"Mom....How do you tie a tie?"

For school today, Logan's school was teaching the kids about taking "Pride in themselves" and today they were supposed to wear their "BEST DRESS!" Logan was SOOO excited to wear his shirt and tie to school, and actually got up early and got dressed before I knew he was even awake.

Well, he came into my room, with his new Cub Scout book in hand, opened to this page and said, "Mom, can you help me tie my tie!"



I was totally taken back....first....I didn't even know he was up, and second, I was amazed that he'd looked through his Cub book to find the instructions on just "HOW to tie a tie"! Wow!!!
He and I looked at the pictures, I tried for maybe TWENTY SECONDS at the most, and then after getting HIGHLY confused, I recommended he go upstairs and find Granddad!



My dad usually helps Logan tie his tie on Sundays, unless he wears his "zip-tie", but I think it's time we get serious and the BOTH of us FINALLY learn just how to tie that thing!!!!

What a handsome little man, eh??!!!

...a STRANGE, new world!!!

CUB SCOUTS!!!!

Logan's 8th birthday is not until July, but tonight they had the big "Blue & Gold Cub Scout Banquet" and invited all the FUTURE cubs to be there....in UNIFORM!!!!
That meant I was busy trying to find a used cub shirt, but eventually had to just buy a brand new one in a LARGE size (so he WON'T grow out of it!)
Then, I had to learn just how to sew on the required patches and learn WHERE they go!!!



Now.....having NO brothers, this whole world of Cub Scouts is VERY foreign to me. So Logan and I are BOTH learning alot! (Like just HOW to wear the scarf...over the collar or under the collar????....is it even called a "scarf"????)



Logan has ALOT of other cute little boys his age...most of them even started in nursery together! It's fun to see them all growing up! These are the "NEWBIES"!



This is one of Logan's BEST FRIENDS! His name is Nathan, but because he's six months older than Logan he's in grade 2, and Logan's just in grade 1. But they're in the same primary class, and play together often! Logan can't WAIT til he gets to join Nathan in cubs!



Logan's dad was able to be there! It was fun for him to be involved and explain things to Logan....like all the "funny cheers"! Logan thought they were all "crazy"!



My mom was also invited, and despite still having a BAD cold, was able to to be there! She WASN'T the only grandparent there! I'm so grateful for her support!



I am just SOOO proud of my little boy that's growing up SOOO fast! He looked so sharp in his little uniform....I'm excited for the future and all he and I will learn together about Cub Scouts. As for now, I'm enjoying the PRESENT and all we still get to do together. Logan is a WONDERFUL, HAPPY, POLITE, CUTE, KIND, ENTHUSIASTIC, CREATIVE little boy, and I'm glad I get to be HIS mom!

Valentine's WEEKEND!!!

I'm a sucker for romance...I also LOVE any excuse to go out to eat and "celebrate" any occaison, so since Valentine's Day was on a Sunday, it made sense that we needed to celebrate on Friday night, go out to lunch on Saturday, then celebrate on Saturday night, and oh, of course still make Sunday special TOO! That all makes complete sense right???!!!



So we started the whole Valentine's Weekend on Friday night, by going out to eat at Applebee's, then getting a movie at the "Redbox" (we even had a coupon for a free rental!!!)

Then on Saturday we went out to eat for lunch at a really cool restaurant that's right by our local airport. It has a huge wall of windows so you can sit and watch the planes landing and taking off. We've never been, and were told it's cheaper to go at lunch, so we did and.....WOW! The food was AMAZING! It was a fancy restaurant! For me "fancy" means they had tablecloths and cloth napkins!!! Very nice! That was our big splurge for the weekend!

Then we headed down to see the action at the Winterfest!


The city covered two roads in downtown with about 2-3 feet of snow! Then they had skiing events, snowmobiling races and another FUN and different event....See the horses behind Justin and I??? Let me explain!



It's called Skiijoring! The horses would pull skiers or snowboarders down the snowy road! It was amazing! They also had jumps that the skiers would go off, a couple guys did backflips! Also those horses had to run really fast!!!! It was great to see!



From there, Justin and I went and did a little shopping. On Friday Justin scored BIG while we were at the D.I. thrift store. For $29 he got FIVE collered shirts that were all brand names like Ralph Lauren, Polo and even a Penguin shirt (that's an expensive brand). He was SOOO excited!
So on Saturday it was MY turn to get something new. I used a gift card I got for Christmas and we went to the mall to get myself a new top, and some jewelry! So fun to get new clothes and NOT spend a dime! :)

For dinner that night, Justin and I just MADE our meal at his place. BUT......we made it fancy! Justin cooked some shrimp, with an AMAZING special sauce, I steamed some asparagus, and we drizzled the special sauce over the asparagus. Then we also had strawberries and some chocolates for dessert! Once we set the table and had it all ready.....it looked SO pretty, I just HAD to take a picture!!!





