State Track Meet at BYU

Lelu took 2nd place in the mile run. She ran it in 6:33. The girl in green back there told Lelu at the beginning she would probably beat her - so Lelu's fiery spirit took over and she passed the greenie girl up with the girl frantically trying not to let her. The girl who took first is a year older than Lelu and is Nationally ranked. Just give Lelu time, she just seems to get faster. It never fails, I tear up every time I see her running across the finish line.

D ran his first heat nearly coughing up a lung with the bronchitis he hasn't been able to shake since the week long. I took a photo but it is so blurry it's not worth posting.

Boating Fun!

Lelu & Morgan would like to get off this wild ride!

It surely pays to have friends with Toys. We went up to East Canyon lake last weekend for the day. We all had a great time. It was really hot (but the water was freezing). That doesn't seem to affect the kids. We went with the Maxwells, whose kids are Lelu and Mr. T's best buddies. They were breaking in new wave runners for Lake Powell and we were all too happy to help them. Esp. me. I much prefer to be in control of a wave runner than to be pulled at random by people whose goal it is to give you Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. D bet Sharon "the mom" that she couldn't knock him off the tube for 3 minutes. Not only did she knock him off in 1 minute, but she gave us all whiplash and nausea riding in the boat. D is now on a mission to convince B that we need a boat.......If it were up to me, I'd rather have wave runners but don't tell D.

I Just Don't Like the Number 40! But it Came Anyway.

I had lunch with most my friends. It was a great day. I felt very blessed. Christina came up to hang out and ended up helping me organize my office - it's such a relief and I am very grateful.

B arranged for flowers & a cake to be delivered!

Cherie & Kelly announced via my garage to the neighborhood - also balloons were about the trees.

Then to top it all off - B planned a surprise party for me at a restaurant when he got back. No one happened to bring a camera and my cell phone takes crappy photos with no flash. So I'll just have to paint a picture with my words- B took my cell phone, copied down all my numbers and called all my friends two weeks in advance before he left and invited them & spouses and everyone kept so quiet about it. I had NO IDEA! ....And Christina came back. I couldn't believe it. I have the most awesome amazing loving husband. 19 years and he just keeps getting better. I told him about 4 months ago that I would love to have a dinner party with the husbands since all us girls get together all the time but rarely with our husbands. He took note and it was really really really cool. Thanks to everyone and their birthday wishes too. I'm not sure what it means that "40 is the new 30" - but that seems to be the phrase of choice. If anyone can shed light on that I'd be happy to hear it.

The Massive Macho 50 Mile Hike! Glad I'm a Girl.

This one was in Navajo country on the border of AZ & UT. I wanted D to write about their adventure - but he's far too "busy" (distracted) to help me out. So here's a synopsis from my perspective as told to me by the boys. On average they got 4 hrs of sleep per night - not so good for B - he needs his sleep. But they are all very macho! They went on splits
with the missionaries and by D's excitement telling me about it, I think he really enjoyed it. B had the realization that he doesn't much care for heights. Just like my aversion to flying: I am not scared for other people to fly for my plane is the only one that is vulnerable. B wasn't worried about everyone else on the ropes - he just thought on his turn the rope may not hold. Yuck and he didn't even have any Xanax! One canyon was full of water and yet they plowed through with slight hypothermia. 1500 feet rappells; hiking through sand carrying 80 lb back packs; freezing in the shade; baking in the sun; spiritual devotionals every morning (although I haven't got the scoop on those); only 2 injuries the first day. I missed them a lot - esp since they missed my 40th birthday. So glad they came home safe and sound.

A Hike

My boys are my sleepers, which I find to be ironic since you all know B is not a sleeper & I am. The boys were still sleeping while B, Me Ari, Lelu & Izzie took a hike. I think Izzie was carried as much as hiking, Ari took just a few breaks (like her outfit?) and Lelu worried herself sick because the weekend before she, B and D went mountain biking and she stopped on the trail at the same time a rattle snake decided to slide off the mountain directly next to her. Thank heavens B stopped too and noticed the snake sliding towards her and with rapid reflexes lifted her up and away to safety. In her mind, now all mountains have rattle snakes lurking everywhere. Frightening, it's going to take some total immersion mountain time to get here over it-- if she ever does.

The Shack

It has become a self fulfilled prophecy naming it "the shack". We went up there for a quick weekend and the chimney had tipped over - so no heat. The water on the mountain has been drained in order to work on it - so no water. The power was left on somewhere and it was overcast - so no solar powered electricity. AND the snow broke something in the propane connection - so no cooking ability. But isn't our meadow beautiful right now?

Just a little side note - this morning my water heater was leaking all over, my garage door broke (both have to be replaced) and there is a beeping smoke detector that we CANNOT find going off - all in time for B and D to take off for a week! Nothing that can't be fixed but what a pain fixing it all!

Performances galore!

Lelu played a hostess from a QVC type channel in the fifth grade play about the American Revolution. She definitely had the most feminine of the roles in there. Her BFF played Paul Revere. I don't want to say she was typecast - but the part fit her very well. The whole play was very entertaining but I wish they would have opened it up to guests other than parents (there was limited room) and they performed at 9 am.

Lelu as a Parisian Ballet Dancer! It's amazing how many zillions of parents are willing to sit at a recital for 3 1/2 hours to watch their child for exactly 90 seconds. Because let's face it - none of us want to watch a bunch of other kids. Our child is always the star and the rest of them are just time wasters;)