Turning 2

My baby is 2 years old! I can hardly believe it! She is so much fun to have around. Some of her favorite things include: Isaac, babies, strawberries, strollers, dogs, anything Afton is playing with at the moment, puzzles, our neighbors the Rundell's or "Grandpa" as she calls them, climbing their tree and playing with the kids around the yard. We sure love you Khora girl!!! Happy Birthday!

My Afton Girl

Afton's Birthday was on Saturday, the day of the Marathon, so it kind of got sidestepped this year. Really what happened as a result is that it's been extended over about 4 days. Saturday night we did come home and ordered pizza and she got to open her presents. Sunday we grilled hamburgers and had cake and ice cream. Yesterday we had a little water party for her with some neighborhood friends. How crazy it can get with 15 kids running around! She had a blast though!

5 Things I love about Afton

1. Her smile, I love taking pictures of her! What a beautiful girl!
2. How she loves to sings all the time
3. The way she likes to make me "choose a hand" for everything!
4. Girl time together! We love painting our fingernails.
5. Her strong will! Even though we come into conflict on this one, she will always be a strong person because of it even when I'm not there!

{Of Course} Moments

This muse came in my scrapgirls newsletter today and I felt it was so good I wanted to post it here as well. It can also be found by clicking on the link provided.

{Of Course} Moments

If I consider how nice I will feel once a job is finished, I will find it more agreeable to do it.


If I eat lunch, I will not become ravenous in the afternoon.


If I put things away in the evening, I won't have to face a mess in the morning.


If I figure out what I want to do before I do it, I won't waste time figuring out what I need to do when I have to do it.


If I look at my calendar, I won't forget appointments.


If I put my socks in the hamper, the dog won't eat them.


If I empty the dishwasher, I can put dirty dishes in it.


If I keep my extra batteries charged, I can take photos when I want to.


If I keep an extra bottle of shampoo in my bathroom closet, I don't have to clean my hair with body wash.


If I squeeze the toothpaste from the end, it doesn't plug up.


If I call a friend, I have someone to talk to.


If I turn on the lights, I can see.

- Ro

Ogden Marathon

This year Dennis' sister Lanette got a relay group together to run in the Ogden Marathon. I have always wanted to see Dennis run so I was pretty excited about it. Dennis had to wake up at 4:00 am in order to catch the shuttle bus that left at 5am to take the runners to the starting line. The race started at 7am, so he had pleeenty of time to warm up, litterally, next to the fire barrels they had set up. I was so nervous for him I couldn't go back to sleep. They wouldn't let cars up the canyon road after the race started to I didn't actually get to see him run, but I picked him up when he was done. Thanks to cell phones we got a pretty current update on everyone's progress along the route. We all gathered together at the finish line so that the team could finish the race together. I was honestly surprised at the emotion I felt there! It was incredible! I didn't expect it to hit me so strong like that! I can't say how proud I was for all the racers, but for Dennis in particular. I don't know of anyone who has more determination and stamina than he does. If he wants to do something he can just go out there and do it! That's amazing to me!

Our three oldest kids ran in a Kid K that afternoon with some of their cousins. It was .6 mi along the same route as the marathon. It was really exciting to sit and wait for them. There were so many kids and a lot of adults with them, that I didn't even see Jacob cross the finish line. I did manage to find Isaac as well as Afton who had Dennis running with her. We met up with everyone as they were sitting down to eat their snacks. They each got a cowbell for finishing the race as well as a T-shirt.

Here are some pictures and a couple facts from the activities for the Ogden Marathon.

Relay Marathon:
Relay 1: Dennis (7mi)
Relay 2: Kevin (6.1mi)
Relay 3: Kaeli (5mi)
Relay 4: Lanette (5mi)
Relay 5: Susan (3.1mi)

The team crossed the finish line together at just under 4hrs 30 minutes. Dennis was really excited because he was able to run a 9 minute mile during his leg.

Pediatric Visits

Both girls went in for their wellness visits yesterday. We were supposed to go on Tuesday but when I got to the office . . . it was gone! Yes the entire building was gone and only a small pile of rubble was left. So we drove all the way back home called the office and got another appointment and their address. (We've only been going there for4 years or more.) The clinic moved into a much needed new facility just a little while ago. It was very nice. The fish tank was incredible, right out of "Finding Nemo".

I'm happy to report that both girls are doing fabulous and their stats are as follows:

Afton
Height: 3ft 8in (89%)
Weight: 38.2 lbs (42%)

Where did she get that I wonder. . . !!

Khora
Height: 32.6 inches (27%)
Weight: 22lbs (5%)

Hum!!!

