Overboard

February is now nearly gone.....Hopefully Spring is just around the corner!
Here are some of the activites that kept us busy.

The ice rink was reserved for just our ward. The kids have so much fun. Especially when the disco light comes on.

Camdyn took gymnastic lessons again for one of her Birthday presents.

Todd went to Utah for his Grandmother's funeral and was gone for a week. Here are a few of the things that kept us busy.....

..........Mostly I was cleaning up load after load of THROW UP. yuck! Brody was sick off and on for a whole week. Kennedy got it too. I got pretty efficient at stripping down bedding and getting him in the tub.

After 7 days of this, coupled with the incessant whining only 2 year olds are good at....I sat in his rocking chair too tired to move and felt like Goldie Hawn in the movie OVERBOARD where she can only utter "Buh, buh, buh, buh" while the kids throw grapes at her face.

Kennedy loves to put her knowledge to the test. She memorized these 45 animal cards and can say all of them in 58 seconds. I timed her. Caribou and Artic Puffin are some of her favorite. It's just Rhinocerous that gets her tongue tied! Now she's moved on to LANDMARK flashcards like the Taj Mahal, St. Basils Cathedral and Kuwait City Towers. It's so fun to see her WANT to learn!

Griffin recieved another award from one of his teachers at school honoring kids for their overall work ethic and behavior in class. "Breakfast of the Champions" includes donuts....which Kennedy and Brody love to partake in.

Kennedy started gynastics with her friend Brinley. To say they love it would be an understatement!!!

Kennedy enjoys P.M. Kindergarten once I'm able to pry her off of my legs each and every day that I have to walk her to the door, kiss her and tell any substitute that might be there of her "crying problems" from missing her mother while she's at school. Luckily her friends Brinley and Rachel are there to help with that.

For Activity days the girls learned a dance. Cammy loved it! She wanted to show her moves off to us several days following and wants to be on dance team when she grows up.

Both of Camdyn's teachers have offered a few of the students extra help before school 4 days a week for MATH and LITERACY STUDY CLUB. I am soooo grateful for school teachers and they work they put forth for my kids.

Shhh...don't say popcicle!

Kennedy has been wanting to get her haircut, so when my friend Amy said to come over today, Kennedy was very excited. I can't look while Amy snip, snips....I like to see the finished product. Kennedy loves it and looks so grown up! The Happy Birthday Banner I started while in Arizona is finally done. I hung it up to tie off all the ribbons. It matches perfect with our Happy Birthday Plates. Mom started this tradition when I was a little girl and my kids look forward to seeing it hung when they wake up on their Birthdays.

Todds truck without snow covering it.

There's a story to this.....in our house the words popcicle and bath go hand in hand......if Brody hears the words popcicle or bath this is the reaction we see. He pulls his shirt up and heads to the freezer to await a popcicle. He'll hold his shirt up like this until we make it up to the bathtub and start to get him in. For a little boy who says about 3 words, no, yes and mama....he is quite capable of understanding everything we're talking about. Today we saw some huge fish at the Heathman Lodge and later when I was talking about fish, he went into the pantry and brought out the bowl of goldfish crackers :>

Arizona B&B

This year Sara joined me in Arizona to celebrate my 35th birthday. I came to run the PF Chang's marathon and bask in the beautiful 80 degree winter weather!

Our first afternoon with Mom was spent shopping and dining, while we waited for Trace to fly in from Holland. We unpacked all our loot and I brought tons! The next morning we woke bright and early to go to a class, and then roused Mom for a day of shopping and a yummy home cooked meal. We went to see Bride Wars with Paul, DeNae and Dawn.

Skeen's home is the ultimate vacation destination. The guest rooms are like little suites at a bed and breakfast.

This is my friend Dawn and her hubby Chad, who was in my ward growing up. Dawn and I had both been in training for the marathon. With an injury, she decided to do the half. Sara and I joined her on two mornings for workouts at her gym. I'm not much for sleeping in when on vacation. She was so fun to hang out with!

On my birthday we did an early morning class at Mom and Dad's gym.....layed out at the pool, went shopping for summer swim attire and home decor, and made a delicious dinner (I don't like to eat out the day before a race.....but I'll still go on a hike and stay up till midnight!)
Played cards with Mary and David. I love Grandma's competitive nature. It makes beating her a lot more fun! I'm not a cake girl...so for my birthday Mom bought HUGE delicious sugar cookies from Poppy's. The reason I'm not holding one is, I had already eaten it before my gift opening had begun! Tracer took us on the most fun night hike up the Superstition Trail. He is Grizzly Adams....or whoever that outdoor Mt. Man is! He packed in the fire wood and kettle to make cider...flashlights, popcorn, and bottled water. The sunset was gorgeous. I'm suprised he didn't build us a bench to sit on by hacking off all the pricklies on the cactus!

Mom and Dad make any adventure more fun by going the extra mile and therefore making it more memorable.

Dad dropped me off at the marathon at 6:30. My goal was to run it in 3:45 the time I needed to qualify to run the Boston Marathon. I had done it a few years prior but got an injury and then had Brody. Early on in the race I felt great and thought I could pull a 3:38. I like to stay up late on vacations (5 hours of sleep both nights leading up)....go on night hikes the night before, and eat sugar cookies the day before. I think my body was mad at me because I had a big time mental struggle at about mile 16. My body said "walk....who cares" and my mind was in 100% agreement. I had to pull out all the willpower I had to keep going and keep my pace up. Sara joined me just before the 26 mile marker to run me into the finish. I crossed in 3:43:45. Seconds to spare to meet my goal. I was pretty emotional at the end, even Sara was touched by my mini breakdown. I wanted to quite but kept pushing.

This is the only position I want to be in after every marathon finish. It feels so good to let my legs stretch this way. Then....we had to walk a mile to the car. That hurts.

My Aunt DeNae and Uncle Paul came to cheer me on.

I told Sara that it's too painful, she shouldn't attempt one and that I was going to retire from marathons. Later that night in the hot tub we were talking about going to Boston:>
Sara grilled up a delicious post race salmon dinner. So good! I felt fine and wanted to go for a night time hike. Instead we caught up on 24 and went out for McDonalds ice cream.

Growing up here we had many wonderful families, who to this day remain blessed friends. Sidney Madsen and her daughters, Rissa and Natalie, had us over for a gourmet brunch just before Sara flew out.

Sara and I could have stayed a few more days, but our wonderful hubbies have had their limit!

Today, I'm getting up early to meet Dawn for another exercise class.... 5:30 to be exact....so another 4 hour night's sleep.

Crazy, yes....I just like to get every minute out of a vacation being with my family and free from the duties of home :>

Thanks to Todd for being the most loving husband and nurturing father. He enables me to fullfill dreams, builds me up, supports me in all I endeavor to accomplish and realizes that being able to stay close with my parents and sister's has, and always will, play a big role in the person I am.

Angel with Attitude

For Camdyn's 8th Birthday my mother gave her a necklace showing a picture of a little girl pouting on one side and the saying "Goddess of attitude" on the other. She is a spunky little girl and always has been. I can't believe she is 9 years old!

Camdyn Eliza Lake, our fiesty lil' angel.

Smiles on location

My sister Linny inspired me to post a few of my favorite photos of 2008.....I added on a few of her's as well. Kennedy

Cammy

Griffin
Kenna and Brody

Cammy at Cannon Beach

Brody at Lakeview Farms

Emma and Santa Trace








Emma

My cousin Madison's Senior Photo shoot

Emma and the goldfish

Angelic Kennedy