Oh Christmas Tree?

We got a permit to cut down our own Christmas tree this year. We did it a couple of years ago and it was pretty fun. This year was a little different though with all of the snow. Seeing as we live in Midway you'd think we'd know how to be prepared in the snow. Apparently we still have a lot to learn.

Sage was super excited


Because of all the snow we couldn't just drive right up to the trees. We drove in as far as we could and then ended up walking in about a mile. We at least were all in our snow clothes. We got that part right. But Jake was all excited to take his big chainsaw that he got this year. Chopping down a tree the manly way. So he carried the chain saw and I carried Sage on my shoulders. I mean, why would we bring a sled to get a Christmas tree? Zack and Kate were troopers walking, but of course Kate complained the whole way. She should have been born into a family that does nothing but watch movies.

Redneck Convention


About a mile in we came upon a whole bunch of trucks and people. Why? Because some genius guy decided to pull his huge snowmobile trailer all the way in and of course it was stuck. They had like three trucks trying to get it out. Explain to me why, if you have snowmobiles, you wouldn't park outside the snow-packed road and ride your snowmobiles in. Seriously. So I stopped to watch all the fun with Kate and Sage and sent Jake and Zack to get the tree. When they came back I thought to myself that the tree didn't look very big. I hoped it would look bigger in the house. Probably good it wasn't any bigger because Jake carried the tree and the chainsaw out while I again carried Sage on my shoulders. Another example of when a sled would have come in handy. I should have worried more about the size of the tree when on the way home I heard all about some wild hen thing they saw and would have loved to shoot. What probably happened: They followed the bird around for a while and then remembered that they still needed a tree. Didn't look at any trees but the one right in front of them because they were still mostly focused on super cool bird. Thus, the small tree.

Angel Kate


Boys with super small tree


We got the tree home and into the house. Unfortunately, the tree doesn't look any bigger in the house. It's about 6 feet tall with pretty sparse branches in a room with a big vaulted ceiling. Can you say Charlie Brown? As a further example of the size; two strands of lights was plenty to cover the tree. The poor branches are sagging with the weight of the ornaments. Might I add that it's a good thing we had the chainsaw to cut through that one-inch trunk. That would have been quite the workout.

Moral of this story: Take a sled when getting a Christmas tree. And most importantly, don't let boys pick out the tree.

Memories

I've been remembering a lot lately. The holidays do that to you I think. I've decided that the first year after you lose someone is the hardest. I mean, they're all hard, but especially that first year. I'm constantly thinking, "last year at this time...". I've been doing that a lot this year about my mom. It's still hard to believe she's gone. Lately though, the memories of last year are getting harder. This is when she started doing worse. What a blessing and miracle that she did so well for so long. When she started getting more sick, it got bad really fast. Again, I'm so grateful that the hard part was over so quickly so that she didn't have to suffer. But at the same time, it's a bit mind boggling how fast it happened. So now the memories I conjure up from a year ago are getting harder. I don't really want to remember them, but I think they're forever etched in my mind.

Now I think about this holiday season and I have to go through it without Mom. Crappy. What are the holidays without the one's you love, and two of the ones I love aren't here? Our family has some great traditions on Christmas Eve. I know Mom and Linz will be there. But I want to see and talk to them, not just feel them.

I've been thinking about Linz lately and how much it stinks that my kids don't get to play with her. She was always so much fun. Kate's hair reminds me of Linz's. Straight and beautiful golden. We always called Linz's hair her "one true beauty" (Little Women). I hope Kate's stays this way. Kate's also started saying 'oo-da-la-lee' all the time. I have no idea how she got it, but Linz used to say it all the time. I like to think that Linz whispered it in her ear.

So I'm moving forward, I really am, this holiday season. Ready and excited to create new memories with my family, but missing the family that's not here. I'm again reminded of the phrase President Monson quotes frequently:

"Memories are June roses in the December of our lives."

I'm especially grateful for those June roses this year.

Happy Holidays Mom and Linz!

It Is Done!

Just call me Martha Stewart. Or something like that. I actually sewed something. For reals. I know, it was months ago that I posted about figuring out how to thread my machine. Baby steps right? I finally took the leap, and actually made something. A quilt. A rag quilt. Probably the easiest kind of quilt to make. See? There is a method to my madness.

First I went to my friend Lisa for some starter tips. Thanks to her I had the courage to move forward. Then I went to the fabric store, with my kids. This was a momentous occasion. I am scarred from memories of fabric stores when I was little. Now I'm doing it to my kids. The circle of cruelty continues. Anyway, let's just say that I felt a little out of place in the fabric store. So did not know what I was doing. But I pretended.

