100 (and 1) Things

"100 (and 1) Things" RULES: bold the ones you have done. Copy it and play for yourself!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Looked up an old boyfriend on Facebook
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning  - I wouldn't wish that on anyone
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - no, but my Uncle Charlie has flown us around the "Big Lady" :)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept in an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - two words: Orcas Island
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community - I'd live there if I could.  So peaceful...
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung Karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling - I tried Mom, I really tried
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud - who hasn't?
54. Gotten out of a speeding ticket - no but I've gotten into one. :)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason - I love you too, Pete
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Adopted a stray dog or cat - and a bird and a snake and... I could keep going cuz my family has taken in just about every type of animal!
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check - I'm bolding this in shame
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone - again: who hasn't?
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day
101.  Gone skydiving - I just had to add this one in!

Fun, fun - thanks, Jen!

Jack vs. The Shredder

For your viewing pleasure...
(Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of the page to hear the video.)

Crossley Family Christmas 2008

Christmas was a bit different this year. Our poor little Jack fell sick a few days before, so all my planning went out the window. Not to worry, it turned out to be just a bad virus that he won over like a real champ. He woke up Christmas morning feeling (and looking) much better. It turned out to be a great day... even with the setbacks we had.

Here's the picture book version:

Our tree all decked out, our stockings and all our presents! We received a lot of good loot this year: THANK YOU to Mom and Dad Crossley, Sara, The Odells, The Schencks, Mom and Dad Guinn, The Taylors, Grandmom and Pop Pop Shaak, The Crossleys in Penn., and The Crossleys in Florida!!!

This is the view from our porch. We had a White Christmas here in Seattle! Everyone was basically stuck at home for a few days cuz apparently they don't exactly believe in snow removal... but we could get around locally with 4 wheel drive. That said, we didn't venture far, which meant missing out on my brothers' celebrations on Christmas Eve. We'll have to get together some other time, bros.

Don't you just love the pink blossoms showing through the snow? Beautiful! These trees are right out in front of our house.

Jack loved his toys but wasn't too keen on the unwrapping part. He was still feeling a little under the weather and didn't want to put out too much energy yet. But look at that smile!

I love this shirt! It reads: "Kiss Me (Five dollars for the first kiss, two dollars for each additional kiss. Taxes may apply.)" Ha ha! Love it!

This is where it got sticky. This picture is of Pete examining the aftermath of our a kitchen flood. That's right: flood. Our disposal got clogged and when we turned on the dishwasher, our sink filled up with water. Pete tried to drain it into a bucket via the pipe underneath the sink, but there was too much water and it ended up all over the floor. A very Merry Christmas to us, huh?! I was also just finishing up some cooking I was doing, but I obviously had to put that on hold. From there our schedule got all out of wack and we ended up being late for everything.

We did finally get to our destination: Mom and Dad Crossley's house. Everyone else had been there for a while and had opened presents, celebrated... you know - had a normal Christmas. :) Anyway, Jack perked right up when he saw everyone.

This is the only picture that is even close to resembling a family Christmas portrait. We were just too busy having fun with all our goodies!

After dinner, it was off for dessert at the Schenck's house (this is Connie with Jack). Only one word can describe it all: YUM!! Plus we had all sorts of family and friends to mingle with. And Jack was able to meet Artie for the first time! The Schencks are close family friends whom we see all the time, but Artie lives back in Penn.

They had a blast together! Too bad you live so far away, Artie... Jack's gonna miss ya. :)

This is a rare picture of Bob - I just had to add it in!

There were more presents to be opened and everyone joined in the fun - I think the adults had more fun than the kids did!

Case in point: Pete with Jack's lawn mower. He was studying that thing for more than a few minutes...

It was pretty late when we finally left the Shencks, so we decided to celebrate Christmas with Pete's parents the next day. It was so nice and relaxing - quite different from the day before. :) Pete is reading Jack a book that had a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer puppet. It was a big hit!

Jack showing off his mad walking skills!

