Kudos II

So I did a "Kudos" post a while back and decided to make it a weekly thing. It might not happen exactly weekly but you get the idea.

These are the new running shoes I got for Christmas. They're pretty comfortable besides needing an arch supporting insole but that's not my point.
Point is, running is going well. These shoes carried me for five wonderful miles today. It felt great. I wasn't tired, my legs felt good, my lungs were fine and, despite these shoes needing extra arch support, my feet and toes felt good too.
The mileage is really starting to increase on our training schedule so I'm hoping, praying for more days like today.

Kudos to me for running and not giving up and quitting. It feels good!

Happy Valentine's Day to all

Our kids love, love, love any and all holidays! It doesn't take much to please them and its awesome to see them get so excited.

Ella and Grace loved their flowers. Grace reminded me about seven times today that the flowers still have the nectar in them.

Steve and Vickie were sweet enough to babysit of us that evening so we could get together with Randy and Angie. We decided not the fight the crowds and stay in. The guys made us a delicious steak dinner then we relaxed and watched a movie in front of a fire. It was awesome. Thank you, Randy and Angie, for inviting and hosting us. Thank you Steve and Vickie for babysitting and putting the kids to bed. We came home to a quiet house full of sleep children. Happy Valentine's Day to us!

This is Why We Went Digital

The other night Adam made Orange Julius for our FHE treat. It was a hit with the kids and I love me some Orange Julius. Joseph had a killer OJ mustache going on that I really wanted a picture of. Adam and I took 84,000 pictures to finally get this one.

Want to see some of the 84,000?

I'm pretty sure I heard a yes so here we go.
Is the flash blinding you?

And I wonder sometimes how my child gets so dang sticky? Hum, I wonder.

Close but the extra drool fixin' to drip from the chin is just too much.

Is he putting a hex on us for harassing him with the camera again?

This is the standard 'smile for the camera' smile these days. Cute but just a little creepy. We'll be doing candid shot until he passes this phase.

Anyway, the Orange Julius was fabulous and easy spleasy. I'll be posting the recipe we used and more pics on happyme tomorrow. Don't miss it.

More Firsts for Our Kids

We were all excited about getting to go to the Draper Temple open house. The girls thought they were so big to get to go INSIDE the temple. Adam and I were excited for them to have this experience at such a young age. Joe was . . . less than thrilled.

The tour "begins" at one of the nearby meetinghouses. We watched a short video on temples featuring . . . the Draper Temple. Did you know that it will be the 129th operational temple and the 12th temple in Utah? Betcha didn't know. Aren't you glad you read this blog?

Then we waited just a few minutes in the gym for the bus to take us up the hill to the temple grounds.
My girls said the bus rides were the second best thing about getting to visit the temple.

Joseph, once again, less than thrilled.

And here, according to my girls, the best part of getting to visit the temple: getting a cookie at the reception afterwards.

Our girls seemed particularly impressed with the baptismal font on the back of the twelve oxen (they thought it was a hot tub) and all the stairs we got to climb. So in order of impressiveness

cookies

bus rides

oxen carrying hot tub

stairs

I love going to the temple. It was especially cool to be able to have my children with me and to watch their expressions and hear their honest comments.

I particularly loved the artwork in the temple. Lately, I've found myself paying particular attention to what hangs in the temples. The Draper Temple has several Minerva Teichert paintings that I love, love, LOVE! It was like a scavenger hunt for me, looking for the next Minerva Teichert around the corner.

I also loved that the shape of the pansy (you know, the little flower) was used quite a bit, especially on the ceiling of the celestial room.

If you are or will be anywhere near Salt Lake between now and March 14, take the time to go visit the temple. Until March 14th, ANYONE can go, member of the church or not. It is requested that you get a reservation but they certainly won't turn you away without one. They didn't even ask us for our tickets just welcomed us in.

If you have questions, go. The church representatives, missionaries and not, do not approach people in the temple or the reception afterwards. They wait to be spoken to.

