~Color Run~

Way back at the beginning of summer my dear friend Katie and I decided to sign up for The Color Run.  It's a 5K where you basically get doused with color.  Sounds kind of crazy right?  Well we thought it sounded like crazy fun!  I didn't really take into account my plans for being pregnant when I signed up.  Opps!  Thankfully it ended up falling around my 15 week mark and the nausea wasn't as bad and Katie was patient so it all worked out.   

Here we are BEFORE, nice and clean and totally freezing.

My amazing cheering squad.  I couldn't believe Nick wanted to bring them along in the freezing weather to cheer me on.  I must admit that if the roles had been reversed I probably would have just stayed home with the little ones and sent him off with a kiss. 

Waiting for the starting line go ahead at "the happiest 5K in the world"!  This run was so huge with thousands of people so hey had to let runners go in waves.  While waiting for our go ahead we actually watched the first runners come back in and cross the finish line.  

Finish line color explosion!

AFTER, with color in pretty much every place you can imagine.

Katie and I had so much fun!  She was so patient with me.  We ended up only running about half the race and then I had to walk for most of the rest.  Still I felt like a rockstar for even attempting this while pregnant.

I can't wait to try this again next year!

~Ledges State Park~

Camping is one of our family favorite pass times in the Fall.  This year we didn't make it out as many times as the kids would like, but that's okay.  We all still had a great time when we did go and that is what matters most.  This weekend we decided to try Ledges State Park.  The camp sites were a little too close for our taste, but we still had a great time with our friends, the Teeds, and enjoyed all the fall leaves and hiking the next morning.  

 Finding the beaver chewed trees was very exciting for the kiddos.  We also found an assortment of leaves, sticks and rocks they all wanted to bring home.  I opted to take a picture instead.  :-)

We can't wait to go camping again next year, with a baby in tow instead of inside my tummy making me sick.  :-)

~On the Road Again~

Erin was kind enough to make the drive out to Utah with me and the munchkins.  We were going to be at my parents house for an entire week before Nick flew out, leaving us lots of time to swim and play.  Unfortunately the morning that we left on our major road trip Elyssa didn't feel well.  I loaded everyone in the car anyway, and with the help of ibprofen things were semi-managable.  Then by mid-morning Alec was feeling awful as well and they were both holding onto extremely high fevers.  It made for one very long, hard day in the car.  As we were coming to the end of crossing Nebraska Alec cried "I don't want to see any more corn fields anymore!"  Oh honey, I understand!!  Nebraska is not my favorite drive.  

We arrived in Fort Collins to stay for the night with my dear friend, Nicole.  She was a kind, gracious, and generous host despite my sick munchkins.  I was sad that we didn't get to go swimming in her pool, but I was sooo glad that I actually got to see Nicole and spend at least a little bit of time with her this summer.  She has to be one of my all time favorite people ever.  

After a fitful night, with Elyssa's temp spiking at 104 degrees, we got up, ate yummy breakfast with Nicole, snapped a few pictures for proof, and headed on our way to Utah.  

Thank you, Nicole, for letting me and my munchkins crash your place!  We love you to bits!

~Friends Make Life Fabulous~

These two cute little ladies are only a week apart.  I remember going through my 3rd pregnancy, talking/grumbling/whining with Tiffany all the time,  dreaming about the arrival of our impending little girls.  

When they get together you can totally tell they are around the same age, doing similar crazy stunts and making me laugh.  Sofie and Cordy together make an awesomely cute team.

Here's a shout out to good friends everywhere, who make life that much more awesome.  :-)

~Alec's Preschool Graduation~

The end of the school year came so fast!  We went out of town and before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to friends and end the preschool year.  This would be Alec's final year of preschool, with graduation and everything.   Where did the time go?  Didn't we just start this preschool year?

Alec had never been much of a performer in large audiences, but he stood up in the front with the rest of his class, and for that I was proud.

They sang songs, shared rhymes, and then got their preschool graduation certificates from their teachers before heading down to their classroom to show us different games and centers they worked on throughout the year.  It was fun!

Alec was lucky enough to have Mrs. Lynch again this year along with a new helper teacher, Mrs. Fetch.  Both women are wonderful and were perfect teachers for Alec.  I seriously couldn't have asked for better and wish he could have them as his teachers for the next 4 years!  Though you can't tell from the picture, Alec really liked both of his teachers and had a great respect for their opinions.  He just gets shy in the big crowds.  

