Lake Tahoe

I have a favorite Aunt and Uncle who live in Northern California. I am really close to them and it had been a while since I had seen them so we decided to meet them in Lake Tahoe where we spent the week hiking, swimming, freezing lol, and visiting with two of the greatest people on Earth!

It was a great opportunity to teach the kids about marsh lands, forests, and different flora and fauna of the area. We went on a couple little hikes and even saw a snake on one of them. Summy thought it was pretty. She also did a little hip-hop routine on the pier.

My beautiful little angels. Haha. We have so much fun together. I love getting away together.

Family picture time! It really was so beautiful there. The weather was quite similar to what we have in Utah. One day it was warm and sunny, the next was snowy, and the next was cool etc. We packed for it though so we were ready.

Hey Buddy!

We were ALL so excited for Sandy and Chuck to arrive! I used to spend a week with them every summer when I was a teen. We would go to San Francisco, the beach, Chuck's football games (he was coach) and spend hours talking. She was the one person in whom I could always confide. It means a lot for her to see my children and interact with them because my mother cannot.

Sandy and Chuck sat for hours listening to Trace talk about legos, watching Ev wield his sword and listening to Summer pretend to talk on the phone with her boyfriend, Milo.

Sandy and I still had plenty of time to talk makeup and shopping and life. I just love her! I love having Summer grow a relationship with Sandy too. They are both "princesses".

We found this HUGE rock in the back of the resort and the kids played on it for probably an hour.

We couldn't leave without hitting the Hard Rock Cafe (actually we could have) so Ev showed us his orangey smile.

It was such a great trip, although the drive was horrendous. Driving to Reno sucks! The kids did better than I. I would do it all over again to spend some more time with my favorite aunt and uncle!!!

Califorrrrrrrrrniaaaaaa.....here we come!

Before we had time to put all of our Christmas decor away we packed up and headed to LA for Naomi and Barry's Wedding. We drove down with Mike, Melody and Ashton and stayed in Vegas the first night to give us all a break.

Ev and Summy had to compromise while playing together. Ev wanted to be a Jedi and Summy wanted to be Mary. LOL They made it work. Summer has no problem letting her brothers know who is in charge. She climbs all over them, kicks them in her sleep and just plain makes herself comfy in the car, not caring in whose way she is getting. 

Our first day in LA was Father's Day so Mike woke up to a gifts and a homemade meal. Okay, so it was Continental Breakfast. One gift he received which he was NOT happy about was a new alternator!!!!! We had driven to the store the night before to stock up of groceries and his car began showing the tells of a dying alternator. Booooooo! Because it was a weekend and Mike has a foreign car we had to wait a couple days to get a new one. 

We spent the day before the wedding with no car and ended up walking several miles. We had saved all of our gift cards from Christmas so we walked to Target, Toys R Us, the Mall.......it was great exercise and would have been wonderful had it not been RAINING and our kids weren't so grumpy. Trace got blisters and kept saying, "We are just like the Pioneers!" Hahaha! I love that boy's drama. We had quite the adventure! I only wish we could have helped out more with the wedding. Sorry Nums!!!

The day of the ceremony was beautiful. I mean, look at those palm trees and the beautiful ocean! It was breathtaking scenery for a wedding. Everett followed Brad around all day. Those two are peas in a pod. I hope they always stay buddies. Summer had the chance to be a flower girl and enjoyed THROWING the flowers down the aisle.

Gorgeous bride, handsome groom, beautiful backdrop.......it was incredible!

It took a while to get our whole family looking at the camera so this is the best we got. I still love it. The ocean and my family are two of my favorite things so I wanted them in a pic together.

The reception was a total party! There was dancing, and food, and cakes, and music and family and friends and fun fun fun!

I feel I must explain the first of these pictures. Naomi need a song to dance to so we all got out our smart phones and searched the web. I thought it made a for a funny picture. I also probably should not have taken a picture of Riley and Summy during the prayer, but come on!! They are so stinking cute!

