The Jensen's

Another Project!!

2012-01-11T16:33:00.004-07:00

I've been looking for a Hutch/Curio type thing for my kitchen for probably a year. Once again I won't afford what I REALLY want so every once in awhile I check KSL. I found this beauty for $50!!!! My hubby didn't think it would work......... It was missing a corner and was pretty scratched up. Really dusty and old and broken glass, rusted out hardware and some water damage but I liked the basic shape of it and knew it could work with some lovin.

A month later it is finally in my kitchen and the hubby agrees it looks great!! He did all the patching of the corner and scratches, I took the top and sanded and painted it, he took the bottom and sanded and painted it. Then after we got the paint all looking great I took after it with a big sandblock and ruffed it up. Always feels weird to 'mess up' a good paint job :)

I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and found these super cool new nobs, love them! Some are white and some are brown but they work, right. The non matching...matching idea?

We bought new glass, cleaned and spray painted the hinges and voila! It is more sanded and rough looking, it just didn't how in the picture as much.

Thank you hubby for all your hard work. I promise to take a few days before I look on KSL again :) Maybe

The Boys Room :)

2012-01-02T15:49:00.004-07:00

A few months ago we casually brought of the idea of moving Kayden and Trace downstairs. They seemed pretty excited so I jumped on board of getting to do a new room! I looked and looked for bedding and ideas and didn't want to spend much money. In the end it came together pretty well. I got all the furniture off of KSL and re did it, Chris is so super handy man that he did all the shelves and paint and cool stuff like it was no big deal and it turned out great. Here is what the room was before..... Just a sad mess of a storage room where I'd throw things in and then shut the door. When company came I'd go in and organize and get it straightened up but that didn't last too long :)

We cleared everything out, made a trip or two to DI and de cluttered a few things which I always love. Chris and I would put the boys to bed then head downstairs til late, super late. Okay he stayed up really really late and I usually bailed before midnight :( We had it all done in about 2 weeks!

They were super anxious to see what was behind door #1!!

I had this crazy idea to bolt/glue/whatever a huge piece of sheet metal to a wall. It seems like they are always wanting to hang or glue or tape stuff to their walls so I figured I'd just give them a huge magnet board, like the size of an entire wall! I had the idea and Chris made it happen, beautifully. Then I figured what the heck let's add a nice shelf too :) It never ends with me I'm sure he is thinking.

He added closet shelves too which are super handy with all the little Lego and cars and books they have.

Chris found this super cool ceiling fan at Home Depot like 3 days before Christmas and totally splurged to get it. The light is a globe and the boys will lay down and try to find their way around the world :)

We had found some really cool magnet game sets at the Idaho State Fair this fall. My boys loved them and I had to pull them away from the booth. When we got home I hopped on Amazon and found some for cheaper. It's a 28 piece set of different shapes and designs and they can put them every which way to see if they can get the marbles from the top to the bottom. This has provided hours of entertainment so far :)

These were their old beds. Okay my brothers old beds 20 years ago :) A fresh coat of paint and a few more boards to sturdy them up and we have bunk beds now!! They love them and besides the fact that kayden tried to jump off on day 2 and smacked his head into the fan, and cut it, so far so good.

They love their new room, which also came with a new bathroom since they are downstairs and for me it came with them doing more of the cleaning and laundry since they are on their own:) So far they are holding up to their end of the deal so we'll see!

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-02T15:47:00.001-07:00

One of my best memories growing up was running in the street on New Year's banging pots and pans and yelling. So we figured why not!!! It was hilarious and the boys loved it. Have a great new year!!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-02T15:44:00.001-07:00

Christmas 2011 - create free slideshows

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. I think one of the highlights for me was attending church. I'm sure Christmas has fallen on a Sunday before and that I've attended Sacrament meeting but for some reason I don't remember. This year it meant so much to attend church on the Savior's birthday. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate and try to keep Him the center of our day. We are so very blessed with so many things, I am humbled each day by the love our Heavenly Father has for us.

Clark Planetarium

2012-01-02T15:19:00.003-07:00

We made a family goal over the summer to memorize all of the Articles of Faith. We printed them each out really big and put them on the boys wall in their room, then each night before family prayer we'd recite it a few times. And before school started we did it! All 13 and I was so proud of the boys. Even Brooks could get a few words in on each one, more than I thought he would. We decided when we were finished we'd go to the Planetarium downtown. We'd never been so we thought it would be a good incentive to help us :) A few weeks before Christmas I got an email with a Groupon deal that was $49 for a family of 5 for an annual membership. I checked prices and figured it would cost us almost that much to just go once, so we bought the membership and wrapped it up for Christmas. I think we definitely hit it every few months as it was 'totally awesome' as Trace said after our first movie.

We hung out in the cool store for almost an hour just experimenting and playing with all the cool science toys and books.

The kids got to be real astronauts and walk on the moon!

We decided to make an afternoon out of it and we hopped on Trax. The boys (expecially Brooks) were very, very excited to ride a train and pretty curious as to all the 'different' people they saw downtown.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-02T15:08:00.003-07:00

We had a great Christmas break. So sad to see it over in fact. School begins tomorrow and while I think the boys are excited to go back and see their friends and I am sort of looking forward to a routine again, it has been nice to be able to relax and not always be looking at the clock for drop offs, pick ups, lessons etc. This year we got to stay home and relax together. I wish we had a white Christmas but other than that it was wonderful. We made a nice ham dinner on Christmas Eve and tried to make it 'fancy.'

We spent most of the day playing games and just hanging out. The boys were thrilled to pull their dad over on the old broom handle game :)

Brooks had his first 'real' arm wrestle and thinks he is the strongest one in the house now :)

Trace got a new game called Headbandz for his birthday a few weeks ago so we played that for awhile. You have to guess what card is on your head by asking questions to everyone else. It was a lot of fun and easy for the kiddos to pick up on.

Then we got ready to go to bed! The boys wrote this letter which I thought was hilarious. They were even more excited when 'Santa' wrote back and told them Oreo's were acceptable, seriously why wouldn't they be right? The boys thought they needed to be home made and we just didn't get to it that day.

They laid out the Oreo's and carrots and milk and were asleep by 9 :)...............

My new hobby :)

2011-12-18T21:07:00.002-07:00

So I have a little bit of 'extra time' on my hands recently :) so I've taken up finding old crappy treasures and re doing them! The fumes from the spray paint are probably going to my head as I have no idea what I''m really doing but I have been happy with my first few finished projects.

I found this one at DI for $5I didn't get a totally finished pic so the brown seat is now finished. But I love the blue color!

This one I found on KSL for $40. It is super solid wood and in good shape. We had to repair (ok chris did) one little corner but other than that it just needed to be washed and painted.

It came with pink and purple drawers and my boys were freaking out at first :)

We found a super cool paint that should of put a cool rough texture on it but it started to go kind of weird on us so we settled for a somewhat textured look.

I think it looks super cool and the boys will love it in their new room.

This one was actually my first risk. I got it on KSL for $10 and my boys were really not happy at me. No way is that going in my room! Look at all those flowers and gross things! That's what I heard for days.

I had to sand and sand and sand, then Kilz paint it to get it looking smooth but in the end I think it's really cool. This will be a great place for Lego's, and cars, and trucks, and school projects etc.

A few coats of spray paint and some cool Hobby Lobby knobs and we are as good as new!

We are now working on a big nice hutch for the kitchen that will hopefully be done this week :)

Trace is 6!

2011-12-04T10:25:00.005-07:00

Trace will be turning 6 next week so we celebrated with a rockin Angry Birds Party. He loves Angry Birds, loves it and will do almost anything to be able to play a few games on his dads phone. I spent a few weeks on different blogs and pinterest and got some really cute ideas for a great party! Brooks loved the red birds:)

Trace chose a green cupcake full of of golden eggs (Rollo's :)

Everyone became an angry bird and got to jump on a pig to find the golden egg. I think that's how it goes? I've never played the video game but we sure had fun jumping, hugging, stomping, smashing the balloons to get our treats out. It was so fun to watch and hear the squeals.

He got a cool Mater book from Nana and Papa.

He was so excited to see this stack of toys! Let the opening begin as he said :)

We had one of his favorite meals full of Little Cesar's Pizza and bread sticks. We downed 3 pizza's! Maybe I shouldn't brag about that.

This is what Trace calls 'girl trapped.' I think he likes it :)

Kayden was in charge of this game. He stacked up a bunch of green cups and the kids had to throw pretend bombs at them to knock them down. They played over and over again and had a fun time!

They each got to make an angry pig, or a pig. I'm not sure if everyone is angry in this game?

We had these cool balloons up all over. The boys used them for target practice later on with their new Nerf guns :)

We headed to the Dollar Store and Trace picked a bunch of little goodies to give to his friends then I printed off these perfect faces so everyone took their own angry bird home.

These took a lot more time than I was expecting but they turned out well and the kids loved them.

My handsome boy! I can't believe he is 6. He is so strong and independent and passionate about life. He loves school and break dancing class and just seems to grow up faster than I can enjoy. Love you Trace!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-03T18:47:00.007-07:00

This year we headed down to the Land of Enchantment for green chili, pizza, breakfast burritos, no really to be with family and celebrate my little brother's wedding reception the Sat after Thanksgiving. But we did have a lot of green chili:) These are out of order but here we go.

Trace wanted in on the funny picture action and I love it!

We had a lot of wedding cake left over and it was THE BEST chocolate cake I have eve had. We wrapped it up nice and put it in the laundry room for safe keeping, but somehow I ended up out there with a mysterious fork in my hand a few times........and I wasn't alone :)

We love to play games at Nana and Papa's. They have great cushy carpet and lots of fun toys for us.
The boys play slap jack.......for hours. And someone always ends up bleeding. Seriously

Kayden enjoyed playing a 'real' piano and I loved listening.

Papa has a really cool fish tank that is a huge hit with the grand kids. He took them all to Petsmart one morning and we spent quite awhile checking out the dogs, cats, birds and Brooks new favorite animal......turtles!

Trace thinks he wants a gerbel, I think Mom will not clean up after 'his' pet so I don't really see it in his future :)

Brooks and Jonah loved playing in the tub together a few times

Okay reception day. I have a sister on a mission in Thailand so we printed off a picture and fun passing it around during the festivities. Mom and Dad miss her so much!And we all know she is not one to pass up chocolate cake :)

Here is the backdrop that my parents made 10 years ago fro my wedding. They've made little improvements along the way but it always adds just the right touch whether inside or outside. All we have to do is put the right color flowers and bows on and it looks great.

All the grandsons chillin out watching the wedding video.

The wedding cake was at the center of the room. They were on top of these vases filled with fresh oranges and cranberries. It looked very cool.

My mom had this amazing idea (on her own, no fb or pinterest) to do a dropped ceiling in the gym. She had so much satin fabric I couldn't believe it. We spent about 8 ours total decorating, and only about 2 hours cleaning up :) For a gym, it looked incredible. The basketball hoops were totally covered, the score board was totally covered and for a minute you forgot you were in a church gym (which is hard to do ).

This was the first step, lots of rope, a few metal pulleys, a few hoola hoops and lots of lights and satin fabric. We looped 8 different sections of satin on hoola hoops then hoisted them up and pulled them out to the edges of the room where my dad had hung heavy rope as well. It was quite the project but was amazing to watch the transformation.

We love to play games, which means we have a lot of messes with the little kids playing with those games :)

We did a little Black Friday shopping........

And Nana and Papa bought a new easel for 'pictionary' but it was quickly claimed by the kids.

We had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner of course with all the fixins. And the leftovers were just as good :)

We had a few adventures too. Papa came in one night with something under a big towel. He told a story how he had gone to a church meeting over the east side of the mountain and there was a little girl with a lizard at the church. She didn't know what to do with it so my dad took it and set the boys all up with this new pet !!!!! Yep we are now the proud owners of a blue tailed lizard named Alex :) We've had fun watching the hunt of eating live crickets, keeping his cage clean and water filled, and the boys loving watching him shed his skin and get used to them holding and petting him. I guess I'm fine with anything in a cage but still a big surprise to come home with another pet :)

Field Trip!

2011-11-21T10:29:00.002-07:00

Trace never had the chance to go on a field trip to the Fire Station and we drive by it nearly every day and he's always asked to go so I finally called them up and made a date. We invited a few neighborhood friends and had a great time!

They had a few lessons in the the classroom and practiced Stop Drop and Roll and feeling door handles etc. They all did great.

They were a little hesitant when the fireman told them to climb on. But they loved it!

He got all dressed up, mask and oxygen and everything. Most of them were a little shy but soon warmed up........

Jordan's Wedding

2011-11-16T12:58:00.006-07:00

A few weekends ago my little brother, my LITTLE brother, way way way younger brother, the youngest brother got married. Seriously? He's the one that we've all been waiting to meet his wife for years and years to see who can keep up with him. And she is amazing! Jordan and Haylie were married in the Rexburg temple. We headed up Friday before and it was still nice fall colors so they took their pictures that day so Saturday (the wedding day) wouldn't be too crazy stressful. We partied late into the night Friday with wonderful cousins and family and ate and ate and laughed and laughed til we cried remembering growing up with Jordan.

