Ballou Winter Fun

Before I was a Ballou, I didn't care much for snow or anything to do with cold. But after so many fun times with Eric's family skiing and snowmobiling, I really look forward to these little winter trips with them. We just had a great weekend at Eric's mom's cabin in Island Park, ID with the Ballou family. There was so much to do- they brought up 4-wheelers and we rented snowmobiles on saturday. I tried for the first time snowshoeing and cross-country skiing and I loved them both! Probably because neither requires much skill and they are great forms of exercise. There was so much flat open land so it was perfect. And ofcourse, we never fail to have good food and lots of laughter. Every night we would stay up late, chat, watch movies and sit in the hot tub. Then sleep in the next morning and wake up to a hot breakfast prepared by Dad. Eva and her cousins Brenner and tiny Clark had so much fun playing together and Nana took good care of them while we went on our little adventures.

We tried pulling Eva on a sled while snowshoeing, but she got a bit mad when she fell over after a bumpy ride. So Eric, being innovative, made a nice little seat for her and pulled her along:

Hot girls snowshoeing

Russell attempting to cross-country ski. This is what he looked like most of the time.

Emily, Brenner and Travis goin for a ride. The ninja hat is very becoming on Trav. No way would I show you what I look like in one.

Hot babe Meg going on a ride following Eric. I wouldn't have dared, but she kept right up!

My sister-in-law Emily made these cute beanies for Eva. She is so good at it. I attempted the craft, but failed when my hat looked more like a barbie hat. Here is Eva modeling one for you. I love the flowers.Brenner and Eva putting a puzzle together.

Happy LOVE Day

Hope you are having a lovely Valentines Day with your sweeties. I enjoy Valentines because it is fun to plan a romantic night with my man and give him a cheesy homemade valentine, I like making and eating heart sugar cookies and I love pink and red. Although, we do like to celebrate it a couple of days late. It's a little silly, I guess, but it's great because we don't get stuck with a 30 minute wait at a restaurant, and all of the candy at the store is 50% off. So Eric and I will be celebrating on monday.

Eva and I made these cookies for the office:

She liked the pink frosting and shaking the sprinkles.

Our January

Life is good at the Ballou house. Eric has been able to do some cool different cases at work and is getting busier. He loves what he does and I'm so glad for that. I am teaching my class and only have a few students, but it is great to get the practice and the workouts. Personal training is going well, especially because I have been able to bring Eva while I train a lady twice a week at her house. She has been such a good girl and just sits and claps at her while we workout. She is getting around better now, though, not quite a crawl, but scooting on her tummy. I love little baby girl dresses and get excited on sundays when I can dress Eva up. All of the grandmas have supplied us with a closet full of cute dresses. This is one of our favorites. That face is classic too.

We went to a Boise State basketball game where Eva clapped for our team in her cute orange and blue.

Last weekend was action-packed. We started out in McCall with Cristi and Brooks and some other friends for the Winter Festival. It was cool to see some huge ice sculptures, have breakfast at the Pancake House, and to walk around one of our favorite places. Sunday morning we left early for Logan where Emily and Travis live. They blessed their new baby Clark. We had a lunch afterward with everyone. The food was splendid, as always with the Ballou family, and it was fun to hang out for a little while before having to drive back home! It was lots of driving, but very worth it to see cute little Clark in his blessing outfit and Brenner in a shirt, tie, vest, cowboy boots and hat. Wish we would have taken pictures.
We have been taking a bunch of mini- videos of Eva. This one is pretty funny.

Workout Tip: Move the Furniture and Shake it!

Excuses, excuses. I wanted to do cardio today, but I don't have a gym membership, it's freezing outside and I'm stuck at home. What to do? Well, I thought of a fun idea. Don't you sometimes just want to dance with the music blaring when no one is around? Maybe I'm the only nerd. Use those moves that were hot in the 80's or when you were in high school and make your own cardio routine! If you're not a dancer use punches and kicks or aerobics moves. You and your kids will end up laughing your heads off. Here's what you do:
Write down 12 different moves. Here are some simple ones you can use:
1. Grapevine
2. Step touch side to side and clap above your head
3. Shimmy
4. Jumping Jacks
5. YMCA while jumping
6. Hamstring Curls
7. Famous move from Grease (only Kim will know this one)
8. March in Place
9. Stayin' Alive disco move
10. Kicks and punches
11. Speedbag while doing lunges
12. Jump Squats

Then, break them down into 3 groups of 4. Put 8 or 16 counts to each move. Do your first four moves, one right after the other. For example:

Grapevine for 8 counts
Step touch for 8 counts
Shimmy for 8 counts
Jumping Jacks for 8 counts

= 32 counts- should go great with any upbeat music. Once you have this one down, move to your next 4 moves. You can combine them however you'd like.

