I'm so proud of myself.

The other day I strapped Seth and Jaq in the bike trailer for a bike ride. I got no further than across the street when Seth said, "Mom, good pedaling." Pleased with myself I told him thanks and gloated all the way home.

The next day I was helping him retrieve a soccer ball out of the widow well with a rake and once the trickier-than-it-seems-like-task was completed, he looked beamingly into my eyes and said, "Thanks mom, you're such a good helper!"

Finally some recognition for all my hard work. :)

PUNCH DRUNK JELLO LEGS RAN THE RED ROCK RELAY!

This last weekend I finally got to check something off of my life-time to do list! I ran a big race! I know many of you are pros at this but this was my first and it was a blast. I ran the Red Rock Relay. Our team of 12 started in Brianhead, ran 3 legs each and after 30 hours, 187 miles, and a descent of 8,000 feet we ended up in Ivins (down by St. George). It was crazy. Basically you have two vans that switch off and everyone rotates running so there is always one person running the entire race. Your van stays with you your whole run and cheers you on during your assigned legs (so its kind of hard to quit with the pressure of 5 other people screaming you to keep going every mile of your run).
My first leg was a killer climb in Cedar Canyon to the top of the C-Trail where I ascended up 900 feet in just over 2 miles. But the adrenaline of getting my first road kill (passing someone in the race) made me book my trash up that mountain. 4 roadkills later they almost had to scrape ME off the road.
My 2nd leg was my longest but by far my favorite. I started running at midnight down from Hurricane into Sand Hollow and it started raining...it felt so good cause other wise it was icky HOT. Then there was this big lightning storm right around me that I perhaps should have been fearing for my life with, but it was too awesome to watch as I ran. The last half of my run was a heavenly downhill next to the lake with a full moon. Ah it was so awesome!
The last leg of my run was pretty dry with another large hill but I think it would have been okay too, if I had of slept more than an hour and a half the night before. But for some reason my whole van were insomniacs when we tried to sleep before our second legs and then before our third legs it started pouring down rain so we tried to all cram in a mini van and sleep which DID NOT WORK WELL. (It was crammed, stuffy and I had some weird gastrointestinal issues that only long runs can bring) and so finally at 5 AM we gave up and headed to our next exchange point which was a church parking lot in Gunlock. By then though it had stopped raining, so I booked it to the bathroom, then grabbed my pillow a small blanket and crashed on the most comfortable slab of cement I have ever laid upon just outside of the church and got really the only good sleep since the night before: an hour and a half. Then we had to get up for the next exchange.
We had some pretty funny conversations during the 30 hours of time in that van (thanks Lisa) and definitely in those early morning hours we felt punch drunk for sure! Oh yea, did I tell you that was our name? Punch Drunk Jello Legs. There was absolutely some punch drunkenness AND jello legs on our team, but it was all very memorably fantastic! I have to be honest though, I'm kind of glad its over. Training for something like this bites....hard. I cant wait to sleep in next week and eat whatever the heck I want. :)

Our Team before our first leg in front of the Ultimate Punch Drunk Jello Legs Van,
all matchy, matchy in our pink and black

Me. Running.

There were 3 Huge hill legs that were called Diablo 1, 2 and 3. Angie had the first, I had the second and Lisa had the third. So when we saw this at the top of the mountain we had to snatch our picture by it.

Inside the Van

Lunch at Burger King (NOT A GOOD IDEA in the middle of a race) Wicked crowns though.

Me pointing to my name. Oh yea, after each leg we ran we had to draw a line with permanent marker on our arm or leg until we had all three standing for the Red Rock Relay.

Our van of girls flexing our guns with our Red Rock Relay signs after the race was over.

Our whole Team...although, I dont know very many of the ones in the other van very well, everyone was way fun and it was a cool bonding experince even with the people we didnt know.

