Randoms

These are just a couple of pictures I thought were super cute!

The boys in the hot tub at a hotel we stayed at a while ago. They had so much fun! Crew loved jumping to Dad. Drake kind of stepped off the edge of the pool, but he loved it too!



Crew and Zink. So cute! Both little guys with WAY too much energy! They are good for each other!

Happy Mother's Day!

I wanted to tell all the women out there how grateful I am for their examples to me. There are so many women who have touched my life and help me on my way to becoming the woman that I want to be.

I am so grateful for a mother who has unconditional love for me. Who has taught me about enduring and having fun. Who has taught me to be patient and laugh at hard days. And who always remembers to call me when I'm having a special or bad day. I love that we have the technology that we do these days so that I know I'm only a phone call away from her! I love you mom!

I am so grateful for a mother-in-law who treats me just like I'm her own daughter. Who would do anything for my family. Who babysits on a split seconds notice and is willing to take care of the rowdy boys. She is always there to talk to or ask advice. She loves her grand-babies more than I can even say. Thank you Teresa! We love you!

I am grateful for grandmothers who are so sweet and full of love. Who know what it means to be Christlike. Who are the most kind and gentle women. And who have taught me immense amounts! I love you all!

I am grateful for sisters and my sister-in-law who are such good examples to me. Whether they are mothers yet or not, they have taught me about patience, love, laughter, and friendship. My sisters that do have children have taught me so much about being a good mom, about not beating yourself up, and that every mom goes through similar things. I love you all so much!

I am eternally grateful for friends, neighbors, relatives, and too many women to explain. I am going to miss so many great examples from my old neighborhood. But again, I am very grateful for the technology so that I can keep in touch with them. I am grateful for friends who put up with my venting, help me with my crazy cowboys, brought me meals after the birth of children, and just listened.

I am so grateful to be a mother to my little boys. They are a handful and they keep me busy. Life would just not be the same without them. I am so thankful to be able to stay home with them and learn from them. I am so grateful to a husband who supports me in this role, and who even lets me say every day when he comes home "They were so hard today" but knows that I wouldn't trade the hard days for being away from them. Some days I really struggle with being patient or getting things done. But then I get a phone call, a note, an email, or just a smile from a stranger in the store, and I remember that I'm not the only woman going through the same struggle, and that helps. I am so grateful that my Heavenly Father has trusted me with Crew and Drake and their strong spirits. Right now it seems like those personalities are hard to deal with, but I hope that some day they will be able to use those traits to make good choices about their lives and those around them. I love them so much and I'm so grateful to be a mother!



"We are all in this together. We need each other. Oh, how we need each other. Those of us who are old need you who are young, and hopefully, you who are young need some of us who are old...We need deep and satisfying and loyal friendships with each other. These friendships are a necessary source of sustenance. We need to renew our faith every day. We need to lock arms and help build the kingdom so that it will roll forth and fill the whole earth." — Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Boxes

So, we sold our home a little quicker than we thought we would. (That may be bad...did we ask too little?) We were happy with what we made and are excited about a lot of changes that are coming our way!

We were supposed to move to a rental house that would have put us closer to work, but the day before we were going to move in, the owner did some sketchy changing on us, and wanted to increase the rent. We were very frustrated, mostly because I'm pretty sure it was illegal, but since we had to be out of our home in the next few days, I spent all day on KSL and making phone calls and found something for us to move into that weekend! Crazy! It's a little further from work, but it's temporary, and month to month, so that's all we can ask for.

We hadn't even been in our rental for a week when Rett called me while I was on my way to work and said we had an hour to decide whether we wanted to take a job transfer to Idaho. It wasn't exactly the area we'd been looking at going to, but our plan all along was to sell our home so we'd be ready to move to Idaho when we got the job offer. I have thought all along that there had to be a reason that it all worked out so quickly, so we decided to take it!

I am so excited for the changes in our lives. Yes, they are stressful. And I'm pretty sure we are going to live in our house trailer this summer. BUT, what an adventure! And it's a small sacrifice for being able to build your dream home. So, we're heading to Southern Idaho the end of this month. We have found a couple of 5-8 acre lots that we really like out in the country! My cowboys will finally have a place to run around and not bother the neighbors! It's a lot of work to move so much so close together, and the boys are a little confused about all of it. But we are so excited for this next chapter of our lives!

Crew Turned 3!

