For Documentation....

*Yesterday I was talking to Landon about writing his name. He didn't want to write it, he'd rather have me do it for him. I kept pressing. Finally I just said, "then can you spell it for me?"
He replied, "Yes. I-r-o-n-m-a-n". If he knows how to spell it, how can I argue?

*Presley has started to ask us for things. Yesterday she found a clean sippy cup, and carried it through 3 rooms looking for help. She found Shawn. Then she threw the sippy cup at him and said "Mo" (sounds like muh, meaning more). I think we now need to work on polite ways to ask for things.

*Presley has recently discovered the toilet and that splashing is fun. And throwing things in the toilet is even more fun. I have yet to catch her in the act, but I can always tell when she's been "playing". Yesterday I found some of the garbage from my bathroom can in the toilet, with water sprinkles around the seat. I know when I find itty bitty toilet paper remnants on the carpet somewhere that it is a sign of something not pleasant. The kids have been instructed to keep the bathroom doors shut. But with 3 bathrooms, and 6 people using them, it's easy for her to find an opportunity.

*Jackson does not want to go to school. He'd rather stay home and play wii. Last week he refused to get out of the car Friday morning. So. I took him home. I set him on his bed, removed all things of any interest from his bedroom, banned him from TV, wii, Nintendo ds, and even leaving his room. And since it was Friday he would only leave Sunday for church then return promptly to his room. He knew at this point I meant business. After 30 minutes when he heard me getting ready to take Landon to preschool he came out and asked if I could please return him to school. I told him he was lucky this time, but if there was ever a next time he would not get the chance to return but would have to endure his punishment. This week he has happily gotten out of the vehicle as I approached his school. Hopefully he's learned his lesson. (And I learned that I hate being the bad guy, but if you get me mad enough, watch out. I'll follow through.)

*Presley is starting to try to talk. Bo (sounds like buh) is book, and she often throws them at us to get us to read to her. She loves to hear books. She yells "down" after various other attempts to get us to take her out of her high chair. She hates eating in her high chair. She would rather walk around at eat off everyone else's plates. She's obviously too busy to be strapped down. And I love it. I love her curiosity. Her rapid learning curve. And her chubby little thighs. Unless I'm in a place where she needs to be contained. Then I'd rather just leave her at home.

*Ethan got a tooth pulled yesterday. A molar. After some Tylenol with codeine he felt good enough that we went to Costco, Barnes & Noble, and Chick-fil-a together. Just us two. I enjoy my kids when we are one on one. I feel like I get a better grasp of who they are. I've known for awhile that each of our 3 oldest children would much rather be only children. That was just re-iterated to me again yesterday. I tried to convince Ethan that he wouldn't appreciate alone time with me if he was an only child. I think he's bright enough not to be convinced of that fact.

*I don't really have a story about Kennedy to share. She is a ginormous help around the house. Especially with Presley. In fact, Presley cries when she leaves. She has grown so much (in size) this year that we had to buy her all new clothes. I think she is going to be one tall girl. And a beauty for sure.

Experimentation...

I'm going to run another half marathon this year. There is a whole slew of them for me to choose from. Most of my running girls are doing one in Tennessee at the end of April. I don't think I'll be ready (mentally) for one that soon. So. I'm doing one mid-august in South Dakota with another running friend. Who is waaaaay faster than me. But. It's not about the time. Right? Sure. I've been discouraged lately. About my athletic ability. I feel I'm.......lacking. I run and run and run. And where does it get me? I can run short distances. Only I'm slow. I can run long distances. Only I'm really slow. You'd think after all the time I spend with my ipod and running shoes on my feet that there would be some kind of improvement. Somewhere. It's frustrating. Some people are born to run. They come from a long line of runners. Parents once ran in college. They ran cross-country in high school. Me? I couldn't even run a mile until after I birthed my 3rd child. That's third child. I was the one in Jr. High that wasn't able to run the mile required to do well in P.E. I walked it. But. Slowly over time I've been able to train my body to get where it needs to go without having to walk every 2 minutes to catch my breath. And it feels good. Until I try to compare myself to those girls I run with who have managed to improve. So. I thought, for a brief day or two, that maybe this spring I needed to try another route. Like a sprint triathlon. I found one in early May close to home. In order to do this type of race I need to be swimming, biking, and running. Weekly. Good. My body could use the change up. If my running speed isn't going to improve, I'll work the system by being mediocre in all sporting arenas. Yesterday morning at 5:30 I donned my swimming suit, goggles, and headed to the community center in town. Oh. And I took Ethan with me. He recently quit the swim team (long story that probably has to do with his intuitive ability to recognize where his talents truly lie) so he knows the ropes on training to become a swimmer. At 6 am I swam 50 meters. Then another 50. At this point I was exhausted. I couldn't catch my breath. I tried to swim a 25 but because my lungs weren't able to fully expand, I came up choking half-way through. Lovely. I'm sure the lifeguard was enjoying the show. I managed to do a few more 50's with breaks in between. After about 30 minutes Ethan asked if I wanted him to show me how to do the butterfly. I almost drowned just laughing at the thought of attempting such a stroke. I ended the swim session. While I was showering off the chlorine I came to a conclusion. I'm a land mammal for a reason. I'm a horrible swimmer. Yeah, I'm sure I can work at it and become stronger. And because I want Ethan to keep his options open, I'll probably take him at least one morning a week to swim. But. I'm not ever going to excel in this sport. I might not even make mediocre status. And I'm really okay with that. I won't be competing in that triathlon this spring. Not because I don't think I can do it. But because I don't want to. It's not important enough to me. I'm going to keep running. I felt so good this morning when I donned my running shoes and my ipod and hit the treadmill. And my run was awesome today. When I look back at how far I've come, I actually really have improved. I'm not giving myself enough credit. Moral to this long drawn out story? When you feel like you are not improving, or lacking in a specific area, try something else. You just might fail at it so miserably that it makes you feel like mediocre is okay.