Then we woke up Saturday to 3 inches of snow, horrible winds and about 22 degrees, for the high!!! There is something about a Rexburg cold that sticks to you. I don't think I got warm for 4 days after returning home.

Either way it was a P A R T Y!!! They had a line at the reception for a little bit then a dance and we Tore. It. Up! My boys danced for almost an hour straight and even busted out so many moves that people cleared the dance floor and made a circle around them. I wish I would of had it on video because it was awesome. We got in the car afterwards and Trace said 'That was a rockin party. He gave me some great music to dance to.'

The many faces of Brooks!!!

Kayden stole the camera and thought it would be funny to take a bunch of pics. But every time he smiled I was silly and every time I smiled he was silly. We laughed and laughed and these are only a few of the ones we caught on camera. He sure is a handsome young man!

I tried to slow dance with each of the boys, they lasted about 30 seconds then got bored. I really am trying to prepare them for all the cute girls that I know will be lining up in only a few short years :)

The night was not complete without our sis Bre who is in Thailand on a mission, but I'm still pretty luck to have the best sista's ever!

The happy couple! I don't think they can take a bad picture. Especially Haylie. She is gorgeous and so sweet and so much fun. Can't wait to spend more time with her and get to know her better.

My gorgeous mom and handsome dad!!!

My tough cop brother Josh trying not to count how many times we caught him at the dessert table :) It was so super fun to be together with the whole family! It's a hard thing to get everyone together and I loved every minute of it.

Happy Bday Chris!!

2011-11-14T20:26:00.002-07:00

Chris is now in his mid 30's :) We had a great night at home to celebrate. I made yummy pumpkin spice cupcakes for treats. He got some new clothes, slippers, and a few games to play with the boys.

And we made one of his favorite dinners Chicken Enchiladas :)

We love you Chris!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-12T10:09:00.002-07:00

We had 2 transformers and a very happy Thomas the Train. This was Brooks first year trick or treating. He just couldn't get over the fact that he could simply go up and ask for candy!!!

The school parade :) Always a favorite. I still remember my school Halloween Parades.

2nd Grade Program

2011-11-12T09:45:00.003-07:00

Kayden was so so excited for his Halloween program this year. He is the one in the striped shirt. He told me the day of that he needed an all black shirt. This was the closest we had and I assured him he wouldn't be the only one in a patterned shirt. Well we went to the program that night and I was wrong :( oops

He sang the songs over and over again for weeks. The teachers did a great job and the kids loved it! He knew all the songs, and I think we knew them all by the time it came but it was a lot of fun.

He even landed a speaking part this year :)

Jack o Lanterns :)

2011-11-12T09:39:00.002-07:00

This is the first year we have carved pumpkins. Usually we paint or color them (for obvious reasons) but my mom and dad had brought a few pumpkin carving books over and the boys were super excited to carve a cool picture of a ghost or dracula or one of those cool pics in the books.It took about 3 minutes for them to decide on regular old triangles and square shapes :)

Vegas Ragnar 2011

2011-10-31T19:48:00.002-06:00

Run. Sleep? Drive. Repeat. 188 Miles. 12 People. 2 Cars. 31 Hours. Why?

For the Love of running!!! and a really really good laugh!

Vegas Ragnar 2011 - Online Slideshow Creator

I ran this race in Utah last summer and loved it. I loved how it pushed my body and mind, how I made new friends and great memories, how I felt when I crossed the finish line having set a goal 6 months previously to get in shape and run this race! Yep it's 188 miles of relay racing crazy fun with a bunch of great people and I couldn't wait to do it again. So when I landed a spot on a Vegas team only 4 weeks before the race I was thrilled, and panicked because I hadn't been training like I should of, okay I hadn't been training at all. But I knew I wanted to do it and luckily my teammates weren't in it to win cause I knew I wouldn't be bringing home any amazing times.

We left Thursday about 1 to heat to Mesquite. Ran into a little local trouble in Payson (just bad traffic and a stray cat :) but made it to our wonderful smoke filled but cheap hotel later that night. We had a 10am start time at Lake Mead for Friday morning and it was hot hot hot by the time we started! I wish we could of ran around the lake instead of starting almost on the beach and running directly away from it. These runs were tough, in the Vegas desert, sagebrush, cactus, dead snakes, hot black asphalt, I was way over heating on my first run. It was almost noon but it had to be done. 5.2 miles of up and down and up and down black asphalt! I did it in about 53 minutes and at that point was glad to still be alive. I wasn't sure how it was going to go with my lack of training so I was pretty proud to have survived thus far.

We crashed at a really nice resort for the first exchange, on the grass with a blanket and pillow for a few hours. Yep out in the open. There is no shame really at a Ragnar. You are tired and smelly and so is everybody else. We were back on about 10pm and my 2nd run came around 11pm. It was 5.3 of mostly residential streets in Henderson. Not too pretty but I was glad to be on well light roads, most of the time. There was about 1.5 mile stretch that was pretty creepy and a few times I could smell cigarette smoke but not see anyone. I was pretty spooked and tired and not so proud of my 57 minute time for that run. But still alive so tried to stay positive :)

We crashed at a casino/truck stop for our next exchange, did I mention no one cares? Out in the middle of nowhere, about 2am we simply fell out of the suburban onto the ground (that we thought was grass but later discovered dirt/gravel) and passed out for about 2 hours. Then back up for round number 3! My final run was beautiful, the reason why I run really. It was just after 6 am and right at sunrise. The desert sky was amazing colors of pink and purple and the cool air was just wonderful. It was peaceful and serene and I loved every 5.8 miles of it. My time came in under 52 minutes which was incredible and I finished on a high note for me. I loved it! Back into the van for more laughs and stinkiness :)

We hung out at the finish line and got our medals. I was proud to receive the Saints and Sinners medal for having run the Utah race and the Vegas race. We got a free room at the Paris and crashed, hard for 10 hours! Then back in the car to drive home the next day.

Overall I'm proud that I didn't die. I'm proud of my times-ish. Considering what I had been through the 3 months prior I was happy, thrilled, ecstatic to just be able to be out running again. It was a little piece of me I got back after having lost so much. Thanks to 5 wonderful people who helped me get through my runs and put up with me for 4 straight days in a suburban. That is saying a lot to still be friends afterwards :) Here's to the next 188 mile race (hopefully in So Cal in april actually :)

Gardner Village

2011-10-31T19:34:00.002-06:00

Alway a favorite no matter what time of year but especially in october! We hit a really nice day, almost hot and went on their which witch hunt to get a free chocolate chip cookie! It was so fun and I love love love that place. We went while Chris was on a 4 wheeling trip so he didn't have to put up with the 'girliness'.

We splurged this year and bought the hugest jaw breakers ever!!! They are still pretty big despite the boys sucking/licking on them every few days.

Happy fall!!

More catching up...

2011-10-30T20:42:00.003-06:00

My soon to be wedded brother Jordan came down and hung out with us for a few days from Rexburg. He made us dinner, we went to the movies, Cornbelly's, he took family pictures and overall had a great time. He is always always good for a laugh, or two or three and of course the boys loved having him around. I have long wanted to hit a raspberry patch and eat and pick to my heart's content. I love love love raspberries so we finally found a little patch in Mapleton and spent a few hours there one cold almost snowy morning a few weeks ago. This Jordan's version of fruit of the loom.

We made out almost 20 pounds of juicy perfect berries. I spent the next week making freezer jam, cobbler, fresh shakes, and fruit leather.

We even got a visit from a To Kill a Mockingbird character.........anyone?

And it was pretty cool to see a bunch of reindeer too :)

About 10 minutes into the picking Kayden said "This should be a new family tradition mom. This is really cool :)" That's my boy and I agree!!!

My mom and dad were in town and they both grew up on a farm. I think the two of them picked as much as the 5 of us did! They know just where to look and how to pick raspberries! I love this pic of my daddy :)

Baby Presley

2011-10-25T14:27:00.002-06:00

My brother Josh and his wife Jen had their first baby a few weeks ago. We were so so so lucky that they came up to utah to bless her so I could cuddle her and hold her for a few days. She is the best baby ever and even gave me a few smiles! I love her, and seeing them was pretty good too :) While everyone was here we had to clean up every once in awhile of course. How come my kids aren't so excited to help me? I know why ::) Nana is way cooler- I think so to.

We played a ton of games, tons. Late at night we'd make a Del Taco run and put yet another movie on for the kiddos and keep playing!! It really is one of my favorite things to do with my fam. Hearts, Hand and foot, Blockus and anything else we could think up.

Sunday October 9th Josh gave his baby girl an amazing, inspiring, heartfelt blessing. It was such a beautiful day!!! Very busy but wonderful

Of course this was another excuse to eat so we made 3 yummy soups and all the yummy fixins!

I loved loved loved having everyone here for the weekend. I snuck off Saturday morning and ran the Wasatch Woman 10k/6k at Thanksgiving Point for the 2nd year in a row. It is a beautiful course and although it was pretty cold and rainy it felt good. I'd had a hard week and had been very sick and it helped clear my mind. Oh then in the middle of it all that Sunday I got released from being in the Stake YW for almost 6 years! I think it was a blessing to have so much going on around me and to be surrounded by my family when all those changes were going on.

A few weekends ago.....

2011-10-25T13:45:00.002-06:00

We had a marathon of a weekend! My sister in law and brother came in town from Az for 3 days and we had a lot to accomplish....all the girls headed to the The Chocolate to celebrate my other brother getting engaged. We had way too much sugar and had a blast sharing family secrets and stilly stories about the man she was now responsible for :)

Can't get this pic to turn but love it!! My nephew Jonah loves his food :) We also had to celebrate my bro Josh's bday so we had tons of pizza and yummy cake and ice cream (Yes just before we went to the chocolate :)

We don't get to see Josh and Jen very often since they are in Az. We loved having them!!

Jordan and his soon to be bride Haylie.
Papa with a few of the grandkids...
Jed and Chris playing cards. Pretty sure Chris ended up a little bloody afterwards :(
Nana making a cool gingerbread haunted house with the kids :)
And that was just the beginning of the weekend........more to come!

Dirty Dash 2011

2011-10-02T22:35:00.002-06:00

Dirty Dash - photo slideshow

This was disgusting-fun to watch and I really don't think I will ever do it. Chris ran the Dirty Dash 10k up in Midway last weekend with his Band of Brothers. I didn't really know what to expect from them-I admit I was a little nervous. They had short daisy dukes on, ripped flannel shirts, and each of their wives names 'tattooed' (markered) on their arms. I was so very proud :)

The boys enjoyed the Piglet Plunge afterwards although were a little more hesitant to get dirty than I thought they would be. I think it was kind overwhelming to them. It was a beautiful day and the fall colors made a gorgeous backdrop to the horribly dirty runners :)

Jog-A-Thon

2011-10-02T22:09:00.002-06:00

Pony Express had its 2nd Annual Jog A Thon last week and my boys had a great time. It was a little hotter than we would of liked, but the city's fire department came out and hosed the kids off right before the finish line. And they were great at passing out popsicles and water. The Kindergartners had their own track in the back and Trace said 'Mom I just kept on running.' Okay-a little too much like Forest Gump but he did run for the full 10 minutes :)

Kayden got to run with the 1st and 2nd grade classes. There were a lot of kids and they had a great time! It seemed like there were a lot of parents and cops and everyone out to support them and they had a lot of fun.

FHE!!

2011-10-01T09:56:00.001-06:00

Rock Climbing - slideshow maker

So I found some good coupons on the internet for this Rock Climbing place in Provo. I knew my boys would love it. Life has been so crazy we haven't been able to fit it in, so we decided to go for FHE a few weeks ago. We had a great time!! I was so impressed with all the kids determination and desire to get to the top over and over again! Landon, Jess, and Chris only got a few turns because we were all so busy helping the kids up and down.

On our way home Kayden said "I get it mom. I know why we went there for FHE. The rope is like the spirit and when we hold on tight we can climb up and be safe." Okay! Well done!

Kids say the Darndest...

2011-09-27T19:08:00.002-06:00

Kayden was reading his Book of Mormon the other night and asked Chris what a concubine was. Fair enough question. Chris looked at me for help and I just smiled and went on reading my own book on the couch. He thought for a minute and said 'It's a girlfriend that you aren't married to.' I thought that was a halfway decent answer until kayden's reply was : 'So like Haylie is to Jordan?' FYI Haylie is my brother Jordan's fiance! bahahahahaa

I was reading a dinosaur book to Trace and one was about a dino that could use his crest on his head to hoot and toot and communicate with other dino's. We got to the end of the book and there was a little review and it asked which dino could hoot and toot. Trace was so excited to know the right answer! A Toot-a-saurus!!

