Snow Day *with an amendment

Here's the thing with Colorado Springs winters. They don't start until March! Seriously. It's weird. We've spent all January and February wondering where the winter was and now that we're in the mood for shorts and capris the snow starts coming.

I must say, though, we need the moisture. And it's not so bad! This weekend a major storm warning was issued and they basically shut down the city. Landon's football game was canceled for the second week in a row due to snow. Really, all the news stations were telling people not to drive unless absolutely necessary. It wasn't bad at all during the day when temps were just above freezing (which is HOT compared to Iowa snow storms, by the way!) It wasn't even too bad at night. The roads were slushy but not super icy.

We took advantage of a break in the snow fall when the sun was shining and you can still see grass coming out of the snow. This was no MAJOR snow storm but it was fun! I have to admit, it did snow for two days straight and we had a ten minute down pour of hail and thunder and lightening so I guess the weather man was right, a little bit!

Austin spent the day making snow angels and sledding down our "bunny hill". I wanted Landon to come out too, but his friend was over and "not so respectfully" declined the invitation to come out. So Landon missed out for a day of Legos. Oh well. I'm sure there'll be other snow! But I was missing him. I've decided next time, I'll just drag the friend outside or send him home!
Austin's new favorite thing to do - ask me to take his picture and then run away just when I'm about to shoot it. He screams, "April Fools Day!! ha ha ha". It's funny and really quite annoying! So this is one I snapped when he stopped to see if I still had the camera out.

Zacky-boy got to wear his new boots. He LOVED them, until he tried to walk in them. I felt bad for him because he did have a hard time walking. To make matters worse he would NOT leave his gloves on. So every time he picked up his ball he screamed, "COUDE, COUDE!!!" (COLD, COLD). And then he'd throw it, then he'd want it back and run after it and end up like this:

"COUDE! COUDE!"

So we cleared off the walkways and let him stand on the cement with his shovel. It worked out much better.

*Amendment to our Snow Day*

So I posted this early this morning and this is what we did after dinner today:

Go figure. It was 62 degrees and the snow was almost completely melted. Crazy.

{a little side story: Notice the Hotwheels bandaid on Zac's forhead? Isn't it pretty?! For some reason Isaac just doesn't watch where he is going. He runs into walls, chairs and other furniture all the time. He doesn't realize that when he turns his head his feet keep going forward. This morning he got a big gash on his head when he ran into Austin's metal bed frame. It's pretty deep and long so we're trying to prevent a nasty scar with bandaids and neosporin. It's just too bad I only had Hotwheels ones left. I bet people at church had a good laugh at that!}

"PuFfY" Pancakes

(or German Pancakes - but Cameron objects to calling them that since he says, "they have NOTHING like that in Germany.")

These yummy treats have adorned our breakfast table for Conference Weekend and Easter Sunday. Since we don't get out of church until 4:00 I've been trying to give my family BIG Sunday breakfasts and a quick snack before church. This is our family's new favorite. Here's the recipe:

{Puffy} Pancakes

6 eggs

1 C flour

1 C milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 - 2 TBS melted butter

{optional ing. that I always add}

1 tsp vanilla

2 TBS sugar

1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

Mix everything except butter in blender until smooth. Pour melted butter into a 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish; add the batter. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Top with favorite pancake toppings. We like smashed strawberries and powdered sugar. It's great with regular maple syrup too. We think this tastes like French Toast, without the bread. YUM!

Announcement Time...

We know!! We are going to Mountain Home Idaho! It's 45 min from Boise. This is bitter sweet because we love all our Colorado friends but it makes it so much sweeter knowing that prayers were answered. I know I was a little dramatic (I wrote Friday's post when my emotions were a little high!). I don't know why but I've never been so nervous and worried about anything like this before. I feel good about it though.

Finally! We can get on with LIFE!

Happy Easter!!

This Easter weekend was GREAT! My Dad and "the girls" (when we say "the girls" we all know we are talking about Sasha and Alina) came from Utah. We have been so lucky to have so much family come lately.
We took some time on Sunday for a little mini-photo shoot:

Isaac was having WAY more fun running around than being a supermodel. See that blur in the bottom right corner? That's his shoulder!

Finally. Got a good one!

