Kindergarten Program

Keen had his kindergarten end of year program today.  They performed the cutest songs that they have been practicing.  He has had such a fun year with Miss Buker and is looking forward to a full day of school next year in 1st grade!

Beck and Desh

Love these two boys.  They are such cute friends and love have a pal to play with at all times!

Memorial Day weekend at the cabin

We headed to the cabin for a quick weekend since we have an extra Monday off school and work.  The weather has been amazing and it was fun to do some things outside.  First off we visited Sarah's grave.  My kids have gotten to love visiting and can almost find her stone without any help now.  The boys helped me pick out the best flowers to take with us.  It's such a sweet time to be able to visit and talk about the next life with my kids and how excited we all are to see her.  

 We got some good hammock time in this weekend.  This has become one of my favorite things to do while at the cabin.  Reading (or sleeping) in the hammock on a warm afternoon - nothing beats that!

 We took a walk up along the bank of Deer Creek and let the kids throw rocks into the lake and dream of the days that we will be out there on the boat.  They are coming quick and we can't wait!

 We finished off our weekend with a hike up to Stuart Falls.  It was pretty crowded on the trail being Memorial Day and all but it was the perfect day to hike!  The kids did great although they thought it was pretty long and hard.  It's a good 3 miles in and we were pretty tired and ready to get to the waterfall and have lunch and a break.  Poor Beck got blisters on his feet so he was pretty sad.  And Desh was just tuckered out by the time we got back.  It was way past naptime for him!  Overall it was great and the kids did really good.  It's so good for them to do hard things and this was definitely one of those.  Such a beautiful weekend to be outside and enjoy this amazing place we live!

To the Zoo

I got to be a chaperone for Liev's field trip to the zoo!  We had the best time!  I rode the bus with him and then had a great time walking around with our group finding our favorite animals.  Top on the list?  The elephants and gorillas.  I realized that it has been a really long time since I've been to the zoo and decided that we need to do this more often.  Such a fun and beautiful day to be outside with all these amazing animals!

Desh turns 2!

Desh is 2!  What?!  How did our baby grow up so fast?  Whatever it is that happened, he is our cute 2 year old now! The boys helped me choose what kind of cake to make for Desh and we ended up with a fire truck for him.  He was happy with whatever it was as long as he got a big piece of it all to himself!

And since I am so lucky to share a birthday with the special kid, we got to open our presents at the same time.  Josh was amazing this year and surprised me with a new slalom ski!  Can't wait to use it!

  

My favorite things about 2 year old Desh:

1) He is the youngest and always will be.  Because of that, all the kids are very protective of him and all want to take care of him.  I love the role that he plays in our family as the youngest but very important caboose in our train of kids!  I hope they always keep that same feeling of needing to take care of each other.  

2) Desh gives the best open mouthed kisses.  No matter when or where I ask for a kiss, he gladly gives me one - slobber and all!  Please don't ever say no to a kiss for mom!

3) Desh is the most tenderhearted kid.  I think more than any of our other kids have been.  He gets his feelings hurt easily if anyone gets after him or even refuses something that he is asking for.  He has the cutest frown he gets on his face for a few seconds before the tears start pouring out.  I can't help but gather him up for a huge snuggle every time he feels bad.  Love this soft hearted boy of mine.

2 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Height: 3'1" - 97%

Weight: 32 lbs. 3 oz - 88%

Head: 20.3 in. - 97%

Happy Birthday Baby Desh!

