At Last

I had so much to blog about... so you are getting the SHORT version in pictures. We had a FABULOUS trip to Utah and Idaho in July/August. It was just so good to get out of the heat. Here are the highlights:

We stopped by Bryce Canyon on our way up. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed spending time together. The kids loved Bryce.

Up in Utah, we had fun 'washing' Grandpa's car (i.e., playing with the hose). Viki and her family and Uncle Tom and Aunt Sue and her kids all came up and we went to LAGOON. It was really fun. I don't think I've been there since I was a teenager. I had fun going on Colossus, Wild Mouse, The Roller Coaster, Tidal Wave, etc.. ahh! the memories. I also went on most of the new ones, but ONCE only. My stomach is no longer made for roller coasters. We also went to "Lagoon-a- beach" and had a good time. It was a LONG, but fun-filled day.

Up in Idaho, we had a great time! We had an impromptu garage sale that the kids loved. With the money they made, we went our for ice cream! I also went with my brother Tom and some of his friends on a white-water rafting trip down the Snake river -- up in Wyoming. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cold! We didn't get on the river until about 7 p.m. It was a couple of hours and we hit some pretty big rapids (the biggest was a ' class 4'). We got soaked! It was lots of fun -- but I was so cold!

We also went to the Zoo. It was lots of fun -- not too big and the animals were out to entertain. They did this 'enrichment' activity with the bears and the lions that we got to see. The bears were trying to get at their food that was inside this PVC pipe. The lion was given a paper mache zebra filled with zebra manure. It was funny to see the lion tear that thing apart. I got it all on video and made a little movie for you. The monkeys were so entertaining and so LOUD.
Later that day we went to Rigby Lake and went swimming and played in the sand. Most everyone took turns getting buried in the sand. Here is Eden and Sadie after they got out!

The next day I got to go eat dinner with one of my oldest and dearest friends - Angie Whetten Farnes. Angie and I were friends in high school and then roommates at BYU after our missions. We had so much fun catching up! Here is me, Angie, and Viki.

Back in Bountiful, we celebrated Joshua's 7th birthday. He requested a volcano cake. So, I complied. Since we had over 30 family members coming, we also decided to celebrate all the rest of the August birthdays, including Eden's. She wanted a butterfly cake. I recently learned this cool technique for decorating cakes -- so I tried it out on my kids! It turned out well. Here are some pics.

My sister Sue gave Eden and Josh some real 'veggie tales' for their birthday -- straight from her garden! They are huge! We enjoyed eating part of them for dinner a few nights later, and then enjoyed zucchini bread with the rest of it!

Then, just a few days later the kids started school -- Josh is in 2nd grade and Eden is in 4th grade. So far so good! They are doing really well!

Well, here is the video of the zoo as promised. Eden chose the music! Enjoy!

Becoming Christlike

Sorry, this blog isn't going to be any deep, spiritual message, but hopefully it will lighten your day!

On my new Mac, which I love, there is this cool feature on iPhoto that has facial recognition software. So, you let the computer know which face is Eden's, for example, and then it goes through all your photos and chooses out what it thinks looks like Eden. Then, you can search and bring up all picture of Eden. Sometimes it is right (more than not), and sometimes it is not.

Yesterday, Eden and I were going through a few photos and I turned on the facial recognition software. We were going through and correcting some of the computer's wrong assumptions (it gets Teya and Eden mixed up). For example, it has a little box by each face in the picture and asks "Is this Eden?" and you hit a check (yes) or an X (no). So, one picture was of me, my mom and my sisters on the day I went through the temple for the first time. We are standing in my dad's office. On the wall behind us is a framed picture of Christ -- the one where he is wearing a red robe.

The computer has recognized my face and labeled it as Jennie. Then, next to the picture of Christ it says, "Is this Dave?"

so sweet

I'm so behind on blogging about all our birthdays, our vacation to Idaho/Utah, school starting, etc., but I just had to take a picture and share what I found by my bed last night.

The kids were just on one last night -- right about the time I was cooking dinner -- so I sent them to their rooms -- not as a punishment -- just to get them out of the kitchen and to quiet them down.

When I went to bed last night, I saw this little note that Eden wrote.

It says, "For you Mom. I'm sorry about what happened tonight. Love, Eden". She had given me a necklace that she made out of beads and dental floss. (Her very own creation).

Isn't that just sweet!

Josh & Eden in the swim finals

Here is a fun short video of Eden and Josh in their various swim meets and the finals for their swim team this summer. They both did AWESOME! They got up every morning (MON - FRI) and swam at 7:45 a.m. Then, they had meets each Saturday. They swam in the preliminaries and Eden qualified for the Butterfly (out of more than 60 girls her age). Josh qualified for all 3 strokes he tried out for (Backstroke, Freestyle, and Butterfly). They only take the top 16, so it was great for them to get to swim in the finals. They did awesome! We are so proud of them. The song in the background is from the movie "Henry V" -- and I LOVE this small section of it.

A picture is worth 1000 words

Eden is in a dance/music class for 2 weeks and today was 'crazy hair day'.  She won one of the prizes:

Teya -- who turned 4 on Monday (more on that later) got a crown and earrings from her big sister. Last night as I went in to check on her before I went to bed, this is what I saw:

$400 or $10

This has been my latest project. 

I saw this on the Pott. barn website for $400 (it was much larger), so I decided to make my own! $10 and a few hours later... here you go!

It was actually quite fun to make. Now I want to make more! I redid the downstairs bathroom -- so this is the central decorating theme -- I'm going for a sea scape look. The wall is a hazy blue and the towels are sage green. Now I need to redo the mirrors and lighting.  One thing at a time.

Going Public

Ha! Do you like my title? No, this post has nothing to do with the status of my blog. But, I decided it was time to 'go public' with a few of my fitness goals for the year. I know myself, and know that I work much better under pressure. So, I figure that if I announce my goals, than I will be more apt to actually accomplish them!

I have two hopefully achievable goals:

1) Run 200 miles

2) Be able to do the splits (front and back, not sideways) by my birthday!

Like I said -- achievable -- I'm reaching for the sun (the stars are too far away). I just came back from a good 5 mile jog/walk, and my total is now at 90. I'm just a few days away from 1/2 way through the year, so I'm just a little behind. However, I took the months of March and April off due to lack of sleep, so I think I'll make it.

My friend Liz ran 800 miles last year. She inspired me to set a goal this year. So, after realizing that I go to the gym and do cardio classes (dancing, weight training, etc) 3 times a week, I knew I wouldn't be able to come anywhere close to 800. So, 200 is my goal. Little steps.

As far as the splits -- I've NEVER been able to do them. So, why now? I've been going to a dance class each week and we do these great stretches when we are done. I started noticing a month or so ago that I was getting pretty flexible. So... I turned it into a silly little goal for me.

I promise to post a picture around my birthday (end of October) of me doing the splits -- just to prove that I have achieved it (assuming I have by then).

Well, thanks for indulging me and my desire to 'go public' with my silly goals!