Sledding

We went sledding a few times with the kids over the Christmas break. For the most part it was lots of fun. With the exception of my major jump and minor injury. One of the times we went sledding was at Vets (which is a big sledding hill) it was really cold and icy that day and the snow had been there a couple of days and was really packed down. After watching the kids go down a few times and Dan go down a few times and Jake was begging me to go down with him I decided it would be safe enough to give it a try. So Jake and I hopped on the sled and started down the hill. As we were approaching the middle of the hill I thought I saw a jump up ahead, yep it was a jump ahead and we were headed straight for it. I tried to lean the sled to the left and push with my hands, but we were going sooooo fast on that icy hill before I knew it we were right to the jump and it was the biggest jump on a sledding hill I had ever seen. As we flew up the jump and were sailing through the air I could feel my legs in the air and I knew it was going to hurt. I landed flat on my stomach with a big thud and the wind knocked out of me. Luckily Jake landed three feet in front of me. Jake was saying "mom, you do that the best" and "let's do it again". I was not and will not be doing that again probably ever and I am pretty sure I never want to go back to Vets to sled. I ended up a little bruised and sore for a few days. All in all I am fine but a little freaked out by that hill and mostly that jump.

Dan said the kids all around him were saying "Wow, that was the biggest air of the year". Glad I could provide.

Jake and I just before we headed down the hill towards the big jump.

Just after the big jump.

They made it look so safe and fun.

Happy New Year! Our Year in Pictures

Christmas 2007

We had a really fun Christmas this year! Here are some pics.Jake got this cool chair and him and Estee love sitting in it together. Aren't they cute :)

Abby LOVES her new American Girl book!
These boys are getting down to business with the new video games!


Abby is helping Estee pick a present to open with there cute new pajamas on.

Estee was really excited for this new toy. It's for a one-year-old mp3 player equipped with classical music and kid proof. She sat on the stairs playing with it for a long time, we had to get a picture, it was adorable.

Dan loves his new tie!

We had a great day relaxing, opening presents (with a break while Dan went into work), visiting friends and playing with all the toys! What fun!

Tagged!

I was tagged--here goes!

Here are the rules:

A. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.

B. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and lets them know they have been tagged, They go to your blog to read the rules.


1. I love watching football. I think moving to Michigan and having a good team to cheer for really brought it out in me, but I love it. Every fall I love listening to sports radio and I even watched the world series this year!

2. I like action films more than dramas. My husband thinks this and number one are really cool.

3. I love baking. Staying home all day and baking cinnamon rolls, cookies, cakes, whatever is my dream come true!

4. I love the mountains. I know it's something you hear a lot of "Utah people" say, but I really do. I use to hike and run and look at the mountains daily and it was great. I can't wait to get back to them someday!

5. I am kind of out of it lately, but I love running. Nothing better than waking up bright and early and going for a run before everyone else wakes up!

6. I love Mexican food. It's really hard to find here in the Midwest, but I keep trying. I often have to settle for a plate of homemade nachos. It's good , but nothing like some good Tex-Mex.


I am tagging Andrea, Becky, Abbi, Suzanne, Natalie, and Jill

Sister's Trip to Chicago

My sisters and I were able to spend four days in Chicago. We had so much fun shopping, eating, talking, walking and seeing lots of fun things. We saw Phantom of the Opera and afterwards stopped at Macy's and ate at the Walnut room. Here we are by the big tree in the Walnut room. Martha Stewart designed the tree this year and was there the day before us to light it!

Josie and me with the Chicago Theatre, Macy's clock and one of the "corn cob" buildings behind us.This was our amazing view as we ate lunch at the top of the Hancock Tower.

My great sister's Josie, Julie, and Jill--thanks for a great trip!

Here is a link for more and better pictures that my sister's took!
http://www.shutterfly.com/view/pictures.jsp

If it doesn't work, sorry, it is shutterfly's fault.

Dallas for two

Dan and I were able to go on a fun trip to Dallas all by ourselves (no kids). We felt like such grown-ups getting to make decisions all by ourselves about where we wanted to eat and what we wanted to do. First off we headed to the Utah (go Utes) VS. TCU football game.

We stayed at the same hotel as the team and were able to see lots of players and lots of coaching staff. We also bummed a ride on the faculty bus over to the game and sat right by Coach Whittingham's wife. The bus even got a police escort to the game! We had great seats right by all the parents of players and after the game they were nice enough to introduce us to lots of the team and even give us a ride back to our hotel. We love the Utes!

