Eagle Center

On Saturday we finally made the trip to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha.  We have been trying to get here since last fall when we first found out that they had an eagle center in Wabasha.  They do a presentation all about eagles a few times a day and the one other time that we tried to go we missed the last show by just a few minutes and we decided it wasn't worth paying to go in if we couldn't see the show and I am glad that we waited and tried again.  It was, by far the best part of the the whole thing.  Here we are posing with Was'aka.

(All of the birds that they have there have been injured somehow and can't live in the wild because they can't fly or can't see well enough to hunt for food so they keep them there to help educate people. )

They have lots of kid friendly exhibits in the center and we spent about an hour going through them while we waited for the show to start.  They had a place where you can see the eagles up close 

angel

donald (he's the only golden eagle)

columbia

harriet

and Was'aka

This was really cool, at one point when we were in this room, angel started calling out and that started all the other birds calling out too.  The handlers said that she could see another wild eagle somewhere out the window and that she was warning them to stay away because this was their territory.  

Here are Jake, Abbie and Ashton reading about each different eagle. 

The program was pretty cool, the guy was pretty entertaining and keep everyone laughing, even if sometimes it was grudgingly.  He picked Lexie out of the crowd to help with part of the presentation.  

(as you can see she was a bit reluctant at first)

He was comparing the size of human eyes to the size of eagle eyes compared to the size of our bodies.  

Her sunglasses are the size that an eagle would need.  Then he had her read an "eye chart" with the glasses on.  It read "I can't see a thing" and he made a funny joke about it.  

He passed around a bunch of stuff for us to look at, an eagle skull, some feathers, tons of pictures and a pair of the gloves that they use when holding an eagle.  Then the real fun began, he brought out an eagle and to feed while we got to watch.

He let the audience pick who we wanted to see eat, and we picked Harriet.  Which ended up being a good choice because the birds are really smart, and she knows that on Sundays they get rat for their food, and apparently that tastes really good to eagles because sometimes they won't eat very much on Saturday because they are waiting for the rat the next day.  Well she was pretty picky about what she would eat and didn't eat much (as they expected) so then they brought out Was'aka instead.  He hasn't been there very long and still eats like a wild eagle.  If they give him food he is going to eat every bit because his instinct tells him that he doesn't know when he will get more food.  So we got to watch two birds eat instead of one.  

here she is turning down the food he is trying to give her...

and here she is eating some of it.  

Here is Was'aka with his wings spread.  (The handler didn't do this with Harriet because she had only half of her left wing because she was hit by a car) It was pretty cool. And he gobbled up every piece of food that he was offered.  

and then promptly took a bath when he was finished....

and here the kids are posing with angel right before we left.  

We ended up buying a membership because the kids had such a good time so that we can go back again and again.  Oh, and my point and shoot camera broke right in the middle of the presentation so I had to switch to my cell phone camera.  I was not a happy camper.  At least we have another one, we have lots of camera around this place....

Frozen Lake Pepin

With outage schedule in full force around our house, we don't get to see a whole lot of Jake right now.  He has Saturdays off and we have been trying to do something fun as a family to make the most of the time we do get together.  This last Saturday we didn't really have a plan for what we were going to do, but just wanted to get out of the house.  So we started driving not really having a destination (sometimes that is the best kind of drive, at least in my opinion).  We ended up driving around Lake Pepin.  It sure is a different drive in the winter verses the summer or fall when the roads are absolutely crazy with other cars.  And you can see the river much better since the trees have no leaves.
Anyway, when we got around to Maiden Rock on the Wisconsin side we could see tons of people out ice fishing on the lake.  Jake found the boat dock that the people were using to get out on the ice and drove us out too.  At first we just parked on the side of the lake and walked a little ways out onto the ice with the kids.  Abbie was scared to death, when we parked the car we were on the ice and we told the kids that and to be careful because it would probably be slippery.  Abbie would not move once she was out on the ice.  She was sure that she was going to fall right in.

Here she is tip-toeing around because she was scared.

Here is her smile to prove that after some convincing she had a good time running around out there too just like the other kids.  

It was a bright sunny day as you can tell and we had a hard time getting good pics of the kids because no matter which way you looked it was too bright.  

This is one of my favorites they were trying so hard to help me get a good one.  Too bad all I had was my phone to take pictures with.

But we did manage at least one decent one.  

I took one of Jake since everybody we saw looked at him like he was crazy, but then he gets that a lot here because he always wears shorts unless he is at work.  

And he took one of me when I was trying to take one of him.  

