Random Pictures

So Cute

Hangin out at Grandpa's

The tree hunt

The Depression Tree

A Real Reindeer

The Grinch's Christmas

We Found It!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

The New Year always brings reflection to my past year and to my life's goals. I achieved one of my goals last year-going back to school, but now I can't decide what I want to do from here on out. Is it a normal emotion to have a life full of purpose-mothering three children-but still feel like I am wandering aimlessly about. So I think this year is going to be all about enjoying my journey of discovering who I am and what I am suppose to be doing.

Highlights of Last Year:

I ran the Moab Half Marathon and the Bryce Canyon Half -with a personal record. I graduated with an Associates degree at SLCC. My dog-Tenzing- turned two and calmed down significantly. Mark and I celebrated our 13th Anniversary(crazy). Riley, Camden, and Cooper have been so fun to be around. Reuniting with my family on an Alaskan Cruise. Jared and Mark meeting for the first time-how did that happen. Hiking in the mountains. Tutoring 1st and 3rd graders in Reading. My family was here for Christmas. Watched my husband and kids run the Beat the New Year 5k.

The New and Improved Blog

I'm back!!!! After a long hiatus I decided it was time to blog again. I've missed recording our everyday activities. So, today Mark woke up early this morning and started his first race the Butler Bolt. I heard it was a lot of fun and it was fun for him to organize. I see many more races in his future. I stayed home with the boys so Camden could rest up for his Championship football game and it was REALLY cold.

Riley helped Mark keep organized and helped call out times. Camden had his Championship game against Olympus. It ended up snowing and was miserably cold, but the game was so fun to watch. It was so fun to see them celebrating their win and very emotional for those boys. I am not sure there was a dry eye among them.

Here is us before the game.

This is how many people ended up coming out to watch Camden. Thanks for braving the cold weather.
His biggest fan!

I GOT MY BRACES OFF!!

MOAB

On our way home from Moab, this year, we decided to write a poem about our trip. We are definately only beginners at writing poems but thought it would be a lot of fun and a great journal entry. This is what we came up with (mingled with pictures-of course)!

Got out of work
Got out of school
Went to Moab
Cuz Moab is cool

Mom and Dad were running a race
They kept a good pace in this beautiful place

We stayed at the cabins at the K.O.A.
What a fun place to sleep and play
A quick shower and off to Arches we went
Kids full of energy, Mom and Dad spent
A hike up to Delicate in the sun so bright
Kids hold Dad’s hand, he’s afraid of the height

Watch your step, down the trail we came carving
Lets get back to town we are all starving

This place looked cool. The Slickrock Café!
Little did we know there was a two-hour delay

The horrible food made us cry
Twas so bad Luke wanted to give McDonald’s a try

A good nights sleep, back to town we went
Souvenirs to be bought, money to be spent
Sand Hill we came down, Somersault, Cartwheel, and Bang
When we got to the bottom we had sand in every-thang

Covered in sand from head to toe
We jumped in the car and off to Salt Lake we go
Sand in our nose and sand in our rear
We can’t wait to do it again next year.

Christmas Movie Marathon

Today we watched The Grinch, Gremlins (yes, a wierd choice),and Santa Clause 2. After the kids go to bed we are watching Scrooged. It is so nice to take a day and just relax. The kids are getting so excited for Christmas and all the rest of our Christmas traditions. This week we will try to fit in Ice Skating, going to see the Temple lights, and the famous Robbins Family Christmas Party. Pictures to come.

Happy Halloween

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Cleaning Today

Today the house is a mess and I would rather sew. The kids gave me some major stress this morning and I think they should clean while I relax. As I was looking on the internet for some messy house pictures (I don't have the energy to take a picture of my messy house, upload it on the computer, and then on to blogger.) I found this picture. Well, it is giving me a panic attack, so I am going to be cleaning my little house today and hopefully I will have time to sew tomorrow. Oh wait, the kids are out of school. We will be thinking of something fun to do out of the house so it doesn't get messed up again.

Camden is a New Man!

Yeah! Camden's surgery was successful and all the worry is behind us! I can't believe the difference having his tonsils and adenoids out has made. He looked sick all the time and the dark circles under his eyes ( that I thought would never go away) have disappeared. He feels so much better. Looking at this picture, I can't believe how grown up he is. He was so brave and was actually excited to go with the doc. Congrats Camden it's all over.