What a week! (2 weeks ago...sorry I'm a little late posting)

OH SETH WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH YOU?
Okay so Thursday he is out playing on his swing set and I go out my back door to check on him and he's climbing on his rope ladder. (In my head, I think I should tell him he shouldnt climb on it without be being there, cause its wobbly and unstable as rope ladders are) at that moment, I see him reach the top and the FALL BACKWARDS onto the ground. My stomach sank and I ran out and picked him up only to find that soon both of us were covered in blood. Turns out he somehow gashed the back of his head open really bad (whether just from the blunt hit of the ground or on the stairs that climb up to the playhouse part of the swing set). After being VERY brave and actually quite happy at the insta-care. He came home with 3 staples in his head (apparently they dont do stitches if its in the hair because they're not worried about what it looks like...unless he's bound for baldness then the poor kid's doomed). But lucky for us, no dizziness, concussions or things of that nature but for sure an adventure nonetheless. I always thought I'd be pretty cool and collected in emergency situations but hey, turns out I'm not as calm as I assumed when blood is gushing out of my child's head. Go figure.

(Its kind of hard to see but you can see the staples)

Then get this, two days later...I see him doing this! Thats right that is his rocking horse on top of the couch in a dire attempt to retrieve the helium balloon from the vaulted ceiling. This kid is bound to make his second home in the emergency room. Now, however before he does something dangerous he asks me, "mom is this dangerous?" but then proceeds to do it, until I reaffirm to him that we DO NOT do dangerous things.
Crazy as he is, that didnt stop us from having a rockin' birthday party for him on Saturday. He turned 3! He got a remote control train that he LOVES and can finally stop coveting the one he plays with non stop at the neighbors. We spent the day playing, going to the park and just letting him do what he wanted. My parents came down for a very short birthday visit and of course we invited Madi and Wyatt over for cake and icecream. I cant believe he's three! But I really love the kid to death. He is the sweetest, funniest kid I've ever met and has the dance moves of a pro. We're like little buds and it actually is fun for me to just hang out with him during the day and have little conversations. Well anyways Happy Birthday Sethers!

Do you like how I am now a-once-a-month blogger?

UPDATE time. On the 23rd my two sisters came up just to visit for the day! (Aren't sisters the best? Please nod in the affirmative.) It was so fun to have them BOTH here. They brought their kids and we spent the day swimming in some sweet pools Tallie bought (even though her baby is like 6 months old?) Anyways the rest of the kids had a blast with them. It was so fun just to laugh and have the cousins play....Seth was besides himself. And although its crazy to get them all asleep it was fun. Heaven knows I need that now and then. Its kind of smelly living so far from the fam. (hum...I tried to use a phrase synonymous with "it stinks" but it just doesn't have the same effect saying "Its smelly" Ah well.)

Jaquelle and Alexa in the pool

THEN on the 24th of July, my home bro NEALIO came for a visit. Woot! Woot! We talked each others ears off...seriously we were without ears when he headed for home. Politics, healthcare, family, girls, past girls, current girls, of course the mish, Snow (not like the fluffy white stuff, the school), and who knows what. We took him swimming cause ya know, its exmay on the mission, so it had been awhile. We went to Enoch's 24th celebration. And I drug him to 2 parades! He was a good sport, and Seth loved getting to know his uncle Neal.
Then the very next Monday, because of the wonderful supportive daughter I am, we drove all the way up to American FARK Canyon for my mom's family reunion/get together thing. It was so great! Kids love camping so they were entertained the whole time. I was pretty nervous cause Jaq had ran a fever all weekend and was a little beastly because she was teething, and even when she had cried the whole last 45 minutes of our drive, once we got there and stepped outside, it was like immediate silence, contentment, peace and I heard a bird flutter through the air (what?). Anyways she was great the rest of the time. Nothing like some good ole' outdoor medicine.

