Eye-eye, sir!

About a week ago my left eye was bothering me and I decided to give it a few days before I saw a doctor. I threw out my old contact lenses and that helped. After a few days my eye seemed to be back to normal. Yesterday around 7 in the evening my eye started to bother me again. I had a hard time sleeping and by morning my pillow was drenched with tears. When I looked in the mirror I found my eye swollen almost completely shut. I visited my doctor and the verdict...

Double eye infection!!! What does that mean? No contacts, no make-up, and eye drops for about ten days! I hate not being able to wear my contacts but if it allows me to see I'll obey the doctor... and I guess it makes for easy clean up in the morning if I can't wear any make-up. Shaving, and drying my hair might be interesting because I am seriously blind without my contacts or glasses. Wish me luck my eyes get better fast! I'll see my doctor again on Friday to see if there's any progress.

4th of July Celebrations!

We celebrated the 4th of July at home with our neighbors and friends at a block party. The kids decorated their bikes and scooters for a parade. We ate lots of food! Afterwards the kids rode their bikes down the street where they received prizes at the end. Then we had a water balloon fight. It was still light outside so we sat around and visited while throwing snaps at each other. When it was dark enough Ron Knapp put on a pretty awesome fireworks show! It was so much fun and we look forward to next year!

Guess who's 2...

My little Katie Bug is two years old today! These last two years went by so fast I can hardly believe it. Katie's labor and delivery was very long and excruciating pain, but I wouldn't trade her for anything! When I found out I was pregnant with her it was a very difficult time and I had a hard time accepting the fact I was going to have another baby. I think I was even in denial for a long time. But the moment I saw her I knew I loved her more than anything. She has been such a joy in our home and we love every moment with her. She is so fun and has this happy, bubbly personality that we can't get enough of. Katie we love you so much and thank Heavenly Father for sending you to us. You are truly a blessing in our home! Happy Birthday Katlyn Emma!

I Run For Chocolate...

...And Champagne apparently. Angela and I ran the 1st annual Boise half marathon, I Run For Chocolate and Champagne, sponsored by See Jane Run. It was perfect weather! The course was marked wonderfully with inspirational thoughts in between mile markers, and it was beautiful. There was plenty of room to weave in and out of people which was a huge improvement from our last race.

We stayed together and talked for the first 11 miles and then we turned our iPods on and just ran next to each other. I started to get my huge boost of energy and by mile 12 I turned around to see where Angela was and she signaled for me to run ahead. I took off!!! I must have had 30 kills in that last mile and when I passed the photographer I was feeling so great. I was listening to "Jump" and I can't listen to that song without jumping... go figure! Right as I came up to the photographer I jumped as high as I could with my fist straight in the air and yelled, "Yeah!!!" The people around watching had a pretty good laugh, but I look like a dork in the picture. As I was coming up to the finish line I saw a lady just in front of me and I thought, "One more kill. Just one more kill." She saw me and gave me the look of, "No way! You are not going to pass me." And she pumped it!!! I ran as fast as I could to keep up with her. She beat me, but I was right on her heels and gave her a run for her money... ha, ha... get it.
I crossed the finish line, received my medal, took off my timing chip, and found a spot to cheer Angela on just in time to see her nearing the finish line. I screamed as loud as I could and then she smiled. She later told me that she didn't think she was going to be able to finish and then she heard me screaming her name. She kept telling me that I kicked her butt this race, but she came in only a minute behind me... what do you think? Crazy girl!

I later found the girl that made my legs jello at the end and had to get a picture with her. My official time was 2:09:28.368 and Joanna's time was 2:09:28.122. She literally beat me by a split second! Angela's official time was 2:10:50.298. I was so thrilled with my time. I cut another 9 minutes off my time since the last race and 18 minutes since the first race. Our goal was to finish in 2 hours and 15 minutes and I surpassed my expectations. I came in 92nd place overall out of 264, and 13th in my age group. I know to some of you that might be slow, but I was so excited. And for those of you wondering that is a 9.5 minute mile. Wahoo for me! I was proud of myself I wore my medal all day on Saturday... and even to church. That was more just to bug Bryce and make Angela smile. She told me to wear it loud and proud. That I did!

Happy Father's Day!

There's no question he loves those little girls... and they love him to pieces back!!!

