The Johnson's Life Online

The Scariest Moment of My Life...

2012-01-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

How do I even begin to explain the pure terror that happened within a matter of seconds? I don't know if it's possible for me to describe how this moment could have changed my life forever.

I guess from the beginning is a good start...

Nate and I had come home (to his parents, this happened while on Christmas vacay) from a morning out with the kids. 12:30 isn't an unusual time to put the kids down, in fact it's a bit later than normal, I figured they would be tired. We tuck them in and lock them in the room together, again normal for them. Nate and I headed upstairs to watch TV, even though there is a TV downstairs too. Nate got out the foot massager for me and I had my turn for about 30 mins. I switched couches and he got his turn. I started dosing off but was getting irritated that the foot massager was vibrating my head from the other couch.

I decided I would get up and head downstairs to take a nap in bed. At this point we must have been upstairs for over an hour. Once I got downstairs I snuggled into bed and patiently waited to fall asleep. I could hear Paisley stirring and figured since she wasn't crying I wouldn't get up yet, maybe I had a chance that she would fall back asleep. Within 5 minutes of laying down I hear a thump in the other room, followed by a squeal. I laid in bed still, waiting to see if this was something that would be resolved on her own or if there would be that long breathe followed by a blood curdling scream.

Nothing... except for some light thumping.

I decided I better go check, unlock the door and open it to find Sage hanging from the cord on the blinds...

I felt like I stood there staring for minutes when in reality it wasn't more than a split second. He was facing me, his eyes were closed, his feet were kicking the wall and he was grabbing at his neck to loosen the cord.

I ran over immediately and picked him up to take the slack off of the cord. It was so tight that I couldn't pop to bead at the end of the cord back through, I had to pry my fingers between his neck and the cord and start wedging some room with my hand so it wasn't so tight.

I screamed for Nate, I think there is just that scream, that tone in your voice where someone knows something is wrong. By the time Nate got down to the room, I had popped the bead through and laid Sage on the bed. I was uncontrollably shaking and Sage wasn't doing anything but laying there with his eyes open. When Nate ran through the door Sage started crying.

His neck started to swell and red rope burn marks and a deep indentation appeared instantly. Nate wrapped him up in a blanket and sat him on the couch. I shook for at least an hour, trying to hold back tears of... well "oh my hell". Sage definitely wasn't his normal self for the rest of the day. He clung to me and was somber, it was weird.

The picture absolutely doesn't do justice for what it really looked like. We are talking burn marks, purple bruising and deep red lines.

It's not abnormal for the kids to play for a bit before they fall asleep. I thought I had baby proofed that room, but forgot one minor thing. The cord, the thick heavy duty, three strand cord than hung there. In that hour or more of time they played Sage pulled the blinds all the way up, this gave him 4 or so extra feet of cord to play with. The window ledge is about bed hight, covered in slick tile and wide enough that he could stand on it. Instead of wrapping the cord multiple times around his neck like he could have he wrapped it once and pushed the gigantic bead through.

I guess around the time I got in bed, he started playing with it, as I was starting to dose off, he slipped from the ledge causing his feet to hit the wall, the squeal was the air being pushed from his throat or him gasping for air and the little thumps, his feet flailing about in panic. How he didn't snap his neck from the length of the fall or hurt his wind pipe from the force of his weight, baffles me. Sage was literally hanging, no support, all of this weight on that cord, wrapped around his neck.

I can't even imagine what would have been if I fallen asleep upstairs, fallen asleep in bed or been just a few minutes later. An outcome that would change and devastated our lives. I was in the right place at the right time, thank goodness. After, I looked at everything to baby proof, checked on them every so often (like 5 minutes) and opted not to have them babysat the rest of the time we were in town. It changed me as a parent without even loosing a child. Just the thought that I could have, rattled my core. It was by far the scariest moment of my life.

Christmas Rundown...

2012-01-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas came fast and went fast. We were so busy up until the moment we left, were busy the two weeks we were gone and now are finally able to slow some since we've been home, it's kind of nice.

You'll have to excuse the lack of pictures, I took pretty much no pictures of anything and the ones I did get are terrible.

Our flight left early in the morning so we decided it would be best to sleep at a hotel and park our car there the entire time we were gone. Turned out to be a pretty sweet deal. The hotel and parking charge were significantly cheaper than what we expected, the hotel was ridiculously nice and our car was there when we came home, meaning we didn't have to ask a friend for a ride to and from the airport.

There was a big bowling alley across the street from the hotel so we played a few games with the kids.

When we got back to the hotel some company was having a party and had a santa. They were a little hesitant to see him so Nate jumped in for the picture too.

The next morning we got up early and took our 3 min shuttle to the airport. Checked in and got on our first flight. We always have these forever long layovers in Chicago, luckily we have this little nook type terminal that few people walk down. We unload and run up and dow the halls for hours.

Or we waste time watching movies.

Once in Utah the festivities began, dinners, plays, concerts, the Temple (for my mom), family outings, shopping galore, Christmas presents and lots gingerbread houses.

He loved to eat off his, Paisleys candy didn't even make it on the house.

One of our Target shopping trips.

We were able to spend time with family and were lucky enough to be over at Dave and Abby's when Santa showed up early. This time Sage had no problem getting his candy cane from Santa and his family.

For Christmas I gave Nate seats, including mine... to Trans Siberian Orchestra. He has always wanted to go but they always come to KY when we head to UT. This time they switched and we were in the same state and the same time, Yeah! Nate and I were both really worried for the first half, it was like story time gone bad. The second half they finally broke out the lasers, pyrotechnics and hard rock orchestra.

The very last part of our vacation was taking Sage skiing. He was a bit of a freak out right before, we like to call that freak out a "Dane". He and my 13 year old brother act the same. But Sage did well, only did a few runs but he enjoyed going fast with dad.

And there ya have it, our vacation. Not two weeks worth of pictures and none of Christmas which I am kind of sad about. But we enjoyed our time in UT with family. However we are glad to be home and finish this chapter of our lives and start the next (which is really only a chage for Nate...)

Family Pictures...

2011-12-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

Family pictures and our Christmas card...

While Brad and Aisha were out visiting, we did a little photo shoot of them and in return they did one of us... Still part of the "Johnson photography" of course, taken by Brad, Nate and myself.

Officially...

2011-11-21T11:00:00.001-05:00

I have been MIA from the blog for a bit and probably will be for the next while. Other than having the worst cold of my life, the season is busy, with birthdays, holidays, school and family, it's a constant whirlwind I call life.

But for now I thought I should fill you all in on some really important and big news for the Johnson family!

We are starting our fourth year of dental school, we are on the home stretch and will be moving back to Utah in less than 9 months! Four years ago I would have told you this day was so far away that I couldn't even imagine it. Now that we are close, I can say its gone by quick! I should keep this in mind for future things...

Nate's been plugging away in his school studies, being a diligent little dental student and creating happy patients. He's enjoyed "most" of his schooling, aside from actual sit down and listen - class time and as most of his class mates can say, Nate is usually asleep at that point. He has spent the majority of his waking hours at school and then spends any free time wondering up to the perio clinic.

You see, Nate was the first out of his family (other than dear old dad) who wanted to be a dentist. He will be sure to tell you this. Why? because both of his older brothers are now practicing dentists, but Nate, apparently had been dreaming of dirty teeth and nasty breath for years and is adamant he was the first! He's always enjoyed dentistry, I suppose everything about it but his love for it changed... slightly.

Nate had developed a love for perio. Honestly I am going to have to have him write down on here, why... he loves perio so much. You know once I wanted to be a hygienist and then realized that I couldn't stand nasty gum disease and halitosis. All dentists will deal with this, some more than others but no one more than a periodontist (and probably his hygienist). I'll have to explain what exactly periodontists do, its really more than just a gum gardener, as they call them. Implants, surgery, extractions, treatment of gums, roots and bone... and so much more. But often periodontist are the butt of all jokes. Although they go to schooling for longer then a general dentist, they are often the low man on the totem pole.

Alright, anyhow. Nate had been thinking about perio. We had talked some about the possibility of applying before summer and it never really stuck, summer passed and so did the deadline for application, a friend of ours, who is in the program, again prompted Nate to still apply even though it was Late (he had been suggestion an application weekly). After a quick, "just do it" from me. He applied.

A few days later he had an interview that he nearly missed. The secretary and Nate got their days mixed up. Nate had just happened to walk into the perio dept, where the secretary informed him his interview was that morning. Frantically Nate, borrowed our perio friends car, headed home for his suit and walked into an interview unprepared in his head.

We worried about the interview, the fact that we had thrown all our eggs in one basket (we only applied to UK) and that, if accepted we would be throwing away a dental practice that others would give an arm and leg for.

We worried for a while, until this little letter came in the mail. I tried my hardest not to open it or even let Nate know that it had come. No need to let him stress about it at school.

There ya have it, it's official, Nate has been accepted into the University of Kentucky Perio program and we will be staying here for an additional 3 years, making it 7 years total!

We are excited to break the mold so to speak and make our own adventures. Nate is excited to venture in this field and feels good about his decisions. Our future is somewhat uncertain and that is kind of scary but we both know it will work out how it's supposed to.

P.S.... I have to be honest, this whole photo shoot thing was a set up. As I mentioned Nate decided to apply late and got an interview shortly after, however shortly after that, we got word he was accepted but kept it on the down low until we received this bad boy. I just needed to document it and made him go along with it. He did well. Officially it's official now! We have known for months, but just had to wait a bit to tell. Yeah for us!

Halloween 2011...

2011-11-07T11:00:00.001-05:00

Halloween this year, was easy to say the least. Everyone kept asking what we were going to be as our family costume, sadly nothing. I literally ran out of time having my jewelry show and family in town. No party and no costumes, I feel bad about it now but hey at least my kids looked cute!

Sage being a skeleton...

Good witch or bad witch?

And que the candy...

The kids loved trick or treating. It took a few houses to get used to but it was pretty interesting after that. Out here people either sit on their porch or are inside with their doors open (it was a brisk night), Sage would run up to the door, knock and yell trick or treat, get his candy and run off saying thank you. Paisley had a hard time keeping up with her brother, by the time she got to the door, Sage was done, so she would turn around with him without getting her candy. The night got progressively better.

Matching PJ's, yes Sage wore PJ's because he wouldn't wear a costume...

The kids were excited to come back home, look at their candy and start stuffing it in their mouths. Halloween this year was a complete success!

Race For The Cure, Fun Run...

2011-11-03T11:00:00.000-04:00

September was a busy month for me with the Smiles for life event and I hadn't kept up my running. I decided I would start back up and do a fun 5k run. I scoured my friends for a running buddy but no one would do it... okay I asked one person and it didn't work out. However I decided I would still run it by myself. I did my packet pick up and when I returned home there was another packet in the mail box. The only difference was that the bib in the mail box wasnt a competitive tag (no chip), So I asked the girl who turned my hair pink :) (who I knew was a great runner and would dust me) if she wanted to do it with me, she accepted.

So we woke up to really cold temps and headed downtown.

Yep, both have the same ugly yawning face, nice.

The race was a nice run, some hills but mostly flat. Lora left me within the first few minutes of running. I expected this since she was running a half the following week and had been training for a while, plus I am slow anyway. About 2 miles in I wanted to stop but didn't give in... who wants to stop 2 miles in? Freak! I watched my pace and other people who ran by (I'm a big people watcher) and saw the finish line. I hate the fact that when I know the finish is near I want to be done right then and don't finish strong or speed up my pace, I just kind of jog on by. Where is my strong finish?

Luckily Nate remembered what Lora was wearing so he was able to grab a "I'm gonna beat this guy to the finish line" photo.

And of course love that I look like I am practically walking... I wasn't. I'm competing with an old person here!

In the end, I ran 3 miles in 28:38, 10 seconds after my PR. I finished at 30 mins. Lora on the other hand ran it in like 24 mins. She is freakishly fast and I am lazy and slow. Yeah me!

Get Your Pink On...

2011-10-31T11:00:00.001-04:00

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I posted about it last year and of course, again this year. It's important that everyone is aware, not just in October but every day all year. It's important to check yourself or get checked, to know what's normal and what is not. Breast Cancer can strike any age, any race and at any time. Having had someone in the family diagnosed with breast cancer, I am much more aware of the efforts to support the cause.

Needless to say, after my aunts passing in June, I really got into thinking pink and the whole breast cancer awareness. If you follow me on pintrest or facebook, I am sure you noticed my daily posts of pictures and other things that had to do with breast cancer awareness.

I tired to buy everything pink, support everything pink, I even dreamt pink.

I also streaked my hair pink, permanently. Don't mind all my fly away hairs, I had just dried it so it's crazy. I knew I wanted some pink but I didn't want clip ins, I wanted something to last. I called up one of my friends and we got to work. She did an awesome job and my pink is still as bright as it was the day she put in it. Meaning, it's not fading, I may have pink hair until Christmas.

I am not cool enough to have instagram on my phone, well because I don't have an Iphone. But my phone does have a knock off that I am okay with. I wore pink pretty much every day in October, whether it was a shirt, my bracelets, ribbon, my nails or my hair. I had pink on. I used pink from my water bottle to food I made. I even ran a dinky little 5k for pink (next post). If you want to support, search the web, there are so many companies, even ones you will like, who participate and donate proceeds for the cause.

Although efforts like this seem small, they make an impact. I was surprised to see how many people repined things I had, how many people showed up at the race, both women and men, how many people wore pink in October, whether on purpose or by coincidence. More people are becoming aware and more people are supporting. We support for those who are fighting, those who have survived and those we have lost.

Nothing Makes a Kid Happier...

2011-10-28T11:00:00.001-04:00

and mom too...

Than cookies that mom doesn't have to make!

Camp, Hike, Climb, Repeat...

2011-10-25T11:00:00.000-04:00

Camp, Hike, Climb, Repeat... like every weekend. Basically that's how it is. If we aren't sleeping in our beds we are sleeping on the hard ground and of course Nate can be found climbing every Saturday, sometimes we tag a long, sometimes not, but this fall we've been getting out to enjoy it more than usual.

The Hello Fall Hike...

Climbing at the Gorge and a wall we have been to many times. I enjoyed the hike to here. It was sunny but didn't make me feel like I was melting with the extra wiggly weight I was carrying. Other kids for our kids to play with and lots of friends to enjoy climbing with. It was a good day.

The Hike That Took Forever...

The Gorge, once again. Just assume that we are always at the Gorge and if I say differently then you will know. A wall that none of us had been to, so we were unsure of exactly how to get there. A path that looked like a path but was really a runoff bed that led to nowhere. We ended up hiking forever through brush and trees and bugs. But once at the wall all was well. The kids enjoyed getting dirty and all the guys enjoyed the climb.

The Enchanted Land Hike...

Nate and I decided we would go explore around, he wanted to look at a climb, we tagged along. Our drive down there was typical, long and boring. We had to basically drive through the Gorge to get to where this climb was. I was reading in the climbing book the directions to Nate which were all clear until we got to the part that says "look for the National Forest sign and park by it". We drove right past the spot thinking it would be a large sign. It turned out to be a post-it note stapled to the tree... well pretty much.

