Utah Mom Blog & Mommy Blogger | Life Elevated Mom

In life, there are winners and there are losers

January 19, 2012 by Amber

Hadley is getting cocky about her artistic prowess and who can blame her? She can out-draw me anyday.

So, when she started taunting she could draw a better peacock, I challenged her to a peacock dual. Mine:
And I’m pretty darn proud of it because I was sorely tempted to do a Google image search. I mean, what colors are peacocks really? How many feet do they have?

Then Hadley’s:
Actually, this isn’t her best one. As an overachiever, she made two drawings and gave the better one to her teacher. Basically, she blew me out of the water.

Of course, I wanted to cover my bases in our little dual.

Me: “If I win, you owe me a back massage.”
Her: “OK, what if I win?”
Me: “You still owe me a back massage.”
Her: “MOMMMMMY!”
Me: “Look at it this way: It’s a win-win situation.”

For me, at least.

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor

What vehicle are you driving?

January 18, 2012 by Amber

I am officially in the market for a new vehicle.

Actually, I didn’t even know I was looking until I was asked by Nissan to be a part of their #HolidayQuest campaign to test-drive their 2012 Nissan Quest. As my kids eagerly explored the minivan and I inhaled that glorious new-car smell while fiddling with the iPod connectivity, I knew it was out with the old (my 2003 Honda Pilot) and onto the new (vehicle TBD).

I was originally supposed to test-drive the Quest over the winter break and we planned a road-trip to Utah. But when a house fire caused tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage to my parent’s home in Canada

CLICK HERE TO READ AT MILEHIGHMAMAS.COM

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Day I Thought We Were Going to Die–Part II

January 13, 2012 by Amber

If you’re just tuning in, be sure to first read The Day I Thought We Were Going to Die, Part I.

So, where were we? Right. The Wyoming freeway was closed due to snow, wind and suicidal conditions and my dear husband came up with an alternate route.

I will never again trust his “alternate routes” without thorough research.

“Look here!” he pointed to his iPhone’s GPS. Let’s just take Route 14, which runs kind of parallel to I-90, connect with Route 16 and then cut back down to Buffalo. Then, we’ll be able to get back on the freeway.”

Several cars were heading in that direction so I figured it would be fine.

What was not fine was Plan B.

“Let’s keep calling the WY road conditions. If I-90 opens up, we’ll take North Piney Road back to the freeway.”

Can’t see North Piney Road on this map? That is because it is too small and sketchy to even be included. (It’s located north of Lake de Smet).

As we followed the caravan of cars along Highway 14, conditions were blustery but plowed and drivable. When we reached the turnoff for North Piney Road, I learned via WY’s road hotline that the freeway had reopened. “Let’s do it!” Jamie announced.

But then I spotted North Piney, which was the very definition of remote. Dread enveloped my body. As Jamie tried to turn off, we started sliding, almost causing an accident and augmenting my alarm.

“Let’s just keep going on Highway 14.” I begged. “This just feels wrong.” But Jamie was already en route. Within a couple of minutes, North Piney’s conditions worsened. Only one truck had dared to traverse the deep snow earlier that morning and Jamie attempted to follow its tracks on the unplowed road.

Yes, I did say attempted.

My coping skills were nonexistent as I replayed a television special where a young family got lost and then stuck in the snowy Oregon mountains after accidentally taking an abandoned service road. After several days, the father James Kim left his stranded family to seek help..and was found dead in a canyon.

I played it out in my mind. I would go for help. I was the Canuck. I was strong. I liked snow. I took a mental note of the few farmhouses we passed, determining they would be our lifeline.

And then we got stuck and all plans went out the window. I freaked. And cried. We didn’t have anything to dig us out and the road was A-B-A-N-D-O-N-E-D. To Jamie’s credit, he was calm as we rocked back and forth, eventually surging forward.

For the first time, Hadley looked up from watching a movie and clued into her surroundings. “THEY NEED TO PLOW THIS ROAD!!!!!”

Gee, you think?

We miraculously made it to I-90. “I didn’t think we were going to get out of there,” Jamie later confessed. And then I thanked him for waiting to tell me. Someone needed to keep it together.

That wasn’t the end of our troubles. We heard more reports the freeway was closed again in Casper, WY and Denver had its own problems with closures due to high winds. Casper was still two hours away so I prayed we wouldn’t have to spend New Year’s Eve stuck in Wyoming.

I started to make calls to local hotels just in case. When we arrived in Casper, freeway closure signs abounded. As we started surrendering to the inevitable, a miracle happened: in a decidedly Parting of the Red Sea-esque moment, the freeway reopened at the exact moment we arrived.

Just call us Moses. Or Aaron. Heck, Children of Israel works, too.

