Midnight Timp Hike 2010

Here is our crew (Heidi, Jamie, Me and Marc) at 11:57pm ready to begin our hike up Mt. Timpanogas. 8/27/10

Part way up. See the view behind us? Yeah, neither could we. The trail was pitch black all the way up. I really liked hiking at night though. It seemed to go fast, it was nice and cool and you appreciated the view so much coming down.

Us at the top! (the saddle to be exact). We snapped this view with the city lights just before the fog rolled in.

All four of us trying to stay warm before the sun came up (the bright light is Heidi)

While waiting for the sun to make it's debut, Marc took a little nap. The blue hood next to me is my husband ;)

And this was our view of the sunrise! Yep-a bunch of fog. Oh well.

Had to document us on top with our great view of the fog.

Heading down in the fog . . .

BUT the fog did make for some breathtaking views of the sun rising over the valley and it made the wildflowers even more bright and vivid. It was a gorgeous hike down.

The last 3 1/2 miles I had blisters which was really painful. My wonderful husband was so patient with me. It was so great to have an adventure again. (oh and the kids were fast asleep at home with a babysitter).

A little bonus music from our buddy at the top:

Daddy's Olympic Triathlon

Marc completed his first OLYMPIC triathlon and he did great! After Lucy and I made the sign, Lucy kept saying, "Try hard Dad. You're the best!"

Meeting up with Dad on the route. He was so tired, but was not about to quit.

Our triathlete!

The fan club . . .

At the finish line! Heidi came too and she was so kind to watch our kids so I could run the last 5k of the race with Marc. We are so proud of our Daddy!

Tri Hard Dad!

Up Close

We got a new camera and I have really enjoyed taking some up close shots of my family. There is something about these pictures that opens a window to their personalities.

Uh-oh!

My sister found the markers!!!

I got a feeling

Prior to reading this story, please remember our lives have been absorbed by potty training for the last little while and something I say to Lucy a lot is, "Do you feel like you need to go potty?":

Anyway, I was singing that song, "I got a feeling . . . " and after I sang, "I got a feeling" Lucy chimed in, "that my body needs to go poo-poo."

Oh how we laugh so much more with this little lady in our life!

A celebration of four years . . .

It was great to get a babysitter and enjoy about 24 hours with just the 2 of us! Marc made reservations to a lovely Steak House in SLC. Oh the food was amazing. It was also fun just to get dressed up.
Then we headed to my Aunt's cabin in Ophir (yep, you've probably never heard of it). It is such a quaint little place in a beautiful canyon. My aunt is always so willing to let us use it and it made for the perfect get-away.

We attempted to make smores outside, but their was a friendly little raccoon sitting on our porch when we went to go out there. Marc hissed at it and he ran away, but I was not about to go out there. So we made smores over the stove . . .

And it was a little bit tricky . . .

Here Marc is outside of the cabin. We slept in until 9am, made breakfast and ate it outside . . .

Then we explored the town a bit before heading back to our cute babies . . .

A wonderful way to celebrate the last four years of adventure, love, excitement and everyday happenings with my true love.

Potty Training update

Do I dare say I think we're getting it? Only time will tell, but we made it through church completely dry yesterday, WHEN I ask she is good to let me know when she needs to go, and she has even told us she needs to go a few times without us asking. We're at about 1 accident (or less) a day and she goes about once every 1-2 hours. I can't believe how much cheaper my grocery bill is going to be!!!
If you're curious about the details, you can read them here.

Life is full of so much more to see . . .

than the bench of a car and this little man is loving his new view . . . and I may have shed a tear or two when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw that both of my babies were looking at me
and looking so grown-up!

Feeding the ducks

We fed the ducks the other night and the whole experience was very comical. David loved seeing the ducks. They just made him giggle over and over again . . .
Here's our little goose chasing some geese. She was way less afraid of them than I would have been at her age . . .
And this video cracks me up every time I watch it . . .

Four, Quatro, 4, Quatre, IV, Si . . .

Happy Four Years To Us!

The girl in that picture above had no idea just how incredible life was going to get . . .

Potty Training 101

Begin with a little lady who is very excited to use the "big girl potty" and wear "big girl panties" she picked out herself . . .
Supply lots of reinforcers and assistants such as Skittles, M&M's, stickers, potty books from the library, phone calls from Dad while he's at work . . .
Set this baby to go off every 15 minutes to remind Mommy to take her to the potty (it then automatically re-sets itself-I had to throw the picture in for all my Special Ed friends) . . .
Fill in a sticker chart every time pee-pee or poo-poo goes in the toilet. Then at the end of each row reward the special little lady with a treat of her choice . . .
Don't plan to go anywhere for 3 days. Our world is potty training right now! And then after you've done ALL of this, be sure to have the mindset that if it still isn't working . . . we're just not quite ready and we'll try again in a little while. Wish us luck!

*Note: I noticed this post is getting a lot of traffic. I actually give a much better detailed account of what to do here It says it's for a little boy, but the principles are pretty much universal. Good luck!

This is Charlie

He is one of Marc's students from the BYU Ward he serves in. He is also Lucy's first crush. She asks about him frequently and when we tell her the BYU students are coming over she asks, "Is Charlie coming?" with a dreamy look in her eyes. She thinks he is pretty amazing. We think he is great too!

David, 14 months

We are simply in love with our little man. Here is a little update:

-He says: "Mom, Dad, cracker (for all food), throw and Lucy" There's also a lot of babbling/grunting in there that we're not exactly sure what it all means. He also signs for "more"
-He has gone from army crawling to regular crawling to bear crawling. He also walks all around the furniture, but has not yet been brave enough to take off on his own
-He can make the greatest sound effects with his mouth. Lucy tries to replicate them but she doesn't even come close
-He is happy most of the time and if he is unhappy, you can usually remedy it pretty quick with a good tickle which always makes him laugh
-He eats A LOT. I have a hard time keeping enough food in him (makes sense that he is in the 90th percentile for height and weight)
-Our pediatrician always says, "I wish I had 100 more just like him. He is the picture of health." For that, we feel VERY blessed
-My parents used to say right after my brother, Kevin, went on his mission, "From day one he has always been an absolute joy to raise." I now completely understand what they mean with my own son.

(notice the milk on his chin-such a boy)

And sometimes-things are a little tricky . . .

We LOVE our "Mr. Sun"