Kindergarten "Graduation" !

Paul has had a great year in Kindergarten and has LOVED his teacher, Miss Metcalf. Luckily he ended up in the same class as two neighborhood friends too - Landon, and Thyse. He's been so excited about these green class shirts. At the beginning of the year each student drew a self portrait, and each of their drawings is on the shirt. I think it's a perfect keepsake to remember their Kindergarten friends :) It occured to me this morning that around this time next summer, Alanna will be starting Kindergarten! I just can't believe it!
**Once again, I have to give the photography credits to Landon's mom, Aubrey!

Gingerbread Men...

James and I have been so stressed/excited/stressed in anticpation of the Wasatch Back relay race we ran this past weekend. We were the "newbies" on a team with a couple of Boston Marathon runners, (one of which holds a 6 min/mile during her marathon runs!) regular marathon runners, and the kind of runner who can literally sprint up THE RAGNAR MOUNTAIN for their last leg of the race and aren't even puffed out at the end! James has never ran a race before, and I have done a 1/2 marathon and some 5-10 K races, but not for like 10 years since I have been busy having kids!

I also looked forward to a little "vacation" with just James and I. My brother, Luke, and his wife, Andrea, were the ANGELS that took care of our kids while we were gone. Our kids absolutely loved their time with them, and especially with their cousin, Peter. I don't know how we will repay their kindness! It was awesome to run into my sis-in-law Lauren at one of the major exchanges. There were 1200 teams running, and Lauren was on a different route than we were, so it was by pure luck that we bumped into each other. She would have fit in well on our team of amazing runners (myself excluded!)

I loved my first two runs. Espcially my 2nd leg because it was 3.6 miles straight up, and I ran hard all the way. After sleeping for 1 1/2 hours, my 3rd leg at 8:30am was quite hellish. I was just dragging. I hadn't been passed by anyone my 1st or 2nd leg, and on my 3rd leg I was passed by a BYU cross country runner, and some kid in a bright yellow shirt who flew by. James did an awesome job and had some really challenging uphill legs in the heat of the day. It's kind of irritating that physical stuff always comes so much more easily for men than women! James was the 12th runner too, so it was fun for him to officially finish up the race. The whole team joined him for the last few yards to the finish line.

The major bonus of doing Ragnar is the party going on in the van. It was so much fun to spend time with friends, and get to make a new friend, Susan, as well. Everyone was so supportive, and it was inspiring to be with them. There were many interesting team names, van decorations, and costumes. It really gave the guys an open inviation to let loose and be themselves - if you know what I mean! If you don't know what I mean, the picture above explains it all!

So, there were 1200 teams that raced this weekend. We came in at 109th overall!!!!  And we would have been around 70 had we not had traffic and directional issues. The traffic was awful and our van 1 lost about 45 minutes when their next runner couldn't make it to the exchange in time.   AMAZING!!!

9th in Co-ed submasters (would have been 6th or 7th).

I hope we will do another Ragnar, together. They have them all over the country, and the Wasatch Back is known to be one of the hardest. It would be awesome to train here and do the one in So. Cal or somewhere at sea level! We'll see!

A Perfect Night...

I should say it started out a little rough last night for Alanna's dance recital. She was excited to wear make-up, but then cried and smeared it all over her face. Then she absolutely refused to wear her dance shoes, and it wasn't worth the fight, so she performed without them! But, it turned out to be one of those nights that I wish I could just have one of those Mary Poppins chalk drawings made of. And I could just jump right in and relive it over and over again!

It wasn't so much about the dancing as it was Alanna's reaction to the love and support she felt. My parents were there, and then of course her dad and brothers, and me too! I love to see how excited my kids get when one of them has a performance or game - they are so supportive and loving toward one another. We were outdoors at the Sandy Amphitheatre, and it was a beautiful setting with perfect weather. I got to sit with Alanna's class and be the "mom" helper. Those little girls are so sweet! Paul had a camera and was snapping pictures all night to capture the excitement.

Alanna's dance was called "Tiny Toes", and I just adore her little costume (she does not!) She is the youngest in her dance class, but she did very well considering. During the finale when they take a bow, she really "hammed" it up and was all smiles and blowing kisses! It was precious! James brought her a dozen roses, she got a huge hot pink Gerber daisy from my parents, and Miss Tiffany gave her a medal and a candy wand. She kept telling me that she was SO happy that James and her grandparents got her flowers! She has been getting on her bar stool to check on them all day today. Also, she keeps telling me she does choose to do dance next year, and she loves dance recitals!

After her recital, her chosen treat was fries with ketchup. So, James bought 4 super size boxes of fries from McDonald's and the kids pigged out on them at 11pm last night - when we finally got home! I think they all went to bed feeling sick. I really treasure these times because I know they won't last. Pretty soon our kids will be teenagers and won't think it's so cool to hang out with the family all the time. But for now, I love how they think we (the parents) are really cool, and they love being around their siblings so much. I'm looking forward to this summer and sharing many more good times with my little family.

Birthday Wishes Come True....

Our "baby Paul" turned 6 this past Monday, and he had a whole weekend of celebrations! It began when his Uncle Caleb picked him up on Friday afternoon to spend the night at his house - with KC, their dog! Paul was ecstatic! He had asked for a dog for his b-day, and this was the only way that wish was going to come true! They went out to dinner, watched Happy Feet, went swimming, played and slept with KC, and went out for breakfast. I keep reminding my kids that they have some pretty amazing Uncles and Aunts! Another highlight of the event was helping Caleb load chopped wood into a truck and getting to ride in the truck! He's a funny kid.

On Saturday, James took Alanna and Paul up to Hill Air Force Base with my Dad to see the Air Show. The weather was horrible, but at least it wasn't as crowded as it could have been. They got to see the Thunderbirds, and James was as excited and as giddy as a little boy! Paul was surprised with cupcakes and presents from his grandparents too. Then, he got to come home and play with one of his very good friends  - who is a girl - Masey! What a perfect end to a great day!

For the 3rd year in a row, Paul wanted a Chocolate Mousse Cake, this time with cherry vanilla ice cream. That was fine by me! We also had pizza, Little Cesar's for the kids - their request! Grandma Ce-Ce and Poppy joined us for dinner and cake.  He has recently become obsessed with BYU, ( I think because he has a very good friend who is obsessed with the U), and he has been sporting his BYU hat ever since he got it. The soccer cleats have been a huge hit too - James said Paul looks like the Energizer Bunny running around in them :) And of course, we had to get him some Legos. He got a Lego Ninjago game, and Jackson was just as excited about that one as Paul was.

I just can't believe that Paul is 6, and will be in 1st grade soon! He is so fun to have in our family because he is so sensitive and thoughtful, yet he can be a clever little jokester at times as well. He's always eager to help, and he's become such a good little soccer player and reader too! At his Kindergarten testing he scored an "end of 1st grade" reading level! We are really going to enjoy to continue watching Paul grow and progress.