Monster Concert

On Wednesday April 25 Cameron participated in a Monster Concert. All of the sixth grade orchestras in our school district got together at Salem Hills High School to perform together. It was pretty impressive. Cameron was lucky enough to sit on the front row just to the right of the director so we could see her easily. 

Each song was conducted by a different director, one from each elementary school.

Evelyn had a little trouble sitting still.

At the end of the concert they have a Picture Encore and invite the parents to come take pictures of their children. I think that is very considerate. Cameron did a great job and looked beautiful.

Training

Ryan and I have been training for the past couple of months for a half marathon which is coming up this Saturday April 28 and a few other races coming up in the next few weeks. We've been working out 5-6 days a week. We usually go to the gym or go running around 6 am which means we get up sometime between 5:15 and 5:30 am. It's been a real challenge, especially during the cold, dark, winter months. Sometimes we spent our Friday night date night at the pool in Orem trying to improve Ryan's swimming and sometimes we had to make sacrifices so the other person could work out when there were too many things going on for both of us to go.  Even Dallin and Cameron have helped out by taking care of Evelyn if she happens to wake up before we get home or watching her on Friday nights while we go swim.

One of my biggest challenges has been with Evelyn. She really doesn't like the daycare at the gym and I always worry that she'll pick up some kind of sickness when I take her. That's why I get up so early to exercise and rely on Dallin and Cameron to babysit. But some mornings, like today, it's hard to get up. I know I have that big race on Saturday, I'm still getting over that darn cough and I really wanted to sleep in. So today, Ryan offered to go in to work a little later so I could go to the gym and not have to worry about taking Evelyn. I took Cameron to orchestra and Dallin to school and got a nice quiet workout in all before 8:30 am. When I got home the kitchen was clean, the beds were made, and the other kids were off to school. Not only did Ryan help so I could get my workout in but he took care of most of my morning chores as well. It was so wonderful. I am so grateful for his continuous support. It's so much easier to train when I have someone to share it with. It's fun to share successes together and it's even better to complain together, when we're both sore and tired.  But it's the best when I know that he's willing to make sacrifices so I can accomplish my goals, just as I am willing to make sacrifices for him. 

Thanks Ryan for all your help and support.

When I was getting ready this morning and Ryan was finally ready to go to work we both happened to notice Evelyn trying to put on Eden's swim goggles. It was hilarious, so we paused to take a picture. That girl cracks me up.

Reading Time

I love that I have four children that can read now. It comes in handy when I need Evelyn distracted so I can get a few things done. She loves books and she loves being read to. But I didn't get anything done this morning because Austin was being so cute as he read Hide-and-Seek Baby with Evelyn...

Where is my nose?

Here it is! Press your nose.

Where are my eyes?

Here they are!

And I almost forgot to point out Austin's new "faux hawk". Last week he took some scissors to the front of his hair (he happened to be "cutting" the lawn at the time). When I told him it didn't look good he asked if we could go get him a haircut and if he could have a mohawk. I told him he cut his hair too short and he would have to wait and he cried. Well, I couldn't even make it a week it was bugging me too bad. I explained the whole situation to our charming community Barber and yes, I think he worked a miracle. We opted for the "faux hawk" because a mohawk required shaving the head and Austin did not want his head shaved. I think he chose the better option too.

Pictures taken Thursday April 19, 2012

Swim Fun

For the rest of Spring Break we took it easy at home. Ryan and I came down with monster colds that really wiped us out. He ended up taking more time off work than he intended and we ended up letting the kids watch more movies than we were originally planning but nobody was complaining and the kids enjoyed the rest of their break. The one thing Ryan and I mustered ourselves up for was to take the kids swimming on Friday morning. It was the one thing Austin wanted to do all week. I wish I could have gotten pictures of the kids swimming. They are all fish, even Evelyn. Her poor little lips were blue and her little teeth were chattering but she had a permanent smile on her face. 

I was able to get a picture of the girls' new swimsuits this year. Aren't they cute?

Spring Break in Arches

The day after Easter we woke up early and drove down to Moab to go hiking in Arches National Park. We planned to hike for the day and drive home again that night. It was supposed to be a quick trip to get out of the house and enjoy some sunshine. We were tired of being cooped up. (warning, there are A LOT of pictures in this post)

Our first stop was the trail for Delicate Arch...

It was three miles round trip and a balmy 75 degrees. I thought it was perfect but we did all get pretty sweaty on the hike up that massive slick rock hill.

Evelyn was absolutely thrilled to be Outside!

