Celebrating 6

This last weekend Dave and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. First of all, 6 years, wowsa! It feels like we were married just yesterday. My-oh-my how time flies. Anyway, this year Dave's dad set us up with a condo in Bear lake and my parents were kind enough to watch the girls for us (thanks you guys!). It was the longest I have ever been away from my monkeys, a whole 28 hours. My mom was awesome and texted me hourly updates ;). Anyway, Dave and I went hot tubbin', stayed up late watching movies and slept in. It was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Oh how I love that boy!

After we checked out of the condo we went x-country skiing.

We found a beautiful trail up Logan Canyon, it was SO much stinkin' fun. The first part of the trail was groomed so we were able to really glide. The second part was more back-country, deep powder with some slush that was a little bit harder to navigate through, but very scenic. We skied up to the Idaho border and then turned around.

The way back was all down hill. Down-hilling in x-country skies is an absolute riot! You don't have a whole lot of control and the only way to slow down is to crash. It was a blast.

Thanks babe, for one of the best, most relaxing weekends of my life.

After we picked the girls up from my parents' house and thoroughly smothered them with kisses and hugs, we decided to head up to Hardware Ranch. We got there just in time and were able to catch the last sleigh ride out to see the elk.

I love Hardware Ranch.

So, one last picture. I love this picture. It reminds me of how much I love our camera. After leaving Hardware Ranch we were driving down the canyon and Dave found a shot he just had to take. I honestly didn't think it was going to work. It was 5:30, the sun had gone down and it was quite dark. Using the flash wasn't really an option because it would have ruined the picture. Dave decided he wanted to try anyway. I tinkered with the camera's white balance, bumped up the ISO to 1600, changed the shutter speed to 1/2 and handed the camera to Dave.

There is no way we would have got that shot on Auto. I must add, there was no editing done to this picture. It was all the camera. Amazing.

For more scenic pictures of our weekend check out Dave's blog, he was able to get some stunning pics.

What a fabulous weekend. Its too bad weekends must end. Sigh.

Good morning my little bed-head

Oh, how I love you.

Christmas Highlights

We had an absolutely fabulous Christmas! Some of my favorite parts...

• Christmas morning-we stayed out late on Christmas Eve partying at my parents house so my girls actually slept in Christmas morning. Dave and I were DYING!!! At about 7:30 Dave couldn't stand it any longer and started whistling and singing Christmas songs as loud as he could to wake up the girls. They didn't appreciate it and both started crying. As soon as we told them Santa had come though the tears stopped and they both dashed into the living room. I LOVE little ones on Christmas morning.
  
  
• Christmas breakfast. We had our traditional pigs-in-a-blanket and some Martinellis in my fancy-shmancy wine glasses. I don't yet trust the little ones with the glasses, so, they drank their sparkling juice out of little glass votive candle holders. They felt special ;).
  


• Emma. Emma was so much fun. She was so excited and grateful over each present she opened. She would hug it close to her, squeeze it tight and yell, "This is JUST what I wanted!" When she opened up her blue robe I actually thought she might start crying because she was so excited. She is such a sweet, slightly dramatic little one. I sure love her.




• Emma's telling of the Christmas story. In nursery Emma made a magnetic manger with Joseph, Mary, the baby Jesus, the shepards and the wise men. It was so sweet listening to Emma tell me about the first Christmas as she used her blue nativity scene to illustrate.
  
  
• Ali. Oh, silly Ali. When she dumped out her stocking she ignored the little toys and went right for the chocolates. She was in sweet cocoa heaven. Once we got her away from the yummies and opening presents she would get so excited and let out an, "Ohhhhh!" as each present emerged from the wrapping paper. Ali loves, loves, loves babies. Santa brought her twins and she also got a baby from each set of grandparents. Christmas night my poor little toddler was quite tired and had a minor meltdown because she was trying to carry all four of her babies to bed and kept dropping one. It was pretty funny.




