first day of school

well typically i line all my kids up for first day of school pictures: but not this time...we had quite the first day of school morning. koy had woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night and threw up and so i was quite tired, kelsi cam into my room at about 6:30 and said she felt like she was going to throw up. so i told her to rest until 7 and then we'd see how she was. well i got up at 7, kelsi was still sick but wanted to go to school because she was having volleyball try-outs after school. i got kaden up and ready, and then i got brooke up and she immediately said she didn't want to go to school and i asked if she wasn't feeling well and she said yes. so in the mean time kelsi is trying to get ready and she throws up. but then she says she actually felt a little better and so her and kaden run to catch the bus. well it becomes pretty clear to me that brooke actually is not sick at all and just was too nervous to go to school, so i tell her we're getting ready and i will drive her to school. well she would not walk into her class, so i sit out in the hall and try to bargain with her and pretty soon we're both in tears and i decide that i can't leave her at school like this!
well that night i was talking to brooke and i told her she would have to go to school the next day and she told me "i don't want to go to school tomorrow or the next day or the next day or the next day!" so the next morning i get everyone up and i'm trying to be super happy for brooke...she cried through getting dressed, brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, family prayer- well she wouldn't walk to the bus so i told kelsi she would just have to carry her, so kelsi is trying to carry her to the bus (i'm watching from the window) and brooke gets loose and makes a run for it back to the house. well i didn't know what to do so i went to the front door and locked it. so brooke is banging on the door to let her in. i felt like such a rotten mom! but i just can't face my kids when they're upset :( kelsi comes back and carries her to the bus, by this time kelsi's crying too.
well i was feeling pretty bad about how i handled the situation, i had even prayed that i would know what to say and do to help brooke feel better about going to school and that's what i came up with? locking her out-nice. well i was so glad to get a call from my good friend lisa marie and we took our little ones to the spray park, i don't think i could of lasted a whole day of worrying how brooke was doing at school.
so i decided to try and get a picture off the bus and this is what i got...
it's kind of a smile :) i'll take it! and i'm glad kids are so forgiving.

oh i forgot to say how kadens first day of schoool went, when he got home i asked how it went and he said "well" and he sort of paused and i got scared and then he said "it was awesome, no-i mean wickedly awesome!" i love kaden, so easily pleased.

table rock

for a couple of years my friend, kris has talked about hiking table rock in the tetons...she has done it before and i have always told her i wanted too but it just never seemed to work out. well we were able to this year...
i was amazed as we drove up there: kent hunts up there and has always told me how dense the forests were but i kind of didn't believe him, i mean i'm from washington...we have real forests in washington :) but i have to say i was impressed and a little nervous...i really didn't want to see any bears or mountain lions. so this is where we were heading too-it looked so far away!

but as we walked it did get closer and closer!

we even hit some patches of snow as we got higher, of course i couldn't resist building a summer snowman! snow is still cold in the summer, i should of had gloves...

so cute, huh?

well we made it to the top in pretty good time, i think it was 6 miles. and we couldn't have asked for a better day.
i wish my camera could do this justice but the tetons are right behind us and it literally feels like you can reach out and touch them. the view was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful...i don't know how anyone can ever question a loving Heavenly Father after experiences like this. we sat on top and ate some lunch and just enjoyed it for about an hour and a half.

i love this shot looking down, it shows the "switch backs" that you go on.

and i had to get this shot of kris, she wore her bear bells and jingled all the way up and all the way down...it was very happy sounding!

what a fun day!!! i'm so glad that i'm able to enjoy so much in my life and have such great friends to do it with.

torture!

okay so i had this brilliant idea at the start of summer that i was going to make koy go to one of the summer movies each week. he was being naughty at church and i thought this boy needs to learn how to sit still...i know, i know--tortue to make your kids get some popcorn and pop and watch a movie. the first movie he cried almost the whole time and even pinched me. but by the second movie he sat just fine and did for the rest of the summer, he was better than brooke!
so i guess he did learn how to sit a little better, but he's still quite crazy at church :( but it was me that was tortured by this whole thing, i have decided that i am not a movie lover...i had a hard time sitting through some(most) of the movies. they were simply--dumb(excuse the language) and even had swear words in quite a few. so hopefully i don't get anymore brilliant ideas like this!

Gordon B. Hinckley

i still tear up when i hear his voice-it is just so familiar...

it speaks love, peace and joy to me!

