Winter 2009

I know Mary has a massive set of photos to update the blog for family and friends. In the meantime, I'll add a few photos from my luscious winter in Utah. In addition, March, April and May are excellent months in the mountains with longer days, warmer temps, and stable snow, so there will be some fun adventures on the way.

Happy Birthday Tanner!!

Wow, I can't believe Tanner turned 4 today!! He is growing up so fast. He is really into Space right now, and Matt and I got him this space toy set that had all kinds of stuff in it, a spaceship, astronauts, rockets, satellites, a moon rover, etc. I looked at one of the toys and said, "How cool, a satellite." Tanner looked at me and very seriously corrected me, "No mom, it's the Hubbell telescope that flies around space taking pictures of the planets."

Whoops, I guess I need to learn more about space. =)

Hopefully in the next day or two, when I'm not feeling so tired, I'll try to get pictures up.

WE LOVE YOU TANNER!!!

Somebody Out There...

You all know I am a HUGE David Archuleta fan. This new song of his is absolutely beautiful, and put to these pictures sheds light on those families who are separated because of the war right now. The little boy that looks like he's 4 or 5 at the end just breaks my heart. Bless these families!! Matt has to be gone a couple days a week, and Tanner, Kate and I find ourselves growing so tired of him having to leave each week. I can't imagine him having to be gone for months at a time. Let's hope 2009 will bring this war closer to an end so these families can be reunited for good.


Created by Rascal from notingdavid.org

Happy New Year's!!

May 2009 bring you all much happiness and joy! This time of year is one for goal setting, so here are some of my personal goals for the new year:

1. Put together all of my food storage, emergency essentials, and anything else I may need in case of an emergency.
2. Wake up at 6:00 a.m. and have my personal study/planning time.
3. Update blog more often. At least once a week. I know for my parents out in Texas that would mean a lot.
4. Keep running!!
5. Stick to our budget.

Matt's goals for me (we each gave each other 3 goals we'd like the other to work on):
1. Play my flute more.
2. Try to be more accepting of his passion for mountaineering, that we can work it out so it's not a liability.
3. Use my gym pass consistently.

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

A Classic Wasatch Alpine Climb: Pfeifferhorn's North Ridge

Since the early November powderfest in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, the weather has given us nothing but warm and dry conditions. It is rather depressing from a skiing perspective, yet from a climbing perspective, these conditions are wonderful! The snowpack is saddled with a thick sun/rain crust that makes backcountry approaches quite easy; and, the winter routes are in good condition for some enjoyable mixed climbing.

This weekend we hit the North Ridge of the Pfeifferhorn: a Wasatch classic (the sunlit route in the middle-left of the photo). Additional photos at Mountainalbum.com.

We traveled up the Maybird Gulch...

...and began our climb up the northeast couloir.

The couloir maxed out around 55 degrees and had some good mixed climbing.

The remainder of the ridge provided ample bare granite...



...for good hand holds.

At times, the foot holds were a little sugary and exposed...

..but protection was good and we simul-climbed the route.

Nothing like a good glissade down...

...and a nice ski home. Ah, the Wasatch!

If tomorrow's storm bares any fruit, maybe we'll be back to skiing. Pray for snow!

I'm a SUPER Fan Girl!!

I was on MTV TRL today! I'm here in New York, and David Archuleta was on the show today. We were so lucky and they sat us right in front. Me and my friend Paige are the ones on either side of the camera man. So cool! There's a close up on both Paige and I. Check it out...

Kids Halloween Party...

This year the Clawson's threw a Halloween party for the kids.  They had so much fun going on a scavenger hunt, bowling with a pumpkin, coloring, eating a yummy lunch that Lisa had prepared, and than trying their luck at a pinata.  It was such a fun time, thank you Clawson's for putting together such a fun party.  The kids loved it!  

*Warning* LOTS of pictures ahead!  I couldn't decide how to narrow them down, so I just put most of them in.  =)

Trying to get a group shot was next to impossible.  This is the one I had with most of the kiddos it it.  We have Arli as a pretty kitty, Michelle as a mouse, Connor as Darth Vader, Anna as a pretty butterfly, Tanner the turtle, Kate as a ladybug, Rowen the pig, Haley the pretty ballerina, Chase as a puppy, and Livy as Cinderella (that's her arm on the bottom left).

This one cracks me up becuase of Connor's super hero pose, Chase's doggie bone, and Rowan relaxing her arm on Arli.  What a cute bunch of kids!

This one makes me smile because Kate is trying to take off her costume and Rowan is now trying to pet the pretty kitty (Arli).  =)

Kate cracks me up, she was so done with pictures at this point.

Rowan was absolutely adorable in her piggy costume!

Rachel wins the creative mom award!!  When Ty told her that he wanted to be a remote, she made it happen.  And Ty looked great!!  We were so sorry that Ty had to leave early because he wasn't feeling well.

Shawn wore this hat that used to be Rachel's when she was a baby.  Awesome!!

Haley was pretty in purple.

I asked Connor to show me his cape, he is such a poser.  =)

Livy made such a pretty Cinderella...

...although this picture cracks me up, I think Livy's mom would agree that she isn't princess worthy all the time.  =)  

I thought this was so cute as the older boys, Connor and Tanner, hung out with Chase and admired his costume.

Chase letting everyone know he was ready for the bowling game.

Haley's turn.

Tanner prepping...

...and then watching as...

...all the pins go down.

Arli's turn.

Finally Chase gets his turn.

Livy takes a shot too.

The final activity was the pinata.

Tanner giving the witch the stare down.  (Connor's face cracks me up)

Hitting as hard as he can.

One last hit!  Connor's face makes me laugh, because as Tanner was hitting, Connor would plead not to hit it too hard because he wanted to be the one...

To knock the Witch's head off.  =)

Thanks again for such a fun party Lisa.  You did such a great job!

Happy 30th Birthday Matt!!

Wow!  I can't believe my hubby turned 30 this year!!  I wanted to make it very special for him, but at the same time not go over board.  He doesn't like people making  big fuss over him, and definitely doesn't like being in the lime light.  So I knew that I couldn't throw him a party. Instead, I decided to take this opportunity and show him how much he has accomplished and how much the Lord has blessed him in these first 30 years.  Since I've only known him for the last 7 years of it, I focused on family.  We've been so lucky to have Rebekah Westover take pictures of our family this year.  And she was so accommodating and did everything she could to get me the pictures that we ordered before his birthday.  It worked out perfectly, he was out of town the day I got the pictures, so I was able to put the house in order (thanks Mom Jesperson!), decorate the kitchen with 30 balloons, and display the pictures, and gifts/cards he had gotten from family, so he could see them when he walked in the door.

It worked perfectly!  He was totally surprised (which I was glad for since I ruined the first surprise I had done for him for his birthday), and just stood there for like 15 minutes just looking at all the pictures.  He sure loves his family!

I loved that his favorite gifts were the cards the kids had made him.  He always admits he loves how the kids make him feel like a rock star.  He walks in the door and all you hear is the pitter patter of little feet running to the door to greet their dad.  But truly, he is these kids biggest fan.  I love that about him.

Happy birthday sweetie!  Here's to the next 30 years, and the next...=)