Finish Line

Jenny was the first one in but Paul's picture didn't turn out. This is Erica coming in with Leslie cheering her on.

Then Desiree came in.

Last of all, is me.

Enjoying our post race high.

Thanks to Paul for coming along to be our driver and photographer.

And thanks to Leslie for coming out to cheer us on!!

Heart of Holladay

The Running Chics - Jenny, Desiree, Erica, Lisa (Leslie didn't do this 5K)

Here we are excited to do the Heart of Holladay 5K race

Just before the start of the race

Our running group is training for a marathon but we are also having fun doing short races.

On June 14th we ran the Heart of Holladay 5K . It's a beautiful course lined with trees and pretty level - two hills. We ended up splitting up for the race and all came in with better times than our last 5K.

Food Storage Plug

I'm trying out a service my friend told me about.
It's called Myfoodstoragedeals.com. If you join you receive a weekly newsletter informing you of all the great, good and okay deals at the big stores in the valley (Reams, Smiths, Albertsons, Maceys and Harmons). I'm trying it out for the summer. One good suggestion is to ad-match at Super-Walmart if you live near one and then you don't have to go to all the stores on the list to get the deals. She also has a very informative blog about food storage.
Check it out and see what you think.

Update on the phone

So, I went to the Verizon store this morning actually hoping for the same person who helped me on Monday. Then I wouldn't have to tell the whole story again. No luck there.

But I did have a very nice gentleman help me and help me he did. They gave me a "special one-time deal" of signing up for another contract a 1 yr and then I could get a phone at a discounted price. So I got another new phone for $70 (minus the $60 I found at Lagoon yesterday and I'm really only out $10) and have once again entered in all the numbers that I had just entered in on Monday. This time I put insurance on the phone and don't plan to visit Lagoon anytime too soon.
And all good comments/suggestions in the previous blog. Unfortunately I'm just not that bright to think ahead. Justin suggested that I dye my hair blonde (no offense to those natural blondes out there).

Friday the 13th

So, if you remember, it was Friday the 13th last week. Nothing spectacularly bad happened on Friday -- it all came the day after and continued through to today!

On Saturday, we went to Lagoon for Paul's work party. It was a great deal - $10 per person with lunch buffet included. Everyone in our family went except for Justin who was camping in Zion's.

Things were going well and the little kids were having a blast (more on that in another post).
We went into the water park about 2:30 because it was so hot and we needed a break from the long lines. While we were still in the dressing room the power went out and stayed out for about an hour. That actually wasn't bad at all for us personally since we were just going into the water park and I preferred it with the power out - no splashing water and no loud music. Paul had a nap and Brooke and I had fun playing with Kamryn in the kiddie area (Jared didn't want to swim because that meant taking off his sock, which was his "band-aid" on his hurt toe).
Eventually we decided to go in the lazy river and after I got out I realized I'd had my cell phone in my short pocket that I had just gone in the river with. I forgot I'd had it in there. So it was totally DEAD!
Then later on we were putting Jared and Kamryn onto a ride and Paul said "You have you're camera, right?" Immediately I was sick to my stomach. I didn't have it and I knew it wasn't in the stroller. I was sure he had it. He hadn't had it in a long time. I was just SICK, SICK, SICK!! It's a small little digital camera and I figured it was gone forever.
After thinking about for a little bit I remembered the last place we had it was the train. So I ran back over there and talked to the crew. This was 4 hours after we had been there. The employees were really great about looking all over for it but didn't find it. They suggested I check the lost and found and assured me that people really do turn things in.
So I went to lost and found and "Colton" helped me. I told him what had happened. He asked me to describe the camera and the case and then he held it up and showed me my camera. I couldn't believe it. I was so happy and I told him I could just hug him and kiss him. Then he turned it on and said "Is this your family?" At first glance I said yes but when I really looked at the last picture taken it wasn't my family. It was 2 moms with their daughters doing a self portrait. They took a picture of themselves before they turned my camera in. I love those moms!! And the rest of the night I kind of tried to look for them to thank them.
So I got the camera back but still had a dead cell phone. I could deal with the phone.
On Monday I went into Verizon and they actually a month ago just started covering water damage as part of the warranty coverage. So they replaced my phone for no charge!
Things were looking up.
And then the 13th came back to visit me today.
Due to the power outage we were told we could go back to Lagoon for free any day before the 30th of June. So today was the only day we could go. Justin, Brooke, our friend Mackenzie and I all went. Right when we got there I had to use the bathroom and I walked in and found $60.00 sitting on the floor and someone's sunglasses. I marched straight to the lost and found and turned both things in. And who was there but "colten" the same guy from Sat. He told me it was impressive that I turned the money and I reminded him who I was from Sat and the lost camera. He remembered me then and agreed that I had to turn the money in.
Then on with our fun. We were a little bummed because Rattlesnake Rapis and Cliffhanger were both closed for the day and we had planned on doing both those rides to begin with because it was really hot.
So we went on the waterslide ride instead - the one where you ride a raft down a tube down at the north end of the park. Well, my phone was in my pants pocket and I got soaked - and you guessed it, another water damaged phone. Luckily I took it apart immediately and put it under the hand dryer in the bathroom (Justin's brilliant idea) and after a little bit I got it to power up and it seemed okay. Thank goodness.
Since I was soaking wet I decided to keep my cell phone tucked in my bra. BIG MISTAKE!
The next thing we did was go on WICKED and as we're going upside down I hear my phone drop on the ground. I didn't even feel it falling out. I couldn't believe it. I just got that phone yesterday. We had to wait until the park closed so the employees could go look for it. They thought they found it in pieces but it was another guys phone that looked almost exactly like mine. They never did find anything of my phone except for the battery. What a BIG BUMMER!! I don't think I'm going to be so lucky at the Verizon store tomorrow.

