Our Holiday Overnighter

Sounds fun! Here are the plans for our overnight stay at the B&B with
Grandma Ro, Grandpa Jer-Bear, Kirby, and Andrew:

From: Jerry and Roanne Gillette [mailto:jerrygillette@safelink.net]
Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 10:21 AM
To: Kaly
Subject: 3 pm

That is the time that you can check in. We are bringing pizza for the night
munch, as most everything is closed down in Lava for EATS. You can bring
anything else your family wants to munch on. The a.m. breakfast will be
very good, and lots that the kids like. Eggs, cereal, some sort of pancakes,
taters. Milk, O.J. You can roll as soon as you want, for I.F. and we will
be fine with kids to head back. You will need just towels, robes, and play
toys for the pool, and maybe their dolls for playing with. Beings that K &
A will have their Wii with them, maybe we can do that for entertainment. We
will have cards, for knuckles. Hopefully this will be a good get away.
Love, MOM

Snowed In (Almost)

The girls quickly realized it was colder than they thought this afternoon,
and maybe they should get some gloves and hats on! I practically have to
hold their hands when we go outside to get in the car to keep them from
taking off down the street. "I need to go on a walk!" Kysa always says.

Little Princesses

Kysa was so excited about this pink "princess" dress I picked up at DI for 3
bucks. The just love their "babies, blankies, and ba-bas."

Skyline Alumni Basketball Tournament

The alumni tournament was a success on its first night. Brandon Taggart
spearheaded it and there are a lot of teams.

Christmas Candids

Shay's Hollywood style, Kysa working it out, as usual, and Raleigh and Ty
playing X-Box

Sheer Surprise

Raleigh's mouth was wide open for about a minute after opening the grand
finale of our Christmas gifts this year. Kirby and Andrew gave him and Ty
an X-Box with Raleigh's favorite game--Halo 3, and Finding Nemo. He's been
dying today because Ty's been busy with his alumni basketball tournament and
can't play with him, and I won't let him play it solo. It's pretty intense
for a six year old. I was thrilled to get the X-Box because we don't have a
DVD player on our upstairs tv and it works great for that purpose as well.

Christmas Morning

Santa treated us well this year. Our big family gift was a Casio digital
piano. Raleigh got a nice suit, a coat, and legos. Kysa and Shay got
dolls, a bunkbed I picked up at the D.I for a couple of bucks and fixed up
with tied fleece "mattresses" (since the mattresses were missing), puzzles,
and pink basketballs. Shay was excited to tell Grandma all about it on the
phone. :)

I

Christmas Stockings

Shay knew EXACTLY what to do with her stocking!

Christmas Eve Photos

Kirby and Andrew stopped at our house on the way to Paul on Christmas Eve.
A big storm was coming or they might have stayed...we were planning on
having Christmas Day dinner with them and my parents, but it was a no-go
because of the weather. I don't remember having this much snow at Christmas
in Idaho. Maybe when I was little? Before Kirby and Andrew (and Poot)
left, Kysa and I went to see the house on Lowell Drive that has over 60,000
lights choreographed to music. You tune your radio to a station and sit
back and enjoy. It's amazing, and the show goes on every night from 5:15
p.m. to 10:30 p.m. through New Year's Eve.

Picking Up the Wreckage

Ty gave Kysa a good push (sideways) and she ended up with a faceful of snow.
Her first sledding wreck...but she got right back up the hill and went down
several more times.

Sledding with Dad

Sledding with Mom

Sledding at Troy park

We've got a great sledding hill for kids just a short walk down the
street...Kysa had a great time her first time out on Christmas Eve. Raleigh
always enjoys it too. When we get a nice day we'll have to bring Shay out
too.

Merry Christmas from your little baller

Kysa and all of us just wanted to wish you the best!

Love Kaly, Ty, Kysa, Shay, and Raleigh

Cats and Dogs

On the way home from the gillette Christmas party, which was a great success thanks to Grandma Ro’s hard work, we were talking about how we’d have to introduce Snowshack the cat to Nochie and Max.  Raleigh said, “and Poke!”

 

I swallowed hard.  “Well Raleigh, we have some bad news.  Poke got ran over.  He’s dead.  Kinda sad, huh?”

 

Raleigh paused, then said, “Well, not that sad….that’s kinda good news!”  I breathed a sigh of relief and laughed.  I was really worried Raleigh was going to break into tears.  Just the opposite.

 

Poke was a playful six month puppy and knocked the kids around a bit on our last visit.  I guess Raleigh wasn’t a big fan.  Poke got ran over by my former Minico track coach Wes Patterson who was driving around looking for pheasants.  He was a good looking chocolate lab and they’d only had him a few weeks.  Luckily they didn’t pay for him.

