a little bit of winter in Minnesota :)

This is what my hair looks like all winter long after having a hat on 50 times a day. I had just got done shoveling the driveway when Elle took this picture.

Elle and I spend some time talking about all the drama of 12 year old girls each day while we wait for Emma to get out of school. Usually we can solve the problems of the world during this 15 minute time :)

Which of these objects doesn't belong?....Emma's feet get hot at work and so she wears her flip flops out in the -16* so she is not uncomfortable at work :)

I went out to get my mail yesterday and I thought I would share with all those that don't live in Minnesota what our mail boxes look like here in the frozen world of winter.

I am grateful for a kind, funny, smart, wonderful, beautiful, clever, stuborn, compassionate daughter Elle!

Snap Shot of What a Day in the Life of Krystine Looks Like!

Sister Shakespear, Sister Harris and ME (yes I am in my PJ's)

Sister Shakespear working hard to scrub the shower...I love Sister Shakespear!

Emma's new brown hair :)

Yesterday I had a great day of serving others! Started my morning by having the wonderful sister missionaries over to help me take my Christmas stuff down and then we had lunch. After lunch we choose someone in our ward that we thought could use a special treat and we went to their house and cleaned the bathroom, kitchen and front entry way. It was great to clean with the missionaries and the person we picked to do it for was very surprised and grateful. After that I came home and started my personal taxi service for the girls activities after school then I ran home and made 6 dozen cookies, took dinner to a friend who hurt her back, ran 5 dozen cookies around to people that I needed to thank for giving service in RS, made dinner for my family then took Elle and Emma to Barnes and Nobles picked Scott up from work, came home and colored Emma's hair brown. Do you think I had a productive day (By The Way...I did all this in my PJ's!!!! No kidding!!!) I crawled into bed after a hot shower at 11pm to find Scott snoring away! Now I am going to start all over today...I wonder who gets to have some service from Krystine today???? I think today I will get dressed before I start my service :)

I am thankful for hot running water...that shower was wonderful :)

It Is As Easy As 1,2,3,4

Today I woke up to 21 cups that needed hand washing (our dishwasher is stupid and I decided to start hand washing the glasses a few months ago). The problem with this is that I have asked my kids to use ONE glass a day instead of a bazillion! You would think that this is a simple request...1.get a glass out 2. use it 3. rinse it out 4. place it in a special spot so you can use this same glass again the next time you want a drink! My kids (each and everyone of them!! Jackson, Hannah, Emma and Elle) seem to get lost after step number 2! They are constantly doing step 1 and 2 but seem to be retarded as to step 3 and 4. What is a mother to do? I just made a new sign pleading with them to follow all 4 steps and then I decided to assign them all a special spot for their glasses to be when they are not using them. I will report back in a week and let you know if my kids are still retarded!

I am thankful for able hands and good health that allows me to wash dishes!

My Wish for Today

Oh how I wish I could just stay in my warm bed this morning and sleep just like Sandy! It is soooo cold outside and I don't want to go out there into the bugger freezing weather. But alas I am a mom and there is no such thing as staying in bed (at least today) when there have been many commitments made on my part I must endure and brave the cold. (Besides it is garbage day and someone has to take out the Christmas garbage)

I am thankful for my warm house, a warm coat, warm gloves, warm (and cute) hat, and warm boots.

P.S. Sandy has a 6th sense to know when his picture is about to be taken and he is deathly afraid of it. Please imagine for a moment if you will our little white poodle all cuddled up in my comforter dreaming away because the second I got my camera out and turned it on he jumped out of bed and ran away!! Way to ruin a great picture that would have gone with my blog this morning Sandy! Sandy is dumb :)

Can anyone guess who these toes belong too?

I believe these toenails have been used as weapons! Would the mother of this child please get some some clippers and teach this child to trim her weaponry :)

Another Years Goals...I can do it!

My Goals For 2010!

1. Read from the scriptures EVERY DAY! If I can find 5 minutes to watch TV during the day then I surely can find 5 minutes to read the word of God :)

2. Pray EVERY DAY! I am not very good at daily prayer and boy do I need to stay in contact with Heavenly Father....I need Him every hour!

3. Blog EVERY DAY! I want to keep it simple most of the time and mostly if I don't have any stories to tell I am going to be journaling about what I am grateful for. I would like this to be my year of GRATITUDE. Because I have so much to be grateful for and I don't think I express it often enough. It also helps me to notice the small things in life that I take for granted.

4. Do a KIND DEED DAILY! I think I serve others because I have to...this year I want to serve because I want to! I will find someone each and every day and purposefully do a kind deed for them it could be a stranger or someone that I know. I am very excited about this goal.