Justin's Eagle Project

BEFORE

AFTER

Justin admiring his hard work

I actually started this post and even posted it without finishing and even got some very nice comments about it before I deleted to start over again (I was having computer issues).

Paul and I were grateful for the opportunity Justin was given to do this tent pad for his Eagle project. It was assignment from the stake for this tent pad to be put in at our stake property before girls' camps begin in the middle of June. The scoutmaster felt like it would be a good Eagle project and Justin decided he could do it. He had 2 1/2 weeks from the time he found out about it until it had to be done. That was the beauty of the project - it didn't drag on forever.

Justin got the project approved, did the planning, obtained the materials and arranged for a crew to be up there working on it. He had some of his scout troop and several leaders up there overnight to do the project. There were a total of abotu 100 hours spent on the project. Everyone worked very hard, including myself, on the project. It was cold and muddy up there and it even snowed on us during the night and in the morning. Luckily the weather cooperated the rest of the day Saturday so we could get the project done. What a great feeling to finish it. Now Justin just has to finish 4 Merit badges - they are all in process and he just needs to do the paperwork.

9 Miles

Friday was our running group's long run of 9 miles!
I took a turn determining the route ahead of time. I clocked it out in the van acouple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful route,mostly downhill on quiet tree lined streets.
We started out at 5:08 am - it was just starting to get light. The first two miles were mostly uphill but then it was downhill from there. There were 5 of us and we stayed together most of the time with Desiree being the pace setter. She's made to run marathons. I loved running with my Garmin and checking our pace occasionally. We were running under our average pace most of the time. We finished up our run by going through Murray Park and ended at Mimi's for breakfast. That was a fun treat. We ran the 9 miles in 1:47:52 with an average pace of 11:56, that was 27 seconds faster than our previous best average pace (does that make sense).
We enjoyed our breakfast and chatting together while we were all on our runner's high. I faired much better than on the 8 miler - both during the run and after. I wasn't too sore and that was very encouraging. It was a great way to start the day and it was a super busy one (more about that in the next post).

2nd blog

As if I don't have enough to do already and keep up with, I've started a 2nd blog.
It's really a running/training log to track my progress with this marathon "craziness." If you're really bored you can check it out under Blogs I Read to the right of this post.

Fast Sunday

It's fast Sunday today and that term is an oxymoron as the day is anything but fast.
So, to pass the time before dinner I decided I'd do this tag from Paige.

Favorite person (outside family)? That is impossible to pick. I guess I would have to say my friends are my favorite people to spend time with.