Ogden Marathon

Race Day for the Ogden Marathon finally came!  I have been training all winter/spring for this day and no matter how ready I feel, I always get nervous when it comes down to it.  This time around I tried a new training schedule running just 3 days a week instead of 6.  I really wanted to keep up with my weight training program I have been on so I decided to do a combination of both running and weight training to see if I could work around doing both things.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to get enough miles in running just 3 days a week but actually I think it worked out ok.  I have really been trying to get my speed increased and I am certain that the weight training has really helped me feel strong enough to do that.  I have been consistently running a 7:30-8:00/mile on my training runs and feel really strong and have been able to push myself through being overly tired on my long runs.  I have really loved being able to run and strength train at the same time and I was really hoping that it would pay off when race day came.  So here we are!  That morning turned out to be so beautiful!  I got up to the start line on one of the 1st buses so had plenty of time to stretch and feel ready for the race.  There are always lots of campfires so we can all keep warm while waiting for the race to start.  I love the atmosphere up there at the starting line.  It is so fun to be surrounded by so many that you know have trained just as hard and put in a lot of time to be there at the same time.  It's a pretty cool feeling.  I realized once I got up there that I didn't have my tracking device that goes on my shoe.  I ended up needing to get another bib with a chip so that I could get an official time.  That seemed really important to me especially this time around because I was hoping to be able to run a qualifying time for Boston.  I wanted to make sure my time was official just in case I actually did it! I thought it may be a long shot to qualify just because I know how hard a marathon is.  No matter how much training I had put in and the times I had run those training runs in, the actual race is a whole other story.  It is such a mental race as well and I didn't want to be too confident that I would qualify just in case I didn't.  Anyway, I was ready for the run and was hoping for a time of 3:40 or better - but in the end I just wanted to finish!  So off we went!

It was the most beautiful day to run.  The sun was shining and it was not too hot or too cold.  I took off my jacket and gloves within the 1st mile and was just fine the rest of the way.

I will say though, this was definitely the most difficult race I had ever run!  It was my 3rd time doing the Ogden Marathon but this time around I realized how many hills there actually were throughout the course.  I think it was because I was really paying attention to my time and trying to stick with a fast pace throughout, so the hills were more evident.  The first 5-7 miles are a gentle downhill coming down the canyon, but starting with mile 8 it turns into a gradual uphill for the next 5 miles or so.  The course winds through the small towns of Liberty and Eden and wraps all the way around Pineview Reservoir and it is so beautiful!  Honestly one of the most picturesque courses around! But coming up around the reservoir just after mile 13 it turns into a steeper uphill portion until mile 16-17 when it finally starts heading back down the canyon.  Those miles were really hard.  I started to panic that I wouldn't be able to keep up my pace and maybe not even be able to finish the race at all!  It was the weirdest feeling I've ever felt and had to actually stop running a couple times and take some deep breaths to get my mind back in order.  I told myself I would just take it one mile at a time and go from there.  So that's what I did.  Mile 13 turned to mile 14.  Mile 15 to mile 16.  Mile 19-mile 22 through the last stretch of the canyon.  And when I got to mile 23 and there was an official time clock there, I knew I would make it.  I was on track (barely) to get under a qualifying time if I could just keep up my steady pace.  It was such a weird mind game that I had to play to make it through those really tough miles but I did it!

I got to the finish line and crossed at 3:34:02.  I had such an awesome group cheering me on and I was so so happy to see all of them at the finish line!  Josh and the kids, my mom and dad, Josh's mom and dad, Aunt Shirley (who kindly let me stay at her house the night before), My grandpa and grandma Iverson from California, Uncle Mike, Andy and Kristi and my friend Wan Kou who had finished a few minutes before me.  I was exhausted, overjoyed and overcome with emotion all at the same time.  I was shocked but so excited that I had actually finished and qualified for Boston!  It has been a bucket list item that I wasn't sure would ever be crossed off.  

I got lots of hugs from all my loved ones and I cried and cried on their shoulders - mostly because I was so tired, but also because I could not get ahold of my emotions.  It was a pretty cool moment for me.  My kids made the best signs to hold up near the finish line when I saw them.  Josh and the kids have all been so supportive during the training and all the time and effort it takes to get those runs in.  I am so glad to have this one behind me and look forward to Boston next spring!

Bees Game

My grandparents are in town from California this week and they always love to catch a Bees baseball game while they are here.  Mom and dad took all of our kids to the game with them and met up with Hayley, Justin and the rest of the grandkids.  I didn't see any pictures of the actual game (which maybe tells you how much they actually watched) but I did get these pictures of all the kids on the train.  So cute!  Hayley said the kids couldn't get enough and wanted to ride it over and over.  