The best part came on Tuesday where my mom and little cousin volunteered to watch my kids while Cordelle and I went on a hike together. So needless to say we were up and out of there like a cartoon character whose rear end has just been set on fire, before they could change their minds. We booked it up this really steep trail up to an AMAZING place called Silver Lake. It was such a perfect day and because its quite the hike up there, there was no one at the little lake. (I love places that you can only get to by a good strenuous hike with no vehicles). So we dared each other to jump in and then just dried off on the rocky beach. We decided we'd run the whole way down the mountain and it was a blast. Seriously it was like one of the most fun little mini-dates we've gone on in a long time. We got to just talk the whole way up, get some exercise, make fools of ourselves at the lake and all with no piggy back rides or detours to follow butterflies. I attached some pictures...mind you it was windy at the top and we were sweaty and well in some of the pics I look like a man (my hairs all pulled back and with that hat...oh who cares?)Okay so there is this ledge on top of the dam that is preventing the lake from going into this valley...so this is the view on one side of the dam....

And then you turn around and here's part of the lake right up against this gray mountain or silver mountain...hence, silver lake...genious.

And this picture is just funny to me cause apparently there seems to be a magnetic pull in the air that my hair is responding to....yes, I have metal hair.

And here is my manly picture....but its with my hunk so I wanted to include it.

Its about time

So we've had this slip n slide for like a year now and Seth refused to go down it. We'd have all the neighborhood kids over and they would go down for hours with Seth cheering on the sidelines and then joyously hurray-ing when they'd make the big splash at the end. But would he go down at all? Heavens no. I tried everything; bribery, coercing, shoving him down, dragging him by the ankles (yes, these last few ended in some pretty feirce tantrums and really only perpetuated the fear of the slide). He could see the fun the other kids were having but the vision for him just wasnt there. Then one day after being frustrated cause even pulling him down on a snow sled was not working well (and I was getting exhausted) I went in to check on Jaq and came out and saw him, ever so sneakily climb up the ladder to the plastic slide (shown) and going down ALL BY HIMSELF. Was he playing his mom as a fool this whole time? Had he secretly been sneaking out by himself at nights having the time of his life slippin' and slidin' only to pretend he was afraid when ever I watched him, just so I would look like an idiot repeatedly going down a slide clearly meant for toddlers trying to show him that its not so bad that "even mommy can do it." Anyhow from that day on, i was onto him. Finally its a hit (like it should have been months ago!)

And here's Jaq sportin her swimwear just chilling in the slowly deflating kiddie pool and loving it. Seriously that water looks like its a chubby kid away from breakin loose....gotta find that whole and patch that thing.

Theres a reason they call it a SLIP and slide

Seth totally biffing it down the slide (I dont know how I managed to get this picture, but I think its seriously so funny... to him though, not so much)

June continued....Camping!!

To end our June adventures our friends, The Frisby's invited us to go camping with them up Parawan canyon. It was a great little spot, but I am forbidden by death to say any more cause JD is convinced hoards of people will camp there every weekend if the word gets out. It was fun though, good camping food (thanks to Vicky), a stream for the kids to jump in with the tennis shoes on the first 15 minutes of us being there, and beautiful scenery! We will just omit the parts where Seth woke up with a "tummy ache" for an hour and a half, turns out that he just had to pee really bad but didnt want to get out in the cold, so he peed in the sleeping bag, just in time for us to clean it and him up and then Jaq woke up for some uncontrollable reason. Needless to say we were zombies the next day but such is camping with kids. New rule though: Seth drinks only SIPS of water when camping and then drinks nothing no later than 4 hours before bedtime coupled with 5-6 potty trips before entering a sleeping bag that is too big to fit in my washing machine. Here are some pics!

Good Dads

Friends

Nice bed head Wendy.

this looks like something we'd put on a wedding announcement next to some cheesy line like "I married my best friend....No offense to anyone who has used that tagline.

Maddi and Seth

The trio

Buds

Has it really been almost a month since I've posted?