Visit http://www.mormon.org/ to learn more.

Another Big First

Ella had a big FIRST yesterday. She lost her first tooth. That thing had been loose for nearly a month but yesterday she finally played with it enough that she knocked it out with her tongue. Yes, Ella is six and a half years old and just now loosing her first tooth but what I can I say, she's mine. I only pray she won't be the orthodontic nightmare I was. Oh I pray!

( I took eleventy thousand pictures of Ella yesterday trying to get a good one of her missing tooth hole but Ella doesn't show her bottom teeth in her regular smile. So I got eleventy thousand weird face pictures with excellent views of her nasal passages. )
This is a Hutchinson Tooth Fairy pillow. Adam had one as a kid that his mom made for him. Ella was so excited when Grandma made one for her too. The tooth pillow is hanging on her bedpost right now just waiting for the tooth fairy. Hopefully the tooth fairy won't be so tired and forgetful tonight and he/she was last night.

A First for Joe and Blessing #6

Joseph hasn't, yet, been much of a prayer. It could be because his sisters are more than happy to pray whenever asked and are sure to remind us when the other prayed last.
Joe has been saying, "I pay." for months and months now but when it comes to actually saying the words, no.

Last night Adam asked Joseph if he wanted to say prayer. Joe said yes, no shocker. Adam started,"Dear Heavenly Father" and Joseph actually repeated the words. Well, most of them.

Funny thing is, as soon as Joseph said,"Men" Ella and Grace jumped up and showered him with hugs, kisses and "good jobs." Joseph was excited about praying but the girls were crazy excited.

It was one of those warm and fuzzy parent moments for us.
I love those!

My Mama is Blessing #5

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

My mom had a birthday this week. I don't know if my mom would mind me sharing her age or not so I'll be safe and opt for not.

I have a very loving mom. She worries endlessly about her family, her home and her future.

My mom is very into her genealogy, scrap booking, sewing for her home and family and her work at the temple. My dad swears that mom is going to go blind in front of the computer or hunched over her sewing machine.

Every mom/mammaw shows their love in different ways. My mom likes to use her talents to spoil her children/grandchildren.

Each grandchild gets one of these for Christmas the year they're two. My kids LOVE their "big dolls". They're customized Raggedy Ann/Andy dolls, made to match the grandchild. At our house, each doll is given the child's middle name. Ella has Christine, Grace has Anne (Annie, lately) and Joseph has Adam (though, Joe doesn't talk to or about his yet).
My mom is also famous of these hooded towels. She doesn't just sew two pieces of towel together. These, too, are customized with lace, ribbon and their names. My kids are very particular that they use their towel and only their towel and they can tell you in a heartbeat where the towels came from. Mammaw!
Yes, this is a picture of my mom sitting on the floor of the church kitchen in her wedding clothes making sure my sister's wedding cake (which mom made) is as perfect as can be. This is how mom shows her love and support. Our mom is awesome!This picture was taken in 1987. I was eight or nine and mom was, are you ready, 34. (Sorry, I just gave away your age.) Can you believe that? 34? My mom has always looked young. (And yes, that is a stuffed chef angel "flying" in our kitchen. Mom went through a killer country phase in the 80s/90s.)
And one short year later, mom entered into her famous, or was it infamous, 80's permed hair phase.
See that statue in the upper left of the picture? No matter where I see one it reminds me of mom. It has always been in our house. When I was young I thought it was my mom. I can not count the number of times I barged into my parents' room interrupting my mom prayers. Even now I know that my family and I are in her prayers every single day. I've never doubted that.

Though I'm a grown woman my mom is still a great comfort to me. I love it when we get to visit though we make due with lots of phone calls.
My kids love their daily reminders of their mammaw. Their towels and dolls, their mammaw made Christmas stockings, Ella's snow globes and Grace's flowers.

I love you mom and Happy Birthday!