New Family Pictures

We had our yearly family pictures taken last Saturday.

The kids weren't really in the mood to cooperate, but we did alright.

Since we just had our 10th wedding anniversary, I thought

it was appropriate to have one of just Todd and I.

Right as we were finishing up, we gave the kids one more shot.

Emily loved being in this tree, and Ryan was happy to be standing

by himself, instead of being held, in what he thought, was a restricting position.

Emily wasn't this happy when we told her it was time to get down.

She would have stayed there all day.

Ryan, enjoying his freedom.

When we put them back in the car, they were both crying. Less than 10 minutes down the road, they were both asleep.

Thanks R, A, and Miss M for helping us out with these. We love them!

Am I the last to know?

I couple of months ago I posted about the 5K race I ran. I failed to mention the education I received while at that event. There I stood with all the other racers. We were standing by the start line. Some of us were still stretching, trying to warm up our muscles. Others were just standing around talking to friends and racing companions. There were people of all ages. Men, Women, boys and girls. Some were serious about the race, others were pulling a wagon with a small child in it. But all of them had one thing in common. I'd been standing around for about

20 minutes, watching everyone, listening to conversations, and observing. It was then that

noticed it. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE had on ankle socks. Some were barely visible above the tennis shoe line. Others were not visible at all. When I first noticed it, I was surprised. I looked around some more. Everyone! I walked to the other side of the crowd.

Every one!

Everyone but me, that is. My next emotion was that of embarrassment. I was the only one there with socks showing above my ankles. I thought, "seriously? How can that be?" I looked some more, looking for the one other person in the crowd that was apparently as un-informed as me. There was none. I thought that maybe I should fold my socks down, as far as they would go, to try to blend in more. But then again, I didn't want to bring attention to my un-stylish ways. I tried to forget about it, and act like I hadn't noticed. But I couldn't help it. I was the ONLY

ONE! But you know what? My socks didn't effect the outcome of the race. I still ran, and didn't come in last due to the excess weight around my ankles!

Here's me.

Here's Everyone Else!

A few days later, I mentioned this observation to a friend. She will remain nameless (you know who you are), but here was her reply: "Ya, it's been that way for a while now." The next day I went out and bought some ankle socks!

So I pose the question: Am I the last to know? And just in case there are a few other people out there still wearing tube style socks with their tennis shoes, let me offer you some advice. Apparently, it's not the thing to do. I never realized that I could be out of style when it came to my socks, but I learned differently. I guess the saying "Better late than never" applies here.

I Love Mondays!

When I was a teenage, I worked at the Hogle Zoo. I was a manager of a concession stand, and I had a set schedule. I worked Tuesdays and Thursday-Sunday. I always had Mondays and Wednesdays off. We always had the radio on in the back part of the building, and I remember one song in particular. The words to it were "It's just another manic Monday. I wish it were Sunday, cause that's my fun day...." I had made up my own little version, and sang, "It's just another manic Sunday, I wish it were Monday..." Monday's were a welcome relief after a busy weekend at the zoo.

Most people look forward to Fridays, and dread Mondays. There was a time in my life when I was the same way. When I worked in an office from 9-5, Monday - Friday, I loved Fridays. Don't get me wrong, I loved my job. But I still welcomed the weekend. Now that I'm a stay at home mom, the weekend doesn't mean quite the same thing. Yes, Todd is home, and it's nice to spend time with him. But my job doesn't stop just because it's the weekend. I still have to feed and dress the kids. I still have to wash dishes and do the laundry.

But there is something special for me about Mondays now. It's a fresh start. A new beginning. If I didn't do as well as I wanted to with something during the week, I decide that on Monday, I'll do better. Did I over eat this week? Did I not exercise as much as I wanted? Did I not get the house cleaned? It's okay, on Monday I will start fresh. I will do better. And there's even more refreshing news. If I slip up half way through the week, and don't keep up with my new found determination to succeed at whatever I had decided to do: It's only 3 or 4 more days until another Monday! A new fresh start. It's a wonderful cycle.

Happy Monday to you all.

Five Blogging Languages

Over the last few months I have found myself getting more and more into reading blogs.  It started out with friends and families personal blogs.  Then, one by one I started to link over to other blogs.  Some were friends of friends, and family of friends, and so on.  But some were totally different.  

My eyes are still opening to the incredibly large world of blogging that's out there, just waiting to be discovered by souls like me (and  you).  Baking, Writing, Reading, Photography, Religion, Opinions, Advice, and that's such a small start.  

Today, on my daily tour through "Blogger-ville" I read one of my regular blogs, and it made me laugh, smile, and think: What kind of Blogger am I?  It discussed 5 different types of bloggers, and it was so well put.  Link to it here:  

And if you go on to read that blog, you will note that I'm following one of the 5 languages described (hyperlinking).  I find myself in several of the categories described. Mostly I'm a lurker, but I'm trying to break out of that.  I leave occasional comments, but not faithfully.  I don't recall ever hyperlinking before now, so I hope the link works.  I intent to add a blog-roll here soon, and credit for that decision goes to that blog.  And I have subscribed to a few, but not all the blogs I regularly read.

And for any of you out there who are slowly getting into the blogging world, like me, I pose a question.  Have you heard of google reader?  I have been using it for a while, and love it.  You enter in the blog address, and it will tell you when the blog has been updated.  That way you don't have to check in with them all individually, just so you don't miss anything.  There may be other programs out there that do the same thing, but this is the one I know about.

One of my favorite "Just for Fun" blogs is Bakerella.  She is wonderful.  Great pictures, great recipes, and great ideas.  Check it out.

Lake Yuba

Last weekend we took Todd's Parent's motor home down to Lake Yuba, a couple hours south of Salt Lake.  

Here are the kids, all excited and ready to go.  They even got new balls especially for this trip!

The lake was calm, and the beach was sandy and nice.  Ryan was able to hang out in the first few feet of the shore.

I had a hard time keeping Emily out of the water.  I think she has a little bit of me in her. :)

Hanging out, on a perfect evening.

I love this one.  It's a slight difference from the one I took when we were headed out.  Everyone was ready to go home.