The Dirty Dash 2011

This past weekend we went to Utah for a mini vacation. We went to the zoo, hiked to the "Y", went swimming, but the main event was....THE DIRTY DASH! We registered for this months ago with Josh's family including aunts, uncles and cousins.  The adults run a 5K which includes obstacles and slides all of which is in the mud.  The kids race, The Piglet Plunge, is only a mile but still in the mud! I opted to sit this one out.  Someone had to take the pictures and watch Landon. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! His whole family is already planning on next year's race.  But as for our family, still not so sure.  We feel like it is more like an every few years thing, not so much an EVERY year kinda thing.  But we shall see.

Josh before the race...

Josh and his cousins and sister AFTER the race...

Josh ran the race with the kids too. Believe it or not, this is BEFORE the race...

Mason running in the race. He came in 2nd place of all of his cousins...

Josh and the kids AFTER the race...

Now, there is a really great reason why Emma and her cousin Jordyn (sitting up in front) in the above picture, aren't muddy. They had already showered from a race they ran hours before. When we first got to the race we had a scheduled time for the adult race for 9:40.  We got there early and the kids were playing on the jumpy toys and messing around in the mud beforehand.  Well, somehow Emma and Jordyn got separated from all of us and heard them announcing the next round of races.  (There were different heats running all throughout the day. I think every 20 minutes.) Well, Emma and Jordyn panicked and thought that was the race they were suppose to be in and quickly ran to get in it! Yes, they ran in one of the adult 5K runs!  We couldn't find them for a very long time and knew that they had to be in one of the adult races.  I was panicked because I didn't know how she was going to handle it. After a long time of searching for them, we finally found them running in the race about 3/4 of the way through.  We asked them if they wanted to stop and come out and they said that wanted to finish the race.  I was so proud!  

This is Emma when we finally found her 3/4 done with the race...

This is Emma and Jordyn after they finished their race!! Yes, Jordyn lost her shoes in the race. 

It made for fun memories and great pictures, but we'll have to see about next year. The jury is still out.

The "Y"

Hiking to the "Y" has been something we've always wanted to do. And since we had an open day on our Utah trip we knew exactly what we wanted to do with it. Josh's aunt and his cousins took us and were perfect tour guides. We opted to leave Riley and Landon with a different aunt of Josh's and we were very glad we did. Although it isn't a very long hike, it is a pretty steep hike. It got pretty hot that day but the kids were real troopers. In true BYU fashion, after the hike we took the kids to The Creamery for an ice cream cone to top off our BYU excursion. It was great fun we'd definitely do it again.

Here we all are sitting on the big "Y" gate you enter in as you start your hike...

Here we are sitting on the right side of the top of the "Y". The "Y" itself was actually pretty cold and felt so good to sit on it after that hot hike. We sat there for a good 30 minutes and munched on Sour Patch Kids and licorice.

Katelyn likes to create photo ops for herself...

Cheesy I know, but here is our family forming a "Y" on the "Y"...

Hogle Zoo 2011

Oh how my kids love the zoo. We could have stayed there all day.

This tiger was one of the highlights for us. We were literally this close to that tiger. No zoom was necesary. It was eating a leg bone from some animal right in front of us. We sat and watched him eat that for about 30 minutes. It was fascinating.

Can't wait to go back.

U2

After much anticipation, over a year to be exact, U2 FINALLY came to town! Josh and I bought tickets to their SLC show well over a year ago but it was canceled due to Bono having back surgery. And let me tell you....it was well worth the wait. As a seasoned concert-goer these days, it was the most amazing show I've ever seen. The set, the stage, the lights, the special effects, the music was all so AMAZING! For a group to sound as good as they do on the radio, LIVE, is hard to do. I know I've said this before, but there is just something about seeing a band you've loved forever, singing a song you've loved forever, LIVE. When they walk out on stage...and you see them...right THERE... it's the same reaction everytime. I get chills all over and my eyes water, just a bit (none of that crazy sobbing stuff, just enough my eyes are barely moistened) and you SCREAM! I love it!

One thing I've decided I really don't like...when a band or singer doesn't sing a song in its original tune.  I get it that you are probably sick of singing the same songs over and over and want to mix it up a bit.  But from a fan's point of view--I HATE THAT! I want to hear it the way I've always known it.  Plus, it makes it really hard to sing along.  No offense.

