The Redhead From Utah .... and Family

A Very Merry Christmas!

2011-12-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

We awoke to a house full of even more gifts!
Ez's scored legos, video games, books...

Wy got StarWars this + that, ants!, video games...

Jarom received clothes, hunting pack, rock climbing gear...

Jer was surprised with a jersey, + lots of kitchen gadgets...

Had to include Kare + all her enthusiasm :D Diggin' her versatile changeable purse!

Usually we go in on gifts with the sibs for ma + pa, but this year we went solo. I convinced my pal Melanie to get back in the Lollybag business to make this darling personalized tote for Mom. PeRfEcT! We couldn't resist buying Dad this Utes gnome for his gorgeous yard he loves to work in :)

We headed up to Grandma + Grandpa Gleeds a few hours later where we had Christmas dinner with all Jer's aunts, uncles + cousins-- a VERY full house! Opened more presents then just relaxed + hung out for a few days.

We got to see the new Rexburg, Idaho Temple:

And went bowling at this awesome old-school alley where we were forced to learn to score by hand! Kinda fun ;)

A very merry Christmas, indeed!

A Very Merry Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T11:00:00.000-07:00

The holidays started off right with baking treats for the neighbors. If I never bake another sugar cookie again it will be too soon! [the fudge was much easier, but didn't earn any pictures]

The boys got an earlier Christmas gift-- a new basketball to take with them to the family party-- of which I got NO pictures this year! Sad.

Then on to Christmas Eve. While we packed up the car to head out for the holiday, Ez grabbed the keys + was jamming to the radio. As luck would have it, that was just enought to kill our battery on a cold winter morning :( After hitting a couple auto stores, which were all closed for the holiday, we finally found one open + bucked up for a new battery *just in case* as were going to be on the road for a few days.

We made it to our first desitnation, Grammy + Grandpa Gygi's. We had a delightful Christmas Eve with all my sibs. Wyatt, Lily, Karen + I serenaded us with Christmas tunes.

The grandkids opened their cousin-gift-exchange presents,

including the made-with-love build-a-bear.

Dad read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and we sang Silent Night.

Mom, Nate, Tracie, Weston, Jim, Kare

Then we hit the sack + waited for the jolly big guy to shower us with more surprises!

Merry Christmas from the family :)

2011-12-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

Christmas Concert

2011-12-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

Wyatt joined his school choir + participated in the Christmas Concert. He did an awesome job + sang his little heart out. So proud of you Wytie!!

Ezra decided he wants to learn how to snowboard. So Jarom gave him his first lesson in a mere 2 inches of snow in our backyard. Off to a great start!

Ez insisted we open his Christmas gift he made us right away. He said, "The best part will be seeing the smile on Dad's face." Sure enough, there's that {smile}

Lights!

2011-12-16T02:39:00.000-07:00

Christmas in Utah wouldn't be Christmas without a trip downtown to see the Temple Square Lights! Truly a site to behold!

[we're REALLY hoping Santa brings us a camera for Christmas. the cell phones just aren't quite cutting it....]

Look what Kare + I found while out shopping the other day--

fresh MiStLeToE!! We were pretty pysched + each snagged us a branch. Let the holiday KiSsInG begin!!

And speaking of Kare, she crafted this adorable decoration, with a little help from Dad {he did the actual Grinch character}

hodge podge

2011-12-13T03:14:00.000-07:00

More of this + that from my daily life....

The Gygi Girls got together with Grandma Gygi for breakfast for her birthday. Afterwards we swung by the cemetary to visit Grandpa + our sweet baby cousins Patrick + William. A sHoUt OuT to the fam who had the sites decorated for the holiday :)

Believe it or not, this teen is DRiViNg!!

Lucky for us, Grandpa Gleed passed thru the neighborhood for work, so we got to hang out with him for a bit + check out his sweet ride!

Not that you can tell, but this is us in his "apartment."

I feel like I spend more time in the kitchen than anywhere else, so I thought I should make note of how I'm a good domestic wife who homecooks every [weekday] night [but not without complaint!]

Zuppa Toscana, Garlic-Parmesan Rolls

My domestication also includes sewing. Or, more acurately, mending:

Here's my mending pile for just this week! My mantra: Fix it, mend it, wear it out. Make it last or do without!

As I was reorganizing while putting up Christmas decorations, I found we had not one, not two, but NINETEEN phonebooks!! Time to de-junk...

Christmas is coming...

2011-12-09T03:30:00.000-07:00

We made our annual outing to the Festival of Trees. As gorgeous as always!
Wy's fave: Miliary theme

Ez's fave: Lego theme

Dad's fave: Western theme

+ this gravity-defying one as well [although hard to appreciate from this mediocre pic]

Mom's fave: Angel theme

This tree is in honor of Brynn Barton, daughter of one of the docs I work with. She was killed while biking in a hit + run accident this year. Her tree was absolutely beautiful + represented her well :)

Our Christmas shopping is well under way. This year has been fun in that they boys are rather excited to be giving gifts! They drew names with their cousins + I have honestly never seen them so excited. Here's a little sneek peek [Nate/Mindy--spoiler alert!!]

Wy made a Build-a-Bear for cousin Maddie. He picked out just the right animal, stuffed it, cleaned, dressed it + is now keeping it company til he turns it over to it's new mama :)

Loving the holiday season!

Stuff{ing}

2011-12-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

More additions to the boys room-- this darling magnet board!

My little cuties recently learned how to sew on buttons. Such a great activity that keeps them busy for hours!

Here's some fun Native American crafts I made with my scouts:

the anklet music maker

modern-day dream catchers

Jer + Jarom had fun working together stringing up the Christmas lights:

My darling friend Maren recently had a sweet baby girl. I got to be her delivery nurse. I love being able to deliver my friends, but at the same time it is usually more stressful being emotionally involved. Thanks for trusting me Mare! Love your little angel!!

Dr. Froerer, Dr. Kaelberer, Maren, Emery, Me, Dr. Myers

One of my other patients posted these pics from her delivery. Kinda fun to see myself in action...

da boys

2011-12-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

My amazing little men keep bringing home the awards. Such good kids!!
Jarom got the Superintendent's Academic Achievement award. His straight A's are certainly paying off. Dad treated him to dinner @ Flemmings and hopefully a college scholarship is in his future....!

The Ez-man was nominated for "Club 100" by his sweet teacher.

And he also won in his division in the school Relfections contest with his photo!! So proud.

Wytie earned himself a trophy from football.

I love coming home from date night with the J-dawg + finding these darling boys all zonked out. Too sweet!

But they're not always angels... as Ez so intuitively stated,

"I hope Santa doesn't bring me a lump of coal for Chirstmas. I've been awfully naughty this year."

THANKSgiving

2011-11-29T00:53:00.001-07:00

We had a great THANKSgiving Day celebration with Jer's parents. The boys were in charge of decorations:

Our new "Harvest" Lenox China is an inheritance from Grandma + Papa Von Der Lohe. ThAnKs A miLLiOn!! We are so excited to finally have fine china to go with our crystal + silver :)

Jer + is parents made our delicious meal [while i slept off 2 night shifts]. There were mashed potatoes, sweet potato poon, bacon brussel sprouts, stuffing, sweet potato pie, shrimp salad, marshmallow jello salad, deviled eggs, cheesy garlic rolls, TuRkEy, and of course, pie-- pumpkin, huckleberry, chocolate + banana creme!! And if you know the Gleed family, every single dish was made FrEsH from ScRaTcH. Now, that's what I call a FeAsT!!!

Happy THANKSgiving

girl time

2011-11-23T23:55:00.001-07:00

Jer + I have a deal-- for every day he's gone hunting, I get a GNO. This fall I stocked up on alot! I'll admit I'm a Twilight fan, but by no means a die-hard, yet still interested in going on opening day. Makes perfect sense, right? Well good ole Treasa hooked us up with free tickets to a sneak peek early showing, plus $10 in free concessions!! Holy smokes-- what a deal! All I had to do was show up. Thanks T!! I thought the movie was great, perhaps even better than the book, which seemed to drag a bit for me. Breaking Dawn
Nicki, Cori, Treasa, me

Yep, takes a pretty self confident person to post a pic like this. Good times ;)

Then there was the afternoon at the Welfare Square Cannery. Us cute girls show up in our bling jeans, heels + jewelry + what do they ask us to do? clean! We were a little surprised + a bit overdressed, but managed to have fun nonetheless.
Amy, Kindy, Alison, me, Lee {and Treasa, pictured below}

Yes, those hoses were "accidentally" used on eachother a bit....