The next day we hit LA and Hollywood to be tourists. I love feeling like I have a second set of in-laws with Mike and Melody's family. We had a great time in the city and had strangers take pictures of us WITH THEIR cameras. It was bazaar. The boys wanted a pic with Bumble Bee but Vader must have felt left out because he jumped in too. lol

We spent out last day at the beach. It was too cold to swim but we still enjoyed ourselves. I had been sick for about two weeks so I look miserable in most of the trip pictures.

After the beach we found an awesome playground. I won't say what Ev was drawing in the sand, but he had a great time with his Uncle Mike. Summer was buddy buddy with Liz and Trace was just showing off to whomever would watch.
We had a wonderful trip and are so thankful for the Hagen family's love and acceptance. As for Barry and Naomi, WE LOVE YOU and wish the best for you always. XOXO

Ghosts and Goblins and Gaga??? Oh my!

 Halloween. The holiday we talk about and plan for all year long.This year the boys decided to go the patriotic route. I loved my brave little soldiers in all their camo gear. I especially love that Everett threw in wanting to be a "Vampire Army Guy". He is sooooo in the right family!

 I decided that with my platinum hair I had no choice but to be Lady GaGa. My students LOVED it and some sixth graders still say, "It's Lady GagAA" when they see me. They say it really weird.

For the first time in our home we had a princess at Halloween. Summer was set on being Ariel.....and so she was. I tried to convince her to be a scary Ariel, or a ghost Ariel, but she wouldn't have it. She was going to be a beautiful Ariel!!!

Where's Perry?

 We attended school parades, church parties, and trick-or-treated our little hearts out. We even got to Trunk-or-Treat with our favorite little cousin, Ashton. Don't mind Mike looking stoned in this pic. Haha. Everyone is looking at the cute Platypus anyway. Hope you have all seen Phineus and Ferb.
I think Mike wins best costume this year. If you have to ask, he is Gene Simmons from KISS.

The family that dresses up together.........well, I can't think of anything but we sure have fun. :)

Can't wait for next year! I already have my costume planned to the minute detail. But it is a surprise. ;)

SHHHHHHHHHHREDDING the slopes 2011!

As much as I despise being cold, I am in LOVE with Winter! We don't get up the slopes as much as we would like to, but now that our kids are old enough to come along, I see a LOT more shredding in our future. Hooray!

 We took Trace to Alta last year and he picked it up so quickly we decided to take Ev this year as well. Let me just say, helping two kids UP the hill is a KILLER arm workout. Trace got to the point where he could get up by himself, but not before getting so frustrated he THREW his freaking skiis! Hmmmm. Wonder where he gets his need for perfection from. Haha.

 Ev wasn't as excited about the whole skiing thing and was easily bored. We spent a lot more time in the lodge than anticipated. He eventually thought it was fun and did AWESOME! By the time we hit the regular hills on the lift they were both tearing it up! Especially Trace! 

The weather was beaUtiful! We eventually tore off most of our layers and enjoyed the sunshine and blue skies. It was the greatest day for skiing! 

This pic doesn't even do it justice. It was sooooo disgusting!

On our way down the canyon I noticed a NASTY haze over the valley. I felt like a bad parent for taking my kids into the icky air. I wish we could have taken DEEP breaths and held them till it was gone. 

We're baaaaAAAAaaaack!

I have so missed the blogging world! I miss knowing what everyone is up to and seeing cute pics of kids, hearing about exciting vacations, cheering for all of you through all of your accomplishments and sympathizing during your trials. 

