Christmas Letter - 2008

We're going "green" this year with our Christmas letter. :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Risenmay Update: catching up after 7 ½ years…….better late than never……This year has been really busy for us. Jeff has worked more hours than ever before (often going days without seeing the kids awake) since working for Deloitte – going on 5 years. Despite his unusual work load, we’ve managed to have a lot of fun this year.

Lea is 5 and growing up so fast. I think Kindergarten has aged her more. She has a great teacher – Mrs. Gardner, whom she loves dearly. Lea can read just about anything and loves to learn. She’s always reading, writing or coloring something. She loves everything Princess and Tinkerbell and enjoys playing dress-up. She has an incredible memory, very sweet and sensitive, and is always thinking of others. She’s a wonderful big sister and is so happy to share her room with her baby sister Abbey (more on her later). She enjoyed t-ball with Jeff - Go Blue Dinos! She’s daddy’s little girl. We’re trying to get her to play soccer starting January – we’ll see how that goes.

Lucas (2) is well……all boy (aka Little Jeff). He amazes us with his endless amounts of energy, fearlessness and his powerful throwing arm. He’s as feisty as his hair is red. He always has his hat and his shoes on – it’s the first thing he looks for when he wakes up. He’s daddy’s little buddy and can win Jeff over by asking to watch “daddy football”. Although rough and tumble – he is very sweet, loves to snuggle and help clean up. He gets lots of mom time while Lea is in school. His favorite thing to do is go to the stores in the morning and get free samples. He wants to go, go, go, but don’t you dare miss a nap because it’s all over after that. As long as he’s fed, well rested, has a remote control and his cars – he’s great!

Abbey was born on May 26th this year. She is sweet, loveable and happy as can be – except for when I leave the room….. She’s very close to crawling, but is content with steamrolling her way around a room to find toys. She loves it when Lea and Lucas play peek-a-boo – she finds them incredibly funny. I love to hear her laugh. Another possible red-head in the family – still waiting for her hair to grow in more.

Jeff (el Jefe) turned the big 3-0 this year. Aside from work, he stays busy with church as Stake Clerk. He hiked 22 miles across the Grand Canyon from rim to rim in late September and completed his first Triathlon in October. His latest hobby is playing Xbox Live with his brothers in Utah and Idaho. (Fine with me, I get dizzy trying to follow along and it’s hard to play together with only one controller). He also helped coach Lea’s t-ball team.

Me (domestic goddess – 29, yes I really am 29 this year) I keep busy running the house as Jeff is gone a lot. So I’ve (don’t fall over) done a lot of yard work and yes I do clean. For fun though, I get a chance to play volleyball and basketball during the week with other women in our stake. Our kids enjoy it and it’s a great opportunity for me to exercise and socialize. Other fun hobbies include: scrapbooking, couponing, canning, painting the inside of our house – I would suggest one room at a time. A good stopping point would not be the middle of the kitchen……

More family adventures: My parents and niece (Shayla) came when Abbey was born; in-laws came; many trips to the water parks; road trip to Washington, Idaho and Utah; And to top it off: one case of headlice and strep throat for Lea - courtesy of Kindergarten and Primary.

Christmas 2008

We were all sick (with colds) the week and days leading up to Christmas. We were lucky enough to enjoy the holiday with minimal stress and enjoy being together in our sicknesses and quality time. :)

We had a slow start which I so don't mind - not a morning person. The kids didn't even run into the living room to see if there were any presents. They came into us and we turned on a Christmas movie from the Disney channel while I made blueberry muffins. We ate breakfast, read the Christmas story with puppets (missed it the night before - stayed up too late) and then headed for the tree and presents. The kids had a great time and while they were excited to see what their own presents were - they were more excited to watch each other open gifts. Merry Christmas!

Lea getting ready to climb the ladder to put the star up with Jeff.

New pjs from Grandma & Grandpa Sorensen: Tink, Dark Knight and Abby Cadabby. Lea and Lucas insisted they be called Batman and Tink.

Abbey's favorite place - under the tree to reach the branches.

Abbey's first dolly. Lea wanted to give Abbey one of her dolls as a present. :) Very sweet - so we wrapped it up and gave it to Abbers. Lea was very excited to see her open the box.

