First 5K

On Thursday, I completed my very first 5K! I thought it was on July 24th not June 24th so I was very unprepared physically and mentally. I figured since I was so unprepared, I would go walk it and give myself a time to beat at my next 5K in August. David and Jeff walked with me, so it was nice. The route went around the Nature Park, so there were tons of mosquitoes. That was not my favorite. :) We ended up running across the finish line because we came around the corner and saw that we had 45 seconds until 50 minutes. We ran and ended up across the finish line just before 50 minutes. My goal for August is to finish in 40 minutes. I'm not a fan of running, and I am not thinking I'm an athlete who can finish in 25 minutes. I am setting a realistic goal which is still 10 minutes faster than my time. The funniest part about the whole thing was when we checked in and were given our shirts and water bottles, they told us that we were both random winners. (We had a number on the bottom of our water bottles) David and I went to see what we had won, and I was excited that I won a womens jacket. Then we looked to see what David won.....a womens jacket! It was SO funny! The jacket is actually really nice and says Ogden Regional in the corner very discretely on the pocket. I figure I'll wear it camping. For $10 each we both received a shirt, a water bottle, a granola bar, and a womens jacket. You just can't beat that! I won't tell you it was a fun experience, but it was nice to be able to enjoy one of Davids hobbies with him.

Fathers Day Date

David has been wanting me to hike Indian Trail for quite some time now so that I could see the cabin that my step dad built. I've seen pictures, but I haven't seen it in person. I haven't been able to get out and exercise until about 4 months ago because I had a thyroid problem that was onset by my pregnancy. I figured I would surprise him by telling him I'd hike with him to see it. It wasn't a great idea to start at 11:00 since I overheat really easy, but that is when we started. We saw 9 lizards on the trail and heard about 20 more scamper into the bushes. Here's a picture of us feeling good toward the beginning of the hike.

Me with a view

We hiked for about an hour before I got too hot. I tried to make it but since I'm a tad out of shape, we started late, and I overheat easily we had to turn around. I tried to plan ahead and wear flip flops so that my feet didn't get hot, but as you can see they still got really hot. They actually got more red than this a little later on.

We then headed to the UMFA down in Salt Lake so that we could view the Mexican art for a diversity homework assignment David had to do for school. I know it sounds like a drag, but it was very interesting. There was art from many different countries and one of our favorite parts was seeing a full samurai suit. David loves going to art exhibits so it was an assignment he didn't mind doing. After the art exhibit we headed for dinner, and a movie. David wanted Chinese, which was weird because usually he picks Famous Daves every chance he gets. After dinner, we went and saw the movie Grown-ups. It was SOO funny. I think it was so hilarious because a lot of the humor was about marriage and parenting. Plus, who can argue with a star filled cast? I loved the song at the end when the credits were rolling that Adam Sandler wrote about his own dad. All in all we had a great time together, it's always nice to be able to go out for a day without the kids.

First Movie

The girls haven't ever been to a movie theater before and tonight we finally took them! We told them we were going on an adventure and Kadence thought that meant we were going into the woods to eat ice cream. How she got that idea? I have no idea. When we bought our Toy Story DVD/Blu Ray Combo Packs (For $9 each) we got a free movie ticket in them...and so did Uncle Jeffy. So, since Shelby is free we didn't pay a dime to go see Toy Story 3!! Here is the group walking into the Megaplex.

Daddy walking with the girls into the already dark theater. They were both a little nervous. It was too loud for Kadence and Shelby had no idea where we were going.

I told you it was too loud! She sat like this for most of the movie, but usually with a HUGE smile on her face. She loved it! David and I also enjoyed it, way cute movie!

I told you Shelby was nervous! She always puts her finger to the side of her eye when she gets nervous. If she's REALLY nervous she does it with both fingers next to both eyes. She sat like this for most of the movie only she didn't have a big smile like her sister. She actually was pretty freaked out in parts of it. She doesn't like suspenseful music or scary things and there is quite a bit of that in this movie.