NEXT....was the ACTUAL day of celebration! Sunday, February 14!
It was my mom that made this day special! She set a beautiful table, and then had a RED meal!



First she made meatloaf in a heart shaped pan (see if you can spot it in the pic!), then we had a great strawberry, spinach salad from Aunt Sharon, a pink jello salad from Sarah. Mom also made heart shaped bread, and served tomatoes, radishes and beets! Of course we had red drink and for dessert we had angel food cake with strawberries and whip cream!
She did SUCH great job making it special, and went to a lot of work! My mom is just amazing! Thanks mom!!! Great memories! The downer of course is wishing Laura and Tyson and Lydia could have been with us.....But we were thinking of you guys!! Always!



Later that night,(after watching Canada get a GOLD MEDAL in the Olympics!!!) Justin and I exchanged cards....He even wrote me a POEM!!!!!! The Valentine's Weekend celebration finally ended, but of course telling and showing those we love will NEVER END!!!!



P.S. Logan was with his dad all weekend...and I'll go pick him up Monday night (tonight)...I called him Sunday to tell him I love him, and have a gift for him that I'm excited to give him!!!!It's just not the same when he's gone....but if you could hear his stories...He always has a GRAND and ADVENTUROUS time with his dad!! So fun for him!!! But...still miss him tons!

We RAN 5K!!!

Really.......it came out to be a total of 3.4 MILES!!!!!

Our great little city was a having a "WinterFest" and I read on Friday night that they were doing a 5k run on Saturday morning. I haven't been running for the past week, but I was really interested in challenging myself to see if I could do it. I've only ever run two miles straight without stopping....I've never gone further. Remember I'm a brand-new runner!

So last night, I called my mom to see if she'd like to join me, with a LOT of hesitation, she finally agreed to do it. My Mom's a true runner, she's been running for 5-6 years, but in November she injured her foot, and hasn't been running SINCE!!! She's been to the doctor, bought new, good running shoes, with a custom orthotic for it, and she was actually planning on going on Saturday morning for a run around the neighborhood. She was really nervous, and didn't know how much she'd actually get to run. As for myself, I knew that I could do two miles, so I was curious to see if I could go all the way to the end!

Once we started running.....it was AWESOME!!! Even in the rain!!! Mom and I got chatting and really enjoyed it! The time went by fast, even though we ran slow, but neither of us felt any pain (sometimes my knee bothers me), SO...we were able to make it ALL THE WAY to the finish line WITHOUT having to walk!!!!!

The greatest feeling in the world is setting a goal for yourself, and then ACTUALLY achieving it!!! It doesn't matter that we were at the end of the pack, it doesn't matter that it took us 42 min, it mattered that we CROSSED THAT FINISH LINE!!!!

First time on SKYPE!

Tonight my dad hooked up our laptop and camera and microphone and we were all able to then "skype" with Laura in OKLAHOMA!!!!!!! (For those of you who aren't familiar with "skype", it's a FREE way to communicate through the Internet!) SO FUN!



We ALL had tons of fun seeing baby Lydia, but it was more fun to watch her "no reaction" face as a very puzzled baby girl stared back at us! Laura figured that she probably just thought she was watching a video on the laptop. We ALL started singing lots of familiar songs, and got her to do the actions with us!



Everyone got in on the fun; Logan got Lydia to laugh, the kids showed Lydia the Elmo toy she played with when she was here, Courtney and Lydia showed each other their "binkies", and mom even had to show Laura the Valentine's cookies that just came out of the oven! It was great to see both Laura and Lydia, it brought them just a little bit closer! I have a feeling this will be a regular event!!! Yay!



We miss you Laura! And love you tons!

PRIMARY ACTIVITY!

This past Saturday, we put on a great, FUN Primary Activity in my ward!
We called it a P.J.'S. Party!(Each letter stands for something) We told the kids to come in their PJ's, and bring their scriptures!
First we fed them all a WONDERFUL pancake breakfast that my secretary was in charge of! We had SO many pancakes...some of the kids came back for seconds AND even THIRDS!!! (and maybe even fourths for some of the boys!)
Here are some of our great kids in their PJ's! I had them stand on their chairs, so we could all look at their pajama's!