• My presents. Hehe, now, before you judge, please let me explain. For a few years now Dave and I have been wanting an SLR camera. We decided for Christmas this year we would buy one and that would be our gift to each other. Dave picked up a third job and 90 percent of his paychecks went towards the camera. We have NEVER been so dutiful in saving for something before. We bought a Nikon D60 with two lenses and a goodies pack, wrapped it all up and put it under the tree. I was sooo excited to finally open it and be able to use it. Dave also surprised me with Photoshop Elements and some cake decorating equipment. Little stinker. I tell ya though, the boy gives the best presents ;).

It touches my heart that he is so thoughtful.

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas too.

Remember when...

I wished for a white Christmas?

Well, I sure got my wish.

Stay tuned for all the juicy details from our Christmas. I'm much too tired to post them now.

Procrastinating

Emma and I were just checking my email and were scanning through a forwarded message full of cute and cuddly animals. We came across this picture and I burst out laughing. Why? Because, it is SO my girls. Ali is constantly hugging, hanging on and SQUEEZING Emma, much like the little puppy is doing. Emma's reaction is...well, very similar to the bigger puppy's. I love it. I just love it ;)

Did you know Christmas Eve is tomorrow?! I still have quite a lot to do to prepare. Sure, my shopping is all done, but, the gifts all need to be wrapped.

My baking may be done, but I have a disaster of a kitchen that needs to be put back together. This year I made chocolate candy cane cookies, sugar cookies, caramels, chocolate truffles, cookie dough truffles and cranberry nut bread. I'm not very good at cleaning up as I bake, so you can only imagine the mess that awaits me. I also need to arrange the remaining yummies (I sent Dave with a Christmas treat platter to deliver to his work) onto plates to hand out to neighbors/friends.

Dave had quite a few orders in his shop this Christmas. He has finished his part but I am embarrassed to say I still have frames to paint and magnetic picture holders to deliver. Sigh. Ah well, I suppose I should hop to it.

but before I go...I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

All Dressed Up

This weekend was Dave's work party. We called in a babysitter (thanks mom and dad!), got all dolled up (I even pulled out my dusty black heels) and headed out the door in a snowstorm to go collect on a free dinner at the Marriott. I have to admit, I was a little out of my element. It's been much to long since I have been out and about socializing with other adults. I'm afraid I feel most at ease when surrounded by toddlers, laundry, Sandra Boynton books and pb&j makings. When did that happen?! Anyway, it was good, no great to get out and spend a few hours with my man. I must say, dinner was a surreal experience. My eating out experiences of late usually consist of spending most of the time pulling a one year old off of the table, trying to sop up spilt milk with napkins and scrub crushed french fries out of the carpet all the while trying to cram in a few hurried bites before we have to go. It was so nice to be able to eat slowly, hold a conversation and actually taste what I was eating. Sigh. It was lovely. After we left the party we weren't quite ready to head home. We ended up at the gateway walking in a snowstorm under the Christmas lights. Dave and I were able to talk, relax and remember what it was like when life was a bit calmer and it was just the two of us. People keep telling me dating is healthy for a marriage; I believe them.

Just Like Big Sister

I've said it before and I'll say it again..Ali looooves her big sister. She follows Emma around endlessly doing whatever Em does. Today Als came out of the bedroom with some of Emma's undies and then, much to my amazement, sat down and put them on, just like big sister. Little nut.

Also, draw your attention to Ali's big furry coat. She loves it and it is quite the struggle to get it off of her. Oh and the big, striped, pink sock? Yeah, she put that on too.

Other news...for cake date this week we made snowman cupcakes. Cupcakes are always fun because the young uns get to participate.

Here are Emma, Hunter and Parker hard at work. Well at least Em and Hunties are, not so sure what Parker man is up to.

Ali decided decorating cupcakes was for the birds and settled on chowing down on hers instead.

And wala, the final product. Fast, yummy, festive...what could be better?!

Now, I really should be off and get some cleaning in while the girls are down for a nap, but, I must share one last story before I go. This morning Dave was home and was in the kitchen whippin' up a batch of strawberry cream crepes for breakfast. We were all gathered around him just talking and laughing with some Christmas tunes playing in the background and Emma, with a HUGE smile on her face exclaimed, "This is just like family home evening, I'm having SO much fun." It touched my heart. It was interesting for me to note that the thing she gets most out of FHE is the simply the time we spend together as a family. I'm glad she graced us with that thoughtful, adorable moment this morning because ever since she has been a little pickle! Ain't that always how it goes? The sweet little moments shock/surprise us and get us through hours of tantrums. Kids...gotta love 'em!

