Merry Christmas!

 Caleb and his Legos

 Michelle and her Easy Bake oven

 Gabriella and her new clothes and Unicorn pillow pet

 Megan and her Ladybug pillow pet, princess castle and fuzzy blue hat that Michelle gave her

 Trevor in his new vest and boxing gloves that go to his boxing bag

Angela and her new reading chair

Christmas Vacation Fun

Since a vast majority of people don't want to go to the dentist the few days leading up to Christmas, Trevor took this week off of work.  We spent the first few days doing some major projects around the house.  So today we played all day.  We went out to lunch then to the Nickelcade then roller skating.  I haven't been on roller skates in probably 25 years but it came back pretty fast.  I spent the majority of the time pushing Gabriella around on her scooter.  Toward the end my feet came out from under me and I found myself real fast on my hind end.  Let me tell you falls are much harder on a 38 year old body then on a 12 year old's body.  I bruised my tailbone pretty good and also the heels of my hands (which put a damper on my making our family's supply of bread).  Other than that I think the kids enjoyed their day. 

Gabriella's 4th Birthday

Our little Christmas Mouse is 4 years old! She brings such life into our family.  She's quite the picture poser and a fashion star who goes through an average of 4 outfits a day.  Once she hears a phrase she likes she'll repeat it over and over no matter who she's speaking to.  For example,  she thought it was funny to call people silly pigs ( I also need to mention that she hid under a table or behind me whenever anyone sang happy birthday to her) so today when my parents called to sing Happy Birthday she called them silly pigs and hung up on them.  A couple of other phrases she's enjoyed lately are "you're a hoot" and "oh, put a sock in your mouth". She definately keeps us on our toes but we love our Gabriella!

Perserverance

Along with the majority of Americans, this year has been financially difficult and stressful.  We've cut back on everything we could think of, we've traded in our Highlander for a tiny gas-conservative Yaris, and we've refinanced our mortgage.  The re-fi was a 3 1/2 month nightmare (we finally closed last Friday) that I won't bore you with except for the fact that during their scrutinizing of our financial records our accountant re-evaluated our '07 tax returns and got a pretty good sized refund 2 years in coming.  I just wanted to let everyone know that if you do all the Lord asks you to do and are very patient good things will come.

Happy St Nicholas Day

I'm half Dutch. My mom was born in Holland, then immigrated with her parents and two brothers when she was 18 months old.  When I was young we lived in Salt Lake.  Back then there was a huge Dutch population (they'd all fled war torn Europe) in SLC so we'd have huge celebrations for St Nicholas Day.  Trevor and I have always tried really hard to keep the celebration alive, besides it's one more good reason for candy.

This year St Nicholas brought each of us slipper socks which was a big hit with the kids.  The kids got Reese's candy while Trevor and I got See's Candy (St Nick sure knows the good stuff!) . Caleb asked me to ask St Nick if he could bring some See's to Caleb next year :)

The Ups and Downs of Running

Last night I was talking with my mom about buying my dad some running equipment for Christmas.  She was complaining about how expensive a sport it is.  I told her that once the initial items are bought then it's a pretty cheap sport but has lots of great benefits.  So this morning while I was out running I was thinking about our conversation.  I was thinking about how much our taking up running has improved our lives and health.  I was close to the end of the run and was having a great time thinking about how great I've felt over the last 3 1/2 years.  The song "Kryptonite" was playing on my ipod and I truly felt like Superman...until I tripped.
   The tip of my toe caught on a raised piece of pavement and next thing I know I'm flying just like Superman.  I landed in the push-up position before I slid on my belly like a seal for several feet.  Do you know how much force that puts on your arms, shoulders and back to fly down into that position?!  Fortunately I was wearing gloves otherwise my hands would be hamburger.  As it is the scrapes I do have didn't even break the skin and I didn't tear any holes in my clothes either.  A couple Tylenol have taken the achiness away so I'm good.