A 10 minute walk through a field, a 10 minute walk through the trees and then a 20 min hike through steep rocky cliffs in a secret entrance to the enchanted land. Kind of hard when you have a kid strapped to you back but worth it nonetheless. It felt like we were the only ones in this little place, I kept expecting some fairy type creatures to show up, but no. Once we came back out of the cave like entrance, we were back in human world. You might think I am weird but thats really what it felt like. We didn't climb as it was only Nate and I and we ran out of time but nothing beats the adventure in the wild. And yes Sage is too lazy to walk, Dane!

Apex Mini Triathlon...

2011-10-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

Back when I was in Utah a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to do a triathlon when I got back. It was a mini, so the distances were cut slightly from the sprints that I had done. I thought it would be a good idea, considering I was "getting" in shape and feeling good about it. In fact I was feeling so good about it that I had estimated my time to be under an hour with 1:10 being my mid point and 1:20 being my slowest. I figured I would swim around 9, bike around 30-35 and run a 17 min. I was sorely mistaken on my times.

Since the tri was a few counties over. We decided to camp and wake up and head over there instead of wake up at 4 and drive there. That was probably the only good decision I made that day. Beth and I woke up, grabbed our gear and headed over to the rec center. We checked in and got ready and our nerves, well mine took over from there. We kept hearing people say the water was cold and some people were coming up from the pool shivering from their practice swim, then we started seeing men in wet suits and I knew from there I was going to have a problem. We walked down stood in line and watched person and person jump in that water and come up gasping for air.

Here is where my first problem comes into play. I had signed up for a 7 min swim time when I clearly knew I could only do it in 9. Beth on the other hand is freakishly fast, I did a 7 so I could stay with her. It wasn't that people were passing me, in fact people only passed me (beth included) at the very beginning and only 4 or so people passed me. My last 5 lanes the next person behind me was 4 lanes over and yes I had time to look. It's not that I signed up for a 7, its that I knew I couldn't do a 7, I over estimated myself which leads to disappointment. Anyhow back to the start. So we are standing there in line and it's my turn. I jump in the water and gasp while I am still under the water. Literally breath taking and I wanted to stop right then and there. My time is approaching and I take off. Breathing every two stroked until I just couldn't take it any longer and I flipped to my back. Yea I know back stroke for a tri, it gets worse. The water is so cold and I'm exercising of course, so I really can't catch my breath.

3 lanes in and I have just about had it, I'm thinking to myself that this was a bad decision and that I don't want to do tri's anymore. I keep thinking to just "push it", my motto. "Push it, push it push it. I am dying, pretty sure I am going to freeze to death. Pretty sure this would be a terrible way to die, drowning and drowning in freezing water. You know, this water is comparable to Fremont Lake, which I have refused to get in for the last 5 years until this year, only because I was wearing a wet suit. I really almost froze to death last time I got in that water. Swimming, keep swimming. I am no quitter but honestly I am considering it. Really just stop swimming and get out, go get warm and call it good. Look you only have 6 lanes to go. 6? that's not even half way, swim swim swim, that water is really cold, gasping for breath, just breath, breathe, no more back stroke just fluttering along and before I know it. I am done..." My thought process, interesting right?

I hop out of the pool and look at my watch, 11 minutes, what a terrible swim time. My disappointment starts snowballing faster and faster. Of course Beth is long gone, sad I will be biking alone, maybe I can catch up. I'm cold, I'm shaking and I am soaking. I get my gear, helmet on and I can hear my kids. Sage runs over and yells "mom" in excitement, family, something positive. I grab my bike and yell to Nate that was the worst thing I have ever done. I get on and go!

The bike ride started out downhill which was great considering I am still gasping for air, panting out loud. Wonderful. Make my first turn and another huge downhill straight to an incline at the bottom. I instantly remember that I am riding this same road on the way back, which means all those wonderful down hills are up hill later. Awesome. The bike route becomes my second disappointment. Up and down and up and down. Hard pushing, lots of shifting from my highest to my lowest, quite frequently. I hit the turn around point- halfway and realized that I hadn't passed Beth going to other direction, nor I had I caught up to her. Is she really that fast?

Back up and down, my watch reads 40 mins at 8 miles. I should be running by now! Disappointment. Finally back up those two long steep hills I was so happy to soar down at the beginning. Push it, push it. I can see transition. I enter and Travis looks at me bewildered. I hang my bike, Beth's bike is not there... impossible. Nate expresses concern that she hasn't come back after I tell him I never saw her.

I start the run at 55. way way too late, its a trail. unhappy that its not paved. I am tired, still panting out loud and my legs are weak. I slowly start to run and I just can't. I can't breathe and my legs are literally going to give out, not to mention my feet are slushing around in my shoes because my socks are soaked. I walk fast, run, walk fast, run walk fast. This is where I started contemplating if I should just walk to rest. I'm already disappointed, unhappy to say the least, that I have sucked so far. My times are way off and I am just tired. I start to get angry. I run everyday and I can't run this. I should be in shape for this and I cant even run it. Finally a mile in I feel better so I run. I knew I started running too late to make my time. 1:10 passes and I am really angry. Battling myself in my head. angry, annoyed, disappointed, mad, and sad. Just a few emotions that we women feel. I see the finish line, I come up the hill there are my kids and Nate. I push it and I am done!

I knew from the moment that I finished that my time was terrible. Maybe it was the fact the the clock said 1:28:10 when I crossed. Subtract 10 mins off for my start time leaving me with a 1:18. I didn't look at my watch... I was angry. I ask about Beth, who I once again didn't see on the run. Travis is looking and I head to my bike for my water. I see an ambulance and ask if there was a hurt biker, there response in short, after a longer conversation was no. Her bike is finally there. I head back to the finish and start walking down the path. I see her and run the last bit where she explains and I try to motivate her to keep running along.

Both of us walked away disappointed, have I said that word enough in this post? But really how else can you explain something that you had high hopes for. Beth blogged her experience here. Both our times were terrible, both our hearts were broken! My final time 1:18:09. 16 minutes behind my age groups first place. My swim time- 11:23 (sucky), Bike 40:26 (Sucky too) and my run 23:00 (my biggest suck). 5th out of 6th in my age group, 111 out of 145 total. This was a tri that I should have been by far under 50th place over all, I should have had a under 1:10 time and I am so disappointed with myself for so many reasons. But, that being said, I e.n.j.o.y.e.d it, I think. I mean I am glad I did it, I wish I had done better, pushed myself harder. Why am I not this hard core exercise enthusiast that I want to be? I can do all this but I just take longer than I want. Oh and by the way if your still reading, which I am sure I lost most of you long ago, the pool was 62 degrees!!!

I Love Me Some Nate...

2011-10-17T11:00:00.000-04:00

Yes it's true,

Nate and I "celebrated" our 6 year anniversary not long ago. Since we had just returned home from our summer vacay, we hadn't planned much of anything. Nate (surprisingly) got a baby sitter for a few hours (Thank you Layton's) while we grabbed a bite to eat and unexpectedly took his macbook to Apple, where we learned his hard drive had failed. Lucky us, warranty wasn't up for 13 more days! We then actually celebrated a few nights later (thanks Skanchy fam!), truthfully I don't remember what we did... that's how exciting anniversaries get the longer you are married. But in all honesty it was just as I would have wished. Low key dates with my man.

I thoroughly enjoyed this past summer, but at the same time it was probably the worst summer I have ever had. I spent two months at my in laws house, not that I don't love them or enjoy being there. I do, however it's a little hard to live out of a suit case, in someone else's house, borrowing their car for two long months, where one of those months is without my better half. I had a lot of "me thinking" time, free time to let my mind wonder, time to gather my thoughts and compose myself. I had a lot of conversations in my head.

I think the combination of small stresses, my aunts death and how I "dealt" with that, along with being away from my home and my husband kind of put me in a rut. I started feeling extreme and weird so to say, that's probably not even the word I would use... and then determined I was having a mid life crisis, if thats the case I will only be living until I am 54-ish. Sad. Anyhow I started prioritizing things. My kids, my family, my hopes, aspirations, dreams, needs and wants.

As I was doing this I realized that I would be nowhere without Nate. I mean I guess I would be somewhere but just not here. You go through life planning all these events, hoping you'll marry Mr. Right, have 10 kids and live in a great house in a wonderful neighborhood. You are hoping for things you, can control, sort of. It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of time and a lot of emotion but you can get there. However getting there is complicated if you don't have the right tools. Prior to marrying Nate, I never would have thought I would be where I am now. I imagined I would be married and have kids, but I never thought I would be as satisfied as I am. And all of this would be thanks to Nate, obviously with without him I wouldn't have a great husband and two little rambunctious kids.

He has provided and worked so hard for me which has resulted in our family. He has helped me get to that point in life that I dreamed of. Sure we have ups and downs but we always come out on top and it's thanks to his hard work and determination to make things better. He's an awesome and fun loving dad, the kids can't wait for him to get home and play and he's a great husband. I am one lucky girl to have him in my life! I love me some Nate!

Niagara of the South...

2011-10-14T11:00:00.001-04:00

It amazes me how fast summer just ends. Maybe it's because I spent the majority of my summer in Utah leaving me with virtually zero time to enjoy a kentucky summer. However I think I planned it just right, Kentucky summers are usually hot and humid, something I could do without. August started out a little warm but turned just right a few days after returning home. We jumped on the chance to get out an enjoy the outdoors and spend time as a whole and complete family.

We took a little drive down to Cumberland Falls which is also known as the Niagara of the south. Now I have never been to the real Niagara. I imagine its huge, well I've seen pictures and know its rather large. I'll just go ahead and put that on my bucket list. I must have been expecting some huge drop off when we got there because I was pretty disappointed. Not that it wasn't pretty or that I wasn't enjoying my time. But I would expect to live if I went off this fall, I would expect immanent death for the real Niagara.

I'm not sure if the touristy catch is the Niagara of the south part or the moonbow. I am sure the moonbow is pretty awesome in itself, we however missed it by 4 days. Nate and I would have to take turns seeing it, as our children would be sleeping in the car at midnight. Did I forget to mention the moonbow is only visible at night? Take the picture above, rainbow, waterfall and mist... now slowly imagine that instead of the picture being light, make it dark. I could do some photoshop magic for you but really it looks just like the picture... just darker.

Aside from my disappointment in the lack of "oh's" and "ah's" I uttered at the fall, I thoroughly enjoyed hiking around with a 30 lb kid on my back. No really I did, we have a nice pack that she sits comfortably in. However as seen below, our last hike resulted in Nate packing Sage around once we hit the "I'm done walking" point, as per Sage. I also forgot to mention that we camped out the night before. Our first camp out this year and it went well, I expect future camp outs to go just as well.

Love this little family!

Megan Bush Lloyd...

2011-10-04T11:00:00.016-04:00

I am pretty sure I have mentioned a few times in previous posts that Utah had it's good and it's bad. This by far, was the worst of it.

When we got back from Alaska, the next morning brought fathers day. Upon calling my dad to wish him a good day I was informed by him that my aunt Megan wasn't doing so well. Last I had heard, she was still plugging away with her optimistic attitude. However her condition changed while we were away and things were starting to not look so good. She had gone to the hospital, where they found her cancer was continuing to grow. She had been through appointments like this before, where the news they told her wasn't all too thrilling when your hoping for the best, but this time was different...

That Sunday (June 19th) after the Lloyd family BBQ, Nate, the kids and I headed over to Megan's so we could say Hello. I was shocked to say the least. She was frail and weak, weighing less than 100 lbs, she had a hard time breathing and talking normally, you could tell she was extremely tired. I tried my hardest to keep it together as I spoke alone with her in her bed. I brought the kids in to say hello, I felt terrible as neither one of them wanted anything to do with her. Nate and I talked with her a bit more and we headed home.

While driving home Nate and I talked about how sad it was to see her like that. To see her so calm and submissive, defiantly not the normal Megan. My heart started to sink as I thought of her being so helpless in bed, not eating normally and in so much pain. My uncles words of "it could be anywhere from two weeks to a month" played over and over in my head, just hoping that her life could be extended until her wishes were complete. My grandma helped her finalize things, letters to her kids, arrangements for her funeral, she even had a list of people she wished to speak about her and was able to ask them all personally. She was on top of it even at her sickest.

I was able to go back and visit Megan, without the kids running amuck, I believe that following Tuesday (June 21st). Her condition was still the same, she laid in bed weak, sore, achey, tired and in pain. She would cough in between her long drawn out words, a weak cough that surely didn't do anything. She hadn't eaten in days and was drinking small amounts of fluid. We talked some, her bubbly personality trying its hardest to break through. I sat there trying to hold back tears of sorrow for her, trying to talk about things that were funny, interesting or entertaining rather than talking about her prognosis. As always when leaving Megan said "take care Mallory", something I didn't like to hear because I didn't want to think that his could really be the last time I saw her. I left that day without telling her I loved her.

I had planned on going back to visit a few days after her family who was in town left. I had planned to tell her my huge explanation on why its so awkward for me to say I love you to people other than my husband, to tell her she was an amazing aunt and sister to me. Someone who I looked up to, I trusted and loved... I never got that chance.

On thursday I had set out to the dental office to let Nate redo some fillings on me. My dad had called while I was "totally out of it", I called him back when we went to lunch. He was very quiet, said a short sentence and sat there silently. My stomach flipped, I remember that feeling all too well, the feeling of complete despair and just sadness. I remember that feeling because that's exactly how I felt when Scott had told me about my cousin Kenny. It's a feeling I would be content never ever feeling again. My dad set there silently and I replied a simple "let me know the details". I called my grandma right after.

My grandma had told me that she spent the night before watching a movie with Scott and the kids, enjoying some family time. The next morning after the kids had gone to a friends, she had just gone to sleep.

As I said, this time was different and Megan knew it. The medications she had been taking for all these years no longer had effect and the multiple rounds and sessions of chemo and radiation just weren't giving her what we had all wished for. I'm pretty sure she knew her end was coming faster than the rest of us. To Megan, it was quality of life over quantity, she choose not to continue her treatments.

Since February of 2006, Megan fought hard. She fought with every once of her soul and the support of hundreds of family and friends. She never let her multiple diagnoses of cancer take her down, She continued to cook, clean, and care for her family, even when she was feeling her worst. She worked with her clients, took family trips and competed in races. She never let that disease slow her down in any way. She did everything possible to make her life the life she wanted. A happy life, a life filled with laughter, a life of love, a good life with her husband and kids. She never gave in, never gave up and fought to the very end.

I think this was the turning point in my vacation, only a week in and to me disaster so to say had struck. I silently cried all day and at nights hid my tears from Nate. I pretended that I had accepted her fate because it was something we all knew would eventually come, but in reality I was heart broken.

Her viewing was held on Monday night (June 27th). Such a surreal moment to see her. Motionless... laying there, pretty, calm and peaceful. She wore a necklace Erica (daughter) had made and picked out. There were friends and family, who all shared love and tears, a sorrow for her family and joy of her life.

On Tuesday (June 28th) Nate and I left the kids with Ruthann and headed down to the church. A few more visitors had come and gone and the family along with close friends gathered for the family prayer. A sweet little prayer was offered and finally one more chance to say goodbye. At this point I had held it together pretty well, in fact I don't think I had really cried in front of anyone. The family was all gathered, standing around her campaign pink casket, tears were being shed, tissues were being passed around and I lost it.

