Winter Camp

Ben went on his first winter boy scout camp this weekend.  Nate was a good dad and went with him. They spent the night at Crystal Springs.  I was worried that they were going to freeze, but they both said it wasn’t too bad.  The highlights for Ben were going down the waterslide at the hot springs, roasting pizza over the fire, playing truth or dare in the tent, and having a snowball fight in the morning.

I had a bunch of Box Tops to count, so that was how the girls and I spent most of our time while the boys were gone.  On Friday night we watched random TV shows, including Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie (which the girls loved), and played Yahtzee.  Emily rolled two Yahtzees and won with 354 points.  Saturday, we had an Anne of Green Gables marathon while we finished counting Box Tops.  We’ve watched the movies once before, but the girls really loved them this time.  That makes me happy.  Sunday morning I was putting on make-up and Abby came in and started pinching her cheeks to make them pink.  She learned that trick from Emily who learned it from Anne.

12 Year Old Ben

Ben turned 12 years old on Saturday.  He had “the best birthday ever!”  The fun started on Friday night.  The girls watched movies in our bedroom while Nate and I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with Ben.  He loved the movie and we loved having some one-on-one time with him.  We kept up our birthday balloon tradition, but Ben was still awake at 11:30 when we snuck in his room to hang the balloons so they weren’t really a surprise in the morning.  Oh well.  It’s the thought that counts.  Since his birthday fell on Saturday, he got to open his presents first thing in the morning.  He got everything on his list.  We gave him a new Nerf gun, Nerf darts, a bathrobe, the LOTR Attack on Weathertop Lego set, LOTR piano music, and the Lego LOTR Wii game.  He got a new scooter from Grandpa and Grandma Nelson and the Shelob Attacks Lego set and a framed “Put on the Armor of God” picture from Grandma Reatha.  He couldn’t have been happier with his gifts.  He spent most of the day building Legos and playing his new game on the Wii.  We headed out for linner at Arby’s and then went to Toad’s for some laser tag.  Toad’s was super crowded, but we got in a couple of games of laser tag and some arcade time before heading home.  We finished the night with white chocolate macadamia nut FH’zookies with eggnog ice cream (a repeat of Ben’s birthday treat from last year) and the kids watched Despicable Me and had a slumber party in the movie room.  Ben was a little disappointed that we hadn’t worked any friend time into the schedule, but he got over it.  Sometimes I forget that it is normal for kids to think that spending time with friends is lots better than spending time with family.

Ben was ordained a deacon after church on Sunday.  He invited Nate’s parents and my mom and brother and sisters to come to his ordination.  There were six people in the circle . . . Nate, Bishop Briggs, Bishop Foulger (Ben’s scout leader/inspiration), Grandpa Nelson, Uncle Karl, and Uncle Shane.  We were going to have everyone over for dinner after, but with sickness and other commitments it didn’t work out.  We settled for a nice, low effort evening with our little family.  It was a big day for Ben.  He’s super excited to get to pass the sacrament on Sunday and to go do baptisms for the dead next week.  I’m looking forward to seeing him learn and grow as he takes on more responsibility.  I’m glad that he has Nate as a role model. 

We finished up birthday celebrations with dinner at Firehouse Pizzeria on Tuesday.  Logan is a long way to go for a birthday dinner, but the food was so yummy.  We had a great time and left completely stuffed.  We listened to a talk (Tour De Family) by John Bytheway on the way up and back.  It was a good way to pass the time and the whole family enjoyed/learned from it.

We sure love our Ben.  He is certainly never boring and he keeps us on our toes, but he is a good kid with a good heart.  We’re hoping he’ll be patient with us as we stumble through this new territory of raising an almost-teenager.  

Skiing

Nate took Ben, Emily, and Elise skiing on Thursday night.  On paper it was the perfect time to go.  It was an early out day at school and there was no school on Friday.  Plus, there was a brief break in the cold snap on Thursday.  It worked out mostly great.  Along with the warmer weather came one of the biggest snow storms of the year.  The wind and snow made for less than ideal skiing conditions for the first couple of hours, but the rest of the night was good.  The kids really love skiing with their dad and they are getting better and better every time.  There always seems to be a little drama when they go.  This time it was Elise’s cold hands/feet (again), Emily twisting her knee, and Nate leaving the girls in the lodge for 38 minutes (they kept track) to warm up while he and Ben did a couple of runs up the big hill.  Drama aside, they had a really fun night together.

Abby and I had big plans of what we were going to do while they were gone.  Our first stop was to get haircuts.  Then we were going to do some shopping and go out to dinner.  The storm started just as we were leaving and by the time we got to our hair appointment, I realized that we probably should have just stayed home.  The roads we so bad that we tossed all of our other plans out the window.  When our hair was done, we headed to Jody’s house.  We stayed there for a couple of hours and seriously considered just spending the night.  In the end, we decided to brave the roads and come home.  I don’t think I got past 35 mph on the freeway.  There was so much snow on the road that I couldn’t see any lane lines.  Luckily, Abby wasn’t the least bit concerned about our safety and she jabbered on and on the whole way home.  I was glad she was there to keep me company and keep me calm.  I was double glad when Nate and the kids made it home off the mountain an hour later.  I love the feeling of having everyone safe and warm under the same roof when it is wintery outside.