The Many Faces of Taylor (as seen by Ben)

Ben (7 yrs. 0ld) borrowed my camera and took these cute pictures of Taylor. I think we have a budding photographer!

Happy Birthday, Kristen/ Happy Halloween!

We celebrated Kristen's 11th birthday on October 31st. She is our little Halloween baby!

2 weeks old

I went into labor on October 30th, 1998, and got to the hospital that evening. I really wasn't sure that I wanted a birthday on Halloween, so I was hoping she would be born before the 31st. Everything was going well, and I even did it without any drugs. We were inching closer to midnight, and I was pushing hard. She ended up being born at 12:10 a.m. Our regular dr. didn't deliver her because he was at a Halloween party. She weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz., and she was absolutely perfect. She was such a sweet, easy baby, and we were thrilled to have a girl.

9 months old

5 yrs. old

11 yrs. old

For her birthday she really wanted to go to Build-a-Bear Workshop. It was our first time there, and it was really cute. She picked out a classic teddy bear, and decided on a vampire costume.

She finally got around to opening her presents late that night after trick-or-treating. She got a DS game, a book, and some dvds. She also got her ears pierced a couple of weeks ago as part of her birthday, and my mom gave her some earrings and a necklace with her birthstone.
Where's Waldo?

We ended up with some fun costumes this year. Josh hasn't wanted to dress up for the last few years, so I was surprised when he told me he wanted to be Waldo. I looked online for the costume to buy, and I found it, but it was so expensive, I decided we could make it ourselves. I found a white, long-sleeve shirt, and taped off stripes with duct tape. Then I sprayed red fabric paint on the rest of it. When we took the tape off, it looked great! We did the same with a white skull cap- painted the brim of it, and sewed a red pom-pom on top. Added the glasses, and the look was complete! The shirt took FOREVER to make, but it was worth it. We'll definitely be using it again!

The Pillsbury Dough boy rises again!

When Aaron told me he wanted to be the Pillsbury dough boy, I thought it would be really easy. It would have been if I could have found white sweats. Did you know that NOBODY sells white sweat pants? I looked EVERYWHERE! I finally found some really ugly white womens' pants that were made from the same fabric as sweats. They were on clearance for $7.00, so I bought them. My mom helped us put a new waist in that would fit him, and we cut off some of the pants and put elastic in the legs so they would look like sweats. We found the Pillsbury logo online and printed it onto iron-on transfer paper, then ironed it onto the chef's hat. He turned out great!

98% Good Witch

Kristen's costume was easy. We found it at Crackerbarrel. She looked so cute. Ben was our little pirate. We already had this costume, thankfully, so that was very easy.

Our Little Monkey

When I saw this monkey costume, I had to have it for Taylor. It's perfect- he is our little monkey!

The kids had fun carving pumpkins a couple of nights before Halloween, and Aaron was very proud of this one. This is the pumpkin that he grew in our backyard. It looked awesome!
Trick-or-Treating

Taylor caught on to the whole "knock on the door, and get candy" idea very quickly. It was so fun to watch him. He had a blast.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Josh and his friend, Jacob were scaring all of the trick-or-treaters half to death. Jacob sat there very still with the bowl of candy (Josh was inside). They put a sign on the bowl that said "please take only 2 pieces". People would approach thinking he was a statue, and then he would scare them. I wasn't too sure about it, but it was kind of funny.

It was a busy weekend, but we all had a great time! Now on to Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Just Can't Get Enough!

I am just a little bit obsessed with this new Michael Buble video. I have watched it so many times, I've lost count! I just can't get enough of it. Click on the link below to see what I mean-

(but be sure and come back here and let me know what you think :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AJmKkU5POA

Happy Birthday, Josh!

Our first-born is 15 years old today! He was born at Jordan Valley Hospital on October 14, 1994. The adventure began when my water broke in the middle of the night. I was a little confused because I was half asleep, and I was on the toilet (not to mention the fact that I had never done this before!). I had gotten up to go to the bathroom, and all of sudden I felt a big GUSH! At first I wasn't sure if my water had broken, but when it continued to leak out, I knew it was time to get ready to go the hospital. The contractions started as we were on the way, and he was born later that day at 2:32 p.m. He weighed 6 lbs, 9 oz., and was 18 1/2 inches long. He was such a cute little thing!