I thought cutting the fabric out would be easy. Well, for most people it probably is. Not for me. I have issues, I know. Then I made my square sandwiches (as I like to call them). It took me one full hour to sew my first diagonal line. In spite of Lisa's best efforts to teach me, I for the life of me couldn't figure it out again. Once I got that first line done things moved a lot faster.

So now it's done. My first ever sewing project. I for reals have never sewed anything in my life. I think my mom just figured I was a lost cause. I am. The quilt is for Kate and Sage. No way am I going to give away my first quilt. Don't look at it too closely. The corners are so not lined up. How in the world do you do that anyway? There are too many mistakes in it to count. But there was no way I was going to undo that much sewing. Kate and Sage think its great.

Will there be other projects? I believe so. I really enjoyed making something all on my own. The frustration came in not knowing what I was doing and not being able to make it look the way I wanted. Hopefully this will come eventually. Years probably.

There were so many times I wished my mom was around to help. I'm quite sure she got a good laugh. I'm also sure she shook her head in amazement that I was actually sewing (I use the term loosely). Miracles do happen!

Dinosaurs and Bikes

A somewhat random post of what we've been up to of late. We had a day o' fun a week ago when we took the kids out and about. We went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point for the first time. It was a lot of fun. The kids really liked it. Very kid friendly. I definitely recommend it. After we went up American Fork Canyon for fishing and a picnic. So fun. My dad and Kathy met us up there and the kids were in heaven. We did some dog dippin' and had s'mores. I figured the picnic and s'mores with the camp fire all together are almost the best parts of camping. But the great thing was we didn't have to take all of the gear! I never thought I'd say that. I love camping. But with 3 kids I question whether 1 night camping trips are worth it. So much gear for so little time. I think I've decided if you can't do 2 nights of camping its not worth the effort it takes. We have had some good 1 night camping trips though, so maybe it has more to do with how lazy I'm feeling at the time. :)






In other news: We seem to be raising a biker extraordinaire. Zack is amazing. I already did a post about him making it to the top of Memorial Hill. Well, this time Jake took Zack for real mountain biking. On single track trails. On the same trails we go on. He's better than I am, which isn't saying much. But still, he's only 6. He had a hard time on the steep uphill, but mostly because he's still on such a small bike with no gears. Once he made it to the top he took off and did awesome. Jake said he wasn't scared at all. He went crazy on the downhill. He even wiped out pretty good, but just got back on and kept going. He says he wants to go more. I asked him if he was scared when he fell and he said, "Nope, not a bit." So there you have it. Our future pro-mountain biker. Pretty crazy!

26.2 On A Trail!

We did it! Jake and I ran and managed to finish the MidMountain Trail Marathon in Park City. There is a trail that goes from Deer Valley all the way across and down to the Canyons. Its a single track trail and beautiful. Couldn't have asked for better weather.

Let me tell you though, a trail marathon is a whole different beast. I knew it would be harder than a road marathon, but I didn't think it would be that much harder. Holy cow. Constant up and down, rocks, tree roots, mud, etc. I know it was beautiful, but I couldn't enjoy it much because I had to constantly watch the trail and the person in front of me to keep from killing myself. I did see a couple of people actually hit the ground. Apparently not uncommon in a trail race. The last few miles of the race were good downhill, which I looked forward to. However, by then my legs were so tired that the downhill was actually pretty challenging. It was all I could do to hold myself up. I was really careful not to trip, because I knew if I did at that point my legs wouldn't be able to catch me.

I finished almost an hour over my road marathon pace, if that tells you anything. I finished in 4:35. Jake finished later, but I was just glad he made it. He's hasn't had time to train much and he keeps having knee problems. He did manage to finish all of the Triple Trails races and get the super cool jacket. So worth it, I guess:)

What I learned: People who do hundred mile trail runs are more amazing than I ever realized. And crazy. Trail running requires some major leg muscle, so lifting weights would definitely be beneficial to training. Trail running is definitely less monotonous than road running, but a lot harder. And I am not one of those people who can do a marathon every few months. Usually I enjoy the first part of my marathons and then grind out the end. This time, right from the beginning I wondered why I was doing this again. My brain was yelling at me along with my body. "Why are you doing this to me again??!!!"

Moral of this story: Marathons are hard. Trail marathons are even harder. But I did it. I can do hard things, and I like that...

