I could have told you he was awesome.

Yesterday Miles came home from school with this note from his teacher...  It said that Miles was the first child in his class to reach "AWESOME".  He was beaming and so proud of himself.  

Maybe his teacher saw me crying on the first day of school and knew I was worried about how he was going to do, and if she was going to like him, and if he was going to get along with a certain peer he had trouble with last year, blah blah, and so maybe she sent this note home to put my stressing to rest... But since I was at home in my kitchen crying, I doubt she saw me or even knew my concerns.  (Don't worry it wasn't ugly blubbering, it was just a minute of teary eyed overwhelmed my-kids-are-gone-all-day-stress crying)...  Nope, I don't think that had anything to do with her note.   He earned this all on his own.  

  

I am so glad this year got off to a good start.  It really could have gone either way with this kid.  But oddly enough, that's one of my favorite things about him.  When he wants to do something (like be good), then he'll do it for himself and nobody else.  The tricky part is, keeping him wanting to be good.  He has a little rascal in there that I'm sure will surface from time to time, he is a little boy after all.  I'm just glad he made a good first impression :)  Let's hope he keeps it up.  Because his mama sure loves him so.        

1st Day of School

The kids started school this week.  YEAH!  I'm learning I do much better as a mom when we are on a schedule.   

1st day pictures: Morgan started 4th grade.  WHAT!   

She picked this cool sparkly backpack with a clip-on lunchbox.  It is so Morgan.  She was a little bummed because she had to start school with a cold, but her totally awesome teacher made her forget all about her cold. 

Miles started 2nd grade and he couldn't be happier about it.  Except for the fact that he may be the only 2nd grader that still hasn't lost any teeth... He thought for sure he'd lose one over the summer, but nothing yet.  I keep telling him it will happen soon, but I'm starting to wonder.  They are in there pretty tight and they don't feel like they are going anywhere anytime soon.   Personally, I love the baby teeth grin. Especially when it's on my boy!   

Miles choose an Ohio State scrimmage backpack.  It's perfect for him... A little big, but it will fit his basketball and other stuff perfectly.  I can tell it's going to be a great year already!  

Summer Wrap-up

Just a few pictures to wrap-up our summer...  Time to get into school mode!

Will and Meggie being silly...

Morgan and Lizzy played many a days this summer.  Cute girls!

Will already misses Marshall.  See ya in 2 Elder!  

Meg with all her favorite things... Binky, bottle, & baby.

Being silly with friends...

Love these 4 little monkeys! 

Cheering daddy and his biking gang in from a looooong, looooong bike ride.  I think he was gone for 10 hours.  After 5 total flat tires between them all, I think they were happy to be done.  

The gang, minus James who flew right on by his girls with only a head nod...  He just wanted to get this nightmare over with.  I don't blame him.  It was a long day for those poor guys.  I can't wait to get this race and all the training over with.   

That's it for our summer.    

Camping with Grandma & Grandpa!

On Saturday my parents called and asked if Morgan and Miles would have any interest in going camping with them for a few days...  Uh, I'm surprised they felt they even needed to ask... As soon as I mentioned it they were jumping up and down and screaming with excitement.

On Monday morning they were packed and ready to go.  I dropped them off, kissed them goodbye, and  did my best not to let them see how excited I was to get a break from them :)  It is the end of summer - cut me some slack.  Every mom wants a break by this time.   

They got to sleep two nights in the pop up trailer.  I learned once they got back that there were scary thunderstorms all night.  I'm glad they were tucked in all safe and sound in the camper.  Those storms can be scary in the dark, esp when you're little.  I think they were glad to have Aunt Brooke and the cousins there too.  

Then my dad did what he does best; he taught the kids to fish.  By the end of the trip all the kids had caught a handful of fish.  He said Miles couldn't get enough fishing, he's a natural :)  I have to say when I saw these pictures I wanted to cry I was so proud... (and I really wish I could have been there.  I haven't fished in way too long... sniff sniff... I'm sure someday Mike will catch the fishing bug and want to go. Right babe?)

Miles caught a Brook Trout and a Tigerfish.

My girl, making her mama proud with that rainbow trout!  

Hold on tight- they are squirmy and slippery little guys! 

Aunt Brooke and Cameron had some luck too! 

And of course Grandma brought tons of fun things to keep the kids entertained.

It's been so great having my dad retired.  They love being grandparents and the kids adore them! Thanks for taking them!!  And thanks for taking all these fun pictures! 

Will wasn't quite old enough to go and was a little broken hearted, but as soon as I told him he could have a play day with Thomas, he forgot all about not being invited to camp.  

Ice cream helped too!  

It was great having a few days with just these 2 little turkeys.      

One of many things running has taught me...

Running has taught me many things.  Today I was reminded of one of those things... 

Sometimes our bodies just can't keep up with what our mind wants it to do.  