The T-dawg (yes, we're connected at the hip) made me these cute bookmarks from the concerts we went to this summer. Clever, eh? I'm diggin' it. Thanks yet again, T!

Git 'er dun - part II

2011-11-18T10:11:00.000-07:00

Jer enjoyed these gorgeous views + absolute serenity this fall while hunting.

Meanwhile I stayed home + kept myself busy as a bee....

We were just about through last year's homemade strawberry jam supply [compliments of Jer],

when I got an email from a neighbor selling her local family farm's fruit. So I bought me a flat of raspberries + decided to give it a try.

Yum!
Should get us through another year :)

A few more touches to the boys' room--shams + curtains:

stars + such

2011-11-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Saw this pic of my Mom on Facebook! This was her TV debut circa 1954 on The Little Schoolhouse. She's on the far right + her cousin is the boy. Isn't she adorable?!

My little Wytie-bug is an avid reader. He gets that from me ;) He often has 2 or 3 books going at the same time! Right now he's working on reading all the books for his school Book Battle. Makes me proud-- there's nothing like setting a good goal + achieving it! Great job Wyatt! For my current book recommendations, check out goodreads on my side bar.

Wyatt also recently attended his first college football game! The Utes stompped all over ULCA- sorry Grandma! It was cooooldd + snowy, but he loved every minute of it although he was a little intimidated by the intense 'hatred' for the opposing team.

Let me just say this silly little puzzler box kept me busy for several days before I finally figured it out. Curses to whomever gave it to my boys :S

And who doesn't enjoy seeing this darling little face?!

Fall fun!

2011-11-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

Loving the autumn season upon us! Took some time to dip caramel apples. Not my favorite, but a once-a-year-fall-time-festivity-must-do.

This pic was taken by Ezra for his entry in the school Reflections contest, themed "Diversity means..." He entitled it "Caramel Creations"

Wyatt chose to draw this handsome pastel oil pic entitled "Buddies"

And I have to spread the word about the most tasty appetizer at our fave local sushi joint, Osaka Sushi, the Avacado Bomb. Delicious!

Kare crafted up this incredible quilt. This girl's got SkiLLs!!

Jarom had to "Job Shadow" for a school assignment. He wants to be a surgeon when he grows up, so I tried to get him a job shadow @ my hospital, but the administration has a million hoops they make you jump through. It just wasn't feasible to get it all done in time. Luckily Uncle Weston is an Infectious Disease Scientist which goes hand-in-hand with Jarom's career aspirations + he was so kind as to work out all the nitty gritty details with his company in an even shorter time period to allow Jarom to complete his assignment. ThAnK yOu WeStOn!!!

For me, fall time means lunch date time with all the kids back in school. So far I've been able to catch up with Brooke, the movie star:

Camille, the wild one:

Katie, the successful attorney:

and Chere, SIL to the up+coming Tongan Reggae musician, MISI:

Jer + I went with Chere + Joe to Misi's (James Touhuni, for all you Wasatch Jr. or Cyprus Alumni) album Rastali release concert at Tracks. Good times!

Thanks for all the lunch/dinner dates girls!!
Let's not forget that autumn time also means election time! Hope everyone got out to exercise their right + duty to vote!

Keep that body Mooovin'

2011-11-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

The boys have been busy with yet more sports. Both Jarom + Wyatt's football teams made it to the playoffs. The season just never seems to end!

One of the moms made these too-cute-to-eat cupcakes for Wyatt's last regular game. Pretty amazing!!

Wyatt's team made it to the semi-finals before finally getting beat on a 20-degree, windy, snowy day in Park City. It was miserable!! [my ever-smiling face is deceiving. i was not the least bit happy]

I'm actually pretty ashamed to say I made my 8yo play in this. Why not cancel or reschedule? The Ute League really bugs me. They take this sport WAY too seriously-- especially at this young of an age!

Luckily one of the moms brought hot chocolate + another family brought a tent + heater that was a lifesaver to these little guys during their down-time. Dad was kind enough to donate his coat since Wyatt's wouldn't fit over his pads :/

Still smiling, but still not happy nor enjoying the game....

Jarom's team made it to the quarter-finals before their amazing 10:1 winning streak came to an end.

Awesome job!! My two favorite Stallions :)

Meanwhile Ez wrapped up soccer season with CrAzY hAiR day.

Jeremy + Jarom enjoyed a round a golf with Uncle Eric while he was in town. He showed them who truly owns the course...

As for me, I just keep on running. Literally :) My goal this year was to train (run/bike) 1000 miles. I had no idea how many miles I averaged in a year, but I saw on a friend's blog her goal was 1000, so I decided to make it mine too. I hit that goal with 2 months to spare! Wahoo!!

Now that race season is over for several months, I'm relaxing + just enjoying short "healthy" runs. I saw a great motivational commercial for those days when it's hard to find the TIME to excercise. It says:

There are 1440 minutes in a day. Can't spare 30 minutes to exercise?

YES YOU CAN.

So whatever it is-- running, biking, aerobics, weight lifting, or even just walking your kids to school-- get in your 30 minutes!! And for more inspiration, visit my fave fitness blog :)

A Bewitching Halloween!

2011-11-06T06:30:00.000-07:00

Treasa made this cute witch that started off our Halloween season right.

Then I decided to dress myself up as a witch + hang out with several friends at Gardner Village's Witches Night Out. I really got into the spirit of things.

me, Andrea, friend of friend, Heather, Cori, Nikki, Martha, Alyssa, Arianne

(plus a few more not pictured...)

We had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack where we were invited to do the bunny hop dance thing around the restaurant with the waitresses. Boy, were we a fun group!

Janille, Janae, me

Cori + Tammy

Melissa, Megan, Miriam, Arianne

Joy + Julie

Martha + Alyssa

Showin' off my sexy witch legs ;)

In true Halloween spirit, the boys + I got the Phantom going in our neighborhood. Unfortunately it never made it back to us :(

We delievered these yummy pumpkin cake pops.

Then found us some real pumpkins to carve,

and toasted up the seeds. They were mighty tasty!

We hit the neighborhood trunk-or-treat, parade, school parties, and trick-or-treating! Wyatt was General Grievous, while Ezra was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle:

We also participated in our annual neighborhood progressive Halloween party. We were in charge of snacks at our house. We frosted pumpkin + ghost cookies + drank smokey rootbeer!

It was a fun holiday all-around!

Airborne!!

2011-11-03T00:00:00.000-06:00

Happy birthday cousin Ben!! Thanks for inviting us to your Airborne party. We had a blast!

[Weston's fancy camera got some great shots. Mine, not so much...]

And happy 10th Anniversary to Tracie + Weston!!

ELK!!

2011-10-29T10:13:00.001-06:00

As mentioned in previous posts, Jer has been avidly hunting this fall. He was bound + determined to get an elk this year, thanks to the past couple years being unsuccessful. So he went on the archery hunt. And came home empty handed. But not for lack of elk out + about, but for lack of finding "the right one." I personally don't get it. Then he went on the rifle hunt. [Mind you, this leaves me as a single, working full-time, mother of 3 active boys to fend for myself time + time again!!] Well, after hearing from Jer that he had 2 perfect opportunities to shoot an elk, but walked away cuz it wasn't "the right one," I finally said "STOP BEING SO PICKY!!!" And that did the trick. He shot the next one he saw :) A 6x6, 320 bull. Hallelujah! The hunt is over. For now.

In a few weeks we'll have enough meat to last us several months, and in a mere 8 months we'll have a lovely head to mount above the fireplace :) Great job Jer + Jarom!!!

Those other racers...

2011-10-21T14:17:00.000-06:00

The marathon took it's toll on Kare too. She is also down 2 toenails :/ Ah, the life of a runner!

A mighty ShOuT oUt to Weston who competed in the LOTOJA 206-mile bike race for his 5th time!! He finished in just over 10 hours. AmAziNg!!! Congrats!!

And also to Treasa + Shaun for completing the Tour de St. George metric century!! I like to credit myself for getting them into road biking :)

And just in case you were wondering, "Can she still tie a cherry stem with her tongue??" Yep, still got it!!

