Super Angie...Happy Thanksgiving Tuesday

We are home now from Keystone. Ah, it was a great trip. Our drive home was actually really good. :)

I got an email from Dave and Joan whom I met on my China trip, so I went back through my blog and re-read my entries. Great memories. But one thing I found was something I want to re-post since its Thanksgiving Time....

"How blessed and lucky I have been in my life. I have traveled to 5 continents in my short 31 yrs. (haven't been to South America or Antartica). I have met incredible people and shared my journeys with many loved ones and friends. I am thankful and just dang lucky that my dad's job has taken him to Germany, Australia and now Russia, so I have a reason to visit those places and a place to stay when I go. While my parents lived in Germany, my mom and I had so much fun traveling around Europe. I love hearing about places my dad has been too...he really has opened my eyes to the world. I love learning about my heritage and then going to those places (haven't been to England yet though). I've been lucky to get cheap flights that have allowed me to go places like Tokyo. I am thrilled that my husband and children share a love of traveling--whether its a 10 hour plane ride, or an hour car ride around town, we love traveling together and exploring. I love traveling, plain and simple. I love talking about traveling, reading travel books and watching travel shows. Its in my blood, just like scrapbooking or baking might be passions for others--traveling is my thing.

Lastly, I want to thank The Lord for blessing me with so many things. I don't take my traveling for granted, but realize its a gift from Him. I am thankful that I was born and raised in the USA. I am thankful for my freedoms--especially religious freedoms. I have so many things in my life that so much of the world could only dream about having. I am blessed so much."

I know that God loves me. I know he knows my heart. I am so thankful that my savior died for me so I could ask forgivness of my sins. I know that I can be washed clean from those sins. I love Christ.

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Happy Thanksgiving..Monday

Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving. The Turkey is in the oven, the pumpkin pie (store bought) is in the fridge and the outlet shopping has been done! lol

This morning, Rick took off to go climb (see his blog) and the kids and I walked to Lake Keystone to feed the fish. Everyone had a great time. The weather was perfect--well, perfect for this type of activity, but not perfect for a ski resort that wants to have more runs open in time for Thanksgiving! Anyway, after the fish and quick purchase for Tyler, Andy and Kaylee at the gift store, we went to the playground. Tan really enjoyed swinging in the babyswing and hitting Dallin with her feet when he stood infront of her. She also thought it was quite funny to see Mommy swinging next to her. The boys had fun swinging, sliding and running around.

After lunch and decorating gingerbread cookies (store bought kit), we headed out to Antlers. Antlers is our favorite store in probably all of Summit county. Its located in Frisco, so maybe 10 minutes away. Antlers always carries the best brands for outdoor activities--so of course right now its full of Marmot, NILS, Salomon, Spyder, Northface, Burton, Roxy and Obermeyer. Talk about cute stuff. They also have the best selection of UGG boots I have ever seen. Rick and I tried on lots of coats (but realized we can get them cheaper online! lol) and the boys tried on lots of hats. Brennan LOVES to try on girly snow hats. He so badly wants me to buy him every single pink flowered hat he sees (like the one pictured above from REI). I do admit they look darling on him, but I won't buy him one. Sorry.

Dallin on the other hand has this thing for CROCS. He just loves them and he found a pair of turquise ones at Antlers and since they fit, and since he was good, we bought them for him.

Then it was on to the outlet stores. I ran into CARTERS to buy some size 12 month onesies. Poor Tan is all out, so I picked her up some adorable pink and brown ones. I also got Dallin some new pants (since the ones we brought here are all FLOOD PANTS) and then I got Tan some cute stuff. CUTE STUFF!!!!

Then Rick wanted to go into a sweet sports store called PURE, so I took the kids to play on some rocks. Then it was time to go to Target to get an extension cord for my garland on the balcony, plus swim diapers for Tan and a few other goodies like Hello Kitty plates and napkins for Tan's birthday party.

