Scrapbooking

Since Kamryn started going to dance lessons every Tuesday I've been hanging out at Susan's for the day. We've been trying to do a little scrapbooking. I usually only finish 2-3 pages but that is better than nothing.
This first 2-page spread is for Justin's book.



Now a 2-page spread for Christmas Eve.
I find the doing pages of Christmas pictures is very difficult.

I love this page.
It turned out how I wanted it to.

Nothing

While updating the last book I read (very good but too much bad language) and the last movie I watched (we've been trying to watch Ghost for months and finally did last night. The kids got a kick out of Whoopi Goldberg and thought the demons were dumb. It also has a lot of bad language - it's rated PG-13. I thought it was PG from the time before there was PG-13) I realized I haven't posted in awhile. And I thought about what there was to post and I've got NOTHING.
Life is pretty normal right now - the schedule is going along like it does during the school year.

Monday is Laundry Day
Tuesday is go to my sister's house and scrapbook and take Kamryn to dance.
Wednesday is preschool. While the twins are at preschool I volunteer in Taylor's class and then do some errands.
Thursday is a free day. We tried story time at the library but didn't really like it so we didn't go back.
Friday is preschool again and another errand day. It's supposed to be grocery shopping but I haven't really gotten into the swing of that.
Saturday is soccer day. We endured two games in the rain yesterday.
Today was great - got to sleep in and enjoy "church" in my jammies.

The Dentist

Jared and Kamryn went to the dentist the other day for their check up.

This was their 3rd visit to the dentist.

The hygientist did a great job with the kids.

They were watching "Finding Nemo". The cleaning was a little more ticklish on Kamryn.

The dentist said both of them did a great job and that their teeth look great. It's so nice to hear that. I guess it pays to start taking them to the dentist when they are 2 so that it's easy when they are three.

Unfortunately going to the dentist myself isn't so easy. I went in for a check up last week and I had 3 new cavities. I went back in yesterday to have them filled. I really HATE going to the dentist. It is quite an ordeal for me and by the time I left after an hour in the chair I had a bad headache and was in a foul mood.

Marathon Pictures

Check this link to see pictures from the marathon by the official professional photographer. He took some pretty cool pictures. It's interesting looking at them - most parts/roads of the race I don't really remember. It's all kind of a blur. I'd really like to go back and drive the route to really see it.

Marathon Report

It's Monday after the marathon and I am alive!!
I am very sore and could barely walk yesterday and this morning. I'm doing better this afternoon after walking 1/2 mile on the treadmill, sitting in the hot tub and then the kiddie pool at the Rec Center.
If you want a report on the actual marathon, go here.
I've been asked some good questions from good friends.
1. Has this been a life changing experience? Yes - in many ways. I proved to myself that I really could finish a marathon. It took disciplined training over 6 months time. That is the important thing - the consistent training is really what I was going for. I've always started exercising but quit after a couple of months. This is the most consistent and dedicated I've ever been in my whole life. Now I just need another goal to keep me going.
2. Would I do it again - the marathon itself and the training program? That was easy to answer - YES!! YES!!!
The marathon itself was very difficult and I can't imagine doing a lot of marathons but I do want to do at least one more (the St George marathon) in the future.
I learned a lot about myself in the process of training for this marathon. I liked the training program and having a specific training program telling me what to do each day was perfect for me.
I also learned that there are certain distances that I enjoy running. I don't really like doing the 5K distance - too short and I just get into the groove and the race is over. I enjoy any distance between 5 - 13 miles, especially our training runs that were between 8-12 miles. I really want to do some 1/2 marathons now - I think that would be the most enjoyable and do-able for me.
PS Some tidbits about the marathon not included in my race report:
**You can see in 2 pictures on the slideshow a guy who is all bandaged up and bloody. He was being worked on at the very first aid station (Mile 1). We don't know for sure what happened but we figure he tripped at the very beginning of the race and probably got stepped on too. He is amazing! I would have been out of the race right then. But he kept going and finished. I wish I could have talked to him.
**The first place finisher is from Kenya. We saw him the night before at the pasta dinner and I said to my fellow chics, "there's the 1st place runner and I bet he's from Kenya and I was right on both counts :)
**Just found out today that one girl who we know (Laura Whiting Kiessner) that was at the pasta dinner with her husband, ran in the marathon and finished just ahead of Desiree. She was at the pasta dinner with her husband, Honko, and he was feeling bad because everyone there was running the marathon so he registered and ran the marathon and finished with her - with no recent training. How does a person do that?