 

We decided to bring the cat so she wouldn’t get lost like last time we went out of town, AND so we wouldn’t have to bother the neighbors about looking after her.  The amazing thing was that I didn’t sneeze a single time on the drive to the Emerson church.  I need to take a picture of Snowshack and post it.  Shay calls her “Nacks”.  Other nicknames include “Shack” and “Shack-attack”.  And the neighbors call her Snowy and Miss Kitty.  Never thought we’d be bringing a cat with us…anywhere, but we kinda like her.

Kaly's Training Update

I went to the morning cycling class at Apple for the second day in a row. It was snowing when I left and it was just beautiful. I shoveled the sidewalk when I got back and got the Ex warmed up for Ty. I didn’t have to do the sidewalk in front of the house because Clay Murdoch had already made the rounds with his new 4-wheeler! Pretty cool. Then I got the dishes put away before the kids woke up. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but I feel like I’m more on top of things today. Maybe I’ll keep doing this morning thing! I actually felt ready to wake up at 5:40 too, which obviously helps. Yesterday I went to the 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. classes cause I stayed up all night working on the Gillette family slideshow, and figured I might as well go since I was already awake.

Apple indoor cycling is doing its annual “Race Across America” contest, which started on Nov. 24^th, and I’m trying to get as many classes as I can. You advance one state / class, plus you can put a ticket in the raffle for each class you attend. I have ridden 125 miles this week so far. I should do another 40 miles tomorrow at the 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. classes.

Here is an overview of my plan for training in 2009:

January: Lots of cycling, marathon training schedule begins

February-May: running 3 days/week, cycling and swimming for cross-training

MAY 16^th MARATHON: Ogden Marathon

June-July: Triathlon Training, re-start marathon training schedule on June 1^st for St. George (or Top of Utah).

JULY 25^th BURLEY LIONS SPUDMAN TRIATHLON

August-Oct: Marathon Training

AUGUST 22^nd MESA FALLS HALF MARATHON

SEPTEMBER 19^th TOP OF UTAH HALF MARATHON

OCTOBER 3^rd ST. GEORGE MARATHON (If I don’t get in, then I will do the Top of Utah marathon instead of the half. I’ll find out in May.)

October-November: Bootcamp/Basketball training

December: Indoor Cycling

Here is a link to a 3-day a week marathon training program (with crossing training on 3 days) that I might use. I will start an 18 week program on January 12^th.

http://www.hornetjuice.com/three-day-marathon-training-program-faster.html

Why do this stuff? I love how I feel after a workout. I love being in shape. I love the challenge. I love swimming. I’m not sure that I love biking or running because I’m not that great at either, but as Tom Hanks said in A League of Their Own “It’s the hard that makes it great.”

I also want to play in some basketball games again next season at CSI if I get the chance, and a training schedule will ensure I’m in the kind of shape I need to be in for that.

50 things Kysa says

Kysa's Vocabulary as of August 2, 2007--18.5 months old   (This is from an email I sent to Ty before I set up our blog…just thought I’d post it since Ty forwarded it to me today.)

1. cracker
2. baby
3. Shay Shay
4. apple
5. bug
6. yellow (allo)
7. blue (boo)
8. red
9. all fall down (Ring aRound the Rosies ending)
10. guh guh (working on getting her to say green)
11. goggles
12. bubbles
13. puppy (pup-poo)
14. poop
15. bye bye
16. nigh nigh
17. nap
18. snap (also pronounced nap)
19. step
20. no no
21. down
22. up
23. dup
24. jump (dump)
25. B (the letter)
26. K (the letter)
27. Whoa
28. Wow
29. Wow, what is dat? (said TWICE about the slip and slide)
30. pizza
31. dog
32. hot
33. water (says VERY well)
34. butt
35. stop
36. tiptoe
37. out
38. mom
39. milk (muck)
40. uck
41. mine
42. Kelsy
43. Dad
44. Thankyou (daw-do)
45. that (dat)
46. this (dis)
47. woo woo (the sound dogs make, and pretty much all other animals too according to Kysa)
48. book
49. wee (the swing)
50. KyKa

She said most of these words TODAY.  (She said all of them except for the ones that are italicized.) 

Leadership Quote of the Day

“Be willing to make decisions. That's the most important quality in a good leader. Don't fall victim to what I call the Ready-Aim-Aim-Aim Syndrome. You must be willing to fire.” -- T. Boone Pickens

 

I'm mad at Raleigh!

Kysa just came upstairs with something very urgent to tell me…

Kysa—“Mom, I mad at Raleigh, because he say me a “why-A”. (“why-A” = liar)

She continued, “ Raleigh’s a “why-A”, because I mad at him. He say me a “why-A” because I am mad at him. Because I need my puzzle pieces. I need to do them!”

OK Kysa.

Turkey Trot 5K Photo

Gail, Brenner, Mari, Giff, me, and Jordan on Thanksgiving Day, 2008

"Play with your Babes...