I seem to have gotten on the "express" train on the rails of life and it has been difficult to get my bearings. Whew! I think I am finally putting things in the order of importance they should be and ...what do you know?... I have enough calm to bloggity blog again. I have a lot of making up to do so I hope, if there is anyone out there still reading this blog, I hope you enjoy Halloween and Christmas in April. Well, for those of you in Utah, we are basically in "Sprinter" so the snow-filled pics will not seem too out of place. Enough blabbing already! Time to get to work. :)


NOTE: I am dating them post dating them so although I have already added a few, they won't show up because they are from things that happened LAST SPRING!!! I am not kidding when I say I am behind peeps. Not that any of you are stressing about this like I am. Haha.

Piano Man

For over a year Tracy has been BEGGING for piano lessons. He began taking from his Grandma Kelley in February and performed in his first recital a few weeks later!!
Trace was nervous at first but when it was his turn he walked right up to the stand, announced his pieces, and played them perfectly! Then he sat down and asked how much longer after EVERY song. Haha.  I am proud of his efforts to practice and improve his technique. He is lucky to have a patient Grandma willing to educate him in all things piano.I look forward to the day we can play duets together. I suppose I need to practice more too. LOL

Thanksgiving Feast

Due to Thanksgiving Hockey Tournaments, we were usually somewhere in Colorado for Thanksgiving and, thus, usually celebrated in a hotel restaurant or Denny's. It wasn't until I married Mike and we began hosting that I fell in love with the holiday. Don't get me wrong, Halloween will ALWAYS have my heart!

Melody scouring the ads in the paper before we head out.

I think I love Thanksgiving most when I am hosting. My normal obsession with a clean kitchen goes out the window for 24 hours while we prepare a fabulous feast. I adore setting the table where friends and family will gather. We are always open to new guests and most often end up with an eclectic group of people. 

Ev and Mike guarding Mel's FAB rolls.

 Once again this year some of Melody's co-workers from India joined us. It is always fascinating to hear them discuss their culture and the diversity that exists between regions. I had always thought there were only a couple of different religions etc. throughout the Nation, but it turns out there are SEVERAL!!!

Ian is a great sport!!!

We were also able to have Ian, Melody's brother, for dinner because he is living in Utah and attending BYU. He brought his roommate, Matthew, and Matthew's sister, Megan. The kids were THRILLED to have so many people to climb on, perform to, and play with. 

We didn't take many pics for some reason. The table looked really pretty....maybe I will capture it next time.

Later that night we had to go to the annual BLACK FRIDAY craziness!!! This year's crew included myself, Charity, Melody and Megan. We hit Fashion Place Mall, Toy's R Us, Target........we were pooped but came home with some STEALS!!! I can't wait to do it all over again! 

The Gutting of the Gourds.

This will be trouble one day, but look how cute these boys are. 

 Having Tracy in Kindergarten has proved to be a great resource for him to make new friends. Through him and his little buddies, Mike and I have also made some awesome friends. Some of our FAV's are the Martinez's. We have enjoyed several dinner nights, birthday parties, snowboarding adventures, and other fun times with them. One of the chilliest nights we have spent together was when we decided to carve pumpkins.

Men at Work

 It was supposed to be a family affair but I think Mike and Larry did most, if not ALL, of the work. They are the most artistic anyway.

Go Utes!

The finished products. OOoooooOOOOOOOooooooooo!

St. George Marathon

The best darn cheering section a girl could ask for.

