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

Just so you know..

This is what it looks like when your child almost bites all the way through their tongue...AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO. I guess they wont put stitches in a tongue. Leah fell backwards through a folding chair into another folding chair while at a reception. Her tongue bled but NOT as much as i thought it would. There was lots of screaming and crying for Grandma but some Tylenol and a Barbie movie helped ease the pain. SHE WONT EVEN DRINK CHOCOLATE MILK. And she is running around telling everyone "Look! I have hole in my tongue!" Cute Leah.

How on earth????

How on earth do you get a decent picture with a squirmy 11 month old? I must admit this was spontaneous, it was dinner time and i was a little frustrated that Leah drenched herself in REALLY strong smelling lavendar vanilla lotion just prior to the photo shoot.

Happy Birthday Matt! I love you more than ever!

Reasons To Love Leah

#1 today you referring to Rees's bib as her boob.
#2 today you called mashed potatoes "mass pachetos"
#3 You told me that your favorite things are birthday cake, taquitos, cousins and pinatas.
#4 You played well with your friend Ella (who you are obsessed with) and hugged her at least 15 times in 2 hours and yelled I love you out the window after we took her home.
#5 You refer to Reese as your "baby head".
#6 you need chocolate milk like i need Diet coke.
#7 you want to call Grandma multiple times a day. Oh wait, so do i.
#8 You tell me how many poops you will have before you even go.
#9 you are ooober affectionate
#10 you can already talk to me like you are a teenager. scary.

EASTER, BIRTHDAY, BBQ and BARF

We had a very full weekend with lots of candy, cake, Marines and puke. Leah's birthday was on Easter this year which was a special treat. We had a party with some of her little friends on Friday. Then on Saturday we had about 40+ people over for a Marine Corps reunion BBQ. Unfortunately that night I was a little queezy and the inevitable came, which also passed through the kids, my mom and some cousins who are visiting. VERY SAD. So Easter was a little differant this year. I wasnt so excited to pig out this weekend. But Leah had a blast. I love you Leah!

My girls..minus one.

25 RANDOM THINGS IN RANDOM ORDER FOR RANDOM PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO.

1. I had been to Hawaii 3 times before i was 14. Dont remember much.
2.I fell down the stairs at prom. It was just one of the larger staircases on the Queen Mary. Yes, I am scarred.
3. I have no desire to ever go to Europe.
4. When i was a kid i use to eat the skin off of the chicken nugget first and then eat the meat. Now i watch my kids do it.
5. I was voted "best dancer" in 8th grade. Heck yes. And i am STILL the best dancer.
6. I have never tried alcohol.
7. But I have tried Diet Pepsi and its a winner! I have a soda everyday and yes, i know its bad for me.
8.I had a picture of Joe Perry, the lead guitarist of Aerosmith, in my locker in grade school.
9.I am allergic to cats and apparently dogs now.
10. My husband Matt is the THE funniest person i know.
11.I am not the brightest crayon in the box. But my mom tells me i have "other gifts" so its okay.
12. Which leads me to say that i barely graduated from highschool and not trying harder in school is my biggest regret.
13.i know this is sad but i am uncomfortable playing with little kids. This is why Matt is so great for me. He is great with kids.
14.I make really good choc chip cookies.
15. Its my dream to go to Martha's Vineyard and sit on the beach dressed in an outfit from J. Crew.
16.I never had braces.
17. I took care of elderly people for a few years and made them promise me they would put in a good word when they died. I hope they remembered.
18.My Granpa's nickname for me was Stinkweed.
19.I wore the same lipstick color for 14 years. I am a little slow in the cosmetic department.
20.I had my first kiss when i was 19 and it was gross.
21. I LOVED giving birth to my girls. LOVED the epidural. LOVED staying in the hospital. Loved the endless supply of Nilla wafers in the hospital.
22. There were very few white people i liked when i was a missionary in New York.
23. I am convinced that it is not "if" but "when" that i will get cancer. Probably skin cancer.
24. I love Haitian and Jamaican food.
25. I still dont understand why I cant be a mermaid part-time.

Good Times. Thanks for coming!

JUST A FEW MORE ( If I step on another cheerio I am going to lose it.)