Here are the girls next to the Toy Story 3 display.

The family leaving the theater. We had a great time!

Welcome Shelby!

These are some pictures from when Shelby was born.

Mommy and Shelby

Daddy bringing Kadence in to meet her new sister!

Daddy introducing his girls to each other

Daddy feeding Shelby

My little COW! When I held her for the first time in the operating room, I said "Wow you're a cow!" And the nurse looked at me like I was the worst mom ever. Kadence was so tiny by the time I got to hold her that Shelby seemed huge. Then she peed on the floor in the OR so we thought we'd nickname her puddles. Then when David was washing her hair she made a face that looked like Yoda and he called her Yoda....again the nurse didn't find the humor. We didn't care what we called her, she was healthy! After bringing her home I called her Delby Doo or Shelby Delby Doo.

One of my favorite pictures of Daddy and Shelby. He was so excited!

Summer Camp Sadness

This is kind of going to be a whiny blog, I'm trying to warn you so that you don't get annoyed. :)

A lady who used to live in our ward runs a preschool. She moved to Roy and she moved her preschool with her. I debated bringing Kadence there, but decided I wouldn't want to make the drive in the winter so I put her in a preschool at Ben Lomond which is blocks away. I was a little bummed because she is absolutely AMAZING with kids and does so many fun things with them. She then let me know she was going to be running a summer camp. It would run from today through the end of July. I was SO excited that Kadence would finally be able to play with Teacher Chistel.

Unfortunately, Kadence will still be in cast. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, except she overheats very quickly and can only do about 15-20 minutes outside most days. She was originally going to be getting her cast off on July 1st so we signed her up for camp. Shriners then let us know that we would have to wait until July 21st, so we had to pull her out of camp. (She could tough out 2 classes, but not the whole camp) I hate that our summer is stuck inside, I hate that we can't play in the pool or the sprinklers, I hate that we can't just go on a hike when we want to, I hate that Kadence is getting heat rashes from her cast, and I hate that my poor princess who loves the outdoors has to be kept inside or drug inside after she has barely had a chance to play. This next month is going to be a long one and it is already wearing on mom and dad! Depending on the day, we are able to play outside in the morning for quite a bit longer which is nice.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are far worse things and I have seen them first hand. I would take our trial over anyone else's. I am thankful to have Kadence be as healthy as she is, despite what the doctors thought. I know that there are kids who sit in the hospital day in and day out and I know how truly blessed we are to be in the comfort of our own home. I know there are many brightsides to our trial, but for just one post I want to be able to say THIS SUCKS!

Moab

David has been wanting to go to Moab since we were dating. I am not a huge fan of being hot....ok, my body isn't a fan. I get really sick when I get hot so I haven't ever wanted to go. I finally found a cabin this year that had air conditioning in it so I figured I would give him his trip to Moab, he deserves it. Cabin is what they call it, I call it a box with air conditioning. We still had to hike to the bathrooms, and get our water, etc. I don't mind those things though, just the heat. I was raised camping and can handle the bugs and stinky outhouses. David insisted that we stopped at Maverik on our way out because it's "Adventures First Stop."

Then we went to Carls Jr to get breakfast. They have the best biscuits with strawberry jam in them. I didn't know how big they were so we ordered 6....3 would have been plenty for us.

The night before we left, David came in and told me his tire was flat. I just about died because I thought he was talking about his car tire not his bike tire. After he calmed me down he patched his tire and noticed that the wheel had a wobble. He said he would just get it "trued" in Moab and I insisted he did it before we left Ogden. So the morning we were leaving we went to Sports Authority where he usually goes. The guy told us that we could come pick up the tires the next day so we told him that we needed them now. He said he couldn't do that....even though it has only taken 20 minutes the other time we did it.

So we went to Canyon Sports. They were able to do it in about 5 minutes and charged us less for both tires than it costs to do one tire at Sports Authority. Lesson learned, Canyon Sports it is from now on. So now we were about 2 hours late getting on the road, but it was nice to just take our time and enjoy the time without the girls.