Well there you have it. I want to keep it simple and I will be reporting back weekly on how I have done on my goals for the week. I hope to become a better person by achieving these goals and grow closer to my Heavenly Father. Wish me luck and perseverance!

I am so grateful... that school starts today!! :)

We All Are Strangers To Someone

Our ride up to the airport yesterday. Tanner is sleeping, not knowing what lies ahead in trying to get him a ride to school....read below for details!!

So we sent Tanner off yesterday (sad) to an island called I don't know what (I just call it Hawaii, the one with BYUHawaii on it, usually my many Mormon friends know what I am talking about) without a way to get him from the airport to the school!

Not a good idea you say....what you say is correct! I thought Scott had it all under control, being the under control guy that he is. But the thing is if you don't reserve a spot on the school shuttle like I am guessing probably a month in advance (best thing to do is once your ticket is purchased you should immediately call the shuttle and reserve a spot on it for the correct time of arrival) but noooooooo not us that would be way to easy for the Greers we like to do things the interesting way!

I do have to say that the shuttle stops running at 9:30pm and Tanners flight didn't get in until 9:45pm so even if we had tried to reserve a spot for him in an appropriate time frame (a month ago) he still most probably would not have been able to get on (this is the logic Scott uses, I am sure I would have been able to sweet talk them into waiting for my only son that is thousands of miles away from me at the moment).

So to make a very long and frustrating story short....at 11:30pm our time we still didn't know how we were going to get Tanner to school once he landed on that great island of Hawaii. Tanners plane would be landing at 1:30am Minnesota cold time (in two short hours!!) Well I had just signed on to the computer and wanted to check my emails for the last time because I had been gone all day and just hadn't had the chance to do that earlier. When to my surprise I had received an invitation (from FB) to a party for a missionary who had served here in Rochester (Sister Lamb to all those who know her). I clicked on the face book link and to my surprise Brooklyn Lamb was on face book at that very moment. You are all wondering so what! What does this have to do with your poor story of Tanner being stranded at the airport all night long without a ride to school (lame parents he has!)

My heart began to race because to my great luck at that moment I knew the only person who could possibly help me at that moment was a one Sister Lamb!!! She had just returned from 6 months of working and much playing on the same island as Tanner was now getting ready to land on! I asked her with much begging and pleading as I could muster (which wasn't difficult at all because the fact was I was desperate!) if she could help me out and find Tanner a ride from the airport to school. And.......to my great relief she said she would try!

A half hour later she called me and said that she had contacted her singles ward RS Pres. (have I ever told you only saints get called to RS President) and this Saint had agreed to go pick up this strange boy she didn't know all because Sister Lamb had asked her to do it! I love the networking abilities in the church!! So just a half hour before Tanner was to land far, far away from me we had arranged a ride!

I wish I could tell you that it was a fairytale ending after that but no, alas Tanners luggage is lost and he doesn't have a toothbrush to use today or any of his nice Christmas presents he got from Santa but he did have a ride to school dangit!

I hope that there is a lesson learned here....we may all get something different out of this story, perhaps one lesson is don't procrastinate (Scott), or perhaps do things yourself instead of leaving them to your husband to do (Krystine) but the best lesson I learned is that there are caring people out there in the world who are willing to do nice things for total strangers because they are followers of Christ. This I have started to rely on that while my kids are far away from me their Heavenly Father is watching out for them and taking care of their needs by using angels on earth to do that. Don't forget that you may be some mothers angel by doing a kind deed for some random stranger! Lets all be kind and help those in need!

Today I am thankful for Brooklyn and her friend Amy who helped me out in a real pinch! Thank you and may Heavenly Father bless you as you blessed my family!

My Heart Has a Crack In It and I Am Thankful For...

Tanner is leaving today to go back to Hawaii. I am sad. I wonder if my heart will ever feel the same again. It literally feels like it hurts. I hope Tanner achieves all his goals maybe that will help heal my heart knowing that he is doing what he loves most...learning about the world and other people. I love you Tanner! I am thankful that Tanner is not afraid and isn't homesick (really).

What Winter Means In Minnesota To Me!

I am getting ready to go out and do my grocery shopping...in -1 degree weather! I love Minnesota! (I am grateful that I have money to buy my family food there are many that don't)

Elle just had her last day as a paper girl!! She is so happy! She no longer has to worry about dying in -40 degree weather! (I am grateful that Elle is happy, it makes my life much easier)

What winter means in Minnesota....a thousand pairs of shoes by the back door! (I am grateful that I have so many pairs of shoes to choose from)

Happy New Year! We made it :) I am very excited to see what 2010 will bring into my life. I am sure we will have some ups and downs but I will hope for many more ups then downs. I wanted to share with you a few pictures of what life in Minnesota is like in the winter. I love Minnesota and even find ways to enjoy the winter.