Alec's very best preschool this year was Jack, hands down!  Alec and Jack played pirates all the time and frequently would gift their artwork to each other.  I found many a picture in Alec's backpack that said "TO: ALEC, FROM: JACK" and it always made me smile to see him making his own good friend.

It was a great year for Alec.  It's always neat to see your kids grow and learn new exciting things.  Alec is a bright boy with so much to share.  I love you more than all the stars in the sky, Mr. Alec!

~Elyssa's Last Day of Preschool~

Her first exciting year of preschool came to a startling close.  Going out of town for two weeks at the beginning of May threw us off and it seemed like all of the sudden the school year was over!  Where did all the time go?  And when did she get so big? 

Elyssa's teachers this year were Mrs. O'Toole and Mrs. Voung.  They were great teachers and Elyssa loved them both.  

One of Elyssa's good friends from church, Hailey, was also in her preschool class.  Hailey was moving away literally minutes after school got out.  They gave each other big goodbye hugs and I must admit it was hard not to shed a tear or two.

Elyssa's very best school friend this year had to be Reese.  I heard about Reese ALL THE TIME!  I sometimes felt like Elyssa practically worshipped the ground Reese walked on.  It was fun to see her make her very own friend for the first time without any input or help from me.  Sadly for Elyssa, Reese has moved across town and is not likely to be in the same class next year, but these two little ladies were practically inseparable at preschool this last year.  

It's kind of amazing to see how much she has changed over just the school year.  She is such a little model, posing for the camera any time she gets.  She has grown in so many ways.  It's so exciting for me to see how much she loves to learn and thrive in social experiences.  

I love you to the moon and beyond, Little Miss Lyssa Lou!

~Circle of Sisters Reunion 2012~

(Melissa, Me, Nicole, Heather, Michelle, Janie, Andrea)

After much emailing back and forth over the winter and early spring, we decided to have our Circle of Sisters Reunion in May.  Only a few short days later I found out my little brother was getting married the same week.  I was thrilled when it was decided they would have the reunion in Utah at Heather's parents gorgeous house in Draper so I could split my weekend between the two exciting events.  

I was so excited to see my girls!  It's been 8 years since we spent our summer together in Romania, but in some ways it feels like so much longer.  Our lives have changed so drastically yet we still manage to keep in touch and support and love each other on a regular basis.  I was sad that some of my gals weren't able to be there (Amber, Marci, Jenn) but I was still so excited to spend a weekend with these six beautiful ladies! 

It seems like most of our time was spend eating, relaxing, laughing, talking, and playing Just Dance on the Wii.  Good times had by all!

We did make it out to Cafe Rio and spent a little time shopping at the new mall in downtown SLC.  It all went by sooooo fast and I was sad to say goodbye as we all headed back to our regular lives.

I love you to bits, ladies, and wish you all lived around the corner.  :-)  

~Easter Dinner and Egg Hunt~

We had a wonderful Easter dinner with good friends at our house this year.  As always, I struggled to get any pictures while hosting, but believe me when I say the food was delicious and the table looked lovely with place cards, pretty plates and pretty glasses.  After a wonderful meal was devoured we headed out front to do an egg hunt with all the friends.

These are all the same kids we went camping with last Fall.  They play so well together and always seem to have a great time.  Easter was no different and everyone was happy. Happy Easter!

~Spring Break in Texas: Part 2~

After a sad goodbye in Austin, we made our way north to Temple Texas, where we found this sign waiting for us on the front door of one of my very favorite families.

We made it to Becca's house!  Oh what fun we had.  Becca was determined to win my children over with oreos upon arrival and hidden pirate treasure in the morning.  

Fighting off pirates with water balloons at 9AM in March?  Who could ask for more fun?

 Becca spent the rest of the week spoiling us rotten with park playdates, delicious food, and fun.  The kids had a blast!  Seriously they wanted to stay for another week, and I didn't blame them.

Becca spoiled me every night with  pedicures, manicures, yummy treats, vinyl for my water bottles,  and lots and lots and LOTS of girl talk.  It was fantastic!  