I was so surprised at all the stuff they gave Afton since she was "getting ready for Kindergarten." She got a juice box and snack, play dough, a fun passport with a picture of her and the doctor and a T-shirt. Khora walked away with three shots and some play dough. Afton was very kind and shared with her though since she got three owies and Afton only got a little one on her finger.
This is Afton with Dr. Miller.

Tennis Anyone

I got a tennis racket for Mother's Day this year. The only tennis court in the city is just a little over a block away so my boys and I thought we should try to get our game on this year. Dennis gets out and plays with my dad and brothers when we visit but we haven't been doing much on our own. On Tuesday we all walked down to the park and after spending quite some time fixing the net we got to play around a little bit. For not really playing at all I thought it was great that I could actually hit the ball back to Dennis, even if it did launch into the air when I did it. Our neighbor gave Jacob and Isaac a couple lessons with his own boys and it was so neat! I did get to "volley" with Dennis for a while and I haven't been too discouraged yet. In fact I picked up some balls at the store. I'm having a lot of fun with it! Thanks for the great gift guys!!!

Pinewood Derby and Ballet Recital

This week we also had the pinewood derby for Jacob's scouts and Afton's first ballet recital.

Ok, I feel terrible to actually admit this, but in my defence this is completely Dennis' relm of expertice, but we put off finishing Jacob's car till the last possible moment, but it turned out good and he had fun! We definitly learned some tricks for when Isaac gets to make one. Pack Nights are always fun here and I love that they're for the whole family. They gave each of the boys their own drivers licience and Jacob won an award for the "Most Aerodynamic Car" as well as a trophy for racing! It was really a fun night.
Afton started taking a ballet class this year and had her first recital on Friday night. She was so thrilled to be getting a new purple costume! She loved getting all dressed up with make up and lipstick! It was such a better experience for us than our former dance recital experiences. I mean it was good music, elegant movements, modest costumes, a well qualified teacher and the class was offered at an unbelievable price, mostly because she just wants to share her talents with the girls! We've really been blessed to find Nichole! We're definitly on born next season when the class starts up again.

Snowbird

We were able to spend some time last week at Snowbird with some friends of ours. They had access to a time share up there. I've never been to Snowbird before. I've never been snow skiing for that matter, but there were still people out there on the slopes even though it's May. It was a perfect week for it. The weather was fabulous! The kids had a ton of fun playing games and swimming in the heated pool. It really was heated!!! (I somehow missed packing my swimsuit, bummer, but my friend was good about taking care of the kids in the water.) I missed Dennis a lot and had a bit of a head cold that the elevation seemed to agitate. We had to come home on Thursday and when we pulled into the carport Jacob said, "Oh, it's good to be home!" I couldn't have agreed more. I spent the rest of the day out in the yard pulling weeds and planting some flowers and plants.

Happy May Day!

I totally missed May Day yesterday. Dennis' mom gave us some flowers one year on May Day and I thought that would be a fun tradition to start, I just always forget, so even though I'm a day late, I wanted to give you some flowers from our yard.
We've been doing a bit of yard work in our yard today, in between rain showers of course. We bought a few more bushes for the yard, another red rose, a dwarf honeysuckle, 3 current bushes, and a dwarf pink pixie lilac bush. I love May!!

X-men Beginnings Movie

Although at this moment I can't remember if the movie is Wolverine or X-men Beginnings something or other, but Dennis and I made it out to see the newest X-men movie today. I'm pleased that it was so much better than the monstrosity of X-men 3. It was extremely intense though and I did close my eyes during a couple moments and can I just mention . . . Hugh Jackman!!
I love stories that build off other movies the way this one did. I love seeing the other side of things. Very fun characters and though I'm not a comic book x-men follower I will admit that I watched the cartoons when I was younger. For some reason I always sort of liked Gambit. The character in the movie did lack the accent though and I wanted to hear it.

Leo the Lion

Today we took the boys to City Hall to participate in a Jr. Olympics program that the city sponsored. Leo the Lion from the Real Soccer team was there to greet us as we walked in. Khora was very nervous about this strange creature with the funny eyes. She wouldn't go near him but she would wave hello.

The boys participated in several different events: basketball, soccer, tennis, and track and field. They had a lot of fun! The wind and rain was a factor in their performance out on the field, and we ended up pretty wet. Isaac spent about 20 minutes playing around with the tennis ball while we were waiting around and thought it was so much fun. The city is having a tennis workshop next week for the kids. The boys want to get some tennis rackets so they can play together. The only tennis court in town is only a couple blocks from our house, so we may give it a try! By the way have any of you ever heard of "Pickle Ball". Google it!!