Brooks and I walked to church a few days ago. When we were walking up to the building he said 'mom why i go primary?' I said 'Why do you think you go to primary Brooks?' He said 'So i be happy mom!' So true :)

Utah Marathon Relay

2011-09-12T15:23:00.005-06:00

I think this may be a new favorite fall tradition for us! I ran this race last year and loved it, the boys did the kids 1k and loved it, so when it rolled around again this year we figured why not! I put a team together really quick, like the 2 weeks before and we hit the trail! The boys were super excited and did great! Last year Chris ran with them, we let them go on their own this year so I made them promise to stick together.

On your marks, get set, go!!!!

Coming up on the finish line!Gold medals to prove it!! They were so proud and I was so proud of them :) I love that they love to be active and healthy.
I didn't do as well as I did last year, but hey it's been a rough summer. I wanted to come in under 50 minutes for the 5.2 miles and I came in at 48 min so that was good. It's a fast course. My first mile was 7:32 and I knew I'd be in trouble if I kept that up so I slowed down a bit but my send mile was still pretty close to 8. That tells you a lot about the very last mile huh? oh well. About mile 4 you pass the finish line but then have another long horrible loop on the black asphalt, no shade or nothing pretty to look at it just sucks to keep going. Oh well, Glad I did it and love my family for supporting me!

We were team BarFelJen. Barlow's ran the first 2 legs, Feller's ran the next 2 legs, and I Jensen ran the last. We came in 26 out of 63 teams, not too bad :)

Iderho!

2011-09-12T13:23:00.003-06:00

So last weekend my brother who attends BYU-I came into town. He mentioned that our cousin in Pocatello was blessing his baby on Sunday. It was Labor Day weekend and we didn't really have any plans. Okay so we had a list of To-Do's around the house and yard that we were trying to avoid :) We called my awesome cousin up Saturday night, late and asked if our family could come crash at their house for Sunday/Monday! Talk about horrible house guests but they said yes!! We were so excited for a quick, fun get away.

We looked up online late late Saturday night and the plan was to head to Bear World in Rexburg on Monday. But once we got there Sunday we were having too much fun with them so we all hit the Idaho State Fair instead. Serious fun!!! If anywhere knows how to do a fair, it would be Idaho. We hate sinking money into the rides but can you tell these smiles no? Each kid got to pick 1 ride, and it still cost $10!!! OUCH But Brooks LOVED the train.

And Trace surprised as all but hopping on his very first roller coaster. I kind of think it was to impress his cute cousin Paige, but he said he loved it! He was screaming 'this is totally awesome' the whole time!

They had a cool sports zone that was all free so we hung out there for quite awhile. Each boy took a turn driving these remote control cars, then they had a turn being the pit crew and helping out crashes and cars that got stuck.

The had a super cool science tent, again for free, that we spent a lot of time in as well. Super fun and great ideas to do at home with the kids!

And the REAL reason we go to the fair..................

The food. We put down a turkey leg, corn dogs and curly fries. And had to pick up a huge bag of kettle corn on our way out for the ride home. We spent a lot of time looking at all the animals. As much time as we could before Trace's eyes started getting a little puffy and the sneezing was getting a little out of control.

All our kids are only a few months apart so it was a great match up. They played really well together and I can't wait for the next time we see them all!

Trace starts Kindergarten!!

2011-08-31T11:38:00.002-06:00

Trace is long ready for Kindergarten. He will be 6 soon and knows it and is ready to move on in life :) He's waited to go to Kayden's big school for 2 years now. He has walked there 100 times and knows where the bathrooms are, how to lock up his scooter or bike, where the meeting place is for the walking group all the things I totally freaked out about with Kayden. And I still freaked out about them with Trace. He got to pick his favorite lunch for the first day and chose mini corn dogs, carrots, and root beer! Gross, but at least he went to school full and happy. He is so proud and excited to go to school finally!

Here are a few of his friends lining up at the wall.

Brooks has been wearing a backpack for a week now, waiting for his school and his teacher. He's even asked me where his homework is :) They got to play on the playground for a few minutes together.

Mrs. Lawrence is Trace's teacher. We are very excited about her!

I thought it would be easier the second time around but it wasn't, just different. I didn't think I would cry or get the hole in my heart as I watched him walk away, but I totally did. I know he's ready, maybe it's me that isn't. But I am too. I'm ready for him to learn and gain confidence and figure things out and be proud of himself for all the many things he will learn this year. I'm ready for him to feel responsible and be with Kayden at the big school. I'm just not ready to see him grow up...

They had this cute sign that 'Hugs and kisses, say goodbye. Here is a tissue in case you cry.' Then the administration was out passing out tissues and chocolate hugs and kisses. It was

great.Here they are after read to scooter home in the heat. The very first thing out of Trace's mouth was "here are my crackers.' He was starving!!
So 2 kids at school now. Brooks and I came home, he fell asleep in my lap, I did some reading, folded some laundry, chatted with a friend and then it was time to pick them up. We did afternoon kindergarten which I don't really like, but they needed volunteers and the classes are a little smaller. They get to ride home together which again I don't really like but I can teach piano now to kids that get out early or go to other school and be done by the time they get home. So proud of my boys!! I love you Trace!!

I have a Second Grader!!

2011-08-31T11:31:00.003-06:00

I wish I could bottle that smile. Kayden was very excited to begin 2nd grade. I was very excited that he got a fabulous teacher! The first day he came home and said she was just like Miss Richards (his 1st grade teacher) so I knew we'd have a great year. Plus she pulls out a guitar and they sing everyday so he's in like flin. He didn't really show any anxiety or anything, he jumped right back into things (well besides a morning routine) the first day it seemed.

Trace was sad he had to wait another week to start kindergarten, but Kayden told him he was special because Kindergartners get an extra week of summer :) He bought that

The line up! There are a ton of 2nd graders, a ton! He has a few friends in his class and is already making new friends too.So proud of him! He is a great example to me and his brothers. 6 hours seemed pretty long the first few days and he comes home pretty fried so it's more like 7 hours that I lose him everyday but he is happy.

Summer Break

2011-08-31T11:15:00.005-06:00

So yes we are alive. A little bruised and battered after the pasted few weeks but we are alive. I have been really bad and taking pictures and obviously worse and posting them. Here are a few of our end of summer activities:

We hit Lagoon one Saturday with Amy, Aaron, and Lexi. I think it was the hottest day of the year. The kiddos did so great. They were sweaty and melting (as we all were) but they didn't quite! We rode rides from about 11 to 4,then went for dinner. We hit the water park after that which was fabulous because most people had gone in the heat of the day so the lines weren't bad at all. We were all nice and refreshed and ready to go until 11pm!

The kids rode kiddie rides over, and over, and over, and over again :) The adults took turns riding grown up rides and watching the little ones. It was a great day!

Probably a favorite. I am not exaggerating when I say I think we rode the bumper cards 15 times!

The day, yes even 2 hours after I got home from girls camp we hit the lake. The boys had been at home and other homes and coming and going and keeping the fort down at home all week while I was gone and they were ready to play. I was totally wasted, totally but I hadn't seen them all week and wanted to be with them so I went along for the ride. It felt great to be on the boat with Amy, Aaron, and Lexie again. Kayden gave surfing and knee boarding a pretty good effort.

Yep, that's Brooks. He got up and stayed on the surf board for quite a few minutes with Chris. He loved it!

He LOVES the boat and does great. He sits still while we are driving then wants to jump in for a swim as soon as we stop.

The boys got a pretty good tube ride in!

A few weeks before girls camp we took a weekend away and headed to the Pavlowich's cabin in Timber Lakes. It is gorgeous!!!! Just what I needed. Lots of long, relaxing four wheeler rides, touring lots and cabins, TONS of food, movies, and games. It was a ton of fun!

Brooks gave Lexie these flowers then leaned in for a kiss! Unfortunately their helmets got in the way and there was no lip locking :)

Trace probably would of slept on if we let him :) They love four wheelers!

We also hit the aquarium, quite a few splash parks, a couple of movies, and Yuba Lake-which was awesome- before school started.

A few Weekends in Review

2011-07-10T09:25:00.005-06:00

Still catching up.....

We love to camp. A few weeks ago we even popped the tent and pulled out the fire pit in the backyard for the weekend. What's summer for right? This past weekend we headed up to one of my favorite spots.....and only took 2 pics sorry. Whiting Campground is just through the cute little town of Mapleton. The site has TONS of shade, wonderful trails for the kids to explore, a cute little creek that is just far enough away to not be scary, a great loop for the boys to ride their scooters around, and just a nice place to be out of the heat! We enjoyed great camping food, built this cool fort, and have washed layers and layers of dirt off the boys since we got back.

3 weekends ago we kept with our annual tradition of going to Gunnison with our dear friends the Schauers family. We camped in the backyard, played with the chickens, rode 4-wheelers, bbq, ate too much, laughed never too much, and went to the great small town parade. I think we came home with as much candy as Halloween!

Trace's Preschool Graduation

2011-07-10T09:15:00.002-06:00

Trace attended Smarty Pants Preschool this last year and LOVED it. He had to miss a day because he was sick, and a few days for different trips and such and he was not happy about that at all. Even when we went to Disneyland he had to think twice about missing school. He had a marvelous teacher Miss Marci and it will be a huge shock to him when she's not there the first day of kindergarten. He did great, learned all his sight words, made some great other friends and is really looking forward to going to 'the big school with kayden.'
This was him on the left throwing his graduation cap in the air to celebrate! So cute
Receiving his diploma :)
They sang some cute little songs about all that they learned this year. Our video camera isn't working so this is all you get, bummer. And yes look at that ratio of girls to boys! Go Trace :)

The MTC

2011-07-09T21:37:00.002-06:00

So I'm WAY behind on blogging. We've had some great things going on around here lately. One highlight has been to send my sister off on her mission to Thailand! Seriously who goes to Thailand? There's less than 100 missionaries in the entire mission right now so its a pretty big deal. Last week we all piled into the car, hit the local Cafe Rio for the last time and said our goodbye's.

Brooks gives the bst kisses ever!

Our last sista picture for 18 months..........

Off she goes :) We love you and miss you already Bre

Memorial Day

2011-06-01T15:00:00.002-06:00

So the hubby and I (I shouldn't speak for him... but here I go) have been putting on a few lately. We were in such great shape last year doing races every month and running together. I think the winter hit and we went into hibernation. So I signed us up for a 10k about a month ago, hoping it would motivate us to get back out there. I was still running but nothing over about 4 miles every other day, mostly because of my busy life. Anywho, he didn't run........once. And of course he stayed right with me the entire time! So agravating but it was still fun. We came in 79 and 80 out of about 400 people and my time was 9:14 minute miles! Not too bad for not really training. We got up at 6:30 am which honestly was the hardest part of hte whole race. We got to Orem just after 7 and enjoyed perfect weather after just a little bit of rain before racetime.

We came home, did a bunch of yard work, had a great BBQ with friends and then headed to one of our favorite summer activites-the rodeo! Alas we didn't even last 2 hours as it was snowing/sleeting/raining/blowing. Anyway it was way too cold for the kiddos but still a lot of fun.

Terribly Terrific 2's!

2011-05-29T10:59:00.001-06:00

This is a regular occurrence these days. Along with lots of copy cat talking and temper tantrums. I love this age :)!

Honesty is...........

2011-05-07T21:03:00.003-06:00

My sister is the gospel doctrine teacher in her student ward at BYU. The lesson must of been on honesty because she asked me to ask the boys these q's for her lesson. I think they answered them pretty well :)

Rocket Launching Day!

2011-04-25T11:03:00.001-06:00

The boys built these super cool rockets with their super cool dad over spring break. They've been anxiously awaiting the time to light them off. We waited for great weather but..........decided we may just have to put up with a little bit of rain after all. They were super excited!!

Happy Easter!!

2011-04-25T10:42:00.005-06:00

This face sums Brooks up. He has developed quite the personality lately. He had a great Easter!

All the boys got new church clothes and plenty of candy in their baskets! We tried to only have 1 candy-filled egg before church......oh well :)

So handsome!

After church we played games, watched a movie, did many, many Easter egg hunts, and of course ate a wonderful ham dinner with all the fixins!

Loved the robin egg lipstick!

We tried to dye eggs, but learned the brown home grown eggs don't pick up the color very well.

This may be the best family picture ever................I love that Trace is trying to walk away with this look like 'who are these people?'

We are so very, very blessed!

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-17T19:50:00.007-06:00

Where did this week go? We had so much fun and I can't believe it's time to get back to reality. I forgot to bring the camera along so I only have shots of what we did at home. Here is a recap of our activities. Monday: I crammed a bunch of piano lessons in the morning so we could have the rest of the week off. The boys loved watching cartoons all morning :). Then we had lunch and headed to the library. We each picked out some great books, including a cool science experiment book. The boys love science experiments and had come up with one on their own-they wanted to visit a new park each day and then at the end of the week compare and contrast them to see which one they liked best. So we packed a lunch and headed to a park. We had a great time for a few hours and then went to get haircuts. The weather was great Monday so we played outside til after 7! Why not right? We didn't have to get up for school or do homework! yaaa Tuesday: We just relaxed and played games, watched a Star Wars episode in the morning, went for a good run in the afternoon, and did a bunch of the science experiments while Brooks took a nap:

Each day the boys would come home and draw a picture of the park we went to so they could remember what they had like about it.

