The Weekend--this is a long one...

The girls and I made a quick weekend trip to Utah.  My sister and I had signed up for our second annual half marathon (we're making it a tradition :) ).

We figured it would be easiest to meet each other in Utah for this half marathon after researching races in our own states.  There are a LOT of choices in Utah for half marathons, and they're mostly held on Saturday instead of Sunday.  They happen every weekend AND there are choices of races in canyons where it's nice and cool, but most importantly, there's a lot of downhill sections of the race.

First, the half marathon story and pictures.  And since I want to remember how it went, I'm going to copy my sister and tell the whole story about how I felt during the race. I only wish I was as witty as her so this would be entertaining for you.  But I'm not :)

We had to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to catch a bus to the start line.  I guess that's the price you have to pay for running down a canyon--there's nowhere to park at the start and they have to bus people up there.  And wow, there were a LOT of buses.

Living in a small town, I underestimate the amount of people who show up for these races.  It's fine, except for the traffic at 4 a.m. to park and get on a bus. And maybe you're a little late to begin with. We sat in the car a good 20 minutes trying to get to the parking lot.  Finally I pulled over and parked in front of someone's house and we walked the rest of the way to meet Jordyn (a friend from my ward who was running this race with us) We all boarded the bus and listened to the other people around us talk.  I scoffed at the man talking about his toe causing him problems, until Jordyn told us later (she was sitting by him) he had just run a 50 mile race the week before and lost his toenail. Yikes! WHO DOES THAT!? I wouldn't be WALKING a week later.  Actually, I probably wouldn't have lived through it.  So no more scoffing at hurting toes.  Good work old man.  (And he was old--by 50 mile race standards anyway--probably like 55 or 60).  Much tougher than I could ever hope to be.

We got to the start line and waited for 6 a.m. to come around.  Amanda was grumpy, which was really funny to me because 1) she's funny all the time and 2) she's always (or was always) perky in the mornings.  So I had some good laughs at all the funny, grumpy things she was saying.

It was FREEZING cold.  They had a van to take down items of clothing so you could pick them up at the finish line.  I didn't want to part with my sweats because it was so cold. So I waited until the last second to shed them and dump them in the van.

Finally the start time rolled around and we were off.  Just a note, I'm a big jerk and I don't ever want to run with anyone. I probably mentioned this last year on my blog when I ran the first half marathon.  Amanda likes to run with people and talk to make the run go faster and I think this is crazy.  I just can't talk while running and I want to go as fast as I can at my own pace and not pace myself with anyone else--faster or slower. I don't even want to follow a pacer. Sorry Manda!!  I've heard you shouldn't run so fast that you're too breathless on long runs.  If I wasn't breathing hard, I'd be walking.  So...I'll just listen to my music and breathe hard for 13.1 miles.

As we took off, I was impressed with how downhill this race really was!  It was FUN to run (the first 7 miles) because I wasn't out of breath or too tired.  And I was pleasantly surprised when the lady on my app broke in to tell me how fast the first mile was.  It was fast.  Probably too fast, but I didn't feel like I was going that fast and I felt like I had plenty in me to keep going at that pace.  But then after mile 7 we started coming out of the canyon and my beautiful downhill run was over.  We started running on a cart path at a golf course.  I didn't like this part as much because it was hilly--up and down--with the downhill being too steep to be comfortable to run.  And who am I kidding, so were the uphill parts.  I was starting to get tired around mile 9 and could tell I better scale the pace back a bit to have the next 4(.1) miles in me.

That's when I saw our family.  YAY!! They were situated in just the right spot in the race to cheer us on.  I stood up a little straighter and pretended I wasn't tired.  Picked up the pace a bit and looked like I was enjoying myself :)  Sam and Brett (my brothers-in-law) came and brought Hailey and Ashley.  Bless their hearts for waking up that early and driving through the traffic to find a spot to cheer for us for the 2 seconds it took to run by.  But seriously, it really meant a lot and made all the difference in my mood and energy.  I was getting bored of staring at the backs of the people in front of me and watching their funny ways of running.  One day I want to videotape the back of me to see if I run as funny as some people do.

