Year of Firsts....February

 Month 2 of my new year's resolution to do at least one new thing a month.  January turned out to be pretty exciting and hard to top, but February turned out to be equally exciting...I don't want to make January feel jealous by saying one was better than the other. :)

When I posted a picture on Instagram of my list of ideas, one of my favorite mission friends Alisa put in a plug for me to come visit her in Minnesota.  She hooked me when she said, "I can take you ice fishing..."  Sold!  Booked my plane ticket shortly after.....and seeing her was a nice perk also.  Not only did she introduce me to ice fishing, but she helped me accomplish several more firsts while I was there, and I'm not referring to dirty diapers being thrown at my head to wake me up in the morning.  Kids can be so cute!

There is a gentlemen from Utah who makes "ice castles" in a couple different locations through out

A throne in the ice castles.  Where's Olivia?  Oh just facing the back of the seat. LOL

the United States and Minnesota was one of them.  Pictures don't do justice with how truly amazing these were.  They were literally castles made of icicles bigger than me.

 We also went to the Mall of America!  When I told Alisa I wanted to go there, she immediately thought it was for the rides.  Really, I just knew it was a huge mall and it was a must see when visiting Minnesota, so the first time I told her and she said, "....and we can ride the rides if you want...." I just agreed and nodded my head.  I had zero expectations for rides because I don't think I truly understood what she was talking about.  A couple other times we talked while arranging my visit, she would refer to the rides, and I would again just agree and nod my head.  First day she picked me up at the airport and we were driving and discussing our game plan and she turns to me and says, "Did you know there are rides?"  I responded, "only because you keep talking about them."  Came across a lot more rude that I intended.  We both just started laughing!

 Well, as you can see, we chose to go on the rides.  This was tricky with 2 kids.  They rode most of the

 rides and we would occasionally switch off going on bigger ones.  I was quickly reminded that in my older age, I cannot do roller coasters anymore, but I still love a good log ride.

It took some coaxing to get Owen to ride the log chute with me, especially since his Mom was staying back with Olivia.  He was a brave boy and decided to go.  As you can see in the picture, he shows fear by wide-eyed silence.  I scream!  I had my hand on his little chest to help him feel safe, and his heart almost beat out of his chest in that moment.  When we got off the ride, he was silent.  "Hey Owen, did you have fun?"  Owen responds, "yeah."  "Do you want to go again?"  "NO." hahaha  Hopefully we didn't scar him for life.

This is what we envisioned our experience to be.

Next adventure was ice fishing!
Those of you who know me, know I'm not big on the outdoors and hunting, fishing, etc, but let me tell you 3 reasons why ice fishing is fantastic:  1) you can see the fish swimming below, so you can see them being tempted by your bait.  It's pretty cool.  2) it's less common and made me feel pretty special I was trying it, and 3) you can hear the ice crackling beneath your feet like you are going to go plunging into the lake, so basically you are living on the edge and cheating death.  It's pretty exciting!  Seriously though, there were several times I was unsure we were going to survive based on the thunderous ice cracking sound.  We are sitting in a trailer with 10 people, the whole thing weighing over 1,000 pounds or more.  I'm grateful to still be alive!

This is how it really was...heated trailer...

Ryan, Alisa's husband, was kind enough to show me how to use the miniature pole.  Since it had been over 15 years since I had used a fishing pole, I had no idea how to keep the reel from getting tangled, how to lock the reel so my line didn't keep falling, etc.  Those are tricky things...

I even learned how to bait my own hook....and we're not talking about just putting fake cheese on a hook.  I actually put a little maggot on a hook.  You gotta go through it's butt and push it all the way through til the hook comes out its head.  Ew!

I was proud to say that I was the only girl in attendance willing to bait her own hook.  If I was going to do this ice fishing thing, I was going to do it all!!

After about an hour of fishing, I caught my first fish!!  I was so excited!!!!  Apparently, they are called Crappie fish....all I know is it was my first catch...EVER!

They told me that since it was my first fish ever, I had to kiss it....I was going in for a fake kiss for the pictures sake, but Ryan pushed it onto my lips....so I have now kissed a fish!  I didn't care....I had gone ice fishing....and skirted death by not plunging into frozen water!

Thank you Alisa and Ryan for an amazing visit to Minnesota and providing several new "firsts!!"