finished

i am finished with this blog.  i could never figure out what i wanted it to be, and too often i felt like i was posting something on my family blog only to put it here as well.  i've recombined everything again into another blog.  (those of you who know me know that i have had several blogs in the past few years and that i have a very hard time committing to anything!)  this new blog will work better for me.  i hope you enjoy it.  you can find it here:  onelittlegreentree.blogspot.com.

windy

it was windy sunday night.

i hate...

SPIDERS!

but even i admired this beautiful web in my garden this morning.

{pssst...it's my birthday}

It's true. I'm another year older. I hit the big 3-2 this year. Whoa! Where does time go? Does it have to go by so quickly????

Things I did for my birthday this year:

dinner with my hubby

baked birthday cake

frosted cake

hiked to stewart falls

had fun with family

watched kids run through sprinklers half naked

ate super yummy lopsided birthday cake

did lots and lots of fireworks

opened lots of {super great!} birthday gifts.

I admit.

I was spoiled this year for my birthday.

sunday evening

after our church meetings today we took the kids up to snowbird for a picnic.

it was wonderful to spend some time in the mountains.

yum, yum

It was hot this afternoon and we needed something to cool us off. Green smoothie popsicles to the rescue!

Dolphin loved his chocolate peanut butter g.s. popsicle.

Monkey downed her "strawberry" g.s. popsicle.

Monkey's Smoothie

8 oz water

spinach

6-8 strawberries

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 banana

1/2 orange

honey

Place water in blender and add spinach until packed full. Blend. Add rest of ingredients and blend until smooth. Makes about 1 quart.

FIVE

Dophin turned FIVE today.

I L O V E this kid soooooo much it hurts!

We had a water party in our backyard and played games like:

Pin the Fin on the Shark

Over and Under Water Balloon Race

Musical Beach Towels

(Dolphin rrrrreally wanted a pinata so....)

we did a Pinata

Fish, Fish, Shark

etc. etc.

I got my craft on and made him this birthday crown.

(Shhh, don't tell. It was super easy to make!)

He originally wanted me to make him a praying mantis birthday cake.

I talked him into a beach/water themed birthday cake.

Hello! I couldn't find a praying mantis cake anywhere on the internet, besides, I think this cake turned out waaaay too cute for words. ;)

I used this cake recipe - Dolphin's favorite! and this frosting.

YUM!

Happy Birthday!

I love you to pieces.

I'm glad you had a fun day.

Birthday

Hubby turned 33 this year!

Somehow, we managed to fit all of the candles on the cake. :)

The kids helped me make this cake with this frosting on top.

{Super Yum}

Martin's Cove

My husband and I were able to go on Trek at Martin's Cove.

I am so grateful that we were able to go and be part of such a spiritual experience.

"W" Family

I had a great time taking pictures of this cute family today.

painting

monkey looooves to paint. when the watercolors are out, she usually has more paint on her than whatever she is painting. hubby came up with a great solution to this: water, paintbrushes and a towel - no paints. monkey doesn't mind and grabs her paintbrushes and a bowl of water whenever she can. today i caught her painting her toenails.

marathon #3

I woke up this morning around 3:30 for the Utah Valley Marathon. Hubby dropped me off at the bus pick up at 5. I had mixed emotions about this race. Earlier in the week I had woken up and was unable to move my neck. It was so painful, that by the end of the first day I was in tears. I visited a chiropractor and a deep tissue masseuse with little relief.

The night before the race I had Hubby and my dad give me a blessing. In the blessing I was promised that I would have faith in my body. I would know when to walk and rest, and when to run. I felt very comforted. On the bus ride up the canyon I felt relaxed and ready.

The race started and I took off slowly (who do you think I am? and Olympic marathoner?) The first 5 or 6 miles passed by easily. By mile 7 I was really glad I had packed some garbage bags and put one on. It kept the rain off, but it was soooo cold. (I was running in my winter clothes for Pete's Sake!) Wet and cold. Not good for my "systems". I couldn't eat or drink anything and my stomach hurt - badly! I pushed on, and turned onto the highway in Provo Canyon. The road had turned into a river. I was miserable. My mantra became, "Have faith in your body. You can do this. You know you can." I said it over and over and over. I walked, took my time in the bathroom, and forgot about a PR for this race. I just wanted to cross the finish line.

