Weekend Ramblings

We just got back from our weekend at Eklutna Lake. (And my 'Eklutna Challenge'). My camera was dropped by one of the kids, so I'll have to post pictures after I get them off said damaged camera. We had a great time! We did foil dinners, pineapple upside down cake, and roasted marshmallows. We told stories and read scriptures by the fire, and enjoyed just being together.
Saturday morning was my race. I had signed up for the Eklutna Challenge under the impression that that lakeside trail was fairly tame, and with a few exceptions, mostly flat. Not so! I started the 3 mile run, feeling pretty good. I ran past my husband and children, smiling for the camera, and when Morgan innocently yelled out, "what are you doing back there, Mommy?" I couldn't resist with a "I'm keeping the back company sweetie!". Everything was going pretty good, til we came to this very steep, very long part of the trail. (about 1/2 mile straight up...)
I only had to stop twice. Once to tie my shoe, (how lame is that?) and once to run back up the hill I'd been coming down, to retrieve my missing IPOD.
You run to the finish line, and immediately over to your staged bike. Put the helmet on, and take off down the trail. (you know, the mostly flat one) This is where I'm really glad I know there is a God, and my family is eternal. Several times, during the 15 mile bike ride, I rode screaming (like a little girl) down a steep, gravely, jagged rocks sticking out trail, full steam ahead, thinking, "that's it, I'm going to die!". Then it would slow down, and a very steep, slow, uphill trail would ensue. Not a lot of flat trail, I might add. And where there was flat road, you can be sure there was a very deep, black watered puddle (by puddle I mean at least 5 feet by 10 feet) that I was told you could not slow down for. By the end of the race, my fanny was covered in mud, my white shirt was no longer white, and what wasn't covered in sweat, was caked on dried black mud. And this is where the cameras started flashing.
Now, am I glad I did it? You betcha, (after all, I did finish 53rd out of the women contenders).
Am I bummed there were only 60 women racing? Not really, cause hey, I finished. I didn't blow out a tire, (like about 12 people did) and I didn't turn around half way through, (like all my good senses were screaming at me to do). Could I blame part of my problem on my chain coming off twice, or my seat needing to be adjusted twice after the jarring down hill parts? Mmmm, maybe. Will I ever do this insane race again? No way Jose! It was great to say I've done it, and my wonderful husband kept the children entertained while I did it, and he was even sure to be there at the finish line when I zoomed through. But my extreme mountain biking days are over. I shall return to the posh biking trails of the KGB and live quite contently thank you.

War Games!

Matt went paint balling with a bunch of the guys he works with yesterday.

They drove out the Point McKenzie, where there's this old NIKE Missile Site. The guys all geared up ready to play.

Just a bunch of little boys play'n outside.

Road Trip!

We went to the zoo Wednesday morning. It was a beautiful day, and with gas prices, a drive into Anchorage won't happen as often as past summers. The kids had a blast. Morgan especially loved watching the swans in the pond. (She has been very in to "Swan Princess" lately)

I don't usually post pictures that don't include people, but this big
Grizzly has been at the Alaska Zoo for as long as I can remember,
and the sheer size of this animal is so impressive. My dad used to
always tell me to look at the size of the Bear's ears, compared to the
rest of his head, and you'll get an idea on how big he is,
without standing right next to the animal.


Gabe the Babe!

Since we were already in Anchorage, (and Matt had no idea of our impromptu visit)
we decided to go to his office and surprise him. The kids just ran up to him and

gave him a big group hug. (you can't see Matt, but he's in there somewhere)

Runners Beware!

So, I'm running along the bike path with a friend last night. We've hit the halfway mark, and are heading back to our cars. All of a sudden, a baby moose comes running out in front of us, (only about 20 yards in front of us). A car from the road honks, just as the baby sees us, and runs back into the woods. Of course we're startled, but even though baby moose is gone, we're Alaskans, and our main fear now, is "where's mama moose?" So we run up the side of the hill towards the road, and stay there, till we reach some more open areas. Let me tell you, running along the road on an uneven, sloping hill, not the easiest thing, but it beats getting trampled by a mommy moose protecting her baby.

Summertime

Some shots of Morgan out in the yard this weekend.

A night out with the Girls!

Matt was a saint, and watched the kids Saturday night so I could have a night out with 'the girls'.

First I met them at Penney's while they finished up shopping for their family reunions. (we all have family reunions at the same time this summer). If you can't tell, Kandice and Karlie are twins, and an awesome couple of girls to hang out with.

Then, we got a bite to eat, and headed to the movies for a soon to be classic chick flick. Gotta LOVE McDreamy!

BBQ with Good Friends

Friday night, we had a few families from our ward come over for a pot luck dinner at our house. The kids all had a blast. Jumping on the tramp, running in the grass, and towards the end, they even helped start a fire and roasted marshmallows for smores. Gabe enjoying his "Perfect Smore"
While everyone was leaving, we heard the all to familiar sound of the start of summer...The ICE CREAM MAN! (woman in our neighborhood). Chandler and Gabe ran to get quarters from their change jars. Morgan was left hoping for some good will, and when she found none, she turned to mom and dad. I found some quarters in my car, but by then, the truck had driven down the street. I grabbed my bike out of the car, and Matt took off....