Jeff purchased what he thought was Rock Camp (it's actually Camp Rock - Jeff is not up on his Disney Channel movies....) nail polish kit only to find out it's actually HSM3. He bought it specifically for Lea so he could paint her nails. What a sweet daddy.

The scooters - wahoo! Lea has been asking for one for a couple months now. :) It's been under her bed since Black Friday.

Lea - 5 1/2

Lucas - 2 1/2

Santa retraction...

So after thinking that I explained to Lea that Santa was not real, I asked her the next day what she had learned about Santa.

Me: What about the santa's that we saw - at your school and church?

Lea: Those are pretend. The real Santa lives (pointing straight up) at the North Pole.

So I didn't crush her Christmas spirit of Santa, but I have not emphasized that Christmas is all about Santa. Anytime she brings him up - we discuss what Christmas is really about and it's a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, not Santa and his reindeer and all the gifts she wants him to bring.

12 days of Christmas

The 12 days of Christmas is a song that has fond memories for me. I remember when I was little having our family sing this on Christmas eve. We each had a part for 9 of us and sang together on the others. I think my mom even has a tape of us singing and my Grandma and Grandpa Clarke are on there. Special because they've been gone for 13 and 21 years respectively. Anywho here are 12 new "days" for your enjoyment:

12 (+1 - for the bowl game - sad)# of BYU football games - also the number of ulcers Jeff has from those games. :)
11 - years since graduating from high school!
10 - months of the year I love to live in AZ
9 - # of siblings between the Risenmays (3) and Sorensens (6)
8 - minutes it takes to get to our new Church Building. (used to take 25 minutes)
7.5 (this is a new addition to the song) - years we've been married
7 - average # of days Jeff works during a week.
6 - # of cars we've had since getting married in 2001
5 - # of straps to keep lucas stuck in one place - his carseat is a 5-point harness
4 - possible #of kids - depends on #3. :)
3 - # of kids we have - Lea, Lucas and Abbey
2 - months of the year Jeff likes living in AZ
1 - case of head lice

Merry Christmas! :)

Christmas Spoiler

So today in Relief Society we had a great lesson on the "Reason for the Season". Bringing in more focus of the Savior rather than the commercial aspects of receiving gifts, etc. One family told their two oldest (8 and 6) (because they told the mom, Santa will bring us new stuff if you take away our other toys)
SPOILER AHEAD: Santa does not really exsist. (sorry if you didn't already know that). I was a little skeptical that would work and thought it would only cause massive amounts of tears, etc from my own children. We've already seen 2 Santa stand-ins in the past two days. One at Lea's school and the other at our ward activity Saturday night. Well I wasn't going to reveal Santa's secret idenity if I didn't have too but I thought I would try it - so this is how it went down:

Lea: Mom I need knee-pads because I don't have any and I don't need them for my bike. (She thinks I can read her mind and understand what that means.....)

Me: Why do you need knee-pads then? (I actually thought she was talking about for volleyball.....wrong.)

Lea: Because I want a scooter.

Me: Who's going to bring you a scooter?

Lea: Santa.

Me: Maybe you should ask Grandma for one.

Lea: (shaking her head) No Santa will bring one to me because that's what I asked him for.

Me: Ummmm, is Santa real or a make-believe person? (I actually asked her twice because she was pondering that statement)

Lea: (grinning) Make believe.

Me: Can he bring you presents if he's a make-believe person?

Lea: No. (no tears and still grinning because it seems silly to ask a make believe person to bring you a gift.)

Me: better ask someone else for that scooter. :)
(and away she went......) YEAH!

Thanksgiving Day

The night before: this is a Sorensen tradition of breaking up the bread for the stuffing. We watched some movie and then off to bed.