I was seriously asking myself why I had chosen to run a full marathon as I passed the starting line for the half marathon. I was getting pretty down, but kept repeating my mantra, and listened to "Eye of the Tiger", and "Gonna Fly Now" (about a million times each - gotta love Rocky!). I knew that Hubby would be meeting me somewhere around mile 20. I couldn't wait to see him. It was our 8th anniversary that day, after all. :)

I kept scanning the crowd and finally saw Hubby on the corner with a bright neon sign (thanks for helping him Mom!!). I've never been so happy to see him. Before I saw him, I was just about to break down. Hubby could tell.

He was so sweet and ran with me for a mile until I could get myself together to finish the race. It worked and I actually enjoyed the last 5 miles. With three miles I felt my legs come alive and I picked up the pace a bit. As I pulled around the final corner I kicked it into high gear and sprinted to the finish.

I was so happy to be done. My time was not the best (5:01), but I was glad I stuck with it and finished the race.

When we got back to my parent's house, this was on the garage door. :)

I'm thinking I'm going to have to try this marathon again. It has to get better, right?

We did celebrate our anniversary later in the evening:

Dinner at the Melting Pot

A fun movie - the A-Team.

Before you say, "What??" you have to realize that I was a member of the A-Team fan club when I was younger and had an autographed picture of the one and only Mr. T.

Thanks Hubby for 8 years. It's been a roller coaster, but our marriage has sure been exciting, right? ;) Thank you for always being supportive of the crazy things I get myself (and us) into. I love you!!!!

the "W" sisters

I had a lot of fun with these two a little while ago.

{psst! check out her eyelashes!! aren't they gorgeous?}

Sunset

This evening the kids and Hubby went out in the backyard to sit on the fence and talk.

While they talked I snapped a few shots.

My kids absolutely adore their dad - and he absolutely adores them.

{Insert contented sigh and smile here.}

{my three favorite people}

cousins

my sister G and my niece H have been in town.

my sister makes the cutest tutus for H.

maybe someday she'll make one for my little monkey.

wink wink

the whole cousin crew

something's missing

On Saturday mornings, I am usually gone during breakfast on a long run while I train for a marathon. While I am gone, my husband likes to make crepes with the kids. I came home Saturday from my run and asked how the crepes were. My husband said they tasted weird. Today, I went to heat something up in the microwave and guess what I found...melted butter...for crepes. Oops!!

in love

...with these two...

I Love Flowers...

...but I really love flowers when they are a surprise.

Dolphin loves to go to the grocery store with Dad to get things I have forgotten to pick up from the store earlier in the day for dinner.

Along with the needed groceries, Dolphin likes to sneak in flowers for me.

He'll walk into the house and tell me to close my eyes, then pulls them out from behind his back.

{he makes me smile!}

Easter

We woke up Easter morning to a fresh coat of snow on the ground. I'm surprised the Easter Bunny was able to find out house through all of the snow. We also left the kids Easter baskets at my in-laws the day before after the annual Easter egg hunt. We improvised with "You Are Special" plates. That bunny is a pretty smart fella' and figured it out.

Spring will come, right???

The kids "baskets"

Happy Easter!

"To Infinity...And Beyond!"

Florida

We were fortunate to be able to go with my husband's family to Destin for a week.

It was perfect.

Dolphin, the night we arrived.

I wondered if we would be able to get him inside.

Speaking of dolphins, we were able to watch several swimming right off the beach a couple of times. It was pretty cool.

My two kids.

They really are best friends.

This picture is my favorite from the whole trip.

It says everything about their relationship.

Monkey face-planted it a few times running from the waves.

Dolphin loves to fly. The higher the better.

Hubby and Uncle "O" survived their brave voyage out to sea.

The Family

I found out 5 minutes before we took the picture that I would be taking it. I don't use the timer on my camera very often and didn't have time to figure out how to change it from a 2-second timer to a 10-second timer. I had to run FAST!!! I made it!