I had no idea that the trip to Moab included a canyon, and I just about died. I get car sick and I wasn't prepared for that. Luckily it wasn't too long before we were able to get out and walk around. The drive was beautiful, and I liked just having the two of us in the car. When we got to Moab I realized we only had roaming service. I almost made David turn around and come home, but figured I could facebook to check on the girls. After a minute we got T-mobile service and I was so relieved. I call to check on the girls every few hours when we are just in Salt Lake so I couldn't imagine not calling when we were that far away. We got there and went souvenir shopping. We could have spent hundreds of dollars there....if we had it. :) We then realized it was 7 and we hadn't eaten dinner yet. David got the fire started.

And I sat and watched him....for a minute before helping.

Killing time while dinner cooked.

We enjoyed the time together and played cards, and watched some episodes of The Office before going to bed. We woke up to a down pour of rain. Who goes to Moab in June and has it rain? Honestly we were so bummed. The whole reason we wanted to go was so David could ride slickrock, and we could hike to Delicate Arch. I decided we could go sight see in Arches National Park in the rain. So we did. The sky was so gloomy for most of it. It did stop raining for a while so we went back to camp, changed our shoes and headed to slickrock. We were hoping it would stay dry long enough.

David on Slickrock

Me on Slickrock. I decided Slickrock wasn't for me since I haven't ever ridden on a trail before in my life. It was a tad intense for me. I went back to the car, locked up my bike, and hiked in to the exit to meet David.

He finished!! He said it was easier then he expected, but still very hard. He thinks I could have made it alright if I walked my bike through most of it.

Here is me. It was so beautiful to sit and wait for him at the trail exit. I was able to just sit and enjoy the quiet all by myself and enjoy the view.

By the time he was done riding, the skies looked gorgeous! We figured we better go straight to Arches to hike to delicate while the weather was good. On the way up I realized how out of shape I really am. It was a little depressing and I wasn't quite sure we were going to make it to the top. Since I had a thyroid problem since having Shelby I haven't been able to exercise. Now that it is under control I am able to exercise, but have just started so it was again a little intense for me. We asked a fellow hiker to take our picture and she had to be the only person who didn't even understand English on the trail. She handed the camera to her husband who then took our picture and said, "Iz dat gud?" It was pretty funny.

We finally made it....I made it!! I was so proud of myself! It was way worth it, and SO beautiful. We had to wait until I got a picture without anyone under the arch which took some time. I had packed plenty of snacks so we just ate while I tried to get a good picture. I finally succeeded.

This is us under the arch

I NEVER really wear shoes, my feet get way too hot which makes me overheat. I am almost always in flip flops. I knew my mom would kill me if she found out I wore flip flops to hike in, so I had worn shoes. My feet were way too hot so I decided to hike down without shoes on....sshhh don't tell my mom. :)

I was way surprised that David actually joined me in my barefoot adventure.

My favorite rock up there, Balanced Rock.


hen we got back to our car, it wouldn't start. Luckily the person who parked next to us was in charge of a Priests Quorum and told us he would help jump our car if we could find jumper cables. David was able to find a park ranger and we were able to get on our way. It wasn't even 10 minutes later that it was down pouring again. What great luck! It cleared up long enough for us to do the two things we went for. When we were in town to buy jumper cables there was a huge ruckus on Main Street. There were 5 fire engines and a truck that said fire on it. We think a building got hit by lightning.

