Recently, the kids have loved doing this over and over.
The whole guessing game is the best thing ever to them, these days. Oh, they just crack themselves up. The funny part is that they can go on and on and on with it, knowing they they don’t have anything in either hand! They love it most when I play along and act shocked that they tricked me. I love how Arabella thought she just might be able to trick Maya with guessing which hand the magnets were in! Kids- they are so easily amused!
Today was a very adulty day for us. We have officially celebrated our 1st Thanksgiving as an individual family. We were going to celebrate with a family from the pharmacy but they were last minute invited to Grammy’s house. You just can’t say not to Grammy, it’s a rule. Since Rich won a turkey and we are a family, we decided we would go for it and make a feast! I’ll tell you what, it is a lot of work! It can also be a little frustrating when you cook all day and the kids pick through their food. Oh well, we enjoyed it and now we have a ton of leftovers.
A few random pics from the day. I wish I would have taken more. During dinner we talked to the kids about what being thankful means and asked them what they are thankful for. Maya said she is thankful for church, the prophet and the bunnies. Aidan is thankful for games(I could have told you that), and Arabella first said she was thankful for Jesus and then she said she was thankful for Daddy. So sweet!
What am I thankful for this Thanksgiving? I find myself being ever more thankful for the health of my family. I realize what a blessing that is and how many people don’t have that. It’s so easy to say “Woe is me” and always find things that are hard to deal with in life, but there is that saying, You never know what you have until it’s gone. I can look back just a few years and remember how hard life seemed and now, looking back, I realize how extremely blessed we were and how those were some really great times. I hope that I can be mindful of the here and now and continue to see and appreciate all that Heavenly Father has blessed me with.
Now, that I have a little family of my own, I am so grateful for the plan of happiness. I’m grateful to know that I can be with my family for all eternity. I’m grateful for this knowledge which brings so much more joy and peace to my life. Come what may, we are an eternal family. What greater blessing is there?
When we went to the Hill AFB Museum, Aidan hopped in a photo booth and wanted to take pics. Of course I wasn’t going to pay so I took them with my phone. This is them actually in the photo booth. Funny kid, didn’t quite know what to think about it at first but them he got into it.
Love them!
I haven’t been doing a whole lot of picture taking this past week or so. Lame. Gotta get back with the program! There are a few pics that show a bit of what we’ve been up to, though.
We had another down pouring of snow last week. I like it when it snows. If it’s gonna be cold we might as well have snow for the kids to play in! The kids get so excited to play in it, especially Maya. The other day both Maya and Arabella wanted to go play in the snow so I bundled them both up. It took me a good 10-15 minutes. Maya ran out the back door and Arabella, well, she took one step outside and turned right back around. She’s not a big fan of the cold or the snow. She takes after he momma.
Maya, on the other hand, was so ready to sled down that hill!
Coming up from sledding.
She is such an outdoorsy girl. She had gone outside to feed the bunnies and came in saying “Mommy come see! I have to show you something!” I ran outside to see what she was so excited to show me and she plopped herself right down in the snow and proceeded to make a snow angel. I love who she is. Her personality is so unique to her and it makes me smile.
In other news, Rich has not eaten in 2 weeks. He has been on a freshly juiced fruit and veggie fast. Not to lose weight because he doesn’t have an ounce to lose but he’s been doing it for his health. Almost 2 years ago he got sick and it never completely went away. Every morning he has a cough that is deep in his lungs and produces some not very pretty stuff. He’s been to 2 different pulmonologist that couldn’t figure out what it was. He’s been fighting it for such a long time and finally decided to do a juice fast to see if his body would heal itself. This is what our upstairs refrigerator looked like:
Our downstairs refrigerator held about the same amount. He has noticed some improvement in his lungs but today decide that he had enough. Today, he broke his juice fast and indulged in steamed veggies. I’m so proud of him for lasting as long as he did. I honestly don’t know how he did it because I know I couldn’t even last 1 day. I’m glad he’s done and can now rejoin the family at the dinner table:D
Rich also ran the bases Turkey Trot and won!
Friday night was our turn to babysit. The kids are best friends and love being together. We are so blessed to have found such great friends. We all made playdough together. Each kids got add one ingredient to the pot and help stir. They were so excited!
That’s what we’ve been up to. Just every day life and it’s been good:D
So, I’ve been in quite the funk lately. I hate it when that happens! It happens every few months especially when there is a change in my life/routine. Hello! Just had a BIG ONE! So, I’ve been having good and bad days but that is the sure sign of a funk for me. I have to take one day at a time and I’m never really happy. On my down days I blame everything for my unhappiness…the house is a mess, I can’t keep up with the laundry, it’s so stinkin’ cold that I can’t leave the house, I miss Florida, etc… I keep thinking that taking a break from the kids is what I need and when I get it I don’t feel any happier.