This was Morgan sitting on the porch, waiting for Matt to come back. She was so sad.....(and dirty too, cause she'd been roasting marshmallows, and playing in the dirt with all the kids).

Our HERO! apparently the Ice Cream truck had no other kids stopping him after our house, and Matt ending up chasing him all the way down to the Golf Course. I love this man!

Party Tip!

Okay, here's a tip for all you moms who have birthday parties planned for this summer. (sorry its a fuzzy picture). I can't remember where I saw it, to give credit where its due, but I loved this idea. I HATE standing there with 20 kids trying to get cake, and the ice creams too hard, and some want it on their plate, others don't, and some kids just want the ice cream. So, I took a melon ball scoop (liked this, cause it was easier to scoop and they were cute with 3 little balls). Scooped, ice cream into muffin wrappers, in the tin, then covered it, and put it back in the freezer. You can do this the night before, or up to a week before, if you cover it really well. I felt much more prepared, and less frazzled with one more step out of the way on the big day. And then I also knew for sure if I had enough ice cream, and they were all uniform.

New Earings!

Morgan was so excited. She's now had her newly pierced earrings in for 6

months, and got to change them out to a new pair today. She

did so good, letting me change them. She has been awesome for the

last 6 weeks, making sure to "twirl" her earrings several times a day.

These are as 'dangly' as daddy said we can get.

(for the time being anyways)

Trip to "Heaven's Hay Fields"

What can I say about this picture?

This is our Chandler. Pure and simple. I don't

usually have a lot of pictures of Chandler on my blog for

the simple reason, that he's usually got us head down, doing something

in nature. Hunting for bugs, fishing in the water, and building

snowballs, he's a busy little guy, and I love him a lot!

Monday was his 2nd grade field trip to Heaven's Hay fields. Matt went

along, and was great about taking pictures of our little guy.

There were these really cool cabins the kids got

to tour through.

I think I have a picture of my great-grandpa

in a very similar pose in front of an old house.

Father and son, having a ball on the Hayride


Where's Chandler?

Chandler and some classmates decided to

have a friendly little hay fight.

A panoramic shot of the cabins

Last days and Party Plans

Morgan on her last day of school, with Miss Kim, her Preschool Teacher.

Morgan has loved being in Preschool this year, and has greatly improved her speech. So much, that they have excited her out of the Speech Therapy Program. Yeah Morgan!Morgan showing off for the Camera during her Last Day of Preschool Party!
Gabe and his teacher, Mrs. Bocast, on his birthday


Gabe's cake for his Birthday Party on Saturday. It was a work in progress, and what we originally started out making, is not what we ended up with.

Gabe took over the painting (watered down food coloring).

This corner of the cake was Gabe's idea. He wanted the stream to flow down the cake, onto

the cardboard, and into a little puddle.

The three musketeers at Gabe's Party Saturday.

Grandma had a little face painting table and all the kids went away

with pirate beards and mustaches.

Argggg, Matey!

Gabe blowing out the candles on his cake.

He had an awesome party, and enjoyed playing with all

his friends.

woops! I changed my template and accidentally erased EVERYTHING in my sidebar. I need every one's blog addresses again please. Just leave it in the comments. Thanks guys.

No numbers Please!

So, as some of you may know, yesterday was my birthday. (not telling which one, cause I still haven't accepted that I can no longer check the box for ages 18-29.) All in all, it was pretty darn great, and one of the most active birthdays I've had in a while. My mom went on Gabe's field trip to the musk ox farm (thank you mom) so that I could go work out. Matt had the day off work, so I then road my bike the 4-5 miles to the tennis courts to meet him. Unfortunately, he had misunderstood where we were supposed to rendezvous, so he wasn't there. (love ya babe!) I called him, and he came and picked me up, and we took my bike to the shop to have the gears checked out. (I couldn't get it to the 3-5 gears) But I was glad just to spend time with my guy. We got home in time for Morgan to be dropped off by the bus, and Matt spent time doing yard honey do's while I showered and got ready for my piano lessons I had that afternoon.

I was so excited because my friend Karlie had called earlier in the week, and invited our family over for a BBQ. But around 3:30pm, Matt came in, and said "well, the jig is up...we're not really going over for a BBQ, its a surprise Girls Night for you and your friends, they'll be over at 5pm to get you for Dinner, and I'm watching all the kids". (Karlie's husband works on the slope, and Jeremy was working late) Do I have the best husband or what? So I got ready, and at 5pm, I left my wonderful husband with a house full of little kids, and went out to dinner with my good friends. We had a blast! Thanks again ladies! Your the best. And I definitely have the world's greatest husband!