We squeaked into Denver that night several hours later than anticipated. I grabbed a bucket of KFC, toasted the New Year via last year’s Ball Drop on YouTube and was contentedly passed out by 9:30 p.m.

And there’s no way I would have rather ended a decidedly crummy 2011 than snuggled up in my own bed.

Filed Under: Family travel, Hadley, Jamie

The day I thought we were going to die–Part I

January 12, 2012 by Amber

Last summer, I braved a solo trip with the kids from Denver to Salt Lake City to Boise, Idaho to Sandpoint, ID to Calgary, Canada. Jamie flew to Canada and we later drove back to Denver via Waterton and Glacier National Park, a total of almost 50 hours in the car.

When we made the last-minute decision to drive to Calgary for Christmas, I knew what that entailed: often-dangerous winter driving. But as I checked road conditions, the weather was clear. Knowing I couldn’t drive 19 hours straight alone with both kids, I opted to overnight in Billings, MT. I even found a great hotel, Big Horn Resort, that had the largest indoor waterpark in Montana.

I even willingly swam. That’s really saying something for me.

My intrepid travelers and I made the trip in record time—8 hours from Denver to Billings and exactly 9 hours from Billings to Calgary. Jamie flew up right before Christmas and we planned to drive back together before New Year’s. One would think the return trip would be even smoother. You know–family togetherness and all?

Only it wasn’t. My Facebook updates tell the story:

Day 1

Dear U.S. Immigration: Maybe try to use your resources to tackle your colossal illegal immigrant problem vs. detaining AND fingerprinting a legal U.S. Resident at the border.

And then a few minutes later:

On another note, we’re driving through Boonieville Montana and it’s swarming with Federal Agents and tanks. Either they’re 1) doing a huge raid/top-secret security 2) filming a movie or 3) onto me.

Day 2

Federal agents, border detention, that’s one thing (OK, actually 2). But nothing could have prepared us for The Sheridan Incident.

Shortly after we left Billings at 6:30 a.m., we encountered snow and slick roads. It was dark and I was driving—a bad combination. Though slippery, I managed to slowly navigate for the next 2.5 hours as Jamie promised he’d take over as driver once we reach Sheridan, WY.

But it didn’t happen:

I-90 CLOSED in Sheridan. Prospect of spending New Year’s Eve holed up in a seedy WY hotel is pretty much on par with the rest of our 2011.

I’ve been on numerous road trips but have never encountered an entire freeway closure without a detour. It had snowed overnight and that, coupled with extreme wind, make for white-out and icy conditions from Sheridan to Buffalo, WY. After an hour of waiting, Jamie found on alternate route. And then the games began.

Tune in tomorrow to read about our Shortcut of Death.

Filed Under: Family travel

A true story of honesty

January 10, 2012 by Amber

Dad: Well, your mom and I were thinking about coming to Denver next year for Christmas.
Me: That would be great.
Dad: Especially after we got uninvited this year and you decided to go to Utah.
Me: What are you talking about? You were never uninvited to come visit us!
Dad: We weren’t?
Me: No. We never invited you in the first place!

As a side note, I did tell him they always have an open invitation. 🙂

Filed Under: holidays, Humor

A plea for help for a domestic daughter by a non-domestic mother

January 9, 2012 by Amber

Already at 7, my daughter Hadley’s domestic prowess is surpassing my own. Her fuel was fired when she returned home from visiting my parents at Christmas with many of my domestic goddess mother’s crafting items in tow.

A glue gun!
Wreaths!
Ribbon!
Glitter!
Fabric paints!
Weird netting stuff I don’t know what to call it!
Rafia!

Those are her exclamation marks, not mine.

But it gets worse CLICK TO READ ON AT MILEHIGHMAMAS.COM

Filed Under: Hadley, Humor

The Gully

January 6, 2012 by Amber

One of my fondest memories of growing up in Calgary is sledding The Gully across the street from my house. Of all the destinations I’ve visited, I’ve never found a valley that remotely compares to (in Jamie’s words): “that snow hill of death.”

Note: This is the same man who, when we visited a few years ago, brazenly said before launching off a jump, “I have a few days left on my health insurance so I may as well do this now.”

Basically, The Gully renders your senses obsolete.

It snowed two days before we arrived in Calgary and that was the only time it snowed during our entire trip. Shortly after we arrived, the kids and I headed to The Gully, bringing back a flood of my childhood memories.

From the trek.
To scoping out this blissful bowl.

To playtime.
Where I took one of my favorite new pictures of Bode.
Because those cheeks are so darn squeezable.

Quite predictably, Adventure Girl fearlessly careened down the hill while Bode took a more cautious, responsible approach. At one point, she started tearing down the hill, right in the path of Bode and me.

