Barbies and Bracelets! Boogers and Bugs! Ice skating! Bungee Jumping!

Jaden and I decided to take Kaleb ice skating. They have been talking about going since the weather started to get cold and Jaden has been teaching Kaleb how to do it on the wood floors in their socks. So we decided to go last Saturday. I was excited to take Jaden because I knew he could do it and he was really looking forward to it. I was happy to take Kaleb because he wanted to go, because Jaden wanted to go. I also thought Kaleb was skillfully capable of ice skating, but he had to have the right attitude. We all know his timid personality in certain situations can be quite limiting. But I was hoping that because he thought he was so excited, it would be okay.

We went to McDonald's to get lunch and I clearly asked for boy toy happy meals and we ended up with two Hello Kitty watches instead. I was thinking, "oh great, just when I finally have Jaden convinced that ice skating isn't just for girls." They decided to give their watches to their mommy and Kare's new baby girls. (Although I heard that later that night they were both wearing the watches) Kaleb was getting a little sleepy and kept slapping himself while saying, "Wake up, Kaleb!"

On the way to the skating rink, Jaden and I were telling Kaleb that it's okay if we fall, how we learn when we make mistakes and when someone falls, we first ask if they are okay and then we all laugh. We were trying to prep him as much as possible. When we got to the rink and put on the skates, Jaden was teaching Kaleb how to walk around on the skates like a pro. Then we got to the ice. Jaden was surprised at how hard it was and grabbed onto me. Kaleb held onto me for dear life with both hands. I knew that there was no way I could keep both of them from falling, plus I knew Jaden could do it on his own once he got going, so I told him to stay close to the wall and grab on if he needed to. (Sorry, Jaden).

Then we got going around...slowly...very slowly...Jaden was doing okay, he fell quite a bit but put on a really good face for Kaleb. Poor Kaleb was scared out of his mind. He was doing a really great job, he was just super freaked out. It took us about 30 minutes to go around the first time and Kaleb never fell!

Then Kaleb and I sat down while Jaden skated back and forth in front of us. Kaleb did not want to go back out. I told him we needed to go around so Jaden could go again. We went back out but after a quarter of a lap, Kaleb was pretty upset, so I was just pulling him along. Jaden got ahead of us so I was trying to catch up, but then he circled back for us but passed us so I turned around to call for him, but as soon as I did that Kaleb fell for the first time and freaked out, then I turned to look back at Jaden and he was in tears saying he hurt his back. Then I decided I needed to come back with reinforcements next time.

I think they had some fun...I hope. But Jaden can skate by himself in small doses and Kaleb can skate holding one hand. He doesn't need the wall like he thinks he does because when people would be standing against the wall, we would have to go around without holding onto anything and he did it just fine! I have no video of Kaleb for the simple reason that he would not let go of me long enough to snap a picture, let alone take a video. But here are some of Jaden's wicked skills. He can now get up all by himself too, which Kare can attest to, in winter sports being able to stand up on one's own can be quite difficult.

Sisyphus...poor guy

The green couches are gone. I sold the set on craigslist and an overly friendly college couple came by to pick them up last night. Late last night. I got tired of waiting around for them and I wanted to go to bed. I wanted to make their stay at my house as short as possible. Even though I had every intention of making the buyers move all the furniture themselves, I was bored and decided to expedite the moving process. The couch was already upstairs but the love seat and chair were downstairs and needed to be moved up the stairs.

Fairly confident that there wasn't a snow ball's chance in Hades that I could do it by myself, I thought I'd see how far I could get the chair up solo. Now the stair case is narrow and has two turns as you can see.

From the bottom and around

Up

Around

and up and out.

You can also see where previous tenants, myself included, have scraped the walls trying to maneuver furniture up and down.

Nevertheless, I did it! I got the chair up all by myself! It took about 20 minutes, was exhausting, and I was sweaty and gross. I was surprised at how easy it was, it took some time lifting, pushing, squeezing between the wall and the chair to pull from the top and crawl back down and push, but it wasn't heavy.

Then I figured if that wasn't impossible, maybe the love seat would be manageable as well. It's only a little over a foot longer than the chair so...I tried. It took about 5 minutes to get it up and around the first little corner, up the straight part took about 5 more, then I got to the tricky corner. My spatial reasoning and depth perception are horrible and trying to figure out the best way to rotate furniture to fit it is not my forte. I really don't know what is so complicated about it, but I really stink at it.

