Photo Booth

My beautiful cousin got married last weekend at Peirpont Place. They had a photoboth for all the guests. It was a fun idea! We are dorks!

Christmas Eve

Our annual tradition of snow shoeing or sleigh riding was spoiled by mother nature. So we resorted to the movie theatre, to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked." I bet you're all so jealous.

That afternoon Rachel and I made green salsa and cookies. She has a new found love for cooking. On Thursday my dishwasher broke. Happy freakin' Christmas. I have been washing dishes by hand. What a great time to break, when I am doing so much cooking/baking!

Christmas Eve we traveled up to my parents house. Can I say travel now that I live so far away? I think I can.

Cheers to one of my favorite days of the year.

I love that my parents have a fireplace in the dining room.

"Merry (hiccup) Christmas"

Rachel loved the red punch.

Every Christmas Eve the kids all pile into Luke's room to sleep. They went to sleep quite fast. And I think I beat all of them awake the next morning in anticipation.

I did not take one picture on Christmas Day. Just wanted to enjoy watching my children. The one moment I wished I had my camera was as we walked out of church. Our church is right across the street from the temple. In fact we park in the temple parking lot. It gave me a sweet feeling as I looked up on a clear, crisp, sunny day with the temple right in front of me, and the mountains in the background. At that moment I felt my Heavenly Father's love for me and my family. I loved that Christmas fell on a Sunday so that we could worship the one we celebrate on this special day.

excitement

"Merry Christmas Eve!"
Maggie said, as she walked into our room early this morning, wearing a Santa hat.

The kids then jumped onto the computer to track Santa,
on NORAD Santa.

I love hearing all the happiness and giggles coming out of the children today.

Happiness 31

Jesse & Kortney

My brother and sister in law watched our kids last weekend. They made these sweet little crafts with my kids. (You like my paint swatches behind the snowmen?)

*Hey Liz M, the color to the far right edge, is the color of my main room. For the dining room we are picking the one above the second snowman.

My kids had a wonderful time with their aunt and uncle, it was a huge distraction from the fact that our dog died the day before. Turns out I was more grateful that my kids got time with loved ones, than I was for my night away.

I came home to a clean house, happy children, cute crafts adorning my walls, and a peed on Christmas tree! Don't ask.

Christmas music

Lets face it-it has been hard to get in the Christmas spirit this year. To help things seem happier and more "Christmas-y" I turn on Christmas music all the time. This is my absolute favorite this year. No wonder his album is number one on the charts. Did you catch him on SNL this week. This skit was funny!

Christmas music does not get better than this song.



Be proud of me for venturing out of my Country genre for Christmas listening.

We have a sad house

Rachel: Mom, why is Peter crying?

Steve and I look at each other, hear the music from the video playing, and rush to find Peter sobbing while watching the video of Max.

Peter: Why did Max have to die?

Steve: Because he was so sick, and his body really hurt.

Peter: But why couldn't we just take him to the hospital?

Steve: We did take him to the hospital, but he was just too sick.

Peter: I miss Max, I wish he did not have to go live with Heavenly Father.

Salt to the wound. Steve and I feel so guilty that we could not afford to keep Max alive. We could not afford the finacial side or the physical/emotional toll it would take on us as well. How do you explain that to a child?

Steve made this video for Max. (Peter is watching it on Steve's laptop in the above picture) The kids all want to make their own scrapbook, and have a picture for their bedroom.

This is SO hard!

We have decided to put Max to sleep tonight.
It is inevitable, and why drag it out.

All the kids are at school right now and Rachel is sleeping.
I get to be alone with Max one last time.
He obliged, and took some pictures with me.
And purred every time I kissed him after the shot.

We are going to miss him so much,
and Steve and I feel so horribly guilty.

Love you Max!

Hard Decisions

Our time with Max is coming to an end.
Our family is devastated.
Add this to the tab of hard things happening to our family.

Happiness 30

Ski Day with my oldest kids.

The kids did great, and Luke has come leaps and bounds.

They called me a slow poke, but honestly I perfer not

to ski like a bat-out-of-hell, like Maggie does.

"I get 30 miles to the gallon on this hog!"

I think Luke maybe/kinda looks like Loyd Christmas in this shot,

but don't tell him I said so...

After a long day on the slopes,

we hit Kneaders in PC for some cocoa and sweets.

That is where the kids found out about how sick Max is,

and what may happen soon.

We were all sobbing, it was a sad sad sight.

4

Rachel turned 4 on Friday!

Princess and the Frog cake.

She wanted Grandpa to play the guitar when we sang Happy Birthday!

Grandma & Grandpa took her to Build-a-Bear.

She was so happy, and thrilled.

She made a Hello Kitty bear

and never let go all day.

Maggie's friend brought her new puppy over after school.

Rachel was in heaven holding her.

what is the luck?

This summer we went to Newport Beach, California. My brother went the exact week with his in-laws.