This one was our favorite. Who knew if you put raisins in sprite they sink, then float to the top, then sink again? They are called dancing raisins. This one helped us learn about carbon dioxide.

We learned about sound waves and made our own telephone. We also took turns plugging an ear and closing our eyes and trying to guess different sounds the other one was making.

This one was really cool. You need milk, food coloring, and some soap. Somehow the milk reacts to the soap and swirls the colors all around, making its very own rainbow without you ever touching the bowl.

We learned all about static electricity too! When Brooks woke up we headed to.....another new park!

Wednesday: I had a Kindermusik Birthday Party for being in business for 1 year. We had about 25 kids come and I think we had a lot of fun! We sang, danced, played games and had a great time. After that we had lunch and......headed to the park. We started a project of digging out all the bark from our flowerbeds. I've wanted to get rid of it for years so we got to work and did a few bags each day. The rest of the day we just relaxed and played games and read books.

Thursday: We had a great big breakfast just for fun, played some games, filled a few bags of bark, then headed out to play! We have passes to the Aquarium and we love it! We had heard about the new Super hero Animal Exhibit so no surprise that the boys dressed up like super hero's! Kayden went as Batman, Trace as Robin, and Brooks even wore a bright red cape. We packed a lunch and were there for about 4 hours. My boys LOVE it. They love to learn and were so excited to see the super hero's. They read all about the animals and picked the brain of the director of the aquarium for over 30 minutes asking all sorts of questions! She was very nice and answered all of them. Then the next time we went through the exhibit and hour or so later, there were my super hero's standing so proud by each animal telling anyone and everyone who would listen all about the animal. It was very cute!! Then we headed to Orem, picked Chris up from work and went to Classic Fun Center. I had bought some tickets on slick deals months ago so we played video games, ate the cheap, nasty food, and filled our pockets with cheap toys and treats. We had a blast!

Friday: We were all pretty tired from Thursday so we just relaxed in the morning. Eventually we finished up the bark and are finally ready for some nice soil. I had another Kindermusik party in the afternoon so the boys went to play at the last park of the week, which was actually a friend's backyard that has super cool play equipment and a trampoline. They packed a lunch and were outside playing for about 4 hours! I had my party and got in a nice quiet run too! Then we had dinner and watched Tron. hello....a video game MOVIE. They were pretty excited, especially when I handed them their own glow sticks so they could glow right along with the movie!

Saturday: We relaxed, read, watched cartoons, had a big breakfast, then the older boys and I worked the local street fair and set up a booth for Kindermusik for about 4 hours. They actually were great helpers and I met a lot of great new families I hope to be able to add to my program. We were a little sunburned and Starving so we headed up for dinner at the Mayan and to say goodbye to our dear friend Seth Snow who leaves on his mission in a few days. We got home and crashed!

The icing on the cake for the week was probably Chris finishing this amazing bookshelf for the boys:I have LOVED mine and found that they LOVED it to and they asked for their own so my incredibly talented hubby whipped this up in under 20 hours now we have a beautiful matching set in our family room. It did not take long for them to line up their favorite books and puzzles!

They also got to make these super cool rockets with their super cool dad. They can't wait to go set them off this week sometime.

Kayden finished 4 chapter books this week alone! I'm so proud of his reading abilities and most of the time he really does enjoy it. Trace has been saying some pretty funny things lately. We are reciting a new Article of Faith each week to work on memorizing them. We just finished 3, and a few nights ago he looked up at me very sad and worried and said 'Mom that means you won't be saved because you are girl!" We quickly explained mankind means all human beings and he seemed okay with that. It sure made us laugh though! I'm so sad to send everybody back to school and schedules and commitments. I'm looking forward to summer even more now!

Kayden's first tooth!!!

2011-04-13T17:02:00.003-06:00

Sunday morning I was enjoying 'sleeping in' when about 7:20am Kayden came into my room, hyperventilating. He couldn't even talk really so I didn't know what was going. Then he opened his mouth and I saw blood. I sat up really quick and eventually figured out he had lost a tooth. He thought the world was ending. The thing was.....his tooth wasn't loose. He had been trying to open a big plastic bag full of toys that Brooks had gotten the night before for his birthday. He was biting and pulling on it when his tooth 'shot out.' Hmmm where have I heard that before? This time was obviously not so traumatic as last time we had teeth 'shoot out' in our family (Trace on the trampoline 2 years ag0) but you wouldn't know that by Kayden's reaction. We had to assure him for almost an entire day that his other teeth were fine, a new tooth would grow in and the tooth fairy would indeed come. He snuck his tooth to church and went around asking everyone how much their tooth fairy brought to them, just so he'd know what to expect! Silly kid He had a hard time eating anything Sunday, it was all too hard or too crunchy or too cold. He was really worried about it. At one point he put his head in his hands and said 'How do you ever survive without teeth?' It was pretty melodramatic and funny. So the tooth fairy came and Kayden was thrilled the next day to wake up to a whole $1 under his pillow! He quickly did the math and said 'I have $23 dollars in my mouth!'

Happy Birthday Brooks!

2011-04-10T09:54:00.004-06:00

I can not believe my little man is 2 years old! The time has flown by. Brooks is in a great stage. He seems to pick up more words each day and is getting much better at expressing himself. If he can't find the word, or if I don't understand what he's trying to say he will take my hand and say 'mon' for Come On and lead me to what he wants. We started his birthday off with a big pancake breakfast and balloons and streamers from the big brothers.

We opened presents and couldn't get him to stop moving! He got a guitar and a microphone and the dancing hasn't stopped since. He loves them, loves to sing and jump and boogie to all the music and sounds.

He also got this cool water table. We had planned of course to play with it outside......then it snowed and snowed and rained and rained all day so it's all set up in the kitchen. Here's to the day we can put it out on the porch!

One of his favorite things is trains. He LOVES 'chews chews' and usually gets about 30 minutes of Thomas in each day while I'm on the treadmill. He can name Thomas, James, Harold the helicopter and Percy. His favorite is Percy and he says it so cute! This is him with his wonderful pudgy lips blowing out the candles.

We headed to lunch at Arctic Circle.....mainly because of the snow outside and we wanted a place to run around for a bit. Also he loves cheeseburgers just like his older brother Trace and he finished his off no problem!

Brooks is such a wonderful little boy. Don't get me wrong he can throw a fit like the rest of them BUT he is generally very happy. He loves to dance and move and jump and climb. I've found him on top of the fridge, the dryer, in the sinks multiple times, locked in the car with the keys inside it for almost an hour one day, hiding in my closet to the point of me thinking he had truly escaped. He has no fear, partly I think from watching his brothers barrel down the street on bikes, scooters or anything with wheels. He wants to be just like them and thinks he is old enough to do whatever they do, which is our daily challenge it seems. He sits on the potty a few times a day, for about 3 seconds but INSISTS on it when it's time for potty. He always makes us laugh with his funny faces and excitment for life. WE love you Brooks!

Dinner time

2011-04-07T17:35:00.002-06:00

Poor Brooks went through a few weeks where he tried his hardest to skip his nap. I would try my hardest but after an hour or more of a fight in the rocking chair, the crib, reading books, singing songs, and almost falling asleep myself it would then be time for piano lessons. I would give up, go teach for a few hours and meanwhile he would run around like a crazy Indian. A few times I found him curled up in random places sound asleep. But that wasn't until 4 or 5. Which doesn't work for an 8 o'clock bedtime. This was also the same few weeks where he would climb out of his crib, at all hours of the night. I know this sounds like child abuse but we ended up putting a child lock on his door so he couldn't get out (he has since learned to open all doors, child lock or not). He had to cry it out, and I will sadly admit spent a few nights on the floor by his door, even with his chubby little hands stretched out underneath. I hated it, but after a few long nights, and even longer days he is back to a better routine.

This was one of his long days, following a short night. So cute!!!

Meet fish #2

2011-04-07T17:24:00.002-06:00

So true to last semester kayden reached another 10 spelling tests of 100% a few weeks ago. Papa was in town (and he is the fish expert, having a pretty cool tank himslef) so kayden and Papa headed to Wal-mart to pick up a friend for Orange. Meet Blacky B. Jensen. They seem to be great friends, kayden has the responsibility of daily feedings and cleaning the bowl weekly. I love the extra chore that he doesn't complain about and everyone is happy! He's now working towards a castle for them

Behind.......again

2011-03-18T13:39:00.003-06:00

Seems like I'm catching up again, such is life....

My sister Breanne got her mission call to the Thailand, Bankok mission. She leaves the end of June. So we have been trying out some local Thai restaurants, doing tye dye shirts, and trying to pack in a bunch of fun stuff before she leaves.

The entire family came up/down/and around last weekend, besides my one bro and his wife in AZ. We went through a beautiful session in the SL temple on Saturday. It was Bre's first time through the temple and it was very nice to all be there together. The next 4 days consisted of a lot of ood, a few movies, trips to the park, more food, games, a girls night out, and trying to shuffle all of us around to be where we all needed to be. I didn't find my camera until the last night everyone was here. We tried to make homemade coconut ice cream, twice. And it tanked, twice, but we had fun anyway!

Senior Yellow Belt

2011-02-22T12:21:00.001-07:00

Congrats Kayden!!

Catch up

2011-02-09T14:12:00.003-07:00

So we lost our camera. For some reason I don't think of blogging without pictures, but I also think of blogging as kind of a way of keeping track of our family activities. So I have some picture-less catch up to do. Here go's:

January was great. Too cold and the boys got VERY tired of being stuck in the house all the time and I got VERY tired of them being stuck in the house all the time. We stayed very healthy all through the winter until the last week in January when we ALL got sick. Not fun for 5 sickos in one house but it was nice to get it over with in a week or so. Shameless bragging begins......now....

Kayden-he had a parent teacher conference and his teacher had wonderful things to say about him. She said she could see huge improvements from the beginning of the year to now. I kind of wanted to say told you so, not because she isn't wonderful, just because 6 months ago he was barely 6 years old. There were a lot of changes all at once: all day at school, eating lunch on his own, new homework, learning to read, new teacher/classroom. We have worked very hard every day on homework and sticking to a routine and it has paid off. He just needs time to figure things out on his own and get used to the schedule and then he does great. He has passed off all the first grade words and is on second grade words, he is above the reading level for first grade and just started chapter books. He is also still loving being a yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do, especially since 4 of his good friends all signed up too. He does great in music and is really growing up. I am amazed at how smart and mature he is sometimes, and wish we could just stay like this for a little while longer. He is motivated by money so we have started a little system of 'money chores' and different ways he can earn money. He paid his tithing for the first time on Sunday!

Trace-is doing great in Smarty Pants preschool. His teacher said he is a great listener, which I am jealous of. Not because he is bad at home, he is just very head strong and works on his own schedule-No. Matter. What. There is no rushing him and he is very particular. Like lining up utensils and cups in a certain way before we can even pray, or folding his blankets on his bed a certain way before he will climb in bed and destroy them. He is very detail oriented and is patiently waiting for me to find a good, close, cheap (I know that's asking a lot) gymnastics program for him. We registered him for Kindergarten yesterday and he can't wait to be able to go to the big school with Kayden each morning. He is beginning to read on his own, is wonderful at writing and sounding out words, and makes me laugh every day by the funny things he says. He is motivated by play dates. He is so very social and LOVES to play with friends for hours and hours and hours.

Brooks- What a difference a year makes! Sometimes I get stuck and can't remember what life 'used to be' and we just spin our wheels where we are at. Not having a camera I looked up a few pics from a year ago. Seriously he is the cutest chubby cheeks, blue eyed boy!! He wasn't even walking a year ago! Weird. Now he follows his brothers everywhere and wants so bad to be like them. Every day when they get home from school he runs to their arms and yells "T" or "K"!! So cute and then proceeds to put on their 'packpack' and walk around for a few minutes. He learned to crawl out of his crib, and open doors, and climb up the drawers like a ladder to get to anything he wants in the kitchen. He can even climb out of his 5 point carseat, in stealth mode cause I can't hear him until he's right by my ear and says 'hi', while I'm driving. He comes to quite a few Kindermusik classes each week and never seems to tire of dancing and playing instruments with me. I WISH so badly he would stop growing. Not because I'm not excited to see him grow and learn and become like his big brothers, just because it goes so fast.

I've had many days lately that I've had SO MUCH to do, like could be up around the clock it seems but I've thrown it all out, sat on the rocking chair and read or played or sang, and even a few lucky times we've all fallen asleep for a few minutes. Mostly I sit and stare at my 3 greatest blessings while they sleep and I just try to soak it all in and memorize how it feels right now, to have 3 wonderful, happy, healthy boys! Life is good.

Our vaca in review.....

2011-01-03T16:06:00.004-07:00

We did a lot of relaxing, a lot. Like we had a few days that we all stayed in our PJ's, I think I've only done that once or twice before and it was after having a baby. It was great to play games, watch movies, eat and just relax. I let the boys watch TV and play video games more in the past 2 weeks than we usually do in 2 months and that is because it was my vacation too right! We had a great time, including taking long baths...... watching Price is Right. Yep the boys discovered this show and they thought it was great, which I thought was kind of funny.Kayden and Trace decided the first Saturday of the break that they were going to have a garage sale and get rid of all their old toys before Christmas came. They worked for about an hour going through their stuff and even made price tags.....

