Connor Reaches a DECADE!

Our big boy is 10! I can't believe my baby is 10!

All ready and spry to open presents!

I think Connor got 10 books for his birthday. This boy loves to read!! LOVES IT! So much so that he's getting in 'trouble' at school and home for too much reading. When the teacher starts the lecture on math, he pulls out a book, hides it on his lap and reads it while she's talking. And at night, he's resorted to using the soft glow of his nightlight for reading since we've already taken all his flashlights and nightlights away for staying up too late reading. This kids loves to read to a fault! I guess there are worse things, right?

One of Connor's favorite movies of all time: Harry Potter. You can tell how excited he was to get this!

Tiggs wanted in on the action, too!

Here are some pictures of Connor to remember the good-old-days:

Connor about 5 months old not looking super happy.......but look how cute Brett is!

Connor's first Christmas. Look at those eyes!

Connor at a friend's wedding downtown Temple Square

Connor about 18 months

Kindergarten graduation

About 4 1/2 here

6 here; the twins are 3

Yellowstone with cousin Midge and the twins 5 and 3 years old

4 years old here

After Connor's day at school, we went out to eat at his favorite restaurant, Tucci's. It's only location is in SLC so we made the drive up there. Brett and I actually decided on Connor's name at that restaurant 10 years ago. We went in and got seated, and who comes to serve us but the same waiter that has worked there for years! (We used to frequent this place quite often.) Anyway, Connor got a huge plate of Fettucini Alfredo and ate the whole thing! Afterwards we went to get yogurt at Luna Berry. It was a wonderful, special day to celebrate our first born! Connor is such a special boy and we are so blessed to have him in our family.

Race for the Cure!

Every year the Saturday before Mother's Day, my Grandma's family-- her sisters, their daughters and their daughters-- all get together for a big lunch. We do this in memory of my great-grandma, Madeline Anderson. She was an awesome woman! I don't remember much of her since she died when I was 7 and we lived in Nevada. I do have several cards she sent for my birthdays and other letters she wrote to me. Those are so special. I also remember she was always baking bread. Always! Her bread tasted so good! She was always taking it to her neighbors, too.

"Grandma-the-great", as we called her died 25 years ago of Breast Cancer. For a few years now, we've talked about doing Race for the Cure in her memory. Thanks to my Aunt Sue, we finally did it this year!

McKay and Makenna were very excited about doing the race. They wanted to walk the whole 3 miles. Makenna said, "If you can run 26 miles mom, me and Mickey can do 3." It was pretty cute. Here they are walking up to the race! They were so excited!

Kenna with her free visor and cheesy grin!

Aunt Raquel with McKay and little Ellie and Kiera off to the side

The whole gang ready to go in our cute, pink t-shirts with Grandma's picture on the back.

We met Ronald McDonald along the way. McKay was delighted!

Makenna and Sydney ran together practically the whole time! They were to good together and would run ahead and then come back-- always making sure that we could see them. It was great fun and so good to remember Grandma-the-Great!

It's true......they're 7! Yes, SEVEN!!

Who can believe the twins are seven? SEVEN????????? Seriously, I cannot. Where has the time gone? Wow!!

One of Kenna's birthday outfits. She loved the foo-fy skirt.

McKay's birthday outfit with his new hat.

Kenna's other birthday outfit. She decided to wear this one to school. Yes, black boots and all. It was her birthday, I had to let her!


The kids wanted to spend their birthday afternoon at Kids Classics. They love this place! Personally, I think it's crawling with germs and places to waste all your money on dumb prizes, but I'm sure I would have loved it when I was a kid.

Connor loading up the ultimate blaster in the new Blast Zone!

Kenna taking her turn to blow out the candles!

1st Grade Dress-up's

Insect day for 1st Grade.

McKay was a fly.

Isn't he cute? This was his own idea, too.

He's Home!

After 2 long years in Chicago, he's home!!!! The last missionary in our family has gone, served faithfully, and come home. We are so happy to have Tyler home!

Mom gets the first hug!

Joyful moment for mother and son!

Tyler with our hooligans and my mom and dad

Tyler with the best grandparents in the world!!!

Ty with all the sibs sans Rob and Brett

Welcome home, Ty!!! We are so proud of you and your accomplishment to serve a full time mission! What an example you've been to us! We can't wait to spend time with you!

Spring Break 2010 Recap

These pictures are just too fun to not post! We had a very fun Spring Break just hanging around our place. With lots of friends and family, we had a blast! Here is a little sample of some of the fun things we did:

We invited our awesome friends and neighbors to go with us to the Old Folks home in Lehi. The kids put together about 1/2 hour piano recital for them. The old folks loved it and so did the kids. We plan on going back this summer.

