Vivvie Turns Three!

Vivvie turned three-year-old this past Friday.  How is she three already?!?  I know I say it all the time, but the years are flying by way too quickly!  It seems like she was just born about a year ago--maybe two years ago at the very most.  I have to keep reminding myself that she's a little girl now, and not my baby.  Sad!!

For her birthday, we went out to dinner at Wingers.  Viv isn't much of an eater.  It doesn't matter what food or what restaurant, she's just not going to eat much.  She doesn't even seem to like eating a whole lot.  I don't know how someone can not like eating, but Viv just seems to do it purely to survive.  There is no pleasure with it at all for her--at least not as far as I can tell.  So, we decided just to go eat somewhere that sounded good to the rest of us, and Wingers was the winner.  Nana and Poppy came along with us for the celebration.  Viv was even sung to by the servers.  This is the best picture I got of that.  She clearly didn't realize what was going on...

She got her own asphalt pie out of the deal...

But, once she realized this big hulabaloo was all focused on her, this shy little girl was not a happy camper...

After dinner, the plan was to go up to the Discovery Gateway Museum again, like we had last year for her birthday.  She had so much fun there last year, and we've been wanting to take her back.  But, we realized the museum closed at 8:00 pm, and since it was after 7:00 already, we decided that idea wasn't going to work.  So, the next best thing--as far as Vivvie was concerned--was to go see "Frozen" again.  Her brothers weren't so excited about seeing it another time, but they were good sports and went along for their sister...

Nana and Poppy came along with us to the movie too.  Viv spent the movie cuddled up on Poppy and Nana's laps, and loved every second of it.  And, for a bunch of boys that we're very excited about seeing the movie, they sure were into it...

Viv loved it once again.  It was the perfect way to end her birthday.

Then, this past Sunday, we held her actual birthday party with the family.  We started with dinner--chicken cordon bleu, since that seems to be one of the few things she enjoys eating.  Then, we opened presents.  Something we know Vivvie enjoys...

She looks like an orphan child in all these pictures.  This is what she looks each day after her nap.  I don't know why I even bother going to all the trouble of doing her hair and making her look so cute each morning...

She was spoiled by everyone...

And loved every second of it...

Landon just enjoyed eating the wrapping paper after Viv had ripped it off the presents.  Yummy.  A little fiber, anyone?

Most of Vivvie's presents were "Frozen-themed."  She got Elsa and Anna dolls, with dress up clothes to match.  Here's Viv in the Anna dress...

Work it, girlie...

She loves Anna...

Since Viv had the Anna dress on, we told Ella to put on the Elsa dress, so we could see them together.  We thought that was appropriate since Ella's hair is extremely blonde--almost white--like Elsa's, and Vivvie has strawberry blonde hair, similar to Anna's.  We tried to get a picture of them together, but this is the best we got.  And, nice photobomb, Aiden...

Lastly, it was time for cake.  Here's Viv with her princess cake...

Mr. Smith's Marketplace told me they could make a princess cake, but said they didn't have a picture of what the finished product would look like.  They said it would have an assortment of princesses and other girly things.  And, they weren't lying.  This was the most random cake ever!  There was a princess Sophia doll, and then a bunch of rings that had random princess pictures on them.  In addition to that, there was a variety of random clip on jewelry too.  So weird!  But, Viv thought it was the coolest thing she'd seen in her entire three years of life, so I guess it was still a winner.  Here she is showing the camera that she is three-years-old, even though she's holding up four fingers.  A minor technicality, really...

Blowing out the candles.  Or actually, right after blowing out the candles.  My camera was being slow...

We also celebrated Dan and Greg's birthdays, since they are two and three days after Vivienne's.  They got their own cake...

Which the kids took turns blowing the candles out on...

I guess that's how you know you're old--when the kids start blowing out your candles for you.

