MEMORIAL DAY / ANNIVERSARY

REWIND...
Okay, its been like 2 months since I’ve blogged, but I am bound and determined to keep this up. SOOooo....lets rewind to May. Memorial day weekend Cordelle and I celebrated our 7 year Anniversary! Holy Canolie, that feels long! We went up north and my saint of a sister watched our kids while we went out to dinner, went to go see the new Robin Hood and then stayed at the hotel we stayed at on our wedding night (Country Inn and Suites). Needless to say, we noticed and appreciated a lot more of what the hotel had to offer than we did the first time around. It was actually a very hospitable and cute hotel. And here's the props to my hunk...I'm so blessed that the longer we are married the more our personalities and our ambitions just gel. I know life gets crazier as time goes on with kids, callings etc....but he really makes it fun and enjoyable to be married. What can I say? (If I were of the fishing type, it might be, "I made a good catch.") Gotta love a little cheese!
We spent the rest of the weekend, bouncing around between my sisters houses doing barbeques and hanging out. It was so fun! Sunday we went with Cordelle’s brothers to some grave sites on their side of the family. I really love this tradition...I know most of you are probably thinking...uh, yea that's what memorial day is for. But as sad as this is, we never did that growing up. Well, at least I don't remember doing anything like that. (Usually when I make comments like that, I’ll have my mom calling me reprimanding me for the lack of remembrance of my childhood. ) Anyways, so its fun actually doing what memorial day is meant for. I hope we can continue to do it with my kids even though most of the grave sites are up north. I do like knowing about the lives of Cordelle's family. I swear I know more about Cordelle’s ancestral line than I do my own. Ahh well, guess thats no one's fault but my own.
Monday we traveled down to Ephraim and ate lunch with my parents at my uncle Marlin’s new house. It was HUGE! They seriously have a beautiful new home. Then we all went over and visited my Grandma and Grandpa Mason who are in a nursing home in Ephraim. It was really good seeing them. My Grandpa is really going down hill and he doesnt remember a whole lot. But my Grandma was still her witty self. She just looked a little more sad now that Grandpa was getting worse, and I think her hearing is going too. Its so strange for me to see them living in anyplace other than their home. And surprisingly to me, Seth and Jaq really warmed up to them and were pretty comfortable which is not normal for my kids. Seth was actually more observant than I thought because days later when I left him in the bath too long, he screamed out to me and said, “Mom my fingers and toes look like Great Grandpas.” :)
Anyways then we all went down to the Manti temple to walk around. I love that Temple! We watched my cousins run and throw frisb down the big temple hills, which apparently is not allowed for liability reasons...but we didn't learn this til we were leaving so, no dampering our fun there! It was cool showing Seth where we got married. It ended up being a good way to end a anniversary/Memorial Day weekend.

Jaq and I at the back of the Temple

Scott, Neal, me and Jaq (Cordell and Seth were looking for the bathroom)

She wanted to climb the walls and jump, just not with me.

Scotty on the back wall
Seth attempting to follow the lead of the older kids and roll down the big temple hill (so no, he didn't just face plant it as we snapped the picture)All of us lamely watching those with more energy run up and down the big hill

Las Vegas Trip

So Cordelle had his yearly conference trip he hast to go to for work and this year it was in Las Vegas, so enstead of twiddling our thumbs at home waiting for him to get home....we twiddled our thumbs with him in Vegas....actually it was just outside of Vegas in Summerlin....and actually we werent with him very much at all. But the kids loved the change of scenery. Its nice going with Cordelle cause the room is already paid for and they always stay in way nicer places than we would ever stay in. Matter of fact it was kind of a running joke. No one wanted to bring their kids because then their kids might get used to the idea that these hotels were normal for vacations. (Valid point though....can you imagine free riding it with your husband every year to these huge resorts and then going on a family vacation where your staying at the Motel 6? The kids are gonna think they were being punished!) Anyways we did a lot of swimming and chillin in the hotel rooms. But it was nice breakin' out the swim suit, although I cant say I missed it terribly or the body I forgot about those covered, winter months, that gets shoved into it. Ah well. Here's some pics from the trip and the first swim of the year.