So what do you do when you go out for an 8 mile run and your body refuses to go past 5 (and it took you a ridiculous 54 minutes to go those 5)?  

You listen to what your body is telling you.

And my body was telling me it's tired and it didn't want to run today.  It was also telling me that it wanted chocolate, chocolate chip cookies for breakfast.  

So I did what any good runner would do... I listened to my body.  I made it to the car, went home, got out my mixing bowl, and made myself a sweet breakfast.

I hope my body tells me to do this more often :)

Hobble Creek Half Marathon 2013

I just love this race the very bestest of them all.  Yes, I know bestest isn't a word, but it's true.  It's the bestest race there is.  And that's coming from my very limited experience, so you can take my word for it.

AnnDee and I talked Mike and Taylor into running with us this year, but of course Taylor had more important matters to attend to in Singapore.  It's not easy being so important and needed, right Taylor...    But fear not, Mike brought Brian to fill the void of Taylor's absence and it worked out perfectly!  We'll take Brian anytime.  He's our peep - and he's fast.   Thanks Nina for the extra bib!  

It was a good race day.  The weather was good and everyone had speedy legs - we all finished within a few minutes of each other - (except Mike who beat us all with a 1:35:19 time - WHAT!).  I don't even care that I came in last in our little group - I was glad everyone did so well and I was thrilled with my time. 

Here we are after the race - glad to be done!  

At mile 11 I couldn't keep my pace any longer and I slowed down.  I wanted to walk (and puke) but I knew I was close to the cut-off to get in the top 100 women, so I pushed on and didn't walk...  At the end I was so glad - I was the 97th female to finish and I got my "elite 100 women" medal.  YEAH!  Mike was the 97th male to cross so he got one too.  Why do we care about these things?  So dumb.  

We also got some cool pink socks and I'm digging our race t-shirts. 

At the end of the race you can get a printout with all your stats.  That was pretty cool.  I've never seen that before.  Here's our stats because I'm proud of my man and how fast he ran!  I'm already excited for next year!  

Mike's First Century Ride

As I'm sure you can guess, Mike's been back on his bike.  He's a die-hard.  For a while now, he's been training hard core with some buddies for a bike race called The LoToJa Classic.  Let's just say it's a little intense (I would replace intense with out-of-your-freaking-mind crazy), but he's excited about it.  It's a 206 mile bike race (the longest one day bike race in the country!) that takes him through 3 mountain passes and takes him through parts of Utah, Idaho & Wyoming ending in Jackson Hole.  Ya, like I said, out-of-his-freaking-mind.  

So last week Mike did his first century ride, A.K.A his first 100 miler.  Even though I'm not a huge fan of the bike, I am proud of him!  I know he loves it and that makes me happy, so I give him my blessing to ride his little heart out. 

You go babe!  Only 3 weeks until the big race day.  All I can say is, I'm glad it's you and not me!    

The 100 miler gang... Mike's in the middle - look how good he's healing :)

Our Trip to Island Park - Part 5 - Bear World

On our way home we decided to stop by Bear World in Rexburg, ID.  It was a huge highlight of the week.  I've had a bear fascination lately and really wanted to see some up close.  Besides you can't go to bear country and come home without seeing one.  

In Bear World, you pay a fee to get your car in the gate and then you drive around in a fenced in area that is full of bears.  They just roam free and can come right up to you if they want.  The only instructions we were given were to keep the windows up, don't feed the bears, and keep the car moving.  We didn't follow instructions very well (we did follow the rule to not feed them.  That was one rule I had no problem following). We like living on the wild side :)   

The first thing we saw was this incredibly rare albino elk.  

Then a buffalo...  

Then we went through the gate... And there they were.  Tons of them...  I bet we saw 50 bears by the time we drove all the way through.   

Grizzly about 10 feet away from the car...  I made Mike stop and roll his window down for a picture.  I know it was against the rules, but come on, how often are you that close to a grizzly bear without a cage between you.   Let's just say Mike was a little hesitant, but he rolled his window down just long enough for me to snap a picture.  Big baby... Just because Will was eating Cheetos :)   

We rode behind one of the feeding trucks so we got to watch the bears eat.  It was adorable how they would sit up and beg.  

Coming right at us...

The kids loved all the different teddy bears in the gift shop.

 

My little bear cubs!  

These little cubs were adorable.  We watched them wrestle and then they had a tender moment before starting to wrestle again.  

Then we checked out the petting zoo.  This was the kids favorite part of Bear World. 

This moose came right up to the fence.  I've seen many a moose over the years, but never that close.  Beautiful!     

Then we went on a few rides before heading home.  

Well, most of us went on rides.  Will wasn't super excited about most of them.  

We couldn't leave Bear World without some sort of teddy bear.  Will picked this little guy out and used his own money to buy him.  We've been home for over a week now, and he still carries it all over and sleeps with it.  I don't blame him... That is one cute bear!  

And that is the end of our summer vacation!