It was a fun couple days!  I can't believe my baby girl is already three-years-old!  I'm worried that if I blink a little too long, I'll open my eyes and she'll be 18.  Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!  Thanks for being the sweet, spunky, sassy diva that you are.  You have truly completed our family.  We are so happy we have you.  Love you to the moon and back, or as Cohen would say, "We love you more and most!!!!"  --Mama

Our Visit to Arendelle

By now, you're probably all seen the movie "Frozen," right?  We have a slight obsession going on at our house with it.  Well, more specifically, one little girl in our family has a slight obsession with it.  And our oldest son, who shall remain nameless, may or may not have said the Ice Queen, Elsa, was "kinda hot."

Luckily for us, we have a little piece of Arendelle--the country in the movie--right here in Utah.  Every year, an ice castle is built in Midway.  It is pretty awesome.  Elsa would be proud!  Here's a picture I found online that shows the whole thing...

We've always talked about going each winter, but just never made the time to do it.  That changed this year.  We finally went this year on Presidents Day.  And, so did thousands of our closest friends.  The place was packed!!  Because it's been so warm here lately, the castle has already started to melt, so Presidents Day was the last day the castle was going to be open for the year.  Hence, the crowds.  But, despite all the people, we still had a great time.  Here's a few (okay, maybe more than a few) pictures of all the fun we had...

Apparently, we wore Aiden out...

Ice must make a pretty comfy pillow...

Not sure why Vivvie is crying in this picture, but it's actually kind of funny...

Because of the popularity of "Frozen" this year, the ice castle took on a bit of an Arendelle theme.  You can even get your picture taken with Anna and Elsa while inside the castle!  Viv was so excited about meeting Anna & Elsa--until we actually got up there.  Then she freaked out and wouldn't talk to them.  Silly shy girl.  Where did she come from?!?  She couldn't take her eyes off of them though, even for the picture...

The gal playing Elsa wasn't our favorite.  But, hey, if I was standing out in the snow in that dress, I probably wouldn't be super pleasant either.  The girl who played Anna--on the other hand--was amazing!  Give that girl a job at Disneyland!!  She played the part perfectly & really looked a lot like Anna too!

We had a great time!  We'll definitely try to make it back up there next winter.  Next time, I think I might want to try to go at night.  After dark, they light the castle up with different colored lights and have fire dancers and other fun things like that.  But, this was a great first trip out there...

After the ice castles, we headed to the one and only Dairy Keen in Heber for burgers, fries, onion rings and shakes.  So did the thousands of people who had just been at the ice castle with us.  Come on people!  Really?!?  I don't think I've ever seen that place so packed!  We squeezed around a tiny little table that we were able to snag and scarfed our food down.  Then, we jumped in the car and headed back home.

It was a great way to spend our Presidents Day!  I love spending time with my cute little family--especially in our very own Arendelle.  --Lindsay

Christmas in February

Christmas has come all over again for the Storrs family!  Both Mike and I finally got some of our Christmas presents.  Mike has been wanting a road bike forever!  He loves cycling, and has even competed in LOTOJA, but he's always had to ride my Dad's extra road bike.  He's always wanted his own, but they are so darn expensive!  You can buy a small car for what some of these bikes cost!  So, he started saving up.  For his birthday and Christmas, he asked everyone to just contribute money toward his Road Bike Fund, rather than giving him presents.  Then, shortly after Christmas, he got a bonus from work, so he added that to the pot as well.  Well, as luck would have it, he found an awesome almost new bike on an online classified site (that shall not be named, since it's run by one of my competing stations--hehe) for almost the exact amount of money he had saved up in his fund!  He took my dad--the bike pro--with him when he went to look at the bike, so that Poppy could approve.  Well, Poppy definitely approved!  It was a crazy, awesome, really expensive bike, and Mike was able to get it for a crazy, awesome really great deal!  Here it is hanging in the garage--which is pretty darn messy right now, as you can see...

Mike's already been out riding it, thanks to the mild February weather, and has been really happy to get back on a bike--especially one that is his very own!

I also got a Christmas present this month.  Mike gave me a canvas print of the Salt Lake Temple for Christmas.  It's a print that I have always loved and wanted.  It's called "Amaranthine" by Robert A. Boyd.  I was so excited to get it!  He told me he was going to make a frame for it, and he just finished it this past weekend.  It is huge!  It's about 4 feet wide by 3 feet tall, and is now hanging in our family room.  I love how it turned out...

