january in a nutshell

Hannah's gingerbread house.

Clayton installing a stick of dynamite into it.

The aftermath.

Night skiing at Snowbird!

Flora and William...it reminds me of the good ol' days when Zoe and Ben were babies.

My life is totally crazy right now with all these little kids! I feel like I never sit down. Plus, my kids had Christmas break and "off track" back to back, so they were home for five whole weeks. Five weeks I tell you! Phew. But more on that later. I just wanted to quickly write about January before it's too far gone. I posted a few things from Christmas down below {I cheated and backdated because I've been so slow posting lately}.

We started the New Year off with a BANG! Yes, we pulled out the leftover Roman candles and firecrackers from the 4th of July and bundled up for an exciting few minutes outside. Nothing like blowing up gingerbread houses and having a mini fireworks show when it's way below freezing! Our friends across the street introduced us to their New Year's Eve tradition of blowing up gingerbread houses, and I think it's a keeper! Too funny.

Clayton took the kids night skiing a couple times and Nina turned into a little ski bunny. It was her first time skiing and she was loving it! Zipping down the slopes faster than Ben and Hannah, leaving Clayton in her wake. Woohoo Nina!

We spent MLK weekend at the cabin with Tadd and Julie and their kids...we love those guys so much and we're so happy they don't live in Boston anymore! We missed them way too much. It was such a great weekend just reconnecting with them and getting to know their kids better. Highlights of the weekend included Clayton being dragged on his stomach behind the snowmobile while Tadd drove it {with a broken foot}, laughing about big trucks with elk stickers on their windows that say stuff like "Bachelor Party," and the time Clayton pulled me and Julie around in a sled behind the snowmobile, while she and I sat "spider" style.

"Can you believe we're doing this? A couple of 35-year-olds sitting spider being dragged behind a snowmobile!" Needless to say, I nearly peed my pants laughing.

william at five months

grandpa stanley

This is Grandpa Stanley.

He left this life on November 15, 2010. He was 94. I loved him very much.

I've been putting off blogging for a long time because I've felt I needed to write about him before I could move on to writing about anything else. And all my emotions are difficult to put into words, so I have just let time slip away without writing.

Grandpa was the most positive, happy person I ever knew. I never saw him frown. Never heard him complain or say a mean thing about anybody. He raised six girls {number 5 is my mom} in a tiny little house, and before that house they lived in another tiny house that he built himself and that didn't have indoor plumbing. He and grandma didn't have many worldly possessions, but they had each other and they had faith in the Savior, and that was all the treasure they could ask for in this life. They were so happy.

I remember every time Grandpa was around he would greet me {and everyone} with a big smile, a big hug, three kisses, and a, "Well, hello there, Heather!" He made me feel like I was the most important person that he'd ever talked to.

He let us pick boxes and boxes of apricots. Showed my kids the raspberries growing in the garden. Shared little green grapes and fat red tomatoes from his garden in the summer. He'd wave and wave as I'd drive away from his little yellow house until I couldn't see him anymore in the rear view mirror.

He was full of energy and life right down to the end. There's a picture of me riding on his back like he was my horse when I was three. There's a picture of him riding down a hill on skateboards with me and my cousins Joi and Lindsie. There's a memory in my mind of his voice singing with Grandma while playing his guitar, "It's June in January because I'm in love..."

Why didn't I go visit more often?

He became sick on October 24th, 2010, with an aneurism near his abdomen. He was in so much pain. Yet he cooked breakfast for Grandma that morning anyway. He took such good care of her. I wasn't worried at the time he checked into the hospital because he was supposed to live forever. He was mowing his own lawn and driving to the store for groceries and Diet Coke just this past summer. He wasn't going to leave us, not yet.

Then more complications arose while he was at the hospital. I took the kids with me to see him there and it was such a shock to see him in that way. He looked more frail and old than I had ever seen him. He was a little confused and our conversation didn't make much sense. But he held Olivia's little hand and he got to see baby Will. The nurses tried to help him stand up and he had such a hard time, "like a ton of bricks" he said.

I went to North Carolina with Mom and Erika, and Mom came home early because she was so afraid to not see him again.

The day after I got home from that trip, Dad called and said that they were taking him off the oxygen and it wouldn't be long until he was gone.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to be there. But then I decided to go. I sobbed and sobbed in the car. A chapter in my life was ending. My Grandma was losing her husband. My mom was losing her "Daddy." Life was moving much too quickly.

I missed him by 5 minutes.

Mom said that just before he passed away, Grandma went over to him and kissed his face all over. He was unresponsive at this point. But as she kissed him she said, "I love you! I love you forever!" Just then Grandpa raised his shoulders twice, as if he was trying to hug her. Then his last breath came with a single tear that ran down his cheek.

The tear was still there when I saw him.

I hugged Grandma and she said, "I'm lucky, because I had him for 72 years. Not many people can say that." That's for sure. They loved each other more than anything.

The funeral service was probably the best meeting I've ever been to in a church. My mom and each of my aunts spoke for about 5 minutes, talking about favorite memories. We laughed and we cried. I wanted to be a better person, I wanted to be like him.

I still think about him everyday, and I'm sure I will for the rest of my life. I love you Grandpa.

Glenn Foster Stanley in his blessing gown, 1916.

{I guess the boys wore them too back in the day!}

With his parents Loyd and Hannah Stanley,

his sister Ella, and little brother Lorin.

