. I'm sure most of you can imagine, but let me describe some more for you...... when you have to clean a baby off that has poop everywhere, it is a lot of work and takes a lot of time, and it stinks. You have to peel off the clothes, trying not to spread the already disgusting-ness even more, peeling them off the baby's head, sticking them under the shower to get it off, then you have to do all bathing and the re-dressing all over again! I'm keeping my fingers crossed we are on the upside, plus I feel so bad for my normally very happy, chipper E man. It has been so sad to see him sick and sad and un-happy, and not eating! He has been through the wringer this week, I'm hoping it is nothing crazy and that we won't have to go to the dr. tomorrow. Wish me luck.....

-I didn't get my regular work-outs in this week (because of my little guy who was sick). That is a big bummer, I always feel it, physically and emotionally. This week must be better.....

-our house is STILL for sale

Happy Monday, I hope this is a week full of good things!

our weekend

For Christmas, Scott and I gave each other a little get-away. We planned a weekend to go stay in SLC at Little America, and just relax, and have fun spending time together. It was such a fun little get-away, I wish I could do it every weekend! I do have built-in babysitters at the moment. :) I could get used to this..... who needs a house of their own? JUST KIDDING!

We started our weekend as soon as Scott got off work on Friday. We headed to SLC, checked-in to our hotel and then went and wandered around Trolley Square. We were hoping some connections would come through for us with tickets to the Jazz vs. Caves games, but no such luck. No worries though, we headed straight to Gateway to see a movie. We saw The Tourist. I liked it a lot, it was a fun one. We completely indulged in buttery popcorn, dr. pepper, and hot tamales before dinner. It was great. Plus, it was extra sweet having time with my hubby, alone.

After our movie, we browsed around a bit while waiting for a table at California Pizza Kitchen. We shared a very large Tai salad, it was the healthy thing to do after all our artery clogging movie food. Okay, we didn't choose it because it was healthy, it wasn't even healthy, but it was SO yummy. If you haven't tried it, you should. We licked our plate clean, and I guzzled a peach italian cream soda. See how health conscious I am? It was delicious.
After dinner we headed back to our hotel to watch the jazz game, in our PJ's and king size bed. We had also grabbed some yummy snacks, so we stayed up late, ate snacks, watched TV and felt totally stress-free. We almost forgot that we have a house that won't sell in Cleveland, that we are living with family, and that these are the "dog" days of winter. It was great.

In the AM, we slept in (something that was on my Christmas wish list!), leisurely got dressed and ready to go. I didn't even put on make-up. We headed up the canyon to go snow shoeing near Park City, but not without our hearty McKee Dee's (McDonalds) breakfast. Don't judge, you all know that McDonalds breakfasts are tasty. Especially the parfait. We had a blast snow shoeing (see gorgeous scenery pics above), and laughed a lot. It was great fun, we could easily get used to that! After our snowy adventure, we HAD to go to the outlets. And did we score some good deals. Of course, it did not disappoint.

After the outlets, we ate another yummy meal at Quiznos, which tasted so good after a day of snow shoeing and shopping! Then we headed home. The best part of the weekend was being with Scott and having some time to chat, laugh, and hold hands. I sometimes forget what it was like before kids, and this was a good reminder. I missed our boys, A LOT, and a lot of our conversations revolved around them and how blessed we are. But it was great to have some quiet time, some un-interupted adult conversation, and some very fun adventures.

Thanks for the fun time Scott, Merry Christmas, and please, can we do this again sometime?

a post long overdue

I've been meaning to put up some of our family pics on the blog for a long time now. I was on the fence about sending out a Christmas card, so I didn't post them, just in case I wanted to use some of them on the card. Now that Christmas has come and gone, and I still haven't posted

them, I figured it was about time.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my brother in-law TY took some pictures of our family. He is just getting started with photography, and we were happy to let him practice on us! He has a creative mind, and a good eye for what's unique. Everyone knows outdoor pictures turn out great, so we thought we would give that a try. Well, it was freezing and there was snow everywhere and we were not prepared with snow clothes. So we only got a couple outside, and then we went to my other brother in-laws art studio to play around.