Here are a few more of the kids running around like crazy people.  Good thing all of the ice fishers were way out there still because the kids were being totally crazy.

After playing around for a while, we loaded back into the car.  Then Jake drove us further out onto the ice and I have to admit I was nervous being that far out on the water in the car, I don't know why exactly but I didn't like being in the car out on the ice.  Being on foot felt much safer, but I'm sure it really is.  

With no real plans we ended up with a really fun afternoon.  The kids have already asked if and when we can do it again.  I don't know if we will get another chance this winter, it is just too warm.  The ice won't stay thick enough for much longer.  

One last picture from our day.  Jake had on his toes shoes and when I noticed his footprints I had to take a picture of one.  It looks like someone was walking around barefoot.

Snow Fun

This winter has been a little light on the snow.  There have only been a couple of snowfalls that have actually amounted to something the kids could actually go out and play in.  I'm told that this winter is extremely mild for Minnesota and not to get too comfortable because next winter will be much worse.  All I have to say is "we'll see".   We had a snow storm at the end of January that finally amounted to enough snow to play in.  The kids excitedly bundled up for a fun afternoon in the snow.  They had a great time trying to build an igloo.

I even let them use my bread pans to make the ice bricks for the igloo.  Too bad there wasn't nearly enough snow.

I told Ashton he had to hold still so I could get a picture of him.  This is what I got, not exactly what I had in mind, but at least he isn't blurry like he was in most of the others.... 

My rosy cheeked girl.  

They stayed outside for a couple of hours.  But even Abbie never complained about being cold.  

Gratitude

I read this quote on another blog the other day and it really stuck out to me.  Sometimes I feel like I focus in on the things that I don't have WAY too much and forget to be thankful for the things that I DO have.  Just thought I would share....

Gratitude is a quality I have found in every happy person I know. It is a quality that instantly makes a person more likable and more at peace. Where there is an abundance of this virtue, there is happiness. Where there is an absence of this virtue, there is often sadness, resentment and futility .... If we only look around us, there are a thousand reason for us not to be happy ... the more we focus on the things we don't have, the more unhappy and more resentful we become.  -- Joseph B. Wirthlin (Live in Thanksgiving Daily, Ensign, September 2001)

Something Green

It may be winter in Minne"snow"ta but something green is growing in my house. (That sounds a little scary I know, but it's a good thing) I got a small herb garden from "santa" and just couldn't wait until spring to plant my seeds.  I figured they would be inside and protected from the cold so they should grow, right?

Yup, they grew!! I am so happy that I have a little something green in my house since everything around looks like the background in this picture.  Gray and white.  Now I can have fresh cilantro, basil and oregano whenever I want.  Well, maybe not yet, but definitely soon.  It makes me happy to have a little green these days, can't wait for spring to come.  Too bad I'm told it isn't very close yet....

Last Meal

A spur of the moment shopping indulgence during my last grocery shopping trip turned into a fun family tradition that we started Wednesday night.  Normally I go to the grocery store with as few people as possible because that translates into less money spent.  Less kids begging for things = Less junk in the cart.  But Tuesday, Jake had the day off and he, Abbie and I headed out to the store.  We were browsing the meat section looking for any good deals we could find on beef, when Jake happened upon some crab legs that were on sale.  We decided to go ahead and splurge this once since we hardly ever eat food like because it costs so dang much.  Then I had to come up with a way to fit it into our dinner menu. (That I had already planned out for the next weeks)  Not to hard, but still.  Then the perfect plan came to me.  Why not have a fun "last meal" before Jake has to start on the outage schedule at the power plant.  That is happening next week, he will be working 6 days a week, 12 1/2 hours a day (that ends up being 75 hours a week) until the first part of April.  Working that much leaves little time for anything else and the kids really end up missing their dad by the end.
So Jake and I have decided that right before each outage at the plant we will have one super fun meal like this.  A "last meal" of sorts to celebrate family meals together until work slows down and life returns to normal....  And boy was it ever a hit with the kids.  They ate every last bit of crab they could dig from the shells.

It was a fun night and I can't wait to come up with what we will do for the next "last meal" I only have 6 months or so to come up with an idea.

Hello COLD!

Well I think that we have finally arrived at Minnesota cold.  The weather thus far has been far from what the people of this great state have warned us over and over again.  It has dipped into the single digits once or twice and been below zero at night too, but we had 50 degree days in December... are you kidding me people that was NOT cold.  Oh, just you wait they all said, it's coming...  Well "it" finally arrived today, or more appropriately last night.  Here is a picture of the weather widget on my phone, there are no words to describe seeing those numbers for the temperature outside.  Especially the "feels like."