Dad and girls came Friday night. They got here just in time to scarf down some dinner and head out to our ward talent show with us. I let the boys decide what they wanted to do in the show. Landon wanted to do a magic trick. He put three pins in a baloon witout it popping (thanks Kerri Whitney for the idea and the "how to"). He was hillarious. To show that pins were real he touched each one with his finger and said, "ouch, that hurts!" once the pins were in he jumped around showing off the balloon and then ran off stage. And the only picture I got was this one because he was being so silly!

Austin was hillarious too. He wanted to do summersaults. A friend of his wanted to dance so the two of them decided to do it together. Austin didn't end up doing anything but standing with his head down behind his friend, Tyler. Somehow, though, it was still adorable.

Sasha ran up on stage to help Austin out. He still didn't dance, or do a summersault, but at least he wasn't feeling alone up there. Tyler, was so dang cute. He had the best "monkey" moves. The two of them together were pretty funny because they were such opposites.

We spent Saturday shopping for the rest of our Easter treats, making cupcakes, and dying eggs. We also went to see Monsters vs. Aliens. The kids ate two movie BUCKETS of popcorn. I was quite impressed with that. In fact, Isaac didn't stop eating the ENTIRE movie. That kid can pound popcorn and candy; it's crazy. (and it keeps him quiet!)

We woke up to "puffy pancakes" for breakfast and snow out the window on Sunday morning. "Natives" of the Springs say that you can count on snow every spring break and Easter weekend. We got it both times. It's a little weird though. Everytime we get Utah visitors we get big snow storms.

Everyone was happy with their Easter baskets. Austin went through his basket and exclaimed, "how did the Easter Bunny know this is just what I wanted?!" (he would be happy with anything!) Landon found his basket and immediately started putting his lego set together. When Isaac spotted his basket he just sat down and said, "mmmmm" and piled in the candy as fast as he could. Alina was more than happy that she finally got Eclipse - yes she, too, is an Edward fan. And Sasha was excited about the three books she got.

After church we came home to scalloped potatoes, ham, and deviled eggs. Even Austin liked them. I forgot to pull the rolls out the freezer so I was a little sad but nobody else cared. We had a great, relaxing evening and woke up this morning to tear-filled good-byes. We love these short mini-vacations with our family. It makes a perfect weekend!

Well that {SUCKS}

I know I tell my kids they aren't allowed to say that word but in this case there's just no there word - actually a stronger word{s} came to mind first.

For those of you waiting with baited breath to find out where the military is sending us - take a breath and keep waiting! No, I'm really not kidding. Cameron just called and there's issues they are still working out on assignments so... no news until sometime next week.

But wait... there's more - *said sarcastically joyful* The hangups with the assignments are due to the fact that the list we ranked was not the FINAL list. Yep, ya heard right. Apparently, they want to distribute dentists a little more evenly so they changed the list after we turned in our ranked choices. They are making assignments based on a list that none of us has even seen. So, now it's just a big grab bag of choices. Neat, huh?

The silver lining in all this is maybe they put some "better" options on the new list. Problem is, we didn't get to rank so how do they know we'd want to go there? The bureaucracy in the Air Force kills me, seriously.

Like my Aunt Kim says, "just put all the worry in a little [make-believe] balloon and LET IT GO." Okay, Kim I'll try but right now I'm just P.O.'d!

just a few personal thoughts that you may or may not want to know:
{I know to some of you this may be no big deal - it is an adventure, after all. And, obviously the military looks out for #1 and not for some lowly Captain's family - I get it. I know. But it doesn't make it easier for me.
I think about where my kids will be at the end of the next four years - Landon will be in fifth grade. So close to Jr. High when friends become more important than parents. I just want him to grow up in a place where he will be happy, and safe, and confident, and well adjusted. Yes, I know that mostly depends on Cameron and I but where we live and the influences the kids are around really does make a difference too. I just get so nervous about the unknown. And this waiting for months on end to find out where we are going is wearing me out. I have faith in God and know He really does have a plan for us. The bottom line is I know we will be taken care of if we follow 1) personal revelation and answer to prayer through the Holy Ghost, 2)the teachings in the scriptures, and 3) the counsel from our church leaders - coming off Conference weekend I am bolstered with a new commitment to doing what's right. The knowlege that Heavenly Father cares about these "little" things gives me hope. But none-the-less I worry. (and please don't tell me there's people out there that have it SO much worse than me and it's just moving, not disease or death or some other horrible thing. I know that. I'll deal.) Really there is nothing I can do about it so... I gues I'll give into the adventure... tomorrow. Today I just want to be mad.}