Naughty Nails

2011-10-18T00:18:00.001-06:00

The St. George Marathon took it's toll on my toenails :S

Down 2. As soon as I took my shoes off, I knew one of my nails was dead. 10 days later I took off my toenail polish and found another one dead! See if you can spot the troublesome toes:

And remember The Finger? My doc told me it would take 18 months for the nail to heal. He wasn't kidding. It's been 10 months and the darn thing is still growing back in two separate pieces. [i know, this pic is super fab + you can totally see what I'm talking about]

One of the pieces won't attach to my skin- it just grows straight out. Needless to say it's causing problems. It gets caught on things + hurts like the dickens!! So I've resorted to keeping it covered with a fake on until my body can get it figured out. Wish me luck! [don't worry, i trimmed + painted it so it matches lovely now]

I just have to share this clever poem I came up with to wish Treasa well on her latest bike race since she was so kind as to spoil me with a clever poem + candy on my last race :)

Shoot 'em up!

2011-10-13T23:03:00.000-06:00

Unsuccessful on both the archery + muzzle loader hunts, Jer is now heading into the rifle hunt. If I ever want to see him these days, I've gotta play his way. So off to the shooting range we went. We stuck on our target:

Swung it upright:

[yes, people are shooting at their targets up there while you're down below....!]

Then we shot to our little hearts' content :)

First from 100 yards:

[the arrow points to our target]

Then from 200 yards. [Thank goodness we had a scope, cuz that target's pretty hard to see with the naked eye!] FYI: in the Marine Corps, Jer, the rifle expert, could shoot with 100% accuracy in a 10cm ring from 500 yards without a scope!!! Yes, the man is pretty much amazing.

Here's my target from the 200 yard range. Not too shabby!! [except for the 2 shots that didn't even hit the target... but no one has to know about those....]

Good times :)

MaRaThOn, take 2!!

2011-10-04T11:18:00.001-06:00

For my 6th + final race of the season, Kare + I found ourselves signing up for another marathon even though we swore we wouldn't. Ok, I never swore that, but she did. The poor girl just can't say no to her favorite sister :) The St. George Marathon is a classic in these parts, so on the bucket list it went + off the bucket list it has gone!!

The marathon itself isn't so dreadful, it's the MONTHS of training beforehand.... We followed the same training schedule as last time, but for some reason it was so much harder this go-round! I don't know if it was the heat of the summer, or trying to do so many other races in the midst of training, or just being older or what, but I struggled with almost every one of our long runs. [Little did I know it foreshadowed what was to come]
everyone has the will to win,
but few have the will to prepare for the win
Here's Karen + me, happy to finally have nailed one of our 20-milers :)

Mom rented us this posh home for Marathon weekend. [thanks for taking care of the details madre!] We headed south, families in tow.

My bestie, Treasa, made me this cute goody bag with clever poem :) Thanks T! [and yes, i did share ;)]

Here we are the morning of the race, 4am. Thanks Mom + Dad for waking up before the crack of dawn to take us!

Here we are ready to roll! It's always chilly at the start lines in the mountains, but this morning is was a mild 73 degrees.

isn't Kare the cutest?!

waiting, waiting, waiting.... gotta love stretchy sweatshirts!

Then we were off!! We ran our little hearts out. Together, every step of the way.

Despite how unintimidating this course elevation looks, it was brutal! Yes, it had a 4400 ft decline, but it also had a 1800 ft incline!! Around mile 8 we had a big climb up past the Veyo Volcano. We knew about this mighty hill, but we got up it just fine. It was the many "rollers" throughout the rest of the race that just killed us! Not to mention the sun blaring brighter + brighter, hotter + hotter as the day wore on.
achievement without struggle isn't rewarding

Our goal was to finish in under 4 hours, as we ran our last marathon, Ogden, in 4:10. This marathon had 3x as much elevation loss, so we thought it was reasonable to shave 10 minutes off our time. We stayed ahead of the 4-hour pacer up til mile 12, then he passed us. I was a little disappointed, but thought we could eventually catch up to him. We hit mile 13 at exactly 2 hours, right on track, with the "easier" half left. Mile 14 we breathed a little sigh of relief as we headed down a steep hill, but by mile 18 we were really struggling again :/ Once we hit mile 21 I knew I was going to finish ok, thanks to a run of good songs (Hey Jude, Rolling in the Deep, Someone Like You) and a small burst of energy, but it was still incredibly painful. And everyone around us seemed to have the same thoughts:
"I thought this was a DOWNHILL race?!"

"So much for the fastest marathon in the U.S."

"How you doin'?"
"I'm suckin' air! How 'bout you?"
"I was good 'til about an hour ago."

My sentiments exactly!!
And that's when we got passed by the 4:15 pacer :( I was crushed. How could I finish this marathon SLOWER than my first?! Brutal, I tell ya!

We were motivated by our family at mile 23.5 cheering us on, posters in hand, high-fives + hugs. Then again at mile 25ish. The last 2 miles I wanted to walk more than anything in the whole world. But the darn street was PACKED with people cheering us on, so there was no way I was going to do the "walk of shame" across that finish line. Putting one foot in front of the other I kept on running, despite the pain in my legs + feet and the complete exhaustion I felt.
strength does not come from physical capacity.
it comes from indomitable will.
Finally we saw that finish line + began to sprint. Evidently Karen had a little more gusto left than I did-- she crossed that finish line 8 seconds ahead of me. Way to go KK!!
[see kare just having crossed, me a little ways back, arms raising in triumph]

4:25:09
3036th overall, top 54%
1125th women, top 45%
20th my division, top 20%
Here we are right after crossing the finish line [through the misters] + being crowned with our medals. So happy to be done!!

Thanks Karebee for another wonderful race + huge accomplishment!!
if what you're working for really matters, you'll give it all you've got.

Thanks to my wonderful hubs + boys there to support us. Love you guys!!

And Mom + Dad too :)

Meanwhile, back at the house, the little boys enjoyed swimming + game time with Grammy,

while the older boys watched football + slept.

That night we celebrated with a delicious dinner at the Gun Barrel.

Jer enjoyed his buffalo prime rib,

+ Dad, his velvet elk.

The next day we made our journey back home, stopping at our favorite Beaver jumbo chair :)

What was hard to bear

is sweet to remember

xoxo kk

Homecoming

2011-09-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

We love having our own High School in our town. And our football team is finally making us proud. We enjoyed our homecoming parade:

And the awesome game that followed. The Deseret News picked our homecoming game as the "Friday Night Game of the Week," and we certainly delivered, stampeding right over those Trojans!

At 5:1, we are now ranked #1 in our division!! Go Stallions!!

Back to Basics

2011-09-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again... Back to school!

Back to football!

Jarom's on the JV team this year, playing defensive linebacker. This boy is getting tough! He's taller than me + officially out-weighs me :) I think if he really gave it his all, he MIGHT be able to take Jer! But this sport takes up so much of his life!! There's morning weights, afternoon practices, 2 games/week, not to mention brutal training all summer-- 2-a-days for hours + hours! We hardly ever see him, but he's loving every minute of it, knowing if he doesn't play in college, this is his time to make the most of it!! Keep it up J!!

Wyatt's in his first year. He both likes it + doesn't like it. It's way too strict + intense for 8-year-olds if you ask me. But no one seems to be asking me.... He is playing the line + is on the kick-off return special team.

More than anything, I think he likes being part of the team + the comraderie that comes with it. I have to say how proud I am of him. He's not the most coordinated kid in the world, but this boy sure has {heart}! He really pushes himself to run a little faster, asks his older brother for tips, and is often found "working out." He can already out-do me in push-ups! :/

Always fun when Grammy + Gramps come out to show their support.

Back to soccer!
Ez is back at it + loving it all the same [don't let that face deceive you]

Back to piano!
Wyatt is in his 3rd year. Doing well. Ezra just started. He loves it! Grateful to have found a new teacher this year {yeah Brianne!} after our old teacher moved away.

Busy as can be, good-bye to playtime :(

StAtE fAiR

2011-09-20T00:35:00.000-06:00

Autumn time means StAtE fAiR time!! Both of which are my favorite times of the year :)

Unfortunately, Jer was still gone on the hunt, so the boys + I had to hit it without him. Somehow we managed to dig down deep + still have fun. [warning: since Jer wasn't there, I took a million pics so he could share in our fun]

First thing, I wanted to hit Little Hands on the Farm. It's an exhibit they have every year that we have NEVER been to. As luck would have it, we waited a little too long-- the boys thought it was "babyish," but secretly I think they still liked it a little. They put on their aprons + picked up their baskets + headed to the silo to get some grain.