Now we are home. Rick has taken the kids swimming. I am trying to ignore Tan's crying. She needs a NAP! In a bit we will enjoy our early Thanksgiving Feast, make some Thanksgiving Crafts and enjoy the sounds and sites of a crackling fire.

TEN THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR (in no particular order):
1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and my membership in his church
2. Family and Friends and loved ones..
3. Being an American--having so many freedoms. I realized how grateful I am for Religious freedom when I went to church in China.
4. Snow and Winter and Ice...these things just make me soooo happy
5. Having a getaway in Keystone...this place just brings me peace and gets me away from stress and rush rush rush.
6. All the travel opportunities I have had in my short life thus far. I am well aware of how lucky and blessed I have been to have gone so many places. I hope I can continue to travel for it truely brings me joy to see new places and meet new people. (pictured: Freiberg, East Germany temple...went there in the late 90s)
7. Service. I love how I feel when I do service.
8. Rock Climbing...it brings Rick and I together and its great for our kids too.
9. Babysitters!!! So thankful for Whitney and Tiff.
10. Twinkle lights, Christmas trees and decorations and Christmas music--all things Christmas!

What are 3 things YOU are thankful for?

--Super Angie

Super Angie...beautiful Lake Dillon

Yesterday we went for a hike to a rock climbing place and I commented that the view of Lake Dillon was really nice--well, today Rick went back and took this picture. What a beautiful Summit County day! (the town far across the lake is Frisco, where church is)

--Super Angie
PS...check out Rick's blog to see more of his pictures from today

Super Angie...one more thing..about Dallin

I totally forgot to blog about Friday. Dallin had his thanksgiving program at school. We, of course went and enjoyed him--although we couldn't heard a dang thing. Oh well. Anyway, he was a sailor this year. He knew his lines real well, except that he get stage fright, so on stage, he is quiet and not very enthusiastic, but ask him to say his lines now, and he is fantastic.

"We're sailors on the Mayflower..." So dang cute!!!
Heres an old photo, but he is still cute!!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...Sunday is a family day

Today, we had quite the adventure and I learned that I love my family--even went we don't always get along.

We attended the Frisco, Ward. Again, the building reminds me of the Munich 4th ward building; cute, simple and small. The talks were very nice--forgiveness and the ward choir sang. I think this is the first time I have ever seen a ward choir where the men clearly out numbered the woman. Amazing.

After church, we went for a hike to a beautiful spot that overlooks Lake Dillon. It was so gorgeous. Yesterday we broke down and bought a "jogging stroller" from Target, so we used it today to take Tan off-roading. She "sort of" enjoyed it--meaning she only cried half the time. lol Rick found some bolted rock climbing routes, but they were off the trail and we didn't think the stroller, rugged as it was, would make it. So instead, Rick and the boys did some bouldering and messing around.

In the evening, we went to THE BEE MOVIE. Dallin had his eyes glued to the screen and really enjoyed it. I love the fact that we hardly ever take the kids to movies, because it makes each time really special. Brennan enjoyed eating and drinking, as did Tanith. She kept eating and eating. She likes popcorn and raisinets--but come on! WHO DOESN'T!!! :)

The kids quickly fell asleep on the drive home, so we went for a car ride and saw all the different mansions lit grandly from within. We also drove through River Run village and enjoyed the lights there too. Too bad there isn't any snow. :(

I decorated our balcony with garland (need an extension cord) and star lights from IKEA.

The kids are all in bed, Rick just went to the hot tub, and I think I'll watch some TV or read...

Super Angie signing off....

Super Angie...wonderland

Driving out from our condo at 5pm last night to do some grocery shopping for dinner (yes, I made dinner!!) , I first noticed how dark it was. There are very few street lights--only at bus stops. The only other lights one sees are from the cottages that dot the hillsides and from the twinkle lights. VAIL RESORTS, who own Keystone and most of the ski resorts in the area, have a tradition of putting Christmas lights on most of the evergreen trees at intersections or in the mediums as you drive. Its a welcoming site. It lets you know you have arrived somewhere special. These lights are up year round to remind.

I love seeing the Christmas trees.

