Houston, We Have a Problem

While in Houston for Max's karate, we only had one afternoon of free time. There's a lot to do in Houston but I really wanted to go to the NASA center.

                                                Seth sitting by the door of the space ship replica.

 This is the view from the front seat of the Shuttle. I think the windows are too tiny but maybe they don't want a lot of windows in space.

                                                    Our friend David trying on a helmet.

 Then we got on a shuttle and toured the campus. They have tons of employees.  We got to see a huge robotic spider they're getting ready to send to Mars.  We also stopped at "Rocket Park." Everything is so huge. They had to eject each part of the rocket at different times and ended up with just the small top in order to get into space.

                              This shows just how huge the thrusters are. There are 5 on this rocket.

Black Belt, YAY!

Max has been getting ready to go to TX, the last 6 months (actually the last 5 years) to get his Black Belt. Jon, Max, Seth, and I all flew down on Thursday and came home on Sunday. We left Tanner and Maddie home to fend for themselves which they liked, plus Grandma lives 4 houses away. On Friday morning we went to the Dojo to practice for an hour. It was very huge and impressive. Then we went to the Space Center (which I'll blog about next). On Saturday we had the big test. It started at 10 and ended at 3, with no lunch break! It was a tough test but I guess it has to be. They were exhausted by the end. It was a neat experience to see how far Max has come. He said he learned "that I'm stronger than  my mind tells me I am."



                                                                               
           Age 6. March 2007~                                                                Age 11. March 2012

                                           

                                 At the end of the ceremony, everyone putting their Black Belts on.

There were 11 Black Belts from the Utah Dojo. 

Maddie's Birthday

Maddie had the idea that she wanted to rent Sumo suites for her party. She got the idea from her friend's older sister that had done it and said it was really fun. It was pretty funny to watch. When they went down they would fall in slow motion but couldn't really catch themselves.

                                                                          Sumo Maddie

Brittany getting Velcroed in, then they would have to hoist her up with at least two people.

                                   Sami getting Keli pumped up to fight, these girls are really funny!

Maddie's Brothers: Tanner was aerating lawns for a fund raiser for scout camp but had time at the end to try it out.

Seth had his own birthday party to go to. The invitation came with a duct tape bow tie for him to wear to the party. Doesn't sound too fun for a party but his whole class was invited and he said it was super fun!

Max with a caramel apple in one hand and a Creme Soda in the other is reaping the rewards of the party.

One of Maddie's presents were these platform house shoes (Oobies). Max is just now passing Maddie up in height so they had to compare heights with these shoes on.

                             Maddie had peach and apple cobbler for her "cake." Happy 14th!

                                 Maddie, Keli, Sami, Jenni, Sarah, Hailey, Marissa, Madie, Brittany

And he's off...

Tanner finished Driver's Ed. on Tuesday so we went to the DMV on Thursday and got his license. He kept telling me he needed a haircut and I finally thought, actually he can get in the car and drive the 3 blocks and go and get his own haircut...without me. Crazy! So, off he went and he came back safely with a nice haircut. It's exciting and a little scary.

Rugby

Tanner's been wanting to play Rugby since this time last year when the team got their matching jackets at school. He started practice a couple of weeks ago. The coaches are way laid back. That doesn't seem like a bad thing but it can be. They informed us that we would start practice the next day so we had to hurry and go buy shoes and a mouth guard that night. Then it snowed so it got cancelled. Then they added a day of practice from Tues. and Thurs. to Tues., Wednesday, and Thursday. Then they decided instead of getting out at 6 they would get out at 6:30 but they decided that at 6 so I was already waiting without a book in the car, drat! 

Then we have the first game last Saturday. We get there in time to see the last half of the 7th and 8th grade boys and then the Girls team gets on the field. It wouldn't be so bad but it's really cold and windy and we brought the whole family to support Tanner. Finally the 9th and 10th grade boys play but Tanner doesn't get to play which he warned us could happen since he's new. So after 2 1/2 hours of freezing and not getting to see Tanner play we decide to go home. Tanner said at the very end of all the games they're going to let the new players do a scrimmage but he'll find a ride home. Yay. Two hours later Tanner calls to say he can't find a ride home and he's hurt his shoulder and needs to go get x-rays. So Jon drove 40 minutes to go get him and then spent a couple of hours at the Instacare and pharmacy. He didn't break anything but hurt his rotary cuff muscle. Tanner is really frustrated. He had a lot of fun the first 20 minutes he was in the game and is sad he's out for at least 2 weeks. I asked him if he still likes Rugby and sadly he said he does. On a positive note, it is nice to hear Tanner get excited about something and he's getting a lot of exercise.