First, make sure no one is watching

I was on the way to the gym this evening and was stopped at a red light, on my right was a bank. Through the well lit window I could see a well dressed fella sittin' in a high backed chair typing away. He took a short respite from his typing to shove his finger up his nose and dig around a bit. After some good digging, he pulled his finger out, investigated his find and stuck it under the table. Wait, it gets better...someone walked in his office about this time and he stood up AND SHOOK THEIR HAND. Ugggggh!!! Sadly, the little show ended there for me. Someone honked and I realized the light had turned green and I was holding up traffic. So, the lesson to be learned-if you are going to pick your nose, first, make sure no one is watching and for goodness sake, wash your hands before greeting people!

Finally!

Well, it FINALLY snowed!!! I tell ya, I was getting a bit upset that we didn't have snow yet. After all, our friends in TEXAS, yes TEXAS, got snow before us this year. Sheeesh. Anyway, moving right along...as soon as Dave woke up we bundled up the little ones to go outside and play.

Ali was so stinkin excited to get out and explore the fluffy white stuff.

Her excitement didn't last for long. She soon discovered the fluffy white stuff is COLD. Ali hates the cold. She wanders around our house (which we keep at 56 deg.) gathering extra socks, jackets and pajamas and makes us put them on her. Sometimes she has so many layers on she can barely walk. Well back to the story now, as soon as she touched that snow....

she was done. I took her back in the house to calm down and left Dave and Emma to their snowball fight...which didn't last long.

Next thing I know Dave is bringing in a wailing Emma. Apparently Emma didn't like a snowball to the face. As soon as she calmed down she gave Dave the funniest lecture I have ever heard, "Daddy, when people throw snow at people's faces, people cry. I'm so sorry I hurt your feelings Daddy but you were mean."

Poor Dave, he just wanted someone to play in the snow with :)

In Training

Do you remember this post?

After training half-heartedly for a bit I decided it was time to get serious. I decided to concentrate on the half-marathon and put my training for the century on hold for a bit. Why? Because I'm pretty sure I would be able to do the century, it would hurt, but I could do it. The half-marathon on the other hand, well, I was worried about even making it halfway. Besides, it's cold. I feel bad loading my wee ones in the bike trailer when its 30 degrees out. Anyway, as I have mentioned before, I am not a runner and really had no idea on how to go about training. Being a book learner and all I headed to the library. I know, what a dork ;).

I found this book and fell in love. It was exactly what I needed.


It is one of those, "YOU CAN DO IT!" books that is chuck-full of advice and encouragement, and lets face it, who doesn't need that kind of positive enthusiasm when training for an endurance event?! The best part of the book, though, are the training schedules. It is beyond helpful to have direction. Besides that, I am a schedule kind of person. I like waking up and knowing what workout I need to complete by the end of the day. Anyway, here is a glimpse of my training schedule

Monday: 30 minute run followed by 30 minutes of weights
Tuesday: 60 minutes of cross-training
Wednesday: rest day
Thursday: 30 minute run followed by 30 minutes of weights
Friday: 60 minutes of cross-training
Saturday: Long run
Sunday: rest day

I have to admit, I tweaked the schedule a bit.

I added a 30 minute weight workout after each timed run and upped my cross-training from 30 minutes to 60. For my cross-training workouts I usually try to bike (in order to get SOME training in for the century) but also like to hit a zumba or kickboxing class.

The long run on Saturdays increase in length each week.

One of my favorite things about the training schedule is that the workouts are no longer then an hour (with the exception of some of the long runs) a day. I have to get pretty creative in order to squeeze in that one hour and don't think I could devote any more time to training.

All in all I am loving the training schedule and have started noticing improvements in my running. There are a couple of things that are plaguing me, though.

#1 My baby pooch. All you mamas out there know what I'm talking about. No matter how much I exercise I can't get rid of it. It seems like after I had Emma I was able to get rid of my pooch after a few months. I spend a good portion of my weight workouts (more then I should actually) focusing on the problem, but, to no avail. Any ideas?