Thanksgiving day was pretty great. Jeff started off the day playing in the Turkey bowl - realizing later that day that he is too old to be playing football. :) Should stick to watching. I went to the church with the kids to play volleyball with women from around the stake. We play 2x's a week (rotating in/out of the nursery) and it was nice to play on a day when we could leave our kids with hubbies (Jeff came to pick ours up after he played). It was a lot of fun and we actually got more of a workout playing 6 on 6 than 3 on 3. Those that came were the same that came during weeks past and it was a great time. We'd finish a game and look around - one more game? Sure! We finally had to leave because a family was needing the church for their dinner. We agreed to come back later that night to work off our turkey lbs. :)

We spent the day relaxing, not worrying about being somewhere else on time, ate when we wanted and in our pj's. :) I'm pretty sure all Risenmays will be in shock and we'll probably be banned from Idaho forever, but no spuds for us. I bought a bag with the intention of making mashed potatoes, but forgot and everything else was ready and we were hungry. Yes I'm sure there are many ways to quickly fix potatoes - as I'm no potato chef - it was easiest to not have them. :) Our spread:

























After dinner we enjoyed a nice walk in the rain. The kids enjoying jumping in the "puddles". AZ "puddles" are merely damp spots on the sidewalk that had not dried up yet. :) No visible water ever left the ground when they jumped in the "puddles".

He's actually mid-air - check out his vertical! :)





Left: Kids running along the path behind our house - see any "puddles"?




Right: view towards the mountains - Jeff ordered the cloudy weather for the holidays. This is close to the view from our backyard. We have a more direct view of the haystack.

By the time we finished our walk, the rain started coming down and we were wet and the ground was actually slippery from the mud on the sidewalk. Lea slipped once and Lucas "slipped" several times - he sat down on the ground, laughed and did it again. :) The kid keeps himself entertained by his own humor. :o)

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Dirty Dining report...

WARNING: this post includes some content that may not be suitable for the weak of stomach and easily influenced.....Consider yourselves warned.

To clarify - I will not be eating at any of these places ever again. I don't care if it's in another city, another state or even another country - I WILL NOT eat at the following places anymore. They have lost my business.

#1 - Granny's Buffet in Kennewick, WA. I broke out in hives one night after eating there with my family. Spent the night in the ER with my mom. (I was in high school)

#2 - Wienerschnitzel - Orem, UT. Went there one night with our friends the Webbs. There was a sign posted on the door that the lobby was closed because of ants - here's the clincher: The drive-thru was still open. Ewwwwwww! (Seems like this was at least 6 years ago - before the kiddos)

#3 - Taco Bell (this is the most recent - happened Friday Nov 28. While eating a chalupa - a piece of meat fell on my paper and ......... be careful...... there was a tiny white spider (makes me gag just thinking about it) climbing over. I choked down my bite and put the rest down. I was so flustered - will not be eating at Taco Bell ever. Also the last 3 times we've been to Taco Bell in the valley - orders always messed up. Not to our favor either.

#4 - Dairy Queen in Idaho Falls - no bugs, just horrible customer service. They gave us a small blizzard (ordered a medium) and when Jeff took it back to the counter, the one guy told the other to just add more ice cream to a bigger cup and give it back - Jeff heard the whole conversation as the ice cream machine is right by the counter. Nice.

#5 - will only return if we do not have kids with us. Texas Roadhouse - again only because of poor customer service. Imagine a table with 6 kids (5 yrs (2), 2 yrs (2) and 2 infants) and 5 adults. The table behind us - customers finished, new customers - food ordered, eaten and onto dessert before we even received our appetizers. The waitress returned and no kidding this was her exact comment "Oh you don't have your food yet?" Um, no - shouldn't she have known that? I was never a waitress, but I'm pretty sure she should have known her table didn't have food yet - especially after having waited so long. Luckily our kids were being good so it wasn't as horrible as it could have been.

So sorry if you like these places and will now be influenced by my dirty dining report, but there you have it. This is mostly why I'm a picky eater - one bad moment and I'm done. For the longest time I couldn't each peach cobbler because I ended up with the flu and a couple Christmas' ago when Lucas was a baby - I had breakfast for dinner and had the flu for 2 days - haven't had that breakfast since then.

Huh?

One of my favorite games is Mad Gab and if you've ever tried to understand kids - you might feel this is the game you're playing. They know exactly what they're saying, but it seems that noone else does. This is where the mama-knows gene comes in handy. I normally can't understand any other child, but my own.

Black Friday as we left Costco - (just cruising for samples, no shopping was actually done), Jeff was scaring the kids by pushing the cart away from us and the kids love to go "Supa fast" - Lucas. They were both screaming and Abbey was asleep in the back. Lea said, "Lucas screamed like a girl!"