I have about a million things about which to BLOG, but I want to write about this experience before it is too far out of my head. This WHOLE experience has been quite the adventure and the people with whom I have shared it  have told me to write it down before I forget. Here goes.....
I have always loved running and completing a marathon has always been on my bucket list. I registered for one back in 2000 but during training I learned my mom was dying and I chose spending time with her over running two hours a day. NO REGRETS! Well, marriage, school, pregnancy, babies and just LIFE happened and I never got back to training. This year I decided it was MY TIME! I knew I didn't really have the time to train but I was determined to make it happen.
After entering the St. George Marathon lottery I learned I got in back in APRIL. It was an exciting day! Even better was that I wrangled one of my besties, well I call her my breastie, to run it with me. We don't live close so we didn't get to train together but we supported each other via text through hard runs, blisters, shin splints, perverted passers by, and other things which are NEVER TO BE SPOKEN OF. LOL Training while working, being wife, raising young children........was a challenge! I had many early mornings and several late nights. Mike was SUPPORTIVE throughout my endeavor. He and the kids would drop me off somewhere 10 to 20 miles away and wave goodbye as I began my run back home.
Training was going GREAT until three weeks pre-race day. I was on my 20 mile run and injured my inner thighs. Basically, I had slowly been tearing the ligaments off of my pubic bone, the surrounding muscles were trying to compensate creating tendonitis, and bottom line I COULDN'T WALK, LET ALONE RUN!!! I was devastated and, well pissed!!! I had been training all summer and now I was in no position to run. Not to sound haughty but I believe I am a TOUGH person. I have survived many things while in excruciating pain.Well, no matter how how much my brain wanted to push through the pain, my legs said, "NO!" When I would put weight on them they would buckle and collapse.

While I was busy getting heat stroke Summer got into the baby powder.....the WHOLE bottle!!!

Now, I will get back to my legs, but here is the second part of my story. I have always believed in GOD, but I have never had a CONCRETE testimony of the LDS church. I have always thought it sounded nice and was a good environment in which to raise kids, but this past year I seriously considered leaving. I know, SHOCKER to many of you. I wasn't anti-mormon and nobody had offended me, I just didn't KNOW if I could go through the motions anymore. In April I read the BOM in less than a month and thought it was an incredible experience.......but I still wasn't sure.
Back to my legs. I never stopped praying to God. I just always felt selfish praying for myself. I got over it and prayed, PLEADING that somehow I would be able to run. I even humbled myself enough to get a priesthood blessing. I wasn't sure it would work but I was willing to test my faith in ANYTHING that could help me fulfill a dream. A week later my breastie, Charity, told me her friend had a friend who could probably help me.
His name is Tom Fletcher and he is a Chiropractor by trade. I had never been to a chiro nor did I really think he could fix me, but again I was willing to try ANYTHING!!! I first went to his office two weeks pre-race. Turns out he is not any old chiro. He is certified with Ironman and has worked with Olympic athletes! He was confident he could help me get not only to the race but across the finish line. He is trained in a technique called Active Release Technique. It hurt like hell, and I was covered in bruises but IT WORKED!!! After working with him three times I was ready for the race.
I had gotten three opinions from three different docs as to whether doing the race would cause permanent damage and 2 out of three said, "As long as you take it slow!" The 1 was a total douche so I didn't really value his opinion anyway. I promised to take it slow, keep my muscles warm and take in a lot of electrolytes during the race. 
Mike and I packed up the kids, my running gear and our swimsuits and headed to St. George. Friday, Charity and I checked out the Marathon Expo, got our race bibs, attended a first timers seminar, ran into old friends, current friends, and the kids made signs to hold up for us as we crossed the finish line. I was beginning to think the blessing might have worked after all.
Saturday was RACE DAY!!! I woke up at 4:00, got dressed, taped my toes, put my KT tape on my knees and thighs, tri-glided my entire body, and laced up my kicks. Chard and I then headed off to the buses. It was quite the PARTAAY for 5 am. After we reached the top of the 26.2 mile drive UP the party continued: campfires, music, hugs, prizes....it was so exciting! I had always heard it was freezing at the top so I was ready with my beanie, gloves and Savers sweats. Unfortunately, I didn't need them. I say "unfortunately" because it was a bad omen that it was already 60+ degrees. By the time the race started at 7:00 we had already stripped down to our tank tops and shorts.
The first eleven miles were easy breezy. NOTE: Whoever thinks the St. G marathon is all down hill has never RUN the St. G marathon! We took in all the excitement, my legs felt great and then.......MY LEGS STARTED BUCKLING!!!! I began to stress and by mile 13 I was in excruciating pain!!! I was half way to achieving this goal and I could barely move. When these muscles tighten my stride is basically cut in half. I could probably have walked faster than I could run at this point. SERIOUSLY! :( I prayed in my head that I would be able to make it and just kept going albeit slowly.