Anyway, I don't remember which mile it was--probably 10ish?--that there was a big steep UPhill.  I didn't think this was a very funny joke.  I still "ran" up it, but it was STEEP.  I was excited to get to the top of it and figured I could handle the last 3 miles.  The last 3 miles were OK, but a little slower than my beginning pace.  And I thought SEVERAL times that I don't know how anyone could run a full marathon.  Because that would have meant I wasn't even halfway. Maybe one day.

I didn't sprint to the finish like I did last year.  I did quicken the pace and beat my last year's time by a lot.  I got 1:40.  That's a 7:40/mile pace.  7 minutes faster than last year's finishing time :)  I was happy with that and can't complain.  Just remember that downhill start helped a lot.

When I stopped running, I didn't feel like I was going to puke like I felt last year.  But I did feel a little drunk--or at least I imagine that's what someone feels like when they can't walk straight, seeing as how I've never drank in my life.  It was a little funny trying to walk around and stay upright.  My legs were so wobbly!  Finally I found some shade and laid down.  I should've probably kept moving but by this time I was REALLY hot. Such a difference from the start!

There was free Kneaders french toast at the finish line for racers.  I think this is funny because the LAST thing you feel like doing after running is eating.  I had a banana and walked around a bit.  Met Manda and Jordyn at their finish.  Sam, Brett, Hailey and Ashley had also come to the finish line :)  They went home and took ALL the kids out for breakfast.  We said good-bye to Jordyn and then Amanda and I hung around awhile.  We waited until we kind of felt like eating and by that time they were putting away the grills and all the food.  Boo. No free french toast for us.  I didn't care at the time because food sounded gross, but now I do because I haven't ever had Kneaders french toast. And french toast is right up there with my favorite foods :)

Sam (an amazingly talented graphic artist) and Brett had spent time making this poster to cheer us on.  I was REALLY impressed!  Zombie Kim is a little scary.  I hope there's never a zombie apocalypse :) 

For any of you who have seen Zombieland (the edited version, naturally): don't you think we could've added Rule #1: Cardio

Haha, funny movie.  You should see it if you haven't.

And yes, Amanda and I wear matching outfits because it's AWESOME, and it's a now a(n awesome) tradition.

Hailey and Ashley made little posters, too.  One says: "Go mom and Ant Amanda" :) and the other says: "Run Amanda Run"  I'm glad they woke up to hold posters for us.  I think ours were the best :)  Although it was entertaining to read other's posters and helps pass the time.  One poster said something like: "You think your legs are tired, my arms are dead from holding this poster"  I'm sure it was worded much better, but you get the gist.

Amanda, Jordyn, and me. 

Ugh, she's so beautiful.  And way cuter in her outfit than me!

Now, for the rest of the weekend.  Sunday was Ashley's birthday, so we took a trip to Build-A-Bear on Saturday.  It was a surprise for her, but she was SOOO excited.  She's been begging and begging to go sometime, but we don't have any branches very close to us.  Amanda and her adorable kids came and we had the whole Build-A-Bear experience.  Ashley was beside herself.

Ashley holding her bear.

Brandon was so cute with his little puppy (his name is Brown :) )  He did NOT want to let it go!  Even before it was filled and just a limp sack he loved it.  We got it filled and he held it as soon as it was done.  He didn't even want to let it go while she tied up the back of his puppy.  So he held it while she tied it up. He's so cute!

Hailey and Ashley with their Build-A-Bear loot.

Amanda took us out for Coldstone after.  Ahhhh, Coldstone.  So delicious.  Let's pretend that my cup's not licked clean already and everyone else hasn't even finished yet. OK? I just ran 13.1 miles. I was finally hungry by this time and food sounded REALLY good.