I don't think I had cried that hard in sometime. I mean I just lost it, an uncontrollable cry, tears that no matter how hard I tried I couldn't hold back. I was probably one of those people who sobs out loud and gasps for air. And I lost it even more when Scott and the kids went up to say goodbye and their tears were undeniably visible. I mean my heart just ached for his loss and for those kids, that their mom was forever gone as a mortal body. She would never be there in person to see them graduate or get married, have children of their own and grow old. This is something that Megan had comes to terms with but apparently I was just realizing that it was now a reality.

As they closed her casket we all cried, we slowly followed into the chapel, family and close friends spoke of her. We heard great stories of Megan's life, stories that were inspiration for the rest of us to suck it up, live life, play hard and enjoy the ride like she did. Megan's choice in speakers showed just how fun loving and whimsical she was.

As the meeting concluded, we again followed out, greeted by a large line of police motorcycles, who would then escort her and the motorcade to her final resting place. Such an amazing thing to see the support these officers gave for the wife of a fellow officer. Two stood next to her casket for the entire viewing, a congregation of them at the chapel and a fleet of them completely stopping traffic, as to say "this is a big deal" and it was, they treated her like one of their own.

The grave side service was simple and sweet. A final goodbye from the pallbearers, which included all of my uncles and 4 of their very close friends and finally her husband, kids and father.

As a goodbye from the kids, they sent a bouquet of balloons heaven bound for her. Let go from their tiny hands... but ended up in the tree close by, after a second take off, they slowly fluttered along until they became tangled in the power lines. Guess the balloons just weren't meant to go away. I am sure Megan got a good chuckle from it.

Megan's memorial service was one of the best I had seen. Not that I have been to thousands of these, but maybe this one was just memorable, or maybe it's because she is the second family member of mine to leave this earth too soon, and to me, family is everything. She wanted a celebration of her life and that it was, she planned it well.

We went back to the church for a luncheon, I was happy to see that Scott finally broke his expressionless face with a smile, thanks to his long time friend Greg. I thought for sure that Scott had sent his sense of humor with Megan, it was something she fine tuned. Humor can get you through the toughest situations, his friends did well making sure he got a dose or two.

For days after I cried alone, in the car, at night and at her grave. I felt stupid sitting there on the lawn bawling and talking out loud. Cars would drive by and I assumed they were coming for her. I hurried and wiped my tears away but was given more time as they continued driving. Each and every time I left her grave I expressed my feelings and ended with an I love you. Something I regret not saying while she was here.

I avoided visiting Scott and the kids for the next month. I waited until the very last moment to go say hello/goodbye before I left for KY. I felt weird, I felt bad, I mean I couldn't hold it together when I was alone, randomly bursting into tears for a month, how was I going to control my tears in front of him? Scott seemed normal, I guess as normal as you can be after loosing someone. He's probably been my closest uncle for as long as I can remember. He's been around for everything, always been there protecting me, teasing me and caring for me. It's was hard for me to know he was hurting, whether or not he expressed it.

Even now I will randomly cry, thinking of her, seeing a picture and even writing this post. I can't explain why I do, I just do. Megan was closer in age to me than my brother, with 7 uncles, she was the one to stick up for me when teased, she always offered things for my kids, she told me how it was without ever hurting my feelings and gave the best advice. She told me once, at my baby shower for Sage, that I can sleep when I'm dead. Her humorous honesty is something that I will miss. I am thankful that I was able to be in Utah, that I was able to see her. I feel terrible having been gone for 3 years. Over half of her years fighting and I haven't been around to help her, it makes me sad.

Like I said this is something that we knew was coming, or rather something that we knew could happen. When she beat it after her first diagnosis we were all thrilled, we all knew she would win. We were sad when it came back time after time. Still she fought and we knew she would. I don't think we ever expected her just to let go, we thought that her cancer would give up, but it never did, it fought just as hard as she did, relentlessly.

Megan had just turned 35, diagnosed at 29, she never asked why me, the rest of us did, she is someone that blessed your life because you knew her. You can never replace someone as great as her, never forget and never let go. She will be greatly missed on earth, by her friends, her family and surely Scott and the kids. We all love you Megan and hope you are feeling like your old self... energetic, spirited and determined.

Cirque of the Towers...

2011-09-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

As you have read and seen from previous posts, Utah kept the kids and I pretty busy. Adventure after adventure we were off enjoying the summer, but what about Nate? Well, Nate was around obviously for Alaska and 2 weeks of Utah. I mentioned that he headed back home to KY for his externship. The school required that he do a 4 week program with another dentist to gain experience. Nate wasn't too thrilled with his options of where to go, so he contacted a local dentist, who has a practice in Lexington on Saturdays and Mon-Fri owns a practice in Monticello. He set up an externship with him and spent all of July down in sumerset KY.

Don't ask why there are no pictures of Nate's small town experiecne. It couldn't be because I had all 3 cameras in Utah. Why in the world would I need all of them at once? So, Sadly no pictures of his housing, the dental office or the friendly staff. One day we will get back down there for a visit.

Even though school was starting, Nate's summer wasn't over quiet yet. Nate had talked about doing this extreme climbing trip with some buddies of his for some time and on a whim they actually planned it. The timing for it couldn't have been any better either, as I was still in Utah and his trip would overlap mine, allowing us to fly back to KY together, big relief on my part.

We had talked all year long about how we had these big events coming up, a half marathon, Dave's graduation, Alaska, Utah, his externship and climbing. One by one they came and went, one by one we enjoyed them to the fullest and now I only have one left to document.

Cirque of the Towers, Wind Rivers WY...

Nate flew in late on Wednesday night. I was supposed to pick both Nate and Jeff up from the airport, however Jeff's flight was canceled that night. He then was supposed to arive early Thursday morning but that also didnt pan out. He finally got into Salt Lake a little after 2 that afternoon. Nate picked him up from the air port and headed to Jeff's parents to grab his gear, meet Ryan and head out. The three of them didn't end up leaving for Wind Rivers until 5 pm.

It's only about a 4 hour drive from good old SLC to Wind Rivers, not bad right? Not bad unless you have to hike from the parking area to where they camped. 6 miles to the lake where the vertical gain was pretty minimal... all in the dark... in bear country. They decided to stop there and hike the harder portion in the morning. The hike in should have taken them around 4 or so hours, they did it in 2. They set up the tent in dark of night at 1 am.

The next morning they set off and continued hiking the remaining 4 miles from the lake to the base area which was a bunch of switch backs, boulder hopping and steep inclines. Once there, they dropped their packs and grabbed their climbing gear and headed off.

Arrowhead Lake

They started climbing the north west face of Pingora which is 5.6 to 5.9+. Either Jeff or Ryan led and Nate was sandwiched in the middle. The climb is about a 10 pitch climb, which is basically 10 rope lengths of 60-70 meters. Meaning that once you climb to where you have no more rope, you set an anchor, everyone climbs up to that spot and then you start all over while attached to the side of the mountain.

The picture below is about pitch 4 or 5, the red speck below is Jeff cleaning the climb. Although the picture doesn't do justice to the actual slope, most of the climbing was between 70 degrees and pretty much straight up and down, with some overhangs.

Pitch 8 - basically when you got to this anchor you were standing on a 6 inch overhung ledge with absolutely nothing underneath.

Again another picture of the vertical. Lets just say at this point Nate was pretty much done taking pictures...

At the top, Ryan and Jeff. Because there were three of them, switching off to lead, climb and clean, it took them 12 hours total. Once they were down they set up the tent once again and fell into the land of Nod.

The next morning the three prepared to climb Wolf's Head.

Nate hadn't been feeling super the day before (day 1 of climbing), he didn't eat at all and drank all of the water, literally all of it and left none for Jeff or Ryan (he feels terrible...). He was then informed by Jeff that he probably had altitude sickness. Traveling from basically sea level to camping at 10,000 at climbing to 12,000. Nate opted to stay back from climbing for day 2. While Jeff and Ryan tackled Wolf's Head, Nate lolly gagged and frolicked through lush fields of green and pretty floral arrangments. In his terms, he explored the wild. Jeff said that with the two of them it would take 6 hours, they came back 12 hours later.

Their camp site was at the base of the climbs with maybe 30 other people camping near by.

Day 3 they had planned to climb but nature had other plans for them. Forcing them to pack up and head back to the car. 10 miles later they were back to some civility, 4 hours after that they were back in the comfort of a bed.

Although Nate wasn't able to climb as much as he would have liked, he came home with a huge grin on his face and an expression of "that was the craziest thing I have done". He must have talked about his trip for weeks and still frequently requests that we, meaning him and I, make a solo back packing trip up there. I may be crazy for letting him go on such an adventure but I am glad he had fun and played a bit during his summer away from school. I think it was a much needed break from the last 3 years of hard work he's put in.

Utah - The Rest of Utah, Randomly...

2011-09-26T11:00:00.003-04:00

Utah was full of adventure, from long distance drives to Lake Powell and the Wind Rivers and little play dates, museums, parties and dinners full of laughter and fun. We never had a day were we just sat around wondering what to do next. We played with both sides of our family quite a bit and enjoyed being back where we belong.

So the rest of this post are the little tid bids that took place that weren't large enough for their own post. Random things that happened that were picture worthy.

Like this,. Nate's parents ward was having a huge party, had blow up toys, games, food and horseback riding. Which of course I had Nate wait in line for, I left to get the stroller and when I came back this is what I saw. Nate holding Sage while riding a horse. Odd yes and funny to watch since Nate really isn't a horse type of guy. But after the initial flip out Sage had a bit of fun.

While we were in Utah we took advantage of being so close to some of our good friends. We headed over to Duchesne for a night of catching up with the Huffakers. The next morning we headed to church, right across the street for an amazing sacrament, where both of our kids fell asleep and stayed asleep through the following classes!!! I know crazy right, then we talked some more while the kids played, had some yummy food and Matt took us to see the Zonkey before heading home. Yes the Zoneky, the Zebra donkey. Kind of amazing if you ask me. Guess this guy breeds some interesting animals. We sure miss our friends!

One of Nate's days "off" we took the kids to Cowabunga. Until they get a little older, we might as well fill the small pool up and turn on the hose, that would equal that same amount of fun. But realistically, we enjoyed getting out and people watching.

Our nephew, Richard was baptized. Sadly Nate took off that day for KY, he missed the baptism by only a few hours. He was sad he missed it.

The after party

We went to the children's museum up in Ogden with the other cousins. We had a good time although we literally didn't see anyone else the whole time we were there because these two kids are on the move all of the freaking time. It's non stop!

We played some chess...

ran around some more...

Learned about the presidents.

Kim and I took the kids to Raging Waters for a fun day. I left Paisley at home with Grandma J- Sage and I enjoyed our time there with Isaac and Sarah. The two older boys were having so much fun on slides, I never saw them.

Paisley's hair grew so long that we could put it in pig tails. Her new nick name is piggy, for one the only hair style is pig tails and two she eats like a pig.

We played out on the swing set and tramp a lot, the kids finally learned they cant leave the yard and to put shoes on when they went outside, they just forgot to tell me they were going out.

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson got these two amazingly fun blow up balls and you can get inside and bounce and roll around in. All the kids loved them and some adults had a little fun too.

We colored beautiful murals on the shower wall with washable crayons and we loved it.

I was looking through the pictures and keep finding these all red pictures and thought great the camera is broken, as I was going through all 20 plus of them I got to these...

Looks like someone mastered taking self portraits!

The princess wide awake and being goofy while waiting for dads plane to come in an hour after it was supposed to. It was midnight. How are these kids still awake?

This is what I found on a daily basis after the two kids had gone to bed. Sage sleeping in the pack and play with his sister. Too cute right?

After watching Sage climb into the pack and play with her, she figured out how to climb out. This resulted in her, either climbing out to play and climbing back in to go to sleep (which she did one day, just disappeared while I was doing laundry and I found her asleep in the pack and play) or she just gave up and fell asleep on the floor...

or any other comfortable spot she found.

Finally after two long but fun months we headed home. Our first flight was our longest and we did okay. Paisley fell asleep and Sage watched a movie. We had a little layover and then got on our last flight back home. Nate and I were talking and hadn't even noticed that one of our kids wasn't making any noise. When I looked over at Sage he was out cold, we were still sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off...

Utah - Moonlight Run...

2011-09-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

This was my very last adventure in Utah, the Moonlight Run. It was my last weekend before spending the remainder of my time packing and saying goodbyes. I had officially been in Utah for two long yet fun months and hadn't really had any "me" time. And by me time, I mean competing in some race, tri or bike ride.

I had planned on doing the same tri that I did last year but unfortunately they moved the date and by then I would be back in KY. There was a midnight half marathon, that I knew there was no way I was doing. So Kim and I opted for the next best thing, a short little 5k race... at midnight.

I had been running for weeks at this point (on the treadmill mind you), so I was making progress. I don't know why but I run in Utah A LOT more than I run in KY, I think its because back here there is always something for me to do, some chore, something to cross off the list, something to pick up, so I do that instead of hauling the family to the gym. It's also more convenient in Utah because the treadmill is literally 20 feet from where I sleep.

So anyhow, like I said I had been running a lot at this point. Logging my miles, beating previous times, running barefoot at a 8:30 pace to heal my shin splints and finally setting an average of about 28 minutes in 3 miles. Thats pretty good for me, especially because my average before was 32 minuets. Needless to say I was feeling pretty good about this race.

Kim decided to spend the night with her kids and around 11:30 we took off. When we got down to Alta Canyon Rec Center, I was amazed there were so many people there, I thought everyone would be in a comma like I wished I was, but there were hundreds of people running this little 5k.

We stretched, walked towards the starting line and off we went. We kept a pretty good 9 min pace for the first part until we turned to go up 9800S... which is a hill. Remember how I said I had been running on the treadmill, a bit of a disadvantage. Kim looked over and said she had one rule about hills, you don't stop until your at the top. So we huffed up it passing people left and right. Kim's garmen went off at a mile as she said a mile in at which point I said some profane word to express my frustration. Once we got to the top, we kept on going, amazingly enough we kept a 9:20 pace up that darn hill.

We made a few more turns and were finally running back down hill, running about a 7:40. A couple more turns again and I tell her I had to walk for a sec because I am lame, less than a minute of walking and we were off again. As we approached the finish line, I started counting steps. I dont know why but when I get close to being done I just kind of quit, there is not strong finish, I just mosey along. So in order to stop myself from walking I started counting. Kim on the other hand got a little competitive as some girls passed us and she took off following her, in fact she was sprinting at this point. Kim finished with a 28:19 and I with a 28:33.

I was quite happy to see I had finished where I wanted, happy to see my pace was around a 9 and happy that I finished not too far from Kim, she usually kills me. I finished 10th out of 53 in my age group, 60th out of 253 in women and I finished faster than 77 men. Kim and I talked about doing this next year and making sure we placed. Hers is a possibility, mine is not. I have to run it in 21:00 to get first place, second and third are close behind. That is just not something I can see myself doing anytime soon, or ever for that matter.

Utah/Wyoming/Fremont Lake - Tubing...

2011-09-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

After "tubing" at Lake Powell I was kind of hooked. I haven't been in this lake for 6 years, yes 6. I got in it before Nate and I got married and almost froze to death. I have been to the lake many times since but refused to get in. Well this time, I really wanted to tube, so wet suits went on.

Day 1 - after an outing on the boat with the kids, the three moms decided to hop on the tube and have some fun. Of course grandma driving the boat, she tends to be a little timid on upping the speed.

