Women's Conference

It's that time again…  General Conference is around the corner so what does that mean? 

WOMEN'S CONFERENCE!   I love that they changed the age to 8 so Morgan gets to go with me.  

Of course we had to go out for a little dinner date before it started.  Morgan picked Corner Bakery Cafe so she could have a cinnamon roll.  Lucky ducky!  

The conference was uplifting and amazing, like always.

Here's my favorite quote of the evening… 

 

It was told by President Uchtdorf while a video played which showed the rain falling and umbrellas opening up.  It touched my heart as I realized I do that all the time.  I put my umbrella up and block blessings that Heavenly Father desperately wants to shower upon me.  I am going to work on keeping my umbrella down and closed.    

Huntsville Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran my 10th long distance race.

(I'm not counting all the dinky 5 miler turkey trots or 5k's I've done - unless they consist of double digit miles, they don't count!)

The best part of this race compared to my half earlier this year, was that this time I had friends with me.  

The only unfortunate part was that Mike had school and wasn't able to come.  I missed him!  I know he wanted to come and put us all to shame, but right now he is a hard working student and has his priorities in line.  I appreciate him and his sacrifices for us.  His hours are crazy and he's constantly working, but he never complains about it.  Not even a little.  I could gush and gush all day, but back to the race…

It rained.  A lot.  

But other than that, the course was wonderful!!  It had a gradual downhill most of the way and the scenery was beautiful.    

Grace and I stuck together for the race - it's always more fun to run with a friend.  I talked a lot - esp the last 5 miles to try to keep her mind off of how far we still had to go.  I don't know if it helped and I'm sure she wanted to push me off the road every time I said "you got this", but I knew what she was capable of and I wanted to remind her of that.

Here we are halfway!  Totally wet but enjoying that the rain stopped for awhile.      

We finished!!  And we made Grace's goal time of under 2 hours…  1:57 baby!!  I was so proud of her.  That feeling when I watched her push through her wall and keep going when I knew she wanted to slow down and stop, is what it's all about.  That's what I love about running.  When it's hard you just keep going until you finish, and the feeling you get when you finish is amazing.  It's a great life lesson that applies to all areas of our lives.  

She's my rockstar friend and I adore her.    

Highlights from Sept

Sept has been crazy busy, but full of fun too.  Soccer, football and basketball are in full swing so we have at least one sort of sports practice or game for someone almost every single day (on top of the regular stuff - piano, homework, school, gymnastics for Morgan, etc.).  It's nuts.  

But we have managed to squeeze in plenty of fun with friends and cousins.

Some of the cousins relaxing on the stairs at Grandma and Grandpa's house!  If we included all the cousins, we'd need another set of stairs (or two!!).    

Dollar store treasures...

We squeeze in cat naps wherever we can.  

Daddy-daugheter kickball date at the park. (I'm a little biased, but my girl and her daddy are the cutest!)   The leaves are changing and fall is in the air.  I LOVE IT!     

One of the perks of having great aim….

You get to dunk your teacher at the school carnival.  Twice!  

Questar Lagoon Day

Every year my dad takes all the family to his work Lagoon day.  I have no idea how long Questar has been doing Lagoon Day, but I went every year when I was little so it's been going on for at least 3-4 decades.  And all the games are still the exact same from when I was my kids ages.  Crazy!  I'm glad they still invite my dad even though he's retired.  

 

This guy kept trying to send Miles out of the adult line and into the kids line with the small hoop…  Miles said, "Don't worry, I can make it."  Then Miles proceeded to make 3 shots in a row.  The guy was a little impressed :)     

Look at that football - right through the middle!  

What would Lagoon day be without getting tattoos…  Morgan wins best choice of tattoo with the mustache.  

Mike was at school for Lagoon Day, so I had to take the kids without him…  It was a little stressful for me, but luckily I have a great family that helped me keep track of everyone.  Uncle Steve was great and took the big kids around Lagoon-a-beach.  He made their day!  

Will was ready to get back in the water after his pool accident.  This kid won't be slowed down!  

Thanks Mom and Dad for another fun tradition.  Traditions are the best!!!

I Love to See the Temple....

This week we took the kids to the Ogden Temple open house.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  So neat to walk them through and tell them about the special things that happen in the temple.   

We were fortunate to walk right in when we got there (when we came out, the line was hours long!). 

We were in awe looking at the lighting, windows, quality of materials and workmanship, and even the little details in the doorknobs caught our attention.  It was a house fit for the Lord.

It was breathtaking!  

But the best part was being able to be inside with our children and to explain to them why the temple is so important to our family.   

Thomas S Monson, a prophet of God living on the earth today, said this of temples:

"As we touch the temple and love the temple,  our lives will reflect our faith.  As we go to the holy house, as we remember the covenants we make therin, we will be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation."  

There isn't anything I want more for my family than to have the blessings of the temple in our lives. 

So eternally grateful that I was sealed and married to this man, in a temple, under proper priesthood authority over 14 years ago. And because of that, each of the children that bless our union are sealed to us for eternity also.

 

The church is true people.  

The church is true. 

Will starts preschool.... again....

Will just started his 3rd (and final!) year of preschool.

He was so excited.  

Will wanted to show his cool wounds from his pool accident...  It's healing so fast!  

A closer look at Will's special new smile.  The fat lip is almost gone and his cut under his mouth just looks like a scratch.  You'd never know he had a hole through his face 4 days ago.    

Poor Will

For this post Will will not be referred to as Will.  He will be known as "Poor Will" instead.  For that is the most fitting thing to call him at the moment.

On Saturday we were swimming in our friends pool and Poor Will had a little accident.

Poor Will accidently slipped off the side of the diving board and since he wasn't far enough out on the diving board, his face ended up hitting the tile edge that surrounds the pool.  His top teeth went through his bottom lip and a couple of his teeth got jammed up in his gums.  

Poor Will!!!

Luckily there was a nice pediatric dentist nearby that was happy to take care of Poor Will over the weekend.  She took X-rays and we were relieved to hear that he didn't damage any of his permanent teeth that are still high up in his gums.  She did pull out his lateral incisor that was jammed behind his central incisor.  We are hoping his little central incisor eventually comes back down into place.  

Will was in a lot of pain, but I couldn't believe how tough he was about everything.  He didn't cry (at the dentist- he cried plenty when it happened!) and he sat still while the dentist gave him a bunch of shots.  Both the dentist and I were shocked at how mature and calm he was throughout the procedure.  He's our tough little man!  (He gets that from his daddy for sure!). 

The dentist put these cool glasses on him so he could watch The Lego Movie while she messed around in his mouth.  He just laughed and laughed and didn't even care that she was poking around.  

Poor Will was really excited to have the tooth fairy come.  It wasn't the fun loosing-the-first-tooth experience I was hoping for, but Poor Will didn't care.  He got $5 and knew just where he wanted to go to spend it... The Dollar Store!

Look at all that cool loot!  

It was a scary experience for me.  I was so thankful that Mike was there with me when it happened.  He always stays calm which helps me stay calm.  I was especially amazed at how Poor Will handled everything.  I feel like I got to know him a little better by watching him and the way he reacted to all of this.  I was impressed at how brave he was and with his overall toughness.  This is one special kid.  And now he has a special smile to match :).