Utah State Fair

We had a fabulous time on Thursday at the Utah State Fair! It was my first time (that I can remember) going to the State Fair, as well as Carson and Kaylee's! We walked through exhibits, rode on rides, bought cowboy hats for the kids, and Carson & Kaylee even got to ride on a pony! It was a great evening! Here are just a few pictures from that evening...

Carson on the fun house....the 2nd time!!!

He wants to be a cowboy for Halloween....how could we resist? (Kaylee has a pink one!)

More pictures to come when I have more time to blog!!! Thanks again to our great friends who hooked us up with some extra tickets! You made our day!!

Learning and Growing...

Everyday I am so amazed on how much my kids know and how much they are learning! I wanted to blog about a few things that have happened lately that is reminding me of just how big my kids are getting everyday!

Last night, Nick had gone to the Pink Floyd concert with some friends, so I was getting the kids ready for bed by myself. I guess while I was helping Kaylee, Carson decided he wanted some chocolate milk. He always has a glass of warm chocolate milk before bed. But this time, he wanted to get it all by himself. I walked into the kitchen just as he had finished pouring the milk into his sippy cup on top of the stove. This made me laugh for two reasons....first, that he had started making his chocolate milk by himself. And second, he had gotten the milk out of the fridge by himself and poured it without spilling a drop! So I asked him if he needed help and he said no. So I stood back and watched him finish making his chocolate milk by himself. He put it into the microwave, pushed the 3o more seconds button. As it was warming up, he got the nesquick out of the cupboard, and then took the milk out of the microwave, put in two scoops of powder (He was going for three, but I quietly reminded him two is plenty). He screwed on the lid to the sippy cup and then proceeded to put the nesquick back in the cupboard. He got down from the stool and had the biggest grin on his face!! I gave him a BIG hug and told him how proud of him I was for being such a big boy. Then I also reminded him that he should still ask before making his own chocolate milk again, so I can still supervise!

So as this is all happening Kaylee is being just as independent as Carson. I had just helped her put pj's on in the family room, and set her clothes on the floor. So when I went to go get the clothes off the floor to put into her laundry basket in her room, I couldn't find them. That is when I had a feeling to go check her laundry basket. Sure enough....Kaylee had already taken them and put them in the laundry basket herself. She normally does that because I will hand them to her and tell her to go put them in the dirty clothes, but this time I didn't even have to ask. She just knew what to do with them! It made me smile!!

It doesn't end there.....Carson is always proving he is a big boy! While Kaylee took a nap this morning, I exercised and then got in the shower. When I got out of the shower, I could hear Carson in the kitchen doing something....I just didn't know what. So after at least putting my garments on, I walked in the kitchen to see what he was doing and saw that he had made himself a peanut butter sandwich. All by himself. But what makes this even funnier, is that we had no bread in the cupboard, so Carson had gone out to the garage, got into the deep freezer, and pulled out a new loaf of bread. He some how managed to get at least the end piece of bread off and use for his sandwich. He had put the lid back on the pb jar and the knife in the sink. He had also gotten a plate down to eat off of. I asked him why he didn't ask for help, and he said "You were in the shower, and it is lunchtime so I can do it myself!". (It was only like 10:50 AM). I just laughed!! I told him thank you for making himself lunch, but again he needs to at least ask before he just does it himself next time. So after he ate his sandwich, and while I was in my room getting ready, he came in and told me he was going outside to get the garbage cans. This isn't a first. The past 3 weeks, he has decided himself this is his new job and is always bringing the garbage cans back to the house after they have been dumped. I don't even have to remind him to do it! He is also a big helper to empty the kitchen garbage too! If he sees me start to pull it out, he jumps right in saying "That's my job!".

I wanted to write about this so I can read it someday in my blog book and remind myself of what great kids I have!! Being a mom is hard and yet so rewarding!! Children can be such stinkers and pills....but moments like this that melt your heart and reaffirm that you are teaching them something makes it worth it! I love you Carson and Kaylee!!!! Thanks for being amazing!!

Livin' Large at UVU

Yesterday after church, our family went and visited Chris at his new apartment in Orem at UVU. We made rolls and a cake before we headed down, and also put a casserole together so we could have dinner with him and his roommate, Jeff. We got there around 4, which was shortly after he got out of church. We had our yummy dinner and enjoyed the chocolate cake with all of his roommates. He has a great apartment. They live on the 4th floor of their building, and their windows face East and have a great view of UVU and the mountains. It was even pretty clean, but they have only lived there for 3 weeks, so we will see how well they do at keeping it this clean! One of the things I noticed when we first walked in was all the guitar hero and video game stuff they had in the apt. You could tell that boys lived there!
After dinner the kids were ready to help clean up by 'pretending' to do the dishes! It was cute!

