Um...

This morning my daughter stood in the kitchen and cried so much, there were actual puddles of tears on the floor.

Which leaves me wondering, is every little girl as dramatic as mine?

Believe

Eight years ago, Jared and I were dating in college and on a whim, decided to drive down to Salt Lake for the 2002 Winter Olympics. We stayed with Jared's brother Ben and his wife Andrea and had the time of our lives. We didn't have tickets to any events, but spent the week watching events at Canada House, meeting athletes, attending free medal ceremonies and outdoor concerts, and soaking up all the festivities. On the way home, our vehicle broke down near Dubois, Idaho, cost way too much to fix for poor college students, and we spent three days walking/hitchhiking/Greyhounding back to Canada. During that week we got to see each other in good times and bad, and after we made it home, I knew he wasn't just some guy. I fell in love on that trip.

Eight years later and here we are, married with 2 kids, and lucky enough to find ourselves at the Olympics again! The company Jared works for is an Olympic sponsor, and Jared worked on the Olympic Planning Committee. We were fortunate enough to be awarded a trip to Vancouver, along with several other committee members. The whole trip was amazing and I can't even express how great it was to be there.

the crowds. it was like this everywhere:

our hotel

at the Figure Skating Arena

Howie Mandel! Love him...

The whole Teck group, employees from all over Canada!

At the Richmond Olympic Oval for Mens Speed Skating

Ocean view

At Cypress for the Womens Snowboard Cross

holy stairs...

At the Mens Canada vs. Norway Hockey game

We were invited to attend an award ceremony for Alex Bilodeau at the downtown Teck head office. It was definitely the swankiest party we will ever attend and we were blown away.

Only a true Canucks fan can appreciate the awesomeness of this picture:

Teck supplied the medals for the Olympics and we got to hold them.

Ice sculpture

We named this the "Austin Powers" room, everything was gold.

The whole trip was so amazing and we feel so lucky to be able to be there, experiencing the excitement and atmosphere in Vancouver. We were happy to get back to the kids though, who stayed with my aunt and uncle.

Patriotic kids... we raise 'em well.

Happy Olympics!

Party Every Day, P-P-P-Party Every day

Today my sweet little boy turned 6 years old, yes 6!!! I can't believe he is actually that old, but at the same time I can't even remember what life was like without him. We had a great day - I was the Parent Helper in his Kindergarten class where they had their Valentines Day Party, and then he had an "Ocean Party" after school with 5 little friends.

Have I mentioned how much I love this kid???

... he decorated the treat bags himself :)

6 fun facts about Carter:

1. He is such a good little boy. I can't even talk about this enough. He tries so hard to do what he knows is right, and never wants to upset his parents/teachers/sister/friends.

2. He cares about his family. The other day, he and I had a conversation about how parents will always love their kids, no matter what, it's impossible to stop loving someone, etc... and now whenever I tell him, "I love you" he goes, "I know. Remember what you told me about parents???" while shaking his finger. Cute. He is an awesome brother and son.

3. He loves to keep things organized. His room is chaotic, but he knows where everything is and it all makes perfect sense to him.

4. He is hesitant to try new things. I don't know where he gets it (read: probably me), but it takes us forever to convince him to just not worry about anything and take some risks. We quote Yo Gabba Gabba alot... "Try it! And you'll like it!".

5. He loves toys with lots of parts, where he has to set things up. It takes him a long time to actually get to the "playing" part, because he sets things up for hours.

6. He has a funny sense of humour. He loves to tell jokes and has the most infectious giggle. We got him a whoopie cushion for his birthday. Want entertainment? Get a 6-year-old a whoopie cushion. Watching him laugh is even better than the actual whoopie cushion.

Happy Birthday to my (not so) little Carter!

The Discovery of Dizziness

Snow Day