Following Reed's lead here and giving an update. Our lives currently are pretty humdrum. We're waiting for the blasted winter to get over so we can get out and explore again! There's so much to see and do here, but I'm kind of a weather snob and don't want to do anything unless the weather is at least somewhat pleasant.
Over Martin Luther King weekend we went to Austria… Ben snowboarded, I skied for just an afternoon, and we took the girls sledding.
So I posted this on our family blog, but we did this monster toboggan run… it's very common here in Germany, Austria, Switzerland to have these huge toboggan runs… you take a ski lift to the top of a mountain and follow the run all the way down, most of it is switchbacks, but some of it is also straight down hill. First Ben took Em while I waited in the car with C and J. They were gone almost an hour… that's how long it takes to get to the top and come back down. When they finally made it down Em as in TEARS soaking wet, crying she did NOT like it. So I was like, "I don't think I should take Caroline, then." But Ben was like, "Just take her. It's good for them." so, here are some photos from the run:
The fresh snow from the day before made it so beautiful!
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| Poor thing, totally unsuspecting |
Yeah, not a fan either. But I went by myself afterwards and I thought it was a blast. Now, this would be the perfect adventure for the Griffins… it's more their style.
Also, I've been working quite a bit with Caroline since she is a royal pain on a daily basis. I made a poster called "I Can Do it By Myself!"
Here's the poster. It's da bomb
She's really been doing so much better. If she can consistently get eight stickers (out of ten) per day during the week I let her pick out a dvd to rent at the furniture store which is heaven on earth for her. Notice, eating dinner is her biggest struggle.
In other news, the RS got reorganized so I was released as 1st counselor. I am now the beehive advisor! That's fun, never done YW before. Ben just got called to be the ward executive secretary. Haha!
I just finished reading The Alchemist and LOVED it. Very highly recommend it… simple yet spiritual story with lots of gospel parallels. I met with my book club here on base and it was fun to discuss… although I was the only LDS person… I was kind of amazed/saddened at how many of the women said they didn't know what the purpose of life is or what THEIR purpose is. But lots of good insights were made by everyone.
I'm doing duolingo on the computer to help me learn German. I'll probably never be fluent in German, but having some exposure sure is helpful. If anyone wants to learn a language you can for free at duolingo.com
Looking forward to Mom coming in April. Trying to learn about Italian Renaissance art since I know nothing and we'll be spending five days in Tuscany!! woo woo!!
THe girls are good. Em is busy with school, dance, and violin. C is a handful and she is excited for her 5th bday. She wants a Frozen party and there are so many kids who will be invited because our base is crawling with four/five year olds!! James was pretty sick for awhile… had bronchitis/the beginning stages of pneumonia and I had to take him into the clinic three times in one week. Thank goodness we had a really good doctor (army doc) and he is doing much better.
Oh, and I signed up to run a half marathon in Switzerland over Memorial Day. Very excited to meet that new challenge. Up to eight miles now. I'm afraid to tell you my goal but who knows how many of you even read this so I will tell you I want to do 13 miles at an 8:30/mile pace.
Love you all!!!
We are coming to Cancun so be there or be square!
Mindy thanks for the update, it was fun talking yesterday but lots more details here. That is a great goal on your half marathon. You have Blackburn genes, I know you can do it.
ReplyDeleteCaroline's "Do it yourself" chart was hilarious. So yeah, does she ever get 8 out of 10 for a week? Looks like she is quite a ways from doing that. She also struggles with blowing on her food? Does she ask someone else to do it for her?
The pictures on the mountain are a hoot. I am totally with Ben... "just take her", and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. But you got awesome pictures.
Love you!
Yes, she asks someone to do EVERYTHING for her, including blowing on her food. Hence the chart. We're actually making pretty good progress… the lack of stickers more reflects my lack of follow through than Caroline's progress. Dinner and putting her seatbelt on are her two most difficult tasks. You should see her try to put a seatbelt on. She likes wrestles with it and usually loses… falls out of the chair and everything. Oh man, it's the worst.
ReplyDeleteLove this post!
ReplyDeleteYour chart is definitely "da bomb"
Those stories are priceless about the toboggan sled. Is "making the kids" do it the right approach. I know Amber and I will be at odds at this in the future. I will be saying "they have to do it, it's good for them" and Amber will be saying "if they don't want to they don't have to, it's their choice". I'm guessing there's a middle ground.
That's awesome you're doing duolingo. I've thought about doing it to try to pick up a third language. I make All my Spanish kids do it and they love it. I think it's the social media aspect to it. It's part of their grade. What's your username? Maybe I'll tell them they can follow you and they'll think it's cool to be able to compare there scores to your's.
8:30 is pretty fast. Is it downhill? Congratulations. That's a tremendous accomplishment for you, even if you don't hit your goal.
