Snowcaving…almost!

Okay, so our 11 year old scouts decided they wanted to do the winter camp.  I had heard about the winter "Klondike" but thought I'd keep it quiet in hope that it would pass and we could look to warmer adventures.  But no, one of my scouts parents found out about it.  So, I did the only smart thing, I asked the 3 boys if they wanted to go winter camping.  I hoped they would say, No Way! But, they all said, yeah, let's do it.  So for the last six weeks we've been preparing.  We learned how to lash, collect branches to build our own Klondike sled to be raced at the event, and surveyed the internet for as many cold weather tips as we could gather.  After a few lists, and a motivating roundtable for scout leaders, all was set.  We had built the runners for our sled out of 2x4's, I gathered the perfect branches from the city dump, we carved said branches to fit into the holes of our runners.  We had the list, we checked it twice.  Now, all we had to do was wait for friday afternoon.
We loaded up 2 suburbans full of gear.  We had all the branches bundled together so that we could lash them together on sight.  Off we went!
Well, guess what the first thing my scouts learned? Yes, it's cold on a winter camp out.  0 degrees to be exact!  Not a cloud in the sky to hold the heat in.  Also, the scouts all assumed we'd pull right up to the camp site. Not to be.  We had to load in all the gear about 300 yards.  No one had snow shoes, so imagine walking on the path and having every footstep sink in 3-4 feet.  It was hard work.  You would try to step on packed snow, but, ever so often, bam, down 4 feet.  We started to wonder why we packed so much gear.  Do you really have to eat, sleep, have a sleeping pad, shovels, etc.  And, what was this, they told us no fires.  Yes, you heard right, no fires was the speech at the roundtable.  I'll never listen to that again.  Also, my little portable stoves just wouldn't work at that elevation and at that temperature.  Not doing good.  As I was carrying in our pile of branches to make our sled, I was dropping a branch ever so often.  (remember, the sun has gone down, it's cold, branches are heavy,) Well, I thought to myself, I'll lay this bundle down by the side of the trail.  I have my nice ratched tie down securing them all together, they'll be okay.  I'll fix the stove, then come back and get them.  Well, on the next trip  to the car to get more supplies, I noticed the branches were gone.  Yes, some scout troop stole our branches and my tie down.  I guess there fired camp was in need of fuel while our cold camp was, well, just plain cold.  My boys were pretty discouraged.  No warm food, no fire, freezing toes and hands from digging out our snow caves, and the sled we'd worked a month on was gone.  One boy just wanted to crawl in and go to sleep, another was having the time of his life and the third, well, I couldn't read him very well.
I had better tally up the adults here, I, Daniel (who had a horrible snow cave experience a few years earlier, and I thought I could "fix" it this time around, Larry who was an eager volunteer and Marty Bergsjo who was the father of one of the boys).    Daniel wasn't to thrilled but was there, Larry did great, so did Marty.  Marty's son also was doing really well.  Well, at about midnight, one of my boys said, "I can't do this any more".  So, Daniel and I drove him down the mountain.  While I was home, I got a call saying I should just stay down (I had a meeting in the morning I was going to come back for, then return) So Daniel and I snowcaved in our warm beds, my volunteer leaders stayed up with the boys.  The next day was supposed to be filled with scout activities and the big race of the sleds.  I got another call early in the morning.  "We're coming home!"  The boys figured since the sled had been stolen, it was cold, no fire, the promise of a breakfast as McDonalds was too appealing.  So that was the adventure of the snowcaving that almost was.
We'll talk about what we learned tuesday...
Demarious was right about scouts.  Read that however you want.

john

A little of our week....

Okay, we'd like to share a 1st place Valentine's Box.  After dad suggested a butterfly, Kristina quickly made it her own by choosing her favorite animal of all time…the Crocodile!  Daniel found this pattern, John adapted it, and Kristina and Karen colored it.  To be honest, we had no idea how it was going to turn out, but we moved forward anyway!

and our Crocodile Princess…

Speaking of princesses, Daniel was the date of choice for the Girl's choice Valentine's Ball at the high School.  His longtime friend Ally asked him to this dance.  They had a wonderful time...

Stayed tuned…

HAPPY NEW YEAR (eve)

Hey Everyone this is Daniel here blogging for the first time! (it's one of my resolutions) This New Years Eve was so much fun! We had the Carter's North come over to celebrate and watch the ball drop! We live streamed the ball dropping in New York and celebrated at 10!

Parker was attacked with kisses by the girls (I think he looks a little surprised)

Frank and Shandy greet us hello!

I got attacked with Party Attire!!!

Parker was attacked too!

Finally the BEST picture of the end of the year!

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My Favorite Parents in the whole wide world!!!

(All of these pictures were taken on my new camera just in case you were wondering)

Christmas Morning

Our morning, which lasted all day into the evening, was quite delightful.

There were gifts…

for dad,
and for mom…

and the anticipation while parents where sleeping…

and then, one of the most waited events of the day...

no, not santa's arrival, but…

A skype from a missionary!

Isn't technology wonderful?

we linked skype to the tele and talked to Elder Carter for almost 2 hours.  We got to see his twinkling eyes, and hear his contagious laugh.  We even were serenaded by he and his companion Elder Konelio.  It was a wonderful duet of Silent Night.  Talk about Christmas cheer!

Then, a few more pictures to highlight the day.  Merry Christmas to you all.  We hope you are surrounded by those you love.

It was a wonderful day!

Merry Christmas to One and All!

Click this to see our family card 

Click this to hear Karen's Audio Message

Hope you are all enjoying family and friends!

Our quick trip to SL

our house..

cloning Grandpa Paul (the chickens made us do it...)

Jingle bells fiddle style at the family party

gathering around, "tis the season"

Karen and Grandpa Keith

The lights on Temple Square, 

The fam....

…to be continued!

December is here… And we love it…

Could resist standing in the street to take this picture.
We had Daniel, his date, and 3 other couples over for dinner before the Christmas dance.  It was a beautiful night in Logan.