Football

This year Caleb wanted to play tackle football.  Having watched 3 of my brothers play football from grade school through high school and even a jr. college, I was worried about Caleb.  Visions of 2-a-day practices, having to play in searing heat and freezing cold, and injuries flooded my mind.  I admit that the first week of practice almost killed Caleb.  They were doing a lot of conditioning and running.  Caleb was gasping for air.  Turns out he has exercise-induced asthma and allergies to grass.  We loaded him up with meds and an inhaler and he was like a whole new kid.  Caleb played the position of Right Guard on the offensive line.  It's probably the safest position to play on the football team.  He was rarely tackled so the chances of injury were next to nothing, which, as a Mom, I was glad of.
The season was amazing.  Trevor was an assistant coach and the team went to the playoffs.  I was proud of Caleb for never giving up.  Tonight was the end-of-year party for his team.  Caleb and a few others were given an award for never missing one of their 9 games or 43 practices.  I must admit I love seeing my son wear a jersey with Smith on the back.  I hope he'll always wear it with pride.

Thanksgiving

Pre-dinner activity: reading Calvin and Hobbes with Dad and Grandpa Rains

This year for Thanksgiving Dinner we had my parents and my Oma come for dinner.  No one wanted to spend the time to bake a huge turkey so we improvised.  Each of us got to choose 3 food items that we wanted to eat.  Some of us chose traditional items like turkey and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie but others chose macaroni and cheese, strawberries, chicken nuggets, cinnamon rolls.  But my mom, being the creative person she is, had each of us eating out of very untraditional dishes.  Trevor for example had a muffin tin for a plate (perfect for a guy that doesn't like his food to touch each other), a measuring spoon for a spoon, and a measuring glass for a cup.  My 85 year old Oma wasn't too sure she chose the right grand-daughter to have Thanksgiving with but she played along well enough.  Needless to say in the 61 Thanksgiving dinners she eaten since immigrating from Holland this is the most unusual.

Halloween

This was the first year I went to the Halloween parade at the kids' school.  It's also the first year we didn't get around to carving or painting any pumpkins so these are all the photos I have from Halloween.  All the kids put together their own costumes.  Michelle was a Flower Keeper's Daughter.  Gabriella was a Flower Keeper Daughter's Sister, we shortened it to a Flower Girl, but can you tell how much she looks up to her sister?!  Megan was Cinderella (for the third year in a row).  Caleb was Moses for the second year.

Running With Dad

My dad has caught the running bug.  Back in July I paced him on his first competitive 5k down in Bryce Canyon.  We both placed 2nd in our age groups.  Now he wants to do the Bryce Canyon half marathon next July.  My parents came into town this weekend so Dad and I planned a run together.  I thought we were only going to run about 4 or 5 miles, but when we were 2 miles out my dad decided that he wanted to go further than he's ever run before.  When we finished we had run 7.2 miles and made it a record day for my dad.  Words cannot describe how fun it was to run with my dad, and to know that I've successfully converted yet one more person to long distance running.

Gone with the Wind

As a tribute to my Grandma Rains I read "Gone With the Wind". My grandma died 5 years before I was even born but I've always thought that I'm a lot like her. The sad thing is that no one in the family really talked about her very much for some reason. So her liking this book is one of about 5 things I know about her. I can now see why she liked it so much. Margaret Mitchell does such a good job of bringing the South alive that while reading the book you are taken away.

The book is 1037 pages long so I've always wanted to read this book, the one my Grandma loved and read countless times, but shied away due to its length. The only other book I've read that's over 1000 pages is the Bible and that tooks me months. This book took me 12 days! I thought I knew what it was all about because I've seen the movie a couple of times. I was so wrong. The movie left out a ton of details. You still want to slap Scarlett upside the head and yell at her "what were you thinking" but I enjoyed the book nonetheless.

Michelle's Baptism

I uploaded all the family photos for this special event and then I was going to delete the worst and keep the best. Then I thought all of you could use a good laugh. These photos are awful. Michelle is her usual good posing self but everyone else needs a lot of work. Now you know why I hate getting family portraits done. But I detract from Michelle and her special day.

She is a beautiful 8 year old now. Getting baptized has really helped her want to do things the right way. I got to be more involved with her baptism than with Caleb's so I really enjoyed that.