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR SUPPRORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT!!

Marathon Slideshow

A Shameless Plea

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY - Marathon day!! Along with 3 of my running friends (we call ourselves the "running chics"), I am running in the Top of Utah Marathon. It starts in Black Smith Fork Canyon and ends in Logan. We start at 7:00 am but will have been up since 4:00 am so that we can get ready and to the bus pick up by 5:00. Our main goal is to finish but we would love to finish in under 5 hours - 4:59:59 would be awesome.
My plea is this - pray for me. And pray for it to not rain. The forecast is for rain - 30%. That forecast is what has me the most worried.
And if you want to you can check the progess of the race here. I am number 2937.
thanks for your support.

Hair and Makeup

Last night for YW we had a seminar on hair and makeup. Through connections of some of our leaders we had 3 young ladies talk to our girls about their expertise.
The first 2 young ladies talked about hair and how to take care of your hair. They showed the girls some quick tricks to fix your hair that wasn't too hard or took too much time.
The other young lady talked about skin care and makeup. She even made up one of the girls and showed how natural makeup can look when you apply it correctly.
All of our YW seemed to enjoy the activity and they asked LOTS of questions.
To conclude the activity our Mia Maid/Laurel advisor talked to the girls about what is beauty - inside and out. She talked to them about knowing who they are and to not compare themselves to movie stars who have been made up by a team of professionals. She really brought the spirit in to the activity and concluded with a great message. It was a great activity and one that we will do again. We even talked about doing a slumber party where the girls can experiment with what they learned.

What a Coincidence!

After I dropped off Jared and Kamryn and their friends at school today (they were all so excited to go and the drop off went smoothly, yea) I went to help in Taylor's class. His teacher had the best task for me to do - wrap empty cereal boxes in plain brown paper. That is what I love to do when I go in to help - some mindless task in the back of the classroom so I can quietly observe Taylor, his class and the teacher. I was very impressed with all 3.
Another mom came in to help and while we were wrapping these boxes we chatted. I asked her who her child is and she said Taylor (a girl). I found out that she also has 3 year old twins (both girls) and one of the girl's name is Kamryn (spelled the same). How funny is that?

Overheard in the Car

Yesterday, in the afternoon, I was driving home from my sister's house with Jared and Kamryn. They were kind of arguing about something and I said "be nice." The conversation (or fight would be a better word) that ensued:
Jared: I'm mad at you
Kamryn: No, I'm mad at you.
Jared: No, you're not mad at me. I'm mad at you.
Kamryn: No, I'm mad at you.
Jared: NO - I'M MAD AT YOU!!
Kamryn: NO - I'M MAD AT YOU!!

This continued on for several minutes :)

Swimming

Today I took Jared and Kamryn swimming at the indoor "Splash Zone" at the Rec Center. It's a shame to have to swim inside when it's still so nice outside but that was our only option. The splash zone is open from 12 - 2 on Mon and Wed. I'm going to try to go with the once a week - usually on Wed after preschool but this week it had to be Monday. We got there at 12:30 and no one was in the pool. We were the only ones for a whole hour and then only 2 kids joined us for the last 1/2 hour it was open.
It was so great having the whole pool to ourselves. Jared and Kamryn had a great time and I enjoyed watching them. They played together some of the time and then did their own thing too. They even started wrestling in the water which concerned me but they came out of it okay.
Now Kamryn's crashed out on the couch and Jared is going to join her pretty quick.

Happy Birthday Taylor

Taylor on his 11th Birthday

Doesn't he have a great smile ?!

To celebrate his birthday, Taylor chose to have dinner at Golden Corral with his family

and all of his grandparents.

Taylor enjoyed having his birthday on a Saturday. He got up and watched cartoons all morning until his soccer game at noon. His team won 2-1 and he almost scored a goal. He enjoyed his dinner and then had fun opening a couple of presents from his family - new cords for the PlayStation, a soccer ball and a new Lego Star Wars set. He got money from his grandparents that he wants to use to buy another BIG Lego Star Wars set.