Day 2- the guys so graciously (minus Brad and Dave who were on the boat) watched the kids - Thank you a million times Thad for being the fill in dad for my kids this trip. The girls decided that we were going to take a boat ride where I insisted that we tube and that we all tube. I kept giving the thumbs up for faster speed and the other two keep shaking their heads no. I thought since the guys were driving I could get a little more speed from them. I was right but I was wrong...

But first a little story about the picture below. We all got geared up and finally got Abby on board to do a 4 person tube even though its only made for 3. We dug through the life jackets and found another wet suit that hasn't been worn for sometime, no big deal...

Yeah no big deal until someone smells it. Kim says "it smells like pee" as she smells the crotch. I say whatever and give it a big whiff. No joke it smelled like someone peed in it and it hasn't been in the water for years. So Abby gives it a little smell. I think Aisha was the only one who resisted the urge to smell it. Oh but there was no need because as Abby was putting it on, we all get a big draft of it and start on this girly giggle. Pee suit or not she got in it and we had some fun!

So as I said we got this girly giggle going on and thats where our problems started...

Like teenage girls screaming at the top of our lungs because we were going "too fast" when really we weren't going fast enough. I thought because a guy was driving I could get him to go faster but because Aisha was on there, Brad knew better than to make her not enjoy the ride.

Crash after crash we had the hardest time getting back up on the tube. Not because it was hard but because its nearly impossible to do anything when your laughing.

In our goofiness - Our second attempt at a pyramid. The first was quite successful but I wobbled on top and fell off.

Still laughing so hard that I got weak and couldn't hold the pyramid up at all...

So we fell once again.

So this little crash, well we lost Kim on a turn and instead of slowly swinging us around to get her, Brad decided he would gas it. So we come around into these huge waves we just made, still flying at terminal velocity, hit this huge wave, fly about 5 feet in the air and slam down losing Abby and slamming Aisha half on the tube half in the water. It was painful!

Wait for it...

Oh there it is... This is pretty much how the rest of the crashes went. Me pulling off whoever was next to me, mostly Aisha.

I tried to compile a picture with all of us and the terrible faces we made while bouncing around out there. However it seems only Abby and I create the ugliest ones.

Even though I didn't get a fast, high flying, make me get hurt ride. I enjoyed the time I had with my SIL's. And if your wondering where Andrea was in all of this, she is the camera woman. Without her this pictures would be non existent because guys just don't take pictures.

Utah/Wyoming/Fremont Lake - Family Vacation...

2011-09-19T11:00:00.000-04:00

Yearly the Johnson family goes to Pinedale Wyoming to Fremont Lake. We spend a few days up there enjoying the outdoors and the freezing cold lake. Since we have been in Ky we have missed 2 of the last 4 years, well I have, Nate wasn't able to make this trip either. I was close to not making it as well. Nate had been back in KY for his externship for about 3 weeks at this point and I was pretty close to my wits end. Luckily I had some help and enjoyed the trip.

The boat- what fun is a lake without a boat?

Tried to get Sage on the ski trainer, that worked out well and Paisley took a little snooze.

This is what the boat is like with just 3 moms, 2 grandparents and 8 kids, full and crazy and We are missing 10 other people.

Kim showing off her slalom skills

This is about how much air Brad got. Just kidding, he got a little more...

Brad, Aisha and Lydia

For one of our morning work outs we invited all of the girls for a bike ride. Loved it!

Group photo of all of the kids.

The slide was a hit by the kids.

Last year I posted about the floatie that some adults couldn't get up on. I decided I would show them up and get on it by myself. I was totally unsuccessful and I would share the picture, however its crappy quality and someone, ehhh, Abby, got a little fresh with me. I was wrong and it really is harder than it looked.

Of course we had to roast marshmallows, this was Sage's first experience doing so and he turned into quite the pro. Resting his bare feet near the (almost burned out) flames, burning his mallow, letting it sit on the wood and acquire ash from the fire...

And still enjoying the taste of sugar, nothing like it.

A random picture of two skinnies and one chunky. Aisha and I may not think we are skinny but compared to little Lyd here, we sure are.

Another family picture, this time Abby has inherited one of my kids- which is quite normal if Nate isn't around. Thanks Abs.

Utah - Red Butte Gardens...

2011-09-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

As one of our fun day adventures, Abby and I took the kids to red Butte to burn some energy. It's always amazing to me to watch kids run around and never get tired. I get tired walking around for hours, heck I get tired watching them. These kids never stopped, even when we had snack time. There span of sitting to eat was maybe 2 minutes before they were up at it.

And yes both Abby and I are behind the camera, who knows what my kids are looking at. At least hers make the picture look cute...

Where's Sage? No really, thats what I said most of the time we spent there. So much room for this kid to explore, if I wasn't watching closely he was gone. Luckily it's hard t miss a blonde bobbing head through a field of flowers.

While I have a care free Paisley who eats dirt and sucks on rocks. Slurps water from puddles on the ground (don't judge), Sage is nothing like that. Paisley can handle a completely sticky face and hands, soaking wet clothes and care not. Sage can't handle anything that's not normal. Anything that hinders who he is or how he moves wont be tolerated. Wet clothes, well even clothes at all, are on of those things that he can only wear to a certain point. He is usually in a diaper and a diaper alone.

Sage usually runs around aimlessly and climbs on everything on site no matter where we are. Some times I wonder what is going through his head, something simple? Or something super complex, like how to jump from this 4 foot high wire cage to the other side. Probably the latter.

Of course pretty flowers make me happy and there are plenty to look at.

Red Butte we loved visiting you.

Utah - Camping Near Strawberry...

2011-09-15T11:00:00.000-04:00

Camping with my grandparents was my first big adventure without Nate. My grandparents do a super job helping out and its usually really relaxing. We had a few mishaps on the trip, like their motor home doing 10 mph going up a canyon, seriously slower than semi trucks. They have a bad fuse thing that keeps burning up the fuses causes the motor home to loose power. Anyhow, my mom and I passed them on the way up, waited at the summit for them and a bit later they showed an we continued on. Then we couldn't find a place to camp that allowed off road vehicles. After a few looks in random canyons a few miles from Strawberry Reservoir, we finally found a great little place.

Our set up... a field full of long grass, lots of mosquitos and horse pooh from Henry.

The kids loved playing on the ATV's.

They also loved playing in the stream that was close by.

Dane had found this old broken down tractor, we played on it, which of course Sage loved.

The other mishaps were grandma so kindly taking a $100 ticket. Story not needed... and me randomly flipping out and going home a day early. Good thing I did, not only did I have a melt down when I got home, both my kids got really sick and it would have been a nightmare to have sick kids while camping. Sleeping in the motor home is much easier the second time around.

Utah - The Dentist a.k.a. Dr. Nate...

2011-09-14T11:00:00.000-04:00

For the few weeks Nate was in Utah, he had arranged with the school and the office to work out there as part of an externship. He worked many days on many patients from pulling teeth, to doing fillings and root canals. He even had a special patient one day who needed some old fillings redone. That patient was me...

Please notice, for one I am on the gas and two Brittany, (long time assistant at the office) has to hold poor Mallory's hand while she gets shots because she is such a baby. Which yes, it's true I am a baby. Something about the noise and the smell of burning teeth really irritates me, so I get gassed up. I get loopy, don't stop moving or talking and this time even got sick, but all is well because my teeth don't hurt. Big smiles!

Yea these pictures are terrible, but what do you expect. This is what happens when you don't aspirate the needle (I could be totally wrong here on the terminology, which I am sure I am.) But basically Nate gave me a fat cheek which ended in a nasty bruise. The fatness (and tenderness) lasted 4-5 days and the bruise a good 2 weeks. This doesn't say bad dentist or abusive husband :) this says it could have happened to anyone and yet it happened to me!

And yes my glasses really are that thick!

Utah - Parkour...

2011-09-12T11:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, so maybe not parkour, but it ended up being our park. While in Utah my goal was to not sit around. I don't mind sitting around back in KY but I can't stand sitting around and doing nothing when it's not at my own house, so needless to say we kept pretty busy. We spent multiple picnic lunches and play time at this park. We really enjoyed it!

Over the course of the summer, we learned Paisley has a real obsessions with dirt, rocks or anything nasty from off the ground that she can put in her mouth, by the end of the summer she was allowed to do as she wished, all those "no no" or "dirty" never got through to her. Oh well. Great immune system I say.

We teeter-tottered or seesawed, whichever you prefer, we played on that weird up and down thing.

We played on the slides...

All in all we had a good time at this park, especially because no one was ever there. It was our own personal park for two whole months.

Utah - Lake Powell July 2011

2011-09-08T11:00:00.001-04:00

Somehow my posts got all mixed up, so this is obviously still while Nate is around, all of the following posts are after he had left to go back to good old KY.

I don't know what it is about this place, but I love it. I also don't know why I love it. It's freaking hot and ridiculous to take young kids down there. But yet, we did it and I still love it!

Lake Powell is kind of like my stomping grounds. Ever since I can remember I have been going, my grandparents have been going for longer. I've spent many summers growing up there, spending my careless days splashing in the water, jumping off cliffs, playing with my cousins (more like 2nd cousins twice removed) and getting sun burned beyond belief. Lake Powell is my little heaven away from home and I sure do miss it!

Unlike everyone else, we don't house boat it, although that would be nice. We camp in Stanton Creek, on the Bullfrog side of the lake. To most people this would severely suck and let me tell you, had I not been doing this my whole life, it would. It's just not typical camping, there is no shade - unless you make it, there are no personal bathrooms - unless you call a porta potty a personal haven, a camp fire only worsens your sun burn and the water only cools you off momentarily. But like I said, I love it, I don't know why but I do. Oh did I forget to mention, we don't sleep in a tent? Yes it's true. I sleep on a lawn chair, or used to I should say, now we sleep in the back of the truck and if it rains I run into the motor home to sleep on the couch. It's quite nice.

So here is the set up, the porta-home, our make do shade and nothing but hot air and mildly cool water. My family goes down every year usually around the 24th of July but this year over the 4th.

You'd think Sage would be all for bath water, it took him some getting used to. In fact everything took some getting used to. Lets rewind to day 1. we get there around dinner, set up, eat and of course sleeping is an issue. Both kids in the back of the truck trying to sleep while, 1 it's light out and 2, there are still other people awake. Please. Not happening

Day 2, the kids will NOT wear their hats. This however is non negotiable. Hats are a must, no hat= no water, no sun, no fun! They caught onto this one fairly quickly, adjusted and learned to put their hats on themselves. This proved to be awesome for me later in the summer when I wanted them to wear their hats.

Napping. Also not happening. Took boat rides to get them to fall asleep. Finally learned on the last day that we had to shut the "door" in the motorhome bedroom so Paisley thought she was stuck in there... Speaking of boat rides, the life jacket. Not a care to Paisley, but Sage wasn't having it. He screamed bloody murder for the better part of the boat ride until he fell asleep. The next day screamed some more and the next finally gave in and wore it without any problems.

Seems the kids finally adjusted to everything on the last day or night we were there. We finally adjusted to them adjusting after we got home. I would say the first day was a bit crazy. The kids were trying to figure things out as were we. The second day we finally all relaxed and things just got better from there.

My grandparents were a big help to us with the kids. Taking them whenever and where ever. Swimming with them, feeding them, you name it, it was like my kids were there kids. I am so thankful for all their help and their willingness to deal with my kids.

Don't let pretty pictures like this fool you...

They end up in storms and what Lake Powell trip isn't complete without a storm? I've seen some pretty terrible storms in the past. Lost floaties, 6 of us kids sleeping in the packed mini van, dust storms galore, giant waves that cover the entire front of the boat. The storm we saw here was just a baby but we packed up for the worst.

The last day I had to get some more tubing in. The previous day I had tubed so hard that my knees had little bruises all over them from slapping on the water (not to mention tender) and my arms were sore from holding myself on.. Bella and I lost our pants a few times and had to let go to not loose them completely.

Nate decided to hop on, to ride a few rides and find out the tube was going flat. You see, the tube was not really a tubing tube, the tube was the center of a floating island that Norman found, cut apart and salvaged. My grandpa found a mesh bag that actually fit over the tube, they tied it all together and added a ski rope. Thus a tube was made and thats also why it went flat...

And this is the sweet little beaut that pulled us. Doesn't look like much but that thing goes much faster than expected. Buying and selling these is Normans hobby.

We camped on the end of this peninsula thing, small enough that we basically took the whole thing except for the tip. Some young kids were camping there and were pretty funny to watch. The first night they talked really loud and decided one of them was going to swim out into the water and light off fireworks from a tube at 2am. The ranger showed up the next night where we heard them say "hide it in the paper towel roll" I was ready to spill info if needed. The following days we watched them take their small boat out of water and drain it multiple times. By day 4 the water had rose so much that their tents were a few inches under, they left right after.

Each day we would guess where the water would be the next morning, we were always way off. We guesstimated from the time we got there to when we left the water had come up 2 full feet. Which ends up covering more land since its sort of flat. My grandparents stayed another 5 days, they had to move camp to higher ground because where we stayed had gone under water.

Nate had to show his manliness by driving the truck over to the last piece of island near where we camped. The water in between is where the kids were camping and we were just off to the right.

Our little fam...

The whole crew, (left to right) Norman, Josh, Jimmy + Alana, their 2 kids, Bella + Jonny, their 4 kids, grandpa + grandma, Rod + Barbara, Jenny + Ray, their 2 kids, Nate + Mallory and our 2 kids. Not pictured Normans better half Francoise.

Utah - Jungle Jim's...

2011-09-06T11:00:00.000-04:00

Jungle Jim's... a little kids heaven!

This is the part of the trip where Nate disappears back to Kentucky and I stay out in Utah for a month as a single parent. Trying to accomplish this big task while entertaining my kids wasn't very easy, but with the help of my grandma, (who I am sure is thankful we are finally back in KY- jk) we were able to go out and do many, many fun activities.

My grandma and I decided to take the kids here one night for something to do. I wasn't sure how Sage and Paisley were going to handle this little play land, to my surprise they did awesome. Sage was a bit too excited and tried to escape some of the rides while in motion, he just couldn't take that there was another ride nearby he wasn't on.

As you can see by the last set of pictures, these little airplane things were the ride of choice. Both Paisley and Sage liked them and I even went on a ride or two with my little Paisley buddy.

Have you ever seen that commercial with the mom trying to get her daughter to smile and she finally does while they are on vacation as she is getting on the jetski, but the daughter noticed the mom with the camera and immediately stops smiling? Yea that's kind of how things are with Sage and I. The minute I say his name, the smile is gone.

Dane looks absolutely thrilled to be there (in every picture). Don't let him fool you, he acts like he doesn't have a good time but he really does. He just thinks that because he is 12, that he can't have fun with a 2 year old. But deep in his little heart he LOVED it just as much as Sage did.

Like I said little kid heaven, both kids loved it, its small enough place that I don't worry about Sage running off, the rides are just the right size with room to grow for both of my kids. And it's super close to my grandparents. I am pretty sure we will be going back.

Utah - The Zoo Times Two...

2011-08-31T11:00:00.001-04:00

Yes it's true, we went to the Zoo, times two, we saw a kangaroo and lots of crap. My Dr. Suess rhyming seems a little off...

