Skiing at Sundance

We had hoped to get up early at like 7 and get out the door to go skiing at Sundance. If we left at 8, we could make it to Sundance when they opened at 9, but none of that happened. We were slow and kids were moping and  I had to threaten to take away all of Lily's books if she didn't come willingly, you know, the usual. We did eventually leave, and we got there around 11:30, and even though we missed a few hours, it was great. Corey stayed home with WDPK and I took all the girls plus Owen. Corey's been before (once with Pablo) but this was my first time at Sundance, and the first time for all the kids. It was great! Smaller than the resorts in the Cottonwood Canyons but it was just right for our kids I'd say. 

We parked in the upper parking lot D, hooray that it was free with 4 or more people (we had 7). So parked, I left with A&S who needed to use the bathroom, I got the resort passes, which was about 10 minutes with the wait in line and to get done for all 7 of us. Then the kids moved the car closer in lot E, which felt about the same, that's ok. Took me a few minutes to find them cause I had left my phone it the car with them. I left with Natalie and Owen and we took Jake's, then turned on Outlaw trail and took that. Natalie went through the trees, so did I, it was icy, Owen was behind us and fell and got stuck. Eventually made it out, we went to the Outlaw Express and we were on that for most of the day. Took one run and Natalie wanted to go faster than Owen and I were. We found Mel Lily Abi and Sophi and took a group pic before going out separate ways. 

Owen went with M&L, I went with ASN. 

And that was the groups for a while. 

It was pretty icy, so we didn't explore that much, cause we didn't want to fall and die. 

Went to the top of Outlaw and stayed on Broadway most of the time. 

We called each other a few times and did a few trades. Finally met up and waited for everyone so we could go over to check out Wildwood lift together. AND get a pic, of course!

There was not a lot of snow over there!

Lily said she was cold, tired, and done. She asked if she could go to the car. I said her ticket off of the mountain was a picture of her SMILING that I could send to Corey. So she said cheese...

And then she headed back to the car. I was with Natalie and Owen on one run near the end, they were both ahead of me, and they took a fork in the trail and went opposite directions! Owen was following Abi, who was going to the bathroom, Mel and Sophi were behind me, I was yelling at Natalie and Owen but neither of them heard me, so I followed Owen and then called Mel to tell her and Sophi to hurry and find Natalie, cause she was going to be turning around to see me and Owen only to find herself alone. They found her, Owen and I took Jakes, over to Outlaw, MASN all found each other for their last runs, I stayed with Owen and I let him lead the way. We did Outlaw and then Broadway down, he wanted to do Wildwood one more time. MASN were back at the car. We took a pic after getting off Wildwood, before our last run down the hill.

He was behind me, and I kept looking behind me to make sure he was still following me, and somehow as I went down forward while glancing backwards, I got my skis crossed or hit ice or I don't know, but I turned and fell backwards and downward and hit the back of my head on the ground really hard. And I am very grateful that I was wearing a helmet, cause it was icy hard and I could have been really hurt. I'm grateful that I didn't get a concussion or break my leg or anything. I had to get my skis off and hike up the hill to get my pole, but that was it. I'm grateful, and after that fall I was glad we were done and were heading home. Now that I've been to Sundance and know the logistics and the lay of the land, I think I could take Katharine and Peter during the day if I wanted to. That would be a little hard, cause Peter would go fast, but it looks like a great place to teach Katharine. Maybe I'll grab Mel in Provo and take her with us. Or if Corey was able to come. Would be fun. This morning Peter wanted to come skiing. We talked him into staying home and I promised to take him later. He had his Christmas Spiderman legos to keep him happy.