Logan is in THIS picture, and Jake came too! (You can see him in the back behind another kid)



We didn't tell the kids what the letters stood for in P.J.'S. stood for...they had to come to the activity to find out!
Well....here's what each letter represents......



First...They went to the "P" room....where I taught the importance of saying their PRAYERS both morning and night. Then that's where we gave them all a prayer rock and a poem that went with it.



"I’m your little PRAYER ROCK waiting on your bed
When you go to sleep at night I’ll “SMACK” you on the head!
Then you will remember to kneel on the floor to pray
And thank your Heavenly Father for the blessings of each day!"


It was fun to watch the kids all pick out their own rock! They were really excited!



NEXT....they went to the "J" room....where they all got their own little JOURNAL! They learned the importance of keeping a journal, then got to personalize it, and also had some time to write or draw in it!(My first counselor was in charge of this room).
Here's some of the kids with their journals!



Last, was the "S" room, where my 2nd counselor taught the importance of SCRIPTURES!!! We wanted to encourage the kids to bring their scriptures to church each Sunday, so we gave them all a canvas scripture bag and they got to decorate them.
They all did such a good job, and made them all so special!
The best part was to see the kids all bring their scripture bags with them to church the next day! Yay! That made me happy to see them in use!



Overall.....the party was a HUGE success! We were anticipating 45 kids, if EVERY SINGLE kid showed up, and we ended up with about THIRTY-FIVE!!!! So we were ALL SO THRILLED!
We also had LOTS of teachers and parents come to help! We couldn't have pulled it off without their help!
I feel SO blessed to be able to work with such special little spirits. I'm grateful for their smiles and enthusiasm they all have for life! I'm grateful for their parents and how they are being raised in the gospel, and I am thankful for their amazing teachers who truly love our little children!
Great day! Great fun! Great memories!

My Project THIS Week!

I have a Primary activity coming up this Saturday...and I'm in charge of making "Prayer Rocks" for all the kids to take home. Weeks ago I thought that making 45 prayer rocks for all the children would be a fairly simple task....but boy was I wrong!!!


My FIRST task was just FINDING some rocks! I knew I wanted big, round river rocks...so why not head down to the river right? Well, I did! I wish you could have seen me BEFORE and AFTER! By the time I walked along the river's edge, and dug in the snow and mud, plus waded out a bit into the river itself, then carried 45 rocks back to my car in 5-6 trips, I was a MUDDY, WET mess! But OH! so much fun!



Then from there I had to scrub them all down, even sand some of them, to get them ready to paint! It's kinda cold painting in the garage during the winter! But again, What an adventure!



Then came the FUN part! Pretty soon each rock took on it's own personality, and they all became my friends! Now I'm just excited to give them to the kids!



Oh...and by the way, let the record show that ALL the rocks are done by WEDNESDAY!!!! (That's TWO days before the event!!!) Yay for me!

LOGAN AND JAKE PLAYING SCHOOL!

Yesterday the boys were busy setting up a new game....they were hauling all sorts of stuff into the living room...I didn't pay much attention, until I walked in on THIS site!!!! They set up a "classroom" with Logan as the teacher and Jake and the stuffed animals as the students!!! SO ADORABLE I just HAD to take a picture!



Logan and Jake have been the BEST of friends ever since they were babies. They are SO lucky to have each other and play so well together. Logan constantly asks "Is Jake coming to play today?" And I have to repeat, "No Logan, it's only Monday (or Tuesday) Jake comes on Wednesday". Then once Wednesday finally comes around, Jake and Courtney are here a full hour before Logan gets home from school, and then it's Jake watching the clock, "Logan will be here in 40 min" or "Logan will be here in 22 min" or "Logan will be here in 3 min!" It's hilarious!

They play like brothers, they fight like brothers, but they also love like brothers. I'm glad they have each other, and it's moments like this (the school game) that just need to be captured and saved forever!

CRAZY SOCK DAY!

Here's what we came up with for CRAZY SOCK DAY!!!



Notice that Logan is wearing SHORTS in JANUARY!!! OH! Plus it's snowing out today!!! Yikes! That's crazy enough as it is!!!

By the way....Logan just got home from school, and it turns out that he won the contest in his class for "craziest socks!!" Yay!

CRAZY HAIR DAY!!

Today was "CRAZY HAIR DAY" at Logan's school, so with my passion for hair, I wanted to do something really, really fun! PURPLE EXTENSIONS!!!!


You see, last year we missed "Crazy Hair Day" and I felt SOOO bad. So this year I was determined to do something extra crazy! I've actually been thinking about it for a LONG time now, just what I'd do to Logan's hair!