#2 On my timed runs I should be keeping my heart rate at 65-70% of my maximum hr. I don't. I am usually around 80% and occasionally even red line it. I know I could slow my pace BUT I'm kind of a slow runner as is and don't want to crawl for the whole run. I have noticed cross-training has helped a bit. So, how bout it, any advice or words of wisdom on the matter?

All She Wants for Christmas

Emma has a long list for Santa Claus this year...

• a tee-ter-totter, just like the one at the park


• a pink marker and a red marker, because her pink and red markers dried up


• a brother (she informed me if she gets another sister she will cry)


• a big, blue, potty neigh (my little pony) that can walk and talk


• a baby (doll) for her sister


• a big watermelon


• and last but not least...some dinosaurs

She doesn't ask for much, does she? ;)

I never thought this day would come...

I just filled up my car for under 20 bucks! It was only 18 big ones to fill my tank. I almost cried I was so happy, alright not really but you get the idea :).

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Ok, well not quite, after all we don't have a chimney, but you get the idea. We spent yesterday and part of this morning decorating our house for Christmas. Emma got the privilege this year of capping off our holiday decorating by placing the star on top of the tree. She was so honored. It was really cute. The girls were such great helpers this year, well, they tried hard anyway :).

I LOVE my house all decked out for Christmas. I love sitting in the rocking chair at night with the tree lit, the forgotten carols softly playing in the background and the smell of a fresh pine tree and a hint of a sugar cookie candle permeating the air. Ahhhh, doesn't that make you all warm and fuzzy inside just reading about it. Hmmm, maybe I should add a cup of piping hot cocoa to my nightly ritual to make it even more complete.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

We got tired of waiting for the snow to come to us and decided to take matters into our own hands and go find some. We headed up to a local ski resort only to find a small patch of snow surrounded by a sea of mud. We made the most of the small patch and had a lot of fun. Here's hoping for a white Christmas.

Doodle bugs and Butterflies

A quick catch-up on our last two cake dates...

last week we decided to do doodle bug cupcakes so the little ones could get in on the action. Usually when we make the big cakes we assign them rather small tasks, like frosting a twinkie. Parker, Em and Hunter had so much fun decorating to their hearts content and letting their creative juices flow.

Ah, the butterflies. I have to admit these were a lot of fun to make. However, I feel next time we will be able to make them a lot prettier. We learned some valuable lessons while making the butterflies. For instance...TWO cakes take TWO batches of frosting :)

Another lesson learned...never give Emma a shock tart. The intense sour burst will shock her, resulting in her swallowing the candy piece whole, choking for a bit and then barfing it all up. Jamie learned that one the hard way. BTW-Jamie, I'm really sorry about your sweater ;).

Zumba

Tonight I decided to add some spice to my workout regime and hit a ZUMBA class. Zumba is a Latin flavor dance/aerobic class. I was sorely tempted to attend the more predictable spin class that was right next door but I resisted. I'm so glad I did.

Was it out of my comfort zone? Oh yeah!

Did I feel like a giant fool with two left feet at times? Yup.

Did I have the time of my life and also get in a great workout? YES!!!

Will I be taking more Zumba classes? You can count on it :)

Our Christmas Season Kick-off

For family night we decided to have a good ol' Christmas season kick-off. We began by making gingerbread men.

The creative ones are the ones Dave made :) In the time it took Dave and I took decorate a whole batch of cookies Emma decorated a little blue girl and a camel.

Because of how much time and effort she put into decorating them, she isn't allowing anyone to eat them. I must say, I think I have an artist on my hands.

Look at that smile! She is so proud of her creations. And yes, I know Em's bows don't match her shirt. I had to change her shirt in the middle of the day and forgot to change the bows too, sigh ;)

While Dave, Emma and I were decorating cookies Ali had the job of sampling them. She soon tired of that and began squawking and yelling at us because we weren't paying her enough attention. Dave let me and Em finish up the cookies and went to give Ali his undivided attention

Notice how happy she is with her daddy, her milk, her baby and her deedee (blanket)...her four favorite things.