5th grade store

There are things about each grade that I have really learned to love.  Butterfield Canyon Elementary has the 5th graders do a 5th grade store and it's open for parents and the rest of the school to shop at.  Each team is in charge of coming up with ideas of homemade items to sell, making them, pricing, marketing, selling, paying their "lease" payment, budgeting and all from beginning to end.  It is SOOO good for them to work together and work hard on something that they care about.  This is the second one of the year and Rease has loved it!  She worked hard on crocheting wallets to sell and they turned out amazing.  She sold completely out of all of them.  This is her team and they all did such a fun job working together.  Good job 5th graders!

Side by Side

This old picture of Liev was floating around the house this week and I couldn't help but think that Desh looks pretty similar to him.  Liev on the left, Desh on the right.  They may grow up looking more alike than I thought they ever would!  

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always the best day!  Breakfast in bed followed by homemade cards and gifts from my kids and Josh.  Nothing could be better than reading the sweet things that kids have to say and feeling the love all day long from my family.  I love you all!  Thanks for making mom life great for me!

Boys clean room

Liev, Keen and Beck cleaned their room today without even being asked to do it!  They were so excited to show me how hard they had worked and what they had done.  I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised at the job they had done.  There is hope afterall that they won't be messy their whole life!

TV chairs

These boys are hilarious with their chairs pulled close to watch TV. 

Mom Day

Rhen and her class had the most darling "Mom Day" at school today.  All of the moms were invited to come to the class for an hour for a special surprise.  When we got there, the classroom had been transformed into a Hawaiian island complete with towels to sit on, tropical drinks and cupcakes.  We each got to sit on a towel with our child and eat, chat and enjoy being together.  They even performed a mom song for all of us and gave us this cute "My mom is a rock star" that they made especially for us.  It was such a fun, touching afternoon to spend with my cute Rhen.  I love her and her thoughtfulness and am so proud to be her mom.  Thanks for the awesome Mom Day!

Biztown

The 5th graders got to be a part of Biztown this year.  Each student is asked to write a resume for different positions in the "town" and are given an application to fill out for different positions.  It's so great for them to have this experience and feel what it will be like when they are looking for jobs later in life.  Rease applied for and got the job as CEO of a company called computech.  She was really excited to get that position and had to give a speech in front of the group in town.  She did awesome and looked so cute dressed up as CEO.  This girl is going to do some amazing things in her life!

Rease and her Shopkins

I love this growing girl of mine for many reasons.  But one of the things I love most is her ability to still make believe.  She hasn't grown up too much to still want to play with her toys and especially loves making a little village out of her shopkins.  I never want that to go away and I hope she never loses her imagination!

Little naked man

Desh figured out that standing on the scale makes the numbers on the little screen magically appear.  Love this little naked bum of his!

Day at the Park

The weather has been absolutely beautiful lately!  We were anxious to get out and do something so we packed a lunch and headed to the park for a couple hours before Keen had to go to school.  It was just what we needed and the kids had a blast climbing, jumping, sliding and just goofing around.  We will definitely be back to do this again soon!

Mom and Desh

My boy and I just hanging out today.  Sometimes I look at him and can't believe he's almost 2.  Where did the time go?  He is the sweetest and most tender little guy and I love him to pieces!

Yardwork

Spring has sprung and I have been anxious to get the yard finished up.  We got a load of mulch and the kids were so helpful getting is spread all over the flower beds throughout the yard.  They also helped Josh fix a couple sprinkler heads and add some drip lines in the back to some new bushes.  They all worked so hard today and we got it all done!  Welcome spring! 

Seth's race

One of the young men in our ward, Seth, is a great runner and is on the high school track and cross country team.  Today Herriman hosted a track invitational so we went to watch him run the 800m and the 1600m run.  He placed 3rd in the 800 and 2nd in the 1600!  It was really fun to watch and the boys loved picking Seth out of the crowd.  Now whenever they see him at church or around the house, it's like they've spotted a celebrity! 

Liev's Spelling

Liev has worked so hard on his spelling and writing this year.  He has really come a long way and is doing so great!  These are a few of the spelling tests that he has mastered.  Such a smart boy and he works really hard at it!

GOAL

Rhen and Liev were in the school play GOAL this spring.  They worked really hard on their songs and Rhen had a speaking part that she practiced a lot for.  The play was really cute and they whole cast did a great job performing it.  Congrats on a great performance you two!

Basket TV

I captured this cute moment of Beck watching TV from the laundry basket.  Best seat in the house!