Then off to the barn to feed + milk the cow.

Then they had to sheer the sheep.

Next they hopped on their tractors + headed to the fields,

where they planted seeds,

which they then got to harvest.

They took all their goods to the Farmer's Market to sell,

then headed to the store to buy a treat with their earnings!

Job well done, my little FFA's!!

Next we hit the rides!! I was super excited to go down the big yellow slide. The boys were a bit skeptical since they were tall enough to ride by themselves. We all sat next to eachother + went down side-by-side. I was so busy watching the boys, I didn't fully enjoy my ride :/ Maybe next year...

This ride was more their style :)

The tidal wave was freaking hilarious. Ez really wanted to go on it, Wy didn't [they've both been on it before] Their faces were priceless-- sheer terror. I was laughing my head off the whole time. What troopers!

[I hate to admit it, but I was bored to tears while these little guys putted 9 holes]

loved the merry-go-round. go figure.

I somehow talked the boys into trying the gravitron. They loved it! They said next year this is the only ride they want to go on :)

They were so stinkin' cute as they showed me how their faces looked inside:

Then we headed over to see the animals. Who wouldn't be this happy to see a chicken?!

Any guesses as to what this fluffy furball is??

My boys are totally hands-on. They were so happy just to touch everything they could.

[except the bees. we didnt' touch the bees.]

Seriously- these boys were just so darn happy the whole time! I tell ya, the fair is where it's at!

[i don't care how cute these rascally little piglets are, they stunk to high heaven!]

Wytie kissed a goat!

My guys coulda watched these 2 goats fight all day long. Boys!

We checked out the agriculture

+ the old farm equiptment.

This larger-than-life, fully-self-functioning robot was awesome! He sang, danced, signed autographs + even rode a scooter. So cool!

We enjoyed the usual fair food. But were sorely disappointed we couldn't find the chocolate covered ants we heard advertised.

Next came MY personal favorite-- fine arts. This painting reminded me of my sweet boys :) [i swear i didn't see the "no photographs" sign until after the deed was done...]

+ for whatever reason, i totally fell in {love} with this painting. i want it!!

I also love the quilts. Especially where there's an assigned fabric that everyone has to use. People are so clever + creative! And you get to vote for your favorite. This was my fave, and it just so happened to win the overall People's Choice award :)

Tell me this one itsn't the cutest thing ever??

Dessert time brought our traditional elephant ear. Yum!

Finally, as we were headed out, this gamer stopped us to play. We hadn't played any games, 1. cuz they're too expensive, and 2. cuz the boys certainly don't need one more stinkin' stuffed animal. I literally had $2 left to my name, so I knew I could justify not playing. I asked the guy how much it was. He said "$5." I told him "Sorry, only have $2." He said, "Just come play." They boys were begging, so I agreed. He gave them each a dart to throw at a balloon. They both missed. They both turned around, devistated. Then he said, "Come try again." He gave them each 4 more darts! This time they both hit a balloon!! They were so incredibly excited!! And thus each of them walked away with yet another darling stuffed animal :S They couldn't be happier, so I couldn't be happier :)

See ya next year!

Catch/Caught

2011-09-14T13:18:00.000-06:00

Labor Day Picnic!

2011-09-11T00:30:00.002-06:00

The annual Gygi Family Labor Day Picnic was alive + well yet again this year. AND this year we were troopers + ventured out to our original gathering place, Fairfield.

My boys + me

Weston + Tracie's clan

Mindy + Nate's crew

Dad (Mom was OOT visiting her side of the fam)

Grandma + me

Andy + Alexis's bunch

Cathy + little one; along with Lisa + Mike's group

Grandma + Aunt Shauna (who will be so pleased I'm posting a pic with her eyes closed....sorry! my little phone isn't the best in terms of digital cameras...)

Pretty good turn out, but the rest of the fam was surely missed!!

Neighboring Camp Floyd happened to be having their annual celebration as well + they let us join in on their fun festivities [for a small fee ;)]

We learned all about Civil War stuff (?)

the kids learned the basics of soldiering

like "right face"

um... other right, Colly

+ how to hold + shoot a gun

the pros loaded up the cannon

+ shot that baby off!!

we learned how to make an A-frame tent

hung out in a teepee

played old-timer games

+ even dipped our own candles!

Thanks fam for the great holiday picnic!! See ya next year!

Git 'er dun

2011-09-08T02:25:00.000-06:00

Jer has begun his usual hunting excursions this fall. We spent days cooking up all his grub ahead of time so he could eat well and focus all his time + energy on the hunt. [Lucky for me, I made double, so I didn't have to cook once while he was gone!]

We said our good-byes,

Then I got busy with some home improvements! I don't know what it is about him being gone, but it always motivates me to get stuff done around the house + surprise him with my accomplishments :) First there was hanging pics in the boys room. I know, not much, but they've been sitting around long enough.

Then there was the yard work. I've been staring at this ugly corner for 9 years now. It was time to make it match the other corner I spiffed up for Father's Day :)

Let me share all the gory details: First there was the marking:

Then the digging + bordering:

Then the weed barriering, wood chipping + rock moving:

[a mighty ShoUt OuT to Jarom-- couldn't have budged those rocks without him!]

Doesn't it look magnificent?!

I was so pleased, I moved on to another eyesore.

This one was much easier. Mark.

Dig.

Weed barrier. Woodchip.

Pat myself on the back :) Needless to say, J-dawg was pleased. Can't wait til he leaves again! Or not...

ps- stay tuned for results of the hunt!!

Mt. Timpanogos

2011-09-04T11:24:00.000-06:00

Hiking Mt. Timpanogos has always been on my "bucket list." This summer it finally got crossed off!! My dear friend Kim + I decided to scale the peak during the night as to watch the sunrise from the top of Utah! It was an awesome experience!!

We took the Sundance/Aspen Grove Trail. Started the 7 mile, 11,000 foot climb at midnight.

This was my view pretty much the entire time!

Headlamps + glow-in-the-dark shirts are a necessity.

We hiked + hiked, talked + laughed, + enjoyed our merry little selves. When we weren't getting lost. That's right. We lost the trail several times. We'd end up at a viewpoint, or on the edge of a uncrossable glacier, or in the middle of bushes + just sit + wonder where we went wrong. Eventually we'd find our wait, or find other hikers who knew the way.

We crossed 2 short, steep, slippery glaciers, several streams, a couple waterwalls... We made it to the hut around 3:30am. There were quite a few people sleeping in there! We were all giggles at this point, creeping around, snapping pics with the sleepyheads :)

Next came the mega-long glacier. Then crazy steepness. I'm sure we were near death several times. Seriously. The height + the vast openess got to me. I thought I might tumble to my death time + time again. An hour later we made it to the saddle. InCrEdiBLe!!! The view was unbeatable. I was so excited to finally reach that point. It was horribly windy + cold though.

Then we pressed forward up, up, up to the top. I thought I was scared before.... this portion was terrifying! It was so rocky, so steep, and so hard to see the trail. I'd look up at the "stars," which were actually headlamps of all the hikers above me. I couldn't believe I still had that far to go. But alas, we made it to the TOP!! [and how there is a TOWER at the top still baffles me!!]

We hit the peak around 5:30am + had to wait for that magical surise for over an hour.... We passed the time taking pics, eating breakfast + visiting with the 50 or so BYU co-eds [who were incredibly annoying]

wait for it....

wait for it...

wait for it....

Bam!! The sunrise*

Tell me that's not worth losing a night's sleep, hiking your tail off, nearly dying for?! Definitely worth it.

To the west we had Utah Lake.

We could see clear from Spanish Fork in the south, all the way to the Great Salt Lake in the north.
Absolutely gorgeous.

To the east we had Deer Creek Reservoir. Or was is Rock Port? Jordanelle maybe? It was the subject of much debate. I think we decided on Deer Creek. And, of course, the SUN.

It was a totally party at the top. So many of us. All cheering as that sun finally rose. Such a great experience to be a part of :)

Then it was time to head back down. In the daylight :)
I wish I had a little laser pointer to show the details of the next couple pics. If you look closely, you can see the trail we climbed, other hikers, and the craziness of it all.
The bottom left of this pic is the saddle. See how much elevation we gained from there?!

