too fast of days

I think I am supposed to be thinking of or doing dinner. Oh well. The days have gone by fast. I can't say we have done a whole lot. I got Darin to put a flourescent light in my craft room. The race is on to see if the pine planks get put downstairs before we have guests again. We have watched a few movies. We thought maybe the Moviemate blew a lamp again, but it just needed to cool down.

Darin had his leg vein procedure today, in Casper. He is hurting a little bit. He got pain meds for the after pain. I guess we might not be done. He says if the upper leg fixes the lower leg then we will be. I think he said a 6-8 week follow-up. He has to wear compression stockings for 3 days straight. He is not thrilled about that. No actual bathing either, but the "spit-bath" stuff is OK. We rented a motel room for New Year's Eve with the intent of hot tubbing and swimming. Darin now has to sit out.

Bridger and I sledded yesterday. We went to the mall hill. It is huge. It is probably the biggest hill I have ever sledded on. Bridger put up a good struggle getting back up the hill. I kept telling him he didn't have to go the whole way back up. Towards the end of my allotted time, another parent said they had heard no sledding was allowed, yet they were there too. We went ahead and left. If we get to sled again over break, I guess we might go to the "small" hill.

This picture is from the first night Shasta was back. They have been inseparable. We are letting Shasta sleep in Bridger's room. The first night it didn't appear he got on the bed. Every morning after that he has been on the bed when I go to get Bridger up. It is not my preference, but Bridger so loves that he gets to have him in there.

The second picture is from ND. Guess they got a "bit" of snow recently. I would guess there could be flooding again come spring.

Christmas past

Pretty mellow day around here. We discovered fairly early that I-25 was closed from Douglas to Cheyenne. We fretted for awhile and then decided there was nothing we could do about it. We knew that if the roads did open up before noon they still wouldn't be great travelling. So ask me today if we will buy tickets for a hockey game at this time of year again.

These pictures are of Bridger's last day of skiing in his ski camp. He is actually trying to help this little girl up. He was ahead of her as he went by the lodge and then as he stopped for a photo, she fell near him. He backed up(literally) and tried to help her get up. He soon took off with a wave and a "do I have stop now?"


Bridger on the chairlift. I asked him he had made the chairlift stop yet. He said no. I was a little undone when I realized there is NO bar in front of him. He slumps forward and manages to stay on the lift.

Coming off the lift. Darin got this one. Bridger had such a great time. He keeps referencing our going skiing together. He wants to show me that he can ski a blue run (intermediate skill run). He says though, that it is steep and he falls alot. I will still watch with pride.

Just going to hang-out again tomorrow. Probably try to shovel the drive again. We might make it around the sidewalks. I have a computer training program for work I need to finish. We are just glad that we are safe, warm and have movies (did you think I would say FOOD!).

and the day is done

Those aren't stocking hats. HA!!

And we are sending it back. I got too large of a size. I tried to change the order the same day I made it, but for some reason it didn't take.

The one gift that was on the Santa List. Bridger seems pretty content with his presents. He played with everything throughout the day. We have a race track extended across the fireplace room floor.

We had a very quiet day. Bridger stayed in his PJ's the whole day. It was his request. Actually, Darin and I kept it pretty casual ourselves. It snowed throughout the day. We will wait until mid-morning to head to Denver. Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas all. Here are a few of our last Christmas' together.



2003

2004 (making Sugar Cookies)

2005 the year of Santa Penguin

2006 we had Grammy at Thanksgiving and celebrated Xmas early with her.

2007 we awoke to snow on Christmas and the guys sledded.

skiing

Bridger had his first ever day of skiing all by himself today. He made it through. That is him at the edge of the trees. He is still struggling getting on the chairlift by himself. He wants to go back tomorrow, which is a good sign.

Darin went to physical therapy today and they had him try to ride a bike. He said it was hard to bend his knee because of pain.

We had a nice lunch at Old Chicago together. We are all settled for the evening and the guys are watching Home Alone.

2 more shopping days to go!

3 days before Xmas

We opened presents with Meline's tonight. The Snoopy gift is from them. It is a Hallmark gift. Bridger is collecting the musical things at this point. He now has three Xmas musical things. That makes a collection right?