Okay, is it hard for anyone else during the summer to keep up with blogging and such? The months Im actually doing stuff and I dont have time to post it. (Unlike the winter months when I stage photo shoot activities to make it look like I am a creative, somewhat interesting wife and mother. :) Anyways so heres a recap and some pics from June. And as you know I am not very good at condensing or being picky with pictures so you get the whole lot! And now for the longest post ever....

Okay so the beginning of June I fly out to Scottsdale, AZ with Cordelle for his yearly conference at work. (First and foremost though, dont hate us Schroeders that we were in AZ and didnt call, but we didnt have a car and Cordelle really didnt have a whole lot of free time...okay Im lame, I should have figured something out, but we did give you guys extra nostalgic time in our brains because for a few days we were in the same state you live in....not really the same huh?) Okay well anyways back to the conference. This year was a little different in that Cordelle actually made me work! Just kidding, kind of. Seriously though the first few days I was helping him quite a bit but they did pay my way so I couldnt really put up a fight without looking like a teenager whining about wearing the heels her mother bought her when all she wants to wear are her flip flops (that was a very strange analogy). That said though, we stayed at this incredible resort and it was almost too comfortable just lounging about by the pool with no little kids climbing on me, begging for fruit snacks or hearing the cry that signals nap time was 45 minutes ago. But alas, I missed them. ( Alas, yes we should use the word "alas" more often). Anyways so yea, Cordelles parents kept the kids all week and let me tell you that was no little task, so I am SO grateful for them. They are both saints for being willing to do that. All in all it was a good get a way for Cordelle and I to just escape real life for a minute. Highlights from the trip: Driving the golf cart around (almost into a large pond) while Cordelle took picutres of the "executives," the lazy river at the pool, THE FOOD, watching my husband get shamelessly conquered at an icecream eating contest by his 100 lb female boss, going to the Arizona Temple, pretending I was equally as tan as all the natives who could lounge by the pool for hours and not get burned but enstead I came to the harsh reality my pasty white skin, without sunscreen, is cancer in the making, and lastly airports. I dont know why but there is something truly exotic about an airport. Even if we are only flying form Salt Lake to Scottsdale, they make me giddy. And Lowlights I guess would include my CAMERA FREAKING OUT and taking only highly fuzzy pictures. lame. So no photos. But it was fun and you'll just have to take my word for it.

Next news: BROTHERS! In May my sweet lil bro Mark left for his mish to Buddapest, Hungary. I miss him so much, he is such a stud! However, the day before we flew in from AZ my other brother Neal got home from Italy. I've been so excited for him to get home. Even though he's like 5 years younger than I, the kid is like one of my best friends. He is hillarious and so down to earth I am so pumped that he is home...now I just got to line him up with some cute girl that could totally hang with Cordelle and I (and that I approve of in every way of course) and then we'll be all set. Seems like though, Neal actually thinks he is entitled to pick his own wife. We will see.

Other events we've been up to is Cordelle did pretty good at Table Tennis in the summer games, but we had to pass on soccer this year cause it was the same weekend we were gone in AZ. Bummer. Anyways here is a picture of him and his doubles partner Randy. Cordelle is way too into that sport, but he's actually really fun to watch...move over Koreans, C-Dog is in the house.
Lets see oh yea, since we have been up north so much we decided to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House since its like literally right down the road from our house. It was really neat. Good thing we had uncle Scott there, or Seth's attention span would have resulted in some not so reverent explanations of the pictures of Jesus on the walls or his obsession with Angel Moroni to which he cups his hands in a trumpet like formation, marching about singing "do do do doo."