This one shows the seriously insanely steep short switchbacks. Looking from the bottom, you would never believe you could make it up that thing. Near death, I tell ya!!

Back to the saddle. Again, look closely at the trail behind us + all the people on it. The top of Timp is the upper left of this pic. Yes, I climbed that!!

Now, we didn't get a pic of "the glacier" that you can slide down from the peak to the hut. I went up with the full intention of doing it, but when I saw it in person I gave a hearty "HELL NO!" You would never believe how LONG and STEEP it is!! It's pretty much straight down for over a hundred yards!! Ya, it cuts well over an hour off your hike down, but man, I honestly think I would die. Either from hitting a rock or just from sheer fright!! [but I will admit that in retrospect I deeply regret not doing it!!]

We pretty much slid down this part on our butts. So steep!!

This glacier wasn't steep, except for at the very end, but it was a long one for sure!

The waterfalls were much more stunning in the daylight

The trail goes right behind this waterfall! Loved it!!

We made it back to the hut to find last night's sleepers still there. They actually recognized our voices as "those giggly girls who woke us up last night." haha! Too funny.

It took us nearly 5 hours to get back down the trail. Boy, were we SORE the next day!! Ankles, butts, quads.... what a workout! Completely AwEsOmE hike!! Highly recommended :)
THANK YOU KIM for the great adventure!

burn, baby burn

2011-09-02T03:32:00.000-06:00

I think I'm one of the most accident-prone people I know. The other day I was curling my hair, getting ready for work. My curling iron kept turning off for no apparent reason. I started fiddling with the cord to see if it had a short, when

The little bugger explodes right there in my hand! Seriously looked like a firework going off. I screamed bloody murder. Got me a nasty electrical burn. Ok, maybe I exaggerate. No burn. It felt like a tiny bee sting, but made my heart race for nearly an hour. Thankfully I still have full use of my hand :)

Then I had to go to work with my hair half done....

I'm accepting donations for a new curling iron ;)

Hikers

2011-08-31T00:47:00.001-06:00

Took my little cub scouts hiking this month. We hit the Medina Flats trail that our family did earlier this year.

The all were troopers-- hiked fast + no complaints!

Love the Cub Scout program!

Stansbury Days

2011-08-29T10:16:00.000-06:00

My 5th race of the summer was my hometown Stansbury Days Triathlon. This is one of my favorite races. It's short + sweet + done alongside lots of neighbors + friends. Seriously love it. Last year was not so hot-- I got not one, but TWO flat tires during the bike portion. It was devistating, but I finished + with a decent time. So this year I was ready for a comeback.

and comeback I did!

Well, my swim was actually 10sec slower (?!but maybe 100m farther?!), trans1 40sec faster, bike 12min faster, trans2 same, run 2.5min faster. Overall 15min faster!! Although I might have secretly been hoping to hit the podium this year, I was very pleased with the results :)

This is my AmAzInG training buddy Treasa. She had me training from the very beginning of the summer, including doing the entire tri once a week for a month before the race! This girl is hard core. And it certainly paid off-- we rocked it!

This is my cute friend Crystal. [you may recognize her from girls camp] She was the first person to tell tell me to try a tri a few years back. She was making her debut after birthing all her babies-- and guess what?! She came in FIRST in her division!! Way to go Crystal!

This is my exercise guru friend Alyssa. She rocks at pretty much every sport. Needless to say, she came in FIRST in her division!! Way to go Alyssa!

Here's the crew from my ward. We were well represented + totally OWNED this tri!
Judy (2nd overall, 1st in her division), me, Alyssa (1st in her division), Mike (1st overall!!), Mike (3rd in his division), Tyson. [Treasa shoulda been in this one too, but she went home earlier]. I have some pretty incredible neighbors! Powerhouse!

After the tri came the Stansbury Days Parade:

our cute Benson Grist Mill!

gO Stallions!!

the boys caught lots of candy + a little loot too!

And after that came the car show:
pinkalicious

cool old jeep

8-track, baby!

Jer liked the old trucks best

but i prefer this little honey

And then we played-- bounce houses, in the lake, ate lunch + visited with all our great neighbors. Love our little town!

Crafty Quilt

2011-08-22T00:39:00.000-06:00

This month one of my neighbors had a baby. My friend Treasa asked me if I wanted to go in on a gift with her. I said sure. So she whips up this incredibly darling quilt!!

I may have given her the bandana quilt idea, but seriously?! Isn't she amazing?! I love the color choices, plus she goes above + beyond to add these fancy embelishments. Some kind of amazing...

Then she asked me to contribute by making the card. Which I did. From a kit.

Looks like I need to set some crafting goals for this year... Props to you, T :)

Summer Book Club

2011-08-19T02:10:00.014-06:00

My SMMART Ideas friend, Lisa, organized a summer book club for all our little readers. Once a week the kids went to a different home, read a book, then played games, made crafts, and ate snacks revolving around the theme of the book. For our turn to host, we chose the book:

This gave us a camping theme for the day. The kids started coloring + doing word searches while we waited for everyone to arrive.

Then we read the book out in our tent:

Next came crafts:
mini-campfires

bird feeders

Then games:
fishing

hunting

obstacle course
ride the canoe,

hike with your backpack,

get the bugs out of your sleeping bag!

And finally snacks:
s'mores!!
[of course!]

got enough 'mallows on there, ez?

A ShOuT oUt to my helpers, Treasa, Hailee + Addie (below, with mouth full o'mallow). Thanks girls!!

Here are some of the other cute things they did at other homes:

Thanks to all the great Mom's who made our book club a success!!

Tim!!

2011-08-16T00:28:00.004-06:00

I went with some girlfriends to see Tim McGraw in concert again this summer. I'd have to say he was even better than last year. He is so yummy!

fave song: Felt Good on My Lips

His opening bands this year were The Band Perry

fave song: If I Die Young

and Luke Bryan

fave song: Rain is a Good Thing

Ladies of the night:

me, Treasa, Megan, Joy

Treasa blinged her shirt herself for the occassion. Totally rockin!

The usual drunks + clueless dancers were out + about, but no super crazies like our last concert. Just this one wasted chick whose shirt just wouldn't stay in place....

Tim + the Band Perry sang this duet of a song I've never heard before. I totally fell in love with it!
Can't Be Really Gone

Thanks for the great night girls!!

My creative boys decided to create their own version of chess. They made their own boards + played with their Pez. I love their little minds + motivation!!

Miller Motorsports Park

2011-08-14T00:03:00.001-06:00

We went on yet another fun field-trip with SMMART Ideas Lisa. This time to Tooele Valley's own Miller Motorsports Park!

We hopped on the people-mover + toured the huge park's (3x the size of Disneyland!) 4 tracks, numerous garages + museum. We just happened to be there during Porche season, so we got to see a bunch of those

out on the course.

We sat in the grandstands....

learned about the park....

got to walk on the off-road track...

and toured the museum...

here's a few of the fun facts I learned:
Miller Sportspark owner/creator, Larry H. Miller, bought this "fixer-upper" for $5000. It is now worth over $500,000. What an investment!

This is the most valuable car in the world, worth $13 MILLION!! [when i told jer about it, he said, "what kind of car is it?" hmmm... somehow i missed that part!]

This was Wyatt's favorite car. Miller got into a bidding war with George Lucas over this hotrod. It was valued at $1.2 million. Miller paid $2.1 million. He must've wanted it pretty badly!

This was Ezra's fave. I can't remember exactly why this car was so special-- but it had something to do with the fact that it was so new it had never even been through a dealership or something.... it only had 6 miles on it.

Fun fieldtrip!!

Baptism

2011-08-11T00:23:00.001-06:00

Having turned 8 recently, Wyatt chose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Our family was happy with his decision :)

Grandpa + Grammy Gygi came out for the occassion [pardon Wy's expression-- the sun was in his sensitive little eyes!]

We were happy Grandpa Gleed was in town as well!

The Gleed Men

Wy received his own personalized set of scriptures :)

We celebrate with brunch at our home afterwards

the spread: breakfast casserole, fruit kabobs, donut holes: yum!

Thanks to everyone who came out to support him!

Nate, Tracie, Weston

Darin, Grandpa, Jer

Treasa, Zach, Whitney

and many others!

Congrats Wytie!!

we love you!

Spudman!!

2011-08-09T04:28:00.002-06:00

My 4th race this summer was the Spudman Triathlon.