I decided that I missed my babies too much to stay another night. I have been away from them and not had a problem, but not THAT far away from them. I knew they were in great hands, but if something were to happen it would take me hours to get to them and I just couldn't handle it anymore. I figured we were just going to be leaving in the morning anyway so why not head out a little early so I could see my babies? Maybe one day I'll be able to leave them. I swear I can't wait to get away from them until I'm away and then I miss them like crazy! Overall it was a really great trip and I can't wait to go back when I am in a little better shape. (Next time we'll bring the kids though I think)

Fathers Day Treat

Ok, I was again influenced by my friend Andrea who had posted these cute brownies on her blog. I am just so lucky to have creative friends! You make the brownies as directed on the box and put them in foil cupcake wrappers in a cupcake tin. There aren't directions on how long to bake them, but I did mine for 30 minutes at 325 degrees. You then sprinkle orange sugar sprinkles on the brownies to make it look like the embers. With chocolate icing you put stripes on the brownies to make it look like a grill and then add grill marks to the food. WA LA a tasty treat for dad! David loved them since brownies and BBQ's are two of his favorite things.

For hot dogs I cut Mike and Ikes in half

For hamburgers I balled up chocolate taffy and then smashed it flat

Andrea did the hot dogs, plus pork chops and kabobs
For pork chops you shape the square carmels into the pork chop shape

For the kabobs you put layered pieces of carmel, and cut up gum drops on a toothpick

GREAT idea Andrea...Keep them coming!!!

Kadence's First Dance Recital

Kadence was SO excited for her first dance recital. She kept telling me that she would get up on stage and we would have to yell, "Go Kadence!" She also requested that we make her a sign like we did when her Aunt Sage ran the Ogden half marathon. She told just about anyone who would listen about her bumblebee dance, including cashiers at Wal-mart. Make-up was a whole new experience, since she doesn't really see me put it on she had no idea what I was trying to do to her. We figured it out eventually. I got her ready for her pictures and dress rehearsal and she looked so cute I had to take a few pictures myself.

Now we are to the big day! She was so so so excited to arrive at the High School where she would FINALLY see the stage.

Uncle Jeffy found Shelby a bumblebee skirt so that she didn't feel left out. When Kadence got her outfit Shelby kept telling us, "I be a bumblebee too!" We told her she could wear a fairy costume when she got home and with the saddest look on her face she said, "I don't want a fairy, I want a bumblebee."

From Davids side of the family we had Grandma and Grandpa Joy, Aunt Eileen, Aunt Barb, Uncle Curtis, Uncle Jeffy, Aunt Sage, Uncle Jason, Daddy, Mommy and Shelby.

From my side of the family we had Uncle Jase, Aunt Amanda, Aunt Rachel, Cousins: Katlyn, Kalli, Jacey and David.

Here is Kadence with her cousin Savannah after the dance. We had to put Kadence in a black shirt because her bright pink cast didn't quite go with the yellow/black pattern of the bumblebee. We figured people would think we were just very concerned about modesty. :)

I can't get blogger to upload the video of the dance, I have tried for a few days in a row. Just imagine the funniest/cutest thing EVER! Kadence got on stage, shook her little butt and loved every minute of it!

David and I bought her a rose which Shelby thought was for her so we bought one for each girl. :) Grandma and Grandpa bought her a bouquet of beautiful flowers that they gave her after. She was so excited and felt so important! We also went as a family to Costa Vida to eat lunch to celebrate how well she was going to do. (We were going to go after she performed but it didn't start until 7 so we thought that would be a little late for dinner. I'm glad since it didn't get over until 9.) She always wants to sit and eat in the restaurant and watch the kids do the flowrider, but we always just get take out. We figured it was a special occasion so we sat at a table to eat. The girls did really well which was surprising because usually Shelby just wants down. She had her Sprite, and her show (Flowrider) so she was perfectly content to just sit nice. There were other kids that drove us absolutely crazy! Ok, it wasn't them necessarily it was their moms who were letting them run around, jump on chairs, pull out all the napkins and fling them on the floor, get out the wet floor sign, break the wet floor sign, play tag around the tables and be so incredibly noisy that it gave me a headache. They just sat there and chatted. One of the older kids even told their mom that the younger one broke the wet floor sign and all she had to say was, "Well, were is she?" Then she went back to talking without even finding out were her 3 ish year old was. I was mortified when they left and left every mess the kids made. I'm glad my girls were so good, and I'm glad I had other kids there to remind me how good my girls were. :) Of course they got excited and noisy from time to time and Kadence may have made a small mess on the table, but we had a really good outing as a family.