Favorite food? Mexican

Quirks about you? I'm sure I have some but I don't really know what they are. I'm sure there are people out there that could enlighten me but I'm not sure I want to know :)

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less? "she's a party girl"

Any regrets in life? The following is Paige's answer and it is also mine: "There were a few times in my youth that I did things that really hurt other people’s feelings. I wish I hadn’t done those things, and I still remember and feel bad for them."

Favorite Charity/ Cause? Race for the Cure and Make a Wish Foundation.

Favorite Blog recently? I enjoy Marnie's blog.

Something you can’t get enough of? sleep

Worst job you’ve ever had? Working in the ice cream parlor and Orange Julius at The Galleria.

What job would you pay NOT to have? Researchers who work with mice.

If you could be a fly on the wall, where? My husband's job and my kids' classrooms.

Favorite Bible verse right now? John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

Guilty Pleasure? Milky Way Midnight

Got any confessions? I'm lazy and not very organized.

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it? Monthly massage and pedicure.

Favorite thing about your house? Location - by the schools, the rec center and my parents.

Least favorite thing about your house? Too many to list - but we're slowly working on them. Number 1 is probably the living room carpet.

One thing you are bad at? Cleaning.

One thing you’re good at? Having fun.

If you could change something about your circumstances, what? That I could magically de-clutter my house and then it would stay that way.

Who would you like to meet someday? Oprah

What makes you feel sexy? When my "skinny" clothes fit.

Who is your real life hero? I have many but I'll just list one here - my mom. She's a great example to me and her grandchildren. She is selfless, doesn't gossip, treats everyone fairly and is always there for any of us - friends and family alike.

What is the hardest part of your job? When kids throw up

When are you most relaxed? At night after the kids have gone to bed and I can have a little me time.

What stresses you out? Confrontations, being overscheduled.

What can you not live without? The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why do you blog? It's my journal these days.

Now, the hardest part - tagging others! Anyone who reads this that feels like filling in the answers.

The Nerds and The Chosen One, Part 2

Here is the rest of the video from Justin's assembly today.

I had to use my regular still digital camera because our camcorder is in the shop. So I had to stop recording so i could zoom in to get a better shot. And sorry for some of the shaky footage.
I'm so glad I was there to see this group perform. Hopefully Justin won't mind that I've put this on my blog AND on YouTube!
I was proud of him and Paul and I are both wondering who's son he is.

Justin Amazes Me

Justin is always surprising us with things he gets involved in.

This clip on YouTube is from Justin's 9th grade assembly today.
They call themselves "The Nerds and The Chosen One" (the drummer, Ty, is the chosen one because he's not in the nerdy "honors" classes with the rest of the guys. He's in our ward and we've known him since he was 8 - he's a natural with music and is self-taught).
Justin was pretty quiet about the whole thing and it was like pulling teeth talking to him about the assembly this morning. I finally called the school to find out what time it started. I knew I couldn't miss this.

8 Miler

I just got back from my first real big long run -- 8 miles!! It was me and two of my running friends. Our mother hen didn't go with us this time because she is doing a 50K (32 miles) run tomorrow!! (she's a bit on the crazy side)
We started at Smiths on Bengal Blvd and ran out Wasatch Boulevard to 12300 South and 1300 East (in Draper where Albertson's is). It was such a beautiful run and we all had a great time running together. We never even turned on our music - we had a good pace and enough energy that we just talked the whole time. It's so empowering to do something you never thought you could do. And it was so fun to see our mother hen waiting for us at the end (she dropped up off at the beginning and then walked for 5 miles). It took us 1 hour and 44 minutes. I never thought I would say this but it was a blast!!

Volleyball Slideshow

ER

I watched ER from almost the very beginning. I missed the first season when it originally aired but I own it now on DVD. I couldn't ever miss an episode and it was "me" time when I watched it - as in "don't bother me, I'm watching ER"
I haven't been following it at all this year and missed most of last year. It's just not as good as it used to be. I'd always thought I'd watch it to the end and I kind of miss it but not really.
Today I was searching YouTube for the Bon Jovi song (You Want to) Make a Memory and I found this video montage that someone put together of the years of ER to the song. I really liked it and I share it with you now.

