Crazy, Busy Fun

Jeff's parents came to visit us over the weekend and to go through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. I am so excited to be in this new temple district. I've had the privilege of going through the open house twice, and both times it just feels like home in a way that the Jordan River Temple never did. I know that temples do the same things all over the world but this one just feels like home. My kids did amazingly well. They were quiet and listened to what we were saying and were much more attentive to this temple than the Draper Temple. We're going to go one more time this weekend with my parents and my grandparents.

Lyndsi also had her dance recital that night. She looked beautiful in her costume (which is probably my favorite one she's had so far). Her dance was great and she knew it all. It's so fun to watch her sweet face light up on stage. My parents and Jeff both gave her flowers afterwards and she was thrilled to get two sets of flowers (a total of 4 flowers).

Saturday morning Jeff and I woke up at 5:15 a.m. to get ready to run the South Jordan Country Fest 5k. (Another reason his parents came to visit-we needed someone to watch the kids.) Admittedly, I was nervous before hand and wondering why in the world I was doing this again. I've never enjoyed the competition of a 5k. This one ended up being quite enjoyable. The route was fairly flat (yay!). I ended up passing people instead of them passing me, and I ran the whole time without really wanting to stop and walk. These are HUGE things for me, especially the last two. My finish time wasn't that great, but my placements left me quite happy-7th out of 23 in my age division and 22nd in overall the womens division. Jeff did AWESOME however! He runs much faster than me and took 3rd in his age group and 19th in mens. It was a great morning. (Thanks again Alan, Laurie, and Cami for watching the kiddos!)

(Seriously. You didn't think I'd post a post-race picture, did you?)

First Fruits

Earlier in this post, I bragged on my super-awesome dad and hubby who did an amazing job prepping my garden space for, well, the garden. A few days after they finished, we got our first little seedlings and baby plants in the ground. Among those in attendance: spinach, beans, onion, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkins, etc. Normally I'd say I have a some what grey-ish thumb. My gardens aren't usually that great. Not because they don't have potential, more because I just forget to water. And weed. Thanks to the ground cover my dad brought over, the latter is reduced to a bare minimum and the former....honestly, do I even need to bring up all the freakish rain we've had lately? (Which, btw, I have LOVED!) My garden is starting to resemble a small jungle. But-it's all worth it because today I got my first real crop of spinach! Last year I also planted some strawberry plants. They've spread out a bit and I also picked my first bunch of berries. Wahoo!! I am so making a nice, juicy summer salad for dinner tonight.

Stepping Up My Mom Game

A few posts ago, I mentioned I wanted to step up my "mom game." (Read about it in this post). Well, after lots of suggestions and a little extra thought on my part, I think I'm starting to do it. (Thanks for the suggestions by the way!)



The Museum of Ancient History:

We had to run an errand down in Utah County and decided to stop by Thanksgiving Pointe. McKay's into dinosaurs so I'd thought he'd love it. And he did. We didn't read many of the signs, but all the cool displays kept his attention pretty well. I loved that there were so many "hands-on" activities. Sophie's favorite was the fossil rubbings. I think she made 3 different pictures. McKay enjoyed building a giant stuffed dinosaur and was sure to let me know he was building a stegosaurus. (Where do boys get their knowledge so early? I know that wasn't from me!) They played in the erosion tables making a little beach village of small plastic dinosaurs. Later they got to "dig" for fossils. It was a great outing and the kids loved it. This has to be my favorite pictures from the little outing. A little scary? Definitely, but oh-so-cute!

Jordan River Parkway:

Before we went here this afternoon, we decided to make cookies. Lyndsi has been asking for dessert everyday lately, so I told her we'd make some today. We decided on the cake mix Oreo cookies. Normally, I don't like the kids around me in the kitchen, but I was really good and let them do most of it. They lost interest by the time the cookies were ready to frost, though (which was fiiiiiine by me).

McKay loved feeding the ducks. He thought it was hilarious when they chased him for more bread and laughed off two duck bites. Apparently duck have very sharp teeth. It was cute to watch him make sure that all the ducks got some bread and that no duck was left out.

Sophie enjoyed it too, until the ducks got too close. Thankfully Grandpa was there and she could continue to watch/feed those silly birds from the safe perch of his arms. (Don't you just love when 2-year-olds insist on picking out their own outfits and no amount of persuading or bribing can change their minds?)

Lyndsi, however, wanted no part of it. Honestly, I don't blame her. Those Jordan River ducks can get greedy and a little pushy. She had fun on our walk afterwards, though.

Baby McKay

McKay informed me (after seeing Sophie's baby picture on the blog) that he was a much cuter baby and intimated that he would like to see his baby picture here.

So, McKay here ya go. And for the record, you are the cutest baby boy I've ever had!

(scrapbooking compliments of my mom)