Great Grandmom Shaak sent Jack the cutest snowman hat, but this is as close to his head as it got that day. Apparently, it was just too tasty.

Jack also played lots of fun games: Giddy up with "Sir Pop Pop"...

And I Spy with "Queen Grandmom" (a little inside joke)! These glasses make the Christmas tree turn into a kaleidoscope.

So, there you have it. Honestly, I'm glad that this is just a "run through" holiday for Jack. Next year will be better everyone - promise.

Rooaarr!!

This is a "normal" dinner now a days. Jack is working on his roar. All we need to teach him now is to thump on his chest.

(As always, don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of the page to hear the video.)

Update on the Crash

Well, it's about time I updated this thing! We are doing much, much better since my last blog entry. Pete will be going to physical therapy for his knee. He officially has a partial ACL tear and a fracture in his tibia, but no surgery needed so far! Thank goodness for that! And I have been able to go to a massage therapist for the back spasms and the tension headaches I've been having. And we were able to get another car. Because we had paid off our 4Runner just a few months before the crash, we were down to one car payment. And the prospect of going back to two car payments was just too much for us, we had to say goodbye to our beautiful little MINI Cooper. It's all for the best though. We traded it in for a Volvo XC90 and we are loving it.
Thanks again for all of your well wishes and love!

Crash!

After spending a typical Friday night with Frank and Molly, we were driving home and stopped at a red light before turning left onto a state highway around 10:30p. We chatted until the light turned green and I looked both ways before pushing on the gas. I saw headlights coming at us and really did think that they were stopping. But I was wrong. Those headlights didn't even slow down. They belonged to a 17 year old girl who was distracted at the wheel. She didn't see the red traffic light, nor did she see us. The speed limit on the road is 55 mph so I'm assuming she was going at least that fast when she collided into our car.

This is what our car looks like now:

When I realized that it was too late, my instincts took over and I veered to the right. We think that's what saved us from a worse fate. Because instead of us getting T-boned or getting in a head on collision, her front right and our front left ricocheted off of each other. She went off onto the side of the road and we ended up doing a 180 degree spin in the middle of the road.

Also, when I realized it was too late, I remember thinking, "This isn't really happening." The next thing I remember is sucking air and coughing on the chemical that is inside the air bags. I started to recognize my surroundings and saw that the airbags had deployed. But I didn't hear any crying. I threw open my door, grabbed the handle of the back passenger door as though I was going to rip it right off the hinges. I couldn't get that door open fast enough. But then I saw Jack's face as I heaved open the door. He was alert and looking at me as if to say, "What just happened?!" Pete was right there with me as we got him out of the car and wrapped a blanket around him.

Then I heard a woman on the other side of the road saying that we needed to get out of the road and into her car to stay warm and wait for the ambulance. I know that the 17 year old girl was out of her car and asking if we were okay, but frankly I couldn't acknowledge her. My mind was on Jack. And my eyes were on this kind woman who had invited us into her car.

She was on the phone with 911 and describing Jack to the operator. I sat down in the passenger seat of her car and Pete shut the door after us. The woman bent down to get a good look at Jack. She smiled at him and he gave her a huge grin back. That's when I took my first real breathe. He was okay.

I also noticed that I was shaking uncontrollably and it occurred to me that I should take inventory. Yup, I've got all my fingers and toes. No real pain anywhere. Then I looked for Pete. He was limping, but walking. And talking to his parents on the phone. The next thing I knew, the ambulance arrived. The paramedics were able to corral Pete, full of adrenaline, into the ambulance and check him out. Then I take my first good look at him. His face was bleeding everywhere. Jack and I had blood on us, too. It looked as though someone had taken sandpaper to Pete's face. They cleaned him up and said it was up to us whether we go to the hospital.

The police officer gave us our incident report, we talked to the towing guy and met up with Pete's parents as they were getting the last of our things out of our car. We decided in the end to split up: Glenn was going to take Pete to the hospital and I was going to take Jack home to bed. Pete's knee was really hurting him and he had ringing in his ear.