Lea has more: Saturday morning we were talking about her clothes for school. She said she wanted to wear a jumper because a jumper to school would make her jump higher.
A leotard for her dance class is actually called a "Lea"-tard because it's hers. :)

Lucas: (going to the park to feed the ducks) - "We fee sanwich to da duts." Yes Lukie, we're feeding the ducks a sandwich.
"Abbers is wake!" as he stands at her door and yells into the room. She wasn't, but she is now. He used to run to us and say "Baby dying!" We'd try to correct him and say "CRY-ing" and he would tell us no and repeat that Baby was dying.

Turkeys

We decided to raise our own turkey this year. yum, yum. :)

kids say....

Thanksgiving day we decided to go for a walk and Lea asked if she could ride her bike. We told her no (quit shaking your heads in disgust - there is a good reason) because Lucas would want to ride and he doesn't have a bike nor does he know how to ride one. The conversation turned to us taking the training wheels off her bike - here came this response: "Noooooooo." Okay maybe at Christmas time and again. "Nooooooooo." Okay when? Very thoughtful: "How about when I turn 14." Sure Miss Daredevil. :)

Lea is currently rocking out to the Jo Bros (aka Jonas Brothers) who are performing at the Cowboys game.

Lucas had more clever things to say as well. I asked him to leave my room today as I didn't need an audience to change my clothes. He looked at me and very seriously and with hands in the air said "I need to change my diaper. I'm wet." Totally annoyed that I would even try to get rid of him with a wet diaper. He finally followed Jeff to change his diaper. He also likes to tell me when Abbers is crying. He'll run to my side and say "Mom! Abbers crying." Great - go fix it. :) Another one is "Guys the TB (TV) is coming. Let's watch the TB." He says this when we're at the church playing sports and the kids are in the nursery - he's so excited to watch a "show" with his friends and "wit you". He's just so dang cute and fiesty about certain things. On occasion he's been known to grump at his friends when Lucas is told to do something and they are doing something else.I'll tell him to stay by me at the t-ball game and he'll tell Jaxon to "Come here, right now." He grunts and the veins in his neck pop out and he's bent over trying to get Jaxon to come back.
It's pretty funny as Jaxon looks at him and continues on his way.

Grumpy old man...

Saturday (Nov 22) was Jeff's 30th birthday! 30 candles takes a lot of hot air to blow out. He wanted to have a get together with his friends to watch the BYU v Utah game. He tried to get all of his friends to come over and for some reason they couldn't come...........hehehe. That was my fault. I had them tell him they couldn't come so we could have a surprise party instead. So that's how the week started for Jeff. He was bummed that noone was going to come.

Anywho, Saturday started pretty great. Lea, Lucas and I went in to sing Happy Birthday to Jeff (he was still sleeping). Lucas sang "Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday" while waving his arm to lead the song. Lea told me a couple days ago she had a special song for her daddy's birthday. So we sang this "Happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo, you look like a monkey (Lea at this point was giggling behind a book in her hand), annnnnnnd, you smell like one too." Jeff was thrilled and the kids jumped on the bed to hug their "old" dad. Lea told all her friends at school that her dad was going to turn 30 - she was so proud. :)

Next we had blueberry muffins for breakfast - a Jeff favorite and out the door for t-ball. Jeff was still trying to figure out why his friends couldn't come, but I had him convinced they all had something else to do and a few of them actually did and couldn't make it - that totally helped my "story". Steven & Rozann came down to attend the temple and we watched their 4 kids - we got a little taste of what it was like to have 7 kids under the age of 9. It was really nice when the 3 youngest - 2 (Lucas), 1 (Shay) and Abbey 6 months were all asleep. In return, they watched our kids while we went to dinner and they let our friends in for the surprise party. I told Lea about the surprise party about 20 minutes before we left for dinner (I should have had more faith in her to keep a secret), she reassured me that she would not tell Daddy the surprise that she would only tell him "other things" and "everything else". She did a great job and was so happy to surprise her dad again. :) In the pic: kids are feeding our pig for our ward. "Bacon" will be eaten for dinner at our ward Christmas party......oink, oink. :0)