We then happened to go to Disneyland the same day. We were going to try and meet up to go on some rides together it just never worked out. We would talk occasionally on the phone about what rides we had been on. But we thought it was odd that we never even ran into each other.

Today, my brother was looking through his photos for a good Christmas card shot. He liked the one I have included, but was annoyed and frustrated that there was someone with a stroller in the background.

He looked closer. Noticed it was a double jogger. Then zoomed even closer when he realized it was Steve and the kids. Look how close we were and we did not even realize it. What is the luck that we ended up in one of their photos.

My brother Jesse, is the one in the stripped sweatshirt and hat.
His cute wife Kortney is next to him.

Look closer and Steve and the children are to the right of his sis-in-law.

simple acts bring a smile

I came home last week to find my husband decorating our front porch. I had shown him a picture from the Ballard Design catalog that I really liked. Steve bought the fresh pine and started work. It was a sweet surprise.

That is how things have been "rolling" as of late. I come up with a vision of how I would like our house to look, and Steve makes the magic happen. Magic on a budget, but magic still.

We are very happy with the progress we are making on the house. Even with the fireplace mishap. I want a white fireplace. My dad spent an entire day painting it with an oil based paint. He told me it was not going on very well. Steve thought maybe a second coat would make it look better. Nope. Worse. Steve bought a stripper and began the grunt work. At one point, he set down his tools, grabbed a coat and keys, and walked out the door. Came back a half hour later and started working again. He had gone to Lowes to price out a new fireplace. Too expensive. So back to work. Classic Steve!

Worried about my friend

Yesterday I got a text, telling me my dear friend, Cory, had suffered a stroke. Cory was my gym instructor up in Sugarhouse, but he became a close friend as well. After class we would always walk home together, his daughter is my favorite babysitter, and he is just a great guy all around.

If he were not gay, Steve would have been worried about how much I talked about Cory. But once Steve met him, he loved him too. A couple weeks ago, I got a text from Cory, telling me he saw Steve on TV, and that he looked hot. That made Steve blush.

When Cory did not show up for class Monday morning, my friend taught for him, not knowing what had happened yet. As I talked to Tricia later that day, she asked me if I remembered him telling us how he thought his cancer was coming back. That is how in tune he was with his body.

On Sunday night his behavior became more and more unusual, as did his movements. His family called for an ambulance and he was taken to the closest hospital.

He is still in ICU. Cory had throat cancer at a young age, and the effects of the chemotherapy have ruined his arteries which caused the stroke.

How sad, a cancer survivor, a physically strong and active man, only 36. I am sad to see this happen to him.

The neat thing is to see how many people love and are worried about their friend. Prayers are being offered by so many.

I stole this picture off of his daughters facebook page.

This was on their trip to San Francisco this summer.

He was always taking his daughter on amazing trips-Paris included!

Cory has inspired so many people,

and I know he will continue to inspire all of us on his road to recovery.

Simple requests

Steve picked up a notepad and found Maggie's Christmas list. I personally had already seen it. Steve mentioned how simple it was, and thought that made it extra precious.

Maggie has never been a worldly child. She is picky when it comes to clothes, but not picky for a particular brand. She is happy with cheaper clothes as long as they are her style. She is just a simple girl who just wants to have fun. I love Maggie for this reason.

Her Christmas list read as follows: Big art pad with pens, colored pencils, sketching pencils, and colored markers.

I never encourage my kids to make a Christmas list, It feels a little greedy to me. But if they do it on their own, I don't discourage them. I think girls naturally like to make lists. I am always doing them myself.

Now if only I can get Luke to down-grade his Christmas wishes. He wants a flat screen tv, or a laptop, or a wii for his room.

Boy, I want all those things too Luke!

Nature

The weather was perfect for a "Black Friday" morning hike. I would rather hike than shop any old day.

AM/PM

I admit it, I am a sucker for a beautiful sky.

I frequently see sights that I want to snap a picture of.

This morning, I saw these low clouds towards the South.

And these low clouds towards the West.

Then tonight as I was taking the trash cans out, I noticed the night sky.

After coming out of a hard week, I have been contemplating about what makes me happy, and how I can do things that help lift my spirits. Being outside is at the top of the list. I am an outdoor person, and can not stand to be inside for too long. I noticed that this has not been happening lately, and I corelate it directly with my mood.

This is week two of three that the kids are off track. Last week I signed them up for a week long camp at the Herriman Rec Center. This place is amazing-I have never seen another Rec Center that even comes close in comparison-maybe the one in Washington, near St. George. The three kids did a "Super Sport" camp--Check in was required in two different spots, yet the whole process took just minutes, and then you were on your merry way.

This week has been a little harder. I am so out of sorts that I even forgot to take Rachel to preschool. I will figure this out soon enough! Until then, I am going through food fast-the kids think the kitchen is an open cafeteria. I am cooking and cleaning up meals, for what seems like a good portion of my day. No wonder I love to eat out.

