Trans-planting

Josh has been looking for certain plants to put in our yard in Puerto Rico and hasn't been able to find any Star Jasmine down there.  He decided to pack a suitcase full of them as he heads down this week to work on the house.  It looks like he's transporting illegal plants, but hopefully they make it without a fuss!  

 

Desh's 6th birthday

Because I was running my marathon on my birthday which also happens to be Desh's birthday, we had to make up for it and celebrate for him in a big way!  He loves to ride his bike lately so we made him a mountain biking cake and opened lots of gifts with our favorite people with us.  He got a new backpack that he's so excited to "hike" with and a whole bunch of one dollar bills from both Grammies that he can't wait to spend. The cake was a hit and we loved spending this day with this boy!

My favorite things about 6 year old Desh:

1) Desh loves school and loves to learn.  He has had the best year in kindergarten and can't wait to get to 1st grade so he can have lunch at school.  He loves math and loves his letters and sounds.  I know he's going to do something great with all the knowledge he's soaking in!

2) Desh loves being outside and loves having fun.  He's up for anything and always wants to try whatever anyone else is doing.  He has no fear and feels like he can do anything that his big brothers are doing, so he usually just does and finds out the hard way whether he actually can or can't :) I love his positive outlook on life and would love to have the same!

3) Desh is as sweet as they come.  I LOVE that he loves his mama and will always give me a kiss, hug, or snuggle with me when we're just chillin.  He is the best helper and will always work harder and longer than anyone else.  He just wants to do good to everyone around him and truly has their best interest in mind.  You can't find a kinder human anywhere on the planet.  

6 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Height: 4'2" - 98%

Weight: 54 lbs. 7 oz. - 86%

BMI: 15.3 - 48%

Happy birthday cute boy!

 

Ogden Marathon

I love the process of running a marathon.  From the beginning of training when it's as much training your mind as it is putting in the miles, throughout the middle when it's just an effort of time getting all the long runs in, all the way to the end when race day arrives and your stomach is full of butterflies in anticipation.  It's a 6 month journey that I love taking part in every once in a while.  This year race day fell on my birthday(!) which just made it cool anyway and I felt like maybe I had a little luck on my side because of that.  Turns out it was a combination of things that made it the perfect day to run a marathon! 

Friday afternoon I rode the train up to Ogden and Josh's mom kindly put me up in her spare bedroom for the night. I borrowed their car for a few hours and headed to the expo where I got my bib, my bag of goodies and shopped around looking at all the booths.  I had an early dinner of pasta and breadsticks from Olive Garden which has become my tradition before race day.  And then I headed back to the house to get ready for the morning and get to bed early.  Sometimes I have a hard time sleeping because I'm anticipating and early rise, but this night I had no trouble and slept all the way until my alarm went of at 4:00 am.  I felt rested, ready and excited.  The bus ride to the starting line is fun because there's a great energy in the crowd of people all going and doing the same hard thing that I'm about to do!  It's so great to be a part of! I had about an hour at the starting line before the race and it was just the right amount of time to get in a good stretch, use the bathroom and find my sis-in-law Steph just as the race was about to start.  She was with a group of friends, so we said hello and goodbye and split up as the horn to start the race went off.  And just like that, all the work we'd all put in those long months was about to be tested.  

