The good, the bad and the downright ugly

First off, the ugly news. We had an ice storm here yesterday, which was depressing in so many ways. The obvious one being that I am SO ready for spring and the other reason being that my husband was driving the van when the ice started sticking to the roads. The kids and I were still at home and he took off to run some errands in Liberty. When he called to tell me that he'd wrecked the van, he was overwhelmed and grateful for his life. He'd been driving down a nearby highway when he got to the top of a hill and the van started fishtailing. Then the van completely turned and he was sliding backward down the hill before it went off the road and skidded along a ditch. He was sure the van was going to roll because it was on his side, but it stopped just before rolling over. He is incredible lucky that there was not a car coming at him from the other direction, because he was sliding backward in the other lane. When I went back to the scene of the accident with him later to meet a towtruck, I decided to snap some pictures, just in case we need them for insurance purposes.

You can see all the skidmarks in this first picture. Look how close he came to smashing into that power line.

In this picture you can see how close he also came to hitting the electrical box that is RIGHT behind where the car settled. Whew. Although we will be paying ANOTHER $500 deductible to get the van fixed (it has just not been a great year for us with car accidents!), we are so grateful that Ryan was OK and there wasn't more damage done.
In other (much happier) news, Ryan has been the assistant coach on Brevan's soccer team this year. Brevan has been terrified of going after the ball, so Ryan worked with him for a couple hours one day in our front yard. In the beginning, Ryan would slowly dribble the ball forward and this is what Brevan would do before he even got near the ball.
He started improving and would come near the ball, but was still too timid to kick it.
After a lot of practice, he got some guts and has really improved his game. He has been playing goalie and has done a great job. We're proud of the progress he's made this season.
You can't really see it well, but I had to add this picture of my funny Logan with his little curls. I finally have a kid who inherited my wavy hair! Today for church I put mousse in the back and sides of his hair to make it more curly and he looked adorable! I realize I need to get this kid a haircut soon, but I'm really enjoying his little boy curls for right now!

A couple weeks ago was the "Evening with the Experts" at the Elementary. It is the night where all the gifted children present the projects they have been working on for the past quarter. They got to choose their topic, which meant that many of the girls did projects about rock stars and the boys chose things like cartoon characters and wild animals. Not my kiddos. Brynlie researched Mexico and Brevan researched American Coins. They really did get to be experts on their topics and enjoyed teaching others about them. Brynlie wore the shirt I bought for her when I was in Mexico recently and passed out tortilla chips, and Brevan passed out chocolate coins to anyone who could answer some questions correctly about American coins. Aren't they just brilliant? But I'm not prejudice at all . . .=)

I took this picture of Bryn one night while she was talking to her Daddy who was on a business trip. She was all ready for bed, decked out in her girly jammies and "eye shades."

And once again, the sleeping bandit. This spoiled rotten kid just stays awake until he gives up and finds a place to lay his head. His parents aren't exactly good at just putting him in bed and walking away. I end up laying down with him to help him relax, and I don't always have time to do that. Like I said, spoiled rotten, but he's my last baby, so I can do that, right? Alright, I'll admit that I've done that with every baby I've had. They are just so darn cute and I can't stand to lay them in a crib. I'm a sucker.

This is the one and only picture I took during the week that Ryan's parents were here. Pathetic, I know! We did so many fun activities, but it was such a busy week that I didn't document them well. Bonnie was working on some cross-stitch projects and taught Brevan and Brynlie how to cross-stitch their names. They were so proud of themselves!

I'm tired of this. Snow. Everytime it warms up, a storm blows in and brings this nasty stuff with it again. I am a complete weather snob and can't stand the cold. It always amazes people how much I hate the stuff, considering I'm from Utah!

Well, that's about all we've been doing lately. We've also had a lot of fun with friends. Last night Ryan and I had a date night with a bunch of other couples where we made our own sushi. It was really interesting to learn how to make our own, and we loved the time with friends. Also, Brevan and Brynlie had "Grandparents Day" at school last Friday, and since their grandparents are obviously a little too far away to attend, I played "Grandma" for the day. I spent the morning doing activities with Brynlie and the afternoon with Brevan. It was fun to see them in their own environment at school, and watch how they interacted with the other students.