She's a Witch

Last week I took Austin with me to Sam's club. I noticed as we passed the milk he was whispering to himself, "she's a witch" over and over. I turned my head and noticed the lady walking behind me. I had to stop myself from audibly gasping. Her face was long and haggard, her hair black and greasy, streaked with thick gray lines. Her eyes had that angry look and I swear her nose was crooked. Other than that she was in jeans and a frumpy t-shirt but I couldn't fault the kid for thinking she was a witch. Especially this time of year. I quickly turned a corner and tried to tell him to stop saying that. He said, "but mom, she's a witch." I honestly couldn't think of what to say. The usual, "that's not a nice thing to say," just wouldn't come out. He wasn't being mean or unnecessarily judgemental, he was just stating what he thought was the obvious. If I was three, I would have thought she was a witch too. I decided there was no lesson that could be taught here about speaking kindly, etc. So instead, I pushed the cart away as fast as I could.

Sunday Morning Sunshine

I was rushing around the house Sunday morning trying to get everything ready for church when I walked past Austin wrapped up in his blankets on the floor, lying in the sunshine. I love the sun that comes in our windows in the morning and I could only imagine how wonderful it must have felt to be wrapped up in your favorite blankets and sunshine. This kid knows how to enjoy life.

BYU Mini Triathlon

Friday night as we were heading back from Cornbelly's my sister-in-law called to say she was doing a mini triathlon at BYU with her son Saturday morning and she wanted Dallin and I to join them. Dallin thought it sounded like fun so we agreed. I was a little nervous about my knee which has been hurting lately but thought I could work my way through it. More than that I was worried about Dallin and wondered if he realized what exactly he had agreed to do; a 6 mile bike around campus, a 1.8 mile run through campus, and an 800 meter swim at the pool.

Dallin and Kolby took off with the men without a worry. (It was amazing to see two such young boys among all these college men).

Joy and I followed with the women. It didn't take too long for me to catch up with the boys. I was still feeling a little worried about Dallin but since his cousin promised to stay with him I hoped they would figure it out. I told Ryan to wait at the transition area to help if they needed it.

Here he comes...

I limped my way through the run. For as much progress as I made on my bike I lost it all on the run but I was just happy to get that part over. I'll be seeing a doctor soon about that knee.

It's always such a relief to get in the pool. Even when people are going the wrong direction, or doing backstroke in front of me, I can still squeeze my way through and make up some time.

After I finished I waited with Joy (she kicked my butt once again) for the boys. I was so nervous that something might have happened or that they got too tired to finish. The best moment of the whole race was seeing those two boys run up in their swimsuits. I almost cried I felt so proud of them!

They jumped in the pool and immediately took off swimming. A volunteer standing nearby exclaimed, "hey, look at these two kids kicking butt!" They sure did too. Dallin caught up to some guy and eventually passed him and then caught up to another guy who beat him by an arm!

Dallin told me later that the run was the hardest part. He said he would run, then walk, then run, then walk. His cousin would run in place while he waited for Dallin to catch up. He told Dallin he wasn't doing this for the race but just to have fun and that he promised he would stay with Dallin no matter what. It meant so much to me that they stuck together and had fun and finished together! What awesome kids!

Ryan and Cameron said they're definitely going to do it next year. I can't wait!

Cornbelly's

This past weekend was UEA which means the kids got Thursday and Friday off of school. The weather was great so Friday we headed to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point with the Mickelsens.

There were lots of fun things for the kids to do. I carried this sword around for Austin for a couple of hours until it finally popped.

While the big kids headed for "the Beast" the little ones ran to the Cow Train, less scary.

With a little help from a map we even made it through the corn maze.

The big kids were doing pretty well on their own, but when Ryan finally called to see why they hadn't come out yet they finally admitted they were lost. He came to their rescue only to realize they were almost there.

I think this may have been the best part of the whole thing. A big room filled with corn kernels. The kids spent longer in here than in the corn maze.

Treygan's up to his neck again.

The Birthday Girl

Cameron's birthday was a few weeks ago and she turned 9! I can't believe how fast she's growing up. This was our year for a family party so Ryan and I decided to do something a little different. We checked Cameron out of school and took her out to lunch. It was so nice to get to hang out, just the three of us. Then we took Dad back to work and I took Cameron shopping for a new outfit.

That night we had a nice family dinner, Cameron requested shepherd's pie, and then she got to open presents.

Dallin spent several days "making" his gift for Cameron. He made a teacher's pouch. He put a lot of thought into it and made a list of all the supplies he would need. Then, he sewed the pouch with pockets for all the individual supplies he got. He was so excited to see her reaction and to explain how it all worked.

She loved it, of course!

Cameron loves cheesecake so we got some bite size versions for her birthday cake this year.

Five things I love about Cameron:

1. She is very thoughtful of others feelings.

2. She has a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and is a good example to others (including me).

3. She has a crazy sense of humor (bordering on the morbid at times).

4. She works hard at everything she does.

5. She's always smiling.

Happy Birthday Cameron!