I went with a different approach this year as I was feeling a little less confident about my running time and how I was going to do.  I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself that I need to/want to qualify for Boston because the last marathon I ran I also qualified.  I think I feel like I should always be able to since I did it once.  It's weird and crazy and I always tell myself I should just be happy to finish, but there's a big part of me that just wants to qualify and that tends to put me under a lot of self-induced pressure.  Anyway, I was feeling very un-confident about my chances of qualifying this year due to a small injury I've had, my age (41!) and the fact that it's been 3 years since I've run a full marathon because of covid cancelling all sorts of races the past few years.  Due to that, I wasn't really trusting myself that I would be able to run a fast enough pace to make it.  So...I decided to run without my watch giving me mile marker updates with time and splits.  I ALWAYS run with my watch on and usually love to hear how I'm doing and where I'm at, but today I wasn't feeling it.  I wanted to just run and do it my pace without any extra pressure on myself.  So that's what I did.  I had my music on loud, I enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous scenery around me and basked in the warm sun that was shining down on all of us runners.  It was literally THE PERFECT day to run.  I kept a good pace, ran without getting into my own head, had one bathroom break at mile 11 and didn't check my watch or the time until I crossed the halfway mark and saw that the official time was 1:41:00.  I did some quick math in my head and felt good about the pace I was running and did my best to just keep it up.  Around mile 21 as I was coming down out of the canyon I stopped for just 15 seconds or so to stretch my right knee that was feeling sore, but other than that small minute I had really no other problems through the whole race.  It was finally at mile 23 when I saw another official clock that said 3:04:00 that I realized with just 3 miles left to go I was actually on pace to not just qualify for Boston, but also run my own PR.  And then when my playlist that was only 3:15 long ended not too long after that, I knew that I could do it.  I really was on pace to make it!  I pushed hard to the end and crossed the finish line as it read 3:32:01 and felt like I had conquered the world!  I did it!  I felt so amazing at what I just accomplished but also just LOVED seeing everyone right at the finish line cheering and waving and yelling for me and all the runners.  What a great day it was!  I know that a marathon is so mental and I was just so happy to have been able to talk my way through that whole race and actually do it.  My official time came in at 3:31:49 - 3 minutes faster than my fastest time before.  I'm headed to BOSTON!

 

Visiting Heber Valley Camp

I'm on a committee for a special Oakcrest camp that's going to be at Heber Valley Camp later this summer. It's a camp for the older girls that missed Oakcrest during their 7th grade year due to covid closures.  So it's one of kind!  The cool thing about it is that we get to got to Heber Valley for it!  We went up to the camp today to check things out and make sure we had all the right details for planning.  It was so fun to see mom and dad in their new home and doing their job as missionaries.  They are going to be THE BEST with all those girls!  And we can't wait to be up there with them to see them in action.

 

Desh's book of national symbols

Desh has been learning all about the national symbols this year and comes home consistently telling me about what he learned and where it's located.  They put all these things in a book for the end of the year and we loved looking through this together.  I love this patriotic thing they did as a class!

 

Year end band concert

Rease and Rhen had their last band concert of the year tonight and both did such a great job!  Seriously major improvement in both groups throughout the year and they sounded so good!  We went to the band room after and gathered up their things and I think they were both sad to see it coming to and end for a season.  These girls are simply the best.

 

Keen's field trip

I got to be a chaperone for Keen's field trip today with his 4th grade class.  We went to the conservatory garden in West Jordan and had a great time seeing all the different plants and talk about ways we can conserve water in our state.  Mostly I just loved being with Keen for the day. 

 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a day that all my favorite wishes are granted.  

1) I get to sleep in

2) I'm showered with homemade notes, cards and drawings

3) I get foot massages from my children

4) I'm reminded of all the good things that come from being a mother.  I have 6 reminders of this and I couldn't be more happy to be a mom.  

 

Amazing Race 2022

We gathered this week for one of our favorite neighborhood activities of the whole year!  Hayley and I love putting the amazing race on for our friends and neighbors and this year was a blast as usual.  We had a great big crowd of people, lots of delicious food, laughs all around and a race to the end finish between two of the years.  These friends of ours are just the best and we LOVE having all of them in our home and in our life!

 

Liev Principal's Pride

Liev got the Principal's Pride award this week from his teacher and I couldn't be more proud of him.  He has really worked hard this year and has had to work through a couple tough things and a hard kid in his class.  But he's done amazing and has come such a long way!  Love this boy to pieces.

 

Track friends

Rease has loved track this spring and mostly because she has a whole slew of friends that she gets to hang with on the regular.  Darling girls!

