School Projects

Man am I far behind. I'm going to get caught up starting all the way back to August 19th.  The friday before school started I finally got around to going through the kids' school boxes from last year (it was a busy summer, remember).

Austin had preschool with Erica Hansbrow.  She did a great job and he made a lot of fun crafts.  I like how he tried to "wear" as many of them as possible for this picture.

Cameron had Mrs. Hughes last year.  I love her.  She makes the kids do book reports which I think is great.  Cameron also won a lot of awards and overall was a great student.

Eden started school last year with Mrs. Broderick.  She was so sweet and made Eden feel so loved which I really appreciated.  I only made it on one field trip with Eden because Evelyn was born in January.  I felt bad missing so much of her first year of school but I know she had a lot of fun.  She is a very talented little artist and did some great work.

Dallin had Mr. Gull for sixth grade.  It's hard to imagine he graduated elementary school.  Sixth grade was pretty demanding with a lot of really big projects but he did a great job!  You wouldn't know by looking at this picture, though.  They did a lot more projects in groups and so he didn't bring home as much.  I had to go to his class several times throughout the year and walk around to see all the things they had been working on.

I'm On Vacation!

Yep, you read that right.  I'm on vacation.  Not the kids, not even Ryan, just me.  I'm sitting in an amazing hotel room in San Francisco all by myself.  In case you don't believe me, here's a view out my window right now...

Ryan had a conference for work and enough miles to fly me for free.  My sister Breanne is playing Mega Mom this week and watching six kids, all of mine and her sweet baby Jane!  So here I am, absolutely giddy.  Why?  For one, it's sooooo quiet. Two, I don't have to clean up ANYTHING.  And three, I can do whatever I want.  If that's not the perfect Mom Vacation I don't know what is.  So what am I going to do?  Well, our hotel is in the heart of downtown San Francisco's shopping district, but I'm not going shopping (way too much temptation).  I've decided to finally get caught up on my blog. Yippee.  And if I actually finish I'm going to start my blog book for 2010.  That may not sound exciting to you but to me it's an absolute gift.  There just hasn't been any free time in my life lately to get caught up on the little things that mean a lot to me.  So, here we go.  Stay tuned for a gazillion posts on what we've been up to this fall.

A Unique Opportunity

Last Saturday, Oct. 8th, was the Groundbreaking ceremony for the new Payson Temple.  Ryan had received tickets for our whole family to go but the weather was looking cold and rainy and I didn't feel good about taking the baby.  I decided to keep the younger kids home and have just Ryan and Dallin go.  Friday night Dallin was up late with a friend and on our way home he told me that he never gets to sleep in and that he wished he could just sleep in late on Saturday and not have to get up early.

Believe it or not Dallin was the first one up Saturday morning and was showered and dressed in warm church clothes before Ryan was even ready.  I sent them on their way and headed to the Stake Center to watch the proceedings with the rest of the kids where we could be warm and dry.

There were several speakers and then we heard from Dallin H. Oaks who also offered the dedicatory prayer.

After the prayer he told the men in the audience they were welcome to cover their cold heads.

Then he invited four groups to participate in the actual "groundbreaking".  The first group were the apostles that were present.  The next group was the 26 stake presidents that were there.  Here is a picture of ours, President Duffin, in the center.  Next he had all the civic leaders and city mayors come forward.  And finally he had this...

He invited all 12 year old Aaronic priesthood holding deacons to come forward and participate.  Dallin was in the final group of all those boys.  It took my breath away to see him standing near Elder Oaks participating in such a special occassion.

I asked Dallin how he felt about being a part of the ceremony and he said it made him really happy.  I asked him if he was glad he didn't sleep in and he said he was really glad.  I'm so proud of this boy.  He is diligent in fulfilling all of his responsibilities and commitments and he is devoted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

On a side note, I've mentioned this before but we named Dallin after Dallin H. Oaks because we hoped we would have a first son who would be dependable and responsible and devoted.  I think this last picture captures a moment I could have never imagined nearly 13 years ago but warms my heart.

You Can Call Me Crazy

I keep waiting to get caught up on my blog to tell about the things that are happening in my life right now but getting caught up may never happen.  Life is too hectic.  I decided today to write about what I did this week.  My greatest running accomplishment so far. I ran 11.17 miles.  I think I'd like to document it.  Mostly so I can remember that I am completely insane, in case I ever thought I wasn't.

My original plan was to head down the hill from my house and run down rural roads out to Salem and back.  But at 4 am, lying on the couch because I couldn't sleep (nerves) and thinking about how dark it was outside, I decided to change my route.  I decided to run more neighborhood streets and less rural.  I got up at 4:45 am, ate one of my kids Cliff bars, mapped my new run, and headed out at 5:10 am.  At the last minute I decided to don my smartwool shirt which turned out to be a smart idea, it was really cold.

My first couple miles I felt pretty good. I was a little wary of the weird guy driving in circles around me until I realized he was delivering newspapers.  I turned into the wind but figured on fresh legs I could handle it and I knew on my way home it would be at my back.  I was feeling positive.  I ran four miles before I headed towards the rural roads and downhill.

For some reason I decided to mess with my husbands headlamp, thinking I could make it brighter.  I changed it to a wider light to make up for the lack of street lamps and almost ran off a cliff.  Yep, the rocks were the first sign that I was no longer on the road and when my brain registered my location I realized it was a cliff with a steep drop.  I made a sharp turn back to the road and followed a fence.  Idiot.