Taylor is a great young man and is very grown up. He is very helpful with Jared and Kamryn and is becoming one of my main babysitters. He loves to play soccer and is doing great this fall as one of the youngest players on his team. He works hard at school and rarely has homework because he does all of his work at school. Taylor is a good friend and has lots of good friends. I love him very much and am proud of him.

It's Impossible!

1st day of PRESCHOOL

Kamryn on her first day of preschool

Jared on his first day of preschool

Today Jared and Kamryn went to Brighton High School for their first day of school at Bengal Paw Preschool. They were very excited to go. They got up at 7:15 AM!! To take up time they had a bath - a long bath. Then they picked out what they wanted to wear - Jared fit right in today at Brighton - all the students were in orange for Homecoming. They even had time to watch Curious George. Kamryn kept asking if it was time to get in the car.

Finally it was time to go. We drove over to Brighton and waited for a couple of minutes until it was time to go into their classroom. I think the HS students were as overwhelmed as the preschoolers. J & K have 2 friends from the ward going to preschool with them and that definitely helped. Jared had a hard time joining in the activities at first. While the kids were checking out their new school the parents went in the next room for a little meeting. Jared only came in to find me once. I could tell that they are some of the youngest preschoolers in the class. Hopefully they'll be okay. Class was only 1 hour today - normally it will be 3 hours on Wed and Fridays. Kamryn was ready to go after that hour. I just hope they adjust. It was fun to watch them play on the playground.

All I can say is - FREEDOM (at least a little bit).

Justin

I just wanted to brag about Justin for a minute:
On Saturday was his first soccer game this year. He plays in a co-ed division that is 14-19 year olds. It is really fun to watch Justin play, along with the rest of his team. His personal goal is to try to score two goals. He accomplished that in the game with plenty of time left to play. He had the ball and could have easily scored again but passed it off to one of the girls so she could try to score. We were very proud of him for that. We were talking to him about it and he said that is always one of his goals - to assist the girls to score. I think he might have ulterior (sp?) motives :)
On Sunday Justin spoke in stake conference. He received a call from the stake president while we were in Alaska. He said it's all my fault that the stake president called him because I'm always chatting with the man. (Our current stake president was in the bishopric when I was in the singles ward a LONG time ago. I've known the SP longer than I've known Paul).
Anyway, Justin did a great job with his talk. He didn't seem nervous at all. He didn't just read the whole talk, which he had prepared on his own on FRIDAY night (he was at the Utah game on Sat night) and he was funny and spiritual. To conclude his talk he was sharing his testimony and he mentioned how he loved his family, especially his mom. He then went on to share this story:
"A while ago we were in priesthood and my teacher was talking about missions and he went around the room and asked each person individually if they were going to go. When he got to me he said 'Oh, Justin, I don't even have to ask you. I know your Mom and I know you're going."

How Embarassing

Last Thursday I took Jared and Kamryn to Brooke's church volleyball game. They had a great time playing with the other kids there. At one point Jared told me he had to go potty. So I took him in the bathroom and when I went to help him I realized he didn't have any shorts on - just underwear! I hadn't noticed until then :)

Kamryn's 1st dance class

Arrow of Light

Taylor at his last pack meeting as a cub scout.
He is taking part in the arrow of light ceremony.

Taylor with Alf, his 11 year old scout leader,
after crossing the bridge from cub scouts to boy scouts.

Taylor with his Webelos' leaders - his great-aunt Eileen who is in our stake and Michelle Young who is in our ward. Thank goodness for these great ladies - they helped him all through Webelos. If it weren't for them, Taylor wouldn't have gotten his Arrow of Light. I told them they deserved the mother's pin.

Taylor - proud scout

Happy Anniversary

Dale-Susan Lisa-Paul

We continued celebrating our anniversary by going to Ruth's Chris Steak House on Saturday night (we'd been given a gift card to go there at Christmas time and were finally using it for a fun celebration). Susan and Dale were celebrating their 13th anniversary (Aug 12) and we were celebrating our 17th (Aug 31). Since we were celebrating anniversaries we each got a free dessert with a candle - how cute. We really enjoyed our dinner and being able to visit in a nice peaceful setting with our children needing us (ie bothering us).