Yes we talked him down from very high prices but I still thought it was a great idea.

We had chocolate and cheese fondue and had a picnic in front of Toy Story. Super fun and VERY yummy.

We also discovered classic skating in sandy. On Tuesdays it's only $2 and they let the kids bring small bikes and scooter's, they even let us put Brooks in the stroller which he loved. Chris worked up quite the sweat pushing him around and around and everyone came home totally beat.

The boys were both very brave and each tried the real roller skates for a few minutes, a very few minutes.

This was Brooks making the ASL for more every time his ride stopped.

One day we picked up Grandma Bengtzen (Chris's 90 yr old Grandma that we lived with when we were first married) and all went to see Tangled. We all loved it and hit up the Crown Burger across the street afterwards. It was a great afternoon outing.

We also enjoyed Chris's new Blue Ray a few times with great movies, played our new games we got for Christmas and ate ourselves silly. It was a wonderful break, one I really enjoyed and felt like it was time to get back to reality, as much as I hated sending the boys off to school it was time. Happy New Year!

2010-12-27T12:28:00.004-07:00

Our big present for the year was a trip to Disneyland. My sis used our timeshare points and booked a great place within walking distance in the end of May so hopefully the whole fam can head to Cali for about a week. The boys got piggy banks to go along with it so they can start saving their money. They've both already done 'extra' chores today to earn some!!

Nana and Papa sent these super cool little kid travel pillows. The boys are Always complaining about not having a good headrest once they are in a booster so these will be great. They loved giving the animals piggy backs most of the day but we will definetly use them in the car.

Brooks ate this whole pack of gum in about 5 minutes and was in heaven!

The boys Love dinosaurs and enjoyed a few dinosaur days with Nana when we were all on Trek this summer. They had a herbivor lunch, a carnivore lunch, and made paper dino's etc. They've already read all the dino's that start with the first letter of their names. They love it!

Brooks a huge train lover so he was thrilled with this cute dinosaur train. He loves it!

This was his face as he opened the dinosaurs to go in it. hehehe
New clothes are always a great thing! Especially 'rockstar' onces for Trace.

Everyone got new PJ"s from each of their bro's and look so cute in them!! I love new Christmas PJ's.

Santa hit it on the head with a bag of goldfish all for Brooks in his stocking.

We loved the movie 'How to Train your Dragon' and each boy got a different dragon from Santa. They have not really put them down since! They go around quoting the movie and everything.

Merry Christmas everyone. We had a great one and hope you did too!!!

Best. Christmas. Ever.

2010-12-27T11:28:00.002-07:00

I read a great book a few months ago and loved the idea of putting a family motto up on the wall. So our family has been talking about different words and statements and we finally decided on this. We wanted it to be simple and easy to remember so the kids could use it regularly and remember it easily. We each picked a word and it worked out that LOVE is spelled through out these words as well. So our family will Learn, Work, Serve, and Be Grateful each day because we Love each other and the Savior. We just got family pics done so we surrounded our motto with pics of the family. We will talk about each of these things each night at dinner and use FHE to further study them and how we can be stronger as a family because of these things that bind us together and help identify our family. I'm really happy with how it turned out and have loved the boys excitement over it already. Kayden has the FHE lesson tonight on Learn because that was his word. We worked together for about an hour yesterday on his lesson and I love getting him involved and seeing how much he loves it too.

And this is the finished product!!! I LOVE IT and have already 'ordered' one for my living room. He did such a fabulous job. I could just sit and stare at it. As I was putting things on the shelves yesterday Kayden said "mom you have more decorations that books. I thought you wanted a bookshelf, not a decoration shelf." I thought that was hilarious!! We ended up counting books and decor and I do have more books afterall so it's all good.

Not to brag.......

2010-12-21T21:08:00.003-07:00

But I pretty much have the coolest, most talented hubby in the world. I've wanted a nice, solid, all wood bookshelf for years now. We won't afford the real thing and I don't want something out of a box that I screw together at home. I really think beautiful bookshelfs add so much to a home and are just art in themselves. Plus my mom has been giving me a gorgeous set of collectors books and I can't stand having them in a box in the basement because I have nowhere to put them. So, my hubby found a picture online, I said kind of casually that I would love it, the next night I find this in the garage.... He built it from nothing. Designed the moldings, structure, everything all on his own!!!! It's not totally painted yet but......I LOVE IT. I'm telling him to advertise and do this on the side cause I think it's beautiful. Merry Christmas to me!!!

Let it Snow!!

2010-12-21T20:54:00.003-07:00

I never really counted but I think we had about a dozen kids on our hill today for about 2 hours. It was a little crazy and there were MANY wipeouts but I think everyone had fun. Then we moved to the backyard for about another hour and built 2 really cool forts and had a great snowball fight. We headed in for dinner, Chris came home and we headed back out. After another almost 2 hours outside in the snow the boys underwear was even wet! Time to come in, have hot chocolate and enjoy a Christmas movie. It was a great start to Christmas break.

Orange Christopher Jensen

2010-12-19T20:16:00.003-07:00

That's right....the Jensen family entered the world of 'pets' this week and Kayden is losing sleep with excitement. We were having trouble wanting to do homework at the beginning of the year so I came up with the brilliant plan of 'if you work hard and get 100% on 10 spelling tests, then you can go get a present.' He worked really hard and almost every week day we did spelling practice. I had to get creative to get him to still want to so we found a few cool webpages where I could enter the spelling words each week and he could play different games with them. We played hangman using the words, we spelled them with the fridge magnets and we would read books and yell crazy when we saw a spelling word in the book. I think his favorite thing was I put a layer of sugar on a cookie sheet and he got to spell in the sugar.

Anyway, so last week he got his 10th 100% so we were off to Walmart.....and came home with a fish. Kayden proudly named him Orange Christopher Jensen. He feeds him faithfully, talks to him more than I'm comfortable with, and Chris and I are patiently waiting the day for the poor fish to turn sideways. Not really but it's a goldfish...how long do they really last?

Until then Kayden is thrilled and we are proud of him for working hard and achieving his goal.

Trace's Christmas Program

2010-12-19T19:43:00.003-07:00

Trace had his first official school Christmas program......He was wishing me a very merry Christmas!

He loves school. Many times a week he'll say something or do something and I'll say 'How did you get so smart Trace?' To which he proudly replies "cuz I go to Smarty Pants Preschool.'

He go to wear PJ's to school which was even cooler. He did a great job on the poems and songs and LOVES his teacher. Each day he wakes up and asks if it's a school day. When I say yes he literally jumps up and down! Merry Christmas!!

First Grade Christmas Program

2010-12-11T10:27:00.007-07:00

This was awesome! I snuck into the program during the day so I could be up close and really enjoy it. The program at night for the parents is wall to wall, standing room only people so the younger boys and I loved seeing Kayden during the day. He sang his heart out! So much that he almost lost his voice by the time he came home from school and ended up just mouthing most of the words that night. He loved it! He's been singing these songs around the house for weeks.

His teacher came up to me afterwards and said how wonderful he did and how impressed she was at his musical abilities. He knew every word, right on rhythm and usually after only hearing it once or twice. He loves it!

He's on the very top in the middle-ish

I loved this one! I think the teachers did a great job.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Trace!!

2010-12-08T14:18:00.003-07:00

Trace had 3 days of turning 5 and it still wasn't enough for him! He loves to party. If it's your birthday in our house you are in charge for the day and I think Trace told me 50 times that day that he was in charge. He watched TV (his FAVORITE thing to do), picked his favorite breakfast, wore his Ninja costume all day, played with friends and had his favorite dinner...cheeseburgers!

They just had to see how much Trace had grown overnight!

Sunday we had a family party with Shan, Jed and Jonah. Trace wanted a Ninja party so we did the best we could. He loved the costume but not the cake. Oh well. He got a great book from nana and papa that is a drawing and 'trace' book, he thinks they are amazing for getting a book that has his name all over it! He got 2 games, a few shirts, a new big boy booster for the car (instead of his carseat) and this ninja suit.

Tuesday we went to his school and brought a little treat and they all sang to him. He LOVES school and his teacher.
This pretty much sums up Trace.....We love you!!

Festival of Trees

2010-12-01T14:00:00.003-07:00

Last year my sister and I did our first tree for the Festival of Trees and we fell in love with it. We did a little 2 foot tree and had a lot of fun and it sold which made us feel really good. We thought we could handle a little bit more, so we signed up for a 4 foot tree for this year.
After Christmas last year I bought the tree and started looking at the discount ornaments. I found really cute popcorn balls and thought 'Hey what about a popcorn tree based on the song we all love 'I looked out the Window.' So all year we kept our eyes open for popcorn and window type decor. I must say it turned out super cute!

I found the window at Quilted Bear for $15 about a month ago, my friend printed cute red vinyl letters and popcorns and it all came together last night. If you have never been before GO!!! It runs from 10 am -10 pm today through Saturday and is one ov my favorite Christmas traditions. People are so generous and talented and I love all the beauty and love that fills the atmosphere.

Thanksgiving Adventure

2010-12-01T12:44:00.005-07:00

Every few years my family loves to go to Pagosa Springs, Co. It's about 1 hour past Durango and we love it. It's quiet, pretty, has a great pool and sports facilities. We get 2 or 3 condo's with our timeshare and play games, eat, watch movies, and laugh til we cry. We were all there except for one bro and his wife in AZ and we really missed them.

This year was no different....once we arrived. We left about 8pm Tuesday night and drove into what felt like the jaws of #&;(@. Seriously. This is usually a nice 7 hour drive. We didn't pull in until 9:30 am, the next day! It took us 3 hours just to get through Price Canyon. I've never seen snow like this before. We had chains on all 4 tires and it felt like we driving on the rumble strips for 3 hours. It was so loud and obnoxious the kids were going crazy by the time we were out of the canyon and took the chains off. Turns out that wasn't even the worst part of the trip! We hit some clear roads until just before Moab and then the skies really opened up. We were driving in 4 to 5 inches of snow, making our own tracks. The wind was swirling everything so crazy we couldn't really tell where we were moving and the only thing keeping us on the roads were the side pole marker things. Anyway it took us about 3 hours to get to Montecillo from Moab which is usually less than an hour. We were mentally and emotionally and physically exhausted but Chris bought some Dr Pepper and we kept going. When we finally got there I wanted to cry. I was just so relieved we got there safe and sound and so overwhelmed with the miracle it really was.

Chris and I took a few hour nap then the party started!

My mom and dad thought of dozens of things to do for the kids. Really they had a whole box of activities. Our last day there they sent all the grandkids on a scavenger hunt around the little complex. We went to the Rec Center, the store, and back to our condo. They loved it!!

Thanks Ropers for a Perfect Holiday!!

Harvest Time

2010-11-15T20:47:00.003-07:00

What do you get when you have a LOT of fresh basil from your garden (and some from your neighbors garden too)....

mixed with these.....

and some roasted pine nuts....?

A lot of fresh, homemade pesto!! My sis and I spent an evening making this and yummy! We've used it on chicken, homemade pizza, and a salad is next. Super easy and we smelled like sweet basil for days!

We had a bunch of great tomatoes this year so for the first time I made a bunch of homemade spaghetti sauce. No recipe needed, just threw a bunch of spices in and let them slowly bake for awhile. It was a huge success!

We got a 25 pound box of pears from Bountiful Baskets and .....sit down for this one.....I learned how to can! Yep my younger sis and her hubby came out for the first round to hold my hand, then I did the next batch all by myself. I was so proud and surprised how easy it was. They look so pretty on the shelf downstairs!

Happy Birthday Chris!

2010-11-10T18:12:00.002-07:00

Chris turned the big 33 last week. We had fun with a family party Wednesday night and a family party Sunday. I was horrible at taking pics so this is all we have. The boys decided on a batman party and decorated the house with cunstruction paper bats all over and streamers and balloons. We love you Chris!!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T17:00:00.008-06:00

Here are a few of our Halloween festivities, backwards since my pictures uploaded weird. Yesterday I was crazy enough to run the Provo HALF MARATHON! Not to brag but I just ran a HALF MARATHON!!! 5 am is a joke for a long run but we headed to University Mall about 6am, caught a bus and then our wonderful bus driver passed the starting line. So at 6:30 am there we were, walking down the canyon just above Aspen Grove by moonlight in about 30 degree weather. Oh well, then we waited til 9 when the race was supposed to start, and waited and waited. They were still busing some of the nearly 3,000 people that ran the race up to the start. So they finally started the race and we started running down the canyon, passing the busses that were driving up. Being a Halloween race we dressed up .....I put myself in the 10:18 minute mile pace group but within a mile it felt way too slow so I spent most of my time right behind the 9:55 minute group. I felt great. My 10k time came right in at 58 minutes which was where I wanted to be. This is about mile 10. It was SOOO pretty. Much of the trail was completely covered with leaves. The weather was perfect the whole time. It hurt to stop. I felt great, even got a boost at the end when I started seeing the crowd but once I stopped running my legs started hurting so bad. My calfs knotted up on me and today my quads are super sore. But I did it!!!!!! 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 11 minutes, exactly 10 minute miles. It was my slowest race but my longest so I'll take it.

