i love to ride my bicycle.

We just got back from a weekend in St. George with cousins and siblings. We biked ourselves silly and I have the scrapes and bruises to prove it. I don't think there are many families that have this many 20-30 something kids that can all have fun biking together. Justin and I also did a road ride around snow canyon and some of St. George that was really fun and did some riding on our own, switching babysitting duties.


On the way to Gooseberry.




Matt and Jess at the end of the trail.


John and Kara


Justin and I. Missing are Brett and Brittany.


Climbing with John and Kara above St. George. It was so warm and fun to be climbing again. We had to make a body brigade along the edge to keep our kids from rolling down the scree slope. That was a fun game.


Justin workin it.


My hands still hurt. Thanks for taking us guys!
I had to add this. Ellie saw this and said, "Look at your chubby legs!"


Out of everything we did, this was my favorite.

body worlds

Ellie got her cast off on the 3rd up at Primary Children's. Afterwards we decided to make it a fun day and went to the Body Worlds exhibit in downtown. It was pretty amazing but the part I wanted to record was a couple of Ellie's responses:

Dad: "What do you notice about these people that is a little bit different?"
Ellie: whispering, "They're not wearing any clothes."

Mom: "How do you know if they are a boy or a girl?"
Ellie: "I just look at their eyes."

Kids are so cute and innocent.

my hubby is going CRAZY!

For seven years, I have exercised and Justin hasn't. Two months ago, something clicked and he decided to get in shape and now he exercises like a maniac and I feel like a lazy bum compared to him. Last Friday night, he and a friend rode around Utah Lake (90 miles), at night - night as in he got home at 4:00 am. They said they were cold and tired. Ummm, ya think?

i thought of it first!

Well, I didn't get my tree decorated today, but I did make a new blog banner! After I made it I googled the term "blogmas" and it looks like everybody is using it. So for the record, I thought of that word alls bys myself.

the feast

First off, doesn't this make your mouth water? My contribution to the feast was cranberry relish. Recipe: chop fresh cranberries, oranges and apples. Add sugar. It's soooo good.


The day started with my dad coming over early to watch the kids - and here are the photos he took at breakfast. Justin and I ran the Orem Turkey Trot and loved it. This run is one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions.

Now, come inside and see what our feast was like...


Welcome! This is my mom and dad's new home that I love with all my heart. My mom and I made the door swag from weeds on the side of the road.


Only four little kids this year...someone needs to have a baby.


Decor from nature...decorate for the season, not the holiday. My unsolicited tip for the day.


Cuties Grace and Lauren.




Sarah and Ellie


My cousin Emily put together a little service project for some single mothers in rehab, so this is some of the group writing words of encouragement to them. Following this, pie and a movie. Perfect.

happy thanksgiving

I must give credit to makeandtakes blog for this idea but it's definitely been improved upon don't you think? Erin and I made these at our little playdate. I wrote things that Ellie is grateful for on the back of each feather. My favorite one was, "Thankful that I can take deep breaths to stop crying."

feeling all cameron diaz-y

Now I can feel better about flushing wet wipes.

silly

me, emily, cammie (alissa came later)

i went to the twilight premiere. i'm embarrassed. i liked it.

turkey tri

Yesterday was the Turkey Tri! Every time a do a race, I tell Justin the night before, "Don't ever let me do a triathlon again." I get so nervous. But afterwards I'm always glad I did it. This race is pretty popular and fun because the order is backwards; so we ran, then biked, then swam in the Orem rec. It was so much easier to not have to run after biking.


I LOVE having my kids there. Justin pulled them behind his bike as basically road alongside me during the run. During the bike he would shortcut through the route to cheer me on. So many people commented to us about it because they thought it was so cool, and thanked him for cheering them on as well. Justin keeps trying to do a race with me but I won't let him because I want him to cheer for ME! Plus I would be pissed when he beat me.








It was also way fun to have our cousin Kara there too (Bankheads representing!). She won 1st overall - see her there at the starting line with only guys? Yeah, she is like a mutant ninja athlete. I got 14th overall and 3rd in my age group which I was happy/sad because I did want to get in the top 3 in my division but was hoping for top 10 overall.

Now I'm just sad because I want to do another one but I have to wait until next spring! Maybe I should spend this winter learning how to swim.

thanksgiving banner

just so I remember how cool my banners are.

halloween

This is what I was going for...


And this is what we ended up with! I loved it - even if no one knew who she was.










More evidence that Cody suffers from Second Child Syndrome. Cody in his big sisters old costume because I was too busy spending hours on Ellie's. Sorry dude.

P.S. Having boys is awesome. You hardley even have to take care of them. Just throw them food on the floor sometimes. Girls, on the other hand, are a maintenance nightmare!

partaaaay!

a few pics of family on halloween night:


The kids with new cousin Cade.


Ward Halloween Party


Some of my glamorous fam.


Aunt Calley


This is the best idea for a Halloween party ever. Matt and Jess cleared out their garage and had their party outside. The food was in the garage and the fire and haybales in the front yard. It's still a lot of work but at least your house doesn't get trashed.


Our hosts, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Beth...


...and their poor tramatized little bee.


"Chicken, Beef or Pork?"

broken arm: round 2

Last Tuesday was a repeat of 21/2 years ago. Same arm, same place: both bones broken in the middle of her forearm, and bent at 31 degrees, which means she had to be put under to re-set the bones. Last time she fell out of her crib. This time she fell less than a foot off our couch. Crazy.


Putting on a brave face.


Hour 5 at ER. Bone has been set and waiting for her to wake up.


Grandpa Lewie and Grandma Jannie...they were in Uruguay on a mish during the last episode so Jann didn't want to miss out this time. Thanks for the blessing and support. And especially for the stand-in blankie. How could I forget her Blankie as such crucial time?


I didn't get a picture of my dad but he was also there. He drove us first to the ER, then to Srpingville InstaCare, then back to the ER. Then waited with me and cried with me when they put the IV in Ellie's arm. Ellie was so brave...she wouldn't cry but tears were rolling down her cheeks. I told her "It's okay to cry." So she did. This picture was taken a few weeks before her last broken arm.

Also thank you mom for staying home with Cody. I'm sure she prayed enough for all of us and I'm also sure it worked. She has more faith than anyone I know.


Such a brave little girl.

And where was Justin you ask????

At school. He got there just after they set the bone. Lucky.

A couple pics of Round 1:





I know a broken arm is nothing compared to what many parents go through with sick and injured children. But I was seriously in a funk for three days after this. I didn't clean my house AT ALL, or get ready, or exercise. I just wanted to hunker down and stay home all day with my kids and watch movies. And I HATE watching movies during the day, one of my worst pet peeves. It proves that as a mothers, we have a physical connection to our children. When they are hurt, we hurt worse. This was also a good reminder to just love and be patient and play and cherish my kids - I love them so much it hurts!

Tomorrow we go to PCMC to get a real cast put on and hopefully the bone hasn't moved in the last week in her splint or we get to do it all again! Wish us luck!