this week

nj marathon

This weekend Justin accomplished a goal he has had for almost 10 years - to run a marathon. He did so well and made it look easy! I know because I road my bike by him the last 13 miles. He did 20 min better the last half than the first half which is pretty amazing considering his longest run ever was 18 miles and that was over 2 months ago. He really hasn't run very much or long for over a month so to finish in 3:40 and feel as good as he did is pretty dang good I think. It was wierd for me to be at a race and not be participating but Justin is always the one to pull the kids around and cheer me on so it was fun to so the same for him.

The race started about 2 blocks down the boardwalk from our apartments. I took this picture looking towards the finish about halfway to where the last of the runners were lined up. I think there were 10,000 runners. Some of them were doing a 1/2 marathon and some a marathon relay.

Packed in like sardines. Justin said for the first 2 miles he had to walk a ton just because there was no room to run.

Ha ha - Just asked me if I was going to blackmail him with a picture of him in this kids size small jacket I got for free the day before. Heck ya I will!

A quick check for running garments. All clear!






I did about 5 video interviews with him during the race. Only at mile 25.5 did he finally decided that selling was easier.


The day before the race there was a kids race expo with frisbee catching dogs, a fun bus, a funny music man, crafts and a kids race. Ellie was so excited but pretty concerned because she wanted to win the race.


As you can see, she didn't win, but was very excited about the medal she won (leftover medals from last years race). Now we have her and Justin's medals hanging together on our wall. Good job my cute little family!

cheap entertainment

One thing I like about our summers away from home is that I think I bit differently when it comes to buying things. I know that there won't be any room to take anything new back home, so we are a little more creative with toys and such. We go to garage sales to find bikes or toys, or just make it. Something I never even think to do at home.



Translation at the end:
"I have the paper for you to color...is that what you do at the store?"
(Later I found out that meant she had a paper for me to sign my name as if I had used a credit card).
"It's right here, in my pocket...click it! No click it, so I can watch the movie" Love her expression at the end - she does this a lot but I've never captured it on camera.

When it's warm we move the whole thing onto the deck.

I give her all our empty cereal boxes and cans. I guess we did learn something useful at Earth Day!

Another cheap way to entertain the kids, let them watercolor right on the table!
These are our new friends Harley and Aleighsha (sp). Harley has been so much fun to have over to play almost every other day. The girls love to run all over the apartment while Cody chases them and roars.


The kids room. Sometimes they sleep together, unless Cody won't stop getting out of bed, then he goes in the playpen. Last year I went a little nutso decorating their room. I kept the pillows and white bedspread but simplified the rest. Wierd but I like these summer rooms almost as much as their room back home, just in a different way. I love all white rooms with a titch of blue.

spring banner

earth day in central park

This weekend we decided to test ourselves and see if we were smart enough to figure out how to get from our apartments to Central Park. The train station is only about a 10 min walk from our house so we were able to do it without getting in our car at all...which was very important and green of us as we were heading to Earth Day. Earth Day is where thousands of people gather to create even more garbage than they would had they stayed home. But it sure was fun!




The kids, especially Cody, loved the train more than anything else. Everytime the train would whistle he would yell, "Hear choo-choo!"


Make your own Smoothie by peddling a bike.


There were tables and tables full of the most amazing ribbon to decorate your own crown. If you know me very well you know my weakness for ribbon, so I cut a few pieces "for the crown" but they really went straight into my purse. hee hee.


Jared and Simi came with us. Justin used to frame under Jared at L&T when Justin was only 14!

home depot's newest employee

I just love this series of Cody at Earth Day. The idea was that people were to fill up wheelbarrows with mulch and spread it around.












Cody calls me "mom" now. He is yelling, "MOM, MOM, MOM!"

holmdel farms

Saturdays are long days by my myself with the kids so I usually try to plan something fun to keep us all happy. Last Saturday, Chelsi and I took our kids to Holmdel Farms, which is connected to a huuuge park/trail system/lake/etc. It was beautiful. The farm does demonstrations each week and on this day is was sheep shearing, the old fashioned way. One thing I want my kids to understand is where things come from so this was a good start - I think we'll go to the library today and get some more books on the process from wool to clothing.

first adventure

Justin and I were able to go on a on a "Sunday Ride" after church. These rides are different from weekday rides because you consentrate on the beauty all around you and so it counts as spritual. Also you can't go over 20 mph. Bet you didn't know that huh? I think it's in Alma somewhere. Anyway, we rode about 28 miles from our house to Sandy Hook and back. This is a 1960's picture I found, you can see NYC in the distance. Justin's good friend Ryan from who is selling with us tended as his wife and kids are still in Utah - thanks Rex!

easter

A few pictures from Easter. I fear I just might be the only mo-mom who could care less about buying my kids new Easter church clothes, sooo - no pictures of them. Moving on:




Fabric egg (the only one that turned out of my 5 attempts) and tulips delivered to my MIL at the Hunstman center.




The UVU easter egg hunt with my mom - Cody found a stash!


Coloring at UVU with grandma.

We left for NJ the Monday morning after Easter. The kids actually slept in Mapleton Saturday night so we missed out on all the Easter morning festivities. I knew I could count on Grandmas Jannie to go all out for them though, and they came home that afternoon in the best mood. We are so lucky to have both grandparents so close and so involved in our kids lives. Justin and I got to spend the day doing last minute packing and cleaning but we did get to go to Stake Conference at the MaKay Events Center. One of the 70 spoke and Elder Scott. It was really great. One thing he said that I loved was that as parents we needn't worry about raising our kids in this day and age. Our children were prepared in heaven to face the trials and temptations of their day. He had two young women come up and asked them questions about their family life and then had them bear testimony as he stood behind them. No big deal right? He told us he could have given a sermon on the importance of raising righteous families but here he had just given us proof. He said at their age, he didn't think he would have been able to stand strong as these girls do. But our children are prepared. So that made me feel good - just thought I'd share since most people who read this have little ones.

We left the next day for Jersey and made it in 3 days. Driving went better than flying alone last year. The kids were really amazing. Our apartment is huge and brand new and we can see the ocean from our window! Stay tuned for another summer of adventure!

ellie, if you don't stop whimpering we're going to throw away all your toys. say CHEESE!

I need to get something new up here, I'm too sick of looking at that peanut buttery laptop! Here are the family photos we ended up with the week before we left to New Jersey. We are here now by the way, and love it so far. Many thanks to Brit for taking these!






Wow, a photo of just me, with my hair done! I think this is the only pic I have like this in all our 200,000 photos.

i swore i would never do this...

...but I let Ellie indulge her inner princess. I do not like Ariel, Little Mermaid, Belle, or any Disney character really (except Snow White - she seems industrious, and I like her hair). I don't remember even knowing what a princess was when I was little and I didn't like the toy store - too loud and bright. Anyway, Ellie definately does know what princess' are and so what to do? Take her to a Princess Party is what! It was actually really cute, and they taught the girls manners during tea time.




Ellie and Kelty


Molly


Tea Time


Ellie has this problem around strangers - she goes mute. We have been practicing answering when someone like the doctor or a new teacher asked her a question. She loves this role playing where I pretend I am a "different person." Anyway, for the fashion show, she had to tell the girl what her name was so they could annouce, "Princess Ellie!". She did it! What a proud moment. She also told another girl "thank you". The rest of the day she talked about how she never had to be scared again. I love her.