My friend and a half

I have a neighbor named Alicia. Between church, library trips, playing in the yard, and running in the morning, we see quite a bit of each other. A while back we heard that the The Top of Utah Half Marathon was coming up. We decided that it would be fun so we trained ourselves up and yesterday was race day. We had to be up and out by 5:30, which was really early and a little on the chilly side. The race was part of the course for The Top of Utah Marathon which is next month. We will not be competing in that. We wanted to finish in under 2 hours and we were totally excited to finish in 1:59. It does not get any closer than that! Bryan got the kids ready and was waiting to see us finish. Here is a little video that he took of us as we were nearing the finish line. Alicia is the one in the white shirt. The other girl we just happen to be passing when Bry was taping. It was a bigger race than I have run before, but still very fun. It is always more fun with a fun friend to run with. Thanks Alicia!

Off to school!

We can hardly believe that the time has come, but yesterday was Jake's first day of school. He has been so excited for so long that he was surprised on Wednesday night when I told him it was the next day. He woke up at 7 ready to go, but we had to wait until 9:30 which was pretty hard. He literally ran in the door when we got to the school and while other mom's were lingering, he told me bye several times trying to hint it was time for me to leave. When we went to pick him up he yelled," Hey that's my mom!" and came running to tell us about the fun he had. The saddest part is that he doesn't get to go back until next week. We then made a celebratory trip to McDonald's for a fun lunch. I know some day we will look back at this picture and think how small he looks, but for now I think he looks so big. We love you kiddo!

Still great after all these years!

Sometimes these pictures seem like forever ago, and sometimes like yesterday. We had our 7th anniversary on Saturday. We got to spend a night out having a yummy dinner and watching a freaky movie (we saw "The Dark Knight", Bry loved it, I was freaked). We got to walk holding only each others hands, eat our own food, feed only ourselves, and only buckle ourselves in the car. It was so fun. We should do it more often. Thanks to Reese and Lacey for watching the kiddos. I have to say how glad I am to be married to Bryan. Who knew after two weeks of knowing someone that we could decided to be together and have it work out so great. I love you best honey! SHMILY

Two new sets of wheels

After some shopping around, we got a big kid bike for Jake. We are still trying to convince him that he will not fall with training wheels, but some day he will have fun when he is on it.

After some shopping around Bryan also got a big kid bike. Well, he got a scooter. A "doodoo" as Kate calls it. He enjoys his purchase much more than Jake so far. It gets great gas mileage and the kids LOVE to go on rides. Plus he looks pretty cool on it, don't you think?

Here is Kate getting in on the action.

The girl can accessorise

Kate has had a fascination with shoes and coats for quite a while, but now it has spread to belts. Unfortunately she only has one little belt that came with a pair of shorts. We are lucky enough to get to see it pretty often.

Talking Kate

She may not be understood by everyone, but she is saying more words every day. It is so fun to watch her figure things out and communicate more of what she wants. It turns out her words make her even more sassy, if that is possible. Sorry about the camera dropping in the second one. When Kate was watching the video it made her jump when it fell.

County Fair

The county fair was in town two weekends ago. It was a pretty hot day and Kate was too small for most of the rides, so it was a father son outing. Jake got a day pass so they went in the day and then again in the evening when it was cooler. He got to ride on and climb on all that they had. Other than an elbow injury he had a great time and Bry did a great job of documenting the whole thing.

Can you feel the love?

Their aim is not the greatest, but they do love each other.

Hey, I was going to wear that!

P.J.'s, a cardigan, a sleepy face and peep toes. How did she read my mind? That could have been embarrassing.

Peek-a-boo

Still fun.

I cleaned my room all by myself!

That is what Jake said to me the other night while he was getting ready for bed. I went in to his room to tuck him in and did not see some of the toys where they usually are. A little investigation and this is what I found. It may be the first time, but surely not the last.

It's all in my head

I just recently started finally reading "the vampire books". If I hadn't maybe this would not have even crossed my mind. But doesn't she look like she might want to take a bite out of some one's neck? Creepy eyes!

The evolution of the string cheese man... and his friends

Jake is known for not being the fastest eater in the world. He will usually finish, it just might take him an hour. That is probably where he gets his slim figure from. Lately he has been getting quite imaginative with his food, slowing the eating process that much more. He told me he was an artist the other day, so i guess his medium is food.

String cheese man... take one

String cheese man...take two, small head

String cheese man...take three, finally the way he wanted him

We have also been graced by the carrot man and grape guy. All in a days work for an "artist".

And the winner is...

Out of the many summer blockbuster movies that have come out this summer you, the voters, have chosen Batman, The Dark Knight, as what you believe to be the best movie of the summer. With The Dark Knight capturing over 40% of the votes, Iron Man and WallE followed as a distant second and third place respectively. So with that, we will put our trust in you and as part of our 7-year wedding anniversary dinner and a movie extravaganza we will go to the movie theater and watch Batman, The Dark Knight. You think this is a big celebration just wait until our 10-year anniversary. By then not only will we go to dinner and a movie, but we'll actually buy treats at the theater instead of sneaking in our own. Thank you for your participation.

Pioneer Day and the weekend

Here in good old Utah, July 24th is a state holiday complete with 4th of July type celebrations. We started the fun bright and early at 7:30 when Jake and I ran the one mile fun run. It was his first race and he did great! He ran all but a few steps. He loved crossing the finish line and the Gatorade that was there for us. Here we are post race.
Bryan woke Kate up and ran down to meet us at the finish line.

Here is what my dad got me dressed in to go to the race. Bryan played in a three on three competition.
Kate napped while Jake watched the parade and ate candy. In the afternoon, after Bry went to work, my friend and I took the kids to the park for festivities. Here is the jump house fun.




After running around in the heat, we got snow cones and headed to play bingo. It was a little long, but Jake ended up getting a bingo and winning a snow cone maker and some yummy syrups. Then home for dinner, baths, and to bed early. Bry and I got to step outside after dark and watch fireworks from our yard. It was a long, tiring, but fun filled day. Friday was business as usual. Then Saturday we spent the morning failing miserably at yard saleing. Then we were off to the pool to cool off. Jake is getting more and more brave every time we go. This time he was going under water on his own over and over just for fun. Before long he might be swimming.

Bryan and Kate playing around.

Mom and Kate squinting in the sun.After the pool we headed home to have a BBQ with friends. More homemade ice cream. Can't seem to get enough of that this summer. And a good time was had by all.

Seriously, that face

Bear Lake, take two... enter jet skis

We headed back up to Bear Lake yesterday for some more fun in the sand and sun. We went with the same good buddies that we went with last time, and this time they had Reese's dad's jet skis. It was another great day and we didn't get nearly as sunburned.

Was it a massacre?

I was walking down the hall the other day and I looked into Jake's room and this is what I saw.

The hand gun on the bed makes it look especially violent.Without jumping to to many conclusions about Jake's future prison time, I decide to ask what it was he was playing. The explanation is so much nicer than it looks. He was playing Tarzan and those are the "vines" he swings from. He could not get the animals to hang by their hands so their necks were the next best thing. Apparently the gun belonged to the hunters that were after them. This boy has one heck of an imagination!