Look Who's...

...CRAWLING!!! No more army crawl for this little chickadee, she's up on all fours. I love how her little bum sticks up in the air as she moves along. We had my brother Jake over for dinner last night and as soon as he picked her up, she laid her head down on his shoulder for like the next 20 minutes. She's becoming quite the snuggle bug- just like her big brother.

Oliver having a little fun at Amelia's expense- the story of his life nowadays...

Christian showed Oliver that he could "make" a truck out of dominoes and wooden blocks. He spends a huge portion of his days now crafting these trucks.

Yes, he crafted this entirely on his own.

Please ignore the mess.

Utah, Half Marathon, and some Motivation

So, we went to Utah a couple weeks ago. We love being in Utah with Christian's family. Oliver got to attend his cousin Benny's birthday, we spent some time in Provo with my fun sister, Julie, and I got to have a few Demarle parties with my sisters-in-law.

Oliver ready for some cake at Benny's bash.

Oliver's attempt at the pinata.

I only got a couple pictures in Utah- I'm so bad about remembering to take them! We had to come home to Albuquerque a little earlier than we would have liked because I was running in the Albuquerque half marathon on Saturday. There were like 10 people from our ward running it, so it was really fun to be there with everyone. The temperature couldn't have been better, but it had rained really hard the night before and since the first 2-3 miles were through a dirt field, it made for a VERY muddy day. My shoes still haven't recovered. I got third in my age group and got as an award a... medal same as the finisher's medal!! Yeah!! I'm going to refrain from posting a picture of me post-race because I always regret my sweaty, puffy-faced portrait.

The kiddos waiting for Momma at the finish.

On a side note, I am training for the Utah Valley Marathon on June 12th right now and let's just say I'm a little burned out. I've been training for marathons for a year now and I need some new motivation! Any ideas? Anyone want to run with Utah Valley with me? :) Also, I get almost unbearably nervous at races. We're talking throwing up nervous and it literally makes me sick to my stomach- any ideas on this one??? I'm desperate for some advice!

Easter 2010

I loved that General Conference fell on Easter Sunday this year. It was so neat to really reflect on the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior in addition to listening to so many amazing talks. I loved conference this year- it was definitely one of the best years I can remember. There were so many talks that I felt directly applied to my life. Maybe that's because there were a lot of talks about parenting and raising children and I feel that I have a lot of room for improvement in that area. Seriously, though, I loved it and have made some goals to be more patient, humble, and selfless, especially with my family. I'm so grateful for the gospel and the direction it gives me in my life. So, without further delay, here's a recap of our weekend:
We had yummy buttermilk pancakes for breakfast and then Oliver and Christian looked for their hidden Easter baskets. It actually took Christian longer than it took Oliver to find his basket. What can I say? I learned my hiding skills from the best: my dad. He used to hide our baskets each Easter and it would literally take us hours sometimes to find them. Someone would inevitably be in tears each year because they couldn't find theirs and my Dad was somewhat merciless- he wouldn't give in easily and tell us where ours was hidden and sometimes he couldn't remember (there was 11 of us after all).
Anyway, in between sessions we had an egg hunt in the back yard. Amelia was all over that and figured out how to open the eggs and the candy inside them before Oliver even figured out that there was something inside the eggs. That girl means business when it comes to chocolate.

Exploring the loot.

Oliver found the golden egg!

On a side note, Amelia is officially army crawling. She is in to EVERYTHING.

After the final session, we went over to the Alders for an Easter dinner. It was such a nice, beautiful day. Here's to warm weather!!!