I fully admit that when it was time to go I cried.  Whenever I am around Becca I am a better mom, a better friend... pretty much a better person in general.  No wonder my kids didn't want to leave!  Becca is one of those amazing people that just brings out the best in everyone she meets.  I love that I can laugh with her until I'm crying, and then turn around and have a deep spiritual discussion all within the same day.  What I would give to have this lady as my next door neighbor... or at least in the same state! Here's to hoping that they finish residency and come back to Iowa.  A girl can dream, right?  

~Spring Break in Texas: Part 1~

I decided to be crazy brave and take a road trip down to Texas for Spring Break. With my three kids.  All. By. Myself. 

Yep.  I'm nuts.  Somehow it all worked out though.  Long days in the car, one night in a Wichita hotel, lots of movies and snacks, lots of patience and organization and then we made it!  Dearest Robyn and her clan welcomed us with open arms and we were very excited to be there.

The Mons were our good friends in Iowa until they moved last Fall.  It was a hard shock to Alec's system to lose his best friend.  I wondered how they would do after not seeing each other for 8 months but they just picked right back up where they left off.  Alec was in Heaven!  My girls were spoiled rotten by Miss Riah (Mariah) and everyone had a wonderful, relaxing time.  All I wanted to do was hang out with my dearest Robyn in her giant house, laugh, listen, and let the kids play, so that is pretty much exactly what we did.  It was perfect.  

It was a fantastic few days and we were all sad to say goodbye.  I am so grateful for the good friends I have made over the years and the friends my children have made, even if we can't always live close.  I think one of my favorite memories was when Harrison was saying family prayer one night and he said "we're thankful that our cousins could come and visit us".  I'm pretty sure my heart smiled.  :-)  I'm so thankful for the friends like family, the Iowa cousins we've been blessed to have in our lives.

~Omaha Weekend~

We headed over to Omaha for a ward temple trip on a warm March day.  It was so nice to go to the temple with our ward.  Afterwards we had a picnic on the lawn outside the church and then headed over to the Zoo with our good friends, the Teeds. Let the fun begin!

The kids had so much fun playing together and the day was so beautiful that we decided to extend our fun with dinner at Old Chicago Pizza with our six munchkins in tow.  Fun for us, big justified tip for the server.  :-)

Then we walked over to the Old Market river walk slides before loading up and heading home.

I realized right as we were getting in the car that there wasn't a single picture of me from the day.  It was so much fun I had to document that I was there.  

 What a fantastic day. 

~Captain Alec & Captain Jack~

I hear about Jack all the time.  He has been in Alec's preschool class for the last two years, and is one of Alec's favorite people in Iowa.  Pretty much everything Jack does makes Alec crack up.  They recently started calling each other Captain Jack and Captain Alec, both pirate ship captains of course!  

On this particular day we invited Jack over for a playdate while Elyssa was at school.  They had a blast together, building ships and cities and planning out their treasure finding expeditions without having to worry about sharing with younger siblings.  

Though Alec has been slow to warm up to other kids at school, Jack has consistently been a kind friend.  I really appreciate that.  I remember my mom talking about how much she appreciated the good friends I had growing up and I never really  understood it until I had my own kids.  You want your children to have good influences, people that appreciate them for they really are, and Jack is one of those kind of friends.  I am thankful for Jack.

Three cheers for good friends!

~Center Grove Apple Orchard 2011~

September 20, 2011

It was supposed to be a rainy afternoon with possible thunderstorms, but we decided to brave it anyway.  I picked up Alec from preschool with lunches in tow and we headed out to the Apple Orchard to meet up with Jakob, Sophie and Ms. Tiffany, some of our very favorite friends. 

 

 Turns out the weather was beautiful and we practically had the place to our silly selves!

 This has always been one of Alec's favorite parts of the Apple Orchard.  This year he could finally reach the pedals and really get around the course.  He wanted to stay there all day.

 Eventually we made our way over to the cornpool... one of my first favorite things in Iowa.

Lyssa loved catching air, corn style.

I wondered how Cordy would feel about it as my older two kiddos weren't big fans when they were tiny.    She is light enough that she figured out she could crawl all over the top of it without sinking down and seemed to think it was pretty fantastic. 

 Then we made our way over to the big slides and the giant bouncy pillow before taking a hay ride around the orchards and picking up some absolutely amazing honeycrisp apples.  They may be pricey at almost $2.75/lb. but they are worth every penny.

 Just another fabulous day to record and remember how much I love Fall in Iowa. :-)