2 months old
5 months old. Don't you love those eyes?

10 months old. That hair WOULD NOT stay down!

2 yrs. old. If you scroll down and look at Taylor's pictures, you can see how much they look alike!

All Josh wanted for his birthday was to take his two good friends, Katelyn and Jacob to "From the Top".

The concert (recording session) was held at the University of Utah. Josh's passion is music, and he loves listening to "From the Top" every Saturday on Classical 89. He is the only 15-yr.-old I know who has ONLY classical music on his ipod. He is studying piano at the U., and he is getting very good. He is also learning to play the organ, and he has been called as one of our ward organists. He does a FANTASTIC job!

We started the night out with dinner at Hires Big H, and then we headed to the concert.

Here they are waiting for the concert to begin. It was pretty fun to be there and see how they record the program. The performers were amazing. There was a 10-yr. old trumpet player who was incredible. There was also a 13 yr.-old marimba player, a 17 yr.-old voilist, and a 15-yr. old pianist who played a Stravinsky piece that was unbelievable. The highlight of the night for me was an orchestra made up of kids from about 7 yrs. old to 16 or 17. They were AMAZING! They played a movement from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" completely from memory. They were so in sync, and the energy they had was incredible!

We finished the night with yummy ice cream from Coldstone. So good!

Josh has awesome friends! I had such a blast hanging out with them. We had a great time.

Happy birthday, Josh! You are an amazing person, and I am so very proud of you!

Happy Birthday, Taylor!

My baby is 2 yrs. old today! I can't believe how fast it has gone. It seems like yesterday that we brought him home from Alta View Hospital.

He has been such a sweet, happy baby. We have treasured every minute with him!

1 month old

1 yr. old

18 months old

What a keeper! Taylor, you have brought so much joy into our home. We are so happy that you were born. We love you so much. Happy birthday!

St. George 2009

Last Saturday, I ran my 8th marathon. It was, of course, the St. George Marathon, which is by far my favorite of all the marathons I have done.

Nine days before the race, however, I wasn't sure if I would be running. I was out doing an easy 7-miler, and just as I was nearing the end of the run, my foot caught the edge of a little hole in the road, and I rolled my ankle. I was able to walk back to my car, but as soon as I got home, I could tell it wasn't going to be good. I immediately starting icing it, hoping it would be fine. It wasn't. It continued to get worse throughout the day, to the point that I couldn't even put any weight on it without A LOT of pain. I was completely devastated. I spent a lot of my day in tears, as I was pretty sure at that point that running a marathon in nine days would be out of the question. The next morning, to my great relief, it actually felt quite a bit better. I went to the Dr. later that day, and he taped it and told me to go ahead and try running a mile and half or so on Monday, and then let him know how it felt. I continued icing it all through the weekend, and then on Monday, I went out for a run and it felt pretty good. It was just a little bit sore, so Dr. Toronto gave me the green light to go ahead and run the race. I was SO relieved! When you work so hard for so many months, the thought of not being able to run is awful!

Our trip started on Wednesday after school. The kids were out for Fall recess Thursday, Friday, and Monday, so it worked out great to spend the whole weekend down there. We spent Thursday just swimming, hiking, and chilling out. My brother Patrick and my sister Marnie arrived that night- they were running as well. Friday morning we did a short, easy run together, and then we headed to the race expo to pick up our race packets. We also spent a few hours as volunteers handing out race numbers to other runners. It was really fun to talk with so many different people. Runners really are the most friendly, upbeat people!

Saturday began bright and early (well, not so bright, as it was 4:14 a.m., and still completely dark ;) We drove to Worthen Park to meet up with our running club, Locomotion, so we could all ride the bus up to the top together. We had a huge group this year- we filled up an entire bus! We had a great time on the LONG bus ride up to the top. (It's good to be preoccupied so you don't have to think about the fact that you will be RUNNING this same route that is taking FOREVER to drive!)

