Espionage, Intrigue, & Popcorn

And that was just the first ten minutes of our date. Anton and I had a great time last Saturday; we went to see Cars 2. We both really enjoyed it. This was his first time watching a movie on the big screen. We held hands, laughed, and ate delicious buttery popcorn. After the movie, we went to pizza and filled our tummies to our hearts content. Thanks for a fun date little buddy.



He was a little afraid and overwhelmed at first, but once the movie started he dug it

Short and Sweet

Ode to the Nightingale's- What a fun visit :) thank you for staying with us, even though it was only for a day we sure did have a good time.









Silly picture






We love Erin

Getting all teary eyed

OK- so I cried a little bit when I dropped KJ off for her first day of Kindergarten, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Well, then she had to go and graduate from Kindergarten. Now she really feels all grown up, and yes, I cried a whole lot. KJ, you did such an excellent job at graduation, we loved seeing you sing your silly songs and listening to your amazing reading skills. I love that you picked out your own dress and insisted on fixing your own hair. You looked so beautiful. Thank you for teaching mom and dad something new every day and for reminding mom to have patience. I'm looking forward to all the amazing things that you will learn in first grade. Try not to grow up too fast though. Love you big girl!



First day of Kindergarten / Kindergarten Graduation Day









halfway through our photo shoot KJ found a rolly- polly. What a fun little girl









Proud Daddy and sister at graduation







What a Beautiful, Amazing little girl!

"RUNS" in the family

Saturday the girls and I enjoyed a nice morning run. KJ and RJ participated in the kid’s 1-mile race and then I pushed them in the double jogging stroller for the 5k. They both had a blast and it appears that they are following in mommy's footsteps. I will never pressure my kids into doing anything, but I have a huge smile on my face every time they get excited to run. KJ did excellent and was the second female finisher and the 8th overall finisher (35 kids were in the race) running an 8:32min mile :) wow! RJ also did excellent- she was the 4th female finisher and the 10th overall finisher, with a time of 9:41. Fast girls, proud mom!

I was wandering

“Odyssey” is defined as “a long wandering
marked usually by many changes of fortune.”

What an experience- two weekends ago I participated in the 7th Annual Reno-Tahoe Odyssey. A 178 mile, 12 person relay race. Each runner has three legs varying in difficulty and distance. Scrambled Legs 'N' Achin' (my team name) finished in 29 hours. My first leg was mostly flat at a distance of 4.7 miles. My second leg was ran at 11pm at Tahoe in the complete dark. Although I had a head lamp, I still could not see very well because it kept falling of my head. This leg was a little scary because there were no other runners in front of me or behind me and once I turned off the main road into the neighborhoods it got very quiet and very, very dark. My third and final leg was the most physically and mentally challenging. 3.5 miles from Gold Hill to Virginia City. For those of you that are not familiar with this area, that is straight up hill, NO LIE!!! Almost everyone walks some, if not most of this leg, including seasoned runners. I was determined not to walk. It was very difficult, but I ran the whole way. I didn't tell anyone this at the time, and still haven't until now, but I dedicated my wanderings to my Dad, who I often miss and think of frequently. May we have many wanderings together in the future.



The course with each leg marked






A few of the fun signs that were at the exchange points



Vans everywhere- this year there were 207 teams that participated, times that by 2 vans per team and that's a whole lotta van. Long live the minivans!!






I'm dying here people, this is part of the VC leg



still running,still dying






OUCH!! I had to tape up my feet because I was getting new blisters on top of where my old ones were still healing.

So worth it!! I'm looking forward to next year. Hopefully my team will let me take on Donner's downfall- eight mile leg through Dog Valley, six miles up hill, two down, on a dirt road. That is my idea of an adventure. Thank you to Greg for supporting me on all my crazy wanderings this year!! Running keeps me sane and he knows that.

Going Big!!

This is the year to see waterfalls! With record snowfall, and the late,late spring, all the waterfalls are going big. We decided to pack up the kids and journey to Grover's Hot Springs. What a lovely place, the meadows are gorgeous, although still very muddy. As we got closer to the falls we started to hear the rushing and thundering of the water spilling over the tops and sides of the rocks. The girls thought it was the wind or an airplane. We always enjoy spending time together among Heavenly Father's creations.










this little sapling gives new meaning to the saying, Bloom where your planted. Even if it truly is between a huge rock and a hard place