Christmas 2010

Christmas was crazy at our house. We had a lot of parties throughout the month of Dec. We stayed busy all month long. Come Christmas Eve Randy and I had nothing wrapped and had to stay up all night wrapping presents. I think we finally went to bed around 3:30 am. Luckily our kids didn't wake up till 8:00. Thanks to Grandma Carlson for calling us and waking us up.


Sad to say this is the only picture I took before the chaos happened. At least I took this one right?? We had a great day filled with taking a nap, playing games, eating good food, and lounging most of the day in our pj's.. What more could you ask for??

Oct- Dec catching up.

I need to finish blogging about all the fun things we did in 2010. After my marathon my family ( some of us) went to Disneyland! My family, and Shay's family left on Sat morning Oct 29th at like 3:00 am. My parents and my other sister and her family flew. We got there Sat afternoon around 3:00. It was a blast. We had so much fun. I absolutely love Disneyland. Randy on the other hand not so much.

The famous Disneyland picture spot. I think everyone gets their picture taken by this..

Our family.. So excited to go in .

All the characters were dressed up so cute. Shay and I wanted to get our pics with all of them but our kids were getting so mad..

Kobe and Colton waiting in line for a ride. They thought they were so cool and so grown up. It was good for them to have buddies their own age to hang out with.

Bennett was in heaven riding all the rides and hanging out with everyone all day. Life is a party for him . A day with no chores or homework is the perfect day for him.

This was Ash before the ride started. So excited, didn't know what to expect. Boy did she have a thing or two coming her way...

This was her reaction after the ride was over. She did not like the rides at all.. I think that was her first and only ride. After that we could not get her to go on anything else. I pretty much paid Disneyland for her to sit in the stroller and get treats with grandpa..

Bennett called these the golden plates and insisted I take his picture with them..

I have so many fun pictures it would take me forever to post them all..

Disneyland was a blast.. We loved it.We would get back to the hotel and be wiped out, but somehow the kids always managed to have enough energy to swim. It was a great vacation. Such a fun place to go and take the kids. Oct is a great time to go. Its not very busy and it is decorated so cute..

We also spent a few days at Sea World and we also went to the beach in San Diego..

It was so hot the day we went to San Diego. The shows were almost unbearable it was so hot.. We were able to get the front row (right in front of the platform ) in the Shamu show. It was really cool to be that close.. I thought for sure we would get soaked but we all came out pretty dry.

My kids loved the beach day. After the trip we asked them what their favorite part of the trip was , and of course it was the days we went to the beach and the times we swam at the hotel!! How does that happen? You spend all this money getting into Disneyland and then the best part ends up being swimming at the pool and going to the ocean??
We had so much fun. I can't wait for our next big family vacation. Wonder where our next adventure will be.. Maybe WALLY WORLD!!

St George Marathon.

Oct 2ND I was able to go to St. George and Run the 26.2 grueling marathon. It was so hot!! We started running at 6:45 am , at that time it was already mid 70's in the canyon. Once the sun came up it really heated things up. It was MISERABLE. This was the hottest year ever! Go figure, the year I draw out.. When we finished before noon the temp was 98 degrees. You could not get away from the heat. Runners were dropping like flies. The DNF Vans (Did Not Finish) were full every time they went bye. Out of 9000,00 Runners only 5640 finished and only 2600 were woman. I finished in 4:36:07. I was kinda disappointed about my time. I was really wanting to finish around 4 hours or slightly under. Because of the heat, I started cramping at mile 20 and couldn't maintain my pace to get me in at my goal time. I dropped back from my Awesome running partner ( Dave Astile) who kept me on track and busy with conversation to think of the pain I was in. My last 6 miles Was really hard. It took me over and hour to finish those last 6 miles. The finish line was AWESOME! There were people lined up everywhere to cheer you on. As soon as I seen the finish line I couldn't help but to cry. Its such an amazing feeling to push your body so hard, but at the same time your in so much pain that you can not wait to cross that line and be done. Its a love hate relationship.. I'm so glad I was able to push through all those doubts I had and finish. I won't be doing any Marathon's anytime soon. I will stick to half marathon's , they are much easier on the mind and the body. .