When Scott and I got engaged, and had our engagements photos taken by my friend who was a photography major at USU. Her entire portfolio was about "feet." She showed me her portfolio once and I was stunned. It had some of the most amazing pictures I've ever seen. It really was incredible. So when she took our engagement photos, she asked if she could take a couple of our feet. We said yes..... and that started a little tradition for us. As our family has grown, we always take "feet" pictures when we have our family pictures taken. We have some of just Scott and I, some of us with tiny little Will feet, some with bigger Will feet, and now we have some with little Eli feet. So, it was only natural that Ty take a "feet" picture for us! I LOVE this one. It is one of my favorites so far. I love the wood floor, and I love those four little bare feet. All these feet have come a long way, in life, in love, as a family, from state to state, etc. We are so happy and we are excited for the journey we are on!

Yes, I know, these are the cutest boys ever to roam the planet. :) Getting Eli to hold still is a feat. So, as soon as we set him down we were all being loud and crazy trying to distract him from crawling away. We told Will to hang on tight!

Family of four

Scott took Eli outside and he thought it was the funniest thing to see us INSIDE and him OUTSIDE. He was laughing hysterically.

PS - I know it's a weird thing, but I am a little bugged by my bangs in this picture. I can't decide if I'm a fan of my bangs with my long hair. I've had bangs a lot with my short cropped hair, but this is the first with my extra long hair..... I just can't decide if I like it..... maybe it was the freshly cut bangs? Now they are growing out and I'm liking them a bit more, although I have to pull them back a lot. Anywho...., random, but I can't help it.

christmas 2010

Well, it has come and gone..... almost like it was never even here at all! It is always crazy how fast Christmas flies by, always a little sad, but always exciting to start a new year! We had such a fun Christmas this year. BOTH parents were home (not on missions) and WE were home!! Yay! We drove up to Logan for a Mortensen gathering a few days before Christmas. It was hoppin'! We had a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, a talent show.... sort of, and lots of laughs. We also sung a really pretty song that I had never heard called the Friendly Beasts. It was so sweet, it is my mission to track it down and add it to my Christmas music repertoire.

Uncle Scott and Norah. Norah has always loved Uncle Scott, even as a baby, we love to see Norah, she is so enthusiastic about life, it is infectious!

Caleb is a big kid. But still not too big to sit on Santa's lap! He is such a fun boy, I'm glad Will has a great boy cousin to look up to!

Norah was enthralled with Mrs. Claus. She wanted a crown.... or something, and was so excited when she opened her bag there was a crown!

Oh Lia. Sweet little quiet Lia, just sat there and wouldn't even look at Santa. It was awesome. She is so darn cute, I could pack her around in my purse just for those times when I need a little pick me up!

Will was last to "sit" or be by Santa and the Mrs. He was being so shy and lately, this is the weird shy face/hands that we get...... I'm always telling him to take his hands away from his face. :)

Even Scott got in on the action! What a trooper, he had to show Will how it's done.

Will in his fun PJ's from Grandma. He loves his Grandma and Grandpa Mortensen. I think besides me and Scott they are his two most favorite people! Oh, and his other set of Grandparents....... :)
All the cute cousins, minus Eli who was asleep and missed all the action. Cute, cute, cute, cousins and such a fun night for the kids. It is so great to be around family for Christmas. We are so blessed.
The BIG day! Christmas morning. Will was hilarious when he woke up on Christmas morning. He was amazed that Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk, and he was so shocked at what was in his stocking. It was so fun. He kept saying "OH MY GOSH!!!" He loved it. His big hits for gifts were his Kung Zhu, his remote control car, and his stuffed animal Rat that was in his stocking. He was a happy boy.
Eli was happy too! He loved driving around his new cars and playing with the wrapping paper. But mostly, he just wanted to eat breakfast. So he spent the bulk of gift opening in his high chair eating.... I guess that was all he wanted and that is what he got.
The coveted Gator Car. Will has been dreaming about this for weeks now. It was the highlight of his day. Especially when he got to drive it outside in the snow with Caleb. Look at his face, I love it.
Merry Christmas to all, it was a fun day. We spent the day with both families, had great food (Scott and I made the best ribs ever!!!) and enjoyed being together relaxing. It was a great holiday. Now..... back to the grind!