Half Marathon

Jen, me, Kallee, and Jamie

On Saturday I ran my first (and maybe only, we'll have to see) half marathon.  Some friends of mine convinced me that it would be fun.  Well, I wouldn't go right to fun in describing my feelings after the race, but I am glad that I did it.

Running across the finish line after 2 hours 20 minutes and 45 seconds

I was the last of all of us to cross the finish line, so everyone was there to cheer me on, including Ben and the kids.  I was really glad that Ben and the kids came out to Mesa to see me finish the race.

The kids were glad too, as while I was running they had a kids zone where they got to climb rock walls, jump in a bouncy house and do other fun activities.

Bonnie trying the rock climbing wall

Nate at the top of the wall

Jared working his way up

Gwen giving the rock wall a try

Overall it was a good activity, except for the part where I came home and puked my guts out (I will not post a picture of that).  Apparently my body does not like eating anything after running that long, even sliced oranges and apples.  Oh well, I guess I learned my lesson if there is ever a next time.

Sweet Gwendolyn

I have two quick stories about my sweet Gwendolyn.  The first happened this morning (Tuesday February 1st).  At 6:15 Gwen came into our room to announce to us that she had pulled out one of her front teeth.  She was very excited about this.  About 45 minutes later she pulled out her other front tooth.  She was very excited to have pulled both of them out by herself on the same day.  Looks like the tooth fairy is coming to our house.

The second Gwen story happened a couple weeks ago.  Jared was walking down the street and around the corner to a friends house for a ride to scouts.  I told him that I would watch him until he got around the corner.  This is the conversation that I had with Gwen as Jared walked down the street.

Gwen:  Mom, you can't see all the way to Justin's house from here.

Mom:  I know sweetie, but we can see most of the way.

Gwen:  What if Jared gets hit by a car AFTER he goes around the corner when you can't see him.

Mom:  I think he'll be alright.

Gwen:  It could happen mom.

At this point Jared waved from the corner and walked out of sight.  Gwen then proceeded to tell me in a very sing-songy voice, "I think I hear a car coming."

How I love this little girl!

When it Freezes in Arizona

When is freezes for a few days in Arizona your children may ask if they get to stay home because of a fog day.

When it freezes in Arizona your children may spend over an hour at the park next door being amazed by the ice, playing with ice, taking pictures of ice, taking pictures through ice, and bringing ice home for you to admire.

 

 

  And when it freezes in Arizona your neighbors may make sure their trees are tucked in warm for the night.

Yep we are officially Zonies.  There is no going back.

Christmas!

New Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve

Mom and Dad got some too

Waiting to come down to the tree.

Christmas morning, before opening presents

The aftermath of Christmas morning.  I'm pretty sure Christmas threw up at our house.

Bonnie trying on her new rollerblades

Gwen with her make-your-own chalk kit

Jared and Nate boxing

Dad and Nate boxing

Overall our family had a very fun and relaxing Christmas

Nathan

Nate at 2 months old

My oldest son turned 12 this year.  I have been in a little bit of a shock.  My first-born is not supposed to get this old this quick.  He is wearing the same size shoes as I am, and I do not have small feet.  I think he grows another inch each time I look at him.  He is such a good boy and such a good big brother. I am thoroughly enjoying watching him grow up and seeing the young man that he is becoming.

On his birthday we had a small family party.

Nate got a new bike for his birthday.  He was pretty excited.

The next day we let him invite some boys from church over.  We had nine 12-year-old boys over to play night games in the park next door, eat pizza, and watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice on the projector.  He has such a good group of friends.  I am so grateful that we live in this amazing ward.  

 He received the priesthood and was ordained to be a Deacon on the 19th of December.  I am so proud of him for making this choice and for being such a wonderful example to his younger siblings.

School Activities etc.

 The day before Thanksgiving the kids school had a Turkey Trot.  Their new school does it a little different than their old school.  They have a time limit and they see who can run the most laps around the field before the time limit is up.  Every lap around their teacher puts a new mark on their hand then they count up the marks at the end.  The first place runner in each grade gets a pie.  Well, apparently my boys are runners.  They both won for their grades.  Apparently after Jared finished his race the cross country coach hunted him down to see what grade he was in because they can start cross country in third grade.  She told Jared that she needed him next year.  Nathan ran two or three laps more than the closest boy in his class, that boy happens to be on the cross country team.  It looks like next year we will have another activity on our list of things to do.

My runners

Jared and Gwen participated in a Readers' Theater for their classes.  Jared was Agent 006 and Gwen was Linda the Good Fairy.  They did a great job.

I graduated from dental assisting school at the end of December.  The did a whole graduation ceremony and I was the speaker for our class.  It seemed a bit much to me for a three-month course, but it was a good experience.  I really loved school and I made a lot of friends.

We had an orchestra concert, a band concert, and a piano recital all in December.

Jared is playing violin and he got to play a solo during the concert

Bonnie is playing the flute and the cello in school this year.

Nate is playing the trombone in the 6th grade band.  His teacher had a challenge for all the students that if they passed off several pieces of music they would be able to play a piece during the concert with the 7th and 8th grade band.  There were about 7 students that did the challenge and Nate was one of them.  

The kids have all been taking piano lessons this year and they are doing so good.  We love their teacher and she comes to our house every Tuesday to give them all lessons.  It is so nice to not have to go back and forth with four kids for lessons.

The kids with their piano teacher, Amanda Leach

Overall we had a busy, and tiring, December with school activities.

Jared and Gwen during the band concert.