"i have not lost my faith in goodness.

i believe in the ultimate triumph of good over evil

and that ultimately all will be well!"

triathlon

well i did it! and it was amazing-i finished the RUSH triathlon...
i swam 1/2 mile in 38 minutes: it was more like a sideways doggie paddle. and if you notice i don't look like i'm swimming, but that's as professional as i get... i can't stick my head in-i wore the cap because i thought it would keep my hair dry. i can't even put into words how much this stinkin' swim has been on my mind or how hard it was for me---but i did it!

i biked 14 miles in 58 minutes: this was my favorite part, i have learned to love bike riding...my friend kris and i were able to do the bike part together and that was so fun to talk the whole way just like a training day :)

i ran 3 miles in 31 minutes: the run has never been as hard as it was this day and i even had to walk a little up the hill, which i never have had to do---but i did it! (total time: 2 hours and 13 minutes)
i have said from the beginning that i am a completer not a competer...and i just wanted to do it and i am so happy i did, i had to keep telling myself-i can do hard things.

my favorite part about these kind of events is the atmosphere, it's so positive and it just brings out the natural cheerleader in me!

this is shelley, lis marie, kris and i after we all finished...it was so fun to encourage each other and be there at the finish line together. i also have to say i loved the body markings on my arm and notice on the back of my calves-it made me feel very cool!

but i think my most favorite part was all the training we did up to this day...i loved working-out outside, talking everyones ear off. i even can say i like (not love) running if i can talk to someone.

i have to also say that doing this just reassured me of the goodness in people. eventhough in an event like this; it is a race, i never felt like that: not from friends, not from strangers, not even from my very competitive gym teacher...everyone was so helpful and kind. all i ever heard was a genuine want to help and encourage each other...amazing! so i have said that this was my one and only triathlon, but we'll see what next year brings?

AMERICA!

"and now we face a danger

greater than any of the (12) wars we have faced...

to honor the constitution and to honor freedom

is a sacred duty for all of us."

-President Packer

my sister Christy has inspired me to read through the constitiution, bill of rights, and declaration of independence recently. shamefully, i have to say i didn't know any of them very well. and embarrassingly, i don't understand some of it. but i think it's important to know what our country was founded on and if we don't, then we don't know what to fight for! i'm very proud to be an american and i love living in the promised land-i am blessed.

harry potter

"And now, Harry, let us step out into the night

and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure."

-Professor Dumbledore

clear back in december kara and i had planned to go to the Harry potter 6 movie together since she would be in rexburg for swim camp when it would be released. so we decided that we would go all out and be total freaks and dress up and everything. it was very fun to think of who to be and find our costumes(cheaply). i decided to be tonks, a not so major role in the movies-but i think she sounds so cool in the books! kara was hermoine, but she informed me if we do this for #7 she is going to pick someone older-it's hard to play a teenager. kaden of course was the one and only-harry potter. and brenden was his best friend, ron weasley. kelsi really wanted to come but said she wouldn't dress up with us, so she was going to be a muggle but at the last minute she caught the harry potter spirit and went as loony-i mean luna lovegood. by the time i got to the movie theatre to buy our tickets they were all sold out for opening day...the only ones that were left were the VIP tickets which were $20 a piece-yikes! but after kara and i talked we decided to do it as a birthday present for brenden and kaden-so we got midnight tickets for the show on wednesday. we were so excited. we went to swim camp the monday before that but planned on just traveling back for the showing on wednesday at midnight. well anyone who knows me well knows i am the worst at days and times, i get them wrong alot. so wednesday morning about 10am kara comes into our trailer with a sick look on her face and says "i think we missed the midnight showing" and i said "why?" and she said "think about it-wednesday at midnight would actually really be like right after tuesday night." we just stared at each other. i didn't say much because kara looked like she was on the verge of tears and i said "well i hope not." but i knew she was right:( so we finished the lessons for the day and headed for rexburg like we had planned, we decided to go talk to the people at the theatre and see if there was anything we could do. i thought i was all under control so i told kara i would do the talking so she didn't start crying(yes it runs in the family). well i was directed to talk to the manager and as soon as i tried to tell our story, i just totally started crying...well he was so nice-it was about 3:30 and he said all the shows were sold out but that they hold about 10 seats open just in case and that he would even honor our VIP tickets and let us go in first and get our food too but we had to be back by 5:15. well we were really wanting to dress up so we made a mad dash for my house: hurried like crazy and threw on our costumes which weren't even all the way completed. we were sewing, painting, dying hair, printing off the computer...we didn't even have time to take pictures before the show. so here we are at the theatre...
i'm sure there were lots of people at the midnight showing dressed up but we were the only ones at the 5:15 showing!
it was so much fun and i didn't mind people looking at us. side note: kara looked just like hermoine after her potion didn't turn out in the movie.

kelsi ended up being such a good sport dressing up-she wore the radish earrings, butter beer cork necklace and even tucked her wand behind her ear like luna. of course you don't have to give kaden an excuse to dress up, he used to be in his room reading his harry potter books with his whole costume on-i loved it!

this ended up being such a fun experience and we even have a wacky and silly story to go with it. i can't wait until #7 and i won't be in charge! oh, i forgot to say how i liked the movie, kara and i had just both finished the book again before we watched and i think we compared a little too much. but after it settled in, the only thing i really didn't agree with was the end-i hated that they didn't have harry paralyzed when dumbledore dies...there is no way that harry could of just watched as he died. and i kind of think ron weasley stole the show in this one-he totally cracked me up. i know, i know i'm such a geek!