Cold & Hot Night-- Ice Skating & Brazilian Food

Last night was a blast! We went with the family to the Gallivan Center in Salt Lake City to go outdoor ice skating. There was me, Jonny, Lex, Gramps, Kristen & Spencer plus their 5 kids, Scott, Katy & Michelle! WOAH! I am posting the pictures that I have. The camera battery ran out (because I haven't charged it since Thanksgiving...oops).



After we went ice skating, we went to the Gateway for dinner at Tucanos Brazilian Grill! This is one of the Brazilian restaurants where the servers slice the meat off of skewers onto your plate. Yummy!

Jonny did the most shocking thing of the night...he ate food!! Were talking LOTS of FOOD. He even ate the Mango Cod and the Chicken Hearts! My precious little carnivore! I joke the he has expensive taste, but I guess I am not kidding after all. His favorite foods are shrimp, steak, lobster..... and now Brazilian! (Oh, hopefully I can post pictures of this too...but at least have 18 witnesses! The Stuarts & the Crooks were there to be able to prove it!

Christmas 2008

I know this sounds cliche- but WOW!!! Christmas flew by sooo quickly! Jonny & Lex were spoiled as usual, but honestly, they are such good boys that they deserve it. They received a keyboard & I am now very excited to get them both into piano lessons. Jonny would rather learn to play the guitar, but I am going to have him start with the piano to better learn to read music.


As you can see, Santa Claus brought Lex the ATM Machine & Orange Juicer that he asked for:


And, even with all of the gifts that the boys received.... they ended up playing in Charlie's kennel. How funny!

Snow Storm

We just had our first MAJOR snowstorm since moving back to Utah from Arizona. Let's just say the snow is not making me happy, but Lex found a way to enjoy it by making lots and lots of snowballs.



I'd say that we got about 8-10 inches of snow overnight. This USED to be my reading bench.

HELP! Has anyone seen my car??????

...at least the mountains look BEAUTIFUL. This is a view of the mountain from my house.

Jonny's 11th Birthday - Laser Zone, Sunset, UT

The Laser Tag Crew: Jonny, Lex, Alyson, Will, Jaxon, Tucker, Ben, Caleb, and Trevor

Jonny - 11 Years Old

Lex- 7 Years Old

For Jonny's 11th Birthday, I let him take a few friends to Laser Zone for a couple games of Laser Tag.

I Love 5th Graders!!!

Yesterday I took treats to Jonny's class for his birthday. As I walked into the class a little girl named Amani asked me if I was Jonny's sister. YES!! As I was walking back out of the classroom, Amani said, "I really though you were Jonny's big sister. You look so young. My mom is old!" Woo Hooo!! It fees good!!

Dear Santa

Lex's letter to Santa was so amusing that I have decided to just copy to verbatim. I would scan it if I had a scanner. LOL

"Dear Santa, here's my toy list. Pixos, all the Club Penguin toys, magic set, bath coloring, a jornal, new bed, and stufft animals, and an A.T.M. Here's my food list. A blender, orenje juice maker, a magic bulet, easy bake oven but only the blue one. Love: ALex Ballinger."

Ferengi

I just tucked Jonny & Lex into bed for the night. As I leaned in to give Lex a hug, he pulled my arm to his ear and rubbed his ear against me as hard as he could. This reminded me that my son is 1/4 English, 1/4 Greek, & 1/2 Ferengi.

Lex regularly practices the Ferengi art of Oo-mox.
("Oo-mox is the act of massaging a Ferengi's ears (or "lobes") and there is no translation for the word. Because the Ferengi ear is one of their most erogenous zones, massaging the ears causes pleasure and relaxation. Oo-mox, though pleasurable, can also have dangers. It can be very distracting for a Ferengi and may often be employed to distract a Ferengi during negotiations or to coerce them into an action they would otherwise avoid.")

And, ask anyone in my family. You are not part of the family until Lex has sneaked up on you and rubbed his ear on you. The doctor told me this is "normal"...HA! Yeah, right. "Normal" kids bite their fingernails or twirl their hair to reduce stress. My son rubs his ears on whoever or whatever is closest to him at the time, especially if you are wearing something soft. The doctor also told me that Lex would outgrow this habit. WRONG AGAIN! 7 Years and counting....