Maddie gets her braces off!

Maddie with Dr. Rosvall and Jan. What a great day and a great smile!!

Moab

It all started when my brother, Donovan, and my sister's husband, Peter decided to do a bike race in Moab. It was just going to be the two of them but then their families wanted to go and support them. Then I decided it would be closer to see my sister and the cousins in Moab than in Denver so we decided to also go. It ended up being 19 people and 5 motel rooms. It was fun to be together and enjoy the nice weather!

                                            Thomas, Maddie, Seth, and Katie--Chicken Fight!

                             Devon, Mary, Max, and Seth stacked up- I didn't think it could be done.

                                                          The end of the race, they did it!!

                                                                        Seth and Donovan

                                                                          Playing in a park

                             It was a little bit expensive to eat with all of us. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

                                                                       The kid's table.

                                       Trying to swim without getting their hair wet...it didn't work.

                            Devon preaching to his nieces and nephews, I'm sure they're learning a lot.

                                                        Hiking to the "Delicate Arch"

                                                     Family picture in front of the arch.

               Elliott was a super "travel" baby. She was pretty happy the whole time and pretty cute too!

Tanner's 16

Tanner didn't really want to do anything for his 16th birthday but I believed he just had to, he's 16! So he invited Daniel, Michael, Karl, and Spencer to Lowe's Xtreme Air Sports, which is basically a big foam pit. They had a big trapeze, climbing wall, and trampolines. The boys had a great time. Unfortunately we went on President's Day and lots of other people had the same idea. We were the last ones they let in, shew!

Then we went to Zupa's for lunch which is Tanner's favorite eating place.

On Tanner's actual birthday, he shares it with his Grandpa Buddy, Grandma Marilyn, and George Washington. Grandpa Buddy was the only one available that day, so we went to their house for cheesecake.

Pintresting

(Created by the one and only Maddie Ostenson)

       Save the date! March nineteenth, two-thousand and twelve I am..... getting my braces off!!!! I am so delightfully anxious that I had to make a chain. Right now there are 29 links on it and it looks   f  o  r  e  v  e  r   long!! Now, you guys are probably thinking, 'why is this blog called pintresting, not brace face?' Well, I made this valentines chain that I found on pintrest that was absolutely adorable! No, I am not so excited for Valentines next year, so I made a chain counting down the 365 days, as my grandma thought. It is until my braces come off my teeth. Here it is!

Close-up...

 The Chain!!!!!

 Daisy is also SUPER excited.

          I've also discovered lots of other great crafts on pintrest! Here are a few.

A stylish headband...

A super adorable indian scarf...

and a super cute flowy vest...thing.

I know you guys are all thinking, 'Maddie is such a crafty, talented, creative girl.' but you have got to give my mom some credit for coming up with the title. Pintresting HEHE. Anyway! If you have not experienced pintrest before, you have to! It is so amazing! Have fun, you'll be hooked in seconds!

Valentine's Day

On Sunday I started thinking, "Wait, a minute, Seth is still in Elementary school, I wonder if he needs to bring Valentines." So I asked him and he said, "Yep." Maddie said she was on it, she just needed suckers. Good thing Seth has a creative and willing sister. So Monday (all the candy was pretty wiped out) we found mini suckers that she made work. They turned out really cute, it was an idea she got from pintrest. Then Seth mentioned on Monday night he also needed to bring a decorated box to school. Seth! He took a little canister I had and called it good.

 In Sixth grade, the school does a unit where they teach them 6-8 dances including the cha cha, waltz, Macarena (the important ones) :) Then they have the parents come to the school from 1-2 to watch and dance with their children. It's pretty fun. There are a couple of dances that the boys have to ask the girls to dance or vice versa. They have one minute to escort a girl out on the dance floor and everyone is included which is nice. There are a few more girls than boys so they can tap someone on the shoulder half way through to dance. Max was a little nervous about it but when it was over he said it was pretty fun. I can never get videos to upload or I would show the dance.