 

Biz Town

Oh how we love Biz Town and all the fun it is for these 5th graders!  Liev has been excited for weeks and got placed in a job with Rocky Mountain Power.  This is just the coolest business experience for kids to have.  I got to volunteer and be there with him and loved seeing him at work!

 

Hard fall

Desh took a hard fall on his bike today (ouch) and needed a little love.  And a nap.  He got both those things :)

 

Job auction

We pulled out the old Job Auction cards today and the kids got to participate in their very first one.  It's an oldy but a goody - one that Papa Losee used to use on me as a kid.  We listed off 15 jobs each with a description and a price attached to that job.  The auction part comes when the kids bid on a job but in reverse.  If the job starts at $4.00, then the kids can take turns saying they'll do the job for less like $3.75.  It continues with each kids bidding until its either at it's lowest amount (.25) or there is just one kid left bidding.  Then that job belongs to whoever bid last and that's the amount they get paid for doing it.  Our kids thought it was awesome, but also maybe didn't understand that they were actually bidding to do it for less money?  Lots of the jobs ended up at the low point and were done for just .25 each!  Good for me who's paying for the work to be done, bu sad for the kids to do so much work for very little money.  I think it was more of a competition to see who could get the most jobs!  Maybe they'll learn better for next time.  In any case, we got lots of work done and the kids actually worked really hard.  Job Auction Success today!

 

Bike ride

The boys often go ride their bikes around the neighborhood together.  This particular day I saw them and cute Desh was behind everyone else going up this hill.  Mostly because he has this tiny bike that is WAY too small for him.  But he pedaled with all his might anyway and made it up the hill to catch up with his brothers.  Someday soon he'll have a bigger bike! For now he's making this one work.

 

Tilly butt

Crazy Rhen+tanning goggles+Tilly's butt+too much time on her hands=whatever this is...

 

Track bus

Rease has been running track this spring with her friends and so far loves it.  I think it's not so much the running that she loves, but the fact that all her friends (and also some cute guys) are running so it's like a party every day at practice!  Love that she's doing something fun!

 

Tower

Wow. Just wow...

 

Lunch with Papa and Grammie

We got to snag lunch with Papa and Grammie today while they're on their P-day.  We're so happy we get to see them when they come down on their day off!

 

April PR trip - Day 10

It’s our last full day here and we tried to get as much finished as we could. Josh got in the ladder and painted all the edges around the front of the house and I rolled on the green paint in places that had been patched up and missed. It turned out looking soooo good out there with almost all the painting done on the whole house. We just have the back wall and a little bit of the side by the water tank to do next time we come. I feel like we’ve been painting for days - probably because we have :) We were happy to clean out our paint brushes at the end of the day. 

This evening we walked around the yard and cleaned up, straightened up the garage and sat up on the deck tonight and listened to the sounds of the jungle. We have surely fallen in love with this place and it’s so fun seeing all the progress we’ve made this past year. We’re back again in June and already looking forward to it! 

April PR trip - Day 9

Today was a bit like our own Lego Masters as we all worked on putting the cabinets together. Everyone paired up and had a partner to work with on their own section then moved on to another one when that was done. It worked out awesome and before we knew it they were all out together! We’ll get them all situated and hung and then out the cabinet faces on them. But for now this was a big job to get done. 

Our reward this afternoon was to swim at Melvin’s pool! They are so kind to let us use their place and we had a blast swimming the afternoon away. He brought out a big speaker for us to use and we partied hard until it was time to leave. The highlight of the day was the big waterpolo game we all played together. I’m pretty sure we each have a hurt finger, black eye or scratches from the vicious game that it turned out to be. It was just a little competitive :)

Tonight is chad and Brittany’s last night with us so we snuck the teenagers away for appetizers and pina coladas at the kiosks. It was fun to do something with just the older ones and a fun send off for these kids that have had the best time together this week! It’s so crazy how they’re all growing up! 

We have LOVED having the Losee’s with us this week. They have been such a big help getting things done and we’ve done some really fun things too. Can t wait to welcome them back!