I headed down the hill (with my vision severely impaired) when my light caught a pair of glowing eyes.  I wanted to think "this is why I don't like to run in the dark" but I decided denial would be better.  I focused on staying on the road and not thinking about anything.  Not about how bad I had to go to the bathroom, or how dark it was (stupid light), or how much farther I had to go.  Nope, I didn't think about anything.  Except that I did stop to go to the bathroom.  Three times in fact on that run.  But there is a definite advantage there of running in the dark.  I think that's how I figured out the problem with my headlamp in fact because I turned it off to do my business and when I turned it back on (to the original setting) it was much brighter.  Whew.

I got out to the long road and felt really confident.  I was doing it.  I was going to make it to my turn around and run home and complete my first 11 mile run.  It was simple.  A straight shot out to Woodland Hills Drive and then I could turn around.  Except it wasn't simple.  It was actually really complicated.  My husband told me to run towards traffic so they could see my headlamp and therefore see me.  But car after car came towards me with their highbeams on and I was completely blinded!  It's all good if they can see me but not good if I can't see a rock, or the road, or the edge of the road.  So I started switching sides as I saw cars coming towards me, or jumping off the road so I could look down as they passed.  It became of sort of hop dance that required a lot more energy than I felt I had.  I was running 11 miles for Pete's Sake!  I was feeling frustrated and tired.

Then I remembered my Gu.  Gu with caffeine is a miracle.  Personally, the taste doesn't bother me.  I do a TriBerry Gu with Berry Gatorade to wash it down and I only have a bite at a time.  The energy burst is totally worth the pasty taste!  I made it to my half way point and turned around.  The sky began to lighten over the mountains, the stars began to fade and I felt rejuvinated.  I ran past the popular trails that were beginning to swell with morning runners and thought, "I've already gone 8 miles!"

Then I hit the hill.  The long hill.  I planned it a few miles before the end of my run so I wouldn't die but it was still hard.  Wave after wave a nausea hit me so I walked, tried to calm down, and relaxed.  It worked and I was off again.  At the top of the hill the wind hit me like a wall.  But I knew it would be brief.  I knew I would turn the corner and the wind would be at my back gently pushing me home.  It worked.  All I could think was, "man I'm smart."  I ran home.  Literally.  I don't know where the energy came from but my legs kept moving, my heart kept pumping, I wasn't going to die, and I was still running.

I made it home in 2 hours 5 min.  Not a stellar time for others but for me it was great!  I was so proud of myself I felt like crying.  But I was energized and ran through the rest of the day getting a million things done.

My biggest problem occured the following morning when the baby was awake from 5-6 am.  I had gone to bed at 9:30 but hadn't moved until she woke up at 5.  I never fell back asleep and dragged through another busy day with my head in a fog.  I couldn't figure out my bills or remember what to feed the baby.  I felt like crawling back in bed which I finally did at 10 pm.  And then, the baby was up again today from 4-5 am!  My head isn't quite as foggy but my eyes burn.  I've been running around, again, trying to get a million things done when all I want is to get back in bed.

So what is the moral of this story?  Don't run 11 miles before your husband goes out of town?  Don't run 11 miles on a super hectic week?  Don't run 11 miles when you have a baby that might wake up in the middle of the night?  I would say don't run 11 miles period, except I'm going to run 12 next week.  Call me Crazy!

Evelyn's ABC's

By: Dallin & Cameron Smith

A is for Apple, Evelyn's favorite treat

B she's a baby with big baby feet

C is for cat who she loves to chase

D is for drool which runs down her face

E is for Evelyn, her very own name

F is for future (she'll still be the same)

G is for game, she loves Peek-a-Boo

H is for hugs, she likes to hug you

I is for I-pad, she likes to play sneezies

J is for jumping, she never gets queasy

K is for kisses, she gives them so much

L is for life, ours she has touched

M is for mmm she says during meals

N is for noise its all part of the deal

O is for Oh! friends say this with faces a lit

P is for playtime, balls are her favorite

Q is for queen, in our hearts she leaves a dent

R is for racing, the cat's her opponent

S is for shopping she naps at the store

T is for toys they cover the floor

U is for under, always the chairs

V is for vacuum, it can't give her a scare

W is for wagonwheels she sucks on forever

X is for xylophone it's played by her brother

Y is for yams, the taste she'll never forget

Z is for zero, she hasn't turned one yet

Dallin had to write a children's story this weekend for a school assignment.  He came up with this poem (with a little help from his siblings).  I don't know if it's what the teacher had in mind but I love it.

Baby Faces

These pictures are from August 15th.  After a week like this week it's nice to remember how happy she can be.  She was so sick this week.  I thought it was from teething, she ended up cutting two new teeth.  The first one came through on Tuesday and the second on Thursday.  But her 103 and higher fever that kept spiking all through the day and night had me thoroughly confused by Thursday.  The violent chills were even more worrisome.  I finally took her in Thursday afternoon and we discovered she had a urinary tract infection.  Add to that pink eye and it all added up to one miserable little girl.  It was so sad.

Strawberry Shortcake

We finally got to have some lazy summer mornings in August, a whole two weeks before school was going to start.  Evelyn actually watched this entire cartoon with Eden and Austin.