Dinner with my Sisters. We were all lucky to go down and enjoy some peace and quite a few days before the marathon.. It was nice. Might I add, we had been driving all day, yes we are aware that we look like CRAP!

The house we rented was So nice! This was the slide off the pool. Of course we all tried it, more than once, and yes we probably woke up the neighbors while playing! :)

You go first, No you go first.. I'll go after you. We had a blast. Not sure this was the best thing to do the day before the Marathon. Notice how nice and cloudy it was the day before? That would've been perfect running weather.

According to Dave this wasn't a smart choice either. Oh well, it's only 26.2 miles. The hot tub can't be that bad? Can it?

Thanks to Shane, we had a personal Chef. He cooked us the best meal the night before the Marathon. Your Awesome Shane. Thanks for putting up with 4 girls who thought they needed to be pampered.. You did a great job. :)

Finally done! Yeah, need to call my family and friends to tell them I'm alive. Notice the Ice on the knees? That's the first thing that happens when you cross the finish line. You get rubbed down with ice then Ice packs wrapped around your knees to try and help prevent you from being so sore. Doesn't really help. It took me a good 3-4 days before I was walking normal .

Such a great feeling!! We all finished. So glad I was able to go through this journey with my sisters. They are the best! I am so lucky to have them. Thanks girls, you ROCK!

My parents surprised us and came down with Randy the night before. It was a great surprise. It was neat to have them there, to watch us complete this. Specially my dad. He is so busy this time of year and was able to take time off from the harvest to be with us. Thanks Mom, Dad, and Randy. Your support was HUGE, for all of us.

The race crew. We are all sick and feeling near death but we can fake a smile for the camera cause WE DID IT! Dave, Alicia, Me, Shay and Dana. The Fab 5.

Nothing like a Kiss to say Way to go! Thanks for all your support, and for taking care of the everything while I did all those long runs each week. I'm lucky to have such a great and supportive husband.

Camping!

Over Labor day we went camping with some of our friends.. Maybe our only friends that will put up with us for so long.. Thanks Love family! We had a great time, the weather was great, the four wheeler rides were long and dusty, and the guys scouting trips got longer and longer as the days went on. Luckily I had great company that I didn't even notice my husband was gone!!

Ash and her daddy hanging out in the Love's trailer. They rented theirs so we might as well hang out in theirs inside of ours.. Not to mention, it was bigger than ours.

Ash and Erin having a beauty day in the trailer. Ash loves to be all pampered. Erin was so cute to do her nails and make her feel special. Thanks Erin, Ash really loves you and little Hal.

Ash and Hallie. They are so cute together. They tell everyone they are twins. They have such a fun time together. Ash bosses Hallie around, and little Hallie does whatever she says. Friends forever!

Bennett, Kobe,and Dawson going for our long truck ride into town to eat.. ARE WE THERE YET?? Then on the way home we had to go and scout for deer, as if they hadn't scouted enough..

The guys getting back late from one of their many scouting trips to eat what was left over from dinner.

Boating.

This year we were able to go and do some boating with our friends Jake and Erin Love. We had a great time. Can't wait for next year. Here are a few highlights from one of the many boating trips we did.

Kobe, Bennett and Dawson Love being crazy on the tube at Willard. Love these boating days~ Thanks Love family for sharing your boat with us. You guys are great!

Randy, Ash and Hallie Love. They rode the tube longer than the boys. You could hear their high pitched giggles and squeals the entire time. It was very cute.

Randy wake boarding for the first time. He did really good, but I have to admit I was better. Maybe next year babe you can get in and out of the wake.. :)

Jake, getting some sweet air. He was amazing! He made it look so easy. He was really fun to watch.

