Dust off your running shoes

If you are reading this and you live in Central Ohio it's time to get out your running shoes and get ready to Leap for the Ligers. Yes, that's right, it's not a typo, I said Ligers.

In 5 weeks, on August 2nd, the 3rd annual Leap for the Ligers 5k will be held at Griggs Reservoir.

Why, oh why am I posting about the Liger run? Maybe because my husband is the race director and it's going to be the most awesome race ever. The race will benefit the scouts in our ward, boy scout troop 449.

I'm giving you 5 weeks notice so there is plenty of time to prepare. And if you click here you can register online and get all the info you could possibly need. Talk about easy smeasy.

You know that I'm really talking to all you Riverside and Hillard Ward people (and a few up in Worthington and Powell). Just because you are unfortunate and not in our ward, it doesn't mean you can't join us in doing some good for these boys.

And if supporting a good cause isn't enough of a reason for you to come out, then come for the totally awesome T-shirt you'll be getting. Everyone (and by everyone I mean all the cool people) will have one and you'll feel pretty left out if you don't. You can also come and kick my fanny - trust me, it won't be hard to do.

And just in case you were wondering what a Liger is:

Up a Tree

I thought the kids were playing in the sandbox while I was making dinner...



I sure am glad we built a fence so the kids could go out and safely play by themselves.




I really wasn't all that surprised by finding Myles up the tree. He's been a climber ever since he could move, and if there's trouble anywhere, he always finds it. He keeps me on my toes and I love him for it!

Finally

There are a few sacrifices our kids are forced to make due to their daddy being the Young Men's President in our ward. He is gone to meetings every Sunday morning, he has weekly activities, he spends time planning lessons and activities, and he occasionally is gone to firesides, dances, and camp outs. But, the one that I dread the most, (AKA: the big kicker) is high adventure. Today Mike just got back from 3 days (usually it's 6, but he couldn't stay the entire time) of high adventure with our youth. Mike loves being with his boys and had a great time, but he was missed terribly at home. We didn't have any contact with him until he was in his car driving home today. Here is Morgan talking to daddy on the phone. As you can see, she was thrilled to hear daddy's voice.

Myles, however, had a difference response to hearing daddy's voice. He was so good over the past few days, but I could tell he missed his dad. As soon as he heard Mike's voice all his emotions surfaced. He started bawling into the phone and between crying and gasping for air he'd scream dad-dyyy. It looks sad, but it really was sweet.

After we hung up the phone Myles couldn't get control of himself. He just sat there and cried for a few minutes. Morgan kept trying to comfort him with hugs and by reassuring him that daddy was on his way home. I could tell this wasn't working and I needed something to take his mind off daddy. So we decided to make......

Cookies. It worked! The crying stopped and the eating began. Cookies always make me feel better too.

Then we went out for a walk until daddy came home. We were down the street when the car pulled in and the kids couldn't get home fast enough.

We are so glad to have you back babe! We missed you bunches.

One thing I do like about high adventure is that Mike comes back looking all scruffy. He's so sexy. (He's going to kill me for saying that, but oh well).

Happy 4th Birthday Morgan

It's hard to believe that 4 years ago today my little 5 lb 13 oz baby girl entered the world.
Mike wanted to be surprised at the birth, so we didn't find out the sex of the baby until her birthday. We both were so excited when they said, "It's a GIRL!"

Here she is on her one year birthday. And yes that's me at the age of 25 looking like I'm 12 with braces. (I had braces the entire time I was pregnant with Myles... I just wanted to look as awkward as I possibly could.)

Morgan at 2

Morgan at 3

Here are some pictures from Morgans 4th Birthday party we had today. Her friends came over and we played "Don't Eat Pete". One person leaves the room and the rest of the group picks one of the M&M's on the board to be Pete. Then the person comes back and starts eating the candy, when they pick up "Pete" the group yells, "Don't Eat Pete". Then their turn is over. They were cracking me up.

I decided to go easy on cake this year. We had cupcakes inside of colored ice cream cones. When I first saw them online, I was worried they wouldn't cook good, but they turned out great.

Then they played on the water slide. Morgan decided she just wanted to sit at the top and watch everyone else go down. When she gets like that there is only one thing to do....

give her a push. I love her face in this picture; she was terrified. Once she hit the bottom she wanted to go again and again.

The kids had some trouble waiting their turn in line, but overall it was a huge hit.

Happy Birthday Sweetie-bug! We love you!

Sisters

I LOVED seeing my sisters while we were in Utah. We are all very similar... We are all within half an inch of each other, it can be hard to tell our voices apart, we cough the same, all of us (except for Brooke) have some compulsive tendencies, we all love being stay-at-home moms, when we are sitting around the table chatting we fold whatever is around (napkins, straw wrappers, paper) until there are perfectly symmetrical lines up and down and across it (I did mention compulsive behavior right?), and we love playing games. The list could really go on for a while.

