Arches National Park

After the race and a good long shower, Adam was up for some hiking. We all went to see the famous Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. It was about a 3.5 mile moderate hike. I was impressed with my boys. Adam was a trooper because he had bad blisters and had just ran 13.1 miles. Mick was a trooper because at just 6 years old he walked the entire way. Tori walked most of the way, but she did get occassionally packed by me or her dad.

Adam, Tori, and Mick in front of the Delicate Arch. I had no idea how big the Arch was, or how crowded the trail would be to see it.

Mick and Tori looking through an arch at The Delicate Arch.

Jamie, Lilli, and Jarod on our way up. Lilli is 11 months old and she was such a good little hiker.

I am glad we got to see some of Arches and I hope we get to go back and do some more hikes someday. It's amazing what Mother Nature has done out there!! Oh, and Mick and Tori earned their Junior Ranger certificate and badges while were visiting the park. They have been so cute wearing the badges the last two days. They are pretty proud of themselves, but Mick wants to know why they won't let him work at the Visitor Center if he is a ranger now. ???

Camping At The KOA

So hotel rooms were ridiculously expensive in Moab this last weekend, so we decided to camp out at a KOA Campground. I am so glad we did. It was a lot of fun. The kids found some neighboring campground friends and had fun playing with them. We got to "camp", but was still able to use flushing toilets and showers when needed. Jarod and Jamie and Lilli went with us and we enjoyed hanging out with them so much. Mick discovered chapter books on CD and he listened to Old Yeller all the way down & all the way back so the road trip was nice and quiet.

Canyonlands Half Marathon

We traveled to Moab this weekend to watch Adam run in the half marathon. He did awesome. His time came in at 1:52, which was in his goal range and he finished in the top 20% of all the racers. I am so proud of him and all he does to keep himself active and healthy.

Before the race:

Coming up to the finish line

Us at the Mortuary, which was conveniently across the road from the finish line:

Waste Not, Want Not

I was peeling an orange just now and it was being difficult and I found myself wanting to eat what I had already peeled and throw the other half of it away. It was just too big of a pain. I then remembered my dad talking about Christmases he had back in the early 1940s and how excited he and his 12 siblings were to get oranges in their stockings from Santa because it was a treat his parents could rarely afford. I took my time and peeled that whole orange and it tasted better than I imagined it would.

Piano Lessons

In case anyone cares, piano lessons went so good. I almost forgot to pick up Tori from preschool because I came home from my lesson and started to practice and got totally into it. What I learned as a child came back better than I thought it would. I have had several people say they wish they dared try to take piano lessons, and if I can dare do it ( I am usually scared to death to try new things) then anyone can....go for it.

So far today..........

I am having a way productive day. It's 9:30am and so far I have:

1. went to my first ever spinning class (more about that later) & walked 1.5 miles
2. trimmed my rose bushes back
3. vacuumed my car out
4. done a load of laundry and put it away
5. cleaned our master bathroom; shower, tub, toilet, floor and all
6. I am showered, dressed, and presentable (which rarely happens before 10:00am)

The last week has been so awesome. I struggle with staying not depressed and positive. Being happy and positive is just not something that has come easy to me for several years. All of a sudden last week, I just felt amazing. I have tons of energy, I am sleeping well, I am so happy I want to laugh all the time, I have had a few incidents happen to me this week that would normally put me into a nosedive but they have barely fazed me, I am no longer scared to drive on the interstate (I have a bad phobia of this for 4 years), I have oodles of patience with my kids, etc. etc. SO, I am wondering, what changed or what have I done differently? I need to know so I can keep this feeling cause it's amazing!!!
Now, about spinning class...............it was my first time to do it this morning. I knew it would be way hard and intense, but oh my heck!! I don't think I will be able to move tomorrow. At the end, I really didn't know whether I was going to cry or throw up. And I thought I was in pretty good shape, but since I always run I had neglected some muscles that spinning found for me. I weighed myself before class and then right after class and I lost 4 lbs. of sweat! I have stress fractures on my feet from running, and so I have to quit doing that for about 6-8 weeks (FOREVER). My doctor said swimming, the elliptical, and biking would be good alternatives so I thought I would give spinning a try. It was hard, but I really do enjoy being challenged so I will be doing that again.
But probably not tomorrow. haha.
Thanks (I think) Lily for encouraging me to go.
And now I am off to my first piano lesson. Wish me luck!

Random Pictures

I hadn't posted anything for awhile because not much has been going on (which is wonderful considering the two months prior). But here are some random pictures of us lately. My house is back together and this is my new carpet. I love love love it.

This is my new bed I got off ksl classifieds for $50!! I love it also. It is extra tall so I can fit cans of food storage under it now.

These are some new wall sconces & candles I got at JC Penney for $4 in their clearance bin. I think they went well with my favorite picture we own.

Here are two of my favorite people in the whole word. I just thought this was a sweet picture and I hope Victoria is always such a daddy's girl. I was a daddy's girl and I have such fond memories of the times we spent together. A lot of times as a teenager, I would rather be with do things with my dad than with my girlfriends. I pray Adam and Tori can have that kind of relationship.

Victoria is just so excited to wear her church dress. She wants to wear it all the time and it' s white and hand only washable and she doesn't get why I won't let her wear it to preschool and paint in it.