BRIAN TURNED FIVE!!!!!!

My baby boy turned FIVE on Tuesday, January 24th. It's kind of crazy to think that five years ago I brought this little bundle of joy home. And now in the fall he's going to be off to school full time and I'm going to be alone in the house for 8 hours a day!
TIME FLIES WAY TO FAST!!!

But, oh, what joy Brian brings to our family. He is without a doubt the most extroverted of them all. He seeks attention, loves playing with anyone that will play-doesn't matter if they are 2 or 102, he'll find a way to interact. His facial expressions are hilarious; he speaks a thousand words with one lift of the eye brow. And he remembers EVERYTHING...well, his short term memory is non existant but he can spark a conversation on anything that happened a year ago, two years ago, etc. And don't think we can get anything past this kid. He puts us right back in our place, "but you said....". His is a joy to have around. He truly made our family complete!

We started celebrations on Monday with a little party for him. Nothing fancy, just a good ol' traditional at-home birthday party; cake, ice cream, pinata, bubble cups, and silly string.

Brian wanted a Spiderman themed party. Everything was a go, except the cake. I procrastinated to long and took for granted that Costco would have Spiderman pre-made. But, let me tell you, that cake was GOOD!

 We had goodies for the kids to munch on, as well as pizza and breadstick and soda for lunch.

 Spiderman was a bit of a disappointment. With all his super powers and candy, he was too heavy and pretty much broke off the stick after about 3 hits. So Brent had to hold him while the kids hit. Total de ja vu from Madelyn's last party.

Bubble cups are fun. take a Styrofoam cup, cover it with cheese cloth, poke a hole big enough for the straw to go down the side. Fill most the way with water and then squeeze dish soap on top of the cheese cloth right before use. the kids blow out the straw and make loads and loads of bubbles. So fun!

Silly String was our idea because of spiderman's web. So the kids each had a can of silly string that they had free reign to spray where ever and whoever. It was fun. A little messy(my back yard still has string all over a week later)

I didn't get great shots of the pinata but this was most the kids in line.

 Time for cake and ice cream, and later came the opening of presents. His friends gave him some great gifts. Legos, and "guys" and prirate stuff, and playdough, and even some mu-lah. He didn't suffer, that's for sure.

 And this part is why I love having the parties at home. The kids can just play and play...no worries.

We sure love having Brian in our family! And on Tuesday we celebrated as a family by going to McDonalds(where he originally wanted to go got trumped by the rain, but we still had a good time). Then came home, opened presents, more cake and ice cream, and played and played until bed time.

Happy 5th birthday Brian! We look forward to many many more birthdays with you!!

25K Endurathon 2012

So I checked something off my bucket list this weekend....running in an organized race/marathon.

CHECK!!

Brent and I ran the 25K Endurathon Relay this last weekend in Bulverde, TX(you say it bull-ver-dee). It was great! It was fun! And it's DONE!

My original plan was to run a half marathon in Austin, TX. But the way things turned out with scheduling, and the kids, and everything we turned to this race and I'm glad we did.

My portion was 7.5 miles, a lot of flat land with some rolling hills. I finished in 1:07 which was an average 9:17 min mile. Not fast by any means. But that wasn't really my goal.

Brent's portion was 8 miles, and it was ALL rolling hills. You know the stories our parents and our grandparents told us about having to go to school waist deep in snow UP HILL BOTH WAYS! I kinda believe them now...Brent's portion was literally up hill the entire distance! He finished in 1:10 which was totally awesome.

The teams were in categories such as: men's team, women's team, and mixed team. We came in 6th out of about 13 mixed teams.

 My good Sandi Clark and her running partner, John killed the course. They came in 2nd of the mixed relay teams.

 I'll never lose my "valley girl" pose. Thanks to Debbie. :) You can take the valley girl away from her bestie but you can't take the valley girl pose out of the bestie...okay, that didn't really work but whateva!! You da bomb Debbie!!!

 Waiting for Brent to come in. Seriously sooooo cold and windy. Not to mention I've been battling BAD BAD BAD allergies and a head cold. I may or may not have peed my pants while running because of coughing so much. BUT I FINISHED!!! And that's whats really important, right!!

 Does it really matter how many fingers we're holding up? Ummm, yeah, it actually does! Way to go Sandi and John for placing 2nd. Way to go Brent for being my running partner!! 

Well, it was fun. And I actually think I would do another organized run. A half marathon....I don't know. I didn't get the fire like everyone told me I would. But some good 10k runs would be fun.

