The Amazing Race 2008

We have a bi-annual tradition in my family of doing something called The Amazing Race. My parents dilligently slave for weeks before the Christmas vacation to come up with creative tasks for us to accomplish. Here is a little sample of what it was like this year. It kind of gives you a glimpse into the competitiveness of my family. There's nothing like a good race against your brothers and sisters to bring the Christmas spirit. ;-)

Team 1

• Misty (sister)
• Caleb (husband)
• Julie (sister-in-law)
• Tyler (brother)
• Bret (brother)

Team 2

• Scott (brother-in-law)
• Cassi (me)
• Broc (brother)
• Kathleen (sister-in-law)

This year's Amazing Race consisted of 8 tasks

1) Catch the clock- The clock we were supposed to photograph at exactly 41 past the hour was not working so we improvised.










Team 2












2) Create your own Christmas Lyrics- Make up new words to the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", including choreographed dance moves and sing it to Lisa Sauer.




3) Snow sculpture creation- Each team had to make a train with enough cars to equal the number of team members.



Team 1...tiny, tiny but they finished quick!














Team 2...creativity at its best (using the fire hydrant as the top of the train engine)










4) Pay the price- After reading a historic Wenatchee legend we had to find a pay phone & call my Dad to answer comprehension questions.

5) Christmas creations- Each team member had to decorate an ornament that was later judged by the grandkids (all of which were being watched by my parents, what troopers!).

6) It's a puzzle- After figuring out a 16 word pass phrase in order to get the "secret package", we completed a puzzle at the WRAC (Wenatchee Racket & Athletic Club, my parents are members).







Team 2








7) Fore again!- Frisbee golf in a foot of snow.








Team 2











TEam 1











8) Random acts of kindness- 5 random acts of kindness had to be performed at some point during the race. After a little coaxing, this older lady finally let us help her out of her car. Team 1 chose to leave some money at the WRAC so the next person to buy something would get it for free. Guess who the next people to buy something were? A very hungry pregnant lady and her team...yes that's right, Team 2 got a snack while at the WRAC on the tab of Team 1, what are the odds!





Team 2

Team 1

Although Team 2 won the lyrics, ornament, & sculpture portions of the race, Team 1 pulled off the big win by winning the choreography & time portions. (They beat us by exactly 1 hour.) We hope this tradition continues throughout the years so we can all keep partaking of it's greatness! Thanks to my Mom & Dad for putting all the work in, both putting the whole thing together for us and watching all 10 grandkids at once! It was super fun!

Pregnant Belly comin' through

I wasn't going to post these but I find it so interesting to compare the 2. I turned them black and white so you couldn't see how really white my belly is :-) You can't really blame it though since it has never seen the light of day. The first is my pregnancy with Cooper and the 2nd is now. They look pretty similar, maybe even a little bigger in the 2nd picture but here's the kicker, I'm 33 weeks in the 1st pic and only 30 weeks in the 2nd. How big is this baby going to be? It makes me just a bit nervous!

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Preparing for a brother

I got Cooper a $5 doll at Wal-Mart to help prepare him for having a baby in the house. He took to it really well. While at the store, before we bought it, he held it very gently the whole time. And on the way home I heard him giving the baby kisses. Let's hope this is a good sign of things to come (probably not since any time I hold another baby he points at it, shakes his head, and balls till I give it back) but I'm still hoping! Here's a couple pics of him enjoying his new baby. I love seeing this sweet side of him!

Holding hands, playing airplane, showing his cars, kisses.

The Perfect Tree

Carmel apple cider, shoulder rides, candy canes, ugly Christmas sweaters, warm hats, cold weather, the perfect tree, Christmas lights, smell of pine, Christmas music, ornaments, "Cooper don't touch!", Christmas pj's, lights off....ahhhhh...It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

New Mexico & Lights

New Mexico


For Thanksgiving this year we headed down to New mexico with Caleb's fam for a couple days. It was fun, filling, and relaxing, as Thanksgiving should be. We then headed back to Utah to spend a couple days with my parents going to the Temple Square lights and Body World exhibit. We love spending time with family! (Sorry, no pictures of Body World were allowed but it was pretty cool!)

Sing, sing, sing

Coop gets a little shy when he sees the camera but you can still see some of the little singer we've got.

Ski Day with Daddy

Coop & Daddy went skiing on Tuesday for the first time this season. I don't know who loved it more, Cooper or Daddy! He lasted about 1 1/2 hours while strapped onto Daddy's front and yelled "Woo-hoo" the whole way.


I seriously love his ski bibs!


It sure tired the little guy out!


He fell asleep mid-pretzel grab :-)

I think he likes it!

Grandma & Grandpa Gundersen got Coop this cool teepee and it has been a huge hit. When it gets quiet, I can usually find him giggling in his new little fort.

Binkie-less

So, for those who even care, I recently took away Coop's binkie. I have to admit, I was scared to death to do this because he has been a binkie baby since the day he was born and it has always calmed him on the spot. He'd find it in his crib if he ever woke up in the night meaning I haven't woken up with him in almost a year...and I cherish my sleep. However, I felt it was time to do away with it so he would have a good couple months before he saw it in his little brother's mouth.

It was a week ago yesterday that I snipped off the end of the binkie and gave it to him. I told him it was broken and what do you think he did? Appropriate answers would be cry, throw a fit, roll on the ground, but no, the little guy just pointed at it and laughed. He tried sucking it once and then gave up like it was no big deal. What a reaction?! He still liked to hold it in his hands (must be a comfort thing) so I let him have it that night. He went down great, slept great, and I thought I had just over-worried about it...that is until the next day, and the next day, and the next day. What a little beast! He was awful, mainly because he was not getting good naps in the afternoon and he was starting to wake up at night as well. Sleep is everything to the little man! I told myself if he wasn't back to his normal, happy, sleeping self by the following Monday (yesterday) I was giving it back.

Well, taking a couple days to adjust, he is his happy self again and has since given up even caring about the binkie (it's lost now, I have no idea where it went) but you won't see him going anywhere in the house without his blanket and dog. I do not look forward to doing this again with the next one, and I may even wait longer to rid him of it, but for now, I'm glad it's over!

A Week in Pics

This past week I finished the first part of a little project I am doing. It is called "A Week in the Life of". I took pictures all day long for 7 days of just our normal, everyday life and plan to make a small scrapbook of it to remember this time in our life. The first day was Monday and I took 75 pictures and by the last day, Sunday, I only took 10...I got a little tired of it ;-), but I'm excited to put it all together. Here are a few pics from each day.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

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Saturday

Sunday