17 Years

NOW

THEN

17 years ago in July we got engaged on the U of U golf course. On August 31st we were married in the Salt Lake Temple.
For our anniversary we try to go back to that same course at the U and celebrate our engagement and all those great years of marriage by whacking away at a little white ball.
This year, we went golfing on Friday evening, 2 days before the official anniversary. As luck would have it we had a guy join us for the evening (he was golfing alone and it was crowded so it just made sense logisitically, just not romantically). It did work out because he could be our photographer. And it was okay that he joined us because it was kind of comical night with both Paul and I having pretty bad games that night and our friend was drinking so it got funnier as the night went on. On one hole, Paul and Al hit the same pine tree 3 times in a row while trying to tee off. I was laughing so hard I about had an accident.
All in all it was a fun evening and we are so glad to be together and still have each other :)

He's a Big Boy

Jared on his bed in his BIG BOY Spiderman UNDERWEAR

NO MORE DIAPERS!!!!
We've spent this last couple of weeks working on getting Jared out of diapers and into big boy underwear. He was showing signs of being ready and I knew he could do it - I just had to convince him of that. He's pretty stubborn and unless it's his idea it's not going to happen.
So last week I convinced him to try big boy underwear and that went okay for a day. Then he decided he didn't like the underwear in his drawer and went commando for a couple of days - until we bought Thomas the Train underwear. He had a few accidents but nothing we couldn't cope with. We had a little setback over the weekend because Jared got sick and was back in diapers Sat and Sunday.
This week has been much better and I consider him fully potty trained. He even wears underwear to bed and has never had an accident during the night (I'm very lucky that way). This morning I didn't even talk to him about going potty when he first got up. I let him decide to go when he needed to - and he did. He has a huge bladder and can go 8 hours sometimes without needing to visit the bathroom.
I can't believe that phase is over and it was relatively painless.

Some Perspective

So this morning I was just checking out the announcements page on the running blog I post on and came across this announcement. I checked out the blog listed and spent the next hour reading about a family I don't know and having tears roll down my face as I read. I wondered why do all these tragedies happen and how do people overcome such huge obstacles? I always feel guilty when I read about such hard times that others face and know that I am not facing those tragedies nor do I feel like I could. It just makes me grateful for my family and our health and that we have each other and I will try to make each day count and not take so much as a given.

3 Schools

Today was the first day of school for my 3 oldest kids.
And they are all going to different schools.

Taylor is in 5th grade at Butler Elementary. His teacher is Mrs. French.

Brooke is in 9th grade at Butler Middle School. She had a great first day and has an awesome seminary teacher.

Justin is a sophomore at Brighton High School. I can't possibly be old enough to have a son that is going to high school. And going to MY high school too. Just too weird. He said he had a good day but not too much info out of him.

Traditional 1st day of school picture in front of our house.

16 MILES!

Yesterday my running group did a long run of 16 miles!! That is a long, long run!
We ran out Wasatch Boulevard and through Draper and by South Mtn and near the new temple and down Draper Canal Trail and almost to Ikea!!
The best thing about it was I felt good for almost the whole thing, very little aches and pains, and finished strong and felt like I could go farther. It was very good for me mentally and I actually began to think I might be able to finish this marathon I'm training for and is in less than a month.

Yard Sale

I got this crazy idea on Thursday to do a yard sale this Saturday! Maybe that really is the way to do it - only work on it for 2 days so you don't spend too much time on it.
Taylor has been bugging me for almost a year to help him clean out his room. We finally dug in and did it on Thursday. His room lets great now (picture to be posted later) and we cleaned out about 8 boxes worth of stuff.
I also had the kids clean out their closets and we bagged up about 6 bags of clothes!



so this morning I did the yard sale thing!
I actually had it at my friend's house (she was staying at her mom's this weekend) because she has a much better location for a yard sale. I had to get up early to go set everything out. I advertised the sale from 8:30 - 11:30 and a lady stopped by at 7:15 to see if we were selling yet!
It was an interesting experience to see who came and what they bought. Taylor came and helped me for about 1/2 the time and then loaded up what was left and went to the DI with me. We ended up making about $100 and got rid of a lot of stuff.