Isn't it pretty?  I love everything about it.  Viv loves to look at it, and always says, "Look at my temple!"  Thanks Mikey!  Your mad woodworking skills have once again saved us hundreds of dollars in framing costs.

And, Mike's bike wasn't the only present he got this month.  He got another present delivered to the house today, but this one wasn't a Christmas present.  It was a gift from his company.  He got Google Glass...

What a geek this boy is!  He's been trying to act all nonchalant about it and saying that "he had to get them for work."  Oh really?  Yes, I'm sure they had to twist your arm on that one.  Is that why you were practically jumping up and down like a kid on Christmas morning when the UPS man delivered them to the door?!?  Silly boy.  He loves technology!  Totally geeks out about all the newest tech gadgets that are coming on the market.  Well honey, way to look like you're straight out of "Back to the Future 2" or "Ironman."  By the way, you're not allowed to wear these things when in public with me.  End of conversation.

So, there you go!  Christmas in February.  Now, I just need to figure out how to make this happen again in April...and June...and August.  Hey, a girl can dream, right?  --Lindsay

Connor's Wrestling Season (Or the One Where I Come Clean About My Issues)

Connor's wrestling season just came to an end. He was too advanced for city league, where he had won every tournament for two years straight, so we decided to sign him up with a competitive wrestling team in Orem called Mettle Wrestling.  He wrestled two afternoons a week and had tournaments almost every weekend.  All-in-all, he was dedicating 5-10 hour a week to wrestling.  The tournaments were regional tournaments.  Wrestlers came from all over the Intermountain West to wrestle in them.  Luckily, most of them were within an hour of our house--but there were some others that were 2-4 hours away.  We talked to a parent at one of the first meets that told us their family had spent almost $3000 the previous year going to tournaments all over the state.  Good grief!  Some of these people are *really* into this.  The first tournament was the Caleb Williams Memorial Tournament in Mapleton.  Connor was pumped and ready to wrestle in his first regional wrestling meet...

I wish I had pictures of him wrestling, but I was so into each of the matches that I didn't take any...the entire season.  Yes, I'm one of those crazy wrestling moms, screaming her head off from the side of the mat.  This sport brings out the mama bear in me.  I don't know what it is about it.  I think it's that it's your child by himself fighting for the win.  There are no teammates to rely on if they have a bad day.  It's just your child versus someone else's child in a match up of who's stronger and faster.  I really could care less whether my son wins or loses.  But, it's just so hard to see your child out there putting his heart and soul into a match without get stressed out & screaming your head off.  Haha!  Yes, I know--wrestling mom problems.

Anyway, back to the tournament.  Connor killed it!  He killed it!!  He won every single match easily and took home 1st Place in his weight division...

What an accomplishment!  First regional tournament and he took home first place!  He was pumped and Mike & I were so happy for him!

The next tournament was the Timpview Regional Tournament in Provo a few weeks later.  Connor's first match was against a wrestler from Evanston, Wyoming.  Yes folks, he was one of those that had traveled nearly three hours to be part of this tournament.  When someone travels that far for a tournament, you *know* they are going to be a good wrestler.  And, boy was he ever!  It was an extremely close match the entire time.  Connor and this kid were going back and forth with the lead.  Connor had never wrestled anyone this good before.  It was a hard fought match, but in the end, Connor ended up losing by only a couple points.  It was the first match he had lost in a long time.  He was devastated!  He didn't know how to handle losing and he took it really hard.  Luckily, Mike was able to talk him down by reminding him that there were still a bunch of matches left and that Connor would have a chance to get out there and get some wins under his belt.  Connor won the rest of his matches very easily, and ended up getting 2nd in his weight division, behind the kid from Evanston.  Considering how good that kid was, Connor was pretty happy with his 2nd place finish...

A few weeks later, Connor competed in the Westlake Rumble in Saratoga Springs.  The first few matches, Connor won easily.  He was doing great and having a great time.  Then, he wrestled a kid from Orem who was another excellent wrestler.  This match was ridiculously close!  In fact, it ended up going into triple overtime because they were so evenly matched.