Unsettled....

I woke up today tired. Not a good sign. I laid in bed an extra 30 minutes before heading downstairs to the treadmill. 20 minutes into my running routine I wondered why I'd even gotten out of bed in the first place. My workout wasn't exerting more calories than I knew I would consume today. I could tell by the way I was feeling that I would probably over-eat. I've accomplished nothing really all day. Except laundry. Which I guess is something when you are doing it for 7 people. I made a rule that if it came out of the dryer it needed to be folded immediately. I'm guessing the towels will rot in the washing machine before I get the whites out of the dryer to fold. I loathe whites. Folding all those socks. I just feel......bleh. I'm overwhelmed. And I think that is what makes me tired. And gives me the inability to accomplish anything I set out to accomplish. I don't know why I'm overwhelmed really. We made the decision to close on our house on February 10th so we will be moving in around 3 weeks. Movers are coming in to pack and move us, so I don't need to stress about that. Only. I think I do. I obsess about timing when it comes to transferring electricity. Gas. Phone. Satellite dishes. And it keeps me awake at night. Hence the tired morning. And. I hate change. I don't think I realized how hard change is on me until this morning. C'mon. I'm moving into a brand new house. That I love. And I helped choose. It's beautiful. And going to be so much better for us. But it's still change. Change in carpools. Routes to the grocery store. Timing in getting to and from places that I've already timed to the second. Like church. Or school pick-ups. All of these things take a place in my thought process and just won't let go. They spread like a fungus and overwhelm me to the point of exhaustion. I hate that about myself. Why can't I just be happy and excited and let everything flow naturally? Life would be so much better. And I'd get the sleep I need to function. And my pants would continue to fit.

Nothing Noteworthy....

I don't really have anything to write about. But I'm trying to keep busy so I don't eat. Yep. New Year's goals again. To lose the 6 pounds I gained over my vacation. Only day 3. Boring. Especially because it is so cold outside they've cancelled school the last 2 days. Tomorrow is already cancelled, so I'm just assuming Friday will be too. And when it's cold, I love to bake. It's my comfort on blustery snow filled days. Because I have no restraint when it comes to eating what I bake, I'm trying to avoid the kitchen altogether. Bleh.
Having the kids out of school an extra week hasn't bothered me this time around. Wierd. I think it's because Presley is easily entertained following them around. When they are gone, she follows me. And I don't think I'm that fun to follow. It's actually easier when they are home. Sometimes. Not enough to pull them out of school easy. But nice enough that I'm not dreading the next 2 days. It also helps that Shawn has been getting his post call days off. He was off yesterday, and he'll be off tomorrow too. He's worked it out with his partner so they can do that sometimes. They have to stick around town in case something comes in that they need an extra hand, but usually after lunch time he's free to go as he pleases. Nice. All our hard work is finally paying off. I know I say that a lot. But. When you've been where I've been, it's really hard not to appreciate all the little things. Like actually seeing your husbands face around. Monday Jack came in my bedroom and said "Where's Dad?" When I told him he was at work he just kind of looked at me funny. It used to be Shawn would get a funny look when he was home. Because it was such a rare occurance. It's just nice to be where I'm at.
On a totally different note. We might be moving into our house early February as opposed to May 1st. Shawn is checking out different lenders and trying to get us the best deal. If it all comes together soon, then we'll close early. If the best deal for us isn't available until later, we'll wait. Because moving early was just sprung on us recently, we are good either way. It would be fun to be all unpacked and completely organized while the kids are in school and before summer comes though. We'll probably know by tomorrow.
I'm ending this boring post. Even I'm bored by it. I guess I'll go fold the laundry. Maybe if I pretend there is chocolate hidden at the bottom of the pile I'll get it done faster.....