My running days may be over. My right knee gives me fits when I run on it for more than a couple miles or when I do high impact workouts that involve lots of jumping. Recently I've been taking Hyrum out for walks. We have an apartment complex across the street from us and it has a really nice hoop. I put it on 9 feet and practice my dunks. Hyrum watches, as I hope he'll learn to become a great dunker. My knee hurts afterwards. It stinks. I'm getting old.
Speaking of getting old. Today in sacrament they asked me to give the opening prayer when I walked in. I said yes. Before we sang the opening hymn they said "we'll have an opening hymn, afterwards Reed Blackburn will give us the opening prayer." I turned to Amber and said good thing they said that, because I totally forgot". Amber said "I forgot too!" AFter the hymn I was in whatever land my mind goes to while singing hymns and next thing I knew the hymn was over, there was a couple second pause, and the 2nd councillor to the bishopricgot up and gave the prayer" I turned to Amber and said "I forgot again!" She said "me too". Oh man, getting old aint no fun.
Well, we didn't force Caroline to go down… she really wanted to ride the lift up and of course she had no idea what she was getting into… if she really didn't want to go we probably wouldn't have made her. Thanks for congratulating me even though I haven't run the race yet. No, it's not downhill… it's around a lake. I'm hoping it's flat. And sorry about your knee! You should see if your insurance covers physical therapy. When I started running my knees would swell because my core was weak, I went to a PT and she gave me some great exercises to get over it. I would imagine your knee problem is fixable??
DeleteI Didn't ask if it was downhill because I didn't think you could do it if it wasn't :) I just know that when I got my really good time I had a really downhill course and the wind was at my back, ideal running conditions. So much of what your time will be will depend on the weather for the day you run your half. Hope the training is going well!
DeleteHey Mindy! Such a great update. Those pictures of Caroline and Emily were hilarious with the downhill toboggan thing. I remember having to go on the Alpine Slide when I was like 8. I was such a wuss, and I had the hand brake on the ENTIRE time down. I took so long, one of the instructors had to come down the slide and push me faster because I was holding up the line. Every time he pushed me faster I screamed louder, and I did not like it at all. I hated all roller coasters and fast things when I was little. Then once I went to Disneyland when I was twelve, and it all changed. I loved all the roller coasters and I haven't looked back. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteThat's so much fun you're in young women's! That's like, my dream calling. I am so excited about the new curriculum for the youth, it seems to really challenge both the youth and the leaders to listen to the spirit and focuses more on conversion rather than just a testimony. You'll do great.
Reed-Trent says that he wants to have a dunk competition with you at 9 feet. All other brothers and in-laws are invited. But only if they can get their dunk on.
Can Trent dunk on 9 feet? Or did he want to lower it for himself and then the rest of us would dunk on 9 feet?
DeleteCan Trent dunk on 9 feet? Or did he want to lower it for himself and then the rest of us would dunk on 9 feet?
DeleteThis reply is priceless.
DeleteThis reply is priceless.
DeleteI'm good to raise it 9.5 if you want. Don't want to make it too difficult for the old folk with knee and back problems though....
DeleteHey Mindy! Such a great update. Those pictures of Caroline and Emily were hilarious with the downhill toboggan thing. I remember having to go on the Alpine Slide when I was like 8. I was such a wuss, and I had the hand brake on the ENTIRE time down. I took so long, one of the instructors had to come down the slide and push me faster because I was holding up the line. Every time he pushed me faster I screamed louder, and I did not like it at all. I hated all roller coasters and fast things when I was little. Then once I went to Disneyland when I was twelve, and it all changed. I loved all the roller coasters and I haven't looked back. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteThat's so much fun you're in young women's! That's like, my dream calling. I am so excited about the new curriculum for the youth, it seems to really challenge both the youth and the leaders to listen to the spirit and focuses more on conversion rather than just a testimony. You'll do great.
Reed-Trent says that he wants to have a dunk competition with you at 9 feet. All other brothers and in-laws are invited. But only if they can get their dunk on.
My favorite part of all of this is the picture that accompanies the "wipe my bottom" goal. I'm sure mom disapproves. I downloaded the "French Kids Eat Everything"- I think you would really enjoy it. I downloaded it on this app called oyster that lets you read any book for $10 a month. I am doing the free trial so I'll have to cancel it in a month, but if you want my login info I could give it to you if you want to read the book. It is interesting. I agree with a lot of what she says and disagree with a lot of what she says. The French total disapproval of snacks seems a little harsh to me!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of all of this is the picture that accompanies the "wipe my bottom" goal. I'm sure mom disapproves. I downloaded the "French Kids Eat Everything"- I think you would really enjoy it. I downloaded it on this app called oyster that lets you read any book for $10 a month. I am doing the free trial so I'll have to cancel it in a month, but if you want my login info I could give it to you if you want to read the book. It is interesting. I agree with a lot of what she says and disagree with a lot of what she says. The French total disapproval of snacks seems a little harsh to me!
ReplyDeleteYeah, the sparkly bum is a real gem. Thought of that all on my own :)
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