The zoo experience is so different in Utah than out here. There, Its a convince to go to the zoo, here you have to pack up and plan an all day trip to get to one, see it and then drive home. Needless to say we took full advantage.

Zoo Trip #1

The first scary dinosaur, (see note below) and of course the well behaved Paisley pooh, (ah yes, that's the word I was looking for)

We enjoyed watching the elephants eat with their long trunks.

And we loved looking at the tall furry giraffes.

This was probably the most watched and favorite animal, the elusive CAT backhoe

Slightly excited to be getting a drink from the lions mouth...

What kid doesn't love the carousel?

I am sure you are all aware that the zoo has the dinosaur attractions. This was something that Sage was not too happy about. In fact the very first one we came upon, Sage immediately bolted in the other direction and started crying. It makes me wonder how he knows they are scary. Its not like we let him watch Jurassic Park regularly, I mean ever.

He never warmed up, must be a good thing, we'd hate to loose a kid due to a dinosaur eating at the zoo.

Not sure if its the whole mechanical thing that scares him because he wasn't shy about hoping on top of this one.

Zoo Trip #2

Our next trip to the Zoo was with Grandma J. Sage enjoyed running around aimlessly while we followed. We went from one place to another while he seriously looked at the animals for 30 seconds and then was off to the next. The visit was very short.

We hadn't planned on riding this time, but when Sage saw and we started walking the other way. There were some serious tears. Grandma gave in and we rode. Sage was adamant on riding the zebra, he was thrilled.

Sweet and short trips to the zoo are so worth it!

Cruise Alaska - Seattle Part 2...

2011-08-29T11:00:00.002-04:00

Final Port - Seattle, Washington

Once again we ended up back in Seattle to end the vacation of a lifetime. Our flight back to SLC didn't leave until 3 pm so we decided to take one more excursion around seattle. The first stop was the Space Needle.

Unfortunately the weather was normal Seattle weather with a thick cloud cover that didn't allow for us to see much of a view from the top of the needle. We loaded back into the bus and toured around other parts of Seattle, seeing the sleepless in Seattle house and passing over the troll under the bridge (wish I got to see it) and other historic parts (like where Sig Hansen, captain of the Northwestern, houses his crabber)

Next was the public market, Pike's Place, to browse around. There were quiet a few people there but an experience well worth it.

A view within the market...

With the limited time we had in Seattle, I enjoyed every bit of it and would like very much to go back. The flight home, I however, could have done without. After our tour, the bus dropped us off at the airport. We had a few hours before we could even check in, so we lounged/chased our kids around the front of the airport until we could check our bags. After that we headed into the airport, grabbed lunch, played in the kid zone and anxiously waited for our flight. Which of course was delayed hours and we ended up leaving Seattle around 8pm. We spend a majority of the day on the airport floor, tried and worn out we finally made it home.

All in all, the vacation was amazing. We saw beautiful scenery, awesome wildlife, enjoyed the yummy food, the ship and all its wonders and the 7 full days of non stop family contact (slight sarcasm)! We are so thankful we had the opportunity to go and next time I don't think we will be bring out kids...

Cruise Alaska - Prince Rupert...

2011-08-26T11:00:00.001-04:00

Port #4 - Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada

Prince Rupert is a pretty place, a small island surrounded in the most amazing scenery.

We walked the town, enjoyed the sights, shops and a normal grocery store, before we left the kids once again and headed out.

Our final excursion- whale watching. Something I have always wanted to do and something I was thrilled to experience. After walking the town, we met with out tour guide and were directed to get into our warm suits. And yes John is really that tall and yes they had one suit to fit him!

We ended up leaving a bit late because the group before us left late. We waited for a good 45 minutes before the zodiak came back and we hopped on. Its a good thing we had those suits on because the wind was a bit chilly. We heard a bit about the town on the way out to sea, saw some sea lions and bald eagles.

Seriously love the coast here. Ocean right up to a small beach and lots of trees

And of course an awesome lighthouse with a little friend perched on top.

Once we got out in the more open waters we waited out there for a while before a whale finally showed up and then he left...

Just kidding, he stayed for a while breaching 5 or 6 times pretty close to our little boat, he gave us quiet the show. I was hoping we would see an orca but only this one humpback showed. We didn't get to stay as long as we hoped because of our late departure, we barely made boarding onto the ship, but it was well worth it.

Cruise Alaska - Skagway...

2011-08-24T11:00:00.000-04:00

Port #3 - Skagway, Alaska

Skagway is another small town, in fact it was the smallest of all. There literally was not a whole lot other than old brothels and bars. It was a small place used for mining gold in the yukon in 1896. The population is small (about 900) but doubles in the summer due to young kids coming for jobs in order to deal with multiple boats docking daily.

Our excursion for the day was the Ultra Zip-line. Nate and I figured this would be extreme.... we were let down slightly. We took a bus ride through about all 3 streets in town, then up the mountain to the adventure area. Once there, we got in a Unimog (4 wheel vehicle) that took us further up the mountain. At the top we geared up and got right to it. We totalled 14 zip-lines, re doing the last 3 again waiting for another party to catch up to us. One line was 750 ft long and another got you going up to 45 mph, we did not go that fast.

Justin, Ali, Nate and I.

Our guides said that the falls behind us were solid ice a few weeks before we got there, this was before he dropped his gloves in the water, too bad it still wasn't solid chunk!

4 hours a zip-line and Nate was one tired guy!

Meanwhile the kids and grandparents took the White Pass Railway for a scenic view. Sage thoroughly enjoyed the train ride and Paisley fell asleep. Guess grandma and grandpa needed a picture but whoever took it was a terrible photographer, where is my other kid? And of course Sage objects like normal!

I am glad we were able to do the line, and thankful Nate's parents took the kids during our excursion!

Cruise Alaska - Juneau...

2011-08-22T11:00:00.001-04:00

Port #2 - Juneau, Alaska

Juneau was the most anticipated of our stops and sadly was the most disappointing. This is probably about where our trip got a little crappy too. Nate and I have been waiting for a few years to see Juneau, waiting to experience the outdoors we've always wanted and our dreams were severely smashed.

First, because there were so many ships in port our boat was docked on the outer parts and we had to bus in to the main part of the city. This would have been fine had we not had kids. Second as you can tell from the pictures it was raining. Rain is not something that bothers us, in fact we welcome it, but rain with two kids while trying to go from one place to another with a million other people wasn't ideal.

Our excursion for the day was to head up to Tongass Mendenhall Glacier. I suppose this must have been a popular one as everyone else who was in town that day was also at the glacier. From the main part of the city you had to be bussed up to the glacier, about 30 mins. We were able to drive through parts of town but not really see too much because there was a thick cloud cover and the windows in the bus (go up and down) were foggy from the heavy breathing, in fact there were so many people on the bus that on both the ride up and down, we stood in the center isle, holding our kids, fun I tell ya.

By the time we got up to the glacier our kids had already had their meltdown for the day and Nate and I were on wits end. Something about the rain, the fog, the mass of people and the meltdowns really got to us. When we got up to the visitor center, there was literally no room to move around and you had to weave in and out of people to go anywhere. Nate and I immediately went outside in the rain to avoid being smothered to death. I was only able to grab a few shots before our 30 min time limit up there (yes only thirty because our tour continued on a trolley for a tour of the city.) And as you can tell from the clouds, my pictures did not turn out! Sad!

By the time we got back down into the city, the kids had had it, we had had it and we skipped out on the last of our tour. Turns out that was a good thing as we heard from Nate's parents you couldn't see much because the windows were so foggy, it was super rainy and the trolley leaked the rain water onto some of the passengers, with my luck it would have leaked on me. We saw literally none of Juneau

Once we got back to our room, the kids went down for a nap, as did the parentals. When we woke the captain was announcing that because the weather was so terrible in Juneau we would be taking a slight detour to Tracy's Arm Fjord, there we would see a glacier.

The scenery was amazing to say the least, pictures don't do justice for something so beautiful in real life. Mountains of thick lush greenery, puffy white clouds, clear sea water and of course snow. Seriously breath taking.

We saw a lot of wild life in the water on the cruise, dolphins swimming along side the boat, a few whales along the way and some harbor seals perched on icebergs as we neared the glacier.

One of our party guests, John, had a cabin right up in the front of the boat, there are only 5 rooms up their with his view, he was gracious and invited all to his room on his deck for the view. Had he not our view of the glacier wouldn't have been as great! As we got closer, we saw this mass amount of ice packed up against the hillside.

Absolutely incredible!

Love that blue

Love my man in nature.

Blows my mind that this large piece of snow/ice has been there for years and years and years and it makes me sad that its melting away (no I'm not a global warming freak). And by the way did you see the recent video of a piece of this glacier breaking away? Look it up on you tube, it happened this month. Would have been cool to see in person but we were two months too early.

So yes Juneau was a bust, we are very sad that we weren't able to spend more time there. We are thankful however that our captain gave us an opportunity to see another glacier up close!

Cruise Alaska - Ketchikan...

2011-08-20T11:00:00.002-04:00

First port - Ketchikan, Alaska

Being on the bottom floor had its perks aside from my motion sickness part. The gangway was right near our room and the lines to get on and off were short. So it was no hassle for us or the kids.

Ketchikan was probably the prettiest town, small and old but very picturesque. The weather was chilly but nice enough that we could take off our coats and be in a short sleeve shirt. Nate and I love colder weather... so why are we living in Kentucky?

Our excursion for the day was the lumberjack show. I was hesitant about seeing this because I was pretty sure that cutting up wood was going to be pretty lame for me, and boring for the kids. I was eating my words from the very start of the show.

The stadium was spilt up into two sides, we got the two bigger stronger man looking lumberjacks, while the other side got these pre pubescent boys who could barely lift a hatchet. Of course since we got the real men, they were a bit more mature and let the little boys do all the smack talking to the audience. It was quiet the show and very entertaining!

There is just something about a dirty working man with a loud machine.

The pole climb, it literally took our guy 20 seconds to climb up and down it. The other guy wasn't even to the top when ours was down.

I don't even know what to call this... the standing water log rolling competition. I'm sure it has a real name I just cant remember. The other team was cheap and ended up "winning" on making our guy fall. We won 4 of the 5 competition pictures I have on here, But I am pretty sure they only won because their side yelled louder and had one obnoxious guy who was talking smack on the lumberjacks the whole time.

When you get a tattoo of your favorite power saw, I think you are destined to be a lumberjack, or maybe there really is nothing to do up in these here parts, so why not?

The show was maybe an hour or so long and was much better than expected. Afterwards we got a quick family photo, headed back to the ship, left the kids with Nate's parents and walked around the incredibly small town.

What you can't see behind our heads is the Aleutian Ballad from Deadliest Catch. The crabber was on the show for a season(2), was hit by a 60 foot rouge wave and then decided (the captain not the ship and the decision was not because of the wave) that it's commercial crab fishing was done. The boat is now a tour boat in Ketchikan showing its passengers what crab fishing is like.

The ship spent a total of 8 hours (7am-3pm) in port. We however were only on land for 3 or so, wish we could have stayed long but truthfully, we saw the whole town.

Cruise Alaska - Seattle Part 1...

2011-08-18T11:00:00.001-04:00

Our summer vacation started the minute school was out. Actually mine started a few days before. Because we have a dog and knew we were going to be gone for a while, I flew to Utah a few days early with Paisley and Atlas, leaving Sage and Nate to play. We had gracious friends who tended Sage while Nate went to school and I spent thursday shopping in Utah with only one kid, it was heaven! That friday we all packed up and met in Seattle.

All of our flights got in super late, which doesn't work well when you have kids... Nate and Sage arrived first, around 11 or so and Nate's parents, Paisley and I arrived about midnight. We all hurried to bed as we had to be up early and head out to check in for the cruise, which of course was an adventure in itself. Nate's Aunt started to not feel so well and they put her in a wheel chair which gave all of us (we had a huge party of close friends of Nate's parents join us) a front row pass to the special needs check in and we were on within 30 min!

Once we got on the boat we walked around the top deck to view the city. Seattle is beautiful, I would really like to go back and see more.

Since the Seattle part was so short I decided to throw in the cruise ship and some of the activities we did on the boat. We cruised on the Norwegian cruise line and had the Star as our boat.

Cruise ships seem so glamorous and expensive to me. I love walking around looking at all the things I want my future mansion to have... just kidding, that would mean I would have to clean it. But seriously all the lights and bling just awe's me!

This was during the mandatory safety check they have. We just had to stand in our zone and squish together because there wasn't 20 feet of empty space anywhere near the 30 of us standing there. I have a bubble and I especially have a bubble when our kids our around.

Here is where our room was. I get extremely sea sick and that was very apparent on our last cruise where I spent the the majority of the trip throwing up and the last two days laying in bed in between the throwing up. I was thankful this trip for one, our room was on the bottom floor, two, we were in the center on the boat and three, there were virtually zero waves. Oh and we had no neighbors just Nate's parents on one side, so screaming kids didn't concern me much.

So naturally being on the bottom floor, there were no windows for us to view out. Which worked well when the kids needed to nap as the room became pitch black. The rooms are obviously set up for a couple but allow for more. Our cabin steward made our room wall to wall with beds and we pulled down the murphy so we could throw all our luggage up top. This also worked out well, making it so no kids fell off the bed and no adult slept on the edge.

We finally got Sage to go to the day care without a total tantrum. One of the nights were able to go to an actual dinner with our party, instead of the dining/buffet area. Of course I hadn't seen the sun in days due to staying in the dungeon with the kids. (I'm really not that white)

So the buffet is were we ate 99.8 precent of the time. They had this little kid area that would fit about 20 kids. A low table right next to a food bar full of kid foods. That table is where we sat every time we ate. It was a perfect little table and our kids actually ate!

And yes we sat at the table too and gained 10 pounds like every one else.

We took lots of scenic shots while we were out to sea, my favorite of course, is this one of Nate "working the camera". I think he is a natural.

Nate also spent some time in the driving range, practicing for his future part time job.

When the weather wasn't too bone chilling the kids enjoyed some time out on deck, playing on the teeter totter.

Or playing an intense game of chess.

Sage enjoyed the day care on a daily basis. He came back a painted butterfly and a silly pirate. He went to a magic show, which of course we spied in on to make sure he was being a good kid. He enjoyed the time he had with other kids his age. Paisley refused to sleep in the crib they set up for her so she slept in bed with us, this started her not wanting to sleep in a rib or pack and play ever again, she now sleeps on the floor.

Nate and I were able to go around the ship alone with the help of Nate's parents but most of the time we walked around it alone-alone because the other of us was in the cabin with the kids. We often found ourselves on the top deck enjoying the scenery, talking about how we could live up there.

A Summer Away...

2011-08-17T08:47:00.002-04:00

As you may have noticed I have been on hiatus for a while, but I am happy to say that I am back. This summer has been full of ups and downs and believe me I have plenty of pictures to show what we have been up to. For two months... yes two, the kids and I have been away. We packed up and headed out to beautiful Utah and "enjoyed" our time with family and friends. We are finally back home and slowly adjusting. Like I said I have oodles of pictures to go through, organize, edit and post about, so you can expect a plethora of ridiculously long posts in the coming weeks. But for now, I am missing here, but uncontrollably overwhelmed to be in my house.

mouth of little cottonwood canyon, bells area

Because We Are Ghetto...

