thanksgiving day bike ride 2011

i guess it was actually labor day last year when we got the bikes out and went for a ride around my parents neighborhood, but either way, we had fun re-creating our photos from that day last year.

i probably should have used the bathroom before we left because i almost peed my pants on at least 3 occasions. From chasing down rogue deer, my inability to kick my bike up like a bad ass 'bmx'er AND my inability to lift a bike up over my head, i came a little too close to having to run into the desert to 'water the cactus'.

here's what we got out of our photo shoot. jeremy's face in the last 4 pictures cracks me up, he was REALLY getting in to the shot. I literally had to pretend i was an actor for the 'over the head' bike pics, i had a job to do and i could not let the crew down by giggling and peeing. guess it helped because i even managed to get the bike over my head AND stand on one leg! ha!

'so i put my right foot on the pedal and my left foot, where? what?'


when you see me start to fold in half like this while i'm laughing, chances are, i'm about to pee.


all right, this works. just like last year!


again with the bike trick, maybe if joshua wedges a rock under my wheel it will work...it didn't.


say cheese...


if you see me fold up into this position, there's no doubt about it, i'm about to pee.


mid fold...consumed with laughter.


heck ya, we did it! jenny gets a super star A for effort. our bikes were insanely heavy.


my inner yogi and jeremy's inner metal dude take over.



***and seester! what a difference a camera makes, huh? so much better than last year!***

easter & a mini road trip

I like easter. I like to sit outside and eat lamb with mint jelly. I like to watch Espen hunt for eggs. I like the weather. Last easter I got sick and ended up throwing up while my dad was over after dinner trying to help me hang a headboard I made while Jeremy was in CA. This year I was healthy, happy and had a great day with my family and a fun night in Tucson with Jeremy.

{acid mothers temple, tucson}

ornaments/christmas

...about Christmas

I made some ornaments...

I put twice as many lights on the tree...

Coco watched over us from the top...

Jeremy and I took a few lover photos on Christmas eve, but I missed him in one of them...

I got a Keurig machine for Christmas from the twins...

happy new year

Last year we had without a doubt the craziest new years ever. I'm sure you've heard me tell the story and/or seen the videos. All I wanted to do was stay home last year but instead we went out and it was terrible.

This year was going to be our year to stay at home, cuddle with Espen (who we've only spent one new years eve with) and lay low. My parents had Espen at their house for one last visit before his winter break was over and the plan was to pick him up from there house and head up north to play in the snow. Now, my parents house got hit pretty hard with snow this year and we could have easily stayed around their house in Yarnell but we thought we'd try Prescott for a change of scenery. After about an hour of driving up crazy switch backs with snow everywhere we finally made it to Prescott around 3:30. How cute is Prescott, by the way? The center of town and the county court house building looked amazingly quaint and the snow and people all bundled up made me want to immediately plan a weekend trip up there. I'm not sure how it happened but Jeremy said we were going to head to Flagstaff without even looking for a place in Prescott to play in the snow. So, I plugged in the info on the navigation and off we went. I was desperately watching the clock because our navigation told us we'd be in Flagg in over an hour and a half and I wasn't sure we'd make it there in time to a) play in the snow and b) make it home in time for a relaxing night at home...well, it turns out I was right. We didn't reach Flagstaff till 5pm. We passed the main part of town and headed towards Wing Mountain, to try to find a snowy spot that we pulled off and played in last year. We couldn't find the old spot so we pulled off in another just long enough for me to use the most disgusting/frozen/stinky public/park restroom. At this point I was getting anxious. I'm normally the kind of girl to just roll with things and make the best of a situation but this time was different. All year I was looking forward to being home on new years, my monthly bitch from hell decided to visit that day (and if you know me then you know that I become completely useless), I was cold and starving. Jeremy talked me down from my mild freak out and the next thing you know we were checking in to a crappy Super 8, ordering pizza & wings and settling into our new digs. We thought at some point we were going to be able to stop by Jeremy's parents on the way home from playing in the snow so we brought a bottle of Glogg to give them and thank god we did, we immediately opened the bottle and started to drink! Espen was asleep by 10:30 and while Jeremy & I waited till midnight to arrive we watched bad Mexican new years countdowns, flipped between Harry Potter and Road Trip and a couple of times, fought the cold long enough for me to grab a quick smoke. By 8pm it was 0 degrees out and by midnight it 10 below. At midnight we watched the ball drop on TV, snuck out for one last smoke and an impromptu photo shoot with my camera (who's battery was about to die since I didn't think we'd be gone all day, I had only charged it half way, ugh).

In the end, after all of my complaining and freaking out about not having a relaxing new years at home we ended up having one of the best new years ever and from now on, we're thinking about heading out of town every year, next year...El Tovar at the Grand Canyon! And, it turned out that staying the night totally worked in our favor. The next morning after weathering the -17 degree temperature, we ate a not so yummy continental breakfast and headed out to Wing Mountain, but I'll save that for another post.









{espen & his icicle or what he calls 'obstacles'}

{before we left Yarnell my dad asked jeremy to help him drag his canoe up a hill on the side of their house and tried to ride it down, somewhat unsuccessfully}

{family portrait with our pizza}

{zero}

{super 8 is totally fun}

{super 8 is totally metal}

{ugh, so mad that jeremy made his weird tongue/eye face and what a lovely background, chevron}

{new years kiss}

{happy new year, it's effing cold out}

{by the time we woke up it, this is what we had to deal with}

How do you stay warm when it's below zero? Layers!!

christmas party, preschool style.

I love Espen's school. I love his teacher, Mrs. Caton. She is incredibly sweet and so good with the kids and she goes out of her way to make their first experience in a school setting so amazing. On Thursday she even sent each kid home with a present...Espen got a little toy truck and 3 books, including one that I watched her read to the students one day that I told her how much I loved. I'm not sure if every kid got a copy of the Gingerbread Man, but I like to think that she gave it to Espen because she knew how much he and I both liked it.

On Friday, the last day of school before winter break she had coordinated a little party for the kids. When Jeremy and I got there each group of kids was already having fun at their 'station'. They set up 5 stations for the kids to rotate through, from a math game with bingo stampers to making ornaments and jingle bell reindeer's the kids loved it! I am beyond thankful that Espen gets to have such a wonderful pre-k experience and it wouldn't be the same without Mrs. Caton.


{what an awesome project. these were in the office at Espen's school, not sure what class made them but they are hilarious. chia pet pine cones!}


{espen playing a numbers/bingo game}


{the gingerbread houses that the kids made, which we forgot to take home...which i almost cried about}

{this is sophie, espen's girlfriend. the are best buddies and talk about having crushes on each other. it's so cute. unfortunately sophie will not be going to the same elementary school next year, although i don't think espen will have too hard of a time finding a new girlfriend in kindergarten}

{making ornaments}


{waiting to be colored}


{espen's ornament}


{the kids artwork is displayed all over the classroom}


{jeremy in carpet time}


{espen thinking about what color glitter glue should go on his next ornament...and the adorable eugenio in the background. that boy is just the cutest kid}


{getting a little ornament decoration advise from dad}


{espen and the lovely sophie}


{a very proud espen and his reindeer}