Family is important, visit often!

Growing up in Denver, all of my grandparents were right there. I think that for a while I saw my Papa and Grandma Kitty a few times a week. And I loved it!! I also am close now to my Grams (aka Grandma Kitty, which evolved to Grams over the years), and I attribute it to seeing her lots. She is a great example to me. All of my mom's side also lived closer, and we'd get together for birthday's, holidays, Bronco games. We really loved playing with our cousins. Now I wish that both of our families lived in the same spot, and we could have the same for our kids. We are hoping maybe more of our siblings decide to live in Utah at least, that would be fun. For now, Tanner and Kira are the cousins that live close. And even though they are older than James, I know James (and hope they do too) has fun playing with his cousins.

Anyway, I digress. For Christmas there was this a cheap fare from Denver to SLC, so we jumped on it, and got my parents a ticket each to visit. We told them to pick the times they could come, and we'd make it happen. And, due to work schedules and having 4 doggies at home, they decided to come at different times. That is fun, then James gets one-on-one attention from his Grandpa and Gramies (my parents). In March we are going down to Gilbert to escape the snow and see Nathan's side.

I want to be fair as how we split our time. I love my family, and everytime we go back to Colorado (and more now recently), I miss it. However, I love my in-laws. Actually I see them as my other parents. Who else can say that? I get two mom's and two dad's. I love visiting them too. I don't want one set of grandparents to feel favored over the other. That is why I wish we lived in the same spot, maybe someday?

I digress again. Anyway, my Dad came and visited this last weekend, the first of grandparent visits. Saturday night we sort of threw him into babysitting James while Nathan and I attended a couples activity for church. I don't know if he's watched little kids by himself since we were little. They read books, played with some toys, and watched Ratatouille. Sunday we Kirstin up for the day. That was fun going to church with her. She is so good with James, and when he'd cry, she'd take him out to the hall. Then she, Dad, and I went to look for the Bald Eagles that I saw before. I think most of them were gone, we only saw a few, and it was getting dark, so no pictures :). We went home and had a great dinner then.

Monday we (my Dad, myself, and Jamers) went to the Hill Air Museum. That was really neat, and FrEe!!! James would saw "ooohhh" at the big planes, and would even growl at the planes that had teeth painted on them.

Mommy and James under a plane, I don't remember at all what kind it is, my Dad is good at that

Monday evening we had the Kutterer's over for dinner. Kira was gorgeous as always, and Tanner was a hoot. He always makes me laugh, and he and James get along famously. Nathan made his mom's lasagna, and we all had a good time. I love living close to them.

Family around the dinner table

Tuesday morning (early) Grandpa went home, so he got some good reading in on Monday night with James. Thanks for coming!

Reading a bedtime story with Grandpa

Happy for the visit, Love you :)

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Did you have a good day? We did. I'm looking forward to my surprise date in Vegas next month that will include "spa, shopping, and spices (aka food)".

Roses, chocolates, and a wonderful letter with a "surprise" inside, I'm very spoiled


Making Valentines, James loved the "stickies"

Love to you all!!

Crazy

After a disturbing phone call this morning from a crazy aunt that left me very angry and feeling bad, I googled "crazy relatives" and found this awesome quote:

If you don't have a crazy relative, chances are, it's you :)

I just had to laugh. Puts it all back in perspective, and now I don't feel so bad.
Crazy relatives, we've all got them.

Friends

We have had friend visits lately. It is so much fun though to visit, and to have kids that can play together (or at least next to each other). My favorite is activity to do with friends (and family too) is talking and getting into discussions about all sorts of things. That really is who you grow closer

First was when Tom and Kristie came for a visit, and Lilah took a step! I witnessed it, and so did James! They will be friends I'm sure of it. Anyway, after the kids went to bed we had a great time discussing gospel topics and other life things. How lucky we are to be so close with some great cousins. We stayed up way too late, but it was fun. The next day the girls got to go running, and then the boys.

Lilah and James. She is so cute to see standing by herself, and so little that it doesn't seem possible.

Next Danniey and Calvin came up to visit. She was my visiting teacher in the BYU 103rd ward, and became a great friend. It worked out that Nathan had school late, and Danniey's husband Tyler went out of town for a job interview. Danniey and I stayed up that night and watched Inception, and then talked about the movie, life, motherhood, and so on. I think we stayed up until 2 am, but it was just like when I was single back in college with roommates.

James and Calvin hugging goodbye. These two are pretty close in age, four months apart I think, and they had a ball together.

Oaklee, James, and Calvin. Oaklee is our neighbor and her mom is my running partner. These three were fun together (all about the same age), but I found out what it would be like to have triplets.

Finally, last week we went to Park City and Heber to go shopping and spend time with Aubreigh and Matt and Quinn. Aubreigh will always hold a special place in my heart as she was thrown into helping me with the birth of James. We've been very good friends ever since. So the shopping was great, she has so serious style, which I am lacking. (Thank you, thank you, thank you by the way, I really love the clothes that I got, and I can't tell you enough!). Then we had Mexican food, and by that time both boys were a little wired and tired. They fell asleep then on the drive back to Heber, but both woke up early, and didn't want to continue their naps. What to do then? Why go sledding of course!