This year I am going to blog about what I am thankful for. So where there is a gray cloud I am going to try to see the silver lining. Minnesota winters mean I get to spend more time with my kids because they don't go out with there friends as much because if we can avoid being outside we avoid it! That's why I am thankful for Minnesota Winters!!!

Ending Of A Great Year!

It is Jackson's dream to "never hear Krystine say do the dishes, hang your coat up, only use one cup, put your shoes away, clean your room again!"

It is Elle's dream to "never hear her mom or dad say anything about her bangs in her eyes again"!

It is Emma's dream "to have a boyfriend wearing the hat on her head"!

It is Tanner's dream to "never wake up in Minnesota again"!

It is Scott's dream to be "Splinter Cell" for real!

First I would like to say this year has been terrific! The biggest event in the Greer family was that Tanner graduated and headed off to college!! I didn't realize that I would feel such sadness when he left. At the same time I also feel much joy and pride that he has left home and is spreading his wings and growing into the young man I always hoped he would become! He has left such a void in our family that sometimes it is just to painful to think about it but each day gets a little bit easier to have him so far away. I never truly understood the term bitter-sweet until this year. I wonder if this is how our Heavenly Father feels about each of us when we leave his presence. It is the only way we will continue to grow by coming to earth to learn while being apart from Him. I feel that for Tanner to continue to grow he must have the opportunity to learn on his own and explore what this world has to offer him as well as what he has to offer the world! I love him so much and have been so happy to have him home for a short visit during Christmas time!!

Tanners graduating and college life is probably the biggest milestone hit this year but there were other many little things that made this year wonderful. I just have to say I have the best husband in the world and am so grateful to him for all his love, support and patience with me (especially when I want to act like a teenager!) He has been working so hard this year with little time off. The economy hasn't been the best but he is still selling his hotels and making money for his company! Scott was able to take a little time off this summer for us to take a small family trip to the Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. It was a great time and we made lots of memories. The best family trip by far was to Utah for Thanksgiving in Nov. This was the first trip back to Utah for Scott (as a vacation) in 3 years. It was so great to visit with family and enjoy the Holiday with those we love and miss the most. I think Scott truly enjoyed his visit to see his favorite sister-in-law Kate!

The girls have kept me on my toes this year!! Emma completed 9th grade is already half way through her sophomore year! She is getting ready to do some really great things in the next few months...first she gets to take drivers ed!!!!!!! She got pretty good grades this semester and earned the right to drive!! I love how hard Emma has been working to get better grades this year. Emma also started her first real job. She works in a little convenience store right below Scott's office (Scott gets to check on her daily and buy all his mints from her). Emma is also getting ready to take a trip to Europe in June!!! She applied to a program called People to People and was accepted. She and I have been working on fundraisers to help her earn all her money to go on this trip. I am very excited for her to see this part of the world. It is something she has always wanted to do.

Elle has been discovering who she is and what she wants to become and I am so proud to be her mom. Elle works hard in school and loves to get good grades. She is very inquisitive and loves to learn. Some day she wants to live in Africa and I have no doubt that she will do that! Elle loves her friends and tries to do what is right most of the time...she slips sometimes but learns from her mistakes and tries to do better after she falls. Elle just completed her 2nd year doing the paper route (it is a very harsh job here in MN as you can imagine) Elle has been asking if she can stop doing the paper route and I told her as soon as she starts to make as much money babysitting as she does the paper route that she could quit. Well Elle has achieved her goal!! She has become a great little babysitter! She loves to play with the kids and she is so crazy and fun the kids all love her! So this is her last week doing the paper route!!! Hurray for Elle (and her mom)!

Both girls are my friends and I love to hang out with them, snuggle and just talk as well as go to midnight showings with them!! They make me laugh and cry and my life would not be complete without them! I am so happy the Lord blessed me with such great daughters! I love them!!

Well that about sums up our year except for me! I am happy healthy and content! I decided not to go to cosmetology school after many talks with Scott. I am going to be looking for a part time job to help pay for some expenses that a college boy and teenage girls incur as well as have more fun money! I love fun money!! I am still busy as can be with my calling as 1st counselor in RS presidency and also we have two additions to the family....Jackson and Hannah. Both have been here for 6 months and we have our ups and downs but we are happy they have joined us and hope to see both of them graduate this year.

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!!

I am going to be changing my blogging format this year and hopefully that will help me write more. I will be experimenting with some different styles as the year begins. As those that read this know I love you all and miss my family in Utah so much. I hope that this new year of 2010 brings you all peace and health as well as good times!