Slip Sliding Away

If it’s a bit hard to tell, this is a picture of Mike and Jonathan…ON A SKI LIFT!

Why am I so excited about this?

I will tell you.

I’ve rarely been more proud of anyone in my entire life! For good reason, I have a super soft spot for stories of people overcoming their deepest fears. This is one of those stories. This kid was TERRIFIED of ski lifts! He would burst into tantrums and tears at the mere mention of getting on one. He was so afraid!

For the past couple years Mike has been committed to teaching his kids how to ski. It’s his dream to have his family all together, enjoying Utah’s most popular pass time. He is still working on convincing me (a quite uncoordinated lady who hates cold) that I will enjoy skiing, but he easily convinced MK and Jeffrey. They have been practicing and are getting pretty darn good at it. Jonathan went once last year and was quite decent at the skiing part, but he could not abide the lift. After that first attempt he refused to go back for a second time and became completely belligerent and irrational if the idea of trying again was ever even mentioned. So, Mike has been going all winter without him…until Wednesday.

It was breaking my heart that Jonathan was missing out on something that the other kids were having so much fun doing. It broke my heart that he was missing out on all that good bonding time. In all honesty, I think it was breaking his heart too, but he just couldn’t figure out how to get around the little matter of the lift.

So, I decided it was time for a little psychology lesson.

For family night we had a very candid discussion about the psychology of fear. We talked about things that make us afraid, how fear affects us physically (fight or flight) and what we can do when we feel afraid. We talked about how some “fear” is useful for keeping us responsible and safe. But, when our fears get in the way of our enjoyment of life, or keep us from trying new things, or stops us from doing what we need to do, then it can be a courageous thing to work hard to overcome those fears. We talked about tapping into courage, different mental strategies, and how to think and talk to ourselves rationally when we are feeling overcome with fear.

It totally worked! Jonathan listened, questioned, considered and absorbed all the information. By the end of family night he had firmly committed to a ride up the mountain.

Two days later, when the time came for him to actually take that ride, there was so much nervous energy coursing through that kid I thought he might cave, but he persevered! He came back from the resort so stinking proud of himself; it made me cry with happiness to see him. He had conquered a huge fear and he was riding the well-deserved high of it all. Nothing feels better than overcoming a fear!

Mike took him skiing again today and reported that there wasn’t even a tiny bit of nervousness remaining. The wind was blowing quite a bit, tipping the lift chair this way and that, and Jonathan was as calm as could be. I’m so proud of my boy!

I hope this becomes a lesson for his life. Employing faith over fear is what it’s all about.

A little clip of the results of Jonathan’s triumph…

Greeting Cards Have All Been Sent, The Christmas Rushes Through

Christmas 2013 went by in such a blur! With all the responsibility, mixed with an equal amount of good times; I could barely remember everything until photographs jogged my memory. I sent out Christmas cards with a summation of our year, but I wanted to put some of this year’s Christmas memories here so we won’t forget entirely.

Christmas recital: I laughed, cried, loved it! Jonathan started the whole thing off with a perfect rendition of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Jeffrey was particularly hilarious during his performance. He is completely un-phased when it comes to being on stage. MK’s skirt sparkled under the stage lights. She looked and played like an angel.

Annual Neighborhood bonfire: We were sparse in numbers this year due to a change of date, but those who attended enjoyed the blaze, hot chocolate and good company. We’ve done this long enough now that my kids don’t think it’s Christmas until they’ve spent a cold night outside with the neighbors and come home smelling like camp fire. I have such great neighbors!

Alpine Pediatrics' Christmas Party: Sundance Resort is such a great place to enjoy winter loveliness. I always enjoy this night away with my husband. He works for a good company. For that we are so grateful.

 
Mom and Dad’s for Christmas Eve: My parents do a lovely job of keeping up the family traditions that are important to us all. On Christmas Eve we went to “Frozen” in the afternoon and then reconvened at Mom and Dad’s for a lovely evening of Christmas Eve tradition…

 
I’ve had this meal (Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs) every Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember. Hats off to Mom and Dad this year particularly. I do believe the meatballs were better than ever before!

Along with traditional carol singing with the Lewis family, and the opening of grandparent gifts; my brother Jeff brought this game and I finally learned to play! Now I don’t feel like such a misfit anymore. Too bad I can’t find anyone to play it with me at home. (I learned how to play Ticket to Ride too, and I’m hooked for life!)

New Christmas Eve PJ’s: Cozy in new PJ’s, the kids all went down and crammed into MK’s bed to try and get some sleep as they waited for Santa to come…

…he came…

(I always like to note the time on the clock when I take this traditional photo. We got to bed before midnight this year. Success!)

The big boxes on the right, in the picture above, contained two new canine family members. They are at every family event now! They take up a lot of space too! The boys are in love, but I’m thinking maybe I made a mistake giving them these monstrous puppies.

Of course we had our traditional Christmas morning, Albleskiver breakfast (hate making those things but love eating them); and then we headed up to Logan for some extra cold temperatures and a lovely dinner at the Dickey’s. The next day we invaded Uncle Brad and Aunt Rosie’s house and had a lovely visit with them. We got to see the Searcys there too, which was a treat. (Thanks for the pancakes and sandwiches Johnsons!)

The rest of our Christmas break was pretty low key (thankfully). I spent a fair amount of time begging people to play Ticket to Ride with me (not much luck) and Mike took lots of time off to accompany Jeffrey and Mary Kate to the ski resort. He reports they are getting pretty good on the slopes. (FYI: Jonathan is still convinced that the ski lift will lead to his early death so he stays home with me.)

It was a jammed packed season. Some other choice favorites this year include going to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas concert with my friend Heidi and Mary Kate, reading Christmas stories each night with my kids (I shamelessly sobbed during the reading of this one, it just really got me), and eating the delicious almond toffee that my friend Angie brings me every year.

Although Christmas tends to be the craziest time of year (kinda hate that aspect of it), I’m thankful for it nevertheless. It brings good things with it… most particularly…a renewed focus on my Savior, my love for Him and His love for me…and much needed time with the people I love the most!

Speaking of people I love…

…this year (New Year’s Eve to be exact) marked the one year anniversary of the passing of my beautiful friend Belinda. She was on my mind every day. She really knew how to celebrate Christmas with her focus on all the right things. She has inspired me from above this entire year. Thank you friend!