Brooke's volleyball Team

Check out this link for some fun pictures we took of Brooke's volleyball team at their last tournament.
They were hanging out waiting around FOREVER for their next match to start. They had fun playing outside and having popsicles. It was fun watching the girls have such a good time.

Running

I've been on a marathon training program for several weeks. I've read several marathon books. The first book I read was actually the best and I'm surprised it's not more well known. ( I really think there was something inspired in that this book was the first one I picked up at the library).
It's whole title is "The Complete 26-week Training Program - Marathon and Half Marathon, The Beginner's Guide" by - Marnie Caron & The Sports Medicine Council of British Columbia.
I've haven't posted about this before because I was waiting to find out if our running group would get into the St George Marathon. Our little group came about by chance almost but it's been a great group. We call ourselves The Running Chics and our mother hen is Leslie Peterson. She is in my ward, cuts my hair and is an ultra runner. She's running the St George again this year - for the 12th time. It's been great to do long runs as a group. It's so much easier when you're all fighting your way up a long hill together.
So, we entered the St George Marathon on the very first day you could enter (April 1) and then had to wait over 6 weeks to find out if we would get in. That marathon is so popular that they have a lottery system to get in.
We all started this training program. It's a very detailed run/walk program that so far has been AWESOME! It takes every day of every week and tells you exactly what to do. That may not work for some people but it's perfect for me. We just finished week 6 with a 6 mile long run on Friday. I felt great during the run/walk (3 min run/1 min walk) and at the end I felt like I could've gone longer. I was pretty excited to go that far. I've never run farther than 3 1/2 miles in my life.
A week ago we got the sad news that we didn't get into the St George Marathon. We were all really bummed! But we're still training. I've personally decided to do the Logan Marathon (TopofUtah) in September.


Yesterday, 3 of us from our running group did the 5K Running With Angels at Thanksgiving Point Gardens. Races are always very motivating to me and get you all pumped up. The course was beautiful although more hilly than we expected. Our group stayed together for the most part and finished within 30 seconds of each other. My official chip time was 36:42:2. I felt great about that and it was fun to look at the race results and see that in my age group I was 21st. Racing is one thing where age gives me a little advantage :)

This is me and my friend, Paige. She was also at the race. She's the one that gave me the idea to do that race. She did a great job on the race and is an amazing woman. For her description of the race go here.

I can't believe I'm actually training for a marathon but I've thought about it for years and have talked with Leslie about it many times. It's one of those "bucket list" things for me. The main thing is the marathon training is a goal to just get in shape and be able to run 3 miles easily several times a week. I'm actually looking forward to our upcoming 8 and 9 miles runs.
For me, it's now or never.

Happy Birthday to Jared and Kamryn

It's pretty sad when it takes almost a week to post about my children's 3rd birthday. (I started this post on Wednesday but it's taken until Sunday to get to it to finish).

Kamryn and Jared have been pretty excited about their birthdays for weeks. Every time we went to Sam's Club (which is every week) they looked at the cakes and wanted to get their birthday cake. I told them that their birthdays were coming up pretty quick and soon we would get their cakes.
One sad note is I forgot to take pictures of their cakes, not that they were anything special. We went to Sam's Club Monday morning and I let them pick out their cakes. Luckily there were two perfect ones there - one with light green frosting and all decorted girly with flowers. The Jared picked out was decorated with a party theme with confetti and red frosting.
After we picked up their cakes they spent the afternoon at Grammy and Grandpa's while I shopped for their presents. They really didn't need anything but I got them presents anyway.


Here's Justin being a good sport at their birthday dinner. I decorated the kitchen so it looked like a party for Jared and Kamryn. I'd made them take naps that day and then had to wake them up for dinner. Luckily they were in good moods after being woken up and were very excited about their party.


We had our usual/traditional Monday night dinner - spaghetti with salad and breadsticks. The birthday kids ate dinner (that part is a little unusual depending on what's for dinner.) Then we headed over to the rec center to go swimming. Jared and Kamryn LOVE to go swimming and ask almost every day to go. So that is what we had to do.


Jared is always a little timid at first when we get in the water. This time he went right in and went down the frog slide. Kamryn loves the water so much so that we never got a good picture of her in the pool because she is always moving. She loved going down the big slide with her dad.
They swam for a long time with all of their cousins and grandparents that came to swim too.