2011-07-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

Nate decided one day that Sage needed a tricycle. We have a little bike that has training wheels for him, but we aren't really making any improvement on riding that. Nate and Sage headed to the store and picked up a cheap bike for him. They came home put it together and both were really excited to ride it, I mean Sage ride it and Nate help him.

All was going well until Sage got on it and we realized that his feet weren't long enough... fail.

Did you notice our ghetto way of trying to make it work? I got the brilliant idea for the blocks and Nate was unsuccessful in finding the duct tape, he grabbed packing tape instead. Those two ideas right there were not so bright. Nate taped the blocks on but Sage's feet kept slipping off, so we taped Sage's feet on, which then after him wiggle out, they became "baskets" to say for his feet, needless to say... this didn't work.

We got have a brighter idea of moving the seat forward more, which will require us to drill holes in the body and not use their preset holes... this should work. We will see!

Furthermore on the ghetto scale. My kids still don't like to wear their clothing. Sage has been stripping down to diaper daily and Paisley gets her shirts so dirty from eating that I don't even put a new one on anymore. After waking up from a nap and having lunch (while brother was still snoozing away) she decided that watching Signing Time like this was much more enjoyable.

Such a silly little girl, who by the way, is just attached to her "Pony" as brother is to "Horse".

Don't "Bug" Me...

2011-07-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

Sage has been a little obsessed with bugs lately. Flies, bees, ants and caterpillars. He has a good eye for spotting them and can't resist touching them. He found this weird guy outside picked him up once...

Twice...

and dead... Needless to say Sage isn't very gentle picking them up. He pinches them between his fingers and then says "bug"

This time around I told him not to touch...

obvious by now that he doesn't listen...

really doesn't listen. I guess if I wanted him to understand me I would have out down the camera, but there is just a point when you stop and say, "okay, do whatever".

Sage was so fascinated by the "pillar" that we made a temporary home for him. We admired him through the jar.

watched him wiggle about for a few minutes. I told Sage he needed to go back to his real home and I threw him out of the jar and over the fence. Tough luck, maybe he will be a beautiful butterfly that Sage can chase about.

Little Girl - Big Owie...

2011-07-05T17:00:00.001-04:00

About 3 months ago, the kids and I were in my bedroom while I was picking it up a bit. I had set my jewelry box on the floor and the kids began to go wild with excitement. Paisley tried to get closer to the box but Sage blocked her. She stepped backwards and then fell on her bum. She began crying hysterically. I picked her up and noticed her foot was bleeding. when I got a closer look, I knew it wasn't just a little cut. After I got it cleaned up, this is what I saw.

I know pictures don't do a whole lot of justice and this picture doesn't let you know just how gross it was. What had happened was, that Paisley had fallen back onto a picture frame that I had lying against the wall, the glass popped out and the edge of it got her foot. I immediately posted a picture on Facebook to see if people thought I should take her in. I didn't want to be too lax or too overprotective so I asked for advice. Everyone told me to take her in... and that is what I did.

I put Paisley in the sink, got her cleaned off, changed, wrapped the cut up, gave her some milk and got ready to go, but there was a problem. Nate had taken the car, so I called about a billion friends who live close and are home during the day to help. Needless to say the friend that lives the furthest away and who was at an appointment with her kid, is the one who came to get us. We dropped Sage off at another friends and headed in. Nate and I decided that we would take her in to the head honcho oral surgeon guys instead of the the ER where who knows - who- would be working on her foot.

By the time we got to the hospital Paisley had stopped crying and could have cared less about her foot. Nate and I took her up to the oral surgery floor and it was looked at. He told us that he didn't want to put her in more pain, cry, wiggle and basically deal with her while he put a stitch in. He said it would heal just fine if we kept in wrapped for a week or so.

Everyday for a few days she got ointment and gauze, then it was wrapped with sports tape to get it in place, I also used socks to avoid having her pull the tape off. I was a little paranoid about the cut and it just didn't look normal so I wrapped it for a good 3 - 4 weeks. I really didn't want her to have problems with her foot, esp right there because thats where shoes hit your heal.

Nate finally told me it was fine and to stop wrapping it, which I did and discovered that her skin flap had moved a bit and healed so that she now had a bump on the back instead of lying flat. It still looks pretty gross and I am super careful with shoes because it's tender to her. I am sure that in a few more months it will get better and just be a scar that doesn't bother her. I am very thankful though that it wasn't worse than it seemed and I am grateful we have all these doctors at our disposal!

Flashback- Scubafied...

2011-06-24T10:00:00.001-04:00

Spring of 2006, Nate and I decided to take a scuba class from SLCC. Yes they offered it, one of the many "fun" classes I took, like bowling. Of course I got an A in that and an A in scuba as well... We thought that it would be something worthwhile to have our scuba certification, thus we became scubafied.

Quiet the experience... we started the class beginning of the semester, in January and a few days after I got braces. (Will post a flashback on this some other time). This wasn't a problem because most of the time was spent in a classroom learning all of the important things we needed to know and taking tests. But when we had our first water experience my newly under construction mouth gave me a difficult time.

If you have ever had a scuba hook up in your mouth or even a snorkel you know you need to bite down to keep it in there. Well since my teeth were being moved about and I had just had a bite button put in, my mouth hurt like no other. Keeping the breathing apparatus in my mouth was tough and I came out of the pool on our water days much more sore than I went in. But alas my mouth started feeling better and our water days got more exciting.

Our class only had about 6 people in it so we had a lot of one on one to learn and got more after the first water day when one kid dropped out because he found out he couldn't swim and was apparently too buoyant even with all his gear and weights. It was comical to watch but now thinking back, I feel guilty!

We did most of our dives in a pool until we were pretty much ready for an open water dive and to complete certification. However since there is no ocean within a close drive distance outside of SLC, we headed for the next best thing... Bonneville Seabase. Really not the next best thing, it was pretty nasty actually. Its just a warm salt water spring with three pools, one called the Habitat, where there is a "ship" wreck, a ridiculous amount of fish (and divers) and even a nurse shark. The water had so much sediment in there you couldn't see more than 3 feet because other divers were kicking it up and it was freezing cold (not really that cold but cold for me). The next day I got smart and wore a full piece suit as well as a hood, did it keep me warm? Hardly. Picture below of my gear. Oh and the water was nasty salty.

Number 2 pool, is warm, covered and of course gross as well. The last, is the Abyss which goes some 60 feet down and was freakishly dark when descending and created a great big bubble of anxiety for me. I learned to calm that anxiety by not thinking I was going to drown. The few days we spent there completing our certification were intense, cold, gross but fun. We both enjoyed taking the class and becoming certified. We have talked a lot about places we would like to scuba dive, some of them might be dreams but at least we didn't stop after the class.

Since our "scubafication" we have gone scuba diving in Cozumel, when we went to Cancun in May of 06. That was also an interesting experience. You play around in the water until you can control your buoyancy and then swim about following the guide. A rather large man in our group couldn't get his quiet right and was swimming above me, since he was letting air in and our of his vest he was all over the place which resulted in him slamming down on top of me multiple times until I finally moved out of his way. Once "bob" was no longer a bother I started freaking out mentally because I thought for sure I was going to get eaten by a shark, that type of anxiety I never really kicked, I tried to ignore it. Once I began to relax, I started to enjoy the beauty of the reef and boy was it pretty. We saw so much sea life, a lot of fish, an octopus and a turtle cruised by us swimming against the current. It was an adventure that I will never forget. Makes me want to go scuba right now.

Nate also went when we went to Hawaii in June of 07, I was being a lazy head that day and gave up the opportunity. I have since learned that when things like that come, you need to seize it! Sadly we haven't gone since, although we would really like to, but school and kids kind of take up your time. Soon we will get re-certified and head back out into the waters for more adventures.

498 Days...

2011-06-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

Or... 1 year, 4 months and 13 days to be exact. Thats how far apart my kids are and I like it. When I first found out I was pregnant with paisley I got really anxious and nervous. Since she wasn't planned, her pregnancy through me for a loop. I know 16 months and 24 months aren't too big of a difference, but you would be surprised. Yes it was and is extremely hard at times, yes I have had my days where I just wanted to go away but to be honest I wouldn't have it any other way. I like the fact the my kids are so close in age, I like the fact they they are almost on the same timeline. I like that they are buds and that they do everything together. They spend so much time together, pretty much 99% of their day together that they are kind of forced to be buds, but the best part is that they like it. They giggle, the cuddle, they run, they bounce, they cry, they smile, all together, with each other and at one another. It's really too cute!

Although Sage has "disgust" faces in the last picture and this one. He really does enjoy Paisley and more often than not, it's him sitting on or body slamming her and she enjoys it!

They play together

They are entertained together

They get into trouble together

They watch toons together

They eat lunch together

I love these little kids and am so happy they are in my life. What would I do without them besides be sane?

Paisley's {Birthday} Smash Cake...

2011-06-08T10:00:00.001-04:00

I am so incredibly late in posting these pictures. I don't know why it has taken me so long and I really feel bad about it because they are so DANG CUTE!!! But without further ado...

To keep in line with her over the top birthday party, I did a cake smash session with the birthday girl.

Paisley's One Year Stats:

Weighs 20 lbs 4.8 oz

30 1/4 inches tall

Paisley is one amazing little girl, she has the cutest personality and it grows on us every day. She loves to follow Sage around, loves to "bother" him and loves to mimic him. She catches on to things very quickly. She climbs all over everything, she gets into everything, literally, she's just as bad as Sage was.

She is signing very well, can sign- signing time, baby, eat, more, milk, hot, thank you, mom, grandma, dad, and grandpa. She can say signing time, milk, bye bye, mom, dad, dog, box, no no, uh-oh, baby, up, down, hot, night night, grandma, papa, bubble and chicken. She knows what outside, bath, shower, door, turn page, hot, lotion and brush hair mean. she actually understands a lot and does what we ask her to do.

She is definitely a girl, she loves to be lathered in lotion, let me brush her hair and make her pretty. She is very delicate when she picks things up and just moves around so much differently than Sage/boys. She loves to read books, loves her "pony", can't leave her bed without her. She sleeps well through the night, most of the time. She is a very content little bean who self entertains. We love her with all our heart and are so grateful to have her in our lives!!

I made all of the cakes at once and froze the two rounds I was using for this. The week after her party I thawed the cakes and began decorating the cake. I must have frosted it 4 or 5 times before I gave up and did a smooth coat with frosting swirls at the bottom. What I was going for was a ruffle cake, seen here. Good old Martha had me beat on this one. I even followed video tutorials and still couldn't get it right. I think my buttercream was the problem, it was heavy and immediately started slouching from gravity.

After I had changed the cake decoration, I decided to use a banner for the top, matches the large one for her birthday party. I set up our little photo shoot with some more party props and dressed the princess for her smash session. I sat her down and she just looked at the cake, I thought she would really get into it, but she was super timid. I actually had to take her hand and put it in the cake, I don't think she knew what to do with it. I put some frosting on my finger and gave her a taste. Thats when the party began. She quickly realized that the cake was food and she started digging in, slowing and softly then handful after handful. She thoroughly enjoyed herself as I captured the perfect pictures. I can't get enough of this girl and I am so pleased with how this turned out!

Slightly Stronger Obsession, Shoes...

2011-06-06T10:00:00.003-04:00

While I have to admit that I love Angry Birds to my little hearts content but nothing makes me happier (aside from my husband and kids) than shoes. Now I am not talking about any type of shoe. I am talking comfortable long lasting shoes. I suppose I have always been a high roller when it comes to shoes, meaning that I don't go for Payless shoes no matter how cute, because I know I will be buying another pair within a months time. In middle school I had two pairs of Dr. Marten sandals that I wore everyday, including during the winter. Although those shoes are heavy and clunky, they lasted me a long time. In fact I still have them, 14 years later, and they still fit! From there I graduated to chaco's (which I love), merrell's and timberlands, finally ending at Keen's.

I have been wearing Keen's for 8 plus years and they are really the only brand of shoes I wear, other than church/dressy shoes and my running shoes. I pretty much wear Keen's 98% of the time. I refuse to try on any other brand and I refuse to settle on some shoe that doesn't give me the support I need and the look I want.

My newest Keen's, rain boots for a steal of a deal! I couldn't pass it up!

Most of the time I am found wearing these. I am sure you have all noticed, that these shoes by far, are my favorite. I get compliments on them all the time and I have even asked Keen to make more colors, since all you can get now is black and some pale colors. I want bright, which is very apparent in my selection of Keen shoes.

I have 14 pairs of Keen's (think I am addicted?...) in a variety of colors, 4 Black, brown, 3 colors of green, orange, red, yellow, white, coral and blue, in a variety of styles, from boots to shoes to sandals.

Now 14 pairs of the same type of shoe seems like a lot. Well it is, but I wear each and every one of these shoes. Some more than others but they are all worn multiple times throughout the year! I swear Keens are made for my feet, the arch is perfect for me and as I mentioned earlier I like shoes that last a long time and these for sure have lasted me a while. I love my Keen shoes.

However, as of late, I decided to branch out. Not that I don't love my keens, I do!

Yes I purchased a pair of Toms. I was extremely cautious in buying these but I just couldn't resist the color I saw online. I counseled with a few friends who have Toms, got their opinions and decided to go for it. My bottle green Toms (which they only sold for a short time, so I am glad I got them when I did) arrived and I was thrilled to see them and their perfect color.

I have worn them a few times, they have kind of a funny arch support but I started to like it after a while, they immediately formed to my feet and I felt so natural in them. However... I have a problem that I am hoping will resolve itself. My heels have started slipping in and out/up and down as I walk, which is resulting in a raw heel. But because these shoes are so amazingly awesome I am willing to deal with it... for now.

I know these shoes probably wont last me a long time since they are made from linen and are pretty thin and the soles look like they will wear fast. I have seen other bloggers say their's and their kids Toms didn't last long, I am hoping Paisleys will. I hope they prove me wrong, so I can become obsessed with all the awesome colors they have!

Slightly Obsessed with Angry Birds...

2011-06-02T10:00:00.003-04:00

Yes I admit, I have a slight obsession.

I've happily ~~waisted~~ spent 3 dollars for those 3 AB games ! The only Ipod games I've paid for! Rio was my recent birthday purchase.

So why the post about the birds? Why... because not only does this game appeal to 12 year olds, it appeals to 26 year olds and now a 27 year old. 12 or 27, they sure are fun and addicting too. So I had myself an Angry Birds birthday!

I've learned being a mom of two "wilds" and supporting a husband while he is in full-time, never see him, make me a single mother school, that if I want something done, I do it myself. Not that Nate wouldn't have gone overboard if I had asked for it. But I wanted to make my own cake. I want to create my own theme and I enjoy doing it. You should know this by now if you saw Sage, Nate and Paisley's birthdays. I am what you might call, well here are some words I know I am but avoid saying... over-achieving, anal and OCD. you really have no idea how bad I can get.

For a few months before my birthday I knew I wanted to do something angry birds but contemplated whether it would be a cake or cookies (since those are obviously the things I have been working on a lot lately.) I suppose cupcakes are no different than cake. I was undecided up until the moment I poured the batter into the cups. I thought some 3D cake would be fun but ultimately felt that littler personalized cupcakes might make me less fat, I don't think it worked. Bummer!