April PR trip - Day 8

Our cabinets from IKEA were delivered this morning! It was such a snap to get them delivered right to us and I’m so glad to have them here already! We worked around the house for a little while today while it rained outside then chad and Britt packed up and headed to the south end of the island this afternoon and evening. They had a tour at the bio bay in Parguera tonight and decided to make a day out of it since it’s a bit of a drive down there. We took naps after they left and it was just what the doctor ordered for our kids! So much fun and late nights with cousins so it was nice to catch up on a little sleep. 

This afternoon we painted the second coat on the inside upstairs and finished up painting the edges. Now that the floor is done we feel like we can finish things up and be done with lots of the big things up there! We all worked really hard and got all the paint done on the inside. It’s such a good feeling to get some of those big things crossed off our list!

April PR trip - Day 7

Today is Brittneys birthday! We got donuts and pastries for breakfast to celebrate! This morning the kids all showed off their amazing sunburns and told us they all had a hard time sleeping because of them. We certainly learned our lesson about beach and sunscreen! Next time we’ll be a lot better about applying it early and often :)

We sent chad and Britt and the kids off the El Yunque today to find a waterfall or a short hike or something to do outside of working at the house. While they were gone we had the floor guys come and polish and buff the floors upstairs and they look just absolutely amazing! It’s crazy the amount of stuff that came off of them and what they look like now. So excited to have this part done! We also got the paint sprayer out and finished priming the bottom half of the house. It’s so much work but the sprayer makes it fast and easy. 

The rest of the group found a fun hike and waterfall to swim at just outside the rainforest. They came back happy and said they had lots of fun. It looks like it was a gorgeous little spot they found. 

This afternoon we headed up to old San to see the old ruins and do a little bit of shopping. The fort is soo cool and though we didn’t have much time before it closed we were able to get some cool views from some of those towers. So awesome. 

We wandered around old San Juan for a little bit and then found a yummy pizza place to eat and toooed it off with some delicious gelato at our favorite little sweet shop. By the time we got home we were all tired after such a long fun day doing all sorts of things. We will definitely they have to make it back up there soon and finish our tour at the fort. 

Happy birthday Britt!

April PR trip - Day 6

Happy Easter Sunday! 

We got up and headed to church this morning with our small little branch. It was fun to be back there and see the people we’re starting to get to know and love! The kids love going to primary and we had a special class for the teenagers today as well which was fun to do together. After church we had dinner and then headed out for a drive to see the new temple being built. It’s coming along so we’ll and so much progress has been made since last time we saw it. It’s so exciting to see it almost done! We drove up to San Juan after that to walk along the beach and spend the afternoon in the beautiful sun. Such gorgeous views along the boardwalk there. The kids were all pretty tired and sunburned so there was plenty of complaining going on as well! We didn’t stay too long but long enough to appreciate the tropical weather and views that we got to see. Tonight we played games and decided it’s time to get to bed early and be ready for a new week ahead of us. 

We’re so grateful to be celebrating this Easter season and to remember our savior who loves us incredibly! 

April PR trip - Day 5

This morning we took a trip to the beach to play. We ended up at one of our favorites, Playa Azul, and had the best time playing in the water and soaking in the sun! The kids could not get enough boogie boarding a and building sand castles. And we just loved the time to relax and bask in the beautiful scenery around us. It was such a fun morning!

After we were thoroughly sunburned and had sand and salt everywhere we headed home by way of Wendy’s for some hamburgers. The rest of the afternoon we hung out and rested at the house. Nothing like a good sunburn to make you want to just sleep. We wandered down to the basketball court for a while and played a bunch of games of “Speed” with the boys. We gathered a bunch of coconuts from the ground on the way back and the boys used their machetes to break them open to see what was inside. A group of 8 boys is bound to find curiosity in anything! Once we were all showered and clean we got the kids settled down for the evening and then the adults headed out for a date night alone. We ended up in San Juan at an outdoor food spot that had lots of different choices of food with a gorgeous view of the beach behind us. We each ordered something different and shared it all while we chatted and laughed the night away! It was such a fun ending to a good day together!