This picture was taken at about 7:00 am as we were getting kids ready for school.

The Year in Review 2011 (the second half)

The first half of the year was the easy half, this post has so much emotion attached to it that is is going to be hard to write.  Sorry in advance if you think I say too much.  Well here it goes.

July
We originally thought that we would be moving sometime around the middle of the month, but them ended up pushing back our move date a whole month so we ended up having more time to do some more last visits this month.  Probably the hardest was our last trip to Vernal to see my grandparents.

The kids rode horses and four wheelers and had a great time.  While Mom tried to soak up the feeling of being at Grandmas's houses just a little more, knowing that it would be a long time before I was going to be back.

My brother, Rhett, and his family came from Texas for a visit and the kids had fun hanging out with cousins they don't get to see very much.  

We celebrated Josh's birthday a little early while they were here with a giant blow up water slide thing in my parents backyard.  It was lots of fun and the kids played all day.  My mom hurt her shoulder though and ended up having to have surgery later.  

It was nice to get that extra month to hang out with family and friends that we would soon be leaving.

August

August brought the dreaded and anticipated moving day.  It was hard to leave family, friends and our home of the last seven years, but knowing that we would be with Jake made it all worth it.   It was weird to see my house full of boxes after the packers were finished.  

We also had to find out sweet dog, Ginger, a new home because she couldn't come with us. That was an emotional day, she ended up going home with one of the ladies that came to pack our house.  

here she is with the kids a few days before that.

Although we left a lot we had a GREAT thing waiting for us in Minnesota.  Jake!!  We took 3 days to make the trip since it was just me and the kids.  First stop was Matin's Cove in Wyoming.  Too bad we got to visit on a Sunday, most things were closed, but it was still fun.  

Our next big stop was Mt. Rushmore.  

That was pretty cool.  It was super busy and we were pretty tired but I'm glad we stopped.  

Adjusting to Minnesota was and is challenging.  When asked how we like it the best answer we have come up with is that it is different.  Everything is different: climate, landscape, culture everything.  It's not bad, just different.  It was so good to finally be with Jake that no one minded that we had to sleep on either the ground or an air mattress the first night.  

The movers had the truck unloaded in less than 4 hours and then came the daunting task of unpacking everything and finding new homes for it all.

Sometimes, even 5 months later I feel like some things still need to be rearranged.

September

September brought Ashton's birthday, he turned 6.  His was the first to be celebrated far from the rest of our family.  It was strange, but still good. 

It also brought the first day of school for both Lexie and Ashton.  Which meant big changes for both of them. 

 Lexie is in 6th grade, middle school here.  She had 7 classes each day-way different from being in elementary school.

My "little" kindergartener.  Ashton has all day kindergarten which is not what we are used to.  But it had been really good for him so far.  He looks so scared in this picture, but I think he was more excited than anything.  He had been waiting for this day for a LONG time.

September also found us exploring our new home.  We drove the river a few times which was amazing every time, found parks to play at and got a general feel for our new home.

October

In October we were still exploring our new home.  We had the fun challenge of figuring out how to watch conference when it isn't broadcast on a major TV station.  We don't have cable tv at our house so we decided the best would be to watch it over the internet.  I am so thankful for technology because it let us hear and see our prophet just like we would have back in Utah (and it lets us see and talk to our family too.)  

I also found out I was expecting. 

We celebrated Halloween with all the usual actives.  

gotta love that face...

getting to set off trick or treating.

Things seemed to be going so well, then November came....

November

November was not a kind month to me.  I had just come to terms with being pregnant again when I found out that we had lost the baby and we would not be adding another child to our family.  The shadow came then and stayed with me for most of the rest of the year.  It was hard being far from family through the holidays.  

This was the one and only picture I took in November, of Abbie so excited the first time that it snowed.  She couldn't even wait to get dressed before donning her snow boots and going out in it.  Even if was only a little. 

December

December came with the rush of the holidays.  Usually, this is my favorite time of year, but this year I found myself just going through the motions trying to make it good for the kids but not really enjoying myself.  It didn't help that I smack dab in the middle of getting primary stuff ready for next year (I was called to be the second counselor back in November) and still trying to find my way out of the shadows.  

Here's a few pictures of what we did.

 we decorated...

made cookies, cookies and more cookies.

Santa came, 

and we built more Legos than I care to admit.  

While this year had it's struggles and challenges, we trusted in the Lord and learned a lot along the way.  We've settled into our new home and are ready for more adventures to come our way.