Crew has been begging for new cowboy boots and a straw hat for months now. We kept telling him to wait for his birthday. And it finally came! He was so excited for his new stuff! We actually bought the boots in Oregon, and he was so mad that we wrapped them up and made him wait to wear them! Anyway, he has only taken them off to sleep and loves them!








Crew Loves:
All things cowboy including cowboy hats and boots, bull shirts (any long sleeve button up shirt that has a plaid or striped pattern), horses, bulls, Woody from Toy Story, Lane Frost, Flicka. Dogs. His little brother Drake. Dancing to music. Chocolate Milk. His parents.
Crew Hates:
Getting his hair cut. Stinky smells. When Drake takes his toys. When things don't feel right. Loud noises. People telling him no. Being around strangers. When his Daddy goes to work.
Our Favorite things about Crew:
He knows what he likes, and doesn't let anyone change his mind. He gives great bear hugs. He is super sweet when you are sick and don't feel well. He has the cutest smile ever. He's great at saying please. He is a great little athlete. He has a great imagination. He has the biggest, beautiful, brown eyes.

Sometimes we joke that Crew was so crazy even before he was born, that he kicked so hard, and that's why my water broke. He has been a busy boy since before he was born. And it seems like he just keeps getting busier! He has more energy than any kid I know! I am so grateful for Crew and his little personality. I am grateful for his craziness and zest for life. I love that he teaches me things, especially how to be patient! Rett and I are so grateful for him and how much joy he brings into our little family. We love you Crew!

Tierra's Wedding

Sunday night after Easter my oldest sister, Tiffiny, her 7 year old little girl, and her 5 year old twin boys, and Crew, Drake, and I left for Oregon. My baby sister was getting married the next weekend, and Tiff's husband had a class he couldn't miss Thursday, so we decided to go out early, and our husbands and brother would come out later. We didn't even make it to Wendover and we already had made two potty stops. Then we made it to Winnemmuca and decided since it was snowing we'd stay the night in a hotel and get up and drive the rest of the way Monday. It's about a 12 hour drive if you make good time. It was harder driving the next day, because the kids were all up, but probably safer. We helped out with wedding stuff as much as we could and the cousins had fun seeing each other and playing. Thursday night Tierra went through the temple and received her endowment. It was really neat to be in the temple with her. Friday morning our husbands and brother Josh got to Oregon. Drake was so excited to see his Dad that he didn't let him put him down for hours.





Friday evening was her open house. It was really busy keeping food out on the tables, but it was fun to see a lot of extended family that we don't see often enough. Crew was so beat that he fell asleep in a chair next to me while we were cleaning up dishes. Her wedding was a little untraditional but we decided to go ahead and make a cake. It wasn't perfect, but turned out pretty nice. My mom and sister Janae did so much prep work for the open house and food, it was amazing! They are both superwomen! And props to Rett for taking care of the boys while I helped out with food and pictures. They weren't easy to manage with all sorts of food and short attention spans. I appreciate my sweetie for helping so much!





Tierra and Brandon were married in the Medford, Oregon temple on April 10, which was also her birthday, the crazy girl! Anyway, it was really neat. It is crazy to think about my baby sister being married. She looked so beautiful on her wedding day! She has always been kind of a tom-girl, so it was really fun to see her all dressed up. And I was so happy to be able to see her and Brandon and how happy they were! I am so excited for their life together! All of my family, except for one sister were able to make it. Yes, we have a huge family! My mom had 7 of us crazies before she met my amazing step-dad who had 4! We were all sad that Jolene couldn't make it. It's not very often that there are that many of us together, but we know she was there in spirit!

Then we headed home right after her luncheon, which made for a long drive. We drove all night, well, Rett drove most of the way, and I drove the last three hours, and we made it home at 4:30am, but the boys were great and let us sleep in till 8! It was so worth it to see my family and hang out with some of them that I don't see often enough. I especially loved spending the time with my sisters and my mom and dad that live out there. I am glad Rett was able to make it through the week without me. I'm also grateful for his sacrifice to drive all night Thursday night, spend two days full of crazy wedding stuff, and drive all day Saturday night. It was a short and busy stay for him, and I'm glad he was there. Being out there reminded me of all the reasons why I love my husband so much and I'm so grateful for my amazing marriage and sweet little boys!