Bridger and I were looking back at different year pictures. I thought about doing a guess which year this is. But, I won't. This was August 2005. Just a whopping 2 years old. Do Rance and Marcy remember the gun? Came from the Pinedale Dollar store.

This picture was also August 2005. Bridger looks so tiny.

We swam yesterday. I messed up and the Santa Swim was on Sat, not Sun. Oh well. Bridger had so much fun, even with just me. Bridger had a 1/2 day of school today. He watched a movie for most of the morning. Darin turned in his grades and then he was done. We met each other at home for lunch. He cooked the dinner tonight for our dinner with Meline's. Bridger starts a 3 day ski camp tomorrow. Darin will take him up on the mtn the first two days. I think I will try to ski with him on the 3rd day, which is Xmas eve. I just want the next two days to fly by. Linnea asked us to join them for Xmas eve dinner. We hate to say no, but it would have been nice to just have our own dinner. I keep teasing Darin about midnight mass and he keeps reminding me we are not Catholic. That is sort of a insider-Ginni-Darin-Mattern joke. He's not really up to pope-aerobics with his knee.

coaching responsibilities

I decided I had one more present to buy for Xmas and joined the guys at hockey after it started. When I got there I could see Darin in the player's box on his phone. I was sure it was a Myers' phone chat as he kept laughing and it lasted more than a few minutes. I decided to capture the moment and got this for a photo. Mind you, this is him coaching. He wears shorts, still, almost everyday. I did see goosebumps on his legs after I got into the box with him.

Sundays are usually a fun day practice atmosphere for the kids. When I got there Bridger's skill group was playing soccer on ice. It is hard to capture him with the ball. The second picture he had just kicked the ball. He is the one that looks like a penguin trying to take off in flight. #16 is a girl named Barrett from his 1st grade class. She is a very nice girl. She does seem athletic. I know for a fact she can run faster than Bridger. Her father is a doctor. Darin keeps telling Bridger it is perfectly acceptable to LIKE Barrett. I try to speak to her when I see her. She always says, "Hello, Mrs. Myers", or "Yes, Mrs. Myers." I don't think we have gotten the point across to Bridger about calling parents Mr. or Mrs. (blank). I think he always says, "(blank's )Mom or Dad.

Bridger didn't care to "Skate with Santa" today. He opted to "Swim with Santa" instead. We haven't done that one. We are curious to see Santa swim-HA! Bridger just finished another round of swim lessons. I enrolled him in Level 4 and the final comment was to stay in Level 5. I guess he passed Level 4 somewhere along the way. It is pretty awesome that he is 6 years old and is at the level most 10-12 year olds swim at. He is just starting to dive. I think and tell Darin every lesson how his backstroke is so perfect. He never used to want to swim on his back and he slices right through the water going backward. He can keep up with the bigger kids on the backstroke. Darin likes watching him do the breast stroke. He is just a pretty terrific kid-yes, I understand I am biased.

thrilling Friday night

This an example of an exciting Friday night at the Myers!!! We had Bridger's skis out to check and make sure everything is ready to go. He gets to do ski camp next week. Everything seems to fit OK. This first picture he called Harry Potter as he was riding his broom.

He kept goofing around and I kept snapping pictures. He got his legs crossed then,

he fell over and getting up was a project also.

Now it is show-off time. He improvised dowel rods for poles. Who knows where he came up with the dowel rods. But they make great ski poles. Frosty the Snowman had just come on the TV. He insisted he get to watch it and Darin had to go to the bedroom to watch Unv of MT in a championship game.

I snuck off to Bridger's bedroom and ALMOST got it cleaned out before he figured out what I was doing. Maybe I can get it finished when he falls asleep. HA HA!!!

windy city

Roger wanted to see Bridger's hockey medal so here it is. U8 means Under age 8 and AB is Bridger's division.

Thank you Mom and Dad for the research on the Bridger present. I will try to make this quick and go check out the Kmart website. Darin asked after you called if I told you he wanted a Sioux hockey jersey. I told him I thought that was a "tad" expensive of a present to ask for. Maybe I can make it onto the UND website and see what they have. Isn't he an ornery son-in-law?