Maybe it was so funny, because they used the cooler to stand on so they could reach the sink!

And this is his awesome room and study area. Doesn't he look like he could be a missionary? (Minus the laptop...)

His cool bathroom....

Excuse me!!!!

Kaylee was such a flirt with all the boys! But she loves her Uncle Chris the most!!!

It was so fun for us to get to spend the afternoon with Chris! He seems to be adjusting to college life VERY well. He has great roommates and has already made quite a few friends. He told me awhile ago..."I love college...it is SO much better than High School!" Glad you like it Chris, you are doing great!!!!!

More stuff to blog about...

We had such a fun weekend! On Saturday afternoon we headed to Lagoon for a few hours to play before heading to our Stake's "Hot Dog Social". We were lucky enough to have my mom join us for the evening. So as we were leaving I asked Carson to grab the small camera, so before giving me the camera he took pictures of me and Kaylee. He is getting pretty good at taking pictures don't you think?
The Hot Dog Social is basically a big Hot Dog BBQ with yummy chips, watermelon, and brownie. The kids had a blast playing on the playground and the weather was perfect! What an enjoyable evening we had!

After the social my mom was sweet enough to watch the kids for us so Nick and I could go out to a movie!! Thanks mom!! You are the best!!

My kids are so good at entertaining themselves and each other so I wasn't too surprised to see their latest creation of fun. This is their "train". Carson was the conductor and of course Kaylee was the passenger, who obviously was doing what we all do when we drive....talk on the phone. It was so cute, so I had to take some pictures!

I got a message from a friend on Facebook saying she saw a picture of me from the triathlon in the Clipper (A local newspaper). So I asked a neighbor for their copy to see if it was true, and sure enough there it was!!!It isn't very big...but you can tell it was me!! Cool, huh?!?!

Pimp Your Pinewood!

On Friday we attended the annual Elders Quorom "Pimp Your Pinewood". It is a really fun event that also includes a BBQ. So it was a great night of food and friends. In fact, here is Kaylee with her good friend Ashlynn. She had a blast just running around and playing with all the other kids!
Nick and Carson both had made cars to race. Carson had an absolute blast helping Nick get the cars ready to race. I think the best part for him was going with Nick and picking up the track and setting it up and then taking it back down. He felt so involved and loved every minute of it that night! Here are some fun pictures from that night...

I am sure by the time Carson is in scouts and does his own pinewood derby, he will have it all figured out and be able to make a car all by himself! Until then, we sure enjoy this event!

Carson's First day of School

Today Carson started Preschool!!! He is attending Treasure Time Preschool in Woods Cross, taught by Miss Wendy. She is fabulous!!! He was so excited this morning to go to school. After having pancakes for breakfast, he took a shower all by himself to help get ready. He wore his red school tshirt that was given to him by his teacher to wear the first day of school and on field trips. He also got to wear his brand new shoes! His teacher also gave him a book bag to use. He got to pick out a key chain to put on his bag to help him know which bag was his. He picked out a cool guitar key chain.

He got to preschool and was greeted by Miss Wendy.

Miss Wendy has a great system she uses to drop off and pick kids up every day. She calls it a drive thru....so basically you drop your child off from the passengers side door, and then all the kids wait in the RED BOX she has painted on her driveway while all the kids are unloaded. This is to make sure the kids are NOT going to get run over. Then they all go inside together once they are all there. Then it works the same for pickup. All the kids wait in the RED BOX while they wait for their turn to be loaded into the van. Miss Wendy even helps buckle them up! What a great idea! Here they are walking around the RED BOX to help the kids learn where it is at!

There were no tears, frowns, or fear.....he was so happy and excited to go to school today. He gave me a kiss goodbye and that was that! On the way over he did say "If you have any problems, give me a call". It made me laugh! That is what Nick is always telling me when ever I go somewhere!

Kaylee was a little confused when Carson didn't get back in the van with us to go home. I went home and mowed the lawn which was a little different since Carson is usually around to help me entertain Kaylee.

So finally at 11:30, we went and picked Carson back up from school. When I arrived they were outside eating "Rocket Popsicles". They also did a lesson on rockets and even made their own rocket ship they could fly! It was made with a stick decorated like a rocket and a plastic cup. It was so cute!

Carson was so excited to show us how it worked.

Kaylee loved it! And she loves Carson's bag! I think she missed him a little bit today, but I think she liked having all of my attention too!!

I think Carson is going to have a blast this year in school!! I can't wait to see what he comes home with next!

