It's been so long since my last post (over a year), that I almost feel like it's been too long and I should just let it go. But my youngest sister and my dad keep asking when I'll update, so I guess it's about time to start blogging again. Since a picture tells a thousand words, get ready for a photo-fest.
Remember that marathon I was training for? Well, I ran the Pocatello Marathon in 4:52:17. I wasn't super happy with my time. I think I took it too easy in the beginning. Michael tells me that the time doesn't matter -- I ran 26.2 miles, for cryin' out loud. It was a fun marathon. I wished I had my camera with me because the first part was so beautiful. (Not that I could really run with my camera, though.)
The people were very friendly. I will always remember the runner in her late 60s who was in the middle of running 50 marathons. She ran a marathon practically every weekend! I think I'll be happy to run two. There was also the father/daughter duo who leapfrogged me most of the course. They'd pass me, stop to take their picture at mile posts and road kill... I'd pass them, then they'd catch up and stop for another photo-op. They were entertaining to watch. (In case you're wondering, the 60-ish dad wore a fanny pack for the camera. I refuse to wear a fanny pack.)
Right after the marathon, we drove two hours to my aunt's house for a visit. My legs were so sore all weekend. We went for a nature walk the next day.
I love visiting with my aunt and uncle. I'm glad my children have a chance to get to know them. They are so warm and caring. They also love to laugh. I wish we lived closer to them. My uncle kept warning us about the thistles on the side of the path. Somehow Megan wound up getting a few caught in her hair. We finally managed to get them out.
Toward the end of September, my friend and I drove out to Prosser for the Hot Air Balloon Festival so we could practice photography.
I brought my family back up that evening for the Night Show. The kids look forward to going again, but they want to go early in the morning so they can see the hot air balloons fill up and take off.
After school started, I went with McKenzie's class on a field trip to the Whitman Mission. I remember my mom going with us to the Capitol Theater in Olympia, WA for the Junior Theater or something. (I forget what it is called.) I remember thinking it was so neat that my mom could go with me, and I wanted to do something like that for my daughter.
It was really interesting to see the exhibits and learn about the Whitman Mission and massacre. We got to hear the perspective of both sides. It's sad no matter how you see it.
As Halloween approached, we took our children to a friend's corn maze.
The kids were spooked by the eerie music but enjoyed the witch. Each of them took the apple she offered them with no question! Obviously they haven't learned any lessons from Snow White.
Halloween finally arrived and brought a black cat, Mario and Luigi, and a ballerina princess.
Since Halloween was on Sunday, we stayed home and let the kids pass out candy. The boys loved loved it. They were our little candy hustlers. They would call from the doorway, “Candy! Come get your candy!”
They didn’t realize that the more they gave
away, the less they would have to eat. I
supposed they just got caught up in the joy of giving something away.
My brother came up for a snowy Thanksgiving. He didn’t bring any snow clothes, but he was game enough to help the kids build their snowmen anyway. We had a fun visit with him.
We had a great time in the snow. Michael pulled the boys around on the sled for a while until he finally got a turn while I practiced taking pictures.
Mason celebrated his birthday in style with a Snowman party.
The best part was the indoor
snowball fight. We taped a line across
the carpet and played boys versus girls, throwing ping-pong balls at each
other. It was so fun. We kept finding ping-pong balls for weeks
afterward.
In December, McKenzie and Thomas had their winter piano recital.
Thomas played "Cuckoo."
McKenzie played “Goodbye to Winter.”
They did a fantastic job. We’re so proud of them and all their hard work!
We went overboard with toys for our children at Christmas. Santa didn't help. He brought the boys a giant Kung Zhu set that took up almost the whole room. (He must have taken advantage of the huge discounts on Black Friday.) Megan got a little Zhu Zhu set that you can kind of see in the foreground of the picture. The Kung Zhu set turned out to be a bust. What fun is a toy that you don't have to do anything with? You shake the toy hamsters, put them down, and off they go, making annoying sounds the whole time. That's it. Megan had more fun with hers because she plays pretend, but even her Zhu Zhu pets didn't get much playtime.
We have determined not to buy them any toys
in 2011. Santa is welcome to give them
one toy if he thinks they’ve earned it.
We’ll get them something they want, something they need, something to
wear, and something to read.
My youngest sister came home from her mission in February 2011. I drove over to my dad’s house with my children for her Homecoming.
It
was great to see her and visit with everyone.
Some of my dad’s siblings even came over for a bit, so I got to see
them, too!
While the kids and I were gone, Michael was supposed to be on a snowboarding trip. He kept texting me updates of what a great time he was having, how the snow was, and that his legs were so sore. But when I got home, he surprised me with a laundry room make-over!
Megan's birthday arrived in short order. She caught a really bad bug before her birthday, so we had to postpone her friend birthday party a couple of times. Fortunately, she felt well enough to celebrate with her family on her actual birthday.
I can't find any pictures of her friend birthday party or the tower cake I made for Megan. I'm going to have to hunt on some external hard drives to find them. :-/ Hopefully I can recover them!
My sister, Becky, came for a visit in April before she took off for Africa. I told her the other day that I didn't think she got sick from us... I take it back. None of my kids were diagnosed with strep, but it was going around. My kids were definitely sick for a few days before she came. Now that I'm reviewing the pictures, I can say it's quite possible she picked up germs from us, passed them on to our nephews, and then dropped them off again on her way out of town. (After she left the second time, I came down with a miserable case of strep.) This photo was taken in between illnesses.