Once we finally arrived, we got in line for the port-a-potty (a must), and waited for the race to start. We started all together, along with our good friend Randy, and the four of us stayed together until we reached the infamous Veyo Hill. Veyo Hill is a lovely hill that starts around mile 8 of the race. It's fairly steep, but not too long- maybe a quarter to a half mile. I felt great on the hill, and ended up getting to the top first out of the four of us. We gradually ended up back together until about mile 10 or so. Patrick and Randy slowed a bit, and Marnie and I kept going ahead. Around mile 13, we heard Patrick behind us saying, "Marnie! Kim! Slow down just a little bit! I've been trying to catch you for the last 2 miles!" He caught up to us, but was so spent from the effort, that he immediately fell behind again. We continued on, knowing that he would be able to finish with Randy. I should say that he was doing extremely well considering he was on the "Patrick Svedin marathon training program". This consists basically of one long run every other week or so with no other running in between :) Marnie and I felt pretty good until we came to the end of the canyon and entered the city. This is around mile 23-24. Marnie still looked pretty strong, but I was feeling completely spent. I stayed within eyeshot of her until the last two miles or so, but then I started to slow down. I ended up needing to walk just a little bit the last mile, but I managed to have a burst of energy for the last quarter-mile. My goal was to finish under 4 hours, and as I approached the finish line, my watch was on the verge of changing over to the 4 hr mark. I picked up my pace, willing my watch to not change over. As I pushed the stop button, it changed right at that second, so my time on my watch said 4:00:00. I was a little disappointed, but I was happy to have finished. Marnie finished a little over 2 minutes ahead of me, and Patrick and Randy came in together at 4:09. They did great!

Later on, we went and got our official chip times from the race, and to my delight, the little piece of paper said 3:59:59! I had done it by one second! It may seem silly, but it totally made my day to see that '3' in front of my official time. I was pretty happy!

The rest of our trip was great- we just hung out at the pool, and just chilled. (Which was good considering moving around presented a bit of a challenge- My quads were pretty sore).

Every time I reach mile 24 or so of a marathon, I always question my sanity. Why do I do this to myself? But, I always seem to be thinking about the next marathon almost immediately after crossing the finish line. It is an experience unlike any other. I can honestly only liken it to giving birth to my five children. The two are very similar: you spend months preparing, and then once that day comes, you start out feeling great, having a relatively good time, and as time progresses, the pain gets more and more intense until you reach the end where there is sudden and immediate relief followed by incredible, all-consuming joy. And, just like with childbirth, you tend to forget how intense the pain really was until you do it again, and then you suddenly remember. But then the finish line comes, and it is all worth it in the end.

So, I will inevitably begin training once again, preparing for that next marathon, sore quads or not!

Are You a Bestower of Dignity?

Last night I had the opportunity of attending a youth fireside with Josh and Aaron. I have to admit, I was tired and I really didn't want to go. The speaker was a member of the Young Women's General Board. (Sorry, I don't remember her name). As soon as she started speaking, I was riveted. I am so glad that we went.

She talked about how important it is to treat others with respect and kindness, and how wrong it is to do the opposite. She mentioned this book, "10 Conversations You Need to Have With Your Children" by Rabi Shmuley Boteach. In this book, Rabi Schmuley says that the one thing that every human being needs to survive is not food, shelter, or water. The one thing that we all need is DIGNITY. The speaker then asked us, "Are you a bestower of dignity?"

What a powerful question! When you really think about it, we all have the power to bestow dignity on everyone around us. We bestow dignity when we give someone a sincere compliment, or recongize someone for their efforts. We bestow dignity when we call someone by name, and show interest in them. We can bestow dignity with something as simple and easy as a smile. We can bestow dignity on our children by sincerely listening to them, and by giving them the guidance that they need, and we can bestow dignity on them by teaching THEM to be bestowers of dignity.

Being nice is MORE than just NOT being mean. Being nice is about putting forth the effort to notice people, and taking the time to bestow dignity in some way. The irony is, if we are feeling invisible, or down, or depressed, if we will go outside of ourselves and build someone else up, we will then build ourselves up.

I am definitely going to read Rabi Shmuley's book. If the other lessons are as profound as this one, it will be well worth my time. This is my new goal, to be a bestower of dignity, and to teach my children to be bestowers of dignity. Isn't that what it's really all about? The Savior taught us that we must have charity. True charity is not something that we DO, it is something that we BECOME. If we truly have charity, or the pure love of Christ, in our hearts, then everything else will fall into place.

I am so thankful that I decided to go to the fireside with my boys. There is true power in being in the right place at the right time.

