10th Anniversary

This weekend Todd and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.  Todd's parents watched the kids, and we headed up to Park City.  First, we stopped to get lunch.  It was weird not having to worry about getting the kids out of the car, and finding a high chair, ect.  And even more amazing:  I got to enjoy a HOT lunch.  It's been a while!  ;)

Next, we drove to the Park City Ski Resort.  There are several activities to do in the summer months, including some fun rides.  The weather was a little on the cold side, but we lucked out because it didn't rain on us.  The rides get cancelled in the rain.  We started off by taking the

ski lift up the mountain, and then riding the Alpine Slide.  Then we did the Alpine Coaster.

That was our favorite.  We sat in a little car/sled that was attached to a rail, just like a roller coaster.  Then we rode in it as it was pulled up the track by a cable.  When we got to the top; gravity took over.  

They told us we would go faster if we sat in the same cart, so we did.  Down we went!  They also told us that the only time we would need to use our brakes was to avoid hitting the car in front of us.  We never did get close to the person ahead of us, so we didn't brake at all.  It was so fast.  It curved and looped through the trees, down the mountain, for over a mile of track.  The website says it goes up to 30 mph, and I'm sure that we were about that fast.  It was so much fun.  I highly recommend it!

http://www.parkcitymountain.com/summer/activities/alpine_coaster/index.html

We did the coaster twice, and then headed back to the ski lift for the Ziprider.  That's where they put you in a harness and then you slide, 110 feet in the air, on a cable, from the top to the bottom.  We really liked this one too, but the line for it was over a hour long, so we only did it once.  We finished it off with one more ride on the Alpine Coaster.  

My word of advice to anyone that wants to try it out:  Don't use your brakes!!  :)

We stayed at a cute little Bed and Breakfast, in Midway, called Johnson's Mill.  There was a small lake just outside our room, with a cute little gazebo.  We tried to use the paddle boat, but I don't think it was working right.  We couldn't control where we were going.  I'm just glad we made it back to the dock!  We took a walk on the trail that circled the property, and I had fun taking pictures.  Breakfast was on the outdoor patio, overlooking the lawns.  

We had a really good time.  

Here's to another 10, and way beyond!

Party Time

We had a party at the park for Ryan's birthday.  He arrived in style, in his new front facing car seat.  Look out world: Here he comes!

Surrounded by his cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents (and of course: his parents and sister!) he was seriously spoiled with toys, toys, and more toys.  He also got some very cute new clothes and some wonderful new books.  Emily enjoyed pushing him in his new red wagon.

But of all the new toys he was given, his favorite?  The red cup:

Look at him stare at that cup cake!

Ryan thinking, "Just give me the cupcake already!"

"What are you looking at?  No, you can't have any, get your own!"

Oh, how sweet!

It was a wonderful success.  The kids played and ran and then played some more.  Summertime birthdays certainly have the advantage, when it comes to outdoor parties!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Today is my sweet little Ryan's First Birthday! I can't believe he's already a year old.

In some ways it has been a really long year, and in other ways it has flown by.

But he is growing and learning every day, and I am thankful to have him

in our family.

I have been working on this scrapbook page for a full year now. I took a picture of Ryan every month, sitting next to the same teddy bear. It shows how much he has grown and changed over the last 12 months.

We are going to the park tonight, for his birthday party. I will post those pictures later.

Happy Birthday Ryan!!

5K

I headed down to Riverton/Bluffdale this morning to run the 5K I had signed up for.  It was a perfect morning for a run.  70 degrees and overcast.  The trail would be following the Jordan River Parkway.  Lots of nice scenery to look at as I ran past.  Not to mention lots of gnats!

I've been training for the last few weeks at the high school track down the street.  So I had a general feeling for how long it would take me.  My fake goal (this is the goal I said out loud) was to finish in less than 35 minutes.  My actual goal (the one I kept locked up in my head, so if I failed, no one but me would know) was 33 minutes.

So there I am, running my little heart out.  There is a mother and a teenage daughter in front of me, and I keep thinking, "Man, I would really like to pass them."  But in front of me they stayed.  This race was the kind where you get to a half way point, and then turn around an run back the same way.  So shortly after I pass the "1 mile" sign, I see the future winner of the race headed back in my direction.  Yikes, I better hurry up.  Before long, I make it to the turn around, and then I was able to smile my encouragement to all those who were still going in the opposite direction.  Meanwhile I'm thinking to myself, "Good, at least I'm not in last place."  And then I finally got to pass the mom and daughter in front of me.  Yee Ha!

At last I see the finish line, and I run as fast as I can.  Todd was off to the side with Emily and Ryan, and I hear Emily  saying "Go Go Go!"  As I cross the finish line, I look at the time clock and it says 31:00.  I was so excited.  I blew my "fake" goal out of the water, and even beat my "real" goal.  I can see how this could get to be addicting.  There is another 5K race next weekend, and I'm tempted to enter, just to see if I can beat my time.  Hmmm...  Will have to give that some thought, if I can move tomorrow morning.  And if my face ever returns to it's normal color, instead of being "tomato red."

I wonder how many gnats I swallowed?  

Hamburgers x2

Todd said goodbye to his twenties today, and joined the thirties club.  I've seen people really stress about this birthday, but it just didn't seem like that big of a deal.  After all, it's just another day older, right?  I guess we'll see if I still feel that way in a few more months when I turn 30.  We will just keep on taking life one day at a time, and enjoying it as much as we can.  Thirty?  Bring it on!!