This is my nephew, Jacob.  He's 4 1/2 months old and SOO CUTE.  My goodness he's handsome.  He's such a good little baby and so happy!  He has the cutest smile, and he's not shy about smiling at everyone all the time.  Plus, he's so chubby!  It's too bad he has such modest clothing on, or you would be able to see his arm/leg rolls--the sign of a true chubby baby :)  

We drove home Sunday so we could have a little birthday party for Ashley and celebrate Father's day with everyone.  Trevor and the boys had made a little video of them telling Ashley Happy Birthday.  She LOVED it and wanted to watch it over and over.

 I was kind of sleepy on the way home and Ashley asked if we could stop at a playground we were passing.  It was only about an hour from home, and normally I would've kept going.  But I figured I'd better walk (more like hobble, because I was sore now) around and wake up.  

Hailey found a dead fish to poke at.  Good times.

We got home and had a little birthday/Father's day celebration.  Ashley was so excited :)

 Mostly for her Giant Tummy Stuffer.

I can't believe she's 7!  She's such a good helper and always so happy. We had so much fun on our "girls" weekend.  I'm glad I got to spend a little special time with the girls on our roadtrip.  I'll have to post some pictures of the boys on their father/son campout when I get them from Trevor's phone.  What an amazing and fun weekend!!  This summer has lots of plans in store, so hopefully many more posts to follow!

Just Read It :)

Two posts two days in a row!! I'm trying to catch up on my photo album, and I might as well catch up on blogging while I'm at it.

Coloring Easter eggs!  These were taken so long ago, we lived in the house we were renting. *Note: It's cool to have Christmas plates to decorate Easter eggs on.  FYI.

The Loot.

I hate when blogspot flips my pictures and I'm too computer illiterate to figure out how to flip it back. Why only this picture? Anyway, we had a talent show one night for FHE.  The girls did a dance (it was surprisingly well choreographed) and Jason sang "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam".  Tyler showed us some of the pictures he's been drawing.  He's been drawing a LOT this last year.  I really love the imagination he has with these drawings. Ah to be a kid again.  He has a little "portfolio" now with all his drawings because he had to make one for the Artist badge in scouts.

He's 10 now.  Double digits! I love this kid.  He's such a good little boy and so sweet.  I think we're really alike because we say the same thing at the same time a lot.  We think a lot alike.

I had to add this for Amanda (my sister).  She showed me this picture on pinterest of a shaved bear.  I think it's the ugliest and funniest thing I've EVER seen.  She thinks it's terrifying.  We text it to each other every once in awhile to make each other laugh (or to give her nightmares...I hope not)  :)  

Milestones

I've got a lot of pictures to catch up on. These were in my phone...

Just a few "milestones" to mention:

Tyler becomes a Webelo

Trevor bought me a .17 HMR for Mother's Day.  This man is THE COOLEST husband.  Tyler helped me sight it in. It's a gopher killing machine. :)

We've tried out my new gun a few times.  This time we took Tyler and went with some of our good friends (thanks for letting us borrow these guys Jessie!)

 

Hailey got a tick.  I was doing her hair and found it while I was braiding.  After I pulled it out (she was a brave girl) I put it in a cup to kill it slowly and painfully.  But Ashley wanted to keep it.  Like as a pet.  

Ashley wants to keep EVERYTHING lately. Weird things like old candy wrappers and stuff.  I hope I haven't turned her into a hoarder because of all the stuff I get rid of all the time. Sigh.

Our first zombie party.  It was a surprise party for one of our friends 40th birthday.  The kids were soo excited to dress up.  It was a lot of fun.  I wish I would've had time to dress up myself!