Good Times

We got to go to a cabin in Idaho last weekend. It was a Spjute Family party. I loved it. It was so nice to get away and relax. The kids were in heaven. There was hiking, 4-wheeling, slip-and-slides, games, pirate treasure hunts, campfires, s'mores, and more. So much fun. Here are some fun pics of the weekend...


The pirates with their treasure


Campfire fun


Sage loved the slip-and-slide

Princess Kate and Megan

Conquering Memorial Hill

Memorial Hill is one of the landmarks of Midway. Its a random hill that shoots up in the middle of town. Can't miss it. Zack's been wanting to ride his bike to the top. No easy feat, let me tell you. It's 2 miles to the top of the hill from our house, and its all up hill. Pretty decent climb too.

We went on a couple of bike rides to get ready. I told Zack it was going to be hard, but we can do hard things. I told him his legs would get tired, but not to give up. So off we went, to conquer the hill. Jake thought I was crazy to take him. He didn't think Zack could do it. We showed him though. Zack did awesome. He didn't complain once. He just kept pedaling and talking about how he could do it even though it was hard. He was so proud of himself when he got to the top. I was proud of him too. I just hope he remembers this lesson: We can do hard things, and we don't give up when it gets hard.

Beautiful Wyoming

We got to spend the weekend with Jake's family at Grandpa Greg's cabin in Wyoming. I have to admit that I was skeptical that Wyoming could be beautiful outside of the Tetons. I was proven wrong. It was beautiful and green with a river winding through everything. Picture 'A River Runs Through It' and you'll be pretty close. It was pretty much a fisherman's paradise. Jake was salivating as we drove up and got on the river to fish as fast as possible. I don't fish, but I still enjoyed myself. The kids loved it and can't wait to go back.

We got to spend the weekend visiting with Jake's aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was fun to catch up with everyone and share some good laughs. We're definitely hoping this becomes an annual adventure. Jake's trying to figure out when he can go fish up there again. Zack enjoyed fishing, Kate enjoyed watching. I have to admit that Kate's not so much the outdoorsy person. She'll spend a few minutes hiking or fishing, but that's about it. If it was up to her she'd probably go shopping. Not sure how she's my daughter. Sage loved petting all of the dogs. I've never had a kid who loves animals like she does. There's no fear at all, she just gets super excited and wants to play. Its great, and again definitely not inherited from me. Come to think of it, what did my kids get from me?

My Boys

I love my two boys. They're the greatest. I especially love them at this time of year because its their birthdays. Zack's birthday is today and Jake's is on Friday. I can't believe I have a 6 year old. Crazy.

So, these pics are from their recent backpacking trip. Have I mentioned that Zack is a hiker extraordinaire? Because he is. He can probably out-hike most adults, and especially most kids. He's amazing.

So they went backpacking to the Uintahs. Zack carried a 15 pound backpack in for 4 miles on the first day. They set up camp, cooked on their little stove, fished, and had a good time. Zack had a tough time on the way out, but overall he was a trooper. I love that he's getting old enough to do things like that with Jake. And I love that he has a dad who can do those things with his son.

I love my boys!

p.s. Sorry about all the pics. They were too cute to leave any out:)

Farmington Festival Days

We just experienced our yearly tradition of Farmington Festival Days. Love it. Love the parade, love the races, and mostly love hanging out with the fam. This year we started the festivities with a BBQ at the homestead. Early the next morning most of us ran a race. Mel and Toby did the 10k, Jake did the half-marathon, and I did the 5k. I managed to get 3rd place overall in my race. Seeing as I'm not that fast, obviously nobody was very fast this year. My trophy is proudly displayed in the office:)

Then the parade. The kids love it. They end up with bags full of candy. Good times. The pics are of the annual sitting at the parade and of the races the kids were having before the parade. Love it. After the parade we got treated to some of my Uncle John's delicious omelets. So good. Then we got to cool off in the pool.

All in all, a successful festival days. Can't wait for next year. Tradition!

Lake Powell

Another successful Lake Powell trip. Successful in that there were no serious injuries and no major boat problems. Add to that the fun and relaxation and you get a successful trip.

We went with our good friends the Slacks (hopefully they're still our good friends after being stuck with us for so long:). We camped in Knowels Canyon (or something like that). Our campground was a 2-story in that the boat was down on the beach and then we had to go up a steep hill to get to food, tables, and shade. So we still got our exercise.