After a quick dinner at Red Robin (yum) we came home to the surprise party. Michelle made a cupcake cake in the shape of a "Y" - she's very creative and makes the best frosting - Thank you Michelle! Thank you to everyone who came to the party and we missed those that really were not able to make it. :)

BYU went on to lose the game and lucky for us we missed the 3rd quarter due to user error on the remote control.....apparently your coordination goes when you turn 30......... :) So it worked to our favor because Jeff was okay with loss, good for the MWC and BCS, blah, blah, blah...... :)

Jeff woke up Sunday morning with a severe headache and sore back - he overnight became a grumpy old man with health problems, but we still love him. He's a great friend, hubby and dad. Happy 30th!

Growing up

A few weeks ago, someone in our ward was giving away a toddler bed. Lucas was still in the crib and Abbey was sleeping in the port-a-crib. I was content with the situation, but hated for her to sleep in that and Lucas was content and caged in his crib. He never climbed out and was more than happy to "climb" in with assistance to take a nap or go to bed. Well, we figured it was now or later and why not now with a free bed for Lucas. So we picked up this Spiderman toddler bed an brought it home. The first two days were awful because Lucas did not nap and I look forward to nap time - 1. I can take a nap, 2. I can work on projects unassisted, and 3. I can clean. He was so grumpy by the time 7 o'clock rolled around I was ready to switch back so he would nap, but didn't and we've survived so far. In the morning, he will stay in his room and possibly even on his bed until we come for him, but nap times he tends to get up more, but will not leave his room - happy for that at least. :) Abbey is now in the crib and I am finally able to use my crib bumpers again that I made for Lea.

Here are their "grown up" beds.

Abbey has also tried rice cereal and oatmeal for the first time - judge for yourself if she liked it or not.

Sisterly love... :)

We took Abbey to the doctor yesterday (read the next post for that info), but she had to get immunization shots - 3 and one oral immunization. She would have had more of the oral immunization if they'd have let her. She sucked it empty.

Anywho, she was very sad about her shots and when we picked up Lea I told her Abbey had 3 bandaids for her shots. Lea's response was with folded arms and grumpy face: "I wanted to go so I could make her happy." (That was Lea's job the last time we went to the doctor and Abbey needed shots).

I love to see my kids be kind to each other and love one another. It balances out those moments when they're fighting and crying. :) Have you loved your kids today?

The big weigh in.....

No I don't mean mine or Jeff's - who really wants to know those numbers anyway!? Abbey had her 4 month checkup (yes I know she's 5 1/2 months, but we're behind because of summer vacations).

Stats:
Height 26" - 50-75%
Weight 14 lbs 1/2 oz - 25%
Head circumference: 17" - 75% This is actually a concern as she started in the 5% range and has jumped over 5 1/2 months to the 75% range. Our doctor is having us go get an ultrasound of her head - the concern being there may be extra fluid. She would rather catch it early by ultrasound than later and have to use a ct-scan with radiation exposure. I'm sure Abbey is fine, but a little nervewracking to think there could be something wrong that I can't see. Not sure what they would do if there was extra fluid - we'll see how it goes.

She's growing well and a happy baby. She wakes up in the morning and will lay there for a long time hitting her feet on the mattress and coo-ing until someone comes to pay attention to her.

Abbey and Jeff

Who's Who among babies......

Can you tell the who's who? Post your guesses......

Kindergarten

Lea started Kindergarten this year and it's been quite an experience. She attends Vista del Sur Traditional school. They start at 9 am and finish at 4 pm. They teach using the Spalding method and are very structured in their teaching. She loves school and her teacher Mrs. Gardner is fantastic! Lea loves to read, write and color all day long. She has made lots of friends at school and enjoys seeing lots of her church friends there as well. She rides the bus home after school and we pick her up at the school in our neighborhood. I was a little nervous about sending my kindergartener on the bus. She's only 5! But there are at least 6 other families from our ward that ride the bus. So I know she's okay and the bus driver is great.

First day of school. :)

Best buds!

Hugh Findlay and Lea.
We went to school for Lucas to play with Lea at lunch recess and Hugh came over to say hi.