To all you dad's out there, Happy Father's Day! Thanks for all those many, many diaper changes... even when you felt like throwing up. Thanks for all those times you finished even when you wanted to quit! Andy, thanks for being the father of my children. You are the best daddy in the whole world!!! We all love you so much!

Uh... I've been busy

I've been away from the blogging world for quite some time due to my busy schedule. Since my last post Sammy graduated from preschool...

(Sorry about the glare. It was really sunny that morning.)



...Dallin and Brindy had their reception here in Nampa at my mom's house. We spent many hours helping my mom to get everything ready. It turned out great!

(Some of my favorite pictures from that night.)

(Whoa, I need my hair cut.)

... I watched a few extra kids one day. There were two more that didn't want to get in the picture, but we had a lot of fun! Merridy also came in to town and you know how that goes. I don't think I went to bed before 1:00 every night. One night I came home at 3:00... oops! I also hosted a jewelry party and have debated on selling the jewelry myself.

...I went to girls camp! This was my first year as a leader and we all joked around that I should tattoo, "I don't know" on my forehead. That seemed to be my answer for everything on Tuesday. I went as a stake leader and I was in charge of 2nd level certification. I was only there for two days and I wished I had stayed, but I needed to get back. The theme was...

It was so cute! Each ward had a different type of candy and they were pretty creative. There were Tootsie rolls, heir heads (airheads), nerds, salt water taffy, hot tamales, and a few more I can't remember. Our ward was pixie sticks and they did fairy type stuff.

(Some of the other stake leaders)

I wished I could have been there for the faith walk today. The theme for that was temples. They put a ton of time and effort into this and I wished I could have seen the finished product. However, what I did see was absolutely amazing. One of the other leaders told me that the girls would walk through an arch at the end of the walk and receive their temple recommends. After that they walk a little more and see the temple. They have a generator hooked up to it with lights inside and out. Jolene Krahenbuhl is amazing for creating this piece of artwork!!! There are even curtains in all the windows. She told me that there is also a steeple that adds another two feet! Can you believe this?

And just to give you an idea of how big this thing is... I took a picture of Jen, Amy, and I in front of it.

I came home early so that I could get some rest before my race tomorrow. I'm excited to run this half marathon because as soon as I heard the name for it I was hooked! Angela and I are running the first annual half marathon in Boise called, "I Run For Chocolate!" Wish us luck that everything goes well. I've been dealing with some pain in my knee and possibly have torn my meniscus. Grumble! The picture below is actually from the Famous Idaho Potato race we ran in May. (Angela, me, Amy)

Oh, and did I mention we were potty training in there! Ashley is finally potty trained!!!! After I read Hollie's post with her potty training Gavin I decided there was no excuse for Ashley who is almost 4 to still be in diapers. I took some of Hollie's tips and started the following Monday. The first day was about half and half. The second day she only had 2 accidents. And she pretty much had it by the third day. She is not perfect and still has accidents, but they are true accidents... meaning she didn't make it on time and is in the bathroom. The best part is she does it all on her own!!! She comes and tells me after the fact and is very excited! Good job, Ashley, I'm so proud of you! And thanks, Hollie, for some of those tips. They obviously helped.

Worst Weekend In History!!!

As some of you know my little brother, Dallin, got married this last weekend and we traveled to Utah for the event. Congratulations, by the way! (Check out Cindy's blog for photos.) The weekend started out with me getting lost while running and then things got worse.

Saturday morning we arrived at the Draper Temple for the wedding and as we started to walk toward the the doors I had to gasp in utter shock! My Aunt Flow decided to pay me a visit for the first time in 12 weeks! It's been so long since she last visited that I kept checking my doorstep to make sure she didn't leave a bundle of surprise instead. Her timing was horrific! I didn't have any way to hide her and the wedding was starting in a half hour. Nobody could help in my situation so I sent Andy back to Shiloam's house speeding to solve my problem. It turns out that the temple worker went upstairs and said I had an emergency and asked them to ramble as long as possible, but they wouldn't wait for us. So then everyone who didn't already know started to ask questions... by then they wished they hadn't asked. Fortunately they let Andy and I slip in the back and we didn't miss all of the wedding. I was mortified when Dallin told me they announced it to everyone! Maybe I'll laugh about it later.