Goblin Valley...

We left St. George on Wednesday afternoon and were able to meet Shawn's sister Anna at Mcdonalds in Cedar City. We hung out there for a few hours and then began our journey home. If you truly know me, you know that I am a rigorous planner. I love to know every detail of every trip far in advance. But this trip home? Totally winging it. We knew we were headed East. We knew a fun place called Goblin Valley was going to be passed on the 70. Other than that, no idea what our trip would entail. We pulled into a tiny town around 8pm for dinner. We spontaneously decided to stay the night. It was forecasted to be cold the next day. Really cold. And we were 30 minutes east of that fun stomping ground. So we went to sleep. When we woke up the next morning we decided that though it was out of our way, we should trek backwards a little ways and try to play in Goblin Valley. Despite the frigid temperatures. And our lack of gloves, hats, or anything warm besides our winter coats. It was one of the best spur of the moment decisions we've ever made. (And quite possibly the very first spur of the moment decision ever made by us.)

Shawn visited this place with his family once upon a time and has mentioned a few times over the years. It's a state park filled with rocks that have eroded over time leaving what appears to be goblins in a huge dirt canyon. It's actually beautiful. And we had it completely to ourselves that day. Must have been too cold for tourists. Or something like that.

It was only about 20 degrees outside, but the wind made it painfully cold. The kids were so energized, they didn't notice the cold for the first 20 minutes or so.


Except poor Presley, who was freezing from the get go.

After a few minutes we put her in the backpack and stuffed a blanket around her. It helped a little.

While the kids climbed high onto the rocks, Landon found his enjoyment............in the dirt.

And of course. What is a vacation without the family photo.

The crazy one. To entertain the freezing children that weren't too thrilled about the family photo.

Freezing? Yes. Fun? Yes. We will definitely return to this area to explore one day. Spring or fall preferably.

I've made this trip to Idaho/Utah a few times. Just me and the kids. Honestly? I was kind of worried how it would turn out with Shawn joining us this time. I'm so used to calling all the shots and having every detail planned that I was afraid Shawn would somehow thwart my every intention. I couldn't have been more wrong. It is so. much. easier. to have 2 adults managing the troops than just one. Just to be able to pull up to a gas station to use the restroom without having to unload every child and tie every last shoe while trying to keep from losing bladder control was just one perk I found. Out of a whole slew of them. Thanks Shawn. For finally finishing up this whole schooling routine and coming back into the family fold. And for being willing to travel across country with us. And actually enjoying it.

Road Trip Detours Continued.....

After our BYU expedition, we began our journey south. Lucky for us, my brother Ben and his wife Jena happen to live in St. George. And were even willing to let us stay in their home with them. Free lodging. With better perks than the nicest Holiday Inn. Our plan was to visit Zion Canyon all day Tuesday. We actually followed through. Amazing. We slept late (because we weren't all crammed into the same room) and then donned our BYU apparel. No way all our efforts were going to waste. We were going to represent while in the canyon. If it killed us.

I love those 3 pictures. Shows what a morning at my house is truly like. Even if it wasn't my house per say. Notice Ethan's hand in a pushing motion on Landon who can't help but run everywhere and into everybody? Love it. And onto Zion.

It was perfect weather. Mid 60's. Jacket required if not in the sun. Perfect. First a mini-photo shoot for documentation that we were all indeed present, accounted for, and in such a beautiful location.

And of course, my boys find the dirt. Typical. And totally expected.

Presley takes a graham cracker break. That girl needs her food.

We were having so much fun playing around that we ended up staying in our "photo-shoot" area for 2 hours. Grumbling tummies took us away. We ate at the lodge, and then headed out on a hike. We opted for the short 1 mile in, 1 mile out actually hoping all little legs could make it both ways. Lower Emerald Pools was to be our destination.


We stopped along the way to enjoy the view. And of course, Shawn found more family photo-ops that he couldn't pass up.