The wind is howling today and yesterday. If it is blowing in a storm then I just wish it would get here already. It makes it miserable just getting down our driveway.

I had a office party here at our house last night. 13 of us. My Missouri roots allowed me to put on quite a spread. They didn't even make a dent in the food, just because I bought too much. It was a nice time. I limited the time to two hours and most left around 1 1/2 hours. I made a rule no kids. Darin took Bridger and the Meline girls to Bridger's swim lessons. He was so helpful-peg leg and all. After they got home he marched them through to say hello and upstairs to watch a movie. Even after clean-up I was still in bed by 9:30pm.

shaving

There is a story from my childhood of me shaving. This picture reminded me of that story. I got to spend alot of time with my grandparents on their farm. They at one point milked cows. When I was really young(maybe age 3) and it was cold, they would leave me in the house. There was a dog named Liz who would babysit me (is that part right-Mom?). Anyway, I had received a toy shaving kit-plastic razor, but with some kind of foam. I was happily playing with my toy in the bathroom, when the neighbor just happened to call. She asked what I was doing and I told her shaving. She rushed up to my grandparent's home and found me with my toy. She stayed with me until they came back in. This story became a classic with my grandmother.



Bridger got to take advantage of our white elephant gift from Linnea's party.

Last night was the Darin Claus night. Linnea christened him, Darin Claus. Lanie her youngest didn't seem to figure out it was Darin. When we asked Sammy who it was she replied-"Santa!" Who knows. Better to not mess with their minds.

Bridger went early with Darin and rode on the firetruck around Evansville. His cheeks were cheery red when they got back. I rode to the station with Linnea and the girls. The firetruck wasn't back with my precious cargo yet and the door was locked. Someone happened to come out of the station and I identified myself as Mrs. Claus-could I come in? You don't mess with the Claus' you know! They let us into the station. Great to have connections.

By the way-Bridger still BELIEVES whole-heartedly.

hat trick

We had our last day of the tournament today. It was at 11:30am. A much better time for gettign around. Bridger got 3 goals today. YEAH!!!!! He is just being goofy in this first picture. If you look to the left corner in the second picture you can make out a blurry me in a yellow coat.

Bridger does not favor his left arm, just happened to be the timing of the photo.

I couldn't donate blood today. I had to low of a hemoglobin. I ran to Kmart to look for gifts for the family I agreed to get presents for from the school. I want to try and show Bridger we can help other people. He is frustrated their are getting dolls. It is two girls. It was on the list.

The house survived the 8 kids in it last night. We actually locked Bridger's bedroom door. Kayla brought her fiance' to help her. Kayla asked if Bridger would be her ringbearer. We were so thrilled and said yes. Wedding is June 5th at Ayers Park, Natural Bridge. I am hoping for good weather for her. It is the same weekend that last year was the marathon. Remember it rained, rained and rained.

hockey am

We had to get up early today-5am early. We had a hockey game at 6:30am. Bridger did well. He didn't score a goal today, but scored two last night. He is moving and handling the puck really well. He is liking to play more on the ice than just standing at the goalie position. He is also moving up to the opposing net and anticipating a pass to score on. Trouble is-everyone else has the same idea. Parents are not allowed in the box any more. I volunteered to help run the clock, which gives me closer access to the ice. I snagged these pics between clock duties.

He went to PE club and played. They were going to do the climbing wall, which they did, but they also had other activities. Next weekend he is supposed to go roller skating.

We ran some errands and then let Bridger choose where for lunch. We held with the where ever he wanted and he chose Wendy's.

We are ready to "rest" for awhile, but Bridger and Shasta have other ideas.

more water and toes

This is Bridger. You just don't get the full effect. It is at the beach in OS. This one came from June '04. I had taken him to the beach by myself to see the sand castles. I am thinking he might not have wanted to stand-up on his own. Who wouldn't want to sit in the sand and water at this age. Anyway, I wanted a toes and water picture, but I had to hold him up and take the picture with one hand. Hence, no head, but toes.




