North Ogden Cherry Days–July 4

For the 4th of July, we got to spend the day in North Ogden for the Cherry Days celebration.  I always love spending the 4th in Ogden.  We started out early by having a delicious breakfast at the park, with pancakes, eggs, ham, and juice. 

 

After that, we headed down to the parade.  Kent and Kelly had roped us off a nice spot the day before, and it was even overcast so it wasn’t too hot.  The parade was a lot of fun, and the kids had fun watching the floats go by and catching the candy that was thrown their way.

       

After going home and letting the kids nap for a little bit, we headed over to the fish farm in North Ogden to let the boys go fishing.  They have been wanting to go for awhile, so we figured this would be a good spot to let them try it out.  We bought a little fish food for them, but Davis caught his first fish before we’d even put some in the water!  They were both able to catch two fish, and they had a lot of fun catching them and just watching all of the fish in the water.

                         

After fishing, we had a yummy barbecue, then we headed over to Weber High School to watch the fireworks.  The boys had fun dancing to the music while waiting for the fireworks to go off, and we all enjoyed the beautiful sunset!  The fireworks were amazing – that is always my favorite part of the 4th of July.

   

James and Ames are only 2 weeks apart – they were good buddies!

     

Landon got a hold of the camera at one point and took the following four pictures of each of us sitting around.

   

 

 

Landon and Davis doing silly dances while waiting for the fireworks – Davis liked to make funny faces and show off his belly while dancing.

 

A family picture before heading home after the fireworks show

Grandma Landon’s–July 2

On our way out to Utah, we took a detour and stopped at my Grandma Landon’s on the way out.  I’ve always loved going to Grandma Landon’s house, so we thought this would be a good opportunity to stop by.  We made it there for a late lunch, and then we had a little time to sit and visit before we headed down to Ogden.  My aunt Adele and uncle Travis and their family were able to come by too, so we had fun visiting with my cousins and letting them play with James.  We just wish we could have stayed longer!

 

Grandma, me, Aspen, Adele, and Macy with James; and Davis, Landon, Grandma, and Me

 

Macy and Rudy playing with James, and Macy helping James walk around on the porch

 

Bowen, Landon, and Davis;  and all of us with Grandma before we left

Seattle Rock N’ Roll Half Marathon–June 25

A year ago this June, as I was feeling tired and worn out with my larger than life eight-month-pregnant belly, my good friend Darcy called me from Baltimore and said she wanted to make plans for a much-talked-about visit to Portland a year from then.  The glitch?  She also wanted me to run the Seattle Rock N’ Roll Half Marathon with her during the same visit.  As many of you know, it is not a good idea to make life changing decisions while that pregnant, and yet I agreed and thought that I could use it as a goal to get back in shape.

As last fall came around, I started going out a few times a week and trying to run.  I followed my friend Becky’s advice, starting with one minute of running to every four minutes of walking, building up until I could eventually run for 30 minutes.  The rainy, dark winter put my running on hold, but in March I started up strong again, and thanks to a great training schedule from the ultimate marathon runner, my good friend Bethany, I trained to run the half marathon in Seattle last weekend.  I ran early in the morning before Shane left for work, and then a longer run on Saturdays along a trail near our house.  Luckily, most of the long Saturday runs I ran with Lori, who was also training for the same marathon, and we had a great time visiting and sharing crazy kid stories as we ran. 

Last Wednesday, Darcy flew into Portland, and we spent the day Thursday visiting downtown Portland with the three boys in tow.  It was fun to visit with her and catch up on old memories.  Early Friday, Becky T. flew in, and we drove up to Seattle, with Shane, his brother Kelly, and the boys following behind us a few hours later.  We enjoyed a great dinner at BJ’s, including some AMAZING pazookies, and then headed to bed.

Shane took us to the race starting point at 5:30 the next morning.  There were over 17,000 competitors just in the half marathon, plus almost another 10,000 more in the full marathon, so there were a lot of people there at the start!  It was exciting though with the music pumping and the crowds all excited to get running. 

The race went really well, and I was excited to finish the race 30 minutes faster than I had thought I could when I first started training, and 20 minutes faster than I was thinking I could even as I left the finish line!  The race was a little uphill at first, but then leveled out nicely for the middle.  Towards the end, we had to run through this freeway tunnel that was so long and dark.  I barely made it through that part, but once I came outside and could see the finish, it was better.  Shane and the boys were all waiting near the 13 mile mark cheering me on, and I finished in 2 hours 12 minutes.  I am excited to do another one now!

