Trip to Utah-Part I

We decided it had been quite some time (2 years) since we had been to Utah to visit my family and even longer since we had gone with Tom (4 years). This was the summer to do it, since next year we will be in the middle of a move. So Tom took 2 and 1/2 weeks off and we braved the 19 hour drive with 4 kids (let's face it flying with 4 kids our kid's ages is at least as hard if not harder). The drive turned out not to be too bad. We drove as long as we could stand the first day (11 hours) and stopped at a hotel with a pool so the kids could get some of their energy out. Then we drove the rest of the way the second day. Luckily, with plenty of movies...we made it through the billions of times they asked when we were going to get there.

The first 5 days we were there we stayed with Tom's sister Rebekah. The kids loved playing with her 5 (even though her youngest are just older than Reili). Everyone loved baby Elizabeth and fought over who got to push her in the stroller. While we were at Rebekah's, we went to The Living Aquarium, for a boating trip to Utah Lake, and went to downtown Salt Lake City to see where my parents are serving a mission and see some of the sights of Temple Square. I didn't get any pictures of our boat trip...but here are some of the others.

Reili, Jenna, and Amberly pause while looking at some fish?

Meagan pushes Ellie (couldn't get Ellie to look at the camera).

Fun with Cousins! Reili, Amberly, Wesley, Meagan and Jenna sit on a frog.

Those cuties!

Checking out the fountain at Temple Square. Don't fall in!

Wesley tries to build a Temple at the Museum of Church History.

One of their favorite pass times....coloring.

Wesley the Shepherd.

Sweet, Sweet, Adorable Ellie...checking out the carpet at the Church Museum.

Hopefully, I'll get around to posting about the rest of our trip...stay tuned.

4th of July Festivities

I didn't get pictures of all of our Independence Day activities. They all took place on July 3rd this year, since the 4th was on Sunday. Our ward has a breakfast and flag raising every year. I'm not sure I have ever been, but Tom and the kids have. This year I was there for about 10 minutes. Reili was running a one mile kids race that morning, so she and I left the breakfast early and headed to her race.

On Memorial Day after walking the 5K she said she wanted to be able to run one. I told her the best way to start was to learn to run a mile first and then work up to running farther. She wanted to do it, so in June we started taking her to a track to "train" to run a mile straight. From the very beginning she could run the whole way and each week she got faster. It was really fun to see her work toward her goal and run with her. So on July 3rd she ran her first mile race and wanted me to run it with her to keep her going. It was the first time she had run hills and by the time the race started at 9:40 (an hour late) it was quite hot and humid. She did really well and I am so proud of her.

Reili with Mom before the race.

The starting line up.

There she goes!

Finished....finally!

Reili came in 36th out of 63 runners at 12 minutes 23 seconds. She was 6th in her age group. Way to go Reili!

That same evening we were invited to some friends for a picnic and fireworks display. This was our second year at that event and it felt great not to be pregnant this year and be able to really enjoy it. The Walton's have a huge back yard, perfect for fitting everyone. It is so fun.

Amberly and the kids playing some sort of chase the balloon game.

Reili, Amberly, and Caden.

Wesley poses by the chicken coop. He really loved hanging around the chickens and poking his fingers through the fence at them. Good thing he didn't get pecked.

Random shot of a bunch of people. This is what we all looked like just after dinner.

When it got dark, the men had fun lighting of tons of fireworks that everyone brought and went in on. Come to find out, Wesley is still scared of fireworks and refused to have any part in watching or being near them. We still can't figure that out....he is 3....what's up with that? He went inside and watched a movie. The other kids had fun watching them for a while and playing with the glow sticks we brought. Elizabeth slept peacefully inside in her pac n' play. I am so thankful to live in this great country. We are so blessed to be free and I am thankful to those who have gone before who made it possible for me to live here. What a great Independence Day! Let Freedom Ring!

We love visitors

Last weekend we had some fun with Tom's parents, his sister Rachael and her two children, Jocelyn and Fletcher. They arrived late Friday night and Saturday morning we went on our "yearly" visit to Maramec Springs to feed the fish. It was a hot and humid day, but we still were able to enjoy the museum and the walk around the spring. Here is evidence of some of the fun:

Sweet, sweet Ellie loved having all the attention from her Aunt and Grandparents and cousins!

Jocelyn and Reili check out the interactive exhibit. What beautiful girls! I absolutely love Jocelyn's dimples. I wish some of our kids could have gotten those from the Schell side.

It was hard to get them all looking at the same time. Wesley, Jocelyn, Fletcher, Reili, and Amberly enjoy our walk around the spring. The best part....feeding the fish.

Gamma, PopPop, and Jocelyn enjoying some shade.

Wesley and the fish...(look closely there are a ton).

We had some great food, played games, and stayed up too late. The kids sure enjoyed playing with their cousins that they rarely see. Thank you so much for your visit. We love you and miss you!

Volkslauf 2010

Every year down at Ft. Leonard Wood the Marine Detachment puts on a 10K "fun" run through the woods in the area. This year I was finally in a position to run it (not being pregnant or having Tom gone). We got a team of girls together from the Centre here in Rolla where I work out. Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Before the sweat and mud: Our team of 5 (the Dirt Devils) and another team from Rolla who we know from the Centre who came to run it also.

At the starting line (left to right): Lisa Persicke, Michelle DuClos, Christine Thompson, me, and Kari Young.

And we're off (nice ponytail)!

Coming down the bank into the last river crossing (about 6.1 miles into the race).

The final stretch to the finish line. Go Team!

Wet and muddy, but finally finished!

Now that I have experienced the finer parts of trail running (it had just rained during the night), I think I am more of a girly girl runner. By the time we were finished we had run through mud, water, and who knows what else and my shoes were full of little rocks. I think I prefer a little bit cleaner run, but it was fun to experience it at least once in life. We tied for first place coming in at 1 hour and 8 minutes (which isn't really fast for a regular 10K, but great for this 10K with all the mud, hills and river crossings and doing it as a team). The other all girl teams who came after us were well behind us. I ran as fast as I could, but Christine and Lisa could have finished a lot sooner had they had a faster runner as a team mate.

Ellie Laughs

There is hardly anything more pleasant and uplifting in life than the sound of a baby laughing. I thought I'd share a little clip of Reili making Ellie laugh for you all to enjoy. I just love it!