Birthday Celebrations, part 2...

On to my troublemaker... Benjamin turned 4 a couple weeks ago. Unlike Andrew, Benjamin has been talking about his birthday for months now. We had it marked on the calendar and he was counting the days until the big day.

His birthday fell on a Wednesday so we just did a couple fun things during the day. I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said "have ice-cream, get presents, go for a bike ride, get a movie from redbox". Bless his heart. Gotta love the simple pleasures of childhood. And so we did as he asked.

On the following Saturday we had a little Monster Bash to celebrate his big day with his little buddies. It was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect! The company was perfect!

My monster centerpiece creation (I can't take full credit for it, I saw a picture on-line and just recreated it)

The kids got to do a Monster Race with these fun little monster stompers.

Even the Dads got to participate in the Monster Race.

Just 'cause I love this man!
Andrew cracking up, watching the Dads race.Monster Pinata
Some of the little monsters themselves.

Happy Birthday, my little monster. We love you!

Birthday Celebrations, part 1...

My little Andrew turned 2. How is it that my baby is already 2? He's not much of a baby anymore. Sigh...We didn't do too much stuff for his birthday, since he didn't really know what was going on. He did enjoy all the attention and the presents.


As a little tribute to my little man, here's just a few fun facts about him:

1. He loves to give kisses, and we can't get enough of them.
2. He is amazingly good at sharing (except for his food; don't anybody dare touch his food).
3. He is very independent. I have never, NEVER been able to feed him. Even when he was a baby and was eating baby food. I could never feed him with a spoon. He always wanted to do it himself. He'd just used his hands until he learned to hold a spoon. He always made the biggest mess.
4. He loves to dance. Whenever he hears music, he kind of starts shaking his whole body. I wish I had a video if it, it's pretty funny. We call it the Andrew shuffle.
5. He doesn't like when I sing to him. He starts saying "no, no, no" the second I start. It's not helping my self esteem, kiddo. I already know that I'm not the greatest singer. But that bad? Really? Oh well. At least he enjoys watching me dance. That usually gets a good laugh out of him.
6. His favorite food is hotdogs and clam chowder soup.
7. He loves being held.
8. He loves trains, or "cho-chos". We have a geo-trax train trax and he can play with it all day long.
9. Lately, he's been hating the diapers. He takes them off every chance he gets and loves running around naked.
10. He loves books.

We love you, Andrew. You are such a joy!

Easter Festivities

We spent Easter with family at Gunlock this year. We had such a great time. They had an Easter Egg hunt in the community park there. And then we had one of our own in the back yard. The kids were on sugar overload all weekend long.

Here are our lovely Easter bunnies.

The kids thought this truck was Mater. They wanted to walk over and say hi to Mater. So cute.

Also, I don't have any pictures, but Jamie's sister-in-law came by to visit. She has a little girl, Gracie. Benjamin kept chasing her around and calling her "pretty girl". After we got home, he told us he was going to marry that pretty girl. Boy, am I looking forward to his teenage years.

P.S. It is so difficult to watch/listen to the conference with kids running around everywhere. I feel like I hardly get anything out of it. I can't wait to get this conference Ensign issue.

the big 3-0

Yesterday was Scott's birthday - his 30th. I really wanted it to be special and memorable. But since we just barely moved to Utah, don't have a place of our own, and pretty much most of our stuff is in the storage, we opted out for spending it outside. Saturday we grabbed some gear and went snowboarding with some good friends of ours, Eric and Camille (they skied). The weather couldn't have been better. It snowed the night before and it was sunny and warm outside. We had such a great time. Oh, and I have to brag, I went down the black diamond. Ok, so all of us did. But everyone, except for me, has done it before. It was exhilarating. I could barely move the next morning. Scott, on the other hand, wasn't sore at all. You would think it was me who was turning 30. Good grief!

Later that evening we went out to dinner with Scott’s roommate buddies and their families (those who live in Utah). It was so fun to see everybody again. Thanks for coming out. We love you, guys.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Hardy! I love you!

We are...

MOVING.

From sunny and warm Nevada to cold and dreary Utah.

My winter wardrobe consists of 2 sweaters and a ski jacket.

We have no idea where we're going to live. Scott's job is downtown Salt Lake, so I guess we could live anywhere. His job is starting in less than two weeks. We just found out we're moving last week.

Heaven help us.

Snow Canyon Half Marathon

I ran my first half marathon this Saturday. It was down in St. George with gorgeous weather, fantastic route, and great company. I ran it with my friend Mandy. I loved running through the canyon, feeling one with the nature. It was a pretty good course, although a little more hilly than I had expected. My least favorite part was the out-and-back part, on the dirt road, parts of which were sand and entirely uphill. Over two miles of constant uphill. Have you ever tried running on sand? You feel like you're running in place. Regardless of it being my least favorite part, I liked running the -back portion of it, because I could see that there were still loads of people behind me. I had a secret fear of crossing the finish line dead last. I didn't really train for time. My goal was to run the entire thing without stopping till I crossed that finish line. Which I did. But the fear of being last was still there.

It feels great to have done it. There is something great about gaining control over your body, about feeling healthy, and strong, and in shape. It's hard to put a name on it. But it gives you this inward feeling of self-satisfaction.

I look pretty wasted here, approaching mile marker 12. Not sure why that lady behind me is wearing her number on her crotch.

Not my most glamorous picture...

Mandy and I at the end of the race with our medals.

...and, yes, I am REALLY sore today. It's a great feeling :o)

We are off to see the wizard...

Babulya and our little lion

Da boys
Tin Man and his buddies - Scarecrow, Mario, and Luigi

Taking a little brake...it must be hard work carrying those bags full of candy

Another year of great Halloween celebration. I'm off plotting what we're going to be next year.