Once again my boys came to cheer me across the finish line. Thanks for the support guys.

We got home and chilled for a little then headed to the ward party. Brooks was supposed to be a monkey but wouldn't leave his ears on. He had way too much candy but that's what the days is all about right?

Trace was Mr. Smee

Chris pulled out his kiltAnd Kayden was Captain HookThis is HALF the loot they came up with after trick or treating for just over an hour.

Kayden had a Halloween Parade at school. Always fun to see him march around the gym with his friends acting super cool.

Trace had a little Halloween program at school. They sang a few songs and a few poems about Halloween. It was super cute.

And this is why he is a monkey..............no costume needed. That is an entire bag of shredded wheat.

This is Kayden with his 1st grade teacher Ms Richards. Brooks and I got to go with him on his field trip a few weeks ago.

We've also had a lot of fun diong Halloween crafts. We made a boo box and decorated each side of the box with different scary halloween scenes. It took an entire Sunday afternoon and was super fun.

We've had a great October and look forward to Thanksgiving.....and to be able to walk without limping again.

10k??

2010-10-10T19:01:00.004-06:00

Contrary to what this blog is looking like our family has been up to more than me running-but for now this is what you get. Yesterday I ran the Wasatch Woman 10k race at Thanksgiving Point. It was beautiful. The family dropped me off at 8 am in a very cold 50 degree morning then headed home for breakfast. There were almost 2000 women that did the 10k or 6k so it was pretty busy. We started up by the barn and ran around the offices up there, then down to the golf course and all around the amazing gardens. I've never been to that part of the gardens and it was so beautiful. The gravel and cobblestone weren't so fun to run on but the scenery made up for it. We even went back behind the waterfall and all through the amphitheater. The we ran back up to where we started.
I had set a goal to finish under an hour. I checked my watch at 58 minutes and was still quite a distance from finishing. I was pretty ticked and confused cause I had felt like I had a really strong, good run so I kicked it up a notch and finished the last mile in 8 minutes. I came across the finish line at 1 hour 7 minutes and honestly was ticked. I had felt really good the whole race, even through the horrible hills and uneven surfaces I thought I had stayed on pace. I don't know why but I got all emotional about it and was crying-big baby. I had a lady come over and ask if I was ok. She happened to be the organizer of the race so I told her that I was just super mad cause my time had been way off. She said 'oh, I'm so sorry. We mismarked the course and the first 100 or so runners went an extra 1.1 miles.' Ha! What!! I was so excited to know that it wasn't me, and even more excited that I had run 7.34 miles and felt great.....The family was there to support me at the finish line and they had a bunch of booths and bounce castles set up for the kiddos. We hung out for about an hour and enjoyed relaxing together.
I think I'm gonna run the Provo Half Marathon at the end of the month, I think......

Utah Marathon Relay-A family affair

2010-09-12T15:50:00.003-06:00

5AM. Yep that's how my day started and it was so stinkin cold, like in the 40's. A few weeks ago I heard about a really fun race-a full marathon shared by 5 people. So everyone runs 5.2 miles. Sounds like the perfect, and the only, way to run a marathon. I talked to a few different people about running it but we couldn't seem to get a team together. Then my neighbor said they had one spot on his team left if I didn't mind being the only girl-fine by me I just wanted to run it. So this group is called the Morning Glories because they run at 5:30 daily-besides me. And the other little bit of info is none of them had ever run 5.2 miles. Seriously what is it about males and females? Anyway, we had a great time. Everyone came in with their fastest pace, myself included. I PR (personal record) at 44 minutes and 26 seconds. It was a great course and a beautiful day. I was the last runner so I had a few hours to kill. I learned that they were doing a 1 mile kids run so I called Chris about 8 and said wake up the boys and bring them on over. Kayden and Trace ran it with their little friend Sam.

Brooks was stuck in the stroller most of the morning but was so stinking cute the whole time.

Trace came across first all by himself and was pretty serious about it all.

Kayden followed not far behind and was very proud of his first race being finished!

We all got 26.2/5 medals and as you can see Trace is in love with his, really it hangs on his bed.
I love that my boys have these healthy habits. There is a family 5k we are doing this next weekend together too.

Turns out there were over 2 teams worth of people from my ward that ended up running. It was fun to all be there and do it together.

Our little Sr White Belt

2010-09-09T13:27:00.003-06:00

Kayden started Tai Kwon Do in January. He goes once a week for an hour. It started out kind of crazy because there was a big class with a wide range of abilities but after a few months they made a smaller class and he has done much better. We took the month of July off (due to crazy life) and then started back up in August.He works really hard at it and usually comes home pretty sweaty and tired. We decided to set a goal to have him be able to test for the next level by the end of August and he did it!
He had a 2 1/2 hour test a few weeks ago, I know. I couldn't even stay and watch it, it was so long. His Master said he did great and he was proud to present him with the next level Sr White Belt last night. He set another goal to test and advance to yellow belt by Christmas.

I'm glad he has something physical to do each week, but that he is learning to chanel that energy and use it in a focused, constructive way. Way to go Kayden!!

Another Beginning

2010-09-08T08:07:00.003-06:00

Just when I was getting used to having Kayden gone all day (ok not really-2 weeks later and still by about 1 I'm getting anxious) I have to start another routine over. I kind of wish Trace could just go 1 day a week, I know he loves it and will learn so much but we were having a lot of fun together. Anyway, Trace was super excited to start Smarty Pants Preschool yesterday.

Kayden was very proud of him and was telling him all about next year already when they get to go to the same school together.

We had bought new school shoes about 3 weeks ago. Trace had put them under his bed and looked at them every day since, just waiting. This morning he was sitting on his bed staring at them, so excited to put them on!! Right after school he ran upstairs and put them right back under his bed to 'keep them safe.' He already knows all his letters and letter sounds, can write his name and we've started on site words the and and. He is my child that will go into his room and lay on his bed and look/read a book or just day dream. He is content to be on his own which is very unique for my kids.

He totally scored-there's only 1 other boy in the class! His nametag, place mat and homework star were all green which is his favorite color so it made his day. So 3 days a week (well 2 I have Kindermusik one day) Brooks and I will be walking the neighborhoods in the morning, all alone. Maybe Walmart-with only 1 child? WOW

Stewart Falls Hike

2010-09-08T07:56:00.003-06:00

We got the crazy idea on Labor Day to go hiking with 4 kids under 6. And I'm happy to report they did amazing. I was prepping myself to have to carry Kayden or Trace but nope, not even a complaint! They actually almost ran most of the way for some reason. We met my brother Landon, his wife Jess and daughter Zailey and headed out.

It was perfect weather for a hike. It even got a little bit cold at the end, okay a lot cold at the end but it was great hiking weather. It was gorgeous and there were a few trees here and there already bright red and orange. It made me want to go up again in about a month to see the changes that will happen. This is my favorite time of year! Bring on the cider and pumpkin cookies!

I had the great idea when we were at the falls for the girls to take the kiddos and go back the Sundance way and the daddies could go back the way we came and meet us with the cars. I thought it was mostly downhill....... I was wrong!!! So jess and I set out with the 3 youngest. About 5 minutes into it we 'happened' to meet a Bishop from our stake on the trail and he said "oh are you taking the dog down the ski lift?" Oh we didn't know there was a ski lift so Jess ran back to give Baxter to Landon. So we keep hiking and about 15 minutes later a cute college girl stops and says "oh are you hiking all the way? I think the ski lift closes at 6 and you've got over an hour hike left." Um panic so I ask what time it was and it was about 5:20. She so kindly said 'well I hope for your sake it doesn't close at 6.' Thanks a lotSo we kind of went into panic mode and tried to move as fast as we could, it got really quite steep and Jess had Zailey on her shoulders, I had Brooks in the backpack and Trace's hands were starting to freeze so I was trying to hold them and pull him along. We started going over all the survival things we had learned from reading Hunger Games and figured if we had to make it over night up that mountain we could!!!! NOT Anyway long story short we made it to the lift (it didn't close at 6) and had a great, very cold ride down the mountain.

We finished it up with 3 yummy Papa John's pizzas at Landon and Jess's house! thanks for a great labor day guys!

First Day of First Grade

2010-08-26T12:33:00.003-06:00

Really, is my baby going to be gone from me ALL DAY LONG? Keeping with our tradition daddy stayed home from work the first morning of school and made us all a great breakfast of cinnamon bread french toast and sausage. Kayden was a little nervous and didn't eat as much as I would of liked but he was pretty excited to start his day.He was super excited to see his old friends, to have a new playground with swings, and to be able to eat lunch at school. Pretty much all the things I was worried about.Don't let this fool you. Trace can be pretty melo-dramatic at times and this was one of those times. He pretended to be all sad and lonely in the morning and then once we dropped Kayden off he never looked back. I asked him halfway through the day if he missed him and he said 'not weally mom.' The house was REALLY quiet. That's what I noticed most. There was no wrestling, yelling, lazer eyes, fighting (didn't mind that one) and he didn't really seem to mind. I'm sure it will wear off and Trace will one day be lonely but for now he's liking the time and space. This was like ripping off a band-aid. In kindergarten you get to walk right into their classroom and stay if you want to and make sure they hang up their backpacks and get to the right seat. This year they lined up on the playground and were marched into the big, scary, dark double doors JK. but really they just walked away. He was so very excited and I was embarrassed to be crying so I left my sunglasses on.

I had to, I promise I won't very often but the first day? I snuck in for lunch and am so glad I did. It was super fun to visit with him and make sure he was doing ok. Lunch is pretty quick, and there weren't many adults around to help out with little things like opening milk or putting straws in drinks and things like that but he'll be fine, right? I watched all the kids who bought school lunch and I guess they just go through a line and pick what they want so I started worrying if he buys lunch he'll end up with fries, chocolate milk and a hot dog. I know it's not the worst but come on! He loves fruits and veggies but I'm not sure if he understands to have healthy food at each meal either. At least packing a lunch I can somewhat control that. My friend is giving away these super cool lunchboxes here and I want one. For some reason I really worry about him eating and feeling rested so he can do his best every single day.

I know, you're probably thinking Trace gets the melo-dramatic from me but he doesn't. I'm usually a pretty chill person I think and let my kids do their thing but this was so hard. All day I thought of him and couldn't wait to pick him up. We didn't get home til almost 4 and by the time he had a snack and some downtime it was off to Tai Kwan Do. Then it was a quick dinner, bath and bedtime. I don't like only being with him for a few hours a day. I really need to get my act together so I can focus on my kids when they are with me now that the time is short.

Today was a little better. Still super sad to see him off and thinking about him a ton. I just want him to be happy, be nice to others, have the confidence in himself to do good and be good. It's made me think of a mission. I know I'm a nerd cause that's way far off but I've always been so super excited for my boys to have that opportunity. I see mom's weeping and wailing at their kids when they leave and I've always thought-that is ridiculous! Isn't this what you want for them? Shouldn't you be overflowing with pride (righteous of course) and excitement for them! And now I know, well just a little. Even when your kids are where you want them to be and doing what you want them to be doing, when they are away it still hurts, like crazy. Ugh

Bear Lake

2010-08-23T15:05:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we headed off for one last hooray before life gets very, very scheduled. We love to go to Bear Lake and didn't make it last summer with a new baby and stuff so we were super excited to go this year. We headed up Thursday afternoon and were able to stay until Sunday morning. The weather was perfect, not too hot during the day, a little chilly at night. It got kind of windy Saturday but settled down in the evening. It was a great trip! The pics are all backwards but here we go. Our friends the Fellers came up Friday night with their cute kids. Our kids all played so well together. I don't think we had one problem with them not getting along. They made up games and pretend play and had a lot of fun.

The bad guys tied up the princesses and played for over an hour on how they needed to be rescued from their castle by Batman and Robin. So funny!!

They played cards and dominoes (maybe a future love story here?)

Of course we had a great time at the beach for hours each day. We had fun burying each other and doing muscle man with the guys.....

and mermaids with the girls.

We tried all the kids at once and Trace freaked out pretty fast so we couldn't do a design but the rest of them loved it.

I love the beaches at Bear Lake. The sand is soft and fun to play in, the water is blue and beautiful and stays shallow for like 100 yards so there is plenty of space for the kids to play.

This little man loves loves loves the water. He sat for an hour or more each day and just filled up a bucket shovel by shovel with sand. He would just splash and wade out a little. We curled up under our umbrella each afternoon and took a little 30 minute nap. It was great

My sister Shan and her hubby Jed (below) and sis Bre and bro Jordan all came as well. We had a great time making jokes, playing games, of course eating and playing at the beach.