Easter

I know I'm late, and I have about a million posts to catch up on because we've been so busy!
The boys were very cute on Easter! I was glad to be able to spend all day together as a family before we took off for a week without Rett. We made these cute cupcakes for activity days and of course tried to color eggs. The best part was, that the boys wanted to start eating some eggs. I told Crew to "pretend" to take a bite of one before it was pealed, and he actually took a bite of it, peel, bright blue food coloring, and all! It was pretty funny! I tried to have a lesson with the boys about why we celebrate Easter. I never know how much they remember about things like that, but I hope they do!
We hope everyone else had a great Easter as well.

Boys with Attitude

So, Drake has always had a bad attitude to strangers. There have been times in grocery stores or stopping by my work or at church that people have tried to get him to smile, and he just won't! He's very good at glaring at you when he's mad too. The other day he really wanted to kill his Aunt Bree because she wouldn't let him go outside in the freezing cold. He seriously was trying to beat her with his shoes. My mother-in-law, Bree, and I were laughing so hard. I hope it doesn't encourage him, but sometimes it is just so funny how ornery he is! So, I finally got a couple of good pictures of his growly glare faces. And, even though it's kind of naughty of him, he is really super cute!!



These are just some funny ones where he had a head band of mine he put on and I thought it was too cute. And look, even a glare head band picture!



Crew was obsessed with putting on these 18 month jammies of Drakes. The shirt is a belly shirt and the legs go to his calves, but he's insisted on wearing them lately. And here he was wearing the all too cute jammies with his cowboy belt buckle and his dad's hat and boots! Cute little cowboy, even if he does look like an orphan with his little jammies on!



But they can also be the sweetest and cutest boys you ever see! And I am so grateful for such fun boys who keep me active and teach me how to learn patience. Crew is really the sweetest thing ever when I'm sad. He is so sweet and cuddly. They are such good boys and I am so glad I got to be their mom! I hope they always know how much their daddy and mommy love them!

Shamrock Half Marathon

One of my running buddies convinced me to run this half marathon with her. I have to thank my sweet husband for being so willing to help out with the boys while I go on these long, crazy training runs. I know it's annoying that I need to have that much time away from the three of them to keep up with my training. I think it helps me be a better mom and wife though, when I get some me time and get to burn some frustrations off. I had previously told Rett that I would only run one race this year, but since it was right here in Saratoga Springs and my training plan had me running about the same distance that day, and running with someone is SO much easier than running alone, I couldn't pass it up. It was kind of a cold morning for a race, but since I've been doing a lot of my training through the winter at 5AM, it really wasn't bad. And once the sun came up, it really was almost perfect running weather.

Somehow I thought Jen had mentioned that her goal was to get under 2 hours. So, the morning of the race I told her our game plan as far as pace and she laughed at me. She told me that she actually said it would be cool to get under it, but that she didn't really think we could. But, I am always up for a challenge and decided that she needed to get in under her goal time. So, I bullied her the whole race, which she was probably really sick of by the end, but we ended up running it in 1 hour and 59 minutes! YAY! It was very exciting to see her accomplish her goal! And it was probably the race I've had most fun running. It was really fun to get her in under her time goal and to think that I was part of the reason she made it!

Thanks for an awesome run Jen! I had a blast!