The next morning Andy and I were getting ready to fly to Colorado to get the last of our things in our house. We knew that what Tanis had at the wedding was a bug rather than lack of sleep when Katie started to throw up. We were needing to leave within a few minutes and decided that she would be in good hands with Brigetta and Shiloam. Unfortunately, Shiloam was also sick and throwing up. So that left John to take care of Katie while Brigetta and Brandon took us to the airport. Our flight was on time and we didn't have to wait long to take a shuttle to the truck rental place. I called John and found out that Katie threw up another 3-4 times since we left. I was frustrated that I couldn't be there to take care of my baby and wanted to get back on the road. We waited at least a half hour for the truck, but got a pretty good deal for our time. We suddenly had a major and unexpected change in plans. (Sorry, I was asked not to indulge on this part.) We ended up taking the truck back and had to get on the next flight to Utah. We were so anxious to get back home and things still did not get better. Once we were on the plane the pilot came out and told us that there was only one runway open due to a funnel cloud touching ground and it would be at least another hour before we took off. At this point I was in tears just wanting to get home to my sick baby. We made it back to Utah, packed up our things, and headed back home. As we were driving I told Andy, "I don't think that weekend could have gone any worse." He quickly responded, "Don't say that! It's not over yet!" Sure enough things got worse!

The drive home was full of crying, sick kids who were constantly complaining about sore tummies. Once we hit Twin Falls Katie cried so hard that she threw up... again! We stopped at a gas station and cleaned her up. Then we dreaded to get back in the car and continue the long drive. We were literally 50 feet from our exit to go home and Andy got pulled over! He was going 65 in a 55 construction zone. Fines double in construction zones!!! Luckily, both Katie and Ashley decided at that same moment to have a meltdown. The cop commented on our full car and crying kids and let Andy off with a warning. Thank goodness for that because it's $147 fine! Ah, we made it home a few minutes later...

Monday morning Katie threw up another two times and refused to eat or drink anything all day. The poor girl was so dehydrated and weak that she mostly just cuddled and slept. Things started to get a little better by the afternoon when she went down for a nap and then Ashley decided to do a very smart thing... I heard the water running upstairs which is never a good sign when Sammy is sitting next to me and Andy is gone. Ashley said she needed to wash the toothpaste off her hands. Of course she got the lecture of "your not supposed to use the toothpaste without mommy's help." Then my nose smelled a familiar smell that was NOT toothpaste, but still couldn't put my finger on it. At this point Ashley was saying that her hands and mouth were burning. I ran upstairs to see what she used and found a surprise. She used Icy Hot to brush her teeth!!! I called poison control and was told (after a few chuckles) that if she started to throw up to take her to the emergency room immediately. Thankfully nothing happened and we were able to finish our weekend somewhat quietly.

Two Down...

Here are the photos from our Famous Idaho Potato Half Marathon race. We started out at Lucky Peak Park freezing our behinds off!!! Right away we were crowded and had a hard time finding a place to run side by side. Later we weren't so cold and weren't as crowded, but still had to weave in and out of people. We finished at the Ann Morrison Park in 2 hours and 18 minutes... cutting 9 minutes off our last time (Provo City Half Marathon). We were somewhat happy with our time, but know we can do better. The next race is June 20th in Boise (I Run For Chocolate) and we are looking forward to improving our time. Anyone wanting to join us?

Glad that one's over...

We're in Utah right now for my brother's wedding and since I didn't get a chance to run yesterday due to traveling, and I won't be able to run Saturday morning I thought I would get an early run in today.  I knew I had to run by myself since my sister's knee isn't doing well so I brought my shuffle and was ready with angry music.  I haven't run by myself in a long time and the most I've ever done alone is about 5 miles.  I thought maybe a 6-7 mile run would be okay... well I got a little lost on my planned route, but found my way back fine.  I just mapped out my run and guess how many miles I did... by myself!  9.6 miles baby!!!  I was so glad it was that long because I kept thinking, "Man, this has got to be more than 6 miles."  I'm glad that run is over and that I have someone to run with back at home.  Wahoo for running buddies!!!

Also, we ran the Famous Idaho Potato Half Marathon on Saturday and cut 9 minutes off our time from the last race.  There will be more to come on that, soon.

One down...

