My first race

I did my first race two Saturdays ago.  It was really fun, especially because I did it with my friend.  My favorite part was the part where I was DONE.  ha ha.  My friend and I ran it as fast as we could (which we were really proud of).  After we ran about 5.5 miles, we turned the corner and saw we had to run up a steep hill.  Then we turned the next corner and the next one, and it just kept going up up up.  It was cruel for them to plan a race that ended with a half mile steep hill!  I was pretty mad.  ha ha.  But we finished and felt great when we were done.  Tired, but great.  That is when I decided that I am going to run nice and slow for the half marathon I am running in a month so I can actually enjoy it and not be miserable the whole race.  ha ha. 

 Here we are at the end of the race.  Rob was there with the kids and was able to take a picture of us.

 I didn't know beforehand, but they had a bunch of kid stuff to do for free after the race. The kids were in heaven in this bounce house.

 Here they are in an airplane.

They each got a balloon tied for them too.  

It is too bad we had somewhere to be because there was lots of stuff we didn't get to do.  There was face painting, rocket launching, free cotton candy, and lots more stuff.  Oh well, now I know for next time...if there is a next time!  ah ha. 

Sigh...

 This is what my house looked like at 5 pm on Thursday evening this week...

Sigh.  What a mess...but hey, at least i got dinner on the table right???

Bye Bye Brown Car

 This is just s picture of Emery's little teeth on the bottom there.  I think you can see them...a little.  So cute.

Anyway, last Tuesday I got a call from Rob around 4 pm.  He said he had broken down and he needed me to come pick him up in Sandy.  Oh boy.  We had just gotten the car back one week ago after paying to replace the fuel pump.  Sigh.  But we think it was broken for good this time, so we had it towed and they paid us a little bit of money for it and we are now a one car family again...

The kids and I take LOTS of walks and try not to go stir crazy at home all day.  So far it hasn't been bad, but I think once the winter months roll around, it will get a little old.  

I was so glad I had my camera that day when I went to pick him up because I was going to miss this car.  We have had it for around five years.  Jamima...we will miss you!

 Here are the kids checking it out.  And Rob cleaning the car out.

 Posing for one last picture with the brown car.

 Then they sat and watched the car go up on the tow truck.  They thought that was pretty neat.

Jamima, we really appreciate all of the miles that you allowed us to travel safely.  We will really miss you!

Bell peppers

So I garden did pretty well this year...considering that we would go days without watering the garden because we forget, and then we would accidentally turn the water on to water it and leave it on all day.  ha ha.  But we have gotten tons of cucumbers and lots of tomatoes and lots of bell peppers.  Rob made up this silly song last year that goes "red bell peppers, red bell peppers, red bell peppers are good for you."  He sings it in a silly voice and it is the kids favorite song.  They tell him different colors to sing and the laugh and laugh.   So the kids were pretty excited when I said we could actually pick the bell peppers in our garden.  They are supposed to be yellow peppers, but we couldn't leave them on the plant anymore because the snails were eating our garden alive!  So we picked them.  Aren't they beauties?!?!

 We picked all of these in one day, and there were more on the plant.  

 They were huge!  Almost as big as Sadie's head!

 And Zac's too.

 This is pretty random, but Uncle Isaac stopped by for a very short visit on his way home to AZ.  As always, the kids loved it.  They love their uncles tons!  They love their Aunts too, but so far they have 8 uncles and only 3 aunts.  They just love the attention...and Zac walks around the house saying "where's Scott?  Where's Isaac?  Where's Grandpa?"  It is pretty cute.

Oh yeah...did I mention Emery is crawling these days.  She started about two or three weeks ago.  So fun!  Zac and Sadie love it! 

Labor day weekend

 Over Labor day weekend, we went up to Salt Lake with the kids and stayed in a hotel (thanks to our awesome friends for letting us use their hotel points) and we had a blast!  The kids just loved the pool and the "warm tub" as Zac called it.  ha ha.  The day we got there it was raining outside, but right when we went over to the hot tub, the clouds parted and it was sunny outside.  So they got to enjoy the pool too!

We went out to eat and got ice cream and then walked around the mall the next day.  It was a fun change of scenery for a weekend.  Then on actual Labor day, we went to the duck pond at BYU.  The kids loved it as always and we had a great time. 

 The hot tub.  It was so funny because Zac insisted that we call it the warm tub.  Silly boy.