The JW Marriott in Summerlin

I just loved this one of Jaq

P.S. Girls swimming suits are so darling

Mothers Day

Cordelle was sweet for mothers day. He had the kids help bring me cereal in bed :). And he gave me a little book of the funny things Seth says....so I thought I'd share them.

1. "Is this fun mom?"
2. "That's too much funny."
3. "Oh my holy cow."
4. "Keep stopping that."
5. "Is that a wonderful dream come true?"
6. "I smell something."
7. (...when he's mad at you....) "I know what you're talking about."
8. "That's a bad choice."
9. "You be an army guy, I'll be a robot and Jaq will be Princess Fiona."
10. "I love you too much."

Hurricane Half Marathon EAT MY SHORTS!

Well I did it. After 3 months of waking up at 5:30 and running in temperatures often in the 20's to low 30's, I ran my first half marathon! It was a rush! Growing up playing sports I was pretty competitive, but now that I am older its hard to find that anywhere but this run brought it out in me. It was awesome cause I felt so prepared for it, and that always feels good. My goal was to make it under 2 hours. But with only 3 miles left I had less than 23 minutes to make my goal so I knew I had to book it. So I did between 7.5 and 8 min miles for the last 3 miles and my final time was.....1.59.36!!! (...with 24 seconds to spare!!) I was pretty sore from the mega push at the end but it felt good. Anyways I couldnt have done it without these girls! They are rocks! It is so refreshing to have a reason to get up and run that is SO much more than just to exercise. The conversations and motivation from these girls made those long runs seem SO much shorter. And they are right, they've got me hooked.

Up next...Bryce Canyon Half Marathon...anyone want to join us? Its all down hill. I hear its a perfect one to start if you've never done one before. Should be fun....The Hotel at 5 AM before the big race

At Iggy's the night before the race!My Lisa-mama

Seth where's Jaq?

Oh.

for the fly on the wall...

The ROBOT CHART. Okay so I was at the family dollar the other day and I found this wicked sweet Robot that I KNEW Seth would love. So I couldnt resist getting it for him and thought to myself, "oh, I can just give it to him for his birthday in August." (This is awful but I dont feel like I can just give my kids toys that are more than dollar store toys just because...I feel like I have to have a reason like a birthday or holiday or they have to earn it...is that harsh of me?) Anyways but I was talking to my sister about it and she gave me some good advice that even though Seth might be into Robots now, he might grow out of it by August. So I came up with plan. I put the robot on top of the fridge and made a monstrous chart for him to get it. I didnt mean to but it ended up having like 84 squares, so I knew this was going to take awhile. But he did it in a month and we had little rewards along the way like a fruit snack, graham crackers and milk, water balloons, and a trip to the dollar store. So that made the rewards a little more often. He did awesome with this chart. He made his bed and cleaned his room (with help) and then got dressed every morning. And anytime he was obedient or played nice with Jaq he got a sticker. But it started to get funny cause he would say he wanted a sticker and I'd tell him he needed to be nice to Jaquelle if he wanted one, so then he'd run up to Jaq and say "tickle, tickle Jackie" then race back to me with high hopes for a sticker. Sometimes though he really did deserve them. We were out front one day and I was sweeping the porch and Jaq started to walk down our yard to the road and before I could get there Seth swooped down on his bike and blocked her way to the road. And when she tried to get around him, he jumped off and grabbed her and held her till I could come get her and proceeded to lecture her how we stay on the sidewalk and NOT on the road. It was so awesome how he was watching out for her. Sometimes when we're outside together and he needs to go inside for something he'll turn to me and say, "mom, you keep an eye on Jaq, I'll be back." Whose the parent here? How funny. Anyways so this Sunday he finally got his Robot and it was better than Christmas. Seriously. But after that day we outlawed the obnoxiously loud toy on Sundays and tried to keep it in the garage for every other day of the week. Why the heck are toys SO loud and contain more flashing lights than Vegas these days? ....well good job bud, you deserve your unthinkably loud robot.

Tomboy or maybe just a the best of both worlds

Okay so this cracks me up. Jaquelle is all girl, with the purse, the dress up and the whole gammit but in the same moment she doesnt want to be left out with anything Seth is doing, which usually involves sports. So this picture just fits this predicament perfectly. Purse, hat, sunglasses and a football/basketball. That's my girl!