Hailey and Ashley's first 5K.  Jason ran the 1/2 mile kids fun run.  He was so excited when he saw the finish line and bolted--he got his arms pumping really big--it was pretty hilarious.  Trevor ran the 5k  and then went back to run with the girls while they finished the race.  I ran the 10k so I didn't get to run with any of them.  It was a fun day.  Pancake breakfast after the race and everything. :) We missed Tyler, he was at a scout camporee :(

Jason's preschool graduation.  If you see him in this picture, just know he had on pants that fit when I dropped him off...the ONE day I took the change of clothes home (that were left at school all year long) he has an accident.  Awesome.  He looked really cute in someone else's pants that were 6 inches too short :)

Trevor's been doing some golfing now that the weather is nicer.  He takes one of the kids each time he goes. They all love going with him.  Probably because he lets them drive him around in the golf cart.  Good times.

 Jason pet a wild bird.  We've had birds running into our living room window.  We were out on the deck one time and one hit the window and Jason thought it was the funniest thing.  He couldn't stop laughing!  Then he noticed the bird was sitting on the railing and walked up to it.  It didn't move so I told him to touch it.  He poked it and it didn't fly off so he started petting it.  He pet it for at least 3 minutes.  I'm not sure if the bird was just dazed or had a broken wing.  It kind of "flew" to the ground and hopped off, so it was probably hurt.

The first time we played in the river this summer.  More like by the river, the water's still pretty cold.

Trevor caught a bullhead minnow with his hands.  The kids all wanted a turn holding it.

We got a driveway :) It's a good thing, too, because it's been raining a lot and the van gets stuck in the mud.  

PS These two are the best contractors.  Let me know if you need one, I'll give you their info.  They're hard workers and do amazing things.  They really pay attention to detail and are so easy to work with.  Plus they're hilarious, and we all know that's the most important thing when building a house.

Thanks for reading my randomness.  We've had a lot of fun the past couple months and lots of fun things planned ahead!

Some Days in the Life

I've put blogging on the back burner the last few busy months.  I want to remember these last few busy months though, so here are a couple pictures...

Jason's 4th Birthday was in December.  I love this kid, he makes me smile.  I have many other pictures of his little family birthday party, but this one sums it up. He's a character :)

Yep, just getting to blogging about Christmas.  It was a wonderful time at home with our little family and it was amazing.  These kids are the greatest.  Love them.

I also love this man.  His birthday was on a Sunday this year--hence the suit pants and white button up shirt. Ashley dresses herself.  Guess what her favorite color is?  I know, you would think pink.  But it's really blue. I digress. 

This was the day after the kids last basketball game.  We were REALLY busy for a few weeks trying to get all of our regular stuff done, plus Trevor coached Tyler's basketball team, as well as Hailey and Ashley's team this year.  We were constantly at practices or at the Civic Center watching games all day Saturday's.  He's an amazing man.  Sometimes he stretches himself too thin, but I know the kids will look back and remember he gave up a lot of time to be there for them :)  Too bad I didn't document basketball.  We did buy individual/team pictures. They're in the photo album. You'll have to come visit if you want to see them. 

You may remember Trevor had a pinewood derby race for an Elder's Quorum activity last year.  It was a lot of fun, and he had so many requests for another derby this year that he decided to do it again.  Also, he had so much fun building his car last year he wanted to build another.  There were a couple different "classes" of cars this year: regular cub rules, modified cars, and super modified cars.

Here are the results of the cub rules (there were WAY more than nine entries, but that's as many as the screen would display at once).  I whited out the last names to protect the innocent.

I entered the "modified" division.  My car had the balloon attached to it to propel it.  I had a little valve that I zip-tied the balloon to that was attached to the car.  It worked great when I tested it on the floor.  I should have tested it on the track because it kept jumping the track during the races.  Fail.  By the third race I just took off the balloon and added a bunch of weight. Should've done that to begin with.  Oh well.

This is Trevor's car.  A picture doesn't really do it justice.  He had a good time building it.  It was entered in the "super modified division".  Since he was the winner last year, he raced last year's car and this year's car. That's the video I posted. This year's car is the faster car in the video.  Last year's car the (barely) slower one. Hope the video works...

PS  I had to catch them at the bottom to make sure they didn't fly off into the wall.  Good times.  