Now.....what's next on the bucket list.

NEW BEGINNINGS 2012

I had a great time preparing our Young Women's 2012 New Beginnings program. The new theme for the year is "Arise and Shine Forth", taken from Doctrine and Covenants 115:5.

A few months ago I saw something on Pinterest that inspired me for a gift for the girls. Something they could wear that would be a reminder for them to ARISE and Shine Forth every single day. I purchased two different size washers from Lowes, Metal Stamp Kit from Harbor Freight, necklace chain from Michaels, and the charms from Ebay. And then the work began. They were fun to make and I think the girls, for the most part, liked them.

Of course then I needed a display for all of them so I had this piece of wood lying around the house(well, it was the base for Brian's "guy" castle, but he hasn't figured it out yet), I painted it black, cut out the letters with my Cricket Machine and modge podged the entire board. I'm hoping we can take the nails out that were used to hang the necklaces and use the board for other things throughout the year.

The girls sang a beautiful song for us. I originally was drawn to the song when I heard it sung by the Young Women in my parents home ward in Idaho. The words were beautiful, meaningful, and exactly what I hope my daughters feels as she grows up. Though the song was the Young Women Anthem for 2011, I still felt the message was appropriate for any time....

Guardian of Virtue

We were born to come forth in these days. We were called to follow in His ways. We will choose to answer because we know the truth. We will be examples in our youth...

We are guardians of virtue, we stand for what is right. We are beacons of His love pointing others to His light. Walking in the paths of holiness, we seek the temples peace. And become who He wants us to be.

We find joy in living what we know. Righteous choices help our faith to grow. As daughters of God we'll serve our Heavenly king with confidence in beauty from within.

We are guardians of virtue, we stand for what is right. We are beacons of His love pointing others to His light. Walking in the paths of holiness, we seek the temples peace. And become who He wants us to be.

Through virtue we find the power divine that can change the world!

We are guardians of virtue, we stand for what is right. We are beacons of His love pointing others to His light. Walking in the paths of holiness, we seek the temples peace. And become who He wants us to be.

And become who He wants us to be. 

I have to thank my friend Shanda Evans for volunteering without even being asked to record the accompaniment for the performance. It was amazing and perfect. Thank you.

I took time to explain the purpose of the Young Women Program, the motto, theme, and 2012 theme. I also listed out main topics that we focus on throughout the year to help the girls become their best selves. Our President spoke on Personal Progress, lots of events coming throughout the year, and bore her sweet testimony.

One of my favorite parts of the program was the introduction of the New Beehives for 2012. I sent out a little questionnaire to their parents and asked them to fill in their favorites, talents, and "what I love most about my daughter". To see the smiles on those little 11 year old faces was priceless. And even more sweet that that was the smiles of pride and love coming from their parents as their daughters were recognized.

And of course the night wouldn't have been complete without dessert.

 The picture is the newest MormonAd for the 2012 Mutual Theme. The AD reads, "There is a light in each of us...SHARE IT"

 Thanks to our Wonderful Young Women's President for the fantastic cupcakes. All baked and decorated by Julie Dey. Thank you so much. They were so perfect and YUMMMY!

 Our Soon-to-be 2012 Beehives. I'm excited to teach you, get to know you, and see you grow into the young women that Heavenly Father knows you can be.

This experience was amazing for me. A true testimony builder. A renewed faith in the young women's program and the desire for my daughter to follow the program. I know that it is inspired by our Heavenly Father as another resource to help us return to live with Him again.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

SO......MUCH.....FUN!!!!!!!!
We did things a bit different this year for New Year's Eve. We hung out with friends!! What a novel idea, huh. And we had a blast and a half...TIMES TEN(like my friend Debbie would say...ps totally miss her).

Didn't get a lot of pics but we ate and ate and ate GOOOOOOD FOOD. This was no pretzels and peanuts spread. We're talking fondue, veggie tray, cookies, dips, little weinies, bacon wrapped figs, queso, and the list goes on. YUUUUM!!!

We played some games, we laughed, Just Dance 3 was a top priority as well. But I think the highlight was the kids' dance show they put on. And I mean this thing was choreographed to a T.

We toasted the New Year in our blue cups(NOT RED), with sparkling cider and a lot of smiles. All the kids made it to midnight. It was a blast! What a great group of friends. Thanks Clark family, Clark family(no you're not seeing double), and Roundy family for ringing in the New Year with us!!!