In triple overtime, it's a sudden death round.  One wrestler starts down and the other up.  If the wrestler in the down position can escape from the other, he wins.  But, if the other wrestler can keep him down for the entire 30 second round, then they win.  Connor was chosen to be down.  If he could just get up and face the other kid, he would get a point for escaping and the match would be over.  Connor struggled and was finally able to make it to his feet.  He pulled the kid's hands off from around his waist and turned around to face him.  The referee blew his whistle announcing the end of the 30 second round.  Everyone cheered!  Connor had won!

But wait!!  As the wrestlers met in the middle of the mat to shake hands & have the ref announce the winner, the ref held the other wrestler's arm up--signifying that *he* had won.

As it turns out, in an overtime situation, the rules are slightly different in what constitutes an "escape."  In order for an escape to be counted, the wrestler doing the escaping has to get far enough away from the wrestler that they are not touching each other.  When Connor turned around and faced the other kid and the whistle blew, Connor's hand was still holding on to the other wrestler's arm.  Because of this, it didn't count as an escape.  If Connor had just let go of the kid's arm, he would have won.  So, Connor ended up losing--on a technicality.

He was devastated!!  He couldn't even control himself.  He started crying and yelling and lashing out at everyone around him.  He started telling us what a bad wrestler he was and that he couldn't do anything right.  We tried to console him, but he was inconsolable.  Nothing we said helped.  Everything seemed to make him more upset.  The self-deprecating continued.  He just kept telling himself what a horrible wrestler he was because he had lost a match, and he had lost a match at the previous tournament as well.  Mike reminded him that he had won so many more than he had lost, and that he was really a great wrestler.  Connor wouldn't or couldn't believe him.  We then told him that it didn't matter whether he won or lost, but just that he was having a good time.  He told us that wasn't true.  Winning was all that mattered, and he apparently couldn't win anymore.  We tried to explain to him that he was wrestling some really great wrestlers.  Wrestlers that traveled hours to be at these meets.  Connor had barely lost to two really great wrestlers.  That meant he was just as good as them.  He was one of the really great ones!   He didn't believe us.  He had lost.  That was something he hadn't become very accustomed to over the past few years while he was doing city league.

Unfortunately, Connor's next match was fairly quick after the overtime match.  He was exhausted--both physically and mentally.  He lost again.  This made him even more upset.  It was a downward spiral.  He also ended up losing his last match of the day.

But, even though he lost three matches, he still ended up with 3rd Place in his weight division because he had earned so many points in his matches at the beginning of the meet.  There's no picture of Connor with his 3rd Place plaque though.  He wasn't in much of a picture taking mood.

That day, we had a long talk with Connor.  In it, he told us that wrestling wasn't fun for him anymore.  He didn't like it.  In fact, he hated it.  He hated everything about it.  He didn't want to do it anymore.  It was putting a huge amount of stress on him and he wasn't handling it well--clearly.

See, Connor is a perfectionist.  He's been this way his entire life.  He sets hard, and sometimes unrealistic, goals for himself--like winning 1st Place in his weight division in every single wrestling tournament--and then gets extremely stressed out and feels like a complete failure when he can't reach them.

I know all about perfectionism--because I am a perfectionist as well.  I've always put tremendous pressure on myself to be perfect in all areas of my life.  It's what pushed me to get a 4.0 throughout high school and be top 10 in my college at BYU.  It's want drove me to be one of only 20 people per year accepted into the Broadcast Journalism program at BYU.  It's what motivated me to make it in the TV business, even when multiple people told me I would never succeed.  It's not always a bad thing to be a perfectionist.  However, it can--and does--control your life at times.  The thought of being "not perfect" at some goal you've set for yourself is unbearable for a perfectionist.    It makes your heart beat uncontrollably fast.  It makes every muscle in your body tighten up.  It makes your head pound like someone is banging a gong inside it every few seconds.  It makes your stomach turn.  You can't think straight and, many times, you can't think about anything except the goal which you can't complete.  It's just not acceptable to fail.  If a perfectionist fails at a goal, *they* are--therefore--not acceptable.  They are a complete failure.  Or, at least that's how they feel.  I've felt this way many times.  Connor is the same way.  This is why he felt the way he felt after a couple loses on the wrestling mat.