 Emery even enjoyed a dip in the pool.

 We ate at a yummy burger joint (I don't remember what it was called, just that I really liked it.)

 Then we walked to Baskin Robbins.  Zac totally fell, and I think it is hilarious that I caught it on camera.  ha ha  He cried for only a few minutes.

 This is just proof that I really was there too.  ha ha.  Here I am enjoying a delicious chocolate almond ice cream cone.  They seriously have the best chocolate almond ice cream.  I had forgotten how yummy it was.  I almost made Rob get us some more on our way back home to Springville, but it was pretty out of the way.

 The kids enjoyed jumping on Rob.  ha ha.  I just relaxed and watched the TV while holding and feeding Emery.  

 Here we are feeding the ducks.  Zac really loves doing this.  He tears off tiny pieces of bread and throws them at specific ducks.  It is cute.

 Then they ran up the stairs.  

 Emery and I chilled in the shade while they were on the stairs.

 Then they climbed this "mountain".  Zac had a little trouble getting up, so Rob had to help him to the top.

And just check out this little cutie pie.  She is 9 months old now!  And she has two teeth.  I will have to post a picture of those soon.  I can't believe how fast she is growing up. 

Where have I been???

Sheesh.  It has taken me three weeks to finally not be lazy and download the pictures off of my camera.  There are literally hundreds from our trip to AZ and some of our adventures after.  I can't believe it took me this long.  ha ha.  Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.  I will try to stay more on top of blogging in the future!  (I know I have said that before...)

 We have been trying new things with Sadie's hair.  I did the one on the left...and my friend did the one on the right.  I tried to duplicate it the next day...it did NOT turn out well.  ha ha.

 Emery LOVES the swing...for about 2 minutes.  Then she starts crying.  pretty funny.

 Rob took Sadie on a date to go ice skating...when he got there it didn't open to the public for another 2 hours.  ha ha.  So they went to the temple and hung out there for a while.

 Sadie at the Provo temple.

 Here she is showing off her mad skills.  This was pretty much the only time she let go of Rob's hand.  ha ha

 We walked to Reams and got donuts for breakfast one morning.  Emery is wondering where her donut is.  Don't worry, I shared mine with her.

 We have been to the splash pad a few times since we came home from AZ.  Notice how there are like no kids there.  ha ha.  Sadie and Zac had the thing to themselves.  It was nice.

 This is Sadie this morning on our way to preschool.  (just a few of us moms are taking turns once a week.)  She was so excited.

 Remember about the snake I posted forever ago...we found out it was living in our rocks.  We hadn't seen it in a while so Rob went ahead and weed whacked the place where the snake had been staying.  That is when we realized there were 2 snakes and at least 2 baby snakes.  Yikes!  This is a baby snake that fell into the basement stairwell.  I made Rob rescue it and put it back in the rocks.  But it is rather scary to be walking in our front yard and see a snake slithering by your toes.  I haven't seen them much since I got home from AZ...I was hoping they were gone, but I saw one of the babies the other day.  ew.

 The kids looking at the animals a mile or so away from our house.  

This poor llama had just been sheered.  It looked funny.

Tuesday - day 9

On Tuesday, my mom, Emery and I went on a day trip to LA to visit the fashion district.  We woke up really early and got to the airport, and flew to LA.  We spent all day there and then flew back home that evening.  It was a long day, but tons of fun and very fruitful.  I got tons of fabric.  And I am already planning another trip next year (just kidding...maybe.) 

 Emery did great on her first plane ride. 

 When we got downtown...it was crazy.  There was fabric literally everywhere!  So many stores.  We found lots of good stuff. 

 My mom found this blue cotton gauze fabric and really haggled the guy down on the price.  Go mom!

 Emery really was an angel the whole trip.  Here she is asleep on our way to turn the rental car in.  The poor thing would always fall asleep right before we got to where we were going so we had to wake her up.  But all the shop owners were just loving her.  They all made comments about how cute she was.  It was funny.

 At the airport we ran into a missionary returning home.  We asked her where she served and she said Taiwan.  Then my mom asked if she knew my cousin Elder Gillespie and she did!  It is such a small world!  We were so glad we said hello!

The flight home Emery mostly slept.  That is after she won the hearts of the flight attendants.  Ha ha.  We were in the very front row so they got a good look at her.  And they gave her this certificate for her first flight.  It was a great day. 

I had tons of fun with my mom. We need to plan another trip soon!