Fun Book Club

I just got back from book club and what a fun night!!
We read Brainiac - Ken Jenning's book about his stint on Jeopardy. Amber, who picked the book and hosted tonight had made up her own version of Jeopardy for us to play tonight. We played as teams and I was on the Persian Pickles team. We came from behind, caught up, went ahead with a correct answer on a daily double and then got the final jeopardy question correct (What book did Dr Seuss right on a bet if he could write a book using 50 words?)** and won by $2.00.
Great job Amber!!!
**Answer in the comments

Sleepy Kids

Jared and Kamryn were watching a movie this afternoon and this is how I found them.

They had been pretending it was snowing outside and were wearing their gloves and snow hats.

Kamryn

Jared

Brooke even joined in on the snooze action.

The last of Alaska

On our last afternoon in Sitka, Paul and I did a little shopping and exploring. We ran into this bear and I wasn't too sure about him but Paul hit it off with him fabulously.

ATV Tour

On Saturday we did a really fun group activity with everyone all together since the guys were done fishing. We went on a boat out to another island and then went in these Yamaha Rhino ATVs for a 3 hour tour of part of the island. They are like 4 wheel drive golf carts. Paul had so much fun driving that I let him drive the whole time (thus saving myself from the teasing at dinner that went on between the husbands and wives).

Taking a little break in Iris Meadow. We were hoping to see some bears but they didn't cooperate.

More Alaska Photos

Paul and I by one of the Totems in the Sitka National Park.

Paul's fishing group on their last day. That is a halibut, caught on a salmon rod, that weighed about 160 pounds. The guy who caught it (to the right of the fish) is shorter than and weighs less than the fish he caught.

Paul and I just before dinner at The Channel Club (very nice restaurant) in front of the Sitka Sound on our only sunny day.

Report from Alaska

We have really been enjoying our vacation. it's great because this is something we would never do on our own. One of the subcontractors, J&S Mechanical, that Paul works with is hosting us on this trip. Jack, who is president of operations, invited us a long time ago so it's been fun just anticipating the trip and checking out online what we would be doing.

There are 4 couples and then 4 more guys (without their wives) on this trip. We are staying in Sitka at a nice hotel.

Right after we arrived on Tuesday we went exploring in the afternoon. Sitka is a small town - you can drive from one end to the other and it's only 13 miles. The mountains are so cool - coming up right from the ocean. Most of our group walked over to Sitka National Park to see the salmon swimming upriver. It's such an amazing thing to watch. There were hundreds of fish in the river and pretty big.
The National Park was like a rain forest. It was beautiful and lots of great trails to explore. All I kept thinking was what a great place to run.
For dinner that evening we went out as a group for mexican. It was delicious. We thought that was pretty funny to go all the way to Alaska for mexican food.

Big Fish

One of the Silver Salmon that Paul caught today. He had a great time out fishing today. Much better than yesterday where he was SICK on the boat most of the day. All of the guys put in $25.00 and whoever catches the first fish of the day gets $50 and then the biggest catch of the day gets $50. Paul won for first catch of the day.

Me in Sitka national park. We went there on Tuesday right after getting to Sitka. It was beautiful.

One of the leaves in the park.

There's lots more to tell but it's late. We get to sleep in tomorrow so I'll catch it up in the morning.

bye-bye

Paul and I are headed off on a great trip. JS Mechanical, a subcontractor Paul's work uses a lot is taking us to Alaska for a big adventure trip. We'll be gone for most of the week. Paul will be going deep sea fishing for 3 days and has the possibility of bringing home up to 100 pounds of salmon and halibut. Here's some of the things I'll be doing with the other wives coming on the trip:
Whale Watching Tour
kayaking in the Sitka Sound
On Saturday the whole group is going on a 4x4 adventure tour in ATV Jeeps.
Hopefully I'll be able to post from up there.

Camping Slideshow

Camping update

Hope you enjoy the slideshow of our camping trip to Washington Lake. We had a great time the rest of the week that we were up there. We didn't have any more rain but it was quite windy a lot of the time. We went on hikes, did some bike riding - both around camp and on trails. We spend a lot of time out on the lake on our rubber rafts. Jared and Kamryn were very good about wearing their life vests whenever they were near the water and they loved going in the boat with their dad.
Right when we got there on Thursday Kamryn wanted to go out in the with her dad. She helped him blow it up and get everything ready to go. Jared and Kamryn also loved going in my brother's bike trailer and would beg everyone to take them for a ride.
We ate great meals and just enjoyed hanging out in the beautiful mountains by the lake.