I love you, Belle!

Marathon!

I realize I'm a few months behind and I don't want to bore you with too many events but I have to mention Trevor's marathon. Last September, both of us ran a marathon but Trevor was only abl to run 11 of the 26.2 miles due to an ankle injury. So we both signed up for another marathon in May. I couldn't run it at all due to having knee surgery 3 weeks prior to the race. But TREVOR COMPLETED HIS FIRST MARATHON! It turned out to be the hottest day of the year so he didn't do as well as he had hoped but I don't care. He finished and I'm proud to be married to a marathoner! As soon as we got home I slapped 26.2 stickers on both our cars (I'd been waiting since last September).

Camping

For the 4th of July weekend we went camping up in the Uinta Mountains. Up at that elevation Spring had just sprung. The wildflowers were blooming and every thing was green. Unfortunately this meant that there were hungry swarms of mosquitoes. But the temperature as great. 70 degrees was cold compared to the mid 90s back home.

This is the Provo Falls. There are 8 of them and it was gorgeous. I never knew that the Provo River started this far north.


The last day we were there the wind was calm and the lake was smooth. You'd never guess from this picture that the day before there were actually large waves on the lake.

Washington Lake - an artist's dream (especially that painter guy on PBS that paints happy little cabins amongst happy little trees).

The sour faces are showing extreme tiredness. This is up at Wall Lake. It was a mile long hike over very uneven trails and each of the kids (except Gabriella who Trevor carried in a backpack) hiked the whole way. I need to point out that the trailhead was at 10,000 feet and Wall Lake was 10,300 feet above sea level! That's a lot of hiking with only a little oxygen in the air.

We had great time though and can't wait to go back - next time we'll be armed with loads of really strong bug repellant!

Promises

I was recently told by my younger brother that he actually reads my blog but was annoyed it hadn't been updated in so long. So, Jer, this is for you. Now you have to be sending me some pictures of you and your house.

Relief

My last post explained how frustrated I am with my knee. Over the past couple of weeks the pain has gotten worse so I went back to the doctor. I'll spare you the details and cut to the chase. I'm getting my knee scoped this Tuesday.

When I first went to the doctor last November they took an x-ray that showed my kneecap would slide out of place each time my knee bent. Since I learned that I've been doing all kinds of leg exercises and stretches, even did a bout with physical therapy. But this week's MRI showed that the cartiledge on the backside of my kneecap is damaged. I'm missing a chunk of it and the rest is frayed and the rough edges are causing inflammation and pain.

Knowing that there is something actually wrong and that it's not just all in my head is a great relief. However, I've never in my life had surgery so I'm quite nervous. In fact today I'm in hyper-cleaning mode. I feel like I'm nesting like before I had a baby. Heck, I'm even updating my blog.

Fortunately, the doctor says the recovery time is pretty short with this particular procedure (patellar chondroplasty). I should be able to put weight on my leg the same day as surgery, and be running again (short distances) in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping all goes well.

Frustration...arrgh!

Earlier this week I had to give up my spot on the Wasatch Back 180 mile relay team. I feel like I've let down my team but it wouldn't be doing mt knee much good to be running 3 different times within 24 hours - not to mention the steep hills along the course.

Then, yesterday I officially pulled out of the marathon I was supposed to run in May. I transferred my registration over to the 5k (thanks for the advice CarrieAnn). I'm really bummed that I had to "quit" but my knee just isn't cooperating. 3 miles is about all I can run.

The one upside is that I'll be able to watch Trevor at the finish line of his first marathon.

Trevor's Triathlon

Trevor was asked to be on a team for the Blue Mountain Triathlon. In this race, the swimming is replaced by cross country skiing, then there's the biking, followed by the run. Trevor hadn't been feeling well all week and lost his voice on Wednesday night but he did the race anyway. There were some last minute changes to the course so instead of 5 miles it was 5 1/2 miles, which wouldn't have been a big deal except that the starting line was changed too. That meant that instead of running at an elevation of 4500 feet (which is about what our house is at so he's used to that) it was now at 7000 feet and went uphill for 2.5 miles - also he was still sick and had a hard time breathing to begin with. Surprisingly, he and his 55 and 61 year old teammates came in 12th overall and 3rd in the men's teams!