We picked up Joseph from Provo on our way home. He Mel and Ethan are spending one more night and then headed back to college life tomorrow night. It's been fun having them here for the winter break! After get Joseph and arriving home, Corey was ready for a break from Katharine, who was her usual clingy self for the entire 7 hours we were gone. He left to go get a little bit of work done at his dad's. Wes has been over there all day, he has three more classes to do to graduate! He's trying to finish by next Saturday. One week for 3 classes (60 hours each) We are praying for him. I took Abi to a friends house, Wes needed a break so I picked him up and we went climbing. Check out this new V4 he did! That video is at the end of our time climbing, and it was also the 4th time he did it. Pretty good Wes. Back home, Joseph and Mel had gone to the temple, I didn't make it to the temple this week, I went to pick up Owen from a friends house - they had a pizza and movie party. 

Then O and I went to store. Corey's dad is coming to dinner tomorrow, so I got a few things for that, like a green onion cheese ball and some tomato basil wheat thins, yum. Walking to and from the car to the store was so cold! There's a storm blowing in. I'm grateful to have a warm car and home and to not be sleeping outside in tents at Valley Forge or Martin's Cove. And one last update for today on wedding plans - Ethan and Bella decided March 9th up at Bountiful, and Sister C said morning, so the office was closed today but they'll call on Tuesday and see what time can get, but it's pretty much official that it will be March 9th at Bountiful. Exciting!

Cleaning and Wedding Plans

I've been doing a super good job cleaning today, yay. I'll spare you all the before and after photos, but I the kitchen pantry is nice and clean and organized now, including the spices; I cleaned the organized the books on my desk; cleaned my desk, put a little "WRIDE EST 1999" thing up on the wall that I got for Corey and myself for Christmas; and I cleaned Corey's side of our closet.

I guess that "getting organized" is always a new years goal of mine. Nicole and I talked a little bit about how to maybe make it manageable, so I'm going to try to do just our master bedroom first, with a goal to do a little each day and have it all done by the end of January, and then I just have to keep it clean. Should be simple enough! (ha) So it was a good day - I cleaned a lot, but need to blog and prepare for lesson on Sunday too. So excited that we are reading the Book of Mormon this year!! I got a pretty new Journal Edition of the Book of Mormon, so I'm excited to read and mark that up as we study this year. 

Having church at 11 will be nice. Lucky, my pet butterfly, is still alive and doing well. I'll spare you another photo of him - he looks the same and does the same stuff as usual - holding onto my sock and eating honey water. We went out to eat with Ethan and Bella tonight. We took them to India House, which is one of our favorites. 

We talked wedding plans. I texted Sister C yesterday to see if her husband could perform the sealing. E&B were thinking Payson temple, cause of the connection Payson has to JeNeal. They have felt that JeNeal has had a hand in their meeting and courtship <3 but Elder C can only do it if they do Bountiful or Jordan River. I thought doing it in Payson would be a lovely tribute to JeNeal, and then Ethan pointed out that Bountiful was where JeNeal had her accident, so that one is tied to JeNeal, too! And having an eternal marriage sealed there would be beautiful and give us all a new happy memory there. So it's not official yet, but they will probably be changing their plans from March 1st (Elder C isn't available that day) to March 9th in Bountiful. So that's exciting! 

More Meme Fun

Ethan and Bella were over tonight and the kids had fun playing What Do You Meme - Wride Edition. Here are some of my favorites from their game tonight! This cute picture of Katharine blowing milkweed fluff - 

"When you're bored, but you don't way it cause you don't want to clean" HA! Another option for that picture was "How it feels after watching reels for 2 hours" So funny. We all liked this one of Daniel and Brother Eakins. 

The winning line: "When dad brings special treats just for the girls and tells the boys to go get a job"

This cute photo of Lily and Katharine up at Park City, both looking somewhat disheveled: "When Dad adn Mom and their friends are talking in Spanish, and you head them mention your name, and they all laugh" or "When dad brings you to a fun place but all you want to do is go home"

Here is a fun picture of Ethan -

"When kids say they're full and insist they can't eat another bite, but then the ice cream comes out" 

Mel also set right to work making a few more quotes from the conversation exchanges that have been going on over Christmas break, like Hyrum being a little sad about his Christmas loot (or lack thereof!) ~ 

"When you complain about not having a magical Christmas/stockings but remember you're 23" ha! There were a lot of good ones that the kids put up for this photo of Hyrum... 