We are experiencing a warming trend. Darin told me last night 20 degrees today. We have a very hectic weekend. We have hockey tourney this weekend. The kids are playing themselves in a tournament. Bridger gets to climb the climbing wall on Sat as part of PE club that he is in. I have a blood bank donation. We are going to a party at Meline's, but all the kids are being babysat here. What was I thinking!!!!! It is just craziness for the weekend.

Lake Superior

Back in 2005 we vacationed in Minnesota. We drove all the way across to the Wisconsin border so we could say Bridger had been to Wisconsin. We let him put his toes in Lake Superior. I think I have seen all 5 Great Lakes. But only have been IN two of them. I would suppose Darin has been to all 5. He can answer tomorrow when he reads the blog. Having lived in Michigan we certainly got around out there and travelled near all of them.

Ok so North Dakota is trying to compete today for cold. We had wind chills to 20-30 below zero for today. My car thermometer said 9 degrees at lunch. We had a heat wave going without the windchill.

Bridger and Darin went to hockey practice tonight. I watched for a little while and then headed home to make dinner. Darin took off for fire meeting.

Thank you to the ND grandparents-we have presents under Bridger's tree!!!!! The big one is not decorated, only up. I am redoing the bathroom off the kitchen this week. I repainted half the wall, tore up the linoleum and put down new linoleum tiles. I bought trim last night. Darin did his part he brought the miter box in for me to "warm-up". I should go finish the painting.

Isn't all this so exciting to read~~~

subzero

Just a winter day at the beach. Bridger was with me. Can you see him?

I am starting to think the state lines have shifted west or something. I swear it is as cold as it normally is in North Dakota. I haven't checked, but it is probably warmer there. We have hit the single digits and below zero. I keep fussing at Bridger to wear snow pants, boots and insulated gloves. He doesn't get that getting wet could mean frost bite. He trudges through snow in tennis shoes when I am not looking. He was mad that I made him stop and put on his boots for our walk home after school. I took him a face mask and he was thrilled.

We have just been trying to stay warm this week. We went to swim lessons tonight. I am still working on decorating the house for Xmas. The tree made it up! There was some technical difficulty with the lights, but Darin saved the day. Christmas cards should go out tomorrow.

santa picture

We got around in time for my haircut I scheduled last minute yesterday morning. My hairstylist lives in Glenrock. She was just a little late. There was an awful accident at 1:30 am Sat. It closed the interstate until noon on Sat. She only had enough time for me. Darin and Bridger tagged along. Bridger was sorely disappointed that she couldn't take a few minutes to make him even more handsome. Another hairstylist was willing to add him to her schedule. So we got our ears lowered at the same time. It was a good thing he got cleaned-up. He was willing to have his picture taken with Santa. I decided to do the pay pictures this year. I haven't liked the "free" pictures the last couple of years. You know-FREE means everyone shows up.



The guys have taken off for hockey practice. I decided to stay home and enjoy my alone time. I have much to do, but here I am updating you on us.

It is very cold today. Darin checked earlier and the temp was 10 degrees. Bridger thought he should get to go to the sledding hill. With Darin's knee braced that would mean I would have to sled with him. I think it is a tad too chilly for that sort of outside adventure. We have had snow off and on all weekend. We were supposed to and the weather tomorrow promises a high temp in the single digits. Yeah!!!

Not much new news. Have a good week.

twilight

Bridger sledding March 2009.

Linnea asked me last night before left work if we wanted to go to On the Border this weekend. I said how about tonight? I knew Darin would be less than thrilled with my dinner choice that would include TURKEY.

We had a nice dinner. Linnea and I polished off a pitcher of Margaritas. The 2 older kids actually finished their meals. I never have a doubt about Bridger, but I told Sammy Bridger couldn't have the kids' sundae until SHE finished her taco. That got Bridger going with encouraging her. I am sure we looked an odd mix sitting at the table. Darin had to sit with the Meline women on their side of the booth because of his unbending leg. So they all scrunched together for awhile, then Sammy joined Bridger and I. We had a sundae end up on the floor, no one got chocolate on their legs. Sammy managed to NOT spill any food on me. Bridger and the girls like OTB because they bring out dough balls they can play with. Sammy lost hers in our house somewhere last night.

