Bad Hair Day

Lydia took a nap before going to church today. I laid her down right after her bath. In the past I have mourned over the fact that her hair does not stick up anymore. This is what I get for wishing for her crazy hair back...

The picture does not do the wild 'do justice. Natalie and Elaina were dying of laughter when they saw Lydia. However, the camera wouldn't cooperate! I couldn't get it to focus on the little lady. Arghhh! Oh well... Trust me, it was hilarious : )
I will never complain about having a bad hair day again.

Our Family 2009

My sister-in-law, Amanda, took our family pictures this year. Thank you so much Amanda!

Here are a few...

Are they really growing up so fast? Where does the time go and how is it that while each day takes it's time, the years fly be?

On The Run

I started running again a couple of months ago. I have to admit that I NEVER thought I would ever actually enjoy running. It has been such a great journey for me since I started about 3 years ago. I have gone through many stages from the "I can never make it to the next corner!" to the "I just ran 8 miles? I think I could keep going!" and everything in between. I was shocked at myself a few weeks ago when I was driving along in the car and saw a runner on the sidewalk. I truly thought to myself, "I wish I could be running right now."

Well, thanks to some amazing women and their enthusiasm and determination, we have gotten a team together and are preparing to run the Ragnar Relay in February. I am really getting excited for this crazy race. Here is the low down: 12 women, 2 vans, 200 miles. We will be running from Prescott to Mesa in a day or day and a half (depending on our speed). So there will be one person running at a time, each person to run 3 times. I have heard really great things about this race, some of which indicated that it will be an incredible/terrible experience. Fun huh? It will be a huge challenge anyways, and I am learning that it is always important to challenge ourselves and to continuously improve. (New Year's is just around the corner. Time for me to start thinking about other areas that need improvement!)

Give Thanks

Okay, so I am a little behind on my posts. I am just finishing up some old ones. Better late than never right? Right!

There were a few things going on Wed. with it being almost Thanksgiving and 4 kids in school (does preschool count?). TJ, Natalie, and Elaina were participating in the school's Turkey Trot and I thought it would be a lot of fun to join them.

They raced around the school and around the huge grassy field behind the school. Grade level by grade level the kids lined up to have their turn.

I decided to run with Natalie to begin with. I honestly thought we would catch TJ. Natalie has always been determined and steady. She did jog the whole thing (way to go Nat!) but we never caught TJ. After I dropped off Natalie, I ran back for Elaina, who was wearing an adorable turkey hat. She was walking by TJ's old 3rd grade teacher. Elaina and I took off and finished the race together.

When we got back to the school and found Elaina's class, I went to sit by TJ to check in. He said that he finished 2nd in his class! Wow, you always surprise me T.

I really enjoyed being with them.

I then headed over to Mrs. Sandy's backyard for the preschool Thanksgiving performance. I wondered how Tyler would do with several parents in the audience watching. I half thought he might sing out and say his part with total confidence. I knew I was way off when my little indian wouldn't even walk out with the other kids. He was finally coaxed out and sat in his chair and sat and sat. He didn't open his mouth to sing a single syllable. No hand movements for Tyler. Not a hint of a smile. The only interaction from the child was an occasional glare at the girl sitting behind him that kept tugging at the feathers in his hat. He did say his part when it was his turn, but we couldn't understand a word (and I knew what he was saying). I think when your mouth is opened over the microphone, it somehow makes it difficult to speak clearly!




After the program, I asked Tyler if he had fun. He answered with an enthusiastic "Yes!". I then made the comment that he didn't sing any of the songs. He said he sang them in class. There it is.

It is so fun to watch this little man and all of the preschoolers. Cute, cute.

Later in the day we had family pictures.

Thanksgiving Day we went bike riding in the morning and played at the park. Then we went over to Nana & Papa's house to eat a yummy meal, sing some thanksgiving songs and just enjoy being with family.

Later we went over to Grandma Laney and Grandad's. Our Lines cousins were there and we played with them.

There is so much to be thankful for that I am overwhelmed. How could I ever complain about anything? No, I have all that a person could need to live and be happy and so much more.

I hope to live life in the spirit of thanksgiving each day. The Lord is over all. Even the trials we must endure can be for our good and help us to draw closer to Him.

Too Cute at Two Months

On one of our walls at home we have pictures of the "2 monthers". Newborns change so much in 2 months! It seems to me that their personalities start to come through around this time. They are too cute. Here are pictures of the first four. Can you tell who is who?

And finally for the caboose...

My amazingly talented sister in law, Amanda, took this picture of Lydia. She has been busy with her new little sweetie, Gwen, and getting the pictures hasn't really been a priority for me. But it is so fun to have them now! Thank you, thank you Amanda. It is the perfect addition to our wall! I can't wait to frame it (it is taped to the wall until I can make myself venture out to a specialty store for a matte!)

I couldn't resist adding a few more of Lydia at 2 months...

Okay, enough is enough isn't it? I don't blame her!

I had some cute outfits picked out for Lydia, but she was only happy when I took the clothes off. Go figure. She still didn't last very long, but Amanda somehow managed to get the perfect shot for our wall.

Heroes

It may seem like I blog a lot about Tyler. He is so fun to write about, and I really want to remember his great personality as a toddler.

Tyler has a hero (in addition to Grampa Max and Daddy). His hero is Chief Captain Moroni. He loves to talk about Capt. Moroni, pretend he is Capt. Moroni, and pray for Capt. Moroni. Almost without fail Tyler will thank Heavenly Father for Jesus and Captain Moroni in his prayers. It is very cute.

I have a sneaky suspicion that he adores Moroni because he was a great war hero which translates to: he got to fight with a cool sword and was still a good guy. I try to emphasize that Moroni didn't want to fight. He fought only to protect his family, his freedom, and his right to worship God. Somehow I don't think he gets that yet. I love that he has such a great hero anyhow!

One day I thought Tyler would get a kick out of seeing himself as Capt. Moroni. So using my basic and somewhat embarrassing skills in photo shop, this is what I came up with:
We call this guy Captain Tyroni. Tyler loved the modified picture!

It is great to have heroes to look up to and try to be like. I feel like I am so blessed to be surrounded by heroes that I want to emulate!

Wall of Thanks

Last week we had our family lesson on all of the things we are thankful for. Thanksgiving season always provides a great opportunity to reflect on our blessings. A good friend says that we need to give Thanksgiving it's due! So true! We have much to be thankful for.
We decided this year to create a Wall of Thanks to help us remember many of our blessings.
We made a poster and stuck it on the wall. Then, each person got a pad of sticky notes. They have been writing the things they are thankful for on the note pad and sticking it to the wall.


I was impressed with all of there thoughtful notes on the wall.
Here some of the things they said:
clothes
brothers
shoes
seasons
tigers
books
moonlight
Cassie (grandpa's dog that recently passed away)
stars
friends
mom
Heavenly Father
my self
Italian food (okay, that was mine!)
scriptures
Michael Jordan
a car
dinosaurs
a bed
strawberries
eyes
a handful of thanks for all things Star Wars

I won't write all of them. It is fun to see how they write and try to translate kindergarten spelling! We will keep working on it and see if we can't fill the whole wall and maybe start another. It really shouldn't be that difficult...