Just saying...

Come on, you know you want it.

I love my family

Got to have the whole family together twice in two months -- first for Thanksgiving at Bethany's house in Washington, then just after Christmas here at our house.  And I realized yet again that nothing makes me happier.  I wonder if all families feel that way.  I know my mom did.  But my kids are just some of my favorite people.  And the grandkids?  Well, goes without saying.  They kind of stole our hearts.  So a few days of blissful peace and contentment (amidst all the chaos that abounds when the house is full), and then everyone returns to real life.  *heavy sigh*

How to make Bethany laugh:

A few weeks after my illustrious 5K run, I found these pictures that had been taken by somebody at the race.  These first two weren't so bad.  (First one is before the race began, second is obviously as we were crossing the finish line.) 

 

But when I showed Bethany the third one, I was afraid she was going to need CPR. She was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe.  She said it was because of Mark's looking all perky, but I'm pretty sure she was laughing at her mom.  (For the record, I had my head down because I saw the photographer nearby and didn't want my picture taken.  Bad move on my part.)

 

 

Perhaps the bad picture is enough reason for me to retire from running.

The Real Favorite

I had to answer Cami's challenge. I, my friends, am the real favorite.

Another First!

Ran my first 5K today.  For a moment I was thinking what a great accomplishment it was -- given that I just started running EVER IN MY LIFE at the end of March of this year.  And it went well. It was for a good cause (charity event for my old roommate's grandson), I ran the whole time, kept a decent pace, passed a lot of people (many of whom were much younger!). Mark was kind and ran with me the whole way.  It was his first 5K also.  He has run exactly one 10K (his first race, probably about 21 years ago) and 29 marathons.  So in the end, this seemed like a very trivial thing I did. Just not the same as a marathon.  But it was a big deal for me.  (I keep reminding myself.)  Here is our "after" picture.  At least I look in better shape than he does after his marathons!

Fav.

Just letting everyone know I'm still the favorite daughter.

Two hikes done!

So I'm not as efficient as my daughter and don't have a "bucket" list of any sorts on our blog.  But I decided this year it was high time we take care of some of the local favorite hikes that I had never done.  So the big 3 for me are Timp (the actual mountain, not to the cave), Ensign Peak, and Hiking the Y.  Mark had done Ensign Peak several times.  I realize it's not a huge hike, but it's one I hadn't done before, so for home evening a month or so ago, we did it.  And here's proof.  (There were too many people at the main ending with the marker, so we took our picture around the corner with the great background instead.  Awesome sky that night.)

And this morning we tackled Hiking the Y.  Apparently all this running I've been doing is paying off.  I wasn't nearly as winded as I usually get while hiking, and Mark actually struggled a little to keep up with me for a change!  After we got to the top of the Y, we decided to keep going on the trail that takes you to the top of that mountain.  And no, we didn't finish the hike, but got about halfway to the top, which was more than another mile beyond the top of the Y.  (For the record, coming down was really hard on my feet.)

(Please note:  we really don't have such short legs as these photos would lead you to believe.  We were trying to get the perspective of the Y behind us so we took the shots from a higher angle and that's how it turned out.)

So two more hikes checked off my list!  Think we'll probably wait until next summer for hiking Timp.

Happy 31!

Happy 31 years (as of two days ago)!  Still love him.

(And I purposely posted a picture in which we are far away and hard to see so as to minimize the ridicule that may come regarding the outdated fashions.) 

A little late, but to the best father I know!

Been thinking a lot about this guy as Father's Day approached. Still thinking a lot about him. I can't believe how incredibly blessed I was by getting to marry him. I knew he was great at the time of our wedding, but he has just proven over the years to be so much better than I could have realized. It is such a joy to me to watch my girls relate to him. I am so grateful that they can just call and talk to him or go to him when they have questions that need a dad's answer. I'm grateful that there are things (other than math, spelling, or grammar) that he is the "family expert" on. I honestly have never met a better man. Still manages to drive me nuts, but that would be pretty much because he's a boy and I'm a girl and those two are fundamentally at odds on some things.


I have been asked often if Mark wishes he had a son. I can honestly say he has never expressed any regrets whatsoever about the fact that he has only girls. He just truly loves his daughters. And now he's getting sons-in-law, which so far has been a great experience.



So thanks to my very best husband. I may not be eloquent in expressing it, but I love you to bits!

Stud Muffin Strikes Again

Mark just ran marathon #28, his 4th Boston. And it turned out to be his 2nd Boston where the temperature was excessively hot. His first one (2004) was 87 degrees or so. But as a spectator, it was tolerable. This time it got into the low 90's, and it was too hot even for us as spectators. But even though they offered (because of the heat) to let any of the runners defer to next year, provided they didn't even start the race, he opted to "run" it anyway. And amazingly enough, he ended only 20 or so minutes behind his normal time. Not bad, considering the winner was 10 minutes slower than last year's time. And he completed the marathon, which 932 runners didn't. He wasn't one of the 2600 who sought help at the medical tents, either. He just did it smart. Because he's a stud muffin. (And I would have posted pictures, but I forgot a camera. So when I get pictures from our friends who did take a camera, I will post some.)