Thomas has had a fake tooth since he was almost two, thanks to a botched creative climbing attempt on his part. While he and Mason were "fake fighting" [I know -- "boys," right?] on the trampoline, Mason accidentally hit Thomas in the face with his foot, knocking Thomas' fake tooth out for the umpteenth time, chipping the tooth that the fake tooth was bonded to, and scarring his own foot in the process.
They survived, though. I look forward to the day when all of Thomas' teeth are in and he has completed orthodontia. (I'm betting he'll need it.) Hopefully he holds on to all of his adult teeth!
A month later, we celebrated Thomas' birthday by taking some of his friends mini-golfing. It was an experience never to be repeated. Mini-golfing is great for a get-to-know you date in high school or college, but not so much for children's birthday parties. The boys took off, without any regard to who's turn it was, or which hole they were at, or in the end, which course they were even on. They went back to holes they liked and putted them over and over. It was nuts. You can see what I mean in the picture.
Thomas wanted a pirate themed birthday party, so that's what he got. Aaaargh Matey!
McKenzie came home from school one day begging us to sign her up for Girls on the Run. It's a program that "educates and prepares preteen girls for a lifetime of self respect and healthy living" (from Google search). I wasn't too excited about signing up for such a long commitment, or paying money for my daughter to run when she could run with me for free! However, she's never really been interested in any sports, so we hoped that perhaps this would be her thing. I have to admit, I was a excited at the prospect of having her as an occasional running buddy! The reality was that she loved the program, loved the girls and the lessons, but hated running. At the end of the program, all the girls run a 5k with a "running buddy." McKenzie's Aunt Jenn was her running buddy. Poor Jenn. She had to coax McKenzie through all three miles. At one point, she even carried McKenzie piggy-back style until I caught up with them (I ran back after finishing with my running buddy) and made McKenzie walk. Thanks, Jenn, for suffering through with her!
Thomas and McKenzie performed at their Spring recital. They practice their songs to death. By the time recital arrives, we can't wait to move on. All that practice pays off, though. We were sad to find out afterward that their piano teacher was retiring. She was such a phenomenal teacher! It is hard to find someone of her caliber. We miss her!
McKenzie played "Allegro."
Thomas played "Go Tell Aunt Rhody."
This summer was super busy. I keep thinking that with the kids getting older and more self-sufficient, I'll have more time to finally scrapbook all my pictures. I don't know how busy moms do it. I still haven't figured it out. Instead, I signed my boys up for soccer.
They have so much energy, I need to channel it somewhere. Chores aren't enough to keep them busy. They loved soccer. It's their new sport. They have a ton to learn, but they really enjoyed their first season. We joked that if our boys scored a goal, we'd pay them $1 per goal. Thomas scored two goals. Way to go, Sport!
Mason, unfortunately, broke his ankle while jumping off a 3' retaining wall in our backyard into a kiddie-pool. He was in his cast for four long weeks.
It didn't really slow him down much. He still ran around, played on his friend's scooter, and even jumped on the trampoline (much to my chagrin). I was so relieved when the doctor said that his bone had healed up very well. Mason said he hated his cast because he couldn't ride his bike, swim, or climb with it.
In spite of his feelings, he did a great job at maintaining a good attitude all month about the whole thing.
We finally did find a sport that McKenzie enjoys. In August, I signed her up for two weeks of tennis lessons through Parks and Rec. She loved it.
She picked out a pink Prince racquet from Sports Authority. They didn't have the right size of racquet cover, so they gave her a black and white Wilson cover. We went back a few times to see if they ever got a 25" cover in stock, but they never did. I suggested that McKenzie write to Prince about the situation and see if she could get a 25" cover to go with her racquet. She wrote the letter, but I didn't mail it for a few months. In her letter, she wrote something about how it is "not right" that a Prince racquet should have a Wilson cover on it. A couple of weeks after I mailed it, a large package arrived addressed to her. When she opened it, there was not one, but two racquet covers inside, and one of them was on a new tennis racquet! We were blown away. What fantastic customer service! There was a letter enclosed in which the Prince employee agreed with her that a Wilson cover shouldn't be on a Prince racquet. They've won themselves a fan (and customer) for years to come. Nice job, Prince!
A few weeks later, we were treated to a visit by cousins on their way to Utah. It's always so fun for the kids to see their relatives.
Megan kept asking for her dad to take off the training wheels from her bike. She has been ready for a long time to have them removed. She has always negotiated turns and the dips at sidewalk driveways very well.
It took a few tries and some hard-nosed encouragement from Michael, but she caught on quickly. She loves to ride her bike.
No summer is complete without a camping trip or two (or three). This picture was taken at our last camping trip, the annual Elder's Quorum sponsored Ward Campout. I had gone looking for my children to round them up for the picture. In the process of climbing a red dirt hill, I got dirt all over my face (from wiping the hair off my face). I didn't realize it until my friend asked me how I managed to stay so clean. I had no idea what she was talking about -- she was just as clean as I was! Only, I was covered with dirt. My kids were too, so at least we match.
For Halloween this year, the boys came up with the idea to dress up as Shaggy and Scooby. They love those cartoons.
McKenzie wanted to be a vampire and Megan was set on being Barbie.
Their 2 year old cousin, Ammon, went trick-or-treating with them, but he was too fast to catch in a group photo. He was a dinosaur.
And that brings us full circle. That's my mega-post. I'll try to stay a little more current and not let another year go by before I post again. I hope you enjoyed it!