South Davis Rec Center Triathlon

Today was a good day!! I finished my first ever Sprint Triathlon!!!! It was held by the South Davis Rec Center in Bountiful. Last month I competed in the Bountiful Triathlon with my dad and brother as a relay, and it was basically the same course, but this was in a Swim, Bike, Run order (Which is what they are normally). I was so nervous I could hardly sleep last night, but I managed to get some rest, and was up bright and early at 5:30 AM. Nick dropped me off at the rec center at 6:15 so I could get a good spot on the bike racks. Packet pickup was at 6:30 and I was able to get my packet and my timing chip and get my numbers marked on me. I was #44, which was also the start order. I got a great place for bike since I was there so early and I got all of my gear laid out and ready to go. By then Nick came back with the kids and my brother Chris. It was fun to see them, especially Carson....he had worn his "Running" outfit so he could be like mom. It was so cute!

One of the fun things they do is mark your body with your number.....I don't know why...but that makes me feel like an official athlete when I have #'s on my arm! :)

Here are my biggest fans.....(it was a little early for both of them to be up and out of bed, so they weren't the most photogenic!)

Since the starting order is determined by your number, I was close to the front of the line for the start of the race. They do a wave start and have swimmers start 10 seconds apart. As you can see there are a lot of swimmers.....can you tell which one is me???

Here is a close up of the same picture.....can you find me now? I am the one in the white cap waving at the camera! My brother Chris did a great job taking pictures of the whole event. When I was waiting for the race to start I looked up and saw my Parents sitting with Carson and Chris. It was so fun to see everyone there to cheer me on!! So I had to wave and say hi...and also make sure they knew where I was!!!

Here I am taking off once they said "GO"......It was a mad house in the water....it is a great idea to have the fastest swimmer first and then the next fastest and so on....in theory. But to be able to be so accurate in determining the fastest swimmer when people 'estimate' their time is not so realistic! So of course it got a bit crowded in some of the lanes. I ended up passing 3 people, but it was a bit crazy in doing so. I kept swallowing water from people kicking water in my face, smacking arms, and I even got a foot in the face.
The girl in the pink cap is Lora Erickson, she is the blonde runner (If you are involved in the running world, you will know who she is). She started before me and it was fun to be in the pool with her...we were swimming neck and neck for quite a few laps....

And then I finally passed her! But then she passed me once we got out of the pool and started running to the transition area! But it was fun for a moment to be ahead of her! :)

My swim time was 8 Min 35 Seconds for 400 Meters. I got out of the pool, and headed outside to the transition area to get ready for the bike ride. I was surprised how hard it was to even jog after I swam! But I made it to my bike, dried off my feet, put on my shoes, shirt, helmet, and gloves and took off!

I had a great ride, no problems or issues, but I saw one guy carrying his bike and one walking his bike. I felt bad for them, cause if that was me I would be crying!!! So I was just glad to make it back with me and my bike in one piece. The course was 10 miles, and went down 200 West to Pages lane, then down to the legacy parkway, then turned onto warehouse road in Centerville, then back to pages lane and back to the Rec Center. It is a really fun course! As I came around the corner of the Rec Center, I heard a crowd of people cheering for me! It was fun to see my family and friends there cheering me on and it gave me a huge boost of confidence!

I rode the 10 mile bike in 39 Min 12 Sec. I racked my bike, took off my helmet and put on a hat and strapped on my number belt, which also had my ipod. I love to run to music!

I knew the 5K run would be my hardest part, not only because it is running, but because it was last and I knew I would be tired. But I just kept telling myself to keep going and not to walk or stop. It took about 1/2 mile for my legs to adjust to running from biking, but after that I got into a good rhythm and was able to keep going. I ran the whole time!! I didn't stop or walk! The best part was when I turned the corner of 4th North and saw my family standing there and Carson came running toward me because he was so excited!!!

That is when I realized why I do this. For my children!!! They inspire me to be a better person and I hope I can be a good example to them. I want to teach them that if they want to do something they can do it!! I want them to set goals and achieve them. It was the best feeling to see Carson running and then to see Kaylee clapping her hands and smiling at me!

It helped me finish strong!!!I finished the 3.3 miles in 31 Min 59 seconds. My total time with transitions was 1 Hour 22 Min 46 Seconds. I did it!!!!!!

My awesome family!!!

This is after the race and we were waiting around to see the results. Lora Erickson, the Blonde Runner, came and talked for a bit about the race. Last Saturday she taught a triathlon clinic I attended and was able to meet and get to know her. She is amazing! In fact, she was the overall female winner of the tri. For more info on her checkout her website www.blonderunner.com.

My friend Ashley also competed in the Novice Division of the Triathlon. She did fantastic!!! We had to strike a pose in our cool new shirts from the Tri. (They actually were awesome running shirts, not just tshirts!).

I am sure I will be a little sore and stiff tomorrow, but I felt pretty good most of the day. In fact, once we got home we had yummy waffles with my family and then everyone took a nap, except for me. Then we headed to Lagoon for a few hours to play! So I definitely had a full day today!! But like I said....it was a GOOD day! I can't wait to do another triathlon soon!!!