But being there reminded me of the unique things about each of them that I love.

This is my twin sister Brooke. I love being around her because she is so easy-going. Everyone is comfortable around her and feels welcome in her home. She would do anything for anyone and at times she is too nice for her own good. She has a matching necklace for almost every shirt she owns. When she sneezes, you can hardly hear her. She holds it in and after she sneezes (when it's quiet), people look around thinking "what in the world was that". She loves to cook and is good at it!! She loves to throw parties in her enormous house and is a great hostess.


This is Mindy. You can't be around Mindy and not have fun. She is good at everything she does. She especially loves to play games because she's good at them and it strokes her competitive ego. She has some funny, but endearing mannerisms; like she sticks her tongue out and licks the gutter of her soda can every time she takes a sip. She owns and knows everything about every kind of medicine out there. She is right all the time (just like me).


This is Brenda. Brenda has the best laugh and whenever she laughs she scrunches her nose up. She has the softest hands and loves lotion. She is soft with her hands too - the way she wipes tears off the checks of a crying child is the sweetest thing I've seen. She loves Diet Soda. She makes everyone feel like she really cares and is interested in what you're doing. She flosses every single day religiously. She loves to stay up late and watch TV shows on her T-Vo. She is getting super fast at texting on her cell phone.


Brooke and I have always been told we were matched up with the wrong twin. I have always been told that I look like Brenda and Brooke looks like Mindy. Now that we're older I can't tell if that's still the case. I think we all look alike in different ways, but I still see a lot of myself in Brenda.

My People

We just got back from a week of visiting my family and friends in Utah. We had an awesome time! This post is packed full of pictures of my people so be prepared to scroll down and down and down...

I must start out by saying Mike deserves a gold star for all he did while we were in Utah. He was stuck with the kids more than his fair share and didn't complain once.

He watched the kids so I could go out to lunch with my siblings in peace. Here are some of my siblings and my mom. The two oldest aren't in the picture (one is taking the picture)... I wish I had a closer picture of my handsome brother Mike. Myles referred to him as "the bad guy" the entire trip because of his long black hair and facial hair (which you can't really see in this picture).

After lunch we went to see my niece Cassie and her pet horse T-bone. I am embarrassed to admit that I was a little nervous to feed it out of my hand. Here I am being so brave.
Morgan and Myles have 16 cousins in Utah to play with. I don't know how we all fit in one place at a time, but some how we all squeeze in.

One of our days was spent at Lagoon. Their favorite ride was the mini car because they could go together and it wasn't very fast.

Here's Myles with Grandpa Beckstead on the Merry-go-round. And I love this picture of my mom on the train. She's a good sport and always so happy to be with the grandkids, even if it's riding the train 10 times in a row.

Myles liked the kid rides when they weren't moving, but as soon as it would start, he'd scream bloody murder until it came to a complete stop. Then once it stopped, he would smile and act like he wanted to go again. Sometimes I can't figure this kid out.

Mike wanted to cheer the kids up by making a basket and winning them prizes. As many people already know about Mike, he is a wonder when it comes to shooting a basketball. He stepped up to the kid, handed him some money and then won both kids prizes like it was nothing. My family was impressed at the ease in which Mike buried the ball in the hoop and pulled out their wallets. This game had good prizes and all the kids wanted one. Everyone kept throwing money at Mike and with each round he walked away victorious. The workers eventually told Mike he had to be done playing (he was cleaning them out). We even had complete strangers coming up asking if they could pay him to shoot for them. He really is a machine.

Here's what he won for the kids. Myles loved the huge ball and it was soooo fun carrying it around the park... (no sarcasm there)

Here are some of the kids with their prizes Uncle Mike won for them.

One of the highlights of our vacation was getting together with all the girls I grew up with. All of us (except one) grew up within half of a mile from each other. We spent our childhoods together and I loved getting to see them and their families.

It was fun to watch our kids play together like we did when we were little. There were some seriously cute kids there!

The men were fewer in numbers, but they managed to enjoy themselves. There's nothing like a little Guitar Hero to encourage male bonding.

We had so much fun seeing each other; we definitely are making it a yearly tradition.

We couldn't visit Utah without swinging by to see our buddies the Hegewald's. We met the Hegewald's about 5 years ago when they moved in down the street from us in Columbus, and we clicked immediately. They were fun neighbors and we're glad we still have them as friends. For all of you who want an update on them, they are expecting a baby boy later this year. YAY!

On Saturday morning my parents took the kids to the park so Mike and I could go for a run together. We rarely get to run together and it nice to run with him across the Boulevard over-looking the Salt Lake Valley. At times I forget how beautiful it is there, but I was definitely reminded of it as we ran up to the Bountiful Temple and looked down at the amazing view I always took for granted when I lived there.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for making our trip so enjoyable and memorable. The kids haven't stopped asking about you since we've been back.