Michelle's clogging

Michelle had her first ever clogging competition. She got 2nd in her solo dance. She also did a great job in her team dance which is the video below (she's the 2nd from the left on the front row then moves to the back row).

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mom's birthday is March 1st. Her and my dad came in to town this weekend for my cousin's missionary farewell so we threw her a small surprise party. I tried to surprise her with Turtle Brownies with homemade caramel sauce but my first 2 attempts failed so she helped successfully make the sauce - always a mom!

The Newest Talented Bear Cub

Caleb's first ever piano performance was at the Ward talent show. He did really well considering there were a lot more people than either of us was expecting.

At Pack meeting this month, Caleb received his Bear Award, a gold arrow, 3 silver arrows, and the astronomy belt loop. I must say he's the cutest Bear I've ever seen. By the way, he was also awarded "Scout of the Month" for his den!

Megan - Student of the week

Megan was Student of the Week and got to color a poster telling all about herself.
If I could have one wish, I'd wish for a...dog
My favorite thing to do is...watch tv
When I grow up I want to be a...doctor
Nauvoo was my favorite vacation

BYU Basketball

This was our first ever sporting event we went to as an ENTIRE family. I was a little leary of how well Gabriella would do during the 2 hour women's basketball game but she was pretty well behaved - especially while she was napping ;)

Three years ago, our first Valentine's after Gabriella was born we took her with us to a men's BYU basketball game. Here she is 3 years later and taking another nap! Don't you love the tutu she put on her stuffed kitty.

Megan drove us crazy about wanting to meet Cosmo. We chased him down and Megan was thrilled to give him a hug.

Caleb was a little leary about meeting Cosmo but I know he would've regretted it. Michelle had come a few weeks ago with Trevor to a game so she didn't need to meet Cosmo again.

I couldn't believe that I actually caught one of the shirts that the cheerleaders throw to the crowd. That was the greatness of coming to a women's game. We sat on the 11th row - close enough to catch the goods.

Caleb the Bear Scout

Caleb's grandma gave him his first pocketknife. Within 1 hour of receiving the knife he earned the Whittling Chip Award and passed off the requirements needed towards his Bear patch. Below is the penguin he carved out of a 3 inch bar of soap.

Last night was the Pinewood Derby. Caleb came up with his car design and helped in every aspect of the car building. Unfortunately things didn't work out fast for his car. I was REALLY impressed with his good sportsmanship. Any other 9 year old I know that would've lost every race (not even finishing the last race) would've broke down crying. But Caleb held it together even though he was devastated. For that we treated him to a great big ice cream cone!

Near Death

Thank heavens Megan was being watched over last night. An hour after we put her to bed, Megan came out crying about how her night light wasn't working. Trevor and I couldn't understand why that was such a big deal until she explained (after the tears stopped we could finally understand her) that she'd stuck a "penny" in it then it stopped working. Needless to say we asked if she was okay, realizing that she blew the circuit breaker, the nightlight and burned the side of the nickel. If she would've been electrocuted we'd have never known it for a few hours (when we check in on the kids before we go to bed). Once again I'm so grateful she was being protected from above.

New....

Gabriella's first day of primary was "awesome". She has a great and creative teacher. Gabriella hasn't even once asked "where's the toys".

For Christmas we gave the older 3 kids desks. Megan loves hers a lot. Even during Christmas vacation she'd spent hours at her desk drawing pictures.

For Christmas I asked Trevor for a way to display the family's accomplishments. He gave me the words "Family Glory Wall" and together we came up with this layout. The smaller pictures are the photos of each of us doing something notable like.... Michelle's is one of her leading music at her Christmas program, Caleb is running a 5k with his grandpa, Megan won 2nd place at the County Fair Art Show, Gabriella started primary, Trevor is running a personal best in a half marathon and I won 3rd place in my age group in a 5k.