"How it feels trying to get kids to bed" 

"When the teenage girls insist on telling you the entire plot of this book that they're reading"

"When everyone is leaving for church but you just woke up"

This game is a treasure for sure. So it's been a good day. Ethan shared this photo of something Owen made at school. It made him laugh really hard. It is pretty cute and funny. 

OWEN W - 

• Outstanding 
• Watermellin 
• Eat donetes 
• Nice 
• Wonderful

Ha, fun. I texted Sister C to ask about her husband performing the sealing for Ethan and Bella. We'll see if he's available and if it works for everyone's schedule. That would be really special though. He signed Ethan's book of Mormon when Ethan got baptized (E was sitting on the stand next to him) and so Ethan particularly has a connection there, I think it would be neat. I don't know that any of the other kids feel like they know him well enough that they'd ask, but we'll see. It's nice having them all home! I'll call it good and be done blogging - Mel has been playing with K, and just like that it's 11:30! We should go to bed!

Got a Ring

Ethan's proposal to Bella during the first moments of the new year lacked one thing... a ring. He's already ordered it, but it wasn't ready yet. He couldn't let that stop him in the perfect moment, so he's proposed, and tonight they got a loaner ring from Walmart to fill in until the pricey one arrives. 

Corey and I got engaged without the ring on December 12, so we probably set the poor example there on not following process. And we haven't had a lick of sense ever since. Our engagement was recognized by his parents as Dr. Laura approved on December 24th when he brought the ring over. His mom was like "You sure you want to do this???" and Corey replied "WE'RE ALREADY ENGANGED!!!" It's a funny and cute story, I'll type it up someday. It's in my handwritten journal though, December 1998. So Ethan and Bella, you are now Dr. Laura official. 

They are planning on getting married in March - scheduled for March 1st at the Payson temple, subject to change as we start to check with people. 

Exciting stuff already happening in 2024! 

We have a missionary that we're sending off in a few weeks, and a wedding to plan right after that

I think Abi or Lily took these pictures for them tonight on our front porch. 

Ahh, so what else? First things first... before the wedding, we gotta get Wesley on his mission. Before he gets on his mission, he's gotta finish school. He's been working hard. There is still a lot to do (go to the temple, buy stuff) but it's on hold until he graduates. Ahh he's under the gun big time!! He has his recommend for his living endowment, but isn't going to go yet. I called the temple about him scheduling his endowment, but only to see how much notice they need. He wants to wait to schedule it until he's done. He's been working on Earth Science the past week, then has his last math class (trig?), then health, astronomy, and financial literacy.... ahhh!!! The stake President wants Wes to finish by the 13th!! That's TEN DAYS to do 4 classes?! This is gonna be a nail biter... We're praying for Wes every night, this will be a miracle. 

New Year's Fun!

Welcome 2024!! We had a fun party celebrating the new year with lots of friends up at our neighbor's cabin last night and this morning. Owen decked out last night. 

Corey stayed home this year sick (one of us is always sick!) and he kept Katharine with him. He sent me a picture of her watching "Where the Red Fern Grows" cause that had puppies, so it kept her interest.

Up at the cabin, we parents always do a really smart thing and have our party in Utah at 10pm, the time the ball is dropped in New York. That way we can all get to bed at a reasonable hour. Atleast that's the plan (kids don't always follow that!) Lily, Sophi, Natalie and Daniel ringing in the new year.

The Polar Bear Challenge was a go and there were many brave souls who went out and faced the winter snow in their bare feet. Unlike last year, there wasn't a lot of fresh snow this year, and it was actually quite icy, so the kids returned to show blood on their legs and feet from getting cut up as they sunk into the ice covered snow. Joseph got a toenail ripped off.