Sue took me home where I got on the phone with the insurance company and then waited for Pete as long as I could. I finally went to bed around 2:00 AM only to be woken up at 4:00 AM as Pete was limping up the stairs. He had x-rays taken of his shoulder and knee and a CT scan of his head due to the ringing. Everything checked out but his knee. Nothing was broken but there was definite damage. They discharged him with the caveat that he was to go to the orthopedic surgeon on Monday. Something is torn or stretched or even chipped.

Even so, we are thanking our Heavenly Father for watching over us. We could have been much, much worse off. I know that angels were with us and especially our little Jack, who didn't even have a scratch on him. I know that we were being protected because both parties were alive and were able to walk away from the accident.

So, the day after almost dying, I've got a couple of goose eggs, a fat lip, and a seatbelt burn across my neck. Pete's got sandpaper for a face, a bad ear and can hardly walk. But we are certainly counting our blessings!


Our sincerest thanks to Pete's parents for all that they have done for us these last couple of days. We are very grateful to them for their kindness. We also want to thank the nice lady, the paramedics, and the police officer who helped us after the accident. And we would like to thank our family, friends (I love the flowers, Sarah!) and the members of our church ward who have visited and called to check up on us. We're recovering well and feeling very loved!

A Peek Into The Christmas Future

We got out the gift wrapping box to wrap up Glenn's birthday present, not knowing what kind of effect it would have on Jack.

He went crazy!

And who could blame him? What with all the ribbon and bows and stickers and wrapping paper and bags and tape. Everything shiny and new!

Jack's hands and eyes were going in all different directions because he just couldn't decide what to eat first.

He would put one thing in his mouth with one hand while grabbing for something else with the other hand.

And then he would pause, look up at us and smile, as if he were saying, "Mom, Dad - thank you so very much for this big box of awesomeness."

We can't wait for Christmas!

Jack's Bag of Tricks

See Jack crawl.

See Jack stand up.

Jack can clap his hands.

Good job, Jack.

(Don't forget to go to the bottom of the page and press pause on the music so you can hear the video.)

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

It was a full weekend! My birthday is actually today but we invited family and friends over on Saturday to help celebrate. Thanks so much for the cool gifts, guys!! I'm going to get totally pampered with my ice cream baths and salts from Amy, body lotion from Molly and my gift certificate to get a pedicure from Windy. :) And Jennifer got me a very cool game called In A Pickle - I can't wait to break it out and play.

And since Logan came over we also had a Pre-Halloween Costume Show Off. Isn't Logan adorable?

Jack made an appearance later that night, after his nap, to show off his costume, too. Can you guess what he is? (he, he - a lobster!)

Then, on Sunday, we headed over to the Odell's to celebrate Eric's first birthday. Poor guy had a nasty cold so he wasn't quite himself. This picture captured his mood pretty well:

Rebekah made delicious cakes for everyone: a small cake in the shape of a number 1 for Eric and a three layered cake for the rest of us. Oh, and all of Eric's little friends got cupcakes with their names on them. Along with that was the some great BBQ with all the fixings, cookies and brownies. Admittedly, we stuffed ourselves that night. Anyway, Eric had to be enticed a bit to eat his cake, but it didn't take much. Once he stuck his fingers in it, it was obvious by the look on his face that he loved the way it felt. Too funny! But to top it all off for him, he got an allergic reaction to the frosting and ended up getting a light rash everywhere the frosting touched his skin. Not the best day for Eric. :( The rash didn't last long though, so then it was on to opening presents.

See Eric in the background? And Jack right there with Rebekah opening presents? It made everyone laugh. Eric was too distracted by the first couple of presents he opened, so Jack took over and helped open the rest. He played all night with Eric's big boy toys. After that night, Pete and I decided we have inadequate toys for our kid. Off to the toy store we go! Again! Man, I'm glad Christmas is just around the corner.

Jack VS The Wall

The Wall: 1
Jack : 0