Grandma and Grandpa's band, the "Rythm Wranglers," 1946. Grandpa was nicknamed "Kurly" and Grandma {Elaine} was "Prairie Rose." They were the all time most popular radio show in Vernal, Utah. They built a dance hall and played there on weekends, and hundreds of people would pay to come and dance, and listen to their music.

Becky Jo {my mom} and Grandpa. Mom was 5 years old here.

Grandma, Grandpa, Becky Jo, Terry, Gail, Kaye, and newlyweds Harley and Carla.

Aunt Shelley wasn't born yet.

Grandpa with me and my cousins Joi and Lindsie, camping at Lodgepole for Swiss Days.

Grandpa was such a good sport!

Summer 2009

random christmas day snapshots

An elephant book for Olivia, yay!

Will "playing" with some of his toys that Santa brought for him.

Ben's crystal garden from Grandma Becky. It started out as a paper landscape, then as the paper soaked up the water from the tray underneath, all these colorful crystals grew within about 8 hours! Ben was LOVING it. We have some time lapse photos he did of the whole thing. The crystals were soft and fuzzy like cotton candy, and they would crumble when you touched them.

It looks like the bath crayons were a hit with Hannah and Nina!

The day after Christmas...Nerds for breakfast anyone?

We spent Christmas having a nice big breakfast at home with the kids, then we went to Papa Steve's and Grandma Ruthie's in the afternoon. Then we went to Mormor and Poppy Per's to open gifts and have leftovers from Christmas Eve. We stopped in at Mom and Dad's for a bit before heading out to a movie with Kerstin and Brian and their kids...the boys all went to Tron, and the girls all went to Tangled {and loved it!}. Fun, fun day. :)

millions of little lights

These trees are absolutely stunning in Draper City Park. Fabulous job, whoever did this! On Christmas Eve, my kids wanted a closer view, so we pulled over and I let them run over to the tree out in the middle. They stood under the glowing branches with the soft light illuminating their faces. Beautiful, beautiful.

a merry christmas to all

Since I didn't quite get the cards out this year, here's something for all of you, sent without postage but with plenty of love. Merry Christmas!

party time!

It's that time again for the line up of family parties! Here are a few highlights from this year's festivities...taken with our little point and shoot because I was too overwhelmed to pack in my good camera with loading all the kids, diapers, gifts, food, p.j.'s, etc. Dang it.

The annual Nativity put on by the Tycksen grandkids at my in-law's house.

Clayton and all the brothers {minus Erik who is in Kuwait}, brothers-in-law and our friend Joey surprised Ruthie by singing a few carols. She loves to hear them sing, and I thought it was really sweet they put that together.

Needless to say, the white elephant game ended in tears.

Little Will overwhelmed by the chaos. Or maybe he's enjoying it, I'm not sure.

My kids spent at least an hour on their gingerbread houses!

Liv decided to paint her fingernails with the frosting...

...and her toenails! I love that she's wearing her angel costume in these pictures.

So pretty!

Casch and Ben at my mom's dinner party. We always have "crackers" that pop with toys, lame British jokes and crowns inside.

Grandma reading her joke...I love that she's wearing a crown too!

Me and "Willoughby."

My BFF, Emily, came to town for the holidays...we had a sleepover at my house, soaked it up in our "KSL Hot Tub," and went to the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU.

All the girls {minus Cami} at my grandparents' house on Christmas Eve.

Little Norwegian girls! Nina, Olivia, and my niece Bria.

Poppy Per making faces in the background, haha!

Baby Casch sporting his Norwegian costume. I love him!

Every Christmas Eve of my life {except for one} has been spent with my dad's family, gathered around a constantly expanding table for a Norwegian Christmas dinner. It's my favorite meal of the whole year! Clayton was sick this year and missed it, poor guy. He loves the dinner too. At the end of the night, Poppy Per drops one blanched almond into the giant bowl of riskrem {rice pudding} and whoever ends up with it in their bowl wins a tall chocolate Santa. Guess who won this year? Our own little Olivia! Hooray!

Here's the recipe if you ever want to try it for yourself...it's super delicious.

Riskrem

{Norwegian Christmas Rice Pudding}

Ingredients:

3/4 cup long grain white rice {not Minute Rice}

1 teaspoon salt

1 quart whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups heavy cream, whipped and sweetened to taste

1 whole almond

Raspberry Sauce {recipe follows}

Directions:

Cook rice, salt, and milk in double boiler until rice is soft and mixture is thick - about 1 1/2 hours. Fluff the rice a few times for the first half-hour to prevent lumps on the bottom. You want the rice to be nice and fluffy.

While still hot, add sugar. Cover with plastic wrap, directly onto the rice to prevent a hard film from forming on the top, and chill. When completely chilled, stir in almond extract. Fold in the whipped cream. Add the almond and stir to hide it. Serve topped with raspberry sauce.

The person who receives the whole almond receives a special gift {often a marzipan pig or a chocolate Santa}.

Raspberry Sauce

1 pkg. Danish dessert {near the Jello at the grocery store}

3 1/2 c. cold water

small pkg. of frozen, sweetened raspberries

Cook the Danish dessert and water until thickened. Cool, but do not refrigerate {if you do, it will jell too much}. Add desired amount of raspberries with some of the juice and serve on top of the rice cream.