Lucas misses Lea - for the first month or so (she started Aug 4th), Lucas would pile all of his toy cars in his backpack and walk around the house as if he were going to school. He has really opened up since she's been at school and he now has to fend for himself. He plays with Abbey, does his "homework" and enjoys going to the stores in the morning with me because of the free samples at the deli and bakery counters. :)

This is his homework. :) He even tries to practice phonograms with Lea.

Lea received an award for making the Principal's list for 1st quarter - receiving a 3.8 gpa or higher. She's very proud of her medal and certificate. :) Her teacher is great and had nothing but nice things to say about Lea. Proud parent moment for both Jeff and I at our parent/teacher conference. We just might be doing something right....... :)

10 years.....

It's been a long time -10 years in fact that my dad has been Stake President. I was a sophomore in college when he was called to this position. I mention this not to be prideful, but because yesterday he was released. I didn't think I would be sad not to be there, but I wish I was there. My 4 oldest sisters and brothers and families were there at Stake Conference and the after party with the visiting Authorities and new Stake Presidency and families. I think my sister counted about 52 people!
It's been so long that my dad has served in Bishoprics, Stake Presidencies, etc., that I never remember him sitting with us in church or going to church with us at the same time because he had already been at church for several hours. When he was a counselor in the Stake Presidency, I never saw him at church and only knew he was at our ward when the bishopric announced he was sitting on the stand - what? He is? where? Oh - nice to have dad at church today. :) That has only prepared me for my life today: Some of you have heard me say this about my own husband - he's here? where? Oh that's nice - had no idea he was going to be here today. I don't even believe the kids when they say "there's daddy" - couldn't be, he's never at the church at the same time as us. :)
I am truly grateful for my parents - I can agree with Nephi - I have been blessed with goodly parents. I look to them often for advice before I was married and especially more now that my decisions effect more than just me. I know they have served many people and I have learned a lot from them as my dad has served as Stake President. He has a kind way of disciplining and treats everyone with respect. I've never heard my mom complain about the time my dad spends at the church or serving others outside church meetings. I've tried to follow their examples and not complain when Jeff is busy with work and church - we just try to make it work. I appreciate President Monson and his wife because she has never complained in over 45 years of his church service. These are the women I strive to be like - supportive yet firm in making our family a top priority.
Even though my dad was busy with those things - he always made time for us kids. He helped coach our softball, baseball and soccer teams. He helped us practice batting, fielding and running the bases in our backyard. He would take us to the river on Saturday mornings to ski and was so patient while we learned to ski and even patient with friends and other youth he helped to ski. But when there was church service to be provided, he would come home get cleaned up, change into his church clothes and out the door to help. I remember seeing my dad up early reading the paper at the table, or in the computer room preparing for a talk with his scriptures in hand or kneeling by his bedside pouring out his concerns to the Lord. In every family prayer he mentions each child by name.
My friends ask me "how do you manage without Jeff around all the time?" Well, now you know. This is how I was raised. My dad traveled a lot for work and was gone for church, so a lot of the times, it was me and my mom. We managed and she taught me how to gracefully manage on my own. But I also ask a lot of questions as new challenges come up. I know I am not the only one who sits alone with my kids at church or has a husband that is working til late at night or going to school and working full time. So I watch you. :) I watch other women that are in similar situations and see what they do. More than anything, I expect my kids to be obedient and respectful in church and at home. The same way my parents expected us to be - no matter if it was regular church, Stake Conference or General Conference. My parents taught me early on the gospel is more important than anything else. I missed a lot of Sunday games because I went to church instead. The one time I chose to play - my coach didn't let me play. From that day on, I knew it was more important to live the gospel than it was to play sports on Sunday. I even missed a Saturday game to attend General Conference when a new prophet was being sustained. I still remember that day as President Hinckley was sustained a prophet of God.
While I probably never show my parents enough appreciation - I do love them and am grateful for their examples. We are a very close family and it's great! They've created a wonderful loving family and I can only hope to do the same with my own kids. Thank you and we love you! :)

Newsflash.....