Easter Camping 2010

Well its a late post, but I cant go without updating one of the biggest traditions my family does, so, here goes.First, lets start with eggs; easter isnt easter without coloring eggs. So this year Seth was going to solo the egg coloring business. After carefully watching me he knew he had it down. So I left him with the dye and 10 eggs. When I returned to the room and came back, I saw his first batch complete. Four bright, differently colored eggs. I congratulated him and left again. This time upon returning I found 4 cracked, broken eggs either on the floor or in pieces floating in the colorful cups of dye. The 6 eggs that survived, once colorful and vibrant now looked like this:
apparently each egg had to be "baptized" in every color. Ah well. Purplish, brown is an easter color right?
We camped the same place we did last year right by green river. It was COLD the ENTIRE time but come on, thats Easter Camping recently. It seems like I have memories somewhere in my brain of Easter being nice and hot when I was younger. I dont know what's happening lately. Goes to show global warming is a hoax. J/K. Anyways Krista and I showed up on Thursday so we did Easter baskets on Friday morning and the kids loved finding their baskets. Tallie was going to be there to do them with us but Jim wouldnt get out of bed and so they didnt make it in time. And trust me she was not a happy camper about this. But they did meet up with us in Goblin Valley later on that day. Goblin Valley was a whole new adventure this year. With Mason, Anna, Alexa, Seth, Jaquelle and Gaven it was more of an assembly line of handing one kid up to the next highest person, up to the next highest person and so on type of hiking. But we did get some great photo shots and we managed to get all of us, even the babies up into the cave. It was definitely a twist on the intensity of hiking we used to do. But it was good cause the kids just ran like crazy and were WAY tired that night. Neal finally came down early that evening and was bummed that he missed the easter baskets too, but what do you do. I guess he had to stay for a test and hang out more with "a girl". Saturday we just chilled all day, it was cold so that made chillin' even more accurate. We did go back to a "fantastic" geyser that I swear no one has actually witnessed going off. And then since it was general conference the boys all went to priesthood session in Green River. Krista went home on Saturday cause Aaron wanted to go to Priesthood with his grandpa and the rest of us stuck around till after church services on Sunday. Funny, but I was thinking, since it was general conference this weekend, I believe we were the only mormons on the planet going to church! But of course, its not Easter without the Sunday service (which is getting approximately 15-20 minutes longer each year, and I figure at this rate...in about 10 years its going to be an all day event!). It was good though. It was my mom's Uncle Clyde's birthday. So each brother and sister (of the originals) gave a heartfelt tribute to them and I thought how cool that would be to have my brothers and sisters say that stuff about me when I am 80. It was nice and overall a fun Easter. It really felt good to get out and camp despite the cold. Not to mention the kids LOVED it, but what kid can resist playing outside all day and snacking endlessly on Grannie Annies goods stashed in her trailer?

PRIMARY

So as some of you know, I am in primary. And in order to remember all the funny things that happen in primary I have got to keep some sort of record.

A boys mom is substituting as chorister for singing time. In an attempt to get the kids to sing louder she says, "you need to sing louder because I dont know this song." To which her boy yells out, "yes, you do you practiced it all morning."

A 7 year old is giving a talk and being Very fidgety. He looks way nervous and starts untucking his shirt and reading his very long talk, very fast. He steps down and up repeatedly on the little steps to the pulpit and I wonder if we should go stand by him so he calms down. Then all of the sudden in the most desperate face I've ever seen he turns to us mid-sentence and exclaims as quietly as he can so his friends dont hear it, "I have GOT to go potty!!" and then BOOKS it out the door. His mom finished his talk for him.


Next I look over and see Seth and one of his friends bending over their chairs with their heads by their shoes....then without warning Seth dives from that position into a somersault into the front isle....followed by the next kid....it's like synchronized chair rolling...nice.

More to come...

Icecream sunday's

Okay so all growing up I about gagged when anyone wanted to include fruit in their desert. Even the simplest things in ice cream, I claimed would destroy the essence of the "Treat." But just recently I have been introduced to this

plus this.

Albeit, my icecream never looks that fancy....but banana and choc. icecream: where have you been all my life? Why is this not a combination already made in a half gallon somewhere? Love it.