*BING*

Well, God gave me something to take my mind off the pain and it was in the form of INSANE HEAT!!! The sun came up as we were passing the Veyo volcano and it was brutal! I know at some point it reached 93 degrees and if you factor in the black pavement I am sure it was 100 plus for us crazy runners! I began noticing people laying on the side of the road, getting taken away in ambulances with IV's, collapsing into volunteers' arms and getting into the shuttles. Now, these were not just newbees and old people. These were race veterans and serious athletes! It was HOT people!!! Between the heat and the pain I think I dissociated from life for a couple of hours. I was physically and mentally exhausted but quitting is not in my lexicon so I kept going.
Chard and I stayed together for most of the race, and even when we split up we always caught back up to each other. By mile 20 we were dead. Let's just say you do things during those last 6 miles you normally wouldn't do: you get over the fact there is no TP in the porta-John, you don't flinch at what you HOPE is a smooshed Power Bar on the road, you are so desperate for hydration you aren't above grabbing a water bottle off the freaking ground and you ignore the fact there is a layer of salt on your body and your skin is probably frying.

Teresa drove all the way down to watch me cross the finish line.

I made it!!!

By this time Chard and I had become buddies with this Asian guy from Cali. We were all tired and dead from the heat so we just kept each other going and joked about how miserable we were but how awesome we were for not getting into the now crowded shuttles. At mile 23 we were in the city and my legs were on fire. I could literally FEEL the ligaments ripping off the bone and my tendons were so tight I thought about cutting them to relieve the pressure. (I was not thinking clearly. lol) I wanted to stay with my buddies but I knew if I didn't get to the finish line soon I wasn't going to make it. I feel soooooo guilty because I knew Chard was struggling and yet I totally ditched her. :( I had hoped we would cross together and do some awesome toe touch or something. When I saw those silver balloons I was so happy, but when I saw my cute family and one of my other besties, Teresa, I was ELATED!!! I had made it and although I was disappointed in my time I had run my first marathon! I got my medal, gave some sweaty hugs and waited anxiously for Chard. She crossed soon after (after PUKING the last few miles!!! Again I feel like such a tool for leaving her.)

Breasties Forever!!!

The whole experience was such a trip! I have since learned that slmost 2000 people didn't even finish!!!! It was the hottest race St. G has had. Most people I know who were trying for PB times didn't come close. One in particular passed out at 20 miles! When people found out it was our first marathon they told us we had the worst possible conditions a first timer could have.

If you look closely you can actually SEE the layer of salt.

Now, do I think there was divine intervention? Um......DEFINITELY! I should not have been able to run, make it through the pain, and survive the heat on my own. Also, one of the nights I spent with my mom in the hospital before she died, I told her to meet me at the finish line when I finally ran a marathon. Did she? Again...DEFINITELY! Not only that, but I felt her with me throughout the race. I even wore a pink ribbon tatoo in her honor.
You may be wondering if this experience has scarred me from the marathon realm but actually the opposite is true. I am running the Ogden marathon next May and hope to get in the St. George Marathon for next October too. I figure it can't get any worse, right? ;)

Physical PROOF of where Tracy gets his crazy.

 I am still working on my testimony but I can tell you it has grown exponentially throughout this experience. And there hasn't been a day I haven't thanked God for His help and for helping me complete something I have wanted for so very long. I may need Physical Therapy for a few months, I am missing three toe nails, and I still have a crazy sunglass tan line, but this smile isn't going anywhere. :D

Mike loved capturing my pain. Walking to the pool the next day was like running another race! OWEY!!!

WARNING!!! DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH!!!!!! It is a good thing pointe shoes ruined my feet years ago so I have never had pretty feet. Now they are just EXTRA ugly.

Anyone up for giving me a pedi?