Before you start criticizing my work, I am fully aware that I didn't make the white bird. By the time I was half way through making these, I had given up and just started putting them together. They took better part of my birthday morning to make and kneeding in 10 colors for fondant isn't how I like the spend an hour of my time. I know your saying but the white birds are white, you don't need to add color. True. By the time I had done all the other birds and pigs, I had a small amount of white left which would not be enough for one single white bird. So yes I goofed, but had I not said anything would you have even of noticed?

Although they took a bit of time and were a little difficult to make. I am really happy how they turned out. And if you play the game... I bet your saying that they really do look like the birds. Your dang right they do. I don't go half-assed in life (except on the white bird) it's those three words above that prohibit me from doing shotty jobs. And sorry, I don't know the synonym for half-assed that I feel expresses it appropriately and I am too lazy to look one up. Contradictions, contradictions...

The cupcakes were a hit with Sage, of course, who was sneaking one every chance he could get and Nate and I couldn't keep our hands off either. Nothing says good morning like a Redbull and cupcake, right Nate?

FLW- Fallingwater...

2011-05-30T10:00:00.004-04:00

Since it was our last time up in Morgantown, we figured we would go see the Fallingwater house since we were relatively close. The problem was, that children under 6 couldn't go in, luckily Nate's Parents and aunt decided to join our side road trip and Ruthann watched the kids while we went on the tour.

I could give you a huge lesson about the house. But here is a run down. Built in 1935, finished in 1937 and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (No relation...) The house "hovers" so to say over the river with cantilevers. They are used all over the house but more noticeably the balconies. The house was designed to allow those who stayed inside to feel nature. The cool breeze from the river and the sounds of the waterfall. The budget for the house was something like $6,000 and the final cost was $155,000. Obviously way over budget.

View from the driveway. Pretty cool that the steps come all the way down to the water. I wanted to dangle my feet.

The house is pretty interesting, small hallways and open rooms. It was kind of like a maze to get from one room to the other. The guest house is probably about as big as our house. Both houses had an abundance of windows and almost all of them opened wide to let air in.

View from the lowest balcony.

On our way to the guest house, here is looking back towards the house. As you can see the upper balcony had a much lower rail than the lower, about thigh high. Kind of scary because you could easily fall right over and into the waterfall.

The house has about 120,000 visitors a year and trust me the conservatory (who owns the house now) aren't hurting for money at $20 a person.

It was a pretty neat little trip, glad I got to see it since its on Smithsonian's life list of 28 places to see before you die... 1 down, 27 to go!

Finale To Our WV Trip...

2011-05-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

Thursday we got into town in the evening, met up with Kim and Thad and went out to dinner. Back to the hotel and off to bed.

Friday, exercised in the AM, Nate and Sage went to the river with everyone else to feed the ducks and play, while I stayed at the hotel for Paisley's nap.

After the park, we dropped the kids off at one of Abby's friends (Thank you whoever you are!) and went to a dinner ceremony for the graduates.

Dave has been receiving award after award, high honors, best in clinic, even was accepted into some prestigious group. Pretty sure he got the most awards than any other student. The night of the dinner he was given a very honorable award- if you were to ask Dave and Nate- Dave was given the mostly likely to be seen in class with a Redbull award. Go figure!

The day before we left for WV. I made Dave some graduation cookies, thought they were pretty appropriate for the occasion.

Don't ask was the small squares are, I was just playing around... oh and don't make these and not eat them for 3-4 days. I learned the frosting gets a little too hard. Still good though, but best 1-2 days after they are made.

After graduation (which I posted before this), we went to the Zoo. No not the Pittsburgh Zoo or some other big city zoo. We went to a zoo outside of Morgantown...

Some podunk farm type zoo that has all these exotic animals in some backwoods neighborhood. Kind of weird, but fun to see.

I was really surprised at all the animals the guy had at his "Zoo". It made me wonder how he got them and from where...

Kim apparently is the bear whisperer. No one could get this bear to stand, Kim came over, raised her hands and up he went.

A funny story about these pigs here. We bought a cup of food to feed the animals as we went around. When we got to the pigs they all rushed over to watch as Nate started throwing food in. Sage came up behind us and stared at the pigs. I turned to talk to Sage and I saw him swallow with a look of disgust on his face. I said to Nate "I think Sage just threw up in his mouth and swallowed it" Sure enough Sage gagged, threw up in his mouth and swallowed... again! The pigs smelled that bad, that our 2 year old got sick from it.

Spring is obviously a time for new babies and the zoo wasn't short any tiny ones. We saw 2 tiny tiny monkey babies, baby pigs, baby pony, 2 baby tigers and this baby goat, 4 days old.

Grandpa was kind enough to "start" the horse so the kids could get a ride. Sage gave his little sweet face to lure the grandparents in...

The zoo had a little play area outside for kids, however it was right next to the monkey that throws pooh, yes throws it. Abby told us that he gets all happy, claps, makes some monkey noises, claps some more, runs around his cage and then chucks pooh through the fence. Sure enough, all of us staring at him got him excited and he threw his pooh. I tried to get in on film a second time but he was all poohed out...

Sage didn't want the little car to go away without him, so he hopped on top while Aspen drove it around.

The last night we were there, we opted not to go to a restaurant. We learned the night before that our kids don't do well sitting for a long period of time.. wait, they don't do well sitting still ever. So we thought grabbing a bite to eat and going to the park would be a good idea. It was until we got to the park and it started raining the minute we got out of the car. We decided to make it worth it anyway and we ate under the pavilion during a bad rain storm. Once the rain let up, the kids didn't mind the puddles and enjoyed a little water.

This is what my ride home looked like, in fact this is what it looks like most of the time when we go on a long distance drive...

Even the hubs

Again we had lots of fun in all the trips we took, sad that Dave and Abby don't live as close anymore. But soon enough we will be near them again!

Country Roads, Take me home...

2011-05-24T10:00:00.000-04:00

On May 12th we packed the car and headed to good old Morgantown WV. It was a special weekend for the Johnson family and an eye opener for me. Dave graduated from dental school!!

Our little family has made many trips to WV... From a dental interview, the birth of Aspen, thanksgivings (2 total), spring break to the birth of Chase. Needless to say we are now familiar with Morgantown and are sad to say goodbye.

We have always been a year behind Dave & Abby, in almost everything... school, marriage and kids, kind of weird... With Dave graduating, that means in a year Nate will be graduating from dental school, in a year we will be saying goodbye to Lexington, goodbye to our friends, our house, our life out here... It saddens me a great deal and I am sure Dave & Abby feel the same way about leaving their home, good old West Virginia!

Take me home- John Denver

We enjoyed all our vacations spent with Dave & Abby and are glad they were within driving distance. We are thankful we were able to see Dave graduate and with that, we enjoyed our last vacation in Morgantown, WV.

Congrats Dr. Dave!!

The seats filled quickly (this is not how full it was) but we were lucky enough to not have a lot of people in the back which left room for all the kids to run around and be wild.

The grads entering the room

If I am correct this part is called being "hooded". Brad and Dave were both hooded by Lynn. Only those who have a doctorate can hood. Some were hooded by school teachers, others were hooded by family- uncles, aunts, even a wife. What a special thing...

However because people complained here at UK, that they couldn't hood their own kids. UK no longer allows anyone but teachers to hood, Sadly Nate will not be hooded by his dad.

It's official, the graduate... Dr. David Johnson...

The grad and his supportive wife.

Here is Dave's graduating class and just in case you couldn't find Dave, I helped out a bit!

So proud of you Dave! Congrats and good luck working with all your siblings! JK...

Derby Mini Marathon...

2011-05-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

Well, all of our training is now officially over. The Derby Mini (makes is sound like it was so small) marathon has come and gone!

After we went to Louisville the day before to pick up our race packets we got home pretty late. We gathered together everything that we need for race day, set it aside and got some sleep. At 4:30 we got up bright and early and kept quiet as not to wake the kids or my friend who so kindly spent the night and watched our kids during the race. We snuck out of the house by 5 and headed back to Louisville on our 3rd one and half hour drive.

The sun finally started showing just as we were getting to Louisville and the nerves started setting in. Not only had I dropped a bottle of apple juice on my foot two days prior I had been getting a cold. I had woken up the last few morning with a rough voice and a semi sore throat, both were something I was going to have to work through.

I had asked a few others who had done the race previous years where to park and what not and I was told it gets crazy busy. We were lucky to find a spot right as we got off the freeway and only paid $3 to park there.

Here is our pre race photo in the parking lot! We pinned on our numbers, I tapped my legs, we grabbed our sunglasses and Ipods (which I had mine set to exactly 2:40 mins, that way if it stopped while I was running I knew I was in big big trouble and had totally passed my expected time) and went on our way.

I initially thought it was going to be cold enough for me to wear my long sleeve the entire if not most of the race, it was light enough that it shouldn't have bothered me through a run. I usually get really hot when I exercise but I really hate being cold and it was pretty nippy before the race. We made "pit stop" at the Marriot and then headed with the crowds towards the start line.

Nate wanted to look at all the Ethiopians who always run and win these things. So as we were walking to the back (we are E, it goes alphabetical, so were weren't back-back but we were pretty far back there), anyhow, we go over to look and Nate says "look there is Matt", and I'm not really paying attention and then I spot the ONLY white man in the front, to see a guy from our ward right in front as one of the "Elite Athletes" who gets front of the line. He finished 1:14 and ran a 5:42 min mile. Crazy fast!

We continue to walk back to our "spot" and the guns goes off. And all 11,000 some of people are basically walking forward and I'm starting to feel like cattle. We go through a gate and start watching bib numbers as they go buy looking for E's, Finally after the A's and B's go by C'd, D's and E's are starting to be all mixed together. So Nate and I kind of just jump in and start walking. Once we reach the official start line where your chip starts being timed, the crowd picks up and we start yogging, I mean jogging. You probably all don't get that...

For the first few miles, you really are like cattle. You just kind of going at the pace of everyone else, trying to stay out of the way of those who want to run faster and trying to enjoy what I know I wasn't going to be enjoying later. We ran the first 3 miles without stopping, which is pretty good considering I usually have to stop for a sec within the first 2. Oh and me being cold thing didn't turn out. I was instantly too warm within the first half a mile that I took my shirt off and rolled it up and tied it around my waste, remember it was light enough that it really didn't bother me.

So here is the race breakdown...

Mile 1 feeling good, just being shuffled like the cattle we are

By 2 I popped a cough drop because I didn't want to hack while running, turned into a disadvantage because it made me extremely thirsty.

Mile 4, finally got my water!

By mile 5 I am wondering when my body is going to get "numb", I'm not feeling it. I am starting to breathe heavy and was already at this point hoping that I was at mile 1o. Nate did a good job timing it all and we were making pretty good time (at this point), with my random and not so frequent (at the time), stops.

At 6 I felt a tap on my back as one of my friends runs past, of course I was taking a short walk. She totally killed all her previous times!

Mile 7 I started talking to myself in my head, trying to motivate myself, where as before I was just looking at things. I think by here, I had only stopped 4 times- sounds like a lot but it got worse and I stopped counting after this.

Mile 8 I told Nate that I was crying in my head. Mile 8 also happened to be in Church Hill Downs. I had never been there before and sadly didn't get to "look" around because I was trying not to be a big whimp.

Mile 9 I got a massive cramp in the arch of my right foot. I of course ran through it and it finally stopped hurting at mile 11. Mile was also the last of the stretch, one long long road before the finish approaches. Nate has timed us and we are almost to mile 10 and at 1:50. If we kick it into gear we can make a great time. I tell him that I will run the last 3 hard!

At mile 10 I could feel a slight pinching on the ball of my right foot. I was starting to get a blister. Which I have never had while running before and let me tell you, they don't start to feel better the long you run on them. I am panting and tell Nate to go, he stays!

By this point I had stopped numerous times since the start. Why do I stop? Honestly I don't know. I know my body can keep going. I really think its a mental thing and I sit there and argue with myself in my head and then I finally give in and say " okay you win, I'll stop for a sec" and like I said I stopped counting. Most, most- of my stops were because of this.

At 11 we were just being passed by a full marathoner, she was on 20- good for her! this was also when I had completely given up in my head. I figured we should have been on 12.5 by then, but we weren't even close. I felt dead, I was hurting mentally and psychically. My knees were starting to ache, my blister was on the verge of bursting, my shoulders felt heavy and I felt like I was dragging my feet. I am just starting to whimper and whine- out loud. I am mumbling relax over and over. I am not pushing it hard like I had said, I lied!

Mile 12 I have to stop numerous times. Nate is almost to the point he is physically pushing me. In order not to be touched by him- (I get really irritated when I run and I am too tired. I usually rip my head phones out, take my watch off and can't stand to feel my own sweat or be touched . I hate to have things touch me... weird.) So yea in order not to be touched like he says he is going to, I start running. The supporters are gathering on the streets and people are yelling "almost there". Someone yells out "5 more blocks", which apparently was like a billion more blocks to me. I am whining and groaning and begging, all out loud of course for the finish line. Nate is still pushing me, coaxing me, telling me to go. I feel like I have been on 12 for an eternity! I tell him to go, he stays!

We are getting close, round the final corner, I can see the great big finish banner. We both kick into high gear, sprinting, passing people as we are going. My legs feel like jello and don't really even feel like they are my legs, like they aren't really attached to me. I start to question if I am going to turf it and have a big giant pavement sandwich. People are in my way as I get to the chip timer, I step across and slow. I am done!

We continue through the mass of people to get our medals and load up on the food. I am dying of thirst and immediately down 2 bottles of water and 2 powerades. I begin eating from the moment the food is in my hand. I need energy or I may just fall down and die there. There are people everywhere, trash everywhere. We make our way through until we are out of the "celebration" area and head towards the car. We stop to stretch and both realize that we just ran 13 miles. 13 miles!!! I just ran 13 miles!!!

Shhhhhh- Don't tell! This is about mile 11 and as you can tell, it looks like we are speed walking, which we probably were and yes this is the best one they had of both of us.

Our after the race photo. My shorts are actually pants, I got so hot and "irritated" that I pulled them up because they were bothering me. Oh and the best part. My shin splint didn't hurt at all during the race, it was awesome!

The road behind us is the long road (mile 8.5 to 12.5) that we run down before running "5 more blocks" and turning into the finish.

Some other marathoners that I was glad wasn't me!

When Nate and I crossed the line, the time said 2:27. I was thrilled with just that, considering my goal time was 2:30. Every time I had trained I estimated my time at 2:30, about 11 min mile.

However later that night when we checked the times online, we were both a little surprised to see these as our times...

Even though it's only a few minutes shaved off what we thought we got, it still makes a big difference. The reason the delay is from the masses waiting to start before the crowd really got going. We ended up "starting" 4 minutes after the gun went off.

2 people finished in between Nate and I. Nate finished before me, but we still got the same time... We never ever ran without at least 20 people around us. Nate carried his Ipod in his hand the whole time and never listened to it, I played my ipod the entire time and only remember listening to 1 song and I don't even know what it was. Shows how much I was in my head. We kept pace with the crowd most of the time. I stopped way too many times. We can run a 10K (6 miles) in an hour, but would for sure run faster if thats all we were running. Our ward member friend finished the race at our half way mark. Nate could have had an under 2 hour race had he left me like I told him to. But he was a good husband and helped me beat my goal time. If not for him I would have walked the last 2 miles! Thank you Nate!