I went as a chaperon on Tyler's school skiing trip recently.  It was a LOT of fun.  The kids had a lesson at the beginning of the day, then we met for lunch.  For the second half of the day I was in charge of a group of kids.  Here are a few of Tyler's really good friends.  Left to right: Carter, Tyler, Oliver, Danny, and Jack.  What a fun group of boys.  I'm sure glad he has nice friends.

 Here's a lot of what's been taking up our time lately.  I keep telling people I'll post pictures, but I never post anything ever :)  This is the back of the house, same view as what I posted a LONG time ago when it was half framed.  It's been fun, and so busy.  Who knew I would be talking to contractors/subcontractors/construction supply stores so often. And I mean a lot. I think I might miss them all when we're done building. I like it, though.  It's been a lot of fun to watch it go up.  I think the guys building it are doing a great job and they're so easy to work with and really particular about their work. You'll have to come visit if you want to see more of it.  That's how I roll.

Things MIGHT slow down once we move in, but I kind of doubt it.  There's always so many activities we're all involved in.  I hear it only gets worse as the kids get older.  Someone asked me yesterday what I do with all my time now that the kids (except Jason) are in school.  I hate that question.  There's always so much going on and so much to do, but it sounds so pitiful to talk about the housework, dishes, laundry, ironing, errands, etc. that I busy myself with.  Oh well.

2012--A Summary

This year has been really fun and busy.  We’ve had a lot of basketball games, ballet, moving, and all the fun that goes with building a house. We haven’t moved IN to our new house…but when we told our previous landlord that we were starting the building process, she said she would put our rental house up  for sale and see what happened.  It sold the first day.  So we moved into another rental house for a few months while our house is being built.  (Thanks Bruce and Jen!!  We owe you BIG time!)

Aside from moving over the summer, we spent our time going to a few continuing education courses (quite the date night, eh?) and visiting with family.

We've had some visits from family and friends this year. We always have a fun time going to Yellowstone and showing visitors our beautiful area (even if the wildlife was lacking at times…sorry Ridpaths!!).

Trevor is crazy busy, but is still the best husband and father ever. He’s busy with work, church callings and the kids and balances it all so well.  When he saw a lag in the calendar, he filled it with prairie dog hunting, pheasant hunting, and deer hunting…whatever he can find.  I sure love this man and all he does for our family.

Kim stays home with the kids and runs them to and from their activities.  Many of you can relate J I’ve worked a few days each month at the office to fill in.  I love having the few days to be a real adult, but I find it makes me miss my stay at home job.  I love being able to spend time with the kids each day.  I also love playing city league volleyball and going to the YW activities each week.  I’ve found a new love: picking stuff for a house.  I’m sure the time will come when I’ll get sick of it.  It hasn’t happened yet J

Tyler turned 9 this year.  He’s such a good kid and really likes school, basketball, swimming and cub scouts. He continues to be a wonderful big brother and loves to play and wrestle with Jason when he gets home from school.  Friends are getting so important to him lately, and he’s always disappointed if he can’t go play at a friend’s house.  So it begins, I guess. He has some great friends, though, so I don’t worry when he wants to spend so much time with them.  They’re good influences!!

Hailey just turned 8. The last post on this blog talked about her baptism.  She loved every minute of the baptism and program!  She’s such a loving, fun little girl. She and Ashley decided they wanted to sign up for ballet this year.  They’ve been having a GREAT time.  Their teacher is really good at entertaining while teaching.  It’s neat to see them learn so quickly and like it at the same time!!

Ashley is 6 years old.  She’s such a happy kid and sure likes school and playing with her friends.  I love hearing her giggles throughout the house.  She knows how to make anyone happy. She wants a bunny more than anything.  Poor bunny-less Ashley. She also loves going to ballet with Hailey.