Aaron's Big Adventure

Yesterday, we participated in a 5k race that our neighbors put on for their dad who has pancreatic cancer. All of the kids wanted to do it, and I was planning on doing it with them, but because of an ankle injury, I sat it out.

Aaron was excited to run the race and see how well he could do. He has been running some, and he felt like he could do well. The race started, and Aaron looked great. I settled in my chair and began to wait for them to finish. After about 24 minutes, the first runner came through. I thought for sure Aaron would not be long after, so I started watching for him. He didn't come. I started wondering if everything was okay, and then I saw Josh and Kristen come through. I asked Josh where Aaron was, and he said, "he hasn't come yet?" Now I was worried. Josh said that Aaron had been way ahead of them, so he should have been done. I found my neighbor, and as calmly as I could said, "I think Aaron is lost. He should have been done by now." He immediately called his wife, who was stationed about a half-mile from the finish. He asked her if she had seen him come through. She said she had seen him, in fact, he was in second place! He should have been done a long time ago!

He was obviously lost. Our neighbor hopped in a truck and started driving the course looking for him. He was finally found. Apparently, he had been coming toward the finish (not knowing he was almost done), and saw the sign for when they turned at the start. He thought he was supposed to turn there, and so he did. He ended up doing the whole thing almost twice. He realized something was wrong after a while, and he was starting to get a bit worried. I'm not sure, but I think he even strayed off the course trying to find his way back. When he did finally get back, he was recognized for having taken 2nd place, because he would have if he had finished properly.

He was happy about that, and he was also happy when I pointed out to him that he had just finished a 10K!

Civility

We have a treasure that has been in our family for over a century. It should probably be in a museum, I'm not really sure why we have it, but we do. It is a little book that was published by the Deseret Sunday School Union in 1883. It is a Sunday School reader that was used for teaching children in church back when our area was settled. It is so fun to read, I thought I would share one of the lessons:

Civility

Some boys think they appear smart by being rude and insolent to poor persons. If a person is poorly dressed, they think they have no right to show him any respect, or even to be civil to him. If he is lame, also, they think "Limpy" is a good enough name for him. If he has a bald head, they are very apt to call him "Baldy."
It is best to treat every person with civility. Kind, polite persons are always liked best, and, besides, it pays to be civil. There was once a conductor on a railroad, who thought it was smart to be rude to poor men. He saw a poor-looking, lame man waiting for the train to start, and he said to him:
"Hallo, Limpy! Get aboard, or you'll be left."
Then, as the lame man was getting on the car, he said, "Hurry, up, Limpy."
How do you think the conductor felt, when someone told him, a few minutes after, that the lame man was the president of the railroad?
He knew he would lose his place if the man would not forgive him, and he felt ashamed and very sorry for his rudeness.
But the president was a very kind, good man, and he forgave him, and let him keep his place, but told him never to be uncivil to any person again.
Remember, children, if you want to go through life smoothly, be kind and pleasant yourselves. Civility is a fortune.


Could it be said any better?

Just Chillin'

This is how I found Taylor yesterday morning amidst the chaos of 4 kids getting ready for school. Little did I know that at that moment, he was probably plotting the demise of my bedroom carpet.

Later that morning while I was doing my hair, unbeknownst to me, he grabbed a bottle of metallic brown nail polish from under my nose and proceeded to "paint" the bedroom carpet. I eventually smelled the nail polish, and ran out to find his legs covered with it, and the carpet sufficiently stained. He knew he was in trouble, because he immediately dropped the bottle and ran. I grabbed him and started cleaning him up. I tried to clean up the carpet, but I wasn't really getting anywhere, so I decided to do some research into the best way to do it. In the meantime, I started finishing my hair, when the little stinker grabbed a bottle of black, waterproof mascara (again under my radar), and proceeded to add to the masterpiece. I found him again covered with the stuff, and nice black stains to complement the big brown splotches.

To make a long story shorter, I did get the stain out. After some research, I found that nail polish remover and windex (windex???) will get out the nail polish. It took two full bottles of acetone nail polish remover, half a bottle of windex, 1 1/2 bottles of eye make-up remover (for the mascara), and probably a half an hour to 45 minutes of elbow grease.

All I can say at this point is, it is a good thing he is so cute. This makes the baby powder incident seem like nothing!