What's in Your Purse?

I was tagged by a good friend to go through my purse and show you what's inside.

Here ya go Andrea....

This is my purse (one of many) I love it because its

small, but has lots of room inside for all the necessities.

no, I'm not a druggie. I have a snack bag with Tylenol in it for those

pesky headaches that start up right before my cycling class.

And I try to keep these mints in my purse because Matt doesn't like

gum, which is my personal favorite for freshening up one's mouth.

Yeah, I don't often carry a lot of cash, but I had just cashed a check from

a piano student, and after filling up my car, actually had a little change. ($65.00 to fill up the Sadona!)

My keys, (which I love having a remote for the garage door opener to have

on my key chain and in the car).

I always carry sanitizer, (hey I have kids!) and I love to chew gum.

My beauty products. Between Morgan and I, there
always has to be some sort of chap stick, or lipstick around.

My little IPOD. I love having this in my car for the impromptu run, or

tanning session. And I almost always have my phone. Which I was

really grateful for this fall when I ran out of gas on the way

to the gym at 5:30am and had to call Matt to come and rescue me.

Well, that's me in a nutshell. Or at least the necessities of

my purse. Have a wonderful day, and feel free to empty out

your purse and show us what you hall around with you all day.

(I'm just glad its not a Mary Poppins style diaper bag with enough food

to feed a 3rd world country anymore)

Carnival Fun!

The kids and I went to a carnival Saturday at my nephew's school.

It was Gabe and Chandler's old preschool, and they

had fun seeing old friends, and playing at their old stomping grounds.Morgan and Chandler had so much fun in the Bounce house.

Every time I turned around, they were running back out to the Bounce house.
Morgan and her cousins decided it would be fun to get their hair crazied up.
She insisted on Red and Purple colors.

Gabe and his cousin Hunter are best buddies, and have been

since they were born 3 weeks apart. Its always fun when these

two get together. You never know what they'll do, but you always

know they'll have fun doing it.
(please excuse the dirty face, they had just eaten hot dogs, and mom

hadn't had a chance to attack him with wet ones yet)

Great day! The Green Explosion is happening all around us. I love it! I'm busy planning Gabe's Pirate Party this weekend. Saturday will be crazy! I'm doing the Torch Run that morning, then Gabe's party, then our Ward party is that night. Renae and I went running tonight. We did the 5K route for the Torch Run. It was windy, and the first half was miserable because the wind was in my face, and very cold. But I got a second wind, and the final 1/4 mile, I just got a burst of energy and sprinted to the end. It was awesome! I even beat my old time. (not super fast, but better then my times last year.) 3.2 miles in 32 minutes. Yeah me. Thanks for being my running partner Renae!

Happy Mother's Day!

I know, I am a day late, but I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank my mom for being the amazing person she is. I have learned how to be a mom from her. I hear Laurie's voice sometimes when I'm talking to my kids, and surprisingly, I don't mind it nearly as much as I thought I would. I learned how to cook from her. My mom is an amazing cook, and has a great reputation that I'm happy to say I have come to appreciate, and often benefit from. She has such a wonderful talent for creating things. Whether its last minute costumes, or Valentines Boxes I know I can always pick her brain and not be disappointed. It has been such a blessing to live (literally) down the street from my parents. The kids are able to ride their bikes down to grandma's, and I know anytime there's an emergency, they are just a call away.

I also want to take a minute to express my gratitude for my other mother. Matt's mom has been every girls ideal Mother In Law. I actually got to know Matt's mom before I even met Matt. (I worked for her and my SIL at their Bookstore). It was so nice to get to know the women, before she became the MIL. She is amazing! She is always willing to help others, and is such a great listener. Twice during our marriage, this woman has been kind enough to open her home to our little family. I am so grateful for those opportunities to get to know her better. Playing games, eating dinner out on the deck in the evenings. She is a wonderful mother because she raised the best man...Matt is an amazing husband and father.

I am so lucky to have these two mothers in my life. If I can become even half of the great women and mothers that they are, I will count myself very lucky.

Pirate Party!

So, here's the invitations for yet another "pirate" party.
I swear, this child is testing my creativity to the max. So here's what

I came up with this time....

1. I found this scull/sword crossbones graphic on the Internet (I lOVE google)

I copied them onto sticker paper, then took my handy dandy 1" circle punch, and

punched them out.

2. For the actual invitation, I printed it onto card stock, crumpled it up,

and tore the edges off. Then I dipped

it into a tea/brown paint mixture. Then I laid them flat, and let them dry.

At first, it was taking forever. But then I set them on a baking pan, put it on top of

the stove while I was cooking dinner in the oven, and they were dried in no time.

3. Then I just folded them and closed it with the sticker. (originally, I had wanted to use

a wax seal, but no wax I had was thick enough to look/act authentic).

Hence, Plan B, the stickers. So, what do you think? There's more to the invitation, but it included my phone # and address, so I cropped that part off. I think they turned out pretty cool though.