James and Quinn, sun in eyes.

"I got you Quinn, this is so much fun, wish mommy and daddy would get one of these"

And what did we do over dinner and the rest of the night? Talk of course :) We could have talked and talked their heads off, but I could tell Aubreigh was getting tired, so we left, but still pretty late. James fell asleep on the way home thank goodness. They are such a neat couple, and a great example to us. And great friends too.

And look at all the friends that James already has :)

So what is life right now?

Life is good, but hard. I want my blog to be more "real" and not everything-is-hunky-dory-every-single-minute-of-my-perfect-life sort of thing. So what is life right now? Nathan is working full time, and when I say full time, I mean 40+ hour weeks. And even once he gets home he has to work some more. But, on the flip side we live in a beautiful home and I have the opportunity to be able to stay at home with my Jamers, so that part is good. Oh yeah, and did I mention Nathan is in school full time as well. At night. So that takes time, and a commute back to Salt Lake three times a week. But he'll have the summer off, and be done with his masters in December. Oh yeah, and he was just called to be the ward clerk in our brand new Silver Lake ward, which takes time getting a new ward organized. But I am proud that they asked him. All of that makes me a single parent most days and nights for the moment. So what do James and I do then with Daddy gone so much?

We take baths. What sort of mom would I be if I didn't have the cute bath picture? And this one is adorable

We go outside. Yes, it is freezing, here as well as the rest of the country this week, but James doesn't care, he wants to go outside! So we bundle up, and then he wants to help shovel snow with the little garden shovel. I love his face in this one.

We get ready for church. This is James ready for nursery! The hair and the sweater vest with tie make this. And he likes nursery, doesn't like being left yet, but it takes him about a minute, then he is off to the toys.

We read books. James was being quiet one night when I was making dinner. Quiet is usually not good, but then I found him by himself, looking at books.

Can you pick me up now?

We play games too, like hide and seek, and making forts. Those are two favorites at the moment. He helps me with chores, and I am grateful for all the time I get with him before the new baby comes. So that is life right now.

13.1

13.1. That is how many miles a half marathon is for those who don't know. It is also the longest I have ever run in my life, and I did it without walking! And I did it 12 weeks preggo! How about that eh? I have a running partner up here, Erica Beckstrom, who talked me into doing this race on Jan 22nd in Saint George back in October. So we trained. The first time I ran eight miles I thought, "this could be possible". Then we were blessed to finally become pregnant, so I was worried I'd have to back out, but the doctor said I'd been training, to not push myself too hard, and I'd be okay. Whew. Then in December I hurt my foot. Really just took a wrong step and sort of tripped over Lady. Then I ran on it two days later, and I thought it was broken. So I got an x-ray, and that doctor said there was no way I'd be able to run it with only about 7 weeks to the race. No way, I thought, for a stupid misstep? So I rested, for about 4.5 weeks, of zero running, and then I started again. I ran eight miles, and only on the last part did it start to hurt. So for the two weeks prior, I ran max of 5 miles at a time, and still rested. Anyway, from the title of the post, you can guess that I made it! I felt great (foot only started to hurt right after the finish line when I sprinted the last few hundred feet to beat this other runner, which I did beat btw). I ran it with Erica, and we had a faster time than we had practiced. By about a minute per mile! The course was easier compared to the hills that we have to run around our neighborhood if we ever want to do more than lots of circles. The weather was perfect, not too hot for this cold weather runner. I will definitely be doing another one. I never in my wildest dreams thought that I could run that far. I guess I just needed confidence. And if I can do it, you can too!!

Erica and Kendra pre-race, it was chilly that morning

Sprinting to the finish. I had motivated this girl at mile 11 to keep going, so we ran together for the last two miles, but there was no way I was going to let her beat me after I had gotten her to keep going

My cheerleaders: Nathan and James post race

Erica and I post race, let's do it again! (Next year, of course :) )

Thought they were horses

Two weeks ago James and I were coming home from having lunch with Nathan at his office. As I was pulling out, two "horses" were running down the street, with a van right behind them. "Oh no" I thought, "someone's horses have gotten out. Maybe I should try to help catch them." At that moment they turned down another street, and I got a better look. They weren't horses, they were two moose, a mom and calf, running down the street! Holy crap! I called Nathan and told him to get his behind outside pronto and anyone else who wanted to see something really cool. Then I followed the moose, and called my other animal-lover friend in the neighborhood, Connie Maughn, to come fast. They stopped in someone's yard to bed down for awhile, so I stopped my car, put my flashers on, and stayed a while. I even had two people stop and ask if my car was alright, and I just pointed to the moose, and said "I'm fine, just watching them". Haha, they were sure startled. Anyway, Connie came and brought a fantastic camera. I got out of the car, and we both sort of hid behind this large stone mailbox. She handed me the camera and said, "here, try to get closer". "Okay" I said. Then as I was walking towards them I called back, "wait, why am I the one getting closer?" She replied, "because you can run faster". Anyway, the mom wasn't interested in us, so we got to watch and take some great pictures. Now I just want to see a bull this way, with a car near by so I can jump in :)