Currently, there is no snow on the ground except for in those special places that seem to collect snow forever because the sun never hits them. At night, you can see diamonds forever twinkling in the sky.

Even the grocery store is magical. People of all walks of life are getting their goods--dressed in winter coats, scarfs, hats. There is always a line at the checkout, but for some reason, it doesn't bother you. No one is in a rush...not even the mom with 4 kids in the cart and the frozen turkey getting sat on by the runny nosed 2 yr old. Its as if everyone knows they are in Summit County and that time just goes slower--well, unless you are skiing down a fabulous run...then its all about speed. But in the grocery store or on the roads...its slow.


Enjoying my own private wonderland...Super Angie signing off.


ALERT ALERT!!!! Rick came out of the bedroom, Tan saw him, cruised along my legs and the couch and then took two steps on her own, not touching anything to reach him. SHE WALKED!!!!!!1

Super Angie...more bragging

Okay, so Tan's pictures turned out soo cute, and I framed the one of her sitting on the

sled. I thought,
"that will be a cute picture to hang in the Colorado place" and that got me thinking...

so.... I took the boys and they did great.



Now I have snow/sled pictures of all three, framed and ready to hang in Colorado! :)



On another note: Today was the Thanksgiving Program at Dallin's school. I didn't get any good pictures of him because the lighting was bad and I was sitting so far back. But he did great and looked good. I survived with Tanith and Brennan. Rick's good heart got the best of him and despite not wanting to film the whole thing for the school, he did it anyway as a surprise. What a sweetheart--he really does have a soft heart.

Super Angie...gotta brag

Okay, so I bit the bullet, bought the darling JANIE AND JACK sweater, boots and hat, paired it with a skirt we already had and BINGO--cute 1 yr old birthday photos!!!




--side note: non of these have been retouched or cropped, which is why the snowball photo looks a bit strange--I think thats the photographer's arm in the corner.

ENJOY! (I know I am enjoying them!)

-Super Angie, Super Mom

Super Angie...great day climbing

I had such a great day climbing today with Julie. She is a great person and a great climber. Glad we are becoming better friends. :) Today I did a 5.8 and then two new 5.10s (5.10 + and 5.10 a). One of them was actually on a lead wall spot, so I used a top rope from another wall--which meant that when I "fell", I actually swung quite a bit to the side. It was good for me to do that. Anyway, I love getting stronger--to the point that I can do 5.10s with little problem. YEA!

--Super Angie
PS..>Tiff babysat for a long time today. Brennan said, "I'm gonna miss her" when she drove off. :)

Super Angie...blogging is strange

So, do you ever go blog stalking? (Tiff's term, means, to go from one blog to the next, following links and winding up at blogs of people you don't know, but you read them anyway...)

Isn't it strange how you can actually know whats going on in some one's life from reading their blog. For example, Super Sam. I never met Sam. I saw her at HERA Climb 4 Life and she commented on my blog but thats it. Now I read hers all the time. Well, poor Sam is totally sick. She lives on the east coast... kind of strange for little old me in Utah to know that this lady on the east coast is sick, even though I only know a tiny bit about her.

Blogging is strange sometimes. But I love it!

Have you ever blog stalked someone? And if so...anything interesting come of it?

--Super Angie

Super Angie...sad but happy

Well, due to a lack of sleep, I didn't hit the ice this morning at 6am. Its my fault...went to bed too late and then my body woke up at 3:45 and wouldn't go back to sleep until 4:40. Well, I have to wake up at 5am, inorder to make it to the rink by 6am, so I just went back to sleep.

Lesson learned...Tuesday nights HAVE to be early nights for me.

But I did have fun at WERC last night. Lots of new faces, which always make it fun. :)

-_Super Angie

PS...thought most people wouldn't know what WERC is... WERC: Woman Experience Rock Climbing. Its a "class" or a clinic I guess where woman come together to climb and learn. There are pro climbers there who give advice and tips. Us girls have a blast climbing together, inspiring, helping, cheering and just being there for each other. I have met soooo many awesome new friends through WERC and try really hard NOT to miss it. :) At WERC...Woman Rock!