The kids were awesome. Ethan even mentioned "this is the first time none of us have complained about being too tired! This is the best vacation ever!" Excellent. Landon's little legs did give out 1/2 mile into the hike. We were walking a pretty good clip because I envisioned the sun going down and us being stuck on some hillside. I hiked him the rest of the way in.

We made it. The whole way. Unscathed. And actually happy.

Of course the boys had to pee. Probably because the thought of aiming into a ginormous canyon was enticing. It wasn't until after I led them into the brush that I noticed this sign. Right next to where they emptied their bladders. Perfect.

After spending some time at our destination, we started back. I put Presley on my back and headed out with the 3 older kids, while Shawn took it really slow with Landon. Landon actually walked the entire mile back. All by himself. Or, his self, as he would say.

Pres fell asleep on my back on the way down. Once we got to the car, she needed to get out and run around before she was strapped back in. The rest of the kids were wiped out. But still happy. Which makes this one of my best family vacations too.

Road Trip Detours....

Like I mentioned in my previous post, we headed back west for Kate's wedding day. Which happened to fall 2 days after Thanksgiving. Which meant we were able to spend the holiday with our extended families this year. The Thomas Family graciously ate their meal on Wednesday so we could be a part of the festivities. It's actually the first time in 14 years that we've all been together for Thanksgiving. Pretty cool. We sure have grown in numbers over the years. The kids all ate in the kitchen. The adults ate in the living room. My camera never made it past the kitchen.

On the actual holiday we headed to Salt Lake to eat with the Crook family. Minus Dusty and his brood. My camera didn't make it into the bag that was packed to leave with us to Salt Lake. But we still had a great time. Then back to Idaho for the wedding. Sounds easy, right? The drive to Salt Lake is 4 hours. The kids were troopers for all the miles we put in.

Sunday we decided to head south to St. George. But. Our kids had never been to Temple Square. We decided to stay the night in Salt Lake and see the lights. Uncle Charlie happened to be there with his friend Armine---so we spent a little time with them too. We hung around inside out of the cold to see the Christus, and see a short film on Christ's birth.

Then headed out to see the lights. For whatever reason, as soon as we were outside my kids were done. Done done. Like, I wanted to leave them never to return to them kind of done. It was irritating. And cold. The live Nativity was beautiful. And the kids watched it for .0000009 seconds before deciding Charlie's camera was more exciting.

Then Landon wanted to use my camera to take pictures of his uncle. The fun never ends.

I really wanted a family picture by the Temple. I got one. In fact I told the kids that if they'd sit still for these two pictures we'd go back to our hotel the second they were done. If they didn't cooperate, we'd stay for another hour. They cooperated. So we left. I still think it was worth the trip.

I find it ironic that the two whose coats glow like angel halos were the least angelic during this evening adventure.....

Monday morning we left our hotel room and headed to BYU. Shawn was determined to outfit the entire family with apparel supporting his--I mean our--team. We headed to the bookstore. Jack and Landon crawled under all the dressing room stalls, Presley took everything off the shelves that were in her reach (after we lost her once), Ethan whined that he was hungry, and Kennedy wanted to buy every article of clothing in her size. After 1 hour I decided I was needing a break and lunch was in order. The Cougareat was where we headed. We tag-teamed. I stood in line at Subway with the 4 older kids while Shawn found a table big enough to seat us all. Then he sat with the eating kids while I stood in line at Teryaki Stix for us. Perfect. While standing in line all alone I had time to take notice of the students around me. The just married couples carrying their own brown bag lunches too poor to buy food. The newly dating couples laughing continuously at one anothers comments. The newly engaged couples engaged in conversation and oblivious to those surrounding them. Wow. We sure have come a long way. We at one time were a part of each of those scenarios. I took special notice of my own scenario as I made my way to the table Shawn chose. 5 little bodies devouring sandwiches. Landon eating his under the table with his shoes off. Presley squealing because she wasn't within reach of her sippy cup. Shawn breaking off bits of sandwich to place in front of her. I couldn't help but smile. I also wanted to turn around and sit alone to eat in peace, but I decided I'd better join them. Then back to the bookstore. After 1 more hour of climbing, pulling, whining, begging, and running, we did it. We all came away with something BYU that met Shawn's approval. And I came away with a serious headache and a promise to never return until my own kids are enrolled to attend. I also came away with memories of our first years of marriage. All the newness that comes with it. Those were good times back then. But I feel like now is filled with even better times. Amazing. And a fabulous blessing.