I could almost compare the race to giving birth once again like I did my first tri. I feel like so much more effort goes into exercising for 2 hours than pushing for 2. It was hard, as hard as I thought physically and much harder mentally. I really need to get out of my head and just run. Nate told me right after the race that I am a baby, in a loving way. And it's true I get to weak mentally that I totally let go. I've always had this perception that I have a high pain tolerance and I believe I do. But I fail when I give in to the baby in my head and she totally got the best of me the last 3 miles.

Nate might beg to differ about how long I whined but he was right. I was totally a baby. I mean I was almost crying real tears. It actually makes me really mad because I am not weak like that I was raised to not be weak, I was put in situations to be strong, to grow and to never give in, never show weakness and to never falter. And I totally gave up, I get irritated after races beause if I had just pushed myself a little harder I could have done better. Had I not stopped to rest so many times Nate and I could have finished a good 10-15 minutes earlier. That would have been awesome... I am not happy with my time... but, I can't forget that I actually did run 13 miles, I finished and I beat my expected time. Now I know I just need to try harder, train more and push myself next time I run... if there is a next time. (There will be, trust me)

Soreness after the race...

Yes, ma'am, morning after I was a bit sore. In fact my foot that had cramped made it almost impossible for me to walk on, esp with my blister being on the same foot. I limped around for a while and took some anti-inflammatory drugs. My legs were extra tight, my thighs and calves were achey. I was probably only sore for about 3 days, each day becoming less and less, but my left knee had just plain hurt since. Not achey hurt, I mean it hurts to bend, it hurts to sit with my legs folded under me, it hurts to flat out use. I am really hoping that I haven't started any issues with hurting knees for running now. My blister is gone, my arch is feeling better and my legs feel normal at this point.

I've also mentioned before I have a bad shin splint (right leg). It comes and goes and really sucks! I stretch, tape up and wear a compression sleeve every single time I run. If I don't, I hurt and sometimes I hurt even when I do all this. I may look like a retard but if my mind tells me it helps, so be it. This is what I normally look like, tape and sleeve. So just like any other time, I taped up, I think I taped it perfect for the race since it didn't bother me at all. My other foot I decided to tape my bruise so my shoe wouldn't rub on it...

I was trying to see if I could even get a picture of the bruise obviously you can barely tell it's even there. Did I already say how I got it? i dropped a bottle of apple juice on it 2 days prior. And like I said I taped it to help it, It hurt for a split second but I didn't notice the pain as I started hurting elsewhere. However...

This is what I saw when I unwrapped my foot. A nasty bled out bruise that was super tender.

Here are a few pictures of what the crazy storms have been doing, this is in Louisville. We noticed this the night before but couldn't get pictures. There is supposed to be a parking lot here and the Waterfront park. The entire park is under water as well as parts of the road that go along the banks. I read in the news that the water is up almost 28 feet. We were lucky we could still get on and off the freeway here. But that might change if it doesn't stop raining soon!

Packet Pick Up- Louisville...

2011-05-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately we had to drive to Louisville on Friday night to pick up our race packets. This wouldn't be such an issue if we didn't have to drive for an hour and half - one way to get them. So since we were going to distance... are you singing it? Probably not!. Since we were already there we decided to make a little trip out of it.

Here is where we picked up our packets at. Since there are so many people racing, this year they had 15,000 sign up, they sort you by your bib number. You find your name and then go to your number station to pick up your stuff. You then walk over to another table and pick up your shirt. After that they kind of wind you around the expo area to look at all the vendors and you have to work your way through people to get out. Since we have kids, we don't ever get to look. Oh well.

After we got our packets, we went back to the car, grabbed the strollers and headed on our way to explore downtown.

Paisley is always such an obedient little girl, even when she knows she can walk, she doesn't mind sitting in the stroller.

The place where they have the "bars" so to say, is pretty cool. They have a few famous places under this cool skylight. You have to be 21 to enter and you can leave with any beverages. Everyone we saw going into the area was being ID'd (yes I looked it up, its a word) and we thought that perhaps we wouldn't be able to go in because we had these "leeches" jk, turns out he didn't ID us at all.

We walked around the area for a bit, looking at the buildings and the weird people, enjoying ourselves as we went.

We found a few waterfalls along our walk that of course Sage was in love with. He had to touch the water.

He also had to sit on the escalator. Yes he likes to sit on them, we probably shouldn't let this happen, but as you can tell, there is a lack of a parenting example.

We had a few tantrums because Sage couldn't get on the tractors or other vehicles we saw around.

We had some more tantrums because he didn't want to sit in his stroller or couldn't get on the horse and then we realized that it was 8, his bed time. Darn summer light tricks us!

We were able to walk around some really big buildings, not something we see very often. There is just something different about bigger cities. Living in a small one is sure weird sometimes!

We had fun being down there, got turned around trying to find the place we needed to go and ended up in the ghetto. We were without a doubt the only white people for a few blocks.

We headed back home for another long drive with screaming kids, gathered our gear and went to bed to only return 8 hours later.

Heart and Sole Tri...

2011-05-14T10:15:00.000-04:00

I'm about 3 weeks late posting this... why? Because I was waiting for the tri's website to post photos, which hasn't happened and not posting this puts me behind on posting other events. So I figured it was time.

On April 16th Nate and I completed our second triathlon, the Heart and Sole.

Nate and his brother Dave did this one last year, they both did amazing and enjoyed it. So of course Nate wanted to do it again and I decided I would join.

This was NOTHING like the first tri I did. I wasn't nervous, I didn't get "that" feeling and I didn't feel like I was die. Here is the break down...

Triathlon details-

400 yard swim, 15 mile bike and 3 mile run

We had been having crazy weather (tornados happened a few days after this) and the weather people said Saturday was going to by sunny and dry. They were wrong. When we pulled up in the parking lot, the sky was cloudy, the wind was starting and rain was coming. We put out stuff on the racks, made sure we had everything we needed set out how we wanted it and then covered it with our rain coats.

We stripped down to our suits/tri clothing. Most people were wearing tri shorts and a tri tank, like we were, however there were some girls there wearing a sports bra and little undies, weird.

Since the swim part was in a pool (thank goodness) everyone gathered inside the rec center. We lined up according to number and you were numbered according to how fast you swam. When we signed up I registered myself for the slowest swim time possible, this was a mistake. Anyhow, we lined up around the edge of the pool. Nate was a good hundred people in front of me so I was able to watch him swim and cheer him on. They let people start the swim every fiver seconds per number, where there were numbers missing, meaning people who didn't show the still let 5 seconds go. There were good 3 or 4 people in front of me missing, I thought this would help me.

I watch Nate start swimming his laps (you swim down and back in one lane and then go under the rope and down and back until you swim all 8 lanes). He gets close to were I am standing, I cheer him on. Pretty sure he can't hear me because he has an ear plug in one ear and its pretty loud in there with all the other families cheering on. The line continues to move on and pretty soon I am in the water waiting. I also have ear plugs in and can't tell if she has said to go or not. Since there were those people missing in front of me and the time they add for that, which I was unaware of at the time. I thought I missed her saying go. Finally I heard her and started on my way...

Anxiety kicks in and I start breathing really heaving. I catch up to the person in front of me within a matter of seconds. I passed her at the wall and continue swimming my way. Apparently I tire very fast doing freestyle and when that happens I flip over to my back. I would say more than half I swam on my back, I realize I am faster this way and really start pushing myself. I catch up to more people, trying to burst past them. It proves to be difficult because this sometimes made the lane 3 wide, 2 going my way and one come coming the other. There was even a spot where I was trying to pass 2 people going my direction at the same time. I am finally in the last lane, now telling myself to relax and breath slower. I get to the end, touch the wall. There is a woman in front of me using the ladder to get out, I just pull myself out of the pool from the side. I passed 2 men and 3 women, plus the lady at the very end. I mentioned it was a mistake that I used the slowest swim time. Passing people took, seconds I am sure, that add up off of my time.

Soaking wet, I run out to the bike. It's now raining and extremely windy. Two late register men follow behind me and are saying they were not in a hurry because they wanted to be dry for the bike, I just tell myself to keep going. I do a quick dry, tie up my shoes, put on my warming jacket which instantly soaks up all the water and hop on the bike. I start on a trail, where I quickly pass a woman trying to bike on her mountain bike/beach bike looking thing, poor girl! As soon as you leave the rec center park you are immediately are directed onto a road. From there it's good old kentucky roads winding all over the place with the normal hills here and there. Those hills prove to about kill me but the down side gave me a good recovery.

After you travel most of the miles in the back country, we finally get into town. We are now riding on busy roads where cars are also currently driving. There are cops at each light, who see you coming, stop all traffic and let you through. The roads are busy, which meant I had to weave in and out of traffic. Finally get onto the road that will lead back to the rec center. The winds are blowing and really slowing me down. At one point I was leaning into the wind to stop from tipping over. I'm really starting to tire, my legs are getting soar trying to keep the pace I had. The head wind is strong. I start talking to myself out loud "push it", Yea I know I am lame. One more little spring up a slight incline to the rec center. I pass my 5th person on the bike course. (Not to mention the two guys talking about being wet passed me).

I pull up to the bike racks and Nate is patiently waiting for me. It's no surprise that he is already done. He was those hundred people a head of me, plus he is faster. He has been sitting there for nearly twenty minutes. I pull in, get off the bike and immediately feel the jello legs again. How I hate that feeling. The bike is on the rack and I start hobbling towards the run course. Nate is nice enough to follow and run the entire 5k run again. We start on a paved path but ultimately run the course on grass/dirt/gravel. My legs are not kicking into gear. I am slow, almost walking. I stop a few times, Nate continues to push me, telling me to go, giving me spots to start running. I am once again talking out loud, I am sure Nate things I am psycho at this point. He tells me the end is near and to finish it running. We finally get to the parking lot where the finish is. No big huge finish banner, just a few people, one who calls out your number, one who gets your timing chip and one who records. And thats it!

It's still raining, windy and cold. We grab a quick pick me up snack, head back to get our gear and back to the car. We head home...

Later that night we check the results. We both beat our previous times.

Nate's time- 1:21:07 beat last years by 4 min

My time- 1:44:02 beat last tri time by 8 min

Nate bib number 163, took 3rd in his division and 48th overall

His time were-

Swim- 7:14

Transition 1- 1:53

Bike- 51:42

Transition 2- 1:09

Run- 19:06

My bib number 277, I also took 3rd in my division, (Yeah me), but got 139th overall (boo).

Here are my times-

Swim- 9:20

Transition 1- 2:23

Bike- 1:04

Transition 2- :43

Run- 27:04

We both enjoyed this tri. It was really fun doing a sporting event together and we are both really happy that we beat our previous times. And I am really thankful Nate re-ran the course to help me along.

Oh Crepe...

2011-05-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

How I love thee!

Nate wants me to stop blogging about food... so fine I will go out with a bang!

By far the best breakfast I have EVER had! I've always liked crepes but have been such a big baby in trying to make them. In fact I have never made them because I thought I couldn't. I get a food magazine in the mail and this month's issue had a recipe for crepes, so I decided I would tackle the crepe challenge and make them!

Peanut butter, marshmallow cream and bananas!

Turns out I can't make them. My attempt on the first turned out too thick and I broke it when I went to flip it. As I was making number 2, the crepe master came to take over. Since Nate served his mission in Switzerland, crepes were something he became very familiar with.

Crepe Recipe- Makes 16ish (We made two batches, thats how good they were)

1 1/2 cups of 2%milk ( I used whole)

4 eggs

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

butter

Whisk together milk and eggs. Add salt, flour and sugar. Mix well, refrigerate for 1 hour.

melt butter on medium heat in 8 in skillet ( we used cooking spray) pour batter into center of pan, about 2 or so Tbsp. Lift pan and tilt until batter has thinned by covering bottom evenly. Cook until top appears to be dry. Flip and cook for another 15-20 seconds. Remove to wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter. Eat as you make them or stack with paper towels in between until served.

Ideas for filling-

Nutella- chocolate filling, Nate used Choco Duo on his mission.

can add strawberries, cherries, etc to that

Peanut butter, marshmallow cream and bananas, add nuts if you like.

Cheese and ham

Jam

Lunch meats or left over dinner.

The possibilities are endless... really!

Mmmm. I'm craving some now!

Flashback- Funny Family Photos...

2011-05-06T10:00:00.004-04:00

Well here I am again, making a post that our family wished I wouldn't.

If you don't know what I am referring to please take a look back at this post here. A post where I highlighted the best pictures of our family.

So, here is another post for family, friends, dental gals and everyone else, the best of the worst.

I actually think this first picture is pretty darn cute, but check out the hair styles...

Nothing wrong with sweats under your shorts and the polygamist daughter wearing a turtle neck in the back, we have no sense of style!

Really Abby? On Santa's lap?

Lets just start with Dave and Abby...

I think Abby hooked herself up to the IV for the meds...

Classic face Abs

Mmmmoney!

The best part about this picture, aside from the boob groping is that their arms are in the wrong holes. Maybe not funny to you, but funny to me!

Don't let Dave get too close to you, he has a serious obsession with smelling hair, its kind of creepy.

Dave and Andrea

Dave you look really young, glad you decided the mullet wasn't in style anymore.

Nate fresh off the mission... and some more droopy eyes.

Why are old pictures just so funny to look at?

You know sometimes I just don't have a comment for photos.

The next few pictures are highlighting the "Lynn squint"

Except for this one, this is the deer in the headlights.

How old IS this picture?

Um grandma and grandpa, Du rags are NOT for white people!

This is not so unusal for Lynn, but more an unusual spot.

Unfortunately I wasn't here for this little experience but thankfully whoever was taking the pictures had the camera on continuos shooting.

Please tell me why it takes 4 small children to help an adult on a floatie?

One adult.... finally up now lets try for two...

oh wait... nope, not yet.

Your lucky Ruthann, I forgot to load your photo. Glad they all had a good laugh, wish I was there!

Check out that air...

There is something really wrong with the family dynamics here.

Nerds

Yea ladies, he was single back then. Wonder why we are all surprised he wasn't the first to marry...

(glad he waited for you Aisha!)

Note to self, don't look up when someone is taking a picture...

uhhhh..... the life of luxury

Now you know the family secret, they were training to be ninjas, now they are dentists.

I'm not so sure you two should be holding those kids.

Again not unusual for Lynn or Nate

This was only 5 years ago... what are we, thirteen? Okay maybe not me but Nate, come on, you look seven.

A lovely picture of the right side of the table

I suppose it's Thad's turn.

Now pictures of Thad are rare, well smiling pictures anyway. So when we get them, we keep them, but apparently we keep that bad ones too.

Gotta love spandex

Super cute!

Besides the fact that Meredith is apparently made from wax and Kim and Andrea are pretty darn pale, I posted this one because Kim is wearing her body bug, it's like an extra extremity to her, always wearing it for her calories or to make it look like she works out...

Yes, if you didn't know Kim is a biker, in fact she is super fast and can pull out some sweet maneuvers, here she is sliding across the finish beating those hundreds of bikers behind her. (body bug included!)

I think I probably should stop since I have a billion photos on here...

Again, sorry family, but I'm not really that sorry.

Like I said I've done it before and I will probably do it again, and again.

Oh and lesson learned here people... DELETE YOUR BAD PHOTOS or you can post them for fun!