Fathers Day

Ok, I have to be totally honest and upfront right away. I stole this idea from my friend Andrea. It was just so stinkin' cute I couldn't resist. It took me quite a while to get some half decent pictures with Shelby in them. As most of you know she has a mind of her own. She may look cute as can be, but she is a monster! It's actually very nice to have her counter Kadence who is such a good natured kid. It adds for some unplanned excitement. Anyways, back to the project. You just need 3 frames of whatever size you want to do. (I did 5x7) You can get the frames individually or get one of the frames that has 3 connected picture frames. I got my frames at Roberts for $2.45 each. They were on an end of an isle and were originally 2 for $7, but all frames are 30% off right now. Then you cut out the D and the A from cardboard. You only need to cut one D and just use it twice. Andrea did her letters bigger, I just knew I wouldn't be able to get the whole letter in the picture with Shelby. (It was hard enough as it was. You should see the pictures that didn't make the frame!) You go print the pictures put them in the frame and you have a heart warming present for daddy! I did mine within 3 hours including the shopping and we just had to show daddy our surprise right away! He absolutely LOVED it!

The Giving Tree

Last night for family night David decided he wanted to read the girls his favorite book, The Giving Tree. We then talked about how we should do nice things for others because when we make others happy it makes us happy. We struggle to try to fit in a lesson for family night most of the time because of the ages of the girls. We figure if we get into the habit of doing an activity and a snack we will be able to add a lesson as the girls gain an attention span. Kadence loves the idea of family night!!

(Truthful Journal Warning)

So, reading The Giving Tree was a little bittersweet for me. I love that David wants to share his favorite book with the girls and I also love that he enjoys reading to them. It is such an important thing for children to be read to, and nobody better than dad to do it! The part that makes it a little hard for me is that when I was pregnant with our first baby, I gave David the book for Fathers Day. I knew it was his favorite and I knew he would want to pass on his love of books to his children. Unfortunately, we never got to meet our baby because the pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage at 11 weeks. (It happened just like in the movie Marley and Me.) We were young, unwed, nervous, yet so excited for our first ultrasound of our little baby. We were starting our family, who wouldn't be excited? We stared at the screen while the Dr got some measurements. He then looked at us and told us that our baby was only measuring 8 weeks and that there was no heartbeat. At first we didn't totally understand what he was telling us because we hadn't ever done this before. We quickly realized that our baby had stopped developing. He gave each of us an ultrasound picture to keep. David placed his in the back of The Giving Tree. As he turned the last page last night I saw the picture and was reminded of one of our many trials we have gone through together. (Not that I'll ever forget, just made the memory fresh in my mind) I'm so grateful that he has always been so strong and supportive, I have the best husband a girl could ask for.

Fishing

My sister let us know about free fishing day and since Uncle Curtis bought the girls their first fishing poles for Shelbys birthday we figured we would take the girls to the river to try them out. We weren't expecting much, but figured it would be a fun family activity.

Daddy helping Shelby

Uncle Jeffy helping Kadence

Kadence trying her hardest to catch a fish

Shelby eventually gave up on fishing because, "It's too hard" and handed the pole off to daddy so she could throw rocks.

Kadence dipping her toes in the river

David got a little tug on Shelby's line so we had Kadence come over and reel it in. She was SO excited that she caught her very first fish!! David was surprised that their little princess poles actually caught something. What a proud daddy!!!

Shelby dipping her toes in the river

The family and the fish

After we went fishing, we came home to make some s'mores. The girls LOVE making them, and it is easy enough done since we have a fire pit in our backyard. While we waited for daddy to make a fire, we looked at the stars. Uncle Jeffy was telling Kadence some of the different constellations and she very quickly came up with her own constellation called, "Boobala." She had us all laughing so hard.

Here is a video of Kadence's excitement. Notice how Shelby doesn't stay long to look at the fish before running back to throw more rocks.