After about 30 minutes of trying just about everything, I decided the only way to get it around the corner was to make it stand up, which I am too short to do. I didn't want to leave it on the tiny landing at the corner because I was afraid it would fall down. I planned to just bring it back down the stairs and make the buyers deal with it. But the love seat was stuck. It got wedged between all the walls and I couldn't lift it out of its place so I gave it a little nudge from the top of the stairs. Well, that wasn't very bright.

The couch shot down the stairs and then there was a loud thud at the bottom of the stairs. I was scared to look at what happened to the couch. That was dumb, I should have been more worried about what happened to the wall. You can see for yourself what happened.

What a tool.

Anyway, this is what I have to use as furniture until I move out next week.

Holy parachute, Batman!

In September I asked a friend in California what he was doing for his birthday. He said he wanted to go skydiving but couldn’t find anyone brave enough to go with him. I thought, “hmmmm…that sounds fun. I have a birthday coming up!” So on October 30, 2010 I went skydiving! I talked to my friend afterwards, he didn’t get to go. Hee hee.

Mom, Dad, Kare, and Nathan went with me. We drove to Tooele and Dad and I went in to watch their instructional video. The video, narrated by a hippy in a suit whose beard would rival Brigham Young’s, told me exactly what to do and warn me that I could not sue the company even if gross negligence occurred. Wow. Bryce, are you cringing now?

Then I suited up and waited. And waited. Finally Kare got out of the car. I wasn’t nervous at all, just excited, but she kept trying to give me reasons why I should be scared, I’m not quite sure why. Then she told me about nightmares she had…needless to say, she did not jump with me.

We got to watch the first round of jumpers go but because it was so windy almost everybody got blown way far away so we had to wait around for them to collect everyone and get back.

When it was finally my turn I hopped in the plane and got sandwiched between my tandem master and the photographer (now THAT would be a sweet job.) My tandem master thought it would be funny to wear this ridiculous mask because it was Utah’s Halloween. Then he confessed he forgot his altimeter that tells him when we reach the right altitude to open the big parachute. The photographer said he would give him a signal. Then the other tandem master taking an older woman, checking an adventure off her bucket list, realized he forgot his hat and goggles. I’m pretty sure these guys drank one too many Monsters before work that morning.

We were the last to exit the plane and I was starting to get a little antsy, I just really didn’t know what to expect. We reached 14,000 ft and it was time to go. Then it all happened pretty fast, we got hooked together, I got shoved into the doorway (that was the scariest part, just hanging out of an airplane facing the ground, but it only lasted a second thankfully), heard “1, 2, 3,” and all of the sudden we were flipping backward and I was facing the ground, very, very high up.

It’s hard to describe how unreal it seemed. Everything looked so fake from that high up. It was amazing to just spin around and watch the world from a point of view you only see from googlearth, but actually seeing it with my naked eyes. It was just crazy. Then the big parachute came out and then came the pain. The harness was so unbelievably uncomfortable that the rest of the way down I just wanted to get on the ground to get it off. Also, it’s so quiet up there that it was a little awkward with this guy strapped to my back. He was trying to make small talk but I just wanted him to go away so I could enjoy the view in peace.

When we landed on the ground and I got that harness off, I was sad it was over. I’m positive I’ll go again. I really want to learn how to go solo. But I think I’ll wait until it gets warmer!

Here's a video of me jumping, if you get carsick easily, beware!

I'm Goin-goin, Back-back, to Cali-cali

My friend Suzanne is the winner who guessed northern California!

I'm going to the California Sacramento Mission speaking Spanish. I go to the MTC on January 19th. I'm getting more and more excited the more I think about it. I think I encouraged someone to choose this area somehow because a couple days before I opened my call I was walking through my school and the 5th graders posted their U.S. map drawings on the wall, labeling each state and its capitol. I thought to myself, "I've never even been to Sacramento and I lived in California for 17 years." It looks like I'll get that chance now. Here is a picture of the mission boundaries. I've never been to northern California, I don't really know anything about any of these cities but I'm anxious to finally live in a place that isn't the desert and see some green!

And the temple.

And that's about all I know so far!

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

Time to place your bets. Either pick a state in the U.S. or a foreign country, no need to narrow it down to a city. There's a prize for the winner. Hopefully it'll only be a couple of weeks before I can announce the winner! Click the picture to see where others have already guessed.

How Much Wood Would A Woodchuck Chuck If A Woodchuck Could Chuck Wood?

No sedation.

The Nurse Beat Me Up

My immunization records weren't complete so I had some making up to do. I got four shots and my blood drawn. No lollipop.








I had to go back again today for a tb test. That was gross and painful.