As most of you know I ran a half marathon last month. It was such a great experience and accomplishment that my running buddy and I decided we're going to try and run a race every month at least till October. Tomorrow is our second half marathon and I'm totally pumped! Along the way we recruited Amy to run with us. She does great and I think she is totally insane!!! We decided two weeks ago that we were going to do the half marathon rather than the 10K and the most Amy had run was 6 miles... that's right... 6 miles!!! She registered to run the half marathon with us! (Amy might need a hip replacement after the race.) I'm really excited to run with Amy and Angie. They're seriously wonderful ladies whom I enjoy running with every day!

Thanks to those of you who commented on my carb post. I'll take your advice and we'll see how this race goes. (I really didn't want to eat my arm.) And thanks for all your support! If there's anybody out there that wants to run with us, let me know. I promise we're slow, and fun! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! We tried emailing this but we were unsuccessful with that route. The second and third videos were our attempts, but they were funny so we stuck them in here anyway. We hope you enjoy this as much as we did. We love you!

In case you didn't catch the lyrics...

You give me a kiss. You give me a hug. You smile when you see me, too. I wish every child in the whole wide world had a grandmother just like you.

You read me a book. You sing me a song. You whisper you love me, too. I wish every child in the whole wide world had a grandmother just like you.

I'll try to be good. I'll do as I should. I'll whisper I love you, too. I wish every child in the whole wide world had a grandmother just like you.

A Little Give & Take...

I'm sitting here listening to the pouring rain (if you're in Nampa right now you know what I'm talking about) and catching up on my blogging. Last week I was talking to Christina Arnold about my kids getting into the fridge and pantry just to make a huge mess. For the 3rd time Katie and Ashley took a brand new box of cereal and dumped it all over the kitchen, dining room, and both living rooms!!! I was only upstairs for literally 10 minutes and before I could reach the bottom step Sammy said, "Mom! Katie and Ashley made a big mess. I didn't help, but Ashley did!" She's always quick to blame Ashley, but in this case I wasn't surprised. It was a HUGE mess!!! I was so upset I sent all three girls upstairs and told them not to come out of their rooms until I told them to and if I saw their faces even once I would spank their bare bottoms. (Katie was in Sammy's room with her.) I spent the next half hour or so cleaning up the tornado of cereal and then jumped on the treadmill to calm myself down. As I talked to Christina about my frustration she suggested I get locks on my pantry... I've tried finding a child lock for my pantry and have come home empty handed. The knobs are too far apart for the locks that loop around them... does that make sense? This is what I mean...My doors are the kind that pull out and make sort of a W shape... I'm sure that doesn't make sense... Like this... Anyway, Christina came up with a brilliant idea!!! She thought maybe a shower curtain rod would work. I was off to Walmart to find a cheap shower curtain rod in hopes that it would work. Guess what? It works wonderfully!!! Plus, it only cost me $10 and will save me lots more in the long run. Now my kids are staying out of the pantry and fridge thanks to another child lock (above). Wahoo for Christina's creative thinking!!! I just wanted to pass along that little bit of advice if your needing a child lock for your weird pantry doors.

Now for the take... Angela and I have decided to try and run a half marathon every month this summer. Our next race is in two weeks and I'm in a bit of frustration. I know that you are supposed to carb load the night before your race, but I would rather eat my own arm than to eat pasta. The night before our last race I sucked it up and ate some pasta, but it really wasn't much. I still hated it and sent most of it home with Angela. So my question is, "What can I eat that is a good carb before a race that is NOT pasta?" We've been talking about this a lot and have not come up with answers. We thought maybe breads or potatoes, but those are so full of starch. Any ideas at this point would be greatly appreciated. Please help!!!

Just for laughs!

I've had a hard week and needed some laughs. If there are any of you out there needing a laugh... this is for you! Enjoy!

It's Alive!!!

Tonight I decided to attempt reprogramming the garage door opener. From the day we moved into this house we have not known the code for the garage door panel. It drives me crazy that I have to walk through the house and out the garage just to open the dumb door. Well, it was a success... It only took seven months but we can now open our garage door from outside without the remote!!! Yippee! The really dumb thing is it literally only takes 30 seconds. I wished I had taken the time back in December to figure this out.

Do you have a flat chest?

Yes, it's what you think I'm talking about! You know it's time for the boob job when your sports bra is now baggy on you and even an "A" cup is too big!!! How freakin' frustrating is that? I love that inches are shedding from my body due to running... but I don't like where they decide to shed first! I think 11 year old girls have bigger boobs than me now. Where do I find the training bras? Hmmm, someday when we're rich... (Just venting!)