I do extensions at the salon, and I found these fun "fantasy colors" that a few clients actually like. So I brought home a pack of purple hair, and Sunday night we sat in the kitchen putting it in. Logan is sure glad he's NOT a girl he said, cause it took a LONG time to do (20 min) and it hurt ALOT!!!! (Hardly!!)



After cutting the hair, and styling it a little, this was our finished result!!! SO FUN!!! CRAZY enough??!!

ICE SKATING for the FIRST TIME!!!

This is the VERY FIRST TIME Logan has ever been on ice skates!!! He did SOOO good! I was SOOO proud of him! We had a blast!!! ALL OF US!!!




Justin's singles ward had a BIG Friday night activity at the local ice rink, so we all decided to go! As I was telling Logan that we were going to go ice skating, I had no idea that he didn't even know what I was talking about, let alone what we'd be doing or HOW! I was kind of shocked, especially because of my Canadian childhood! (I had an outdoor skating rink in my neighborhood, and took skating lessons in gym class!) So I REALLY felt bad that at age SEVEN he'd NEVER been on skates!!! What a BAD "CANADIAN MOM", eh??!!!

Well, I was really nervous for him, Logan can sometimes be a bit timid when trying new things, BUT.....he showed NO fear, and was such a good sport about it! Even when he'd lose his balance and fall!

Justin and I discovered that even at our age, ice skating isn't such an easy thing on our bodies!Especially the feet!! After a few laps around the rink we'd be sore and needed to sit and take a break....it wasn't easy supporting Logan between us. But my little buddy, was begging to keep going and always asking "One more lap please?!" So we'd sit for a SHORT bit, and off we'd go again!



Way to go, BUDDY!


Oh, and by the way...talking with other mom's around here, it turns out that LOTS of other kids have never been ice skating before either, and some of them are older than Logan!!!! I guess I'm truly a "UTAH MOM" afterall!!

Running day TWO!!!

I ran TWO MILES today!!!! Without stopping!!!! :)

On Monday, January 18, 2010, I set out on my FIRST run in YEARS! I didn't really know how far I'd go, I just watched the clock and wanted to run as long as I could in a 30 min. period. I ended up running 25 min straight without having to stop and walk. Then once I got home I got in my car and drove my route I had just done. It turned out I ran a total of TWO MILES!!!!! I was SO happy and surprised that I could do it!

I wanted to go out the next day, but I was REALLY REALLY sore! Plus, the weather has been bad all week in the mornings...snowing and cold. Plus, I also have to be at the salon at 9am for appointments.

Well, I don't work Fridays, so I planned on going out running again today, if the roads weren't covered in snow. After I dropped Logan and the carpool off at school, I then drove around the neighborhood and figured out a 3 mile running route. I knew exactly where the 1 mile mark was, then the two mile mark and then the three mile mark. My goal today was JUST to do two miles again.

So despite the crazy, cold wind outside, I bundled up and headed out. I have to admit right now that it was TOUGH!!! Getting to that first mile was a beast, especially when I was running INTO the wind! I thought about JUST doing 1 mile, it'd be ok...considering the weather and all, right?! WRONG!

Funny thing, is that in my head I was planning how I'd share my running adventure on my blog, and there's no way I could hold my head high and post that I gave up and only did 1 mile. SO......I kept going.

I knew where the 2 mile point was, I kept that goal in mind. I envisioned myself getting to that specific intersection with the bright red stop sign! I couldn't give up, even when I was running INTO the wind, going UPHILL and with slight snow flurries PRICKING my face! I just kept my head down, had to close my eyes a little, and kept putting one foot infront of the other.

Well, I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!!!!! The feeling to know that I actually achieved the goal that I planned to do is dang AWESOME!! What a feeling!! Once I saw that beloved stop sign getting closer, I actually ran over to it and TOUCHED IT!!! Something my dad taught me....get to your goal and TOUCH IT! Very symbolic! I glided the rest of the way home with a big smile on my face! What a GREAT way to start my day!!!!

WOOLF FAMILY PICS!!!

Last time we had a family picture taken by a professional, Logan and Jake were just toddlers, which means Courtney and Lydia weren't even born.
I think we tried to do a family photo before Laura and Tyson moved, but obviously that didn't happen, until their first visit back!
Here are just some of the few that the photographer put on her blog....







The name of our photographer was Ashley McFarlane. She was great, and got some good shots in a short/cold period of time. Here's her blog and more info on her.....http://ashleymcfarlanephotography.blogspot.com/