Jer, the boys + I all headed up to Burley, Idaho + made a little weekend out of the event.

The day started off early, but lovely. Right up until I found out my start time had changed :( I was originally assigned to start in wave 3. But when I got my cap, it said wave 7-- the LAST wave! Starting last is crummy, cuz then you finish last. No matter how fast you are, you're never gonna catch up to wave 1. I tried to argue, but I was told to go by my cap number. So I started LAST. And my division of girls was the only girl group in my wave. I was surround by about 150 MEN, worried to the bone that they were just gonna burry me in the water! But I obviously lived to tell about it....

The swim was fantastic. Right on down the Snake River. The current was a huge asset. My fastest mile ever! Here's the ONE picture the fancy camera men got of me during the entire race.

The bike was just dandy. Mostly flat, a few rolling hills. And even the run went well, despite the inital jello-legs. Again, mostly flat, with a bit of trail running. The weather was perfectly overcast. My goal time was under 3 hours. I finished in 2 hours 49 minutes 13 seconds!!

I took 8th place in my division!

Here's how it all broke down

swim: 1.5K (a little less than a mile)

21 minutes 48 seconds

10th place

bike: 40k (25 miles)

1 hour 26 minutes 48 seconds

[I'm thinking that included transition 1, cuz that time isn't posted anywhere]

13th place

[transition 2: 2 minutes 17 seconds]

run: 10K (6.2 miles)

58 minutes 20 seconds

3rd place!!

Always great to have my family cheer me across the finish line :)

Here's all the sweet loot I scored:

watch out world for this up + comer!!

Children's Museum

2011-08-07T18:43:00.001-06:00

We visited the Children's Museum on another SMMART Ideas fieldtrip. Despite having been several times, we always seem to find something new to entertain us. This time there was this cool musical-light-up-foot-piano thingy:

Life-size dominoes:

along with some regular faves-- magnetic thingies:

Wyatt tried to tell me he wasn't having any fun, but I managed to catch him enjoying himself more than a few times....

Ez went to town delivering food from the farm to the grocery store. I think he coulda kept this up all day. So cute!

He looks really into it, doesn't he? No fun, no fun.

Both boys made it to the top of the wall :D

This thing didn't seem to work quite right, but it had potential for being cool:

The Weather Lab is always a fave. Those news guys make it look so easy!

Ok, so maybe Wy really didn't have any fun after all... He is such a good kid, but certainly not without his stinker moments! Hooray for Ezzy's smiling face all day :) Love my little rascals!

BaseBall + gOlf

2011-08-05T12:23:00.000-06:00

Wy + Ez enjoyed another season of baseball.
Wyatt's Rangers

Gettin' goofy :P

Ezra's Cardinals

Afterwhich they both started Golf lessons for the first time! It's been pretty fun to watch.

Wyatt won the chipping contest!

Ez was so proud of this tasty dessert he made for us all by himself! Strawberries + bananas drizzled with chocolate. Yum!

And finally, our most recent SMMART Ideas fieldtrip:

We learned all about how they make their ice cream daily from scratch, walked in the giant freezer + even got free cones! Thank you Coldstone!!

baby you're a fiiiirrrework!!

2011-08-03T22:58:00.000-06:00

We had a delightful 24th of July [Pioneer Day here in Utah]. At least it was delightful for me since I was actually home to celebrate! We went to a friends house for a multi-family BBQ with a giant waterslide bounce house. We all had a blast. I was the only mom to venture down the waterslide--flipin' twistin' jumpin'--and loved every minute of it! So all you other moms-- get out there enjoy life a little more!! Then we enjoyed fireworks-- complete with parachuting army men {my fave}

I also have to share one of my newest summer faves {grilled stuffed zucchini} this smelled absolutely heavenly as is cooked, and tasted equally as delicious! Give it a try!

and this was darn-near the coolest thing i've seen as of late [at the car dealership where i get my oil changed]

hop on + make the most of your day!

Girls Camp

2011-08-01T00:09:00.018-06:00

Growing up, going to Young Women's, I couldn't wait to be an adult + become a YW Leader. But after becoming a mother of 3 BOYS, my mom warned me to be prepared for a life as a Scout Leader instead-- which as you know, is my current calling. Just as I've settled in + gotten used to all the boys, I got called to be on the Stake YW Camp Committee! I'll be honest-- I was not exactly looking forward to hanging out with a bunch of hyper, sassy teenage girls for a week.... But alas, I accepted + everything turned out great. I was the camp nurse, the assistant hike leader, and oversaw 4th-year certifications. Lots of responsibilities!! Luckily I had an awesome team to work with-- Judy, Charity, Karrie, Audrey, Megan, Melanie + Becky-- some of the most incredible women you'll ever meet!

Karrie + I were in charge of hikes + the overnighter backpacking trip for the oldest girls. We headed up to camp a week early to scope things out + decide where to take the girls. Karrie is so much fun + had the most diverse, wild, entertaining life stories to share. When I grow up, I'm gonna be just like her :)

Karrie's hubs Keith came along to help us too. He also joined us on the mighty overnighter. He was wonderful to have around-- for both his skills + comic relief! Recognize the man? You may have jumped tandem with him-- he's a professional skydiver!

Somehow we also talked our favorite girl Treasa into joining us. Hiker extraordinare! Too bad she refused to join us for the actual event....We missed you T-dawg!

Finally, come Monday morning, we set out, 25lb pack on board

40 girls in tow

we hiked 2 miles up

then set up camp!

Despite bear recent bear sitings, we stayed safe + the only animal encouter we had was a doe passing through our camp.

our teen sensations :P

the girls entertained themselves with songs + games

while Todd-O entertained us adults

we cooked up a yummy supper- TopRamen- holla!

+ chowed down

We're probably not supposed to play favorites, but these two are my favorites :)

Ash + Dani

hung out around the campfire

I was in charge of the devotional. Here's what we talked about as we snacked on AirHeads :)

my tent buddies- Audrey + Charlotte :)
Thanks Aug for carrying the tent on our hike!!

The next morning we woke to RAIN pouring down. We packed up all our wet gear + headed back down the muddy mountian :s

Ultramarathoner Audrey-- this girl is one tough cookie! Just look at her lift that 5-gallon water jug with one hand so effortlessly!

The next 4 days were filled with certifications, crafts, food, more songs, more games, more hikes. But not more pictures....We had a great time. Everything went smoothly. Happy to be a part of it :)

cute Dani + Chari

me + my old-ward triathlon buddy Crystal. so fun to hang out together again.

'til next year.... or not....

Bowling

2011-07-30T00:18:00.002-06:00

Our bowling alley was nice enough to offer free bowling for kids all summer long!

We didn't go nearly as often as we could (2 free games every day!) But we went a few times. My favorite was when Ezzy said, "I'm winning, huh mom?" after his first trip down the lane:

Little did I know what it foreshadowed:

That little guy is pretty good!

Then Jer had to go get all fancy-pants on us at the end hitting strike after strike + blew us all outta the water. Way to go big J!!

happy day :)

Cub Scout!

2011-07-27T00:04:00.002-06:00

My darling Wyatt is now a Cub Scout!! And lucky for us both, I'm still the Wolf Den Mother :)

He headed off to Cub Country right away + had a blast.
They practiced shooting:

had relay races:

and obstacle courses:

and passed off lots of their Wolf requirements.

Then he got to go to pack meeting, where we retired 4 flags. Rather interesting! There was a little history ceremony:

then the flags were presented.

raised the flag + said the pledge

lowered the flag

more ceremonial stuff + patriotic songs

then threw the flags in the fire~

it was rather emotional :'( but in a good, patriotic way

It's gonna be another fun year with my little buds. Yeah for Cub Scouts!
And Yeah for an awesome team to work with -- Melanie + Treasa-- love ya girls!~

Eight is Great!

2011-07-24T00:07:00.000-06:00

My little Wytie-bug turned 8! He, too, was spoiled with 3 cakes + 3 celebrations. We love birthdays around our house!
1*family party

2*friends party

Bowling + Laser Tag

too much fun with too many boys!

Kael, Wy, Ryland, Ez, Luke

Cole, Logan

Whitney, Kainoa, Zach
Inoke, Jackson

another shout-out to the fabulous Treasa for getting me through another party!!

Kung-fu Panda kicks!!

3*extended fam party

Harry Potter cake

Happy birthday Wyatt!!