Super Angie.... 5.10 D Finally!!

So, I have been working this problem at the gym for so long...since June I think and FINALLY yesterday I sent it. No, I did not flash it or redpoint it, but I did send the whole dang thing. Its on an undercling on a 40 something foot wall. For those who know Momentum, its the purple 5.10D over by the brown and gray 5.10s we all love.

Rick was belaying me and gave me lots of support.

Thanks to Jeff, Banner and Steven for giving me so many tips and technique help the past few weeks. Thanks to Laurie for teaching me how to be more dynamic. Thanks for all the awesome climbing girls--Dawn, Sarah, Summer, Megan and everyone else...you really inspire me. And finally, THANKS to my sweet DH for sitting on belay for 20 minutes so I could finally send it.

Now its time to attack the 5.11a!!! :)
--Super Angie
PS...please note, this photo is old and is not from the right route.

Super Angie...excited

So, its that time of the year again, when skating is on TV. I spent some of today watching Skate Canada and "Kurt Browning's 'Gotta Skate'" . Watching Sasha skating made me realize how much I really REALLY miss skating, so I did a bit of research and found that I can hit an early morning free style session at 6am on Wednesday.

I need to set a new serious goal and get to it. I had my goal of reaching my current weight by the time I went to China. I did that. Sucess! But now, I need to continue and reach my next weight goal. Hmmm.. Gotta work hard at the gym and the rink. I think adding this bit of skating once a week will really help my body. :)

Here are some photos in no particular order: Katia in the black and white checkered outfit. I beleive this was her costume for "SMILE". Katia and Sergei at the 94 Olympics-long program- where they won their second Oly Gold. Sasha Cohen at an Olympic practice at the Delta Center in SLC 2002 (wearing black pants and red USA sweatshirt). Then of course, I have to put up photos of Tanith Belbin and her partner Ben--since we did name our daughter after her. Here is one of just her holding her Oly Silver medal from 2006 ice dance and one of Tanith and Ben skating. Also, my Tanith's middle name is Irina, named after Irina Slutskaya, so, here is a photo of her doing layback spin, and a photo of her giving THUMBS DOWN after getting bad scores at the Olympics. BUT notice her coat...I have the white version! :) AND, finally, since the little fella is so dang cute, I had to put up the Russian Olympic Team Mascot. My dad bought us a bunch of these. So cute. :) Gosh, I am so addicted to Russian skating...

Happy skating and Happy Climbing. Hey, BTW...if anyone wants to skate, let me know! :)

Super Angie

Super Angie...what type of flower are you?

I am a Petunia What Flower Are You?

I did this quiz (saw it on Emily's Blog). Click the "what flower are you?" link.

Here is what it said about me....

You are a tried and trusted friend who will be there for your friends when they need you. But you have a tendency to be nervous about doing things that go against the norm.

--Super Angie smiling off

Super Angie...why oh why?

Why oh why, do they have to make such DARLING kid clothes that are available to me at just a click of a mouse? And why oh why do I have to have a cutie little girl who would of course look just darling in these clothes?

http://www.janieandjack.com/

DANG IT!! I WANT IT ALLLL!!!!!!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...beautiful photos

Rick just updated his blog with some totally funny and then some gorgeous photos from this past weekend. Check it out! :) NOTE: there are two new posts, all with photos.

http://tripeakpro.blogspot.com/


--Super Angie

Super Angie...the things Brennan says

So, Brennan loves his sister Tanith and often he mentions how he wants to marry her (and me). Well, this morning, he said the cutest thing...

"Mama, when can we go to a temple, so I can marry Tanith?"


What do you say to that sweet question?

--Super Angie

Super Angie....photo time!

A dragon, a pumpkin and a pirate

Watch Out! Dallin has pumpkin guts!

At Lake Keystone

Smiley Brennan

The big horn sheep we saw.

Heres some photos from this past weekend including Halloween stuff.

--Super Angie