New Puppy

So, Rett's been dying to get a new puppy for months now. He is really into the field trial and hunt test thing with the labs we already had, but kind of had been feeling like they were almost maxed out at the levels they were at. I cannot fathom having three dogs, at least not in our current yard. SO, I had been pretty stern on the no puppy until you buy a house with a bigger yard or sell one of your dogs thing. We ended up, sadly, selling our female yellow lab, Jezabell, that we bought right after we got married, so we had her for almost 8 years. But, she went to a great home and we've seen her since then, and she's very happy.
Then Rett set out looking for a dog. If you didn't know, there are tons of websites dedicated soley to the field trial dog stuff. Rett could spend all night looking at the forums and websites. Crazy! He had a sire chosen, and found a few breedings with females he liked. We had a deposit down on one in Washington, and she ended up having a false pregnancy. After getting the money back from that and about a million emails, Rett got an email from a local guy here in Salt Lake that was going to breed his female to the sire, and Rett was pretty much the one that talked the guy into doing that breeding, and he told Rett he could have first choice of the pups if he wanted. Of course Rett jumped on this, but once he had the ultrasound done, there was one, maybe two puppies and the vet couldn't be sure. Rett was sure the guy wanted to keep one and so he set out trying to find one again. As you're reading this you are probably wondering why I am being so detailed instead of just telling you we got a new pup. But I just had to put you all through a little of what my roller coaster life was like with a husband getting so excited about a new pup, and then being so upset when it didn't work out multiple times. Anyway, finally we found a litter of pups from Canada with the same sire that had already been born, but one pup was not sold yet. SO, we jumped on that and the owner happened to be driving from Canada to Texas for some training with her dogs and that meant we got to drive to Colorado to pick up the little guy!
Wow, that was a long story. Anyway, we finally have the little guy and it's just like another kid. His name is Zink. His registered name is Elmingo's Little Man. (Elmingo is the kennel he came from and "The Little Man" is a goose call made by the company Zink, which is his call name.) I'm not getting to sleep through the night like I've gotten so used to since Drake was sleeping through the night since 2 months. I'm also having to deal with the boys either being too rough with him, or them getting their pants pulled down because he's trying to chew on them. We're having to make sure no toys, hats, blankies, shoes, or anything really is left down, because he'll chew it up.
But he is really cute. And Rett is really happy about him. He says there is already stuff he likes about him and can tell he's going to be a good dog. (I don't really know that you can tell when he's 8 weeks, but I just smile and say ok!) Apparently getting thrown down our full flight of stairs by a 3 year old and not making one whine or cry about it means he's a tough puppy. And he will already do simple retrieves. He's starting to sleep through the night, at least until I get up to work out which is 6 days a week at 4:45, so I guess that's most of the way through the night. I don't really mind except Sundays which is my only sleep in day, and I'm only asking for like 6:30. Rett gives him pep talks every morning talking about how he's going to be a field champion, about how he's the most expensive dog we've ever had, and so he better be worth it, about how he'd better start being nicer to the boys, and everything else. It's cute. He's like Rett's new little kid. All in all, he's a fun new addition to the family! And when they are running around out side, the boys couldn't be happier!

Motivational Read

MARATHON WOMAN: RUNNING THE RACE TO REVOLUTIONIZE WOMEN'S SPORTS by KATHRINE SWITZER



So, I'm only half way through this book, but already I've decided it's one of my favorite reads ever. I've been reading quite a few running books this year, just to keep my motivation up for my marathon training, and since I'm trying a new training program, I've decided there's a ton you can learn about running. Anyway, with all the books I've read, this one is definitely my favorite!

Even for a non-runner, it's motivating!! But, especially if you're a female runner!

So, it's a memoir or autobiography written by Kathrine Switzer about her life and her running career. It is very well written, because she has a masters degree and was a journalist for years, it's a lot better read than a lot of runners can write, simply because she knows how to make it interesting. But the fact that she was the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon, 1967, and during it was attacked by a race official who tried to force her out by ripping her number off her shirt, is incredibly brave. The running community credits her for the transition of women being involved in marathons, and even organized women's sports in general. She also was the winner of the 1974 New York Marathon and was one of the main reasons why the women's marathon was added to the olympics in 1984. It's very educational as well as entertaining. The historical events that took place during her lifetime are incredible.


This is the photo of Kathrine and Jock Semple, as her boyfriend actually knocks him down so they could continue of their way!


It's crazy for me to think about how that was really not that long ago! And to think, she was not allowed to go out and run in a race. The craziest thing to me, is that it wasn't just the old school male race officials who didn't want her running the races. A lot of the criticism was from females! That baffles me.

This is another photo of Kathrine and Jock Semple, the race official who previously tried to take her numbers off. She said that this was his way of trying to ask for an apology at the Boston Marathon a few years later. I actually kind of feel bad for the guy. He has taken a lot of heat over the years because of the whole thing. But, it just goes to show what someone can do to change the minds of virtually the whole worlds view of women in sports if they set their mind to it!


Anyway, it's a great book for anyone to read, especially a woman interested in running. I am definitely new to the sport of distance running and marathons. I am by no means a professional or for that matter very good. After my first attempt swore I would never run one again. I decided last fall that I had to run another one, with better odds at getting the time goal I want. And have since stated that if I get my goal, it may be the last marathon I run for now because of the time commitment and effort it takes. But after reading this book, I'm not sure how anyone could just stop running. So, the story of what the future holds for me and running is yet to come!