And then lastly Cordelle took a day off work and we went to the Zoo. Gotta say, not one of my favorite places. Its stinky, full of strange people, all the cool animals are ALWAYS sleeping, and quite frankly there is something disturbing about watching my little sister down that much cotton candy in one sitting....or perhaps just comparable to Seth wanting to switch to 4 different animals on the carousel, while its moving, because he keeps changing his mind about which one he wants to "piggy back." But like Disneyland, A water park, or Wal-mart, it is a sort of "Rite of Passage" for a child to attend the Zoo. And low and behold he did love it. Thanks Kendra (my darling of a neice) who we picked up and took a long with us, who helped out that day too. Good times, but seriously, next time, do you really think it'd be a bad idea to throw a rock at the leopards, cougars, tigers and kangaroos to wake them up for a second, even just for a stretch or something? I did pay my $9 didnt I? If I wanted to watch grown animals lie around and sleep all day for free, I could have just gone back to my parents house and safaried down my brothers.Jaq really did have fun, although, here it looks like she's just roasting in the sun.
Do you remember this from field trips to the zoo in elementary school? Its still there!

Yea, that's me back there...the reason Cordelle took the picture of my sister Krista with Alexa on the giraffe is because the rotation before, that's where we were. Little did Cordelle know we'd be hopping back to the panda and leopard before he'd see us again.

So here's some casual embarrassing Sunday moments for you

So today I'm getting ready right? And with kids its never a straight continual process. Its usually shower, get Seth cereal, put on some mascara, hold Jaq for a sec, blow-dry my hair, make Seth go potty...you get the idea. Well today I was making that big sunday decision....you know, which shoes do I wear with this skirt? Those ones are too flat, those ones are too tall, too wintery, too 90's, those make me trip just thinking about wearing them. So naturally, like Im sure many of us girls do, I took one style of shoe on my left foot and another style on the right, with the intention of going to the long mirror and seeing which one would suffice for todays outift choice. Well, just then Cordelle got home from an early meeting, Seth ran bare bummed out of the bathroom and Jaquelle was crying for who knows what reason only to distract me the more from completing my adornment. Alright yadda yadda yadda, fastforward, we left for church....and Im sitting next to the aisle in Sacrament meeting and I notice some guy look down at my feet. Odd I thought. Then it hit me. No way! Slowly I lowered my gaze to the floor where my feet lay one foot in one shoe and an other on the other foot. Nice. Its not like we live close by either, its a good 5 minute drive, so running home was out of the question. And kids dont allow you to hide. Of course Jaq needs to be taken out or Seth has to go potty. And everyone stares you down when you walk down those aisles, you know they do. I really just wanted to put a big sign on my head that said "yes, Im wearing two different shoes." Enstead I would see people notice, and say nothing, probably hoping it wouldnt embarrass me to bring it up. But I knew. I saw them notice. I knew they knew. UGh. But funny ( a little too funny to Cordelle though ).
To add to that it was about 4 o'clock in the after noon when I noticed another getting ready ritual was not fully accomplished. I learned an odd way of putting mascara on from my roomates in college. I dont worry about where the mascara goes when I put it on (and it usually ends up all around my eyes) because when Im done and its dried, I go and clean it all up with a q-tip. Well come 4 pm I finally look in the mirror again only to discover my mascara is really smeared. Odd I thought, since nothing truly traumatic has happened (apart from the shoe incident) that has really made me cry or anything. But no, it wasnt smeared it was just there, everywhere. I had just been distracted and forgot to "clean up" my eyes. Nice, twice. Naturally I began thinking of every person I talked to who I now have to explain that I really am not some pre-teen expirementing with mascara for the first time...its just one of those days. Sigh.

MEMORIAL Day

What a weekend! We finally went out and bought bushes, trees, and more plants for the garden but I'll post those later. (Its been so fun though growing your own garden and landscaping your yard. Who knew I would get so into stuff like that?)

Anyways on Monday we really wanted to do something with our family. So we promised Seth we would go on a hike to the mountains. So we went up Parawan canyon and found the neatest little waterfall. It was a great hike with kids too. I love where we live! Seriously 20 minutes and we're right in the outdoors hiking a waterfall. So cool. Heres some pics from our little trip. Seth was pretty nervous right next to the waterfall so he clung to me for dear life, but Jaq loved every bit of it! I forget how fun it is to do stuff like that, we really should do it more often. Anyways we totally want to go back so anyone close or that wants to come down we'll show you where it is and come with you!