I was trying to come up with something fun to do for Todd's birthday cake, and was coming up empty.  He doesn't really have any "Favorite" things, so I couldn't really mold the cake around anything like that.  I had almost decided on a plain white cake with frosting and a few sprinkles, but then I ran across this idea.  

I was on my brothers family blog, and my sister in law had made the cutest desert for an upcoming BBQ.  They were going to have hamburgers for dinner, just like we did tonight.  She had been put in charge of dessert, and decided to make hamburgers too.  (She actually got it from bakerella.blogspot.com) Thanks for the idea Amanda!

So we BBQ'd hamburgers tonight for dinner.  Then I brought out the second round of burgers:  

It was so much fun to eat these.  It's a cupcake, cut in half, with a brownie for the burger.  Frosting makes up the ketchup, mustard and lettuce.  The french fries are sugar cookies, with fry sauce frosting.  It was great!  To all those creative minds out there, keep up the good work.  And thanks for sharing  your ideas with the rest of us.

 Happy Birthday Todd!

Patriotic, Head to TOES!!

Emily loves to have her toe nails painted.  "Pretty Toes," is what she calls them.  Today we (okay, I) decided to go patriotic.  

She got a kick out of having matching toes with Mom.  

I tried to talk Daddy and Ryan into joining the toe painting party, but had no luck.

Like the picture taking nerd that I am, I made everyone pose for some 4th of July pictures.  

Say "Cheese".  Look at Mommy.  Ryan, look over here.  Hey, over here Ryan!

Oh well!

Okay, now Daddy's turn.  Look over here Daddy!

Perfect.

Cheese!

Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July.  Emily was scared of the fireworks, and Ryan didn't stay up for them.  Maybe in a few more years...

Splash

Last week we finally had a sunny and warm day, so we got out the pool.  Nothing fancy, just enough to get the kids wet.  It was Ryan's first time in the pool.  

He loves the bath tub, so I figured he would like this too.

Ryan started out warm and dry:

...and then ended up cold and wet:

But having a great time:

(They don't get away with splashing this much in the bath tub.)

Man! I feel like a Woman!

There is no better feeling than that of success.  Knowing that you made a decision to achieve something, and followed through to the end.  I have experienced this feeling on many different occasions.  I love to set goals, and am usually pretty good at following through.  They are usually small things like "I need to get all the laundry done today", or "I need to get my visiting teaching done early this month".  Some of the bigger goals are harder to achieve.  They include things like learning to speak Spanish, becoming more accomplished at the piano, catching up on my scrapbooking (will it ever happen?), and writing a book (or 10, why stop at one, right?).  Some day I hope to be able to say I've accomplished these things.   And then there is the ever popular; I want to loose weight.

We all have dreams and hopes for the future.  Those dreams are not usually easy to obtain.  One of my favorite quotes, recently learned from a Weight Watchers meeting, goes like this:

"Being overweight is Hard.

Loosing weight is Hard.

Keeping the weight off is Hard.

Choose your Hard."

But the fact that you have to work for something makes it all the more appreciated, right?  So, as I said in the beginning of this post, there is nothing quite like the feeling of success.  Today I feel like I'm on top of the world.  I made it to my goal weight.  I lost 50 pounds.  The song that keeps playing in my head is the one by Shania Twain, "Man! I feel like a woman!"  I went shopping tonight, and bought several new clothes.  Clothes that actually fit!  It will be a nice change.

I can't believe I'm going to post this, and I'll probably regret it in the morning, but here goes:

My Before and After pictures.

Feeding the Ducks

Tonight we decided to pack up the portable grill and head off to Murray Park for a BBQ.

While we were there, we went to the river to feed the ducks.

Emily likes to copy whatever the people around her are doing.  I love to catch

her in these adorable poses.

Isn't this the perfect picture for a Father's Day card?  Too bad I took it today, and not

last week.  Maybe I can use it next year for Fathers Day.

Of course, my little crawler was in my arms the whole time, so he

couldn't get too close to the water while I was playing photographer.

Next time I'll have to get some of him too.

First Post

I've been thinking about doing my own blog for a while, and finally decided to just go for it.  I like to read other people's blogs, and learn what is going on in their lives, so perhaps someone will want to read mine.  If not, don't let me know, and I'll just think everyone is hooked, like the lastest "Must Read" fiction.

For my first post, I decided to give a little update on my family's latest milestones.  As my world revolves almost entirely around my children, you will probably learn more about them than  you will about me, but what can I do?

Ryan is 10 months old, and FINALLY got his first tooth a few days ago.  I can see at least 2 more just below the surface, so maybe by the time he turns a year old, he will have a few.  He got a late start on crawling, but now he doesn't hold still for long.  I had to pull out the gates to guard the stairs, as he is an avid climber.

Emily's most recent milestone has been in the bathroom.  I can now consider her potty trained, although she still has accidents from time to time.  Hooray!!  I didn't know if I would survive this part of parenthood, but as Todd reminded me: "This to will pass."  And so it has, at last!

As for me, I am very proud of my latest accomplishment.  I am almost to my weight loss goal.  So far I  have lost a total of 45.6 pounds!!!  Half of it was before I had my 2 children, and the other half has been over the last couple of months.  I only have 4.4 more pounds to go, and I  will be there!  I am so excited about this.  Todd and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this August, and I will finally be back to the same weight I was when we got married.  It is a major accomplishment for me.  Go Weight Watchers!  I highly recommend it to any and everyone.