I JUST had an “aha moment” today. Why am I in this funk? Why can’t I think of anything to look forward to on any given day? This makes me sound like a horrible mother. I LOVE my kids! I love them more than anything and would give my very life for them. I do find joy in being their mother and being with them every day. It’s not about them, it’s about me. I realized today that it has been months since I’ve consistently done something that brings my heart joy. I had a taste of what I’ve been missing a couple of weeks ago when I was making Maya’s halloween costume. As I was sewing her owl costume I literally got a high. I’m not exaggerating! I felt like I had taken some kind of drug. My heart was racing, my hands were jittery and I was beaming! I felt something that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I finished her costume at 11pm and it took me a good hour to calm myself down and stop grinning from ear to ear. Creating brought me so much joy.
I’ve fallen into the rut of cleaning the house, running kids too and from school, grocery shopping and trying to catch up with the laundry. These things, while part of my responsibility as a wife and mother which I love being, do not fulfill me as a person. I’ve done myself a dis-service by not allowing myself to do the things I love until my house is perfect. Fact: It’s NEVER going to be perfect! I need to take time for myself and do the things I love to do like crafting, sewing, crocheting, photography and ZUMBA! I’ve been quite bitter towards Utah because I’ve been blaming the state for not having a Zumba class available for me with child care down the street like Florida had. I need to adjust and settle for Zumba videos for now. Mostly, what I need to learn is that it’s O.K. It’s ok if the house isn’t impeccable and the laundry isn’t done. If I take some time to do what I love a few times a week, I will be a much happier person and a happy mommy makes for a happy home;D
It is time! Time to get out of this funk!
Yes, he is at it again! This man is absolutely addicted to running. I’m way behind on this post but better late than never. On October 27th, Rich ran in the Ogden Valley 50. His parents were here so it was really great to be able to share that experience with family.
His run started at 5am! The really cool thing about this run is that it literally went past our backyard. So, mom and I got up and waited for him to run by. Gotta love this pic…I took it with my phone. Rich is the white light:)
After we all woke up I fed the kids and then we all loaded into the van to catch up to him and see how he was doing. We caught up to him between mile markers 28 and 29. He was looking and feeling great!
He quickly changed his socks and shoes, downed a fruit cup and was off!
We drove ahead a few miles, got some hot chocolate and waited for him to run by. Sure enough, here he came!
He kept on running while we went back home and relaxed. Poor guy;) Rich was pleasantly surprised by Lt. Col. Cook who is his squadron commander. He heard about Rich’s run and came out to cheer him on! He found him along the path and gave him some encouragement which meant a lot to Rich.
After a few minutes at home I headed back out to get some more pics of Rich on his run. I don’t know the exact mile markers of all of these pictures so I won’t even try to guess. They are, however, in chronological order.
He was in such high spirits the whole run. How? I have no idea.
“Get me a salt tab!”
After tracking him for a few miles, I went back home and waited for him to run by. I took this pic while waiting for him to run down the hill by our house. This is the entrance to my little neighborhood.
Here he comes!!! Final stretch! 2 miles to go.
He later told me that running next to this guy helped motivate him to push himself to beat him. He did.
Rich’s parents stood on our back deck and cheered him on as he ran by. Then we piled into the van and zipped past him to meet him at the finish line.
HE DID IT!
Exhausted
Finishing time: 9 hours 35 minutes
Placed 8th! Wow!
And then it was massage time…
He recovered quickly and is, as always, thinking about his next run. So proud of him! Here is a link to see the post of his 100 mile run from Key Largo to Key West.
It’s hard to believe that he just ran his 1st marathon in February and has since run 2 ultra marathons. PROUD PROUD PROUD!
I should probably stop bragging on him, it’s getting a bit much……NAAAAH! It has been really cool to see him being acknowledged for his running accomplishments even at work! Lt. Col. Cook, who was so cool to come out and cheer him on, sent out this e-mail to his squadron:
Subject: THERE IS A MANIAC AMONG US!
Greetings everyone,
I hope you all had a good weekend. As we all come back to work after a few
days off, we all come back with different stories and memories of what
occurred over our short two days off. For one of our own, this weekend
meant accomplishing a truly super-human feat. Captain Baker, in the
pharmacy, accomplished what few humans have done.and he's back at work like
nothing happened. He completed a 50-mile ultra marathon in the hills of the
Uinta-Wasatch-Cache Nat'l forest. For those of you who may not be familiar
with the area, the race started in Mountain Green and travelled up Trapper's
loop going towards Snow Basin Resort (If you've ever driven up there, you
know how hard the first 10 miles would be), all the way around the pineview
reservoir and back up and down trapper's loop to end the race at Mountain
Green.
When you see Captain Baker, please congratulate him on this accomplishment.
The race itself is awe-inspiring, but the self-discipline to train as he
does is truly inspiring.
On a personal note.Thank you Capt Baker for not laughing at me when I
mentioned I was a little sore after I ran 5 miles this weekend.
v/r,
Lt Col Cook
Congrats on all of your accomplishments, Honey! Even though all of your running makes me crazy sometimes, I’m always very, very proud of you. You seriously inspire me! Love you!