She kept leaning out of the backpack so she could see everything. She would also swing her head from side to side saying "hi" to Ryan. She would also give him pats and kisses. She was so cute.

Just by coincidence we bumped into my running partner Tami and her family and our neighbor's the Huish's. I knew they were coming to Moab so their husbands could go skydiving but I had no idea they would be hiking Delicate Arch the same time we were. Small world.

Some of these ledges make me nervous but the view is amazing.

We made it! Time for lunch.

Ryan was too nervous to take Evelyn out of the backpack to feed her. And with good reason. It's pretty steep.

Within seconds of sitting down Dallin dropped his drink. It rolled right off the ledge! (Austin calls this the toilet bowl)

Ryan told Dallin to walk down and get his drink. When he got back the bottle was totally mashed and some of his juice had leaked out. I'm so glad we kept Evelyn in the pack.

Heading back.

You would think these girls staged this but they really didn't. They walked arm in arm the whole way back to the car singing songs from Winnie the Pooh. I've often asked Cameron if she wants her own room but she says she likes sharing with Eden. Despite how much they bicker they love each other a lot and get along really well.

It was still early in the day so we headed to the end of the road and chose to hike to Double O Arch...

Landscape Arch

This is called a Fin. I was hiking last so I got to watch all my brave children walk along this without so much as a peep. I was terrified. The drop offs on either side were frightening. Especially imagining one of my children going over the side. It was almost too much for me.

Dallin recognized that I was nervous and stayed with me for the rest of the hike. He even helped me and Eden with some of the really difficult parts. It was very sweet. This hike was a lot more difficult than I thought. I was so impressed with the kids.

Double O Arch (the second O is underneath the first)

We took the main trail on the way up to Double O. It was 2 miles. On the way back Ryan and the kids decided to take the Primitive Trail loop. It looked like it was about 3 miles but we were hoping it would be easier than some of the things we had just come across.

The hike back was not a whole lot easier. But the kids didn't complain and even Evelyn was still happy. It was amazing. That girl really loves to be Outside.

I'm not going to mention what this kids said this looks like, I'll leave it up to your own imagination but lets just say Austin laughed and said it went right along with the "toilet bowl" at Delicate Arch.

With about a mile left to go Austin finally gave up. I didn't blame him. We were walking in thick sand and I figured if my feet were killing me everyone else must have been dying too. I was really proud of Austin for lasting as long as he did, 7 miles!

Ryan carried Austin and Evelyn, through the sand, even uphill, for over a mile. He's a stud!

It was an amazingly beautiful spring day. The most amazing thing being that the end of the week was cold, cloudy, rainy, and then snowy. I'm so glad we went when we did.

We made it back to the parking lot in one piece, safe and sound. We hiked a total of 8 miles for the day and accumulated over a cup of sand, each, per foot. We all got sunburned, ran out of water on the last mile, and crawled into a restaurant in Moab starving. Everyone was happy through dinner and pleasant on the three hour drive home. It was really amazing. Even more everyone stayed awake. Only Evelyn fell asleep the last ten minutes of the drive. I guess we all had a lot to get out of our systems after the long cold winter.

While we were hiking Dallin told me he loved being together as a family out in the middle of nowhere. He enjoyed how quiet it was and how it felt like no one else was around. He said he was really happy. Eden and Cameron continued to hold hands and sing songs and Cameron even carried Eden on her back a little bit during the last mile. One man walked past us and observed, "you have a very happy family." I felt so proud. This is my family. I brought each one of these children into the world and have worked hard teaching them, caring for them and loving them and it's days like these that make it all worth it.

Easter Extravaganza

Easter Morning

We don't do the Easter bunny. Sorry, I have issues. But the kids each received one gift from mom and dad and they were all very happy.

When Ryan got home from his meetings the kids had their egg hunt. 38 candy filled eggs hidden somewhere around the house.

We didn't get new Easter clothes but everyone looked so nice all dressed up that I wanted a picture anyway.

Our beautiful colored eggs. Just a note, the camo eggs were created by Austin. The kids each got four eggs to color which wasn't enough to try every color. So Austin decided to try them all anyway.

After church we had my mom, Adam, Breanne and baby Jane over for dinner. After dinner we all went for a lovely walk. Except Bre who is expecting baby #2 and didn't feel too well. She stayed at home and waited for  Nikki and fam who came for dessert.

Evelyn got tired of riding in the wagon but she also refused to hold anyone's hand.

It was a beautiful evening and nice to have company.