After finishing the jolly gingerbread men we headed to.......

temple square!!! Going to see the lights on temple square may be my absolute favorite Christmas tradition. The temple was absolutely beautiful and majestic all lit up and surrounded by thousands of Christmas lights.

We tried to get some pictures of the girls in front of the temple but they didn't turn out real well. Its awfully hard to capture two squirming, wiggling little girls with a very slow shutter speed and no tripod.

haha, see what I mean?!

It was such a wonderful night. Emma is at the age where Santa Clause and presents seem to take the stage, front and center, during the holiday season. Taking the girls to see the lights and life-size nativity scene gave us a great opportunity to remind her of the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas.

On our way home we stopped for some gourmet, white chocolate-candy cane, hot cocoa from....7 eleven! Hehe, ok so maybe it wasn't gourmet but it was DELICIOUS and for a dollar a cup it was my kind of a splurge ;)

Well anyway, to end this lengthy, 100 pictures post, I just want to wish you and yours Happy Holiday Festivities!

I laughed...

Funny #1
Lately, Emma really, and I mean REALLY, wants a blue robe. I told her to ask Santa for one. Apparently, Santa takes too long, so, Emma decided we should just make our own robes. Her recipe:

Ingredients:
The fur from one cat

Directions:
Take the fur from one cat and mix it really fast until it turns blue and then....WALA you have a blue robe.

You have to admit, the girl is creative! Maybe I should start sewing with Emma more and cooking with her less. She seems to think everything can be made in the kitchenaid. I am curious though, of how she is going to get the fur off of the cat.

Funny #2
Poor Dave has come down with the puke flu. I left Emma home to take care of him while I took Ali and ran to the store for saltines and 7 up. When I returned home this is what I found...


What a sweet girl, not only did she use her quiet voice and offer Daddy lots of juice (she informed me of all this when I got home) she gave Daddy her favorite stuffed animal, Pinky.

Funny # 3
Ali's new favorite game is ring-around-the-rosies. She will come and find me and Emma and pull on us and grunt until she gets us on our feet and in a circle holding hands. She doesn't quite grasp the concept of "we all fall down" yet though. Em and I will fall to the ground while Ali toddles around us as fast as she can go, laughing so hard I really worry she may burst.

I love my girls and the simple joys they bring me. Even on crazy days like today, when I seriously consider going back on birth control :), they find little ways to make me laugh and bring sunshine to my day.

A Thanksgiving Miracle

A miracle occurred this Thanksgiving. I fell head over heels in love with.....pumpkin pie! I have never liked pumpkin pie. As a child it made me gag. I would go as far as saying, in the past, I have absolutely loathed pumpkin pie. I am believer, though, that your taste buds change over time. In fact, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people INSIST they hate a certain food but haven't tried it for several years. Because of this strong belief, I try foods I hate at least once a year. Pumpkin pie has slowly been growing on me. I went from gagging it down, to being able to eat it, but not enjoy it, to absolutely loving it. I made a lot of pumpkin pies this year and discovered that the best ones are the thick, condensed ones. The secret to this? Using sweet and condensed milk.

Anyway, this Thanksgiving was GREAT. Dave and I have a Thanksgiving tradition where we run in the cold turkey race (a 5k) as a family every Thanksgiving morning. Its our way of getting in some exercise before we gorge ourselves later in the day. This year, Dave worked the night before and we were short on mullah for the entrance fees so we weren't able to participate. I improvised and went on a solo run while Dave and the girls napped. I have to admit, I missed the race day excitement and my little family but thoroughly enjoyed my peaceful run. It was a beautiful morning and great start to the day.

We went to my parent's house this year for Thanksgiving and for once, my WHOLE family was there. We weren't missing a single person. It was crazy, noisy, crowded and I loved every minute of it. Ya know, its no wonder I love Thanksgiving so much. It involves two of my favorite things in the whole world, family and food :)

Haha, poor Dave, he was SO tired. This is him trying to sneak in an afternoon nap with 4 little monkeys hovering near.

I had to add these last pictures in. One of the grandkids favorite thing to do is climb on Grandpa. He is so much more patient then I am. Its weird, he even seems to enjoy all the attention.

Thanks again mom and dad for an AMAZING Thanksgiving.