Erin Love, being a pro. She is really good, and like Jake makes it look so easy. Too bad I didn't have a good camera. Notice how dark it. Rand and I took all the time. Sorry guys! You are so nice to let us keep going and going. I'm sure you bored to death.

Kobe's first time wake boarding with the help of Jake. He did really good. Next year he will go by himself, right Kobe??

We love to go boating! Thanks again to the Love Family for letting us tag along all the time. We had so many laughs and major wipe outs. Can't wait for next year.

First Day of School

First day of school. Its always exciting to go back to school. You get to wear all your new school clothes, get to meet your new teacher, see who's in your class, eat school lunch for the first time. My kids were really excited to go back to school.

Kobe is in 4th grade this year. He is in a 4th/5th grade split class. We are really excited he was able to be in this class. There are only 13 kids total in the class so he has lots of one on one time with his teacher. He was embarrassed mom was in his class taking pictures!

Bennett is in 1st grade. It was really hard for me to let my little Buddie go to school ALL day! Its hard to believe he is old enough, and he doesn't need me anymore. He was really embarrassed I was taking his picture. I took his picture, then gave him a kiss, and told him I loved him. He came home from school and said, " Mom don't ever do that again. I said do what? " He said first of all you took my picture in front of everyone, then you gave me a kiss and told me you loved me. That was way embarrassing mom! Who knew that 1st graders got embarrassed by their mom. I thought I was still considered cool at that age.



Ash is in kindergarten. She loves school. Her kindergarten teacher was Mine and Randy's kindergarten teacher. She is the very best. We love Mrs. Thurgood. Ash is a social butterfly. She only goes 1/2 day, in the afternoon. She gets mad when the boys are leaving for school, she wants to be able to go as long as they do.

Its nice to have every afternoon to myself. I get a lot done. Its very nice and quiet. By the time they are getting home from school however I am ready for them to be home. As soon as the fighting starts 10 minutes later I am ready for them to go back!

Bennett's 7th birthday.

My little Bennett turned 7 on Aug 15th. We had a great day. We spent his actual birthday at Bear Lake boating and enjoying the warm summer weather with some of our good friends! Do you think I would've remembered my camera, NO!! We came home from Bear Lake and had cake and Ice cream with my family.

Bennett is very easy going. He does not need a lot of things to make him happy. He is very simple, easy going, and very caring. He still loves to snuggle with his mom, he gets his feelings hurt if you talk in a higher tone of voice. He is a NAG! As soon as we get in the car to go anywhere ( doesn't matter if its around back ) He is constantly reminding us to put on our seat belts. He does not stop until everyone is buckled up. He is very cautious and safe. He freaks out if my phone goes off while driving, for fear that I will text and drive. He still looks up to Randy like no other. He goes to work with Randy quite a bit and absolutely loves it. He loves to go hunting and fishing, he's an amazing soccer player, and I can always count on Bennett to give me a hug or a kiss just cause he wants too. He is my special little guy. We love him to death and we're so glad he is apart of our family.

Going along with loving to fish, Bennett wanted to go fishing for his birthday. So we woke up at 5:00 am ( We left Ash home, she didn't want to get another tick) and drove up to East canyon and fished. Kobe was certain he was going to catch more fish than anyone else cause he bought his own special power bate!

Let me just say, Bennett caught the first fish, the second fish, the third fish and the fourth fish. Finally Kobe realized his power bate wasn't very good and switched. Kobe eventually caught a fish, but Bennett was definitely the bread winner that fishing trip.


Here's Kobe's great catch. He was a little disappointed it took him so long to catch it, but at least he wasn't skunked all day.

The entire day they had to keep checking the live well to make sure the fish were still there and of course to measure and see who had the biggest fish.

The end result of our fishing trip. We had a great time. I don't go very much. Its too early, and Ash doesn't like to sit on the boat for that long with nothing to do. I am very glad I went this time, it is priceless to see the excitement in their faces as they are reeling in the fish! I love my boys!