So lucky that my family are my friends that I hang out with and vacation with. We had a great time

Yes this is a rope tied to wee man's waste. I could not keep him off the table or out of the fire long enough to do anything. He actually did pretty well with it on.

We loved Bear Lake and hope to get a week at our time share for next summer so we can stay little longer. 3 days camping is about our limit but it sure was fun!

Finally--A vacation!!!

2010-08-17T21:31:00.007-06:00

We have been looking forward to our week in Park City for 6+ months since we booked it. It came at a great time.........well a much needed break time. I sat on the couch for a day and read a book, an entire book!! It was great. The boys ran amuck, played Wii until they asked to be able to do something else, watched movies, ate popcorn, had pizza for breakfast, went swimming everyday, and cried when we left. Here's a quick re-cap.

Day 1-Sunday afternoon we got there about 4 and unpacked, settled in for some great fun for the week.

Day 2-Monday I was super lazy, stayed in my PJ's and let the boys play Wii all morning. Then they started playing 'laser eyes' one of their favorite games where they pretend Brooks shoots lasers from his eyes and they run around crazy. They all love it. After a few minutes of this I hear a 'oh great you're in trouble now.' Apparently in their haste to get away from Brooks they accidentally locked him in a bedroom. I couldn't find the key for the door, Chris was at work, I called the office and they didn't have keys and the maintenance man was at lunch. So we kept the poor guy happy by handing him bits of licorice under the door. About 45 minutes later the maintenance man came and saved the day! Nice adventure-all before lunch time.

After this Kayden got a little anxious and said 'mom vacation is not for relaxing and reading, it's for having fun so let's go do something.'

We went swimming I think everyday. The boys improved so much in their swimming and diving skills in just a week I was so impressed. And I think Brooks might be a fish. He LOVED the water.

Everyone played Wii, a ton, even Brooks got in on the action.

Day 3- Tuesday. We needed to get out of the condo so we spent the morning at the Utah Olympic Park. It was so cool! They had great museums with tons of games and movies and interactive stuff for the kids to do. We watched the Ariel athletes practice their crazy moves-all for free! We packed a lunch and enjoyed a few hours there.

Chris and Kayden went on the big swing and of course it didn't go fast or high enough for either one, but it was still a lot of fun.

Trace and I zoomed down the Alpine Slide. So fast we caught the lady in front of us which Trace thought was super cool (don't tell him she was about 80 yrs old). He kept saying how 'he totally doosed it!'

After that we hit Main St for about an hour. The boys weren't fans of window shopping but we did stop in the Family History Center long enough for Brooks to fall up the stairs and put his teeth through his lip. Lots of fun.

That night my sisters came up and what did we do? Shop and eat. We had a great dinner at a cool little place then of course hit the outlets and then.......

went on a quick motorcycle ride.......

and then ordered 3 huge desserts at Ruby Tuesdays and passed them around and finished them off! The only missing was sister #4 Bethany-we had a GREAT time and I loved every minute with them. This was my only 'break' for the week and it was wonderful.

Day 4-Wednesday We headed to the public library from a tip from a friend and loved it. The boys were in awe at the size of the library and all the books. They had a great kids corner and we spent a few hours reading, playing on their computers, and then having a picnic lunch at the park next to it. Then we headed to the Farmer's Market at the Canyons. So Cool! I loved all the sights and smells and natural food cooking and being displayed. Loved it.

And apparently that's when my camera stopped taking pics. I know I took more but they are gone so here we go without visual proof of the rest of the week.

Day 5-Thursday we headed to Jordanelle and met our friends the Hancey's there with their amazing boat. The boys absolutely loved the knee board, tube, huge banana tube, watching Chris on the wake board, and playing on the beach. They were not happy when at 7pm we headed back. We were out all day and at one point they were on the tube for over and hour! That was a very easy bedtime that night.

Day 6-Friday we asked everyone what one last thing they wanted to do, or do again before we had to leave the next day. Chris took the boys to the arcade at the condo complex and they all loved it. Kayden and Trace wanted to swim and 'shocker' I wanted to hit the outlets for some quick school shopping. We all had a great day and even topped it off with some yummy pizza and salad on Main St.

It was a ton of fun to be together all week and not worry about homework, and not watching too much TV and making sure they ate healthy. I really just let them do whatever and that was pretty much the only break I got. I still cooked 3 meals a day (besides fri night pizza), still cleaned up, still did some laundry. So it was more of a 'trip' then vacation but it was a lot of fun. And I am super duper uper shmuper sad that school is next week.

What do you do in the summer time

2010-08-02T22:09:00.003-06:00

when its 90+ degrees outside?

This is about what our budget allowed for a swimming pool-lucky the boys don't really care. Brooks loves this thing, loves it! He heads straight to it and will sit down, fully clothed. It takes his breath away but he just giggles.

I love this! I'm so cheap we don't usually do towels-the good old fashioned warm up on the sidewalk.
You know you love this!!!

Ragnar 2010

2010-07-12T22:10:00.003-06:00

About 6 months ago a friend posted that she was looking for some runners to run a relay race. She said legs were about 3 miles long. I thought it sounded fun, and pretty easy at 3 miles so I looked into it a little more. Fast forward to June 18-19 and that's where you'll find us.......

16 miles later I completed my first Ragnar Relay! It was a wonderful journey of weeks and months of training. I stuck to their training schedule religiously. Like in 6 months I only missed 2 or 3 workouts. I started out not even running a full mile without wanting to die. I remember the night I ran 5 miles without stopping, I was on top of the world! It was a long, slow process and sometimes it was painful. It was hard to balance over an hour of exercise every day with my already busy life. There were times I felt selfish for adding another thing to my family's schedule. Once the weather turned warmer I'd put the kids to bed about 7:30 and run at night...that's when I fell in love with running. Before that it was a workout, a constant step by step fight to just not stop! But those night runs, watching the sun set and the pink and purple sky over Mt Timp, smelling the sprinklers and listening to the quiet of the fields, going on trail runs up in the hills over rough terrain, getting lost by a 'water tower' and having to almost slide down the mountain to get back to where I knew I was. I was hooked.

I was lucky enough to find 11 other incredible people who joined this journey. Team Motley Shoe-we were all so different, all running for different reasons and we all had a blast.

I was in van 2, we left Eagle Mountain about 1:00 Friday and headed up to somewhere South of Logan. Honestly I never knew exactly where I was but it was beautiful and I loved it. My first run was the last 3.1 miles up to Snow Basin. It was over 800 feet elevation climb in 3 miles. I was spooked. It was about 7:30pm, the sun was starting to go down and the temp dropped I bet over 10 degrees just during my run. It was tough, I ended up taking my earphones out so I could concentrate better. I thought a lot about Kayden on this run. I came to some realizations and understandings and was able to make some new commitments on how to be a better mother to him. It felt great to finish the run but my time came in at 33 minutes-11 minute miles. I was ticked to be quite honest.

My second run came at 7am the next morning. I had slept about an hour, wadded up in the back of our vehicle. I was tired but looking forward to this run. It was 6.5 miles through Oakley. It was the perfect run. I felt strong, not tired at all. Again, I found myself taking my earphones out so I could listen and enjoy the scenery. I thought a lot about Trace on this run and came to some new understandings about him. This was really one of my favorite runs ever. The sun was coming up and it was just peaceful. My time came in at 56 minutes. I had made up for it and averaged about 8 1/2 minute miles. I felt great.

My final run was the last 5.6 miles into the Canyons resort. Again I felt very strong, I was cruising that run. It was super hot, about 5 in the afternoon right on the black asphalt and the wind seemed to totally stop. I thought about little Brooks this run and how I'd never left him over night and was excited and hurrying to get home to see him at that point. I was so proud and excited to cross the finish line. My time came in at 45 minutes. Ya, just under 9 minute miles again.

It was a wonderful feeling to cross that finish line. I felt like I had set a goal, worked very hard to achieve it and was proud at how I had performed. We had an amazing team and I laughed, cried, and almost peed my pants multiple times (for various reasons) in only 36 hours. We finished just under 32 hours as a team, the top 45%. Not bad for a bunch of newbies!! Would I do it again? Yep...we actually are putting a team together for the Red Rock Relay in September and I can hardly wait!!!

We all came home with our teeth!!

2010-07-09T15:18:00.003-06:00

This year was our second annual trip down to Gunnison for the 4th of July. I didn't take too many pics but it was a great weekend. This is Brooks and his betrothed Lexie (yep she's bigger than him). They are so cute and loved playing together. I think he even stole a kiss. Trace and Kayden got to drive a mini four wheeler on their own. OF COURSE they loved it and I tried not to freak out.

I love little town parades. This one had tons of candy, toys, t-shirts and cow poop!

So this was one year ago, the dreaded day Trace lost his teeth..... Luckily they didn't set up the trampoline this year.

One year later looking more like a little man then a chubby cheek boy and just as cute without teeth, but I still miss them.

We had a great time camping in the backyard, eating Amazing home cooked mexican food, and playing 15+ games of volleyball. Our little family team came in 3rd in the Gunnison 4th of July tournament! woot woot!

Mad Scientist

2010-07-09T14:47:00.005-06:00

One of our favorite things to do is science experiments. We have checked out a books from the library for some good ideas, we've looked online, and even tried a few on our own. This one was really cool, it was some mixture of alcohol, oil, and water and the oil bubbles would float! This was cornstarch and water. We played with this mess for a LONG time then had to get it back out when daddy came home. It runs through your hands like liquid but sets up like a solid.

This was Kayden's creation. It took him 2 days and 3 rolls of tape. It's Iron Man!

We've also tried home made ice cream in a bag-lots of shaking and crazy dancing going on! We tried a little concoction of chocolate/cocoa in milk to see how much it would take to make chocolate milk. The boys even blindfolded daddy and made him drink it... he was VERY nervous about drinking a science experiment. We've tried seeing how long it takes to freeze water into ice, then melt the ice into water (put it in a bowl first). We've played with glass jars and different amounts of water to make different musical notes. All sorts of fun things!

Our first camping trip of the year....

2010-07-04T15:52:00.004-06:00

Was a actually a few weekends ago but I'm way behind on almost everything right now so this is a little bit of catch up. Our friends Mike and Erin Higley have a beautiful property in Mt Pleasant so we headed down there for a great weekend. The forecast said lots of rain but we figured whatever. LOTS of rain, hail, thunderstorms, and very cold temperatures is actually what we got but luckily the Higley's have a great camper and covered pavilion so we stayed warm and mostly dry. We spent most of the time in the camper Saturday doing play doh and playing checkers, go fish, and Bingo.

Yep, lots of hail, it came down really hard for a few minutes-the same few minutes we had decided to bail and Chris was loading up the truck. Poor guy got soaked.

The boys settled in for popcorn and a movie.

Little Brooks loved to just toddle around and explore. Most things ended up in his mouth and his little fingers were red and cold but he seemed to have a lot of fun.

They had a great tree swing.

Trace, Kayden and James got to sleep on the cool bunk beds.

The boys (not the baby) even enjoyed a few four wheeling rides before the big rains hit.

All in all it was a lot of fun and we hope to make it up there again. It was a beautiful area and we love to camp. We have a few more trips booked and can't wait.

I have a 6 year old!

2010-06-28T08:42:00.004-06:00

The pics are all out of order but here we go. My little Kayden turned 6 last week! He was born 2 minutes after Father's Day and my family was in town that weekend so we got to have a family party for him on Sunday at 6. He was supposed to worry about making it a great day for his dad and papa until then, but it was kind of hard on him. On his actual birthday we asked him what he wanted for dinner. He said there was really nothing that I could make good enough so he picked mexican food which could not of made me happier! I could eat mexican food everyday so I love that my kids love it too! We headed to the local mexican restaurant and ate to our hearts content. This was his first introduction to fried ice cream,,,,,,,,,, and obviously he loved it.

Chips and salsa run through my veins. I'm thrilled that Kayden loves it too.

Father's day was the day after our Ragnar Race so we were exhausted. We waited a few days and then celebrated with friends. He picked a few good friends to come over for a pirate party!We started out by playing pin the X on the treasure chest. He made the map on a poster board all by himself and we had a lot of fun. He and Trace had also made smaller maps for each boy so we passed those out and headed outside. We had to go through some rocks and trees, up the big hill, through some one's backyard, to the park and back again before they each found a treasure chest in the back yard. Then we were all hot so we got out the water balloons and squirt guns!

Back up to Sunday now again, we had fun family party. He'd wanted this pirate costume from the bookstore for months and has worn it almost every day. Any guesses what we might be for Halloween?

He even got a store bought cake this year, ugh but such is life right now. He didn't seem to care at all.

I can't believe he's getting so big and grown up. He is a huge help (most of the time) and I'm trying to enjoy everyday before he's gone all day from me for 1st grade. We were so blessed to have great family here, a friend party, and it felt lke a whole week of birthday celebration. We even started a new tradition of birthday fairy. He was having a hard time going to bed the night before so out of nowhere I said the birthday fairy wouldn't come until he fell asleep. So now we have a birthday fairy that leaves them something special to wake up to in the morning. This year the fairy filled his room with balloons.

Just keep Swimming....