Janie, Jamie Whittingham, Dan

Dan, Louis Sakoda (the Utah kicker), Janie

Janie, Brian Johnson (Utah Quarterback), Dan

After the fun game, which the Utes won, we headed into downtown Dallas. We saw Texas School Book Depository where JFK was shot.

Whoa! I'm in the car with JFK and Jackie!

Here is Dan in front of the Grassy Knoll.

We also had tons and tons of yummy Tex-Mex. We really miss yummy Mexican food and it was so great to eat real Tex-Mex almost every meal while we were there.

A BIG thanks to Mandy and Eddie for watching our kids for four days while we were gone! We owe you big time thank you so much we had so much fun and our kids had so much fun with you.

Halloween!

Jake was a mummy

Abby was an 80's girl

Estee was a U of M football player

Andy decided last minute to dress up as a crazy Michigan fan. Dude, you don't look so good.

Abby and Jake at the school party. Lots of fun on Halloween!

After working hard all night to get gobs and gobs of candy we were very lucky today to be visited by the Happy Halloween Witch. She comes and takes all your candy for needy boys and girls. And in exchange she leaves you books and pencils and all sorts of non-candy items. We are so glad she came and visited us this year!

Chicago Marathon

Many of you probably know that we were planning on going to Chicago last weekend so Dan could run the Chicago marathon again. He caught a cold the week before and felt bad that he had to miss the race; however, he didn't feel so bad when we heard that the race was cancelled 3.5 hours after starting due to record high temperatures. A large number of people were hospitalized and we heard reports from people who were there that the entire city's emergency response personnel were overwhelmed due to the number of runners who were having problems. Many people were hospitalized and one man died. I guess this might be the only trip to Chicago that we are glad we didn't take.

Washington DC

We had a fun week long trip to Washington DC! It was the perfect time of year to go. There were no crowds anywhere. The kids had to miss a week of school right after it started, but it was worth it. Here are a bunch of pictures from the trip. Enjoy!Here is the crew outside the White house the night we got to town, Dan had a dinner and I went exploring with the kids. Our hotel was so close to everything it was perfect. This is the beginning of a long week in the stroller for Estee--she was so good.

We toured the Bureau of Printing and Engraving money, it was really cool to see all that money. The kids loved it.

This is Abby and Jake at the World War II Memorial with the Washington Monument behind them. The weather was perfect all week about 75 degrees.

Jake enjoying his freedom.

Where's the Ward children? They are all in this picture. They wanted to play Where's Waldo with me and the camera. We are at the National Botanical Gardens which we decided just to hurry and see as we were walking by. This ended up being one of our favorite things of the whole trip!

We also visited the Smithsonian National Zoo where they have these Giant Panda's which never come out of there cages. Well, I guess they liked the weather too because they were out and giving us a good show the day we went. Dan's aunt who has lived in DC for many years has never seen them! We felt lucky to have gotten such a cute shot here of him eating his toenails. Who doesn't love a Giant Panda eating his toenails?

This is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. Jake loved watching the changing of the guard, his favorite part was when they yelled out "Orders Ac-knowledged, forward-march".

Close-up of Jake and Abby sharing a seat of honor...

And far-away. That is them--the little dots in the middle of the picture.

The boys at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum which is the most visited museum in the world! It was a hit for the Ward family.

This is really freaky, it's a model of a bat eating, well I guess sucking the blood a human foot. Ahhh, who makes a model of that?? I was a little freaked out by it. Oh, it was at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, which was probably our favorite Museum.

Andy and Abby looking like they are little angels at the Capital. Who could ever guess these two fight, there so sweet.

More sweetness.

This is at the Korean War Memorial.

I just had to include a picture of Jake's favorite part of all the Memorials, climbing all over them. He climbs the walls at home I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he wants to climb the Memorials in Washington DC. If something is climb-able Jake will find it.


After all that walking and sightseeing the kids needed a break from their vacation. So, we stopped at the carousel that is in the center of the National Mall and they happily took a ride, Estee's first carousel ride.

Taking a break in front of the first Smithsonian Building "The Castle".

The boys climbed on a big marble thing and I got a shot of them with the Iwo Jima Statue behind them. In the distance you can see the Washington Monument.

Oh, yeah Dan was on this trip too. Did I mention I did all this (4 kids for a week in DC) by myself. Dan was at a Conference and we met him for dinner our last night there. We ate at a fun restaurant that overlooked the White house and Washington Monument. After dinner we walked around the White house and got this picture. Here's my cute crew!

If this wasn't enough and you want to see even more of our Washington DC trip pictures click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/janieward1313/WashingtonDCSept07