11 years!!

2011-07-12T12:25:00.000-06:00

Jer + I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary this month!

He spoiled me with roses + chocolate covered cinnamon bears.

Then we treated ourselves to a night out. Dinner at Lone Star Taqueria,

followed by Kenney Chesney's "Going Coastal" tour!!

We dragged our favorite friends along

Jer, me, Treasa, Shaun

The opening acts were Uncle Kracker

fave song: "Good To Be Me"

and Billy Currington

fave song: "People Are Crazy"

followed by the big guy himself (one of Jer's all-time fave country singers) Kenny Chesney

fave song: "We Went Out Last Night"

Fabulous show!!!

Now of course any concert-goer can tell you the side shows are almost always as entertaining as the actual show! Here are a couple of Utah's finest:

These two older (60+) ladies were completely WASTED from the get-go. Seriously plastered. They couldn't clap their hands together, they kept falling over their chairs, and were dancing the night away. Well, inbetween shows, the drunker of the two (on the right) staggers over to the potties, assumably to spew. We watched her leave knowing darn well there was no way she was ever going to find her way back. And guess what? She DIDN'T! That's right. She never came back! Her poor friend was looking EVERYWHERE for her. Those around us were trying to help. The police + paramedics got involved + no one could find her. Shaun + Treasa even stayed late after the concert + NO LUCK. Probably passed out somewhere. Hopefully hasn't been robbed or hurt. Moral of the story: Don't drink yourself stupid!!

This charming couple were directly behind us + we couldn't help but overhear every stinkin' thing they said. From "I love it so much!" to "I can't believe how close he is! I can almost touch him!" (we were a good 100 yards away) to "I'll make you enchiladas!" to "Don't you dare leave- this is THE song! [gasp] Are you thinking of someone else?!" to having to hear her tell the SAME story THREE times between shows about the "so cool" $50 pirate shirt her beau bought her, along with the awesome glow-in-the-dark flip-flop necklace, "I love it so much! I love it so much!" Jer + I laughed our heads off. Although she spilled beer all over my seat, I was still grateful to be in front of them rather behind when we heard how much tonsil-hockey they were playing! Barf!

Yeehaw! Sweet times.

Independence Day

2011-07-06T02:05:00.001-06:00

Independence Day weekend started off with some hiking + a picnic. We headed up South Willow Canyon in the Stansbury Mountains with the intention of hiking Deseret Peak. However, when we got up the canyon a ways, we found out it was STILL closed due to winter run-off! Usually the canyons all open on Memorial Day weekend, but thanks to our very wet winter, here we are the 4th of July + still can't get all the way to the top. Crazy! So we opted to hike Medina Flat instead, which undoubtedly was a much better choice with our little boys in tow. They didn't last too long in the hot sun, despite the fairly easy trail.

Here we are happy-go-lucky at the start

enjoying the wildflowers

taking a break in the shade

crossing the creek

taking in the view

We saw lots of other hikers, dirt bikers + horseback riders. Very popular trail!

Afterwards we headed over to the park + indulged in some homemade FrIeD cHicKeN. Mmm Mmm good!

So that's where it started + pretty much ended....I worked the rest of the weekend, so Jer hung with the boys. Happy 4th of July!

This IS the Place

2011-07-04T04:07:00.002-06:00

Another summer fieldtrip with my SMMART Ideas friend, Lisa. This time to This Is the Place State Park.

This is honestly a great place for anybody. Lots of crafts + activities for the kids, lots of history for the adults. All the workers are totally in character-- as if they were a pioneer back in the day. Kinda makes me chuckle cuz they WILL NOT come out of character no matter what you ask them!

The pirate ship was one of the boys' favorite spots

We learned the rules of panning for gold

all panned successfully :)

traded our gold for goodies!

boys being boys

checked out Indian dwellings

made arrow-head necklaces

pow-wowed in a teepee

learned to pull taffy

+ learned it didn't taste all that hot back then :(

rang the chow bell

spun the giant wheel to....

make the dowel spin to be carved

met a mountain man! he was really cool

and a medicine man. he taught us how to make pills!

we crafted our own leather

and played parlor games

made candles from wax--which turned into dynamite sticks! boys!

rode the train

and got caught in a torrential downpour of rain + hail!! luckily it didn't last long

Thanks Brother Brigham for giving us such a nice place to visit ;)

Love these little guys!!

Now, we could've called it a day there, but we needed a little more excitement. So we headed out for lunch where I decided to lock my keys in the car! Boo! These boys were a little more than upset with the circumstance. Oops....

Lucky for us, I had 2 days left on my AAA membership (which I will undoubtedly be renewing now) + a locksmith was there within 15 minutes :) On a side note, I called Jer and we tried the "click your FOB through your cell phone" trick, which did NOT work.

Here's to more fieldtripin'!

rAgnAr relAy

2011-06-30T00:04:00.002-06:00

My 3rd race this summer was the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay, a 12-man relay race covering 191 miles from Logan to Park City, each runner running 3 "legs" varying in distance + difficulty, over the course of 24+ hours.
Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat.

You may remember I participated in this race last year, when my sweet sis Karen ran the end of my last leg with me as I was exhausted come mile 20... She made the comment, "This may be my only chance to run the Ragnar." I took it to heart + made sure she had a chance to actually run it for herself. So we teamed up with the NICU nurses at work again + joined team "No Feet-us Can Beat Us!"

the girls of van 2
LeighAnn, Camille, Jess, Melanie, Lynnell
me, Kare (aka "the sisters")

We pimped out our van:

We had a fantastic team--7 from last year, 7 newbies.

LeighAnn. Our wild + crazy driver who suprised us with her love of vulgar rap music.

Melanie. Our comic relief. Here she is showing off her "broken robot" moves.

Lynnell. Our stylish team captain + major motivator. This girl was also our speed demon. She rocks.

Camille. Major milelage tackler + more comic relief. She had some tough legs + conquored them all!

Jess. Our spankalicious take-no-gruff from nobody girl. Don't mess with Jess.

"the sisters"
SO glad to have eachother!!

And here's a couple of our van 1 friends.
Chelsea + Whitney

Melissa

My first leg:

around 3pm friday

3ish miles. flat. fast. 26min 30sec (8:30mile) i was pretty proud :)

"the sister" exchange

enjoying eachother
Kare, Mel, me, Lynnell

I knew about half the girls on my team, Karen knew none. But get thrown in a van with a group of girls for 2 days straight + you bond quick :)

Jess, Camille, Kare, me, Melanie

run, run, run!!
As you can see in the background, Ragnar is getting HUGE. There were over 1000 teams this year! Thats a hella lotta runners, drivers + volunteers!!

{if you blow-up this pic + look at the boy in the white T in the background his shirt says "CTR WTF" We were all thinking, WTF?! Then we saw what it stood for : Choose The Ragnar With The Fam. Clever ;) }

exchange:

{hula}

dance, dance, dance

this was undoubtedly a LOVED sign by everyone who passed it!

all smiles :)

nitelife:
it gets mighty dark + chilly in the Wasatch Back! as dorky as they are, headlamps, butt ligthts + reflective vests are a must
Whitney, Lynnell, Camille, Melanie

Kare, Jess, Camille

My second leg:

around 230am saturday

10miles. flat. average pace. 1 hour 38min (9:48mile)

This leg had it's woes. It was dark. I was on a dirt trail next to the railroad for the first half. Kinda creepy! But next to Echo reservoir the second half. Very serene + peaceful. Unfortunately, on this leg I experienced my first case of the "runner's trots." It was awful. I never eat before I run, and eat/drink mininally on "long" training runs cuz my stomach just can't handle it. I know this about my body. At last year's Ragnar I pretty much just didn't eat the entire 32 hours. Just had water + propel in sips. This year after my first leg was over, I was hungry + knew I had about 12 hours before my next leg, so I ate a bagel. Harmless, right? I was doing fine, digesting away, when my team stopped for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I knew my body couldn't handle more food, expecially Mexican food, so I slept while they ate. Smart, right? Well, my second leg rolled around + I was feeling fine. About a mile into my run + had this overwhelming need to poop! It felt awful. This was a "non-support" leg, which means my team couldn't leap-frog me, which meant there were water stations along the way. Well, running a 10-mile leg, I figured there would be port-a-potties along with the water stations. So I just kept running. At 2 miles there was a water station. No potties. So I kept running, with this horribly awful stomach ache. At 4 miles there was a water station. No potties. I asked the volunteers there if there were ANY potties on this leg + the 2 guys just laughed + me + said "Pick your bush!" At this point my stomach ached so bad I thought to hell with it! I turned off all my lamps, jotted a mere 10 feet off the trail (keep in mind it was dark + scary!), dropped my drawers + did my business right there. Pretty humiliating. 3 people passed me during this time, but by the look in their eyes, I knew they understood. So now I'm officially a seasoned runner, right?? I felt much better after that + finished up my leg with no problems. But as soon as I exchanged with Kare + hopped back in the van, it hit AGAIN! I was worried I couldn't get to the bathroom fast enough! Luckily I made it + after that I was totally fine. Who knew one bagel could do so much damage?!