Jeff wouldn't post this himself so I'm posting this for him. :) He does great things and loves the outdoors as long as it's cloudy and cool...... - like hiking the Grand Canyon (22 miles) and running a triathlon sprint. We are very proud of him. :) Sorry no pictures because he left at 5:30 am and I decided not to wake up the kids - we went to t-ball instead.

THE FLASH

So if you haven’t already heard, I embarked on a new experience last weekend. I decided I was going to do a triathlon. The triathlon I did was a 400 meter swim, a 10.3 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. I set up a great plan to train and prepare for the triathlon, and true to form I spent a lot of time eating out, drinking too much soda and not getting enough sleep. Needless to say, Saturday rolled around and I was far from competition form. Many people asked me if I was crazy or wondered if I knew what I was getting myself into, but only one person asked me to give up my spot for someone else.

I personally thought, hey I can run three miles (sort of) and I can bike 10 miles so this shouldn’t be a big deal. I didn’t put much stock into the whole swimming part, and had somehow convinced myself I could get through it. It all turned out okay, but I will admit training might have helped me out a bit.

I didn't die, which is a positive result, and I wasn’t super sore afterwards, but the ego took a nice shot to the arm. I started the day by putting myself near the end of the line to start the swim as I knew I would be slower than most… my prediction was right. 17 minutes and 55 seconds later, a short fat man (in spandex!!!… I know sorry, I should have warned you about that… cleanup on aisle nine) rolled out of the pool and today finds himself as the 429 fastest person out of 434 people. Now there is something to brag about.

Later on I was able to pick up some time as I improved my placing with the run and the swim. By improving my placing I do mean that I was 368 in the bike (55:36 - including transition times -I just had to add that as I'm not that slow) and 376 in the run (40:11 - I am that slow), to find myself at the end of the day as the 418 fastest person out of 434 (a grand total of 1:53:42). I was in the top 96 percentile of racers finishing the race. I’m pretty proud of that!

There were other moments not to be so proud of. The sixty something year chubby old woman passing me on the run, while giving me encouragement and ensuring me I was doing fine, made me want to crawl under a rock and die, but I powered on. Maybe powered is too strong of a word, rumble may be a better term for my movements. Ultimately I finished “strong” (i.e. the definition of strong is “crossing the finish line while not tripping and falling or throwing up in front of the whole crowd while having the fast skinny people cheer you on and yell words of encouragement such as “you are doing great”, “good job”, “way to go”… which all in fact translate to good job tubby way to not die today.”)

All in all it was a good time. I encourage each of you to try one. I’ll be doing it again next year and hope to run a few more in the meantime. It really was a lot of fun, and if I can do it, who couldn't. Besides I was faster than 16 people that day. I might just beat you too!

Halloween 2008

We went to a ward party on the 25th, decorated cookies with friends on the 28th and trick-or-treating Halloween night. Enjoy!

Spidey and Tinkerbell

A motorcycle went by on a nearby street. They were all set for a cute picture......

Lucas was cold. He actually said, "Brrrrr, cold" (I think it was around 90 degrees and it was 5:30 pm)


Lea's face painting from the ward party. She wanted to know how long it had to stay on.....FOREVER.

The after ward party dinner/dessert at Carl's Jr. Isn't it great our kids like to sit with us?! :) They usually attach themselves to anyone else but us. In this case it's Pete, Angie and Brynn Sorensen.

Cookies:

He grabbed a hand full of red hots - his cookie was mostly candy with a little bit of cookie. :)

He didn't really like the red hots. I saw him a few minutes later - his eyes were watering and he was trying to clean off his tongue with his fingers.....

Lea and Halle (a little flour shows what great chefs they are)

This is proof that my Jeff (there are several of us with hubby's named Jeff so we usually clarify with my or your Jeff) actually came to the party. Usually it's me and the kids because he's working, but this time Jeff was able to come.

Trick-or-treating: Pre-party
Ally and Abbey - sweet friends

This is a house at the end of our street - this picture does not do justice to the decorations and work he puts into decorating his house for Halloween. There are decorations EVERYWHERE. Both sides of the driveway, on the roof, everywhere. He goes all out for Halloween and Christmas. It's amazing! We drive by every day throughout the month of October (the HOA said he couldn't start any earlier than a month before the holiday) and December to watch the progress and see all the lights. The kids love it! :)