Rease year end

 

Rhen year end

 

Liev year end

 

Keen year end

 

Beck year end

 

Desh year end

 

May comes to an end

I hear May is the new December and I really believe it after the month we've had! As May comes to an end here are the last straggler things we've done:

Activity Days are always an adventure and the boys love it!

Beck had some dental work done and the happy gas made him loopy

Our flowers are blooming and beautiful!

Tilly owns the place and perches on clean towels because she can

The Nude Beach is now open...Way to go Blackridge!

Germies for breakfast every day

Final piano recital before school is out

Phew...we made it through the end of the month

 

Liev's last band concert

What a year this boy has had with the euphonium!  This beginning band class has done so good and come so far from the beginning of the year until now!  It was so fun to hear them in their final concert tonight and we're looking forward to lots of band in the future.  So fun to see Liev up there owning it!

 

Desh's Baptism

Desh got baptized this week and it was a really special day for all of us.  He has been ready for this day for a long time and couldn't wait for it to be here already.  He got up early to get ready and was so excited to be able to wear his suit for the first time.  We loved being there with him and are so proud of his choice to be baptized and follow the Savior!  Desh you're a great example to us all!  Thanks for being you.  

 

Our amazing young women!

We've had so much fun this month with our young men and young women! So many activities and such fun when we get everyone together.  Here are some highlights:

Where's Waldo Walmart hunt (bishopric dressed up in disguises)

Karaoke night with the Priests

Camp kick off with an amazing special guest

A night at Menchies celebrating Amelia's engagement!

And one of our favorites was Cupcake Wars with lots of creative projects and a whole lot of fun doing it! What an amazing group of girls!

 

Desh's 8th birthday

Mr Desh turned 8 this week and we had a Fat Cats party with a bunch of his friends.  Bowling, cake and arcades make for a perfect 8 year old birthday party and these kids had such a blast together!

8 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Height: 4'8" - 98%

Weight: 71 lbs - 86%

My favorite things about Desh at 8 years old:

1- Desh is THE SWEETEST boy and doesn't let a day go by that he doesn't give me a hug, tell me he loves me or helps me around the house.  I can't get enough of his snuggles and don't mind when he wants to cuddle up next to me for no reason at all.  I know I won't have that forever, so I'm taking it while it lasts!

2- Desh is a true and loyal friend.  He loves the boys he hangs out with and never wants to hurt anyone's feelings.  He is thoughtful and kind and a good friend to everyone.  That's a quality that I hope he never loses because it's a good one!

3 - Desh doesn't like to do anything that he thinks might get him in trouble, so he tends to be a pretty obedient boy.  He follows the rules at school and his teachers love him because of it.  And if he does something at home that he feels bad about, he's the first one to apologize and make it right.  We talk a lot about having integrity in our house and I'd say he follows that pretty closely.  He's such a good boy and I know there's a lot of good coming from him in the future!

Happy Birthday big 8 year old! We love you more than you know!

 

Ogden Marathon 2024

Marathon day is always so great!  I love almost everything about it - other than getting super nervous about running 26 miles.  I love going to the expo, picking up my number, eating at Olive Garden (a tradition), laying out my clothes for the morning, going to be early and waking up even earlier to get ready to go!  I've gone through the routine so many times now that I just get excited for it all.  This year I was a little more nervous than I have been in the past because I've been nursing a calf injury for the past 5-6 weeks.  I stopped running for almost a month trying to rehab it and not hurt it any more than it already was.  2 weeks ago I ran a couple mid distance runs just to test it out but that's about all I've done.  I felt nervous that I wasn't going to make it, taking off that much time.  But I told myself I'd just start and go as far as I could or as long as my leg didn't start hurting again.  

Marathon morning came and that's what I went with!  I loaded the bus early and got up to the starting line with plenty of time to use the bathroom, stretch, use the bathroom again and get ready to race.  It was a chilly morning but I knew it was going to be a beautiful day for a run!  

When I started running I told myself that I was under no pressure to run it in a certain amount of time and I was just trying to finish the race.  In the back of my mind I really wanted to qualify for Boston again but didn't know if I could even finish this one, so just tried to stay positive.  I felt pretty good throughout the run and was keeping a pretty good pace.  Most of all my leg wasn't giving me any problems and that made me happy! I made myself wait until at least the halfway point to stop and use the bathroom so I didn't slow down.  After the half I came up around the reservoir and felt myself slowing down a little bit as the route goes uphill.  The 3:35 pacers passed me on that hill and I was silently a little disappointed that I couldn't keep ahead of them.  That's my qualifying pace that I needed to stay at and I saw them run past me and out of sight within a couple of miles.  I kept talking myself into keeping up my pace and doing what I could to just run as fast as I could, even if it wasn't a qualifying pace.

It was a mental battle for those miles up the back hill but by the time I got to mile 20 I was at a race time of 2:44.  I knew I had 6 miles to go and just under an hour to do it.  I felt a surge as I felt like that was something that was do-able if I kept up my pace.  Even though I couldn't see the 3:35 pacers, I knew I wasn't too far behind them.  Luckily the last 5 miles are in the town and a pretty great part of the course as it winds through downtown Ogden.  By the time I turned onto the final stretch I just kept running and I was so happy to see my family not to long after that!  It's always my favorite part of the race when I get to see them all cheering and ready to let me collapse into their laps!

I crossed the finish line with a time of 3:36 - 4 minutes under the Boston qualifying time! I was overjoyed that I finished, first of all, but secondly that I was able to do what I wanted with my run!  Such a miracle and a mind battle that race was. So glad to have it over and mostly glad that I was able to do what I had trained for. 

 

A few things happening around here...

Mid month update:

We attended the MCO concert that Hayley's kids were in and it was OUTSTANDING!

The boys just being boys and practicing their mewing

Our yard all ready for summer!

Tilly sneaking food behind the garbage can

And I snuck in an 11 mile run this week after taking over a month off with my calf injury.  I'm hoping its enough to get me through the marathon next week!

Tilly is such a lazy dog and loves to sleep in the sun

We helped Hayley with her amazing race

Love my Beck - he's so cute

 

Herriman Hawks choir concert

Beck and Desh have been in the choir at school this year and have been practicing before school once a week all year!  It has been a sacrifice for them and for the most part they haven't complained too much about going to school early.  Today was their final concert and it was AWESOME!  I love seeing them do their thing and see their hard work come to life.  Beck had a speaking part and both of them did so good with all their songs.  What a year the for the Herriman Hawks!

 

Rease year end band concert

Rease was emotional tonight as she wrapped up her band for the season.  She has some good friends that are graduating this year and she's going to really miss them!  She has such a great group that she has found over the years and it's getting to where she's one of the oldest in the group.  Senior year next year for this girl and I think it's hitting her hard!  So proud of the year she's had!

 

Finishing up track

The girls wrapped up the track season this week at the region track meet.  They have both loved being on the team and have improved a ton in the past few months!  I love going to watch them and am so proud of their hard work for the team.  Go Sentinels!