…they won’t be babes for long.”

 

This is the advice Grandma Rue gave me at the end of our phone conversation tonight.  She’s great.

 

I  just thought I’d post my message handout for visiting teaching this month.  I visiting teach with Chris Valentine—what a treat to be paired with someone who is so on the ball!  We visiting teach Noelle Brizzee, Angie Good, and Stacey Marshall.

Miss No No

I hate my kitchen stools because the girls use them to climb up and get
things all over the house. Shay was after the gummy vitamins in the
cupboard above the microwave, which are now on the top shelf in my bedroom
closet. Nothing is safe in our house!

Crazy Eyes

The reason the girls look so crazy is because I turned off the light when I
took this picture. Shay was yelling at me to turn the light back on. (Yes,
I have a very good flash on my little Panasonic Lumix camera.)

Rebel Children

Ty and I thought Kysa and Shay were down for the count...only to find out
they were working on a puzzle together in Shay's room at 11 p.m.. After
listening to them outside the door, I grabbed my camera and opened the door
to take a picture. I didn't say a word, but Shay said, "CHEESE!" Then she
wanted me to keep taking pictures. (She says "moy" for more.)

Ho Ho Ho

More pictures from Breakfast with Santa in Rupert...from a couple weeks ago.

Enjoying the first December Snowfall

Raleigh loves getting on his warm clothes and going outside in the snow. He
spent at least a half hour outside tonight helping shovel the driveway and
clear the snow off the vehicles. He is excited to learn to ski over
Christmas break at Pomerelle.

Visit to Cecil and Arva Shaw

We visited Grandpa Shaw and Arva at the care center in Burley on our way
home to Idaho Falls last weekend. We didn't stay very long because the kids
were all over the place, but it was good to see them.

Playing Games at Grandma Ro's

Raleigh really enjoyed playing LIFE with Grandma Ro last weekend. Kysa
spends hours on her puzzles.

The Chocolate Pudding Monster

Shay LOVES pudding. I usually feed it to her to avoid THIS from
happening...

Kitchen BEFORE shot (March 2008)

Alice Schenk crosses the Arizona Ironman Finish Line

Alice Schenk is one of my mom’s good friends.  She just completed her second Ironman in a great time…at the age of 50!  AWESOME.  (She also kicked my butt in the Turkey Trot 5K only four days after the Ironman!)

Cady had 40 points

Cady Williams scored 40 in our overtime 93-90 win over Columbia Basin today. What a pleasure to play with Cady again, though it was strange wearing CSI jerseys. Guess that’s what happens when they cancel your alma mater’s sports program. L Grandma Ro watched the kids…dad was my chauffeur. Our team was Merrilee Udy, Brooke Kerbs, Cady, Kim Hemenway, Laurie Crocker, Shayla Bingham, and me. Coach Bate coached us again. He’s cool.

The Skyline varsity didn’t fare so well in their opener at Weber State against Clearfield H.S., losing by 20. The junior varsity won. They play Justin Nelson’s Syracuse team tomorrow night.

We play Lethbridge tomorrow at noon. They look pretty weak, and CSI blew them out last night. Columbia Basin lost to SLCC by two points, and SLCC is ranked #19 in NJCAA. Whatever that means…

I sure am enjoying this little blast from the past. I hope I can do it next year.

I am attaching our Gillette Christmas Party Invitation…the project I did tonight while Raleigh, Grandma Ro and Grandpa Jer-Bear went to the Minico boys game.

"I'm like a cat, mom"

Tonight after Kysa used the bathroom she said, “Mom, I don’t want to go in the toilet. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to be all gone.” She didn’t sound stressed when she said this, but I made sure she knew the toilet was safe. She goes to the bathroom several times a day, but definitely not #2 and she’s still in diapers. Maybe this is the problem???

Last night Kysa was picking things she liked (a game called WhoNu or something like that) and she picked “climbing trees”. She said, “I’m like a cat mom.”

Tonight Ky wanted to sleep with her puzzle and her “dragons”, little toy dinosaurs. She usually calls dinosaurs dragons for some reason. She let me cut her fingernails and her toenails tonight before bed, and she’s so good about it. The only thing close to complaining I got was the comment, “That one was a little hard mom,” which she said a couple of times after I cut her toenails.

As for Shay, she is putting more sentences together all the time. She likes puzzles like her sister, calls them “puzz-ees”. She also cracks me up when we leave anywhere and it’s dark outside, she says, “Spooky!”

We have our Christmas lights up on our house and it’s a good thing…otherwise we might get kicked out of the neighborhood. Raleigh was pleased when I got them all up today. He was good company while I worked on the roof. There are only 4 houses on our street that don’t have Christmas lights, and only a few on Robb St. I think it could be the most festive neighborhood in Idaho Falls other than Candy Cane lane. Yet another reason why I love living here.