It's official!!!!!!

K, I know I'm a total nerd for posting about this but I am so excited I can hardly stand it! Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to be on Wheel of Fortune. I remember watching it with my Grandma and I've always just loved the show. Well, a few days ago, I saw a commercial that the Wheelmobile was coming to Boise and I just about passed out. lol The only problem... it's going to be here the same weekend I'm in Utah running the Wasatch Back that I've been training for for the last 5 months! So, I found out I can fly home the evening the race finishes and my sweet, amazing, incredible husband is going to drive home with the kids the next day so I can audition! It's also the day before my 30th birthday so he said, "Happy Birthday. That was easy!" :-) My flight is now booked!

I'll let you know what happens!

Time for a new look for the blog

So what do you think? I wanted something new for spring/summer.

I'd also love to know who reads my blog so... "come out, come out, wherever you are!" Please leave me a comment and come out of "lurkdom" (is that a word?) :-)

The motivation of $$$

We have been having fun with our landscaping since we built this house 2 years ago. We were able to start from scratch and since this is our first home we've owned, we've been learning as we go. Well, there is an area in the back yard where we have a tree and a large area around it that we have planned to put in another tree and some bushes and flowers. We had the landscapers that put in our sprinklers, put in some rock in that area. Well, now we wish we would have had them bring in some dirt and raise it a bit and put a wall along the back of it and a border around the front. So, we have the wonderful job of moving the rock off, doing the work, and then we get to move the rock back. So, I got the brilliant idea (if I do say so myself) to get the neighborhood boys together along with my boys and pay them $1 for every 3 buckets of rocks they moved. They were THRILLED! :-) I ended up spending about $17 and an hour helping them and we got it all done! That would have been a LOT more than that if we would have hired it out. It was a lot of fun too.

While the cat's away...

Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to fly down to Utah and have a Women's Weekend Away with my sisters, sisters-in-law, Mom, and some dear friends. There were 12 of us in all and we had a magnificent time! I flew down on Thurs the 8th and got to hang out at the mall for a couple of hours until my sister Cayr could drive us to Midway to the cabin we had rented. It ended up being more like a Villa! It was beautiful!!! Up on a hill and with 11 acres surrounding it and breathtaking views of the Heber Valley. Friday we slept in, went to the Park City outlets and shopped and had dinner at a fun restaurant in Heber.

Saturday, my other sister Elizabeth, my sister-in-law Heidi, and I ran the Race for the Cure in Salt Lake City. What an amazing, moving opportunity! We completely lost it when we saw a sweet young father with a paper pinned on his back saying, "In Memory of: My Love" with 2 little kids next to him with papers pinned to their backs that said, "In Memory of: My Mommy". As we weaved through the crowds of people, we shed many more tears as we would read who everyone was walking/running for.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, doing projects, and enjoying being together. Sunday was Mother's Day and I flew back early in the morning so I could spend it with my wonderful family. It was such an amazingly relaxing weekend that I truly needed!

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me but I'm hoping to get some pictures from others that were there to share soon. It may have been a good thing that I didn't have it though because Drostan was able to have it at home. As I have been downloading pictures from our camera to the computer, I have come across some pretty funny ones I thought I'd share with you...

My not-so-great race report

It was NOT my day.

I had signed up for the Idaho Potato 10K a few months ago to help me keep up with my training for the Wasatch Back. I hadn't run for a week because I was trying to nurse my knee. I have been having pains in my IT Band and didn't want a full on injury so I was trying to take it easy this past week. My legs felt pretty good this morning so I was glad for that. I had run 8 miles just fine 2 weeks ago so I didn't think this would be a bid deal. I've been sick for over a week but thought it was only laryngitis and it wouldn't effect anything.

So I was really late because Drostan was late getting back from an early morning cycling (his first attempt at physical activity since the accident) so I was barely getting my number about 2 minutes before the starting gun went off. I tried get my ipod all set but it wouldn't turn on. :-( I brushed it off and thought it would be fun just to talk to other runners and tried to make the best of it.

We started out, my knee felt great and I was loving it! My friend Emily and I were together for a bunch of the 1st mile, I think, and I just had a burst of energy so I decided to start leap frogging ahead of people. I would get ahead of one and then go the pace with everyone, then I'd get ahead of the next, etc. I was really feeling good and thinking this was a new strategy I'd keep trying. Then, all of a sudden at mile 3 it hit me... the WORST side ache/stitch I have EVER had. I could hardly breath it was so painful. There was NO way I could run through it so I had to stop and walk for almost .5 mile before it started to subside. It was so painful to see all of the people pass me that I had worked so hard to pass. Then, I just couldn't get any energy after that. I had taken some sports beans about 30 min before the race but I had never used them before and they were so strong that I didn't think I could do another pack half way through. Now I wish I would have tried. This is also where I realized how tough it was to suck in air! I guess I was sicker than I thought. I would walk a minute or two, then run a couple minutes and then have to walk again. It was SO frustrating. My official time was 1:12:03. I was REALLY hoping to be right around 1 hour and if I had kept up my pace I had the first 3 miles I'm sure it would have been sub 1 hour. Oh well.