Thanks for the Visit

Grandpa and Grandma Perigo came to see us a few weeks ago. We had a great time. Although, most of our plans were "postponed" due to Cameron's PRK surgery recovery (who knew getting your eyes fixed was so painful - but three weeks later Cameron can finally says it was worth it) we still managed to do some fun things. And just hanging out was great too.

Thanks for coming. Thanks discovering that little bear museum for us. Thanks for teaching us how to make "octopus" hot dogs. Thanks for the walks. Thanks for all the frisbee. Thanks for the notebooks and drawing the horse on the front page (Austin has brought it for show and tell and brought it to two friend's houses to show off his drawing of a horse {aka Grandma Perigo's horse sketch). Thanks for taking Landon to the bus stop a few times - that made him feel special. Thanks for helping Cameron with the kids while I went to Utah. Thanks for taking Cameron to all of his appointments. Thanks for teaching us how to play chess. Thanks for scrubbing the cupboards - and introducing me to Old English varnish (they look SO much better). Thanks for sticking up for me when Cameron didn't like my haircut. Thanks for endless stories and games of "ball". Thanks for spending time with the kids. They loved every second.

The sad part about people coming over is they always have to leave. It's always rough when our families go back home.

P.S. Tomorrow is the day we are "supposed" to find out where we are going. Cameron's office has a huge map with colored pins for each resident in each of the bases offered. The word is that they are going to take the pins out through out the day and by the end there will be 5 pins representing where each guy/girl is going. *cue execution music* {I'll tell you as soon as I know-after they pick me up off the floor and give me an oxygen mask}

Families are Forever

Sasha and Alina: my {SISTERS}

I just LOVE them!!

In the bible, Matt. 16:19 it says "and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven". My family had the opportunity to bind these girls to us forever in the temple this past weekend. We had a wonderful experience.

We Latter Day Saints ("Mormons") go to the temple, not to be married until "death do us part" but to be sealed together as families for eternity. Since Sasha and Alina were adopted they needed to be sealed to my parents. Our family gathered together to witness this awesome event. After the girls were sealed to my parents my brother and I and our parents and sisters were able to stand together in the temple. The feelings I had can't be really described. Except to say that I was overwhelmed with peace and joy and gratitude for my family, including Cameron and the kids; and gratitude for a loving, all-knowing Heavenly Father who truely knows His children and truely, truely loves them.

The girls have had to over come so much in their short lives. Sasha is still haunted, at times, of some of what she had to endure as a little kid in Ukraine. This past year she has grown up so much and really changed her attitude about a lot of things. I'm so proud of her. I'm proud that she is working hard to overcome her past and make good choices. I'm happy that she is making steps to really understand the blessings of the gospel.

And I'm so thankful to Mom and Dad for following all those whispers of the Holy Ghost telling them it was time to get two more kids. I know it hasn't been easy to have both their kids grown-up and gone and then sort of "start over" with two more. And it's never easy having "pre-teen" girls and all the craziness that goes along with that. (I can only imagine!!) Thank you for everything you do for them and for me.

My family feels more complete and happy. I love being with them. I love going to the temple and feeling that special spirit there. The fullness of the gospel is a wonderful blessing in my life.

These girls were SO happy. They were smiling the entire time. They loved picking out their dresses and white bows. After the sealing they didn't want to take off their dresses. We went outside for pictures and they just wanted to twirl around like princesses.

just missing Cam and the kids

I love this picture. I think we all look alike. Sasha and Alina definitely belong to our family...


And a special thank you and shout out to Gary and Sharlene - Cameron's parents. They stayed to help Cameron recover from his PRK surgery and help take care of the kids while I was gone. Plus they came early to hang out with me while Cameron was in Atlanta. We've had a great time with them. It's always so fun when we get visitors. Pictures from their visit to come...