Life is good

All my children (yes, I realize I have only three)and grandchildren (and only two of those so far) together this past weekend for the temple wedding of our middle child to a really great guy. Life doesn't get any better than this!

Our European "Benture"

We made it there and back. Had a few bumps along the way but nothing we couldn't surmount.






























Learned that the Parisians are very nice, friendly, helpful people in spite of the reputation they have in America. (Have a sneaking suspicion that perhaps if one is friendly and nice to them, they respond in kind.)













Discovered that when driving in Europe, a GPS is essential.









Were reminded yet again how very young our country is.





Now know that Italy is indeed (as Katrina tried to tell us) hot and that Tuscany lives up to its reputation for beauty.







Gained a new appreciation for people trying to communicate in a country where they don't speak the language.













Missed my mom terribly, but figured she was watching out for us (and helping us when needed).













Glad to be home (partly so we can plan the next trip!).

Wahoo!

That was my exact response when my daughter's boyfriend told us he wanted to marry our daughter! We are so happy for her and for us (because we like him lots)!!!

Go me!

I accomplished a hard thing this week, which I will never admit to in public. But my family was so supportive, and I appreciated that support so much. I actually knew they would be. Even the far-away child did what she could, saying a little prayer with my favorite grandson for me. Doesn't get any better than family!

#26

The crazy man did it again--ran his 3rd Boston Marathon. And he would like me to document it so people know he wasn't making it up.

So here are the posing-with-the-bib pictures:












And the posing-at-the-finish-line-two-days-before-the-race pictures:






To get some acknowledgement of what we (the spectating family) went through, here's an example of what the subways looked like most of Saturday and Monday (and no, that's not Mark's bald head in the picture) and what the streets looked like near the finish line where you had to go reclaim your runner:











Then there's the one picture we took of him when we saw him just past mile 16:










And finally, the picture of him with his reward of his new medal. His official time was 3:38:45, which is actually a qualifying time for next year's race. Although he didn't quite win (but only because those darn Kenyans were running again), we're proud of him!

Favorite

We got to go to Disneyland with the entire family (including grandkids!) a couple weeks ago. I loved it all, especially bonding-with-the-grandchildren time. Extra rewards when Andrew chose to ride with me instead of his mom on Buzz and when Emma got so excited when Bethany handed her off to me that she leaned for me, then kicked and kicked and snuggled her face into my shoulder as if she couldn't contain her joy. I couldn't contain mine at that point!

But my very most favorite moment came when we were waiting for the World of Color show and my three daughters and I played Disney 20 questions. Okay, it wasn't the game that was so rewarding, but watching the interaction of my daughters. They're now approaching more of a peer level. They've always gotten along (for the most part), but Camilla was always very much in the little sister role because of the age difference. But she's almost 18 and for the first time I felt like I was watching the magical bond of sisters. Never experienced it myself, but so glad to be able to watch it in them. I had such an overwhelming feeling of love watching them. There really is something special about sisters. And I love my daughters!! (Guess which one is my favorite?!)

Another done!

We went to our VERY LAST Parent-Teacher conference EVER last week. The last teacher we saw (as has been the norm) was the seminary teacher. So as we exited the Seminary building, I pumped my fists in the air and starting singing the theme from "Rocky" as I trotted down the stairs. Yes, I really did--Mark laughed at me. And no, there was nobody else around. (I'm not stupid!) I felt so triumphant. Never missed any of the Parent-Teacher conferences, and Mark was able to go to most of them, also. (He's a good dad.) Only had a few teachers over the years that I wanted to strangle. For the record, I always resisted the urge. I never really minded talking with the teachers (most of them, anyway), but I didn't enjoy the waiting-in-line process. As our youngest moves on, we find ourselves migrating toward another stage in life. So far it looks good.

Done

I'm officially done with snow for this year. While I appreciate the need for it in the mountains to provide our water for the year, I really hate to drive in it. And I'm even more done with the cold. It feels like it has been a long, hard winter. And Spring keeps rearing its beautiful head to tease us and then disappears again. Please come and stay, Spring! I will be so grateful. Meanwhile, I'm just going to go to Disneyland with my family (my whole family--including grandchildren!!) and ignore the weather back home!

Go, Pack, Go!

The outcome of today's Super Bowl was good news to all our Green Bay relatives. And to us, of course, because our husband/father person is from Green Bay. Nice article in the Deseret News today quoted him. (He thinks he's pretty much a star now.) http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700107597/Whats-not-to-like-about-Green-Bay.html