We threw ourselves out of the way and Bode unleashed a furious rant.

“HADLEY, YOU ALMOST KILLED US”….(pause for dramatic effect). “AND THEN YOU WOULD BE WITHOUT A BROTHER AND A MOMMY.”

At least someone in this family is the voice of reason on The Snow Hill of Death.

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Hadley, Humor, outdoors

Walking in a (kind of) winter wonderland

January 5, 2012 by Amber

I love winter in Canada but the weather was unseasonably mild so we were unable to go skating on the lakes or cross-country ski on the golf course. Plus, the fire destroyed all of Dad’s recreational equipment.

Kinda an important piece of the puzzle.

And so we took the dogs for a walk every day. Sometimes it was just around the neighborhood, other times it was an adventure. Like the Southland Off-leash Park where we crossed the Bow River and trekked to Carburn Park. That walk’s excitement: we spotted coyotes just a stone’s throw away.
Though after scoping out the woosy meat selection, they deemed the dogs unworthy to attack.

Bode’s threatening howl helped, too.

Our secret entrance off Deerfoot Trail to this overlook of the Bow is always fun.

But hands down, our favorite trek this year was when Jamie joined us to explore Bow River Valley Ranch. The frozen falls on the river were sooooo cool.
Literally.
Especially compared to how it looked last summer.

Vs.

This time around, thrill-seeking Shanty wanted to drag Bode down to the Bow River but he resisted.
I couldn’t really blame the kid. Remember when I talked about those mild temperatures? That means the Bow River is the very definition of THIN ICE.

But we walked on it anyway.

Confirmation that Canucks really do know how to walk on water.

Filed Under: Canada, Family, outdoors

A Memorable Canadian Christmas

January 3, 2012 by Amber

After my parent’s house fire, we changed our holiday plans to go to Utah and instead headed north of the border. It’s been a few years since I came to Calgary for Christmas and it’s admittedly my favorite place to be. The reasons are innumerable that include my zany and fun family but it comes down to just one thing: it’s home.

And really, you just can’t compete with that.

One night, my dad and I took the kids to the Calgary Nativity Pageant. Our church has put on this production for 46 years and it’s one of my favorite traditions. It has evolved into an impressive production with a professional set, killer sound system and live animals. One thing that has never changed is the venue: it’s always been held outdoors at Heritage Park.

Because didn’t you know: Bethlehem totally had sub-zero temperatures, too?

But Christmas Eve is hands down my favorite party ever. My brother Pat and sister-in-law host every year and have a huge spread of appetizers, desserts and candy.
We always start the festivities with playing the pipe bells that my Grandpa Wilde cut years ago. I also took the bells to Bode’s kindergarten class and Haddie’s second graders for their Christmas parties.
My family was only moderately better than them.

And that is after years of practice.

Then it’s onto the left-right game….
…wherein it is revealed we can’t decipher our left from our right.

But the climax of the evening is the gift exchange. To let you know just how seriously we take this game, my family often shops months in advance for just the right gifts to battle it out over. Some of the winners included a magic show (that has turned Hadley into an amateur magician), light sabers for Bode, and bacon candy canes that were unceremoniously ripped out of my possession.
But the real humdinger of the night was when my brother Pat, on the last trade of the evening, got stuck with the Santa toilet paper and pink, vibrating slippers.

Every year, Jane buys everyone matching PJs but this year, my niece Emily made them for most everyone for her final Personal Progress project for church.

Except for the late-comers like us who decided we were coming just a few days before Christmas. Regardless, Jane made sure we were still adequately outfitted.
As for Christmas day, I can’t believe I didn’t take any pictures! The kids had already opened most of their gifts in Denver so it was nice to not be so focused on the material side of the holidays.

Though they were certainly not lacking with a bike for Bode, a desk for Haddie, movies, Wii games, craft supplies, clothes, and movies. Probably the favorite present was from my mom who saved me from a parenting fail. My kids have always loved stuffed animals and I have never taken them to Build-a-Bear.

I know, Bad Mom.

But who can blame me after seeing those prices? For two animals and two outfits, my mom paid $90. “Birthday Cake” bear is Haddie’s newest treasure and Bode fell in love with another “Tabby.”

Those were sure swell selections but I was remiss when they turned me down for my bear de choix: A Canadian Bear in a Mountie Costume.

Serves me right for birthing Americans.

Filed Under: Canada, Family, holidays, Humor

Declutter resolution?

January 2, 2012 by Amber

Is one of your New Year’s resolutions to declutter?

If so, you definitely need to check out this calendar that gives tips for decluttering your life, one easy day at a time.

P.S. And no, that’s not a picture in my house. But I sure wish it was!

Filed Under: Uncategorized