Pics

Our Summer

It has been awhile since my last update and everyone has been wondering what I have been up to. This summer has definately not have gone the way I would have chosen. The summer started out with my nephew Garrett leaving this life in a very confusing way. His death has caused a deep reflection in our families life and has turned our anticipated summer into something that is hard to explain. It has helped to have family in town and spend time with one another. The only thing I have been able to do is keep going, taking it day by day, and keeping myself and the kids involved in summer activities. We have been swimming a lot. The kids did really well in their swimming lessons and all learned to dive. Camden went to football camp and Riley tried swim team and has decided she does not like to swim. I think she just needs a break and hopefully next year she will enjoy swimming again. Cooper has been doing what he does best-Making us laugh hysterically. Mark has been working hard. Poor guy, I wish he could take some more time off work. A couple of weeks ago Mark found 2 road bikes for a really good deal, so he has been riding a lot. I went on my first ride a week ago and had a blast all except flying downhill. That scares me just a little bit :) I have been training for a Marathon since the end of April. I like to run but maybe not this much. I will be glad to have the marathon over, but am thankful for the training because it has kept me exercising which helps out with every facet of my life. My niece Grace came into town and while she was here we had a photo shoot with all the girl cousins. I will post pictures soon. I am so thankful for all our friends and family who have kept us in their prayers and supported us through this summer. I know I have been a little withdrawn so I wanted to update all of you who we have not seen for a little while. Now it is time to start getting ready for Back to School.

MOAB!!

A couple of weeks ago our family along with with Larsen family went to Moab to watch the boys run the Moab half. This trip was so unexpected. You usually put your name in the lottery for the half and hope you get in, but it usually doesn't happen for a few years or 5 years in Cathy's (mark's sister) case. Well Mark had some pretty good luck and got in his first try. This was a much needed vacation and couldn't have come at a better time. I needed the warm sunshine. We had a lot of fun hiking in the Arches National Park, watching Mark and Luke run in the finish line, and eating the best mac and cheese . OH, and the KOA kampground was the best. Thanks April for catching those. Here are a few pics I wanted to share.

I can't say that I loved this book, but maybe by far one of the best I've read this year. It is about Jeannette Walls life being raised by parents who didn't want to live the normal life, and in doing so went in the very opposite direction. The kids would go days without eating food and they lived in homes without plumbing, heating, or anything else that we take for granted every day. This book has given me a new understanding of the homeless and a new strength. It was very interesting to see how she made it out of that life and the strength and courage she gave to her siblings. Definately a must read

New Site

Check out my new favorite site. I have gotten some cute ideas for Riley's hair. She hates getting her hair done, but since we tried these hairstyles she has loved it.

My New Years Resolutions

I very rarely write down my New Years resolutions. I think I don't want to in case I don't accomplish the goal. This year is a time of change so I am writing down my resolutions. This post is more for me than anything. I need a place to remind me daily of these goals or they would not happen.

1- To create a home of order and comfort

2- To live a healthy, active lifestyle

3- To read a book on the life of each President

4- To remember to read scriptures and pray daily

5- To be more involved in my children's schoolwork

There it is! There are a lot of things I need to work on, but these will work for this year. I hope since I wrote these down they will truly happen.

Christmas 2008

Our Christmas was a nice ending to this year. Santa, as usual, brought balloons Christmas morning. A favorite family tradition.
Not the greatest picture, but we are sledding at midnight on the streets after the big snow storm.
Mark captured this great pic on our trip to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square
Here is another great picture of that evening. Temple Square was the last tradition we hadn't gotten to experience, so Dec.21 at about eight o'clock we bundled the kids up and headed down there.
The kids had a lot of fun in the snow
Our kids annual sing-a-long at their school
Cooper had a lot of fun bowling for his birthday on the ninth. Thanks to all his friends that came.

Well there is the recap. It was a lot of fun and now I have to decide on my New Year's Resolutions.

Cooper made the perfect remark today after we voted. He said "We need a joke." He is so right! He handed me a laffy taffy and we had a fun time telling jokes. Here is the joke for the day off of the laffy taffy: What does a television have in common with a rabbit? or What did the crop say to the farmer? If anyone can guess the answer I will reward them with 5 minutes of uninterrupted eye contact!

The Best Vacation Ever

Sorry for not posting for awhile. I feel like I have been running a million miles a minute. I thought having Cooper in Kindergarten would give me some extra time, but it has made things a little difficult. Kindergarten is still half day in Utah (come on, get with the times), so I have to drive to my kids school three times a day. I am always in my car these days. Oh-so back to the best vacation ever. We went to New York for our anniversary and we had so much fun. Thanks to Suzy, Quinton, Jacob, William, and Grace, Mark's sister's family, for showing us the sights. The picture above was taken on the ferry from New Jersey to the Statue of Liberty. I kindof look like Sherlock Holmes, but oh well. Lady Liberty was a lot bigger than I thought she would be. The best part of the vacation was experiencing it all with my hubby. Neither one of us had been to New York before, so it was fun to experience it together. We were giddy about everything and were total tourists. We had to go get our picture taken with Rupert by David Letterman's studio, stand in the long line to got to the top of the Empire State building, take a picture of anything that reminded us of Seinfeld episodes, go see Ground Zero and Wall Street, eat all the yummy food, and much more. We had a blast and we will definately be going back.
Here is something you don't see everyday. This was in front of the Rocky steps in Philadelphia.