Jason is 4 soon.  Weird.  He started preschool this year and goes twice a week.  He asks every morning if it’s a “school day”.  You’d never know how much he loves it by the way he whines after he finds out it is, indeed, a “school day.”  But he does have so many good things to say about school each time I pick him up, in spite of the whining I hear before I drop him off.  He holds his own with the older kids and always wants to join in their playing.  He loves wrestling with Tyler and wants to play basketball like the rest of his sisters and brother.  Alas, he has to be in kindergarten for that.

We are so grateful for our Savior’s birth and atoning sacrifice.  We count our blessings every day and are so thankful for our family and friends and the opportunities we have.  Thank you so much for blessing us with your friendships.  We love and miss you all so much!

Hailey's Baptism

Hailey had her 8th birthday not too long ago.  I sure love this girl. I can't believe she's already 8 and making the decision to be baptized!

We had a family birthday party and went out to eat in the next town.  We also stopped by a place to look at garage doors. :)  I'm sure she was very excited about that, but she did say it was fun so I didn't feel too guilty.

I DID feel bad for her at the restaurant because she wanted them to sing to her, so I asked the waitress and she said she would gather some people. Then at the end of our meal the waitress came over and said she was sorry, but they were too busy and no one could sing to her.  It was so sad.  Mostly to see the disappointment on Hailey's face.  Come on, they can't take 30 seconds?  I told her we'd sing extra loud for her at home and she seemed to be OK with that...or maybe it was the cookie they gave her that made her happy again... We came home and had cake and opened presents.

The next day was Hailey's baptism.  She was SOOO excited and couldn't wait.  I sure love that with her sensitivity comes the sensitivity to the spirit as well.  After her baptism she came out of the font and was crying.  I hugged her for such a long time.  It was really neat to be able to be there right after and to share that with her.

My parents and Trevor's parents were able to be there and give talks.  Um, wish I had taken more pictures than this...

During the program she was so intent on listening to everything.  Her favorite Primary Song is "I Know That My Savior Loves Me." She wants to sing that song for every FHE each week. It's a newer song, but she loves it and tears up every time she hears it.   So I had the senior primary girls sing that after she was baptized.  Thanks girls, you did a great job!!  

I love this little girl.  She's such a big helper whenever I need anything.  I love listening to her giggle with Tyler when they sit and talk with each other.  She always wants to "babysit" if I'm busy doing something and need some quiet while I'm talking to the contractor or looking up some appliance or fireplace or something (my only past time these days)  She loves school (math and PE), and loves to cuddle.  I hope these days last a long time!!  The teenage girl horror stories have me worried.

My Birthday Present

I wouldn't usually post about my own birthday, but this year was especially fun.  Since the kids are getting a little older and more aware of months/days/etc, Tyler has a little count-down on his calendar when one of the family's birthday's are coming.  They've been notifying me each day about how many days are left until my birthday.  They're so sweet :)

Last week, Tyler and Hailey wanted to give me an "early birthday present".  So they wrote me a book.  After seeing how much I liked it, Tyler wrote me a sequel. :)  

(Ashley also wrote me a couple books, but I'll have to include that one in the next post because I just didn't have time today.)

I was telling my sister about the drawings and she really wanted me to post the pictures so she could see them.  So here they are, Amanda! :)

The first book is on the left, and the pictures of that book follow.  Then the sequel comes after. Enjoy!

Notice my "competiters" are very sweaty.

Blow this picture up if you have to, it's worth it.  That buff man is all sweaty only lifting 50, but I'm lifting 100--in front of my workout video.  

I personally think that's a great illustration of our mini van.

Actually, a dental hygienist.  But I do give sweaty, nervous people injections.

Ah, isn't that the sweetest thing?  I'm tucking them into bed, and we love each other. 

Now for book 2.  And now you know how old I am.

This might be my favorite sequel ever. My son has a promising future in writing/illustrating.

Don't know what that's supposed to mean.  I've "been better at driving" ??

His head exploded :)

I love my kids.  Completely.Love.Them. 

I hope I can be the mom they deserve.  They're such great kids.