First Round of the Season

A few weeks ago, I got off work and couldn't believe what a beautiful day it was so the second I got home we just back in the car and headed out to golf. The weather wasn't quite as friendly these past two weeks but we were able to get out Monday as well, though I had to call it quits after 9 because I just couldn't warm up. It may be a stupid and frustrating game (Chad said it first...I just completely agree) that I'll never be good at, but it sure is beautiful and I love just being out there! I'm looking forward to a fun golf season, maybe I'll even learn to not slice the ball every time. We'll see...I wouldn't want to exceeds Chad's ability level TOO quickly. Happy golfing!

Hallie's Night With Us Nuts!

Hallie spent the night with us yesterday and boy did we have fun. Since the school year has started we really don't see her very often and with it being Spring Break we decided we needed a good dose of little Miss Hallie Mae (aka Monkey).

I forgot about my camera the first day but we got to do lots of coloring and painting.

We even made a book of the different colors she knew.

We made yummy cupcakes as a surprise for Chad...he LOVED them!

...so did the cute little helper monkey!

We played at the park the previous day, but when we went to play in the backyard we didn't have much luck. I know this broken little slide looks sad, but Hallie assured me that "It's ok, Chad can fix it!"

Three hours into her nap and still going strong. I guess I wore her out or something!

We had a lot of fun with our favorite little Monkey Pants! She kept us laughing the entire time and even still we are repeating her comments and laughing about them. We sure love this little one. I wish we had more time to spend time with our favorite kids!

It's Official...Almost

On Friday, April 22nd, 2011 I will officially graduate from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education. It is a little weird to think that although I have already spent a year with my very own class and having been doing what I love, that I still need to graduate. It is also a little strange having to go through the interview process again for another job, but I'm looking forward to the different opportunities available. Chad and I are so excited to see where the future will take us.

FIVE YEARS!!

No, five years is not how long since my last post, at least not quite. Chad & I were married March 3, 2006. I can't believe it's been 5 years since this wonderful day! I have been so very lucky to have an incredible husband who loves me and supports me in everything I do. I look forward to another great year and the many many yet to come.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

So it's been a long time, but as I have been relaxing, catching up, watching Christmas movies, and spending time with friends and family, I cannot help but reflect on how very very blessed I am! I have an absolutely incredible husband who is more supportive, kind, and loving than I could have ever dreamed possible. I am blessed with 27 amazing kids who can make me laugh so hard my sides hurt, keep me crazy busy, teach and shock me, and that manage to touch my heart every single day. I have a job and coworkers that I love! I have wonderful family and friends that are always there for me and love me no matter what. I have a nice home to keep me safe and warm, and I have been blessed with the gospel of Jesus Christ that gives me hope and brings peace to our chaotic lives. Of course there are a million other things, and I don't deserve any of them but how grateful I am! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we can always remember how very blessed we are!

Introducing...Hughbert Nuttall!

Meet Hughbert! He is a Mississippi Map Turtle and about three months old! He joined our family July 13th and it took me all of three minutes to fall in love with him! I got this cute little guy so he could be my classroom pet, but now I'm not sure what I will have to do when I have to leave him at school all by himself at night. :-( I don't wanna talk about it!

The black ridges or knobs on his spine and the circular rings on his shell are a couple of the distingishing features of a map turtle.

He's got beautiful lines!

Hughbe is just a little guy, but he is definitely growing. (Even if Chad and Eric don't agree, Kylie and I are sure of it!) Because he's male (I'm like 75% sure ha ha...we won't know for sure until he's older) he'll only grow to be about 4 1/2".

He had a little bit of a struggle with the photo shoot he just wanted to be swimming and you can see he's trying to push his way out of my hand here...he's a strong little guy too, it almost worked!

I'm still getting to know him, but so far this is what I've learned:

He LOVES to swim.
He loves to dig in my rocks and pull up all my plants.
He loves to hide in the plants.
He loves floating with just his head above water.
He loves walking across his log on his back legs, and it's hilarious.
He loves to eat, and again it is very fun to watch.
He has a HUGE mouth that you only see all of when he yawns (it entirely freaked me out when I saw it)!
He does yoga when he climbs out of the water to bask.
He loves it when I sing to him!
He's a little scared of Chad. Probably because he doesn't sit on the floor and just hang out with him like I do...or sing to him, it really bonded us...or because he calls him crack head :-).

He's got a lot of spunk and personality and we love this little guy, even Chad will admit it! Welcome to the family Hughbie!

Marathon Pictures

This is at mile 16 where we met up with her for the first time, jumped out cheer, gave her first aid (just on her toes calm down we didn't stop her heart or anything), and sent her on her way.

We kept just driving up the road and waited until she showed up, so we hit her at every mile. Here she is at 18 still trucking along. P.S. The cops for this race did NOT mess around! They wouldn't budge for anything...lame!

Mile 22 - this was when she tried to tell the race guys in the truck that she wasn't ok...we told them to keep driving. :-/ She was only half serious anyway!

This AWESOMENESS was why we missed her crossing the finish line...yeah the one we thought they took down but is clearly still up?...yeah that one! Although Marcy brings up an excellent point due to the ridiculous traffic and the necessity of getting a frosty we would have missed it anyway, and this was we could recreate the finish in a more...awesome way!

Does this face not just explain it all?!

26.2 miles

Way to go Tiger we're proud of you!

Deseret News Marathon

About four years ago my mom decided she wanted to run a marathon, which of course, this determined little lady did. In this time she has run 9 halves and 8 full marathons and won several awards! Today she evened things up by running the Deseret News Marathon. Now although the course has changed and apparently isn't quite as ridiculous as it used to be, it is still supposed to be a super rough course (not to mention it's always on Pioneer Day weekend and about a million degrees outside).

Marcy and I showed up at mile 16 to surprise her and cheer her along in this huge feat. It was definitely a surprise to her, and it was a lot of fun to see her and this time to be the crazy person on the side cheering. When we were looking for a place to park at the finish line it looked like they were actually taking it down so I had the brilliant idea of creating one so while Marcy searched for parking I searched for toilet paper. It turns out Liberty Park is HUGE and it took me forever to get to the line (with my TP) and both Marcy and I entirely missed her finishing! It seems my idea was actually a terrible idea...but nonetheless we recreated the event. I'll post pictures as soon as I can get some from Marcy (hint hint). Anyway, thank you mom for always having huge dreams, chasing after them, and showing us all that anything is possible! Way to go Tiger, you're amazing and we love you!