Oh, the great part of the day was the end. Our boys had their last soccer game today at the same time as my race so I went to it alone. No biggy. As I was finally rounding the corner to the finish line, there was Drostan with Jaron and Megan. I just burst into tears. He had made arrangements for his mom to take the boys to their game so he could come and support me. He is such a sweetheart! Major brownie points there!!!

I didn't have my camera with me but here is a picture my friend took just after it was done...

Another friend took a couple more shots of all of us that ran but I haven't gotten them from her yet so when I do I'll post them.

I can't believe my baby is 1

Jaron's birthday was on Saturday the 3rd! I can't believe it's been a year since he was born. Daddy made his cake. It was so cute with mini oreos on top. He had made it a big oreo with chocolate cake and a layer of white frosting in between but he decided to frost the whole thing because in his words, "you can never have too much frosting!"



Jaron wasn't shy at all! He dug right in. Most of our other kids, we had to coax them that it was ok to get messy.



Daddy wanted in on the action.



Getting nice and messy!



"Hmmmmmm, I think I'll see what it feels like on my tummy!"





It's all fun and games until you have to rub your eyes...



...and realize that doesn't feel so good with cake on your hands...



...so off to the bath we go!



But all of that is worth it for some chocolate cake and a way cool bike from Grammy and Mike! Thank you!!!



And just thought I'd throw this picture of Meg in there because I thought it was cute. :-)

BYU Women's Conference

I had the opportunity to go to Women's Conference at BYU in Provo this past week. A couple of friends from the ward and I threw the trip together last minute and had a wonderful and crazy 2 whirlwind days. Because Drostan doesn't have much time off after the accident, I took my 3 younger kids with me and they got to play at Nana and Papa's house in So. Jordan while I attended the conference. All 6 of us also stayed at my parents house since all of the hotels and dorms were booked. They were amazing and hospitable and couldn't have made us feel more welcomed and comfortable. I dream of someday being half the woman my mother is. She is truly the most selfless, giving person I know.
So we left Wed. afternoon and drove the 6 hours it takes to get there. The kids did wonderfully. Thursday morning, we made our way down to Provo amidst the throngs of other women and finally found parking and a seat in the Marriott center. They began each day with everyone together (I'm guessing around 15,000) and then broke off for smaller lectures around the campus. We would meet up for a closing speaker in the evening and then we were dismissed to either service activities and a concert or what we decided to do... dinner, shopping, and a late night gab session. The next day was the same but we were so blessed to have the final speaker of the day be our dear prophet, Pres. Thomas S. Monson. What an amazing spirit we felt as he walked into the Marriott Center with his dear wife Francis. It was a beautiful ending to an inspiring couple of days.
I took a bunch of notes but here are some of the highlight quotes and ideas I took away from the conference:
~ It is not for you to be led by the women of the world, but to lead them. - Sheri Dew
~ Coming unto Christ means walking away from the world. - Sheri Dew
~ When you are folding a mountain of laundry, every time you pick up an article of clothing, think of a memory or a fun way the child to whom the clothes belongs to touches your life.
~ Use 10 minutes between meal time and dessert to do family scripture reading.
~ When you are reading the scriptures, stop in the middle of a verse and give a treat to the first child who can say the next word. (see who is following along)
~ Don't underestimate the good you are doing when you are doing your best.
~ This is what we signed up for before coming to Earth. If all of the stressors were taken away, we wouldn't have a purpose to be here and learn.
~ Our ancestors did not come across the plains and sacrifice so much just so I could be more comfortable or complacent or have more "stuff".
~ Instead of doing for the children, do with the children.
~ A lazy mom is one who does everything herself.
~ Buy a "prayer alarm clock". Set it for a time, morning and night and when it goes off, the whole family stops whatever they are doing and gathers for prayer.
~To Be Happy: Don't do whatever you like; like whatever you do!
~ Assign teenagers a night to cook. Mom's are there to help but they make the menu and then write it down on a recipe card. The cards are then saved and the child has a great resource to take with them on their mission or to college of things they themselves have made.
~ No great cause ever succeeded without great effort.
~ When you teach a boy, you teach an individual. When you teach a girl, you teach a generation.
~ It doesn't matter who we aren't when we know who we are.
~ If we are not involved wih and take an interest in our children, someone else will.
~ Praise the positive and minimize the negative.
~ There is no tomorrow to remember if we don't do something today. - Pres. Monson

There was so much more but those are some of the highlights. Thank you for letting me share them with you.