Yesterday morning, Steve and I headed out to buy some paint. On our way out of Daybreak we spotted this cute snowman. By the time we brought the kids back in the afternoon, it had dwindled in size, and was starting to lean. It was a cute site, on a darling street that I had yet to explore.

Steve has been working on painting our ceilings white, and yesterday we spent the day painting our living room. We picked a light blue-ish/green which seems to have a tint of grey in it as well. It looks so different, and I love it. One room down, many to go. It is a start of a long project, but it makes us feel a little more comfortable since it is our style.

All the kids wanted to help paint. Steve made Peter take off his pants so he would not stain them. Turns out Pete was not wearing underwear either, and painted in the nude. In retrospect Steve should have been less concerned about Peter spilling on his clothes and more concerned with him dribbling EVERYWHERE!

I loved these pictures of my kids, that I snapped this weekend.

First steps

They say the hardest step for a runner is the first one out the door. Oh how I wish that was the case.

Monday morning, I went for a quick run. After 20 minutes of my foot being in a constant cramp and a quite painful state, I sat down and cried on some steps. I need my runs more than ever in this new enviornment and the trials that have come with it. I soon noticed that drivers were noticing my pity party, so I stood up and walked home. Thinking to myself, that my running times were most likely behind me.

I took the rest of the week off. It has been a hard week. I had a dentist appointment with a lot of drilling-and that was not even the hard part of my week.

Fast forward to this morning, with fresh snow on the ground. A smooth blanket of snow usually is motivation enough for me to run. So I tried again. I walked two house down the street and looked to the East. Where I saw the beautiful site of the temple surrounded by snow capped trees. I walked back home to grab my camera. (At this point my foot was already in pain.) I got my pictures, dropped my camera back off at home, and went for a small run. My foot calmed down after 26 min. Not super encouraging, especially when my run was only 33 min. long.

I am now forced to make a decision. Do I keep running? This could not have come at a worse time, as I am struggling to find my place in so many arenas in my life. So besides Power lifting, thanks for the suggestion anyway Jason, what else can give you a runners high? Legally.

Today however, I am super grateful that their is beauty right outside my door: The temple, a lake with trails that I can run around, cute adorable homes, and gorgeous mountain views everywhere I look. While I was in pain during my run, I was uplifted by this beautiful place that I live. I know the Lords hand was very much a part of us finding this house--I will post that story tomorrow.

working out and unrelated pics

A few weekends ago, I met my friend at Milcreek Canyon. The plan was to park a car at the bottom, and the top. We would then run from top to bottom of the canyon. Easy beautiful run. Tricia, my friend, asked me how many miles the run was. "Oh, probably like 6 miles" I told her. She thought that we should add on and hit the trails for part of our run. After we had been running for 2 hours, it was obvious that we had more than doubled our estimated run. Up to this point I had only been running 3.5 mile runs, since I have an injured foot. I however was in better condition than another gal that had tagged along. She could not keep up from the beginning, and at about mile 13, she just stopped, while Tricia and I ran to the car at the bottom of the canyon.

Once we reached the car, (I had driven Steves), I put the key in, and guess what? I had left the lights on the entire time. The battery was dead. We asked everyone we saw to help jump, no one had cables, including us.

We knew we could figure out this situation, but we were worried about our friend that we had ditched a couple miles up the road. She ended up sitting up there for sometime, until we found someone to jump the car.

Lessons learned: Always bring water. Always map out your route first, or make sure to bring your Garmin. Keep jumper cables in the car. And we all decided that it would be safe to hitch hike a ride back up the mountain, when in this situation. We were seriously close to putting that option into play.

On the bright side, my foot has been doing remarkably better since that run. The first mile or mile and half of my runs, I am in a lot of pain, and then it warms up enough that I can run for quite a bit longer. I am excited.

This is how I looked after running an unexpected half marathon,

and how Rachel looks every time she tries to get her way: daily.

My next workout story come this past Monday. The day after Daylight savings. I obviously never set my watch back. I normally wake up at 5:00 am to workout. As I drove to the gym on Monday, I was surprised by the lack of cars on the rode. Not till I got to the gym, did I realize my pho-paw. My class did not start until 6:00 am. So I got 2 hours of working out, that morning.

After this morning I was an "Angry Bird!"

Peter's latest assignment was to disguise a turkey they had

brought home, in order to save him from being eaten on Thanksgiving.

Fun activity, but makes me think we are making future vegetarians.

We disguised Pete's turkey as an Angry Bird.

I wished I lived closer to my dad so he could have helped with this assignment,

but I think we pulled it off.

This is Peter's stuffed animal "Sunshine".

He wasn't feeling well today and Peter fed him Tomato juice.

And in other news, a word about stress.

We have a lot of it, in our house right now.

My pet peeve is that stress makes Steve loose weight,

and me gain weight.

NO FAIR!

Steve is on the last hole of his belt buckle.

And I can't even zip up my pants.

Max loves cuddling with Rachel when she wakes up.

and is super jealous of when it is cuddle time with Dad.