I RAN A 10-K!!!

Okay, so it was on my treadmill..does that still count? Or do i have to get the t-shirt? i am having some problems leaving the safety of my treadmill and embarking into the outside world of uncertain terrains. i have run outside a couple of times, but it was in the middle of the day, which i am not a fan of. And i am too lazy to get OUT of bed at 6am. Anyways, it just feels great to keep improving and reaching my goals. I would like to give shout out to and welcome back my calf muscles, my collar bone, and tell the 2 abdominals to encourage the other 4 to come out of hiding. And i would like to say welcome to my quads. i didnt know i had any.

Not quite So Cal, but it will do!

There is a man-made, filtered lake here where I live. My kids are happy to be anywhere there is water so today we went to the "beach". I worked on eliminating my awesome farmers tan while Matt paddled around the lake in a canoe. Reese could not figure out what to do when she saw him! So it was a very fun day. :)

A Tender Heart

This morning Leah wanted to watch Matt and I's wedding video. It has very beautiful music playing while Matt and I are roaming the temple grounds just drooling over eachother. I look over at Leah and she is SOBBING! when i asked her what was wrong she said " I really missed you guys that day! uhhg huuu ughh." And then she told me she never wanted to watch it again. Its funny, music really affects her. If i have a slower song playing in the car (even if we are going to Chuck E Cheese's) it will be a matter of seconds before she is crying for Grandma.

Happy Birthday, my Delicious Chunck Of Love.

I am pretty sure that I loved my other babies as much as I have loved Reese..I think. How could I have not, right? But there is this connection with her and i. Something magnificent. Something so great that it makes my heart melt everyday, several times a day. I am her drug and she is mine. Her place on my hip, with her arm woven in mine is just perfect. Seeing her first thing in the morning with her rosey cheeks and her bed head makes my day start out right. Maybe its the fact that she came 3 years after Leah and it was quite awhile before i could behold baby chub again because oh, that chub is cuter than it has ever been. Though chaotic and many moments of self doubt, in this last 365 days she has tapped into the place in my heart where immense adoration flows and love just spills from me. She is my Reesey boo.

Some Great Neighbors

I just randomly took some snapshots of my friend's kids the other day and it was really fun. I dont know why but i love the bike picture. :)

Bittersweet

Our friend Michelle passed away this morning at the age of 28 from cancer. I cannot begin to describe the myriad of thoughts and emotions that have been running through me for the last few weeks and especially the last 24 hours. Matt and I visited her a couple of weeks ago and talked to her at her bedside. She was on oxygen for her delicate body that had been fighting this disease for almost a third of her life. WHAT do you say to someone, especailly someone who is young, that is dying?? i cannot explain what it feels like to be beside someone, someone who is a mother of 3 like me , who will soon lay down their mortal body and whose Spirit will transcend to a place far beyond our idea of perfection. And who will be greeted by loved ones who have gone before her. I wanted to ask what that feels like. HOW do you articulate to your young children that your moments with them in mortality are numbered? What would it take for them to KNOW that you will be ever so near them and that angels will watch over them? What do you say? Of course i could not articulate anything well and it took me all that i had not to openly sobb.
This morning I had a dream that I was rushing to a hospital to see her and it seemed to take forever. And when i got there it was too late and she had passed. Thank goodness our goodbyes here are not really goodbyes. I have absolute surety that Michelle has been released from her mortal body for a short time until the day of Resurrection when her spirit and body will be reunited in perfection. Then she will embrace her children, husband and family again and in that time it will all be clear and all sorrow will cease. What a day that will be.
I came across a quote by Elder Neal A. Maxwell that says " As we wait with those who are dying..we brush against the veil, as goodbyes and greetings are said within earshot of eachother."

this is why where I live is so cool.

The community that i live in has built nothing but new-old houses. All of the different designs are from different time periods. For example, this house looks just like my Grandma's old farm house in Illinois (that is in the next post). I have always had the desire to restore an old home because older homes have so much charm and character. But if you know Matt and I, you know that we are not the handiest people and an old home and its old problems might ruin our marriage.

If I had my choice....

I would be HERE. These are pictures of my Grandma's house back in Illinois, just a few miles from Nauvoo. It is the most peaceful and beautiful place. I was back there with my mom, dad and a couple of my sisters for a family reunion a couple of years ago. My Grandma's house is surrounded by cornfields and dirt roads (that you can drive very fast on). The Nauvoo temple is a few miles away and one of the BEST experiences of my life was going as a family to that temple. It was a very sacred experience. My Grandma always has ALOT of food at her house..fresh corn, homemade apple sauce, cookies and fresh tomatoes with cottage cheese - YUM. I am DYYYING to take my girls back there. Hopefully someday soon.

A Very Happy Mothers Day

How can it not be when yo are surrounded by these wonderful people?

Mom, how much do you love us?

After a long and play-filled day, I finally get the girls bathed, somewhat calmed and tucked in bed. We say a prayer and then AS I AM SHUTTING THE DOOR all of their questions come. Tonight Hayley asks how much i love them.
My response:
More than all of the rocks down by the lake.
More than every cloud in the sky.
More than every drop of water in the lake.
Hayley:
More than all of the people?
More than all of our toes?
More than our house?
Mom, more than soda?
Me:
Welllll. I dont know.
Hayley:
MOM!!!

One Gorgeous Gal