 

The morning before leaving, and at the finish line with our medals!

Shane took some video of me running by.  Remember was you watch this that I had been running at this point for 13 miles already, so I’m barely hanging in there. :)

After a horrendous 2 hour drive back to our hotel due to traffic that I’d rather not go into here, we changed, ate lunch, and headed back to Portland.  Becky and Darcy were able to stay for Sunday too, so we took them up to the Rose Gardens that evening to walk around. 

 

It was a great trip and so fun to catch up with old friends!  Thanks Darcy for inviting me to run with you, Becky for joining us and encouraging me, Bethany for the great running schedule and advice, Lori for running all the long runs with me, and Shane of course for helping me run and stick to my schedule, running with me sometimes even, and coming to cheer me on!

Kindergarten Graduation–June 14

Landon’s last day of Kindergarten was June 16, but on June 14, they had a special Kindergarten graduation in his classroom.  It was fun to go and see Landon with his friends, in his graduation hats they had made.  He had a great experience in Kindergarten, with a wonderful teacher and amazing friends.  I can’t believe he is already done with his first year of school!

 

Landon sitting on his spot on the carpet, waiting for his name to be read.

 

Landon with his certificate, and Landon’s good friend Luke

 

Class of 2023! And a picture of Landon with Miss Kimbel

Before she read each student’s name, Miss Kimbel said some special things about that student.  I was videoing each one, but then we had a small crisis as Davis turned up the volume all of the sudden on the itouch game he was playing, and that was of course right as she started talking about Landon.  I caught the end of it, but she basically said that he had a great sense of humor and always made her laugh, and that he got the award for going “above and beyond” because he would do more than asked, including asking to read during choice time.

Grandpa Morris’s Funeral–June 3

As we arrived at my parents’ house late on the Friday before Memorial Day, we learned that my dad was making plans to fly to Utah and drive to McCammon, Idaho early Saturday morning to visit my Grandpa Morris in the hospital.  My grandpa had been taken to the hospital a few days earlier with what we now learned was a massive stroke, and it soon became evident that he would not be alive much longer.  My dad was able to fly out and be with him as he passed from this life.

His funeral took place that next Friday, June 3, so as soon as I got back from Ashland late Monday, I did my laundry, packed, and made arrangements for the kids as just James and I would be flying out late Thursday to attend the funeral on Friday.  Thanks to a wonderful husband, and awesome brother-in-law, and some great friends, I was able to go without worrying about Landon and Davis at home. 

The funeral, as all funerals are, was as sacred and special experience where I learned even more about my grandpa and the amazing man that he was.  He was extremely afraid of speaking publicly when he was younger, and so instead of turning in his papers to serve a mission, he first entered the military and served during WWII, where he had several faith-proving experiences.  When he came home, he started back to work on the farm, but everything just seemed to be going wrong until he finally realized that he needed to serve a mission.  He developed in his life an ability to speak in public, overcoming that fear and eventually serving in several callings that required him to speak often, especially a calling on the stake high council.  My dad and his siblings each wrote of a memory of grandpa, and they all mentioned how they would hear their dad singing in the shower, as he got ready in the morning, and throughout the day.  I guess I now know where my dad got that from! 

Overwhelmingly, as I listened to my two uncles tell stories and memories of my grandpa, I was struck with how much my dad is like him, and how much of an influence he has had on my dad’s life in helping him to be the dad that he then is to me.  All of the children also repeatedly mentioned how often they would find Grandpa and Grandma kneeling by their bed in prayer, both morning and night, and my grandpa liked to say it is much better to wear a hole in the knees of your pants rather than the rear.  I loved my grandpa because of his humble and unwavering faith.

           

Taking a walk with Kallie and Bennett, and playing high five with Kallie at the church

I drove up and back to the funeral with Camille and Bryce, and the next day I stayed at Becky’s since it was cheaper to fly out Sunday.  I was lucky and go to be there on Saturday to go to Camille’s bridal shower!  It was fun to be the with her, meet Bryce’s mom and sisters, and learn a little more about Bryce and Camille.  I was glad the trip ended with a happy experience!  I also got to meet Becky’s new baby Ryan.  James especially was excited to see him, and I had to keep him away from him a lot of the time!  Here he is playing with Ryan in his swing.