We decided it would probably be best to take a break from wrestling tournaments for awhile.  Connor would still continue to go to practice twice a week, since he had made that commitment to his coaches, but wouldn't go to any tournaments.  And, after the season ended, he would never have to wrestle again, if that's what he wanted.  He told us that was what he wanted.  He was done with wrestling.  And, surprisingly, he was so happy about it!  We instantly saw an improvement in his mood.  It was like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.  If he wasn't attending tournaments, he wouldn't even have the opportunity to put pressure on himself to be win and be perfect.

We took the entire month of December off and had planned to get back into the tournaments in January.  But, even then, we were only going to go to a couple of them.  Well, January came and as the deadlines for tournaments got close, I found myself not registering Connor for them.  It just didn't feel right.  Connor was never disappointed when I told him I had "forgotten" to register him.  He seemed to be happier about going to practice and started enjoying wrestling again.

After missing the first couple tournaments in January, we decided it felt right to just take all of January off.  Connor would only compete in the final two state tournaments at the beginning of February.  But, as those got closer and closer, we talked about it with Connor.  As we did, we saw the stress start to come back.  I hated seeing that.  We decided he wouldn't participate in those either.  His coaches really wanted him to, and kept sending emails to us about why we hadn't registered him yet.  But, it just didn't feel right.  Connor didn't want to wrestle in any more tournaments, and Mike and I decided we didn't want to make him do something he didn't want to do.

Connor's last day of wrestling practice was this past Wednesday.  I'm not sure if he'll ever wrestle again.  All I know is he is happy to not being doing it anymore for now.  He might get back into it at some point.  Or, maybe he won't.  It doesn't matter to me.  This wrestling season taught all of us something.  It taught us that it doesn't matter how good you are at something.  If it's something that makes you miserable, it's not worth doing.  That was an important lesson for me--as a fellow perfectionist--to learn.  There are many things I do in my life that don't make me happy.  I do them strictly to feed the monster that tells me I have to do it to be perfect.  I've started to let go of a few of those things.  Now, I'm just trying to be perfect at not being perfect--and being okay with it.  Connor is too.  We're working on it together.  Neither of us are perfect at our "non-perfectionism" yet (and maybe never will be), but we're trying.  And, that's all that really matters.

I'm so proud of Connor and what he accomplished through this wrestling season.  Not only did he prove what an amazing wrestler he is against some of the best wrestlers his age, but he proved to both himself and me that it's possible for a perfectionist to let go of a non-attainable goal and be okay with it.  That is way more valuable than any 1st place wrestling medal ever would be.  --Lindsay

The Klondike Campout

Connor went on his first scout campout last month.  It's hard enough sending your child up into the mountains without you, but to do it in January during extremely cold temperatures?!?  That's ridiculously hard!  Luckily, Mike is one of Connor's scout leaders, so that made it a lot easier.  But, still, sending your son to camp in single digit weather = not easy!  Who decided this campout in the dead of winter was a good idea anyway?

Here's Connor meeting up with the rest of the troop...

That night, they set up camp, made dinner & had fun pranking other troops.  One of the leaders brought a werewolf mask and they went from tent-to-tent scaring other scouts.  Then, they stayed up way to late & then somehow managed not to freeze to death overnight.

The next morning, they made breakfast and then headed off to meet up with the other troops for the Klondike competitions...

On the way to their first competition, Connor saw this sign and had to have a picture taken next to it since he has a slight obsession with cows lately.  No clue why.  He's sort of random like that...

Our troop did so great in all the competitions!  They actually won every single competition!!  Here they are with the trophy for Best Overall Troop...

Both Connor and Mike had a blast.  I'm not sure how camping in the cold can be a blast, but it was for them!  As for me, I had a great time sleeping in a nice, warm bed.  --Lindsay