This was a typical line for the port-a-potties :(

Here's our sleeping accomodations. I slept fantastically-- for two 2-hour stretches.

Despite very little sleep, we still had lots of fun energy cheering eachother on.

My 3rd leg:

3ish miles. STRAIGHT UPHILL. "the Ragnar." as brutal as they come. 48min (15min mile)

more of a HIKE than a RUN. I ran about 1 mile of it, hiked the other 2. I passed 3 people, but got passed by as many. I was in absolute awe at the people who could run the whole thing. HUGE challenge!

Karen had the second half of "the Ragnar," another 4 miles STRAIGHT UPHILL, over Guardsman Pass. These pics don't even do it justice! And look at all that SNOW in JUNE!

Here's Kare finishing it off!! Way to go sis!!!

So happy to be done!

Near the end of the race I just so happened to run into this girl. Always exciting to meet a celebrity :)

Our favorite van, the Einsteins :)

our happy toes in matching flip flops

I love this pic of Kare. I love even more that the next day she went out to eat + her server asked, "Did you run the Ragnar, or are you just a die-hard fan?"

Our team finished in 35 hours 59 minutes 58.8 seconds

LONG, but wonderfully fantastic ;)

Daddy-O

2011-06-27T00:02:00.003-06:00

Happy Father's Day to our Daddy-O!

For once I actually planned ahead of time and LISTENED to Jer's subtle requests over the past couple months and came up with this:

Lone Survivor and trekking poles! He was happy :)

As a tribute to him, here's some of the fun things he's been doing this summer:

Shed hunting with Jarom

fishing with the boys

gardening-- he provides us with tons of yummy fresh veggies all summmer!

doing pretty much anything with the boys :)

and working in the yard.

This is a little project he actually turned over to me, but if you know me and my not-so-green thumb, he ended up doing most the work anyway....
i wish i had a before pic cuz this was a nasty weed corner! thus we weeded (which was a HUGE effort), laid weed barrier

and MORE weed barrier + placed the rocks

and added bark. Voila!

Ophir + the Railroad

2011-06-25T00:10:00.000-06:00

My SMMART Ideas friend, Lisa, planned weekly fieldtrips for the summer to keep our kids happy + busy + constantly learning! Busy with birthdays + swimming lessons we missed the first two trips to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts + the Wild West Splash Pad, but we happy to join the others on a trip to the old mining ghost town of Ophir + a week later, the Railroad Museum.

OPHIR

We saw old homes,

the old saloon,

old mine shafts + cars,

old outhouses,

the old post office,

old cash register,

old schoolhouse,

old school bell,

more old houses,

+ old shops. Neat old town :)

the RAILROAD MUSEUM

We learned about the history of the old Tooele Valley Railroad, mining + the smelter. We got to tour an old train. Pretty cool!

Stayed tuned for more great summer fieldtrips!

Camp Vernon

2011-06-22T22:23:00.002-06:00

Had a quick weekend get-a-way to the backwood hills of Vernon on the Pony Express Road with our amazing, wonderful, thoughful, generous, charming friends, the Perfili's.
Shaun, Treasa, Jer, me
Zach, Ez, Wy, Whitney

We had fun 4-wheeling. Right up until Treasa + I got chased by a MAD sheep dog! He was HUGE-- seriously the size of a bear-- and he was peeved at us for gazing at his sheep too long. He chased us @ 50mph for a good half mile. It was frightening!

We're two of those "smart" moms who buy our kids wrist rockets + air soft guns. Maybe not the wisest idea, but it sure makes for some good times!

I'll say without hesitation that I hold the record for the most hits :)

We spent lots of time gaming. Sequence, Bonnie + Clyde, card Monopoly, to name a few. I found that I am easily distracted. Get me talking + my game goes downhill fast....

Treasa pretends not to like having her picture taken:

I, on the other hand, can't get enough :D

The kids did some gaming too

Treasa captured their personalities well during these moments:

Shaun looked this grumpy just about the whole time....

jk. He was a good sport.

I found myself a little rusty on the rifle....

(ok, it's actually a BB gun)

Jer taught Shaun to shoot his bow. It's ALOT harder to pull back than one would expect!

Jer made us some lovely fires for marshmallow roasting + campfire singing. Well, there may not have actually been any singing, but it's a nice thought.

best of all we just enjoyed eachother's company :)

I wish I could say the trip ended there. Happily Ever After.

But no.

Disaster was on the horizon.

The Perfili's trailer had a pin fall out of the rear axle, causing a spring to pop off, causing major disaster!! Their trailer was seriously driving sideways behind their car for about half a mile before they noticed! We were driving behind them, watching the whole thing, as their car went around a bend + the whole thing nearly tipped over! Seriously. It was awful to watch. Jer + I were screaming at eachother, trying to call them (my cell phone was dead, I couldn't find their number fast enough in Jer's phone), honking to get their attention.... Finally Shaun noticed something wasn't right.

The boys immediately found the problem + sent Treasa + me running up the road in search of the missing pieces. Good thing we're both runners, cuz the spring was quite a ways back. But we couldn't find the pin.

Luckily some handy electricians stopped by to help + had the extra tools needed.

Treasa + I learned about new tools-- cheater bars, monkey wrenches, and I can't even remember what else!

About an hour later, with the axle securely Duct taped back together (seriously), we were back in business!

+ thanks to a whole lot of snacks + doodle boards,

the kids survived the set-back without complaint!

Here's to no troubles on our next outing...!

the DiRtY dAsH

2011-06-19T14:32:00.001-06:00

Have you ever said to yourself, “Marathons are too easy, and Triathlons are for sissies?”

We haven’t either…those races are really hard. Think about it…the first person to run a marathon actually died. HE DIED!...and he probably didn’t even have fun along the way!

Well let us introduce you to the new race in town…

This race puts all other races to shame. The Dirty Dash is a mud run obstacle course where a military boot camp meets your inner five-year-old’s fantasy and subsequently converts boy to man and then…man to swine.

You’ll need endurance to trudge up mountains of sludge, courage to overcome uncompromising obstacles, a complete lack of shame to wallow in pits of mud and a smile to show through at the end!

My fam decided to get a little rowdy this year + run the DiRtY dAsH!!

Pre-race glam:
Weston, Tracie, Kim, Jim, Karen, Dad, me, Jer, Jarom
Ben, Collin, Ezra, Wyatt

We ran through mud, mud, mud, barrelled over haybales, crawled through tunnels, scaled walls, got sprayed by water time + time again, hopped through tires, jumped over/waded through a stream, army crawled under a net, got hit by water balloons, super-manned down a giant waterslide (my favorite part!), and finished by bathing in the pig pit!

Sound enticing?? It.Was.Awesome!!

Kim, Tracie, Weston, Dad, Jim, Jer
Karen, me, Jarom

my muddy man!

Jarom wins dirtiest pig!!

mud-lovin'

the dirty duo

the Gygi Pygi's!

Jarom, Jer, me, Kim, PIG, Weston, Tracie, Dad, Karen, Jim

The kids even got to join in on the Piglet Plunge. They had their own 1 mile dirty dash through the mud, down the waterslide, and through the pig pit. They were little troopers!

Jeremy, me, Tracie, Weston
Ezra, Wyatt, Collin
Ben + PIG

If you ever get the chance to participate, DO IT!!
From 3 to 64, this is honestly fun for ALL ages!

And a SuPer ShOuT oUt to Grammy for watching the kids + toting around our gear. Thanks Mom!!
Here's all the shoes that got donated to charity at the end:

Later that night we were playing pictionary. This is what I drew:

In unison, all 3 of my boys shouted out "cat!"
Seriously?!