Hamburger Cake?

The Cub Scout Blue and Gold dinner was scheduled for tonight, and in keeping with tradition from the Carnation Ward, the boys were supposed to decorate a cake for the cake decorating contest. Snow has been in the forecast for tonight, so I knew, if we went to all the work to bake and decorate the cake, they would cancel the dinner. But we went ahead and assembeled Ryan's Hamburger Cake this morning before school (after I checked one last time to see if there were any emails cancelling activities at the church tonight).

And of course, late this morning, they did cancel the dinner for tonight. So I guess, if we really do get the snow they are forecasting, and there is no school tomorrow, we'll have all the neighborhood kids come over for Hamburger Cake!

Skiing 101

Drew loves to ski. He skiied a lot in high school and college, and has had to put his love for skiing aside while we had lots of younger kids and no money. We still have no money =) but the 3 boys are old enough to learn to ski, and Drew dreams about his family skiing together.

Step 1: I need to learn to ski. The first time I skiied was about 17 years ago when Drew and I were dating - it didn't go so well. Valentine's Day weekend Drew and I got away to Wenatchee for the night and skied the next day at Stevens Pass. I actually started figuring this whole thing out and had a lot of fun.

Step 2: Teach the boys to ski. We took the boys to Snoqualmie Pass (in the middle of the biggest snowstorm the pass has seen since November!) for a day of skiing. We put the boys in classes in the morning, and let Drew do the crazy harder runs while I was happy on the bunny hills. After lunch with the boys, we all attemped to ski down an easy hill together. I realized, as we were about to the top of the chair lift, that Jared had no idea how to get off the lift, and couldn't reach the ground, so I just shoved him off and he kind of rolled down the off-ramp.

Halfway through the first run I wondered if we would every really figure this out. I thought we would be heading home soon because the boys would be too frustrated (Cameron had already decided to stay in the car after lunch instead of try to ski again.) Here I was trying to help teach one of the boys how to ski, but I still don't really know what I am doing or how to tell someone else what to do!

All of a sudden Drew yells, "Cameron is on the chair lift!" Cameron had decided to give this a try again, and headed out on his own to find us. I told Drew to try to work his way back up to the top to help Cameron, and Ryan and Jared and I would meet them down at the bottom. Like I said, not a pretty first run. I thought it might be time to call it a day. But all the boys stayed with it, and worked hard all afternoon, and got a lot better by the end of the day!

In the end, it turned out to be a successful first attemp at a family ski trip and we're now looking forward to doing it again!

(sorry I don't have any pictures - I've was too busy just trying to stay upright on my skiis!)

Snow Camp at Mount Rainier

We knew this day would eventually come - Cameron's first snow camp! The Big Rock and Duvall Ward Scouts headed to Mount Rainier to build snow caves or igloos and spend the night. Drew is an expert igloo builder, so I sent him with Cameron to make sure Cameron would survive the night. (Most of the other 12-year olds dads were also there - guess all us moms were worried about their boys up there on the mountain!) They had over 12 feet of snow to work with, so they set to work.

Starting the igloo

The neighborhood

Lunch goes to the birds (ignoring the sign that says, "Don't feed the birds!")

Home Sweet Home

Demolition the next morning

What a beautiful morning on Mount Rainier!

Drew said it took about 6 hours to build the igloo. About 4 pm on Friday a few scouts gave up and headed home. But Cameron and Drew stayed the night, staying mostly warm and kind of dry in the igloo. Drew thinks he slept for about 3 hours that night between Cameron asking ,"What time is it" and trying to get comfortable. Drew definately wins bonus points for this camping trip!

My little boy's not so little anymore!

Cameron turns 12 this weekend! He's excited, and I'm still in denial. Where did the past 12 years go, and am I really ready to be the mother of a pre-teen? We have a weekend of friends and video games, a basketball game and a family birthday party planned.

Cameron is a great kid. He's very sensitive, and is great with younger kids, especially Megan. He still loves video games, but he's also a good soccer and basketball player and playes the baritone and trumpet well. And he made the honor roll at school the first quarter this year - yeah! And I love having kids old enough to babysit!

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Merry Christmas!

We had a good Christmas this year, but I'm excited to put things away and get ready for 2011. Before I finish off Christmas for this year, I'll post a few pictures from our festivities. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve: The traditional reading of the Night Before Christmas in our new pjs!

Do these kids look ready for bed? Yeah right! Hurry or Santa will be here before you are asleep!

Cameron is excited...

And so is Jared (if you can find him hiding in all the wrapping!)

And just 4 days late, snow! Almost a White Christmas! Here Ryan is teaching Megan how to make a snow angel.

Duvall ended up with about 4 inches of snow. Perfect for playing in.

This weekend we are packing up and heading to Spokane for Drew's uncle's funeral. Drew's dad, Denny, is serving a mission in Romania for our church, and he is flying home for the funeral. So we are excited to see him this weekend. We all wish Grandma could come too, but we know we'll see her soon! (73 days, she said this morning!) Have a safe and Happy New Year!

SNOW!

After no snow last winter, we were all excited when the weather forecast predicted snow the week before Thanksgiving. And we were even more excited when it actually snowed! A whole 3 inches or so, but it was very cold and icy, so no school for 2 days right before Thanksgiving (the kids already had early release days due to parent teacher conferences). Perfect for sledding down our neighborhood hill. It was fun - all the neighborhood kids and the parents headed out for a beautiful morning of sledding and playing in the snow. If it snowed this early in the "winter", what are we in for this year? Bring it on!

On the way to his Eagle

Last night at our ward's Court of Honor, Cameron received his Scout, Tenderfoot, 2nd Class and 1st class rank advancements! He has worked hard this year, and had a great 11-year old scout leader who helped him get this far. We have heard that if Cameron could get through his 1st class by the time he turned 12, he would be well on his way to completing everything in time for his eagle. Now the fun begins with merit badges, lots of campouts and service projects. He is lookig forward to turning 12 in January!