Stopping at a random house in Lehi with a beautiful Magnolia Tree in bloom. I couldn't not stop! So pretty!

Jumping on the tramp with cousins, Aunt Alyssa and even Grandma Bell!!! I'm glad I got pictures of this because Grandpa Bell would never believe it!

Wheel-barrow rides down the hill in the back yard with Dad and friends. Let me tell you, Brett was the life of the party that night!!! Really, what night is he not the life of the party?


McKay is our little cook. Here we are making a dessert for "Super Stars". He wanted to help me with cooking a lot. Someday, McKay wants to be a chef/artist/astronaut. It could happen...........

Having dance competitions with cousins and friends on the tramp.

Even though it didn't feel like spring, having the break sure was a lot of fun!

My Blogging Friend: The Amazing Sonja

One of the highlights of our trip was the chance I had to meet one of my blogger friends. I stumbled across Sonja's blog a couple years back when I was researching good sport's bras. (Some of you may remember that post.) Anyway, this awesome woman is just a regular person like you and me. She's a wife, she's a mom and she's struggled with weight loss. In the midst of all this, she decided to became a triathlete.

Can I just tell you how awesome she is?

First of all, she is SUPER fast. She gives 110% to everything she does. She is incredibly inspiring, incredibly nice and totally down-to-earth. She is superb at everything she does. She doesn't give up. When I'm out for a long run or ride and I want to stop, I think about her. She keeps me going.

After discovering her bra-review post, I left a comment and told her I was going to be 'stalking' her blog because she is so positive and happy and inspiring. I invited her over to my blog and we became 'friends'. We ended up doing the Dave Ramsey money thing at about the same time, without even knowing it until we were both done!

On Sonja's blog she has a calendar of upcoming races. Come to find out, she was going to be doing a race in Moab the same weekend we were there. "What race?"you might ask. Well, she was there to RUN a 100 mile race.

Yes.

I said running 100 miles.

She, herself, alone......not part of a team. Not over the course of 2 days. She was running 100 miles.

Straight.

Crazy? Yes.

Awesome? Totally.

Inspiring? Incredibly!

So, I decided that if it was possible, I wanted to stop by and cheer her on. I wasn't sure how Sonja would feel about this. I emailed her anyway, and told her I was going to be there that same weekend. She was totally gracious and welcomed the visit. She even gave me her mom's cell number and her husband's cell number to coordinate the visit. They would be there manning her aid station. And she said, "We have to get a picture together!"

So, Friday morning at about 9 am I called her mom. The race started at 7 am. In order to be able to run 100 miles and finish this race, Sonja would slow down to about a 10 minute-mile pace. (Seriously? I know....that is a good pace fore me!) She's usually around a sub-7 minute mile. The race is done on a 6 mile loop out in the middle of northern Moab. She was coming around to the aid station about every hour. So, Brett and I decided to go out and cheer her on and say hello.

When we got there, of course, I totally recognized her husband, her mom and her daughter. I've 'known' them for about 3 years! They were super nice when I introduced myself. They said that Sonja was so happy to have a blogger friend come to say hello! We chatted for a while and then Sonja came running up the path. I started yelling and cheering! She had just finished her 4th lap-- about 24 miles-- practically a marathon. She was all smiles and so happy to see me! It was great to meet her and get a picture! Here we are:

Look how good she looks after running 24 miles! So peppy and happy!

After we took a few pictures and chatted a minute, she was off again. She still had 76 miles to go! Through out the day-- at lunch time I thought to myself, "She's still running." At dinner I thought, "She's still running." When we went to bed I thought, "SHE'S STILL RUNNING!!!!!!!" I couldn't fathom it. The next day I checked out her tweets for the results: She had come in 2nd place overall and was the FIRST PLACE woman! She finished in just under 22 hours. WOW!!!!

The one thing I have learned from Sonja is to not limit yourself or put physical boundaries on yourself. It doesn't matter if you're overweight or out of shape or can only walk to the mailbox. It doesn't matter if you have a family history of heart disease, diabetes, or obesity. If you decide to do something, YOU CAN DO IT!!! Don't tell yourself no. Ever. Sonja taught me the truth of the saying: "If there is a will, there is a way."

She has inspired me to ride in my first century ride this summer.

You have got to check out her blog post about the run and then watch the video. For anyone who wants to be inspired to do anything, this will help you do it. Click here if you'd like to be uplifted and inspired. Be prepared with tissues. (For all my running friends, you will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!) Heck, even if you're not a runner......if you're looking for inspiration and that extra boost to help you overcome anything.....WATCH IT!!! Let me know what you think!