We invited Sammy for a sleep over. At dinner Sammy proclaimed that all her 6 year old friends were making fun of her because she had not see Twilight. Bridger told her his mom wasn't letting him see it either. Linnea and I looked and each other said, was it too scarey for them? We didn't think so. We watched Twilight with the kids last night. Twilight is about a human girl that falls in love with a vampire. It is a love story with twists. Now they have both seen Twilight. They are both talking about Bella and Edward this morning. Kind of funny.

No big weekend plans. There are pictures with Santa downtown. There is a 1/2 price swim. Who knows what we will get accomplished. I still haven't gotten the house decorated for Xmas.

Have a wonderful weekend.

25 more days

Yesterday Bridger and I managed to get his tree decorated. We had fun doing it. We missed Grammy and her input on where things go. This year the tree is right by the TV in the family room. We can enjoy that one for the month now. The bigger tree is still in the basement. I decided to stain the new trim around the windows in the movie room. I didn't get to that just yet. I did buy stain yesterday when we were at Menard's.


Bridger and I did manage to "injure" Darin yesterday. I tripped over his extended leg, which, of course, jerked his knee. Then Bridger was allowed to push out the store cart at Menard's while I handled the pellets on the flat cart. Bridger can't see over the top of the cart, very well yet, and ran into the back of Darin. While they were doing that-I ran over my big toe with the flat cart. Aren't we all something?

We had a nice dinner at Outback. Hadn't been there for quite awhile. After dinner we decided to see if the Xmas lights were up in the neighborhood where they get quite fancy. They were and we sat and enjoyed the light and music display. I am sure we will be back by numerous times. We all enjoy it.

So the pant leg picture. Bridger insisted on wearing these PJ's while Cadence was here. She had some pink PJ's with monkeys on them. They were on Judi's blog. Anyway, we told Bridger that these were too small for him now. He insisted and so he wore them. When he received them from Grammy 3 years ago they were too long. The glow in the dark thread still works!

Thanksgivings past

I was thinking about past Thanksgivings and decided to look back through our pictures. We only started saving pics on the computer about the time Bridger was born. We also lived where family didn't easily come see us in November. Of course, our biggest Thanksgiving ever was our wedding in 1991. 20lb turkey in the oven in a paperbag (thank goodness) for 8+hours, thanks to a wedding and a snowstorm. Turkey was great and the marriage has lasted. But, alas, no pictures of that turkey on the computer for easy downloading.




We have been lucky enough to have Grammy for a visit the last few years, with a compromise one year in a motel room. She and Bridger also have had a tradition of decorating his little Xmas tree together. This one is from 2007 when we got together in Bismarck in October for a long weekend. We celebrated Halloween and Xmas. No one was having a turkey dinner special or we might have actually got that holiday in on the long weekend.

In 2008 Bridger was bestowed a visit by two grandparents. Bridger also got introduced to Monopoly-Grammy style.

Bridger doesn't still bat lefthanded, but he did take a few family members to the park yesterday. Just no baseball.

2008 Xmas tree decorating

This was the first year that started it all, 2006. This is in the Lennox house.

We made it over to the Black Hills in 2006 with Grammy. Ever sewing, she took along the machine she gave me.

We made it into Rapid City for Black Friday and to the dinosaur park in 2006.

2007 was another trip to the Black Hills. Truth be told, Darin loves Black Friday as much as any other die hard shopper. He pores over the sales ads, throwing out comments about this or that GREAT deal. We went to Rapid City again for Black Friday in 2007 from the cabin. We also went to Storybook Island. It was so cold, but the geese were friendly, until you got near them. Goose poop is nasty. They are looking at all the geese behind me. Darin didn't make it out with me yesterday for Black Friday, but I know he was there in spirit.

I bet someday, we have a hot tub and if we don't Bridger will grow-up and have one. We always enjoy "the soak" at the cabins. Bridger usually starts his day with one, ends with one and numerous ones between. We haven't made it to the cabins in the Black Hills for over a year. Things just haven't worked out, like having surgeries and such.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Hope it was a wonderful day. We are thankful for so many things, family, friends and I would say our health, but it hasn't been our year. Maybe we will qualify for that medical deduction this year-that really isn't a good thing though.