He handled it well. And the other wore their bloody shins like a tough badge of honor. It's fun to see some of the changes in the traditions and visiting up here as a lot of the neighborhood kids have gotten older - Hyrum and Aidan

Lily and Aaron

All our little kids are growing up. Wesley lead a group of kids in a game of Wride Edition "What Do You Meme". Even though they probably didn't get every inside jokes, they know our family well enough to get most of them and enjoy the game and they were laughing. 

College kids Tess, Mel, Ethan and Joseph really appreciated and enjoyed a feast of food!

So last night was a total party with lots of food and fun and games. They always play Risk - had a few games going that lasted long into the night.

Today some people skied, we didn't as a family, but Joseph did, and I fit into his stuff, so I took his skis and pass and went out for a little bit. Joseph kept our friend Amy up until 4AM talking about his girl friend adventures and woes. Before he went to bed he thought of moving the van for me and I set an alarm to do it this morning, but bummer news - I was too late and had a ticket when I went down. I left it in the ski parking and went to move it before any skiers came, but I was 30 minutes too late... I had gotten a ticket. $125 bucks. At first I saw $250, which is the fee if you wait $30 days, but it's only $125 if you pay it early, so yay, I decided to do that (kicking myself for not moving it last night or setting my alarm for earlier, drat). The little kids had their big sleepover in the main room - waking up - bodies everywhere...

Lily and Sophi on the couch - 

Wes ready for breakfast - He likes my Seek Discomfort hoodie.

Ethan's girlfriend Bella playing Uno with Owen and Daniel (she's so nice)

The older kids played a game of Telestrations and it was really funny - 

It went from this illustration trying to communicate "Valentine's Day" ...

...to...

...a guess of Winnie the Pooh getting engaged?

And an illustration of that - 

Really funny, they were all laughing a lot and giving each other grief for their lack of artistic talent. 

More What do you Meme fun -

And sitting around enjoying the day off from school! It's been a nice Christmas break. The college kids have a few more days before winter semester starts, which I'm grateful for. It will be nice to have them around.  The high school kids will be back in class tomorrow. Abi says "nooooo..."

Wes has school work to do too - he starts the MTC on Jan 22, so he's got three weeks to finish his BYU classes, but the Stake President encouraged him to finish sooner, and Wes wants to do that too. So yeah, it's been a nice break, but time to get cracking and get back to reality - there is a lot to do! And finally, to start off a new year, we have some very exciting news! Someone's getting married! 

Actually, not just someone... there are two!

That's a pic of the happy couple as we were leaving the cabin today. Here is a pic last night of "the moment" ~

They've been talking about it for a bit (and actually already had a date and an appointment at the temple!), but it wasn't official until an impromptu proposal last night. Ethan said just seemed like the right moment, cause it was Jan 1st, and they met 6 months ago on July 1st. AND they met at a fireworks show, and last night as they were out walking around Brighton just past midnight, there were fireworks going off! So it was just a good moment having it be on the 1st and with fireworks again, so he proposed! We all think that they make quite a cute couple. 

Ethan told me what he did last night, shortly after he popped the question. He told the rest of his siblings tonight. I accidentally told a few of them last night, NOT cause I can't keep a secret but because I thought Ethan had already told them and then I mentioned something about it. It's ok though, I didn't let the cat out of the bag, cause they all thought I was lying to/teasing them. They didn't believe me and wouldn't believe such good news until they heard it from Ethan himself. So back at home tonight he admitted it was true. They all gave hugs ~

...and the girls started talking about how it happened and Belle showed them pictures...

Our teenage girls were especially excited about all that cause they are all boy crazy and like talking about falling in loooove. Plus they like that the boy to girl ratio of the kids will be even now! 7-7! Hooray for another sister! So an official welcome to Bella to the Wride family, we're happy to have you! What a great start to the new year. Wonderful things are coming in 2024!