2010-06-23T23:50:00.002-06:00

It seems like taking swimming lessons is just a part of summer. This year we are lucky enough to have my good friend Nancy be the official swimming teacher. We travel up to Alpine a few times a week to her parents home. It's a pretty sweet set up with a great swingset and playset for the kids who are 'patiently' waiting their turn. We've had a lot of fun talking to the fish and blowing bubbles getting ready for hopefully a trip to a water park near by sometime this summer.

Kayden has mastered floating. He got so excited after a minute or so he started giggling and it threw off his balance. It was pretty cute.

Trace had one scare where he got off the step and went under. He seemed fine until out of the blue a week later he decided to be totally scared of the water. But a good dose of motor boat go so fast fixed it up just fine.

Brooks is Usually happy in his stroller. Occasionally he likes to wonder around the play ground but he stays away from the pool. He is such a good kid.

Love the goggle eyes!!
I'm thinking of maybe doing a Triatholon sprint but I can't swim. I mean sure I can stay above water but that's different then swimming to actually get somewhere. Nancy would be a great teacher so we'll see what the next few months holds..........

What we've just finished reading.....

2010-06-14T18:59:00.002-06:00

Baby Jonah

2010-06-09T07:51:00.002-06:00

Last night I got to go up to LDS hospital and meet my nephew Jonah. My little sister had her first baby boy which makes him the 4 grandson, my kids now have to share Nana and Papa and I couldn't be happier! I have never had this experience before. Since she is my first sibling to have a new baby, plus being my sister probably has something to do with it but I fell in love with this wee man. Serious, I could of taken him home and stayed up at night and done the whole newborn thing! I feel like I had another boy he is just so so sweet and has me wrapped around his finger. Sure there are other kids that I've loved but this kid stole my heart. Shoot, Chris isn't too happy about it but how can you pass this cuteness up?
He has lots of dark dark hair and the best little cry ever! He has deep blue eyes and was pretty alert. His mom woudl start talking and he'd just perk up and look all around trying to see her. Good thing they live in Riverton and I'm sure they'll get sick of me cause I won't be able to stay away! Congrats Shan and Jed!!

And this is what my boys were up to while I was gone. All 3 getting haircuts at the same time! Kind of a funny pic.

Super Hero in Training

2010-06-08T15:35:00.001-06:00

The boys decided today was super hero day and wanted Brooks to join in on the fun! He loved running around with the cape for quite awhile. I'm so glad he has good big brothers to look up to.

Reflections

2010-06-08T15:03:00.005-06:00

First day of Kindergarten 2009 Last day of Kindergarten 2010

This makes me sad. It makes me sad because I feel like I missed all these changes that are so visible when put side by side. When did the same size shirt fit him above the elbow instead of below? When did the baby face, little bit of chubby cheeks leave? When did he get big enough to not want a little kid Lightning McQueen backpack, but a cool skater backpack. When did he get comfortable and confident enough to be on his, without me, all day? I'm not looking forward to first grade.

This makes me happy. It makes me happy because he is healthy and smart and growing well. I love knowing that he is confident and comfortable enough in his own skin to be on his own for the day and do pretty well. It makes me happy because he is excited about learning and happy to attend school.

But mostly it still makes me sad. I wish I could freeze time, or maybe just make a conscience effort to breath and enjoy it more often.

I had a new baby nephew born today and it made me think of each of my son's 'birth' days. There is nothing like it. The noises, the smells, the sounds of that first few hours right from heaven is so very special and I miss it. I am so very grateful my boys are happy and healthy and growing, but I wish it would slow down a little.

Kayden's Kindergarten Program

2010-05-24T22:04:00.005-06:00

Hard to believe that Kindergarten is coming to a close. I love half day, I really think all day away from me will break my heart. Really. I was so proud of him at his program. He worked very hard and knew every word to the songs and chants. He smiled a lot and seemed proud of himself at the end which was important. He's in the middle on the bottom row, which made it hard to see him but I tried to sneak around to good spots.

Is there a white shirt that will stay tucked in on a 5 year old? Love the ears poking out too!

Here is his teacher Mrs. Tame. Overall I think she has been perfect for him. Very structured, good routine, he knows the boundaries (not to say he always keeps them) and has loved school. My biggest goals for his first year of school was to establish a love of school and good social skills, and good study habits. We're still working on the last two but we're getting there.

This is exactly how I feel after church

2010-05-10T11:12:00.003-06:00

Classic!! This was followed by a 3 hour nap. I should of laid down too!!

Trace starts Tball

2010-05-10T10:53:00.002-06:00

I love the concentration on his face!

He's waited for an entire year for it to be his turn!

Now if we could just get them to actually look at the ball instead of play together. Oh well

He as a GREAT coach and tons of fun kids on his team. Every Saturday for the next 2 months, ugh. I mean ya!!

Well Baby gone Bad

2010-04-27T12:16:00.003-06:00

We are healthy people. We take vitamins, we exercise a lot, we eat right. Chris just actually lowered his cholesterol over 30 points and lost 20 pounds in 3 months with diet and exercise. I think we are the kind of people that 'pay into' the insurance world. So when we got our last insurance increase and it was over $600 a month-we freaked and couldn't afford it so we did some research. Basically (here is my soap box) insurance is a rip off!!!

We ended up with a catastrophic type plan because the monthly premiums on anything else were enormous, like a house payment. Before we paid just under $600 a month for medical insurance, we had a $15 copay and were happy to go to the Dr when we needed to and feel covered with the basics. The new plan is around $300 a month but has no copay. So now when we go to the Dr I have to pay for it. 2 weeks ago it cost me over $100 to spend 1 hour and 15 minutes in the waiting room, and 7-8 minutes with the Dr. This of course did not include the 12 month immunizations so we headed down to the Utah County health clinic in Provo for the afternoon. We waited with a few questionable characters in a not too clean clinic for another 30 minutes-but immunizations only cost me $13 per shot for the wee man. Worth the money? I guess. Now we just put money in a HSA so when we need to go to the Dr we have the money. Hopefully we keep up with the only needing to go for well baby visits, like we've done for over a year now.

I've also learned in the last few months that with my $600 health insurance my birth control was $25 a month. Now with my $300 health insurance plan the same birth control is $30 a month, and they ship it to my house. Hmmmmmm doesn't add up right? Amoxicillen was $15 with my $600 plan, and it's now $4, again doesn't add up. What the crap does insurance pay for? I really think it's a bunch of paper work administrative bull.

I talked to the Dr about the H1N1 booster for Brooks. He had gotten the first shot with the $600 plan and it cost me my $15 copay. Then we switched to the $300 plan so I asked if I could just pay for the booster shot without running it through my insurance. Sure, they said it would be $14.50. WHAT???? Anyway, poor wee man went for his 12 month well baby visit-totally healthy we thought. He ended up having a little ear infection so they put him on amoxicillan. 10 days later he looked like this.....

At first I thought it was chicken pox but after 48 hours they didn't blister, they kind of turned into gross bruise looking things. He had a horrible fever, runny nose, wouldn't sleep so good, and a cough came on after a few days too. This was all AFTER the antibiotic. So here's the debate. Yes they looked like they were taking their course and clearing up BUT what if it's more than just a little rash or something? Before for $15 I'd go to the Dr for peace of mind, now it's over $100 so what do I do?

It's my baby's health so I go to the Dr. Turns out he is allergic to penicillin (or the family of those antibiotics) and all of this was an allergic reaction to the amoxicillen, not chicken pox from the immunization we had thought it was. So I got a new antibiotic that's not in the penicillin family and the pharmacists said it would be $35. Okay, they asked me if I wanted a cheaper one that wasn't penicillin so we looked into a few prices. Turns out getting a different kind, with my insurance is $31. Nice

So, my whole beef is your damned if you do, damned if you don't. There is no way to NOT have insurance, but in the mean time I'm paying hundreds of dollars for what?????? Ugh

Am I way off here or should I just move to Canada, oh wait, in a few years this will be just like Canada.

SLC Marathon

2010-04-25T22:03:00.004-06:00

Nope, didn't run it. I just hopped on the course the last 6.5 miles with my Amazing sister Breanne who ran the whole thing. I don't know what I was expecting but she looked beautiful when I met up with her. She was so brave and strong the whole time. I kept going back and forth between talking to her to keep her mind off of things and being told to shut up and her turning her ipod up. About mile 24 I asked her which part of her body felt the best. She gritted her teeth and said 'my face.' It made me laugh

She finished 14th in her age group, just over 4 hours. So proud of her!!! The boys had fun meeting us at 3 different parts of the course with noise makers and a cool poster. I loved running with her, it made me excited for Ragnar and even made me think of a half marathon, maybe, don't go crazy though.

One small step..

2010-04-22T16:31:00.001-06:00

One giant leap for me!!

So 2 years ago I bought a sewing machine for me, for Christmas. You see-I knew there were changes coming up in the Stake (I was the 1st couns in the Stake YW at the time) and thought I may be released. This would give me some 'extra time.' I've always wanted to learn how to sew, nothing major just basic blankets, costumes for my kids, the much needed hemming job. I was so excited to start learning and looked into lessons at a few different places.

Then I got released, for 20 seconds, and called as the Stake YW President-bye bye 'extra time.' So the sewing machine went into a closet in the basement still in its box to wait for its time and season.

Fast forward to this week-I know there are changes coming up in the Stake, and honestly that doesn't matter to me anymore. I've realized I May Never Have 'extra time' so late last night I did the unthinkable. I opened the box, read the manual and sewed 5 bean bags! I realize this is Nothing for most people but I think my foot has touched a sewing pedal once, in 6th grade economics. I've never threaded a sewing machine, used a sewing machine, or even looked at patterns or stitches or thread counts. So I was pretty proud of myself when in the first 3 hours out of the box I had threaded the bobbin, threaded the machine, successfully sewn one bean bag and hence broken a needle off on a piece of wheat (they're really wheat bags) and then replaced the needle.

Again, small steps but I already have plans for some killer super hero capes for my kids!

Going to work with Dad

2010-04-18T15:28:00.003-06:00

Friday morning Chris asked Trace if he wanted to go to work with him. After he finished jumping up and down in excitement, he went and got properly dressed all by himself. He came out ready to "work".

Chris was only headed to the city offices in SLC for a permit on a project he's working on. Trace didn't go anywere without his hardhat, goggles, and toolbox. At one time he was even wearing a set of work gloves. Upon our arrival he was greeted by nearly everyone in two different offices. They thought he was so cute and on two different occasions, he was given new toys. He received a jumping frog, a paddle, a baseball rolling ball game, and a spongebob squarepants watch. Not to mention the few trips to the vending machine for some candy. Dad says it made his day to have him come along.

Spring Break 2010

2010-04-17T16:56:00.007-06:00

I can't get the pics in the right order, but we had a great Spring Break and I needed to record it. The boys are really anxious to go camping so Monday afternoon we broke out our 2 man tent and they slept in it all week long.Missionaries? I think so

We headed to the craft store Monday afternoon and each chose a few things to work on for the week. We made cool window sparkler things and T-shirts too. They were cheap and fun.

Tuesday was our big day out. I got a babysitter for the baby and the boys and I headed to How to train your Dragon. It was so cute and we had a fun time eating popcorn and laughing at the crazy dragons.

I think this is Friday night. They love to play video games and we only have 1 video game night a week so they were pretty excited.

Thursday we decided was backwards day. We wore our clothes backwards, played games backwards, made our beds upside down, ate grilled cheese and pop for breakfast and....dad even got into the action at night and we enjoyed pancakes and sausage for dinner! It was really fun and free.Wednesday we headed to the Life and Science Museum at BYU-free. There were loads of animals and little movies and a reading time. We were there a few hours and had a lot of fun. On the way home we stopped at Buy Low and loaded up on strawberries for jam and shortcake for the next few days.

And Brooks discovered the toilet paper roll! Hey-better than the toilet!

I was sad when Kayden had to go back to school. We had a great week together!

Happy Birthday to Brooks

2010-04-11T21:13:00.005-06:00

This has to have been the fastest year of my life. I can remember this wee mans birth like it was last month and it's been a whole year. He was so chunky!!! Look at the rolls of skin and loads of dark hair!! 9 pounds baby!! I loved every ounce of him. Kayden was so sick and small for so long I think I just stressed about him for 3 years, Trace came along so fast and I was so overwhelmed with two little boys I was just trying to survive for a long time. Is it bad to say that I've really enjoyed each stage with Brooks more so than I have in the past. He is such a good little boy and so happy and smiley all the time. He wasn't even 24 hours old and seemed to know exactly who I was already! I loved this moment.

1 year later.... blonde, still a little chunky, 8 teeth, fluent in mama and dada and trying his darndest to walk/run to keep up with the big boys. We had a great birthday party for him with family and friends. The boys picked out a Caterpillar cake to make and it was perfect for demolition.

He was very spoiled with toys and clothes and got LOTS of help from big brothers opening all the goods. I should enjoy this stage of him being too young to care when someone rips something out of his little hands.
Happy Birthday baby! I LOVE you-now stop growing!