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!

Hobbler Half

Kylie and I decided to run a half marathon this summer and July 10th was the big day. The goal was never speed, but um...well...we finished and let's just leave it at that. :-) Of course as soon as the course hit the road where my mom could track us, she did just that! She drove down the road screaming for us, and then went up the road a few blocks and did it again! I don't know where I found this crazy lady, but I sure love her and it also explains a little of where I got my own craziness! When we got to the end...finally...Chad, Eric, Hallie, John, Sharla, and of course Tiger were all there to congratulate us and drag our nearly lifeless bodies to the morgue. Thanks everyone for your support!

Introducing Rebecca & Matt Dalsing...

It's hard to believe, but I have known Rebecca for almost 13 years! We met in 7th grade and although in our first class together she thought I was crazy and even admitted to thinking that she really hoped the teacher didn't put me next to her, well...he did...and well, I guess that crazy teacher knew something after all! :-) We've been through so much together and she is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. Beckeroonie I love you and I'm so happy you found Matt, and Matt, thank you for taking such good care of my girl! Congratulations!!

As Promised...

So here are the pictures that I promised, so what if it's been almost 7 months since I said I would post them shortly. :-/ Anyway, here they are...we love you John and Cassandra!

Yes that's right December 29th, it was snowing and she had short sleeves! I love you ya crazy girl!

Ringing in the New Year 2010

I can't believe we have made it through another year. This year has flown by, but honestly I'm grateful to see it go. Looking back, although it has been an exceptionally difficult year for us, I am incredibly grateful for our wonderful friends have family who have been there for us through it all. We have been so very blessed! To those all of you angels out there...THANK YOU!! We couldn't have done it without you! We look forward to a new year and all that will come with it. To everyone out there...we wish you a Happy New Year!!

Announcing Cassandra & John Bagley

Although she is my niece Cassandra and I have always been more than that. Today she was sealed for time and all eternity to John Bagley. I still can't believe she's married, but we are so incredibly happy for her! John is awesome and they are so perfect for each other. Everything was beautiful and we were happy to be a part of their special day! We love you guys and wish you the very best in your journey together!

**Pictures will come shortly**