Ballou & You Fitness

I wanted to post the blog address for my new business. I am taking new personal training clients and I am also teaching a kickboxing class. Check it out, especially if you are in Boise!

http://www.ballouandyoufitness.blogspot.com/

27!

Wrinkles?

I turned 27 on friday and boy does it feel a lot older than 26. Last year I still felt far from the dreaded 30, but now I'm really creeping up on it. Ahh! Actually, I don't know what the big deal is about 30. I'm having some of the best times in my life right now and my parents say that this is the best time of life- when your kids are little. I suppose we are wary of 30 because as a kid, 30 seemed so old. We laugh because when Eric was little he said he would get a porsche when he turned 30. Now it's more like 50, if that! I think it's just fun to talk about how you're getting old and hope that your spouse throws you a surprise party for your 30th.

I had a wonderful birthday. It started out with Eva and I shopping at Target where I found some cute shoes for a killer deal. My parents sent me a new iPod which was a total fun surprise. Then our friend Colleen came and picked Eva up so Eric and I could go out. It was so nice to have some alone time together. He surprised me with my favorite kind of roses and a new camera that I love. I have taken a lot of pictures ever since and I think Eva is getting used to having a camera in her face. After our date, we went to our friends the Jarvis's to pick Eva up and they had made me a chocolate cake! Perfect way to end a birthday for me. I had 2 big pieces and didn't feel one bit bad. Probably because Annilee told me to eat lots of cake.

Eva is growing up before our very eyes. It is so fun to watch her learn new things. She can almost crawl, she claps her hands when you say YAY, and she bites you with her new tooth. One new trick that I am not too fond of is when she pushes food away with her hands and then rubs the remains in her hair. Eric decided to get creative tonight and he fed her an entire serving of carrots on a chip. I don't know how that was better than a spoon, but it worked ! Silly girl.

Christmas in SLC

Christmas this year was one of the funnest ones I have had since I was a little girl waiting for Santa. I suppose it was the combo of having my Eva girl, Mike home which was unexpected, and spending quality time with each family. On Christmas Eve we had a superb skiing day with Julia and Craig at Alta that ended with a relaxing evening in the hot-tub and vegging. Christmas morning we had breakfast at my parents house and opened homemade gifts with my family. Yes, my family has picked up the tradition too. The Ballous started it maybe 5-6 years ago and we look forward to it every year. We draw names and make a gift rather than purchase one. It adds so much more meaning and excitement when you watch the person open the gift you made for them. I was so surprised to open my gift from my Mom, who made a scrapbook of my whole life and also a video with a compilation of photos and music. She has been working on it for 6 months and it means so much to me to have all of my memories beautifully compiled in a book with poems. Travis made me a wooden recipe card box which I love since I have started cooking a lot more. Eric's Dad put a bunch of photos on a card table and put a resin finish on the top. It looks really cool. My brother in law, Sam, made Eric a framed saying: "Tools for Success" using dental instruments. Everyone was really creative this year.

My lover gave me a cute orange coat that I adore and I gave him some shoes he was dying to have. Eva got The Little Mermaid on DVD which is probably more of a gift to me seeing that it is my favorite Disney movie, but I'm sure she'll like it.

Although Eva didn't know what was going on, it was so fun to see her with her presents. She got a walker that was pretty exciting even though yesterday was the first day she figured out how to get across the floor. It is so funny to see the look on her face like she's saying, "Look, I can go wherever I want." I keep getting out new dish-towels then I realize she has pulled them off and is sucking on them... She also got 2 new coats. One from Liss, a darling red pea-coat that looks so cute on her. My aunt gave her a little brown fur coat that is so very stylish too.

New walker from Grandma

Made with dental instruments to Eric from Sam

Eric made my aunt Barb some bleach trays for her homemade gift

My scrapbook

Playing the piano with Great-Grandma Donna

Look how Eric's new shoes sparkle!