Anyway, now time to take a break from concerts for a bit. Until September that is....

My baby is TWO!

A couple weeks ago Landon turned two. We celebrated with family over for lunch and a party. One of Landon's my favorite things right now is SpongeBob. So it was an easy decision on what to do for his cake. And he LOVED it!

I hate to brag... but Landon has got to be the cutest little 2 year old there is. He is very smart and is saying new words every day. He says thank you for everything, even when he doesn't need to. He loves to snuggle. He loves to give hugs and kisses. He loves to greet his brother and sisters when they get home from school with a big hug. His favorite thing to say is, "Daddy stinks!" You give the kid an applesauce cup with a sippy cup of apple juice and he's a happy camper. They say at this age they hit the "Terrible 2's". But I have to admit...there is just nothing terrible about this little boy.

Bon Jovi

This week my sisters and I went to see Bon Jovi in concert in SLC. Which has been a huge dream of mine and Josh's. A couple of months ago we noticed that he was coming to Salt Lake. Woohoo!! So I called my sisters to see if they wanted to come with Josh and I along with their husbands (or boyfriend) whatever the case may be:) They were all in! (All except my sister Teri in New Mexico. It's a bit far to travel for a concert.) A few weeks before the concert Josh found out he had to be out-of-town for work the entire week of the concert. We were so bummed! If anyone was looking forward to it the most, it was Josh. But after I sulked about it for a day or two Josh told me "the show must go on" and to call a friend to take his ticket. So I did. I called my good friend Amie. If there's anyone I can rock it out with--it's her!  We had a blast! It was THE best concert!  We knew from the beginning we were gonna be in nose-bleed seats, we got the cheapest tickets there were. But usually there just isn't a bad seat in the Energy Solutions Arena. Well, that's what we THOUGHT! We had hands-down the worst seats in the house. Directly BEHIND the stage! Ya, shocking they even sell those seats. I was pretty bummed about it in the beginning. But once he came out on stage...and Richie Sambora started strummin' on his guitar...you totally forgot about the seats. I've decided there's just nothing quite like seeing a band or singer or whatever, that you have loved forever singing a song that you love, LIVE. Nothing like it. It was his Greatest Hits Tour so he literally sung all of his greatest hits. You name it--he sung it. LOVED IT!! I promised Josh the next time Bon Jovi comes to town--we're all over it. TOGETHER THIS TIME!

It's My Life

                                                   Livin' on a Prayer

                                                 I'll Be There For You

Valentine's Day 2011

Okay, I know I'm slow to getting these pictures up, but whatever--they're up. Our family had a really great Valentine's Day this year. It was busy--but good. First, I helped with Katelyn's class party and did a chocolate fountain for the class. A real hit for sure! (Sorry no pictures). But I had so much left over chocolate we decided to do one at home with the fam...

We also did a "Love Box". I originally wanted to start this on February 1st, but couldn't get it all togther, so we actually started it a week before Valentine's Day. The idea is every night you write on a little cut-out heart a reason why you especially loved someone in your family that day. Then the idea was to read them all on Valentine's Day, but that didn't happen either (we had a bit of a crazy night that night with Katelyn sick in the urgent care) so we did it later. But it was a fun activity and new tradition.

I have been wanting to make these suckers that I found on one of my most favorite blogs for a long time. In order to make these you have to prepare for it at Christmas time and stock up on mini-candy canes. I actually made some with my Achievement Day girls and with MY girls. They turned out really cute!

Then on Valentine's morning I put together little love baskets for my kids and had them ready for them that morning, all placed by their bar stools where they eat breakfast. Complete with little love notes. Nothing fancy. Just little dollar store stuff. They loved them....

We completed the morning with pink, heart shaped pancakes....

But one of my favorite parts of the day was a card Emma made for me and Josh. It was a heart made with 2 pieces, each piece representing me and Josh. (Notice Josh's side is in blue and says BYU.) Pretty funny, clever and sweet.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great how some parents spend Valentine's night as a whole family having a nice meal or out to dinner. But I prefer to do the fun "kids stuff" in the morning and during the day. As long as I know I've done something special and out of the ordinary for them that day, I don't feel guilty going out with just me and Josh that night. In fact, that's the EXACT reason we had Mason induced on February 13th because I just knew that if I didn't, he would come on Valentine's Day and then Josh and I would NEVER have a Valentine's Day to ourselves again. A decision I'll never regret.