Taylor enjoying the little kids pool.

After swimming, everyone came back to our house for cake, popsicles and present opening. All of that was crazy. Having two kids open presents at the same time surrounded by cousins is a little challenging. It took me a couple of days to figure out who gave them what (thank you to all). It took a week to get those bikes put together that they are opening in this picture.
By the end of the present opening it looked like a bomb had gone off in our living room.
In the future we would like to figure out a what to spread out all the fun. Let them alternate who's year it is to have a birthday (I don't think Jared and Kamryn will go for that). Maybe we can take turns celebrating on the actual day and the day after or something.

Mother's Day Follow-up

I had a good mother's day. My kids helped clean up the house on Saturday night and Paul stayed up VERY late painting the bathroom - yellow. Not what he would have picked but it was what Brooke and I picked.
Paul wanted to get me something but I didn't really give him any ideas. He got points just for calling my friend Leslie to get some ideas from her. I told him I didn't really need anything and had just bought new running shoes and a running watch.
We had a great dinner that everyone helped to prepare and then visited Paul's mom and my mom.
One of the best parts of the day was getting chocolate mint sandwiches as a gift after sacrament meeting. And then the bishopric taught all of the YW so the leaders could go to RS. That was a great break.

Happy Mother's Day

These are the mother's day cards I received
from Jared and Kamryn.
They made them in nursery at church.
When we got home Paul had them give the cards to me.

The card above is the one from Kamryn.
Look at those "cute little hands."

The card above is the one from Jared.
Anyone who knows him has heard him say "NOT" a million times.
It really made me laugh when I opened this card.

Bye Bye Binkys

On Monday it was bye-bye to the binkys. Here's the story:

So for the last couple of weeks I've been talking to Jared and Kamryn about not having binkys anymore (they only have them to go to sleep at night). At first we talked about them turning 3 and not having them but I decided they wouldn't like their birthday very much and wouldn't want to turn 3 so I had to figure out something else.
We've told them frequently that binkys are for babies and they are big now. So one time I told them we need to give them to little babies that are crying and need a binky and don't have one. I came up with the idea to take them to a hospital and see the babies in the nursery and give their binkys to a nurse for the babies.
Monday was the day - I'd prepared myself mentally for over a week for this. I think it was going to be harder on me than them.

After lunch we went to the Women's Center at the big IHC Hospital. Jared and Kamryn were happy to be going to see the babies. They each had a little ziploc baggie with their binkys.

This is where my plan got a little fouled up. I checked in with the receptionist and she told me that you can't just go look at babies in the nursery anymore. You have to be visiting someone specific.

Yikes! Now what? I enlisted the receptionist's help (she was a young mom and could tell what I was doing). I told the kids the babies were sleeping and we couldn't go see them but that the nice lady would take the binkys to the babies. Kamryn gaves her little baggy right up but not Jared. He was not about to give his precious binkys away to that lady. I talked to him for several minutes and he wasn't going to give in. I was about to give up and go to another hospital when a young mother walked in the lobby with her very tiny newborn baby sleeping in his carseat. Jared saw the baby and said he'd give his binkys to that baby. I enlisted that mother's help and Jared put his little bag of binkys on top of the baby's blankets and then got Kamryn's binkys and gave them to the baby too. Then the mom walked away on got on the elevator.

Good thing she got away quick. Jared held it together until we walked outside and then started crying for his binkys. He cried the whole way home about wanting his binkys back. It was so sad.

Kamryn was happy as could be and was singing as usual and noticing the pretty flowers.

When we got home Kamryn had a popsicle and Jared continued to be sad and we had to get all of his blankies and pillow and have sad time on my bed. After being home about a half hour all of a sudden Kamryn started crying. I went to check on her and she was in the kitchen. I asked her why she was crying and she said she wanted her binkys back. What a delayed reaction! She's a bit ditzy.

That night was when it was really sad for her. Jared went to bed okay and told his dad that he went to the hospital and gave his binkys to a baby and he was okay with it by then.

Not Kamryn! She wanted her "pink" back! She cried for almost 2 hours. It was way after midnight before she finally went to sleep.

Luckily they both woke up happy the next morning. She's cried about it both nights since then but is okay after a little bit. I wonder how long it's going to take.