We did lots of skiing, some wake boarding, lots of knee boarding and tubing. Obviously most of our pics were taken on the tube. The kids love it. Zack always wants to go slower, Kate asks to not go on the 'big waves' and Sage just fell asleep. This year Zack went on the knee board all by himself. He's starting to get old enough to do more of this boating stuff. He's actually a pretty good help now when we go. I thought I had figured out how to get up on a slalom ski, but for some reason I struggled. I managed to get up a couple of times after lots of tries. Really annoying. Jake of course, was his normal amazing self on anything he tried. He enjoyed skiing on the smooth water that's hard to find anywhere else. Zack caught his first fish. He was so excited. It was a catfish, which he says is his favorite fish because it has whiskers. We hiked up to see some super cool indian ruins. I've never seen anything like that. Pretty amazing.

So this was my second time doing the Lake Powell thing and every year I learn lots more about how to do Lake Powell. I grew up doing mostly mountain camping. This hot beach camping is a totally different beast. This year I learned about the importance of having good coolers and packing them well with ice. That didn't happen so well this year, so the majority of the trip we had warm drinks. Let's just say that warm drinks at super hot Lake Powell are not so good. Big lesson learned. I remembered what things are important to bring and what things aren't so important. And I remembered that its really hard to camp at Lake Powell, in the sand, in the heat, with kids. I've never experienced Lake Powell with a house boat, but I'm pretty sure I would enjoy it. In fact, I'm thinking maybe we should try Flaming Gorge trips for a few years until we accrue a house boat. We'll see. That heat was killer this year. Loved being able to just swim in the water when it was hot, but really wanted somewhere to go to get out of the heat. I am definitely of swedish ancestry. And I live in Midway. Moral of the story: I don't do heat.

Despite the heat, we really did have fun. It was nice to get away, relax, and enjoy the beauty of Lake Powell.

Anyway

Christmas Meadows

We had a super fun weekend camping in Christmas Meadows in the Uintahs. I love camping in the Uintahs because its so beautiful. I also love that it only takes about an hour for us to get to campgrounds in the Uintahs.

So we packed up Thursday and took off after dinner. Holy cow. It takes so much stuff just to go camping for a couple of nights. The truck was full to overflowing. Anyway, we set up camp when we got there and didn't do too much else. It got cold that night. Sage ended up in my sleeping bag, but Zack and Kate were troopers. Zack is a born camper. He does not get cold. He was half out of his sleeping bag and totally warm all night. He can also hike forever. Its great.

Friday morning we went for a fun hike. There was tons of run-off from the snow melting, so it was a wet, muddy hike. We were actually surprised at how much snow was still up there. Mirror Lake and all the campgrounds around it were still totally covered in snow. Luckily our camp site was at a lower elevation so we were fine. In fact, the weather Friday and Saturday was perfect.

Our friends came up to camp Friday afternoon and we had lots of fun. We took the kids fishing. Unfortunately, the fish didn't show up. Even the big boys tried their hand at catching us some dinner, but no such luck. That night we had s'mores around the campfire. So much fun. That's about my favorite part of camping. The kids loved it.

Saturday morning we had some good pancakes and bacon for breakfast. I love a good breakfast in the mountains. Then we played softball with the kids. We packed up and headed home after that. It was so nice to get away. Very fun and relaxing. We all loved it.

I did it!

I made it through my third marathon! I ran the Utah Valley Marathon through Provo Canyon and finishing at the Provo Town Center. I'm in much pain, but glad I did it. The weather was perfect. We got rained on a bit, but not too much. I so do not run well in the heat, so I was very grateful for the cool weather.

Other than my aching body, it was a great experience. I got to meet some great people and push myself to my limits. Overall I felt pretty good, but those last 6 miles are always so hard. I didn't walk at all other than at aid stations, but I have to admit that the only thing that kept me going the last few miles was that I just wanted to get it over with and not prolong the agony. I finished at about 3:47. I was hoping for a little faster, but that was the best I could do today. I'm ok with that.

Jake was a trooper and dragged all three kids out in the rain to watch their mom run. It was good to see them a couple times during the race. My dad and sisters also drove all the way down just to watch me finish. I'm feelin' the love. Thanks!

In the post-race picture if it looks like I'm at deaths door, that's because I was. Not really, but I was definitely hurting. Immediately following the race I told my sister never to let me run a marathon again. However, now I'm thinking more clearly and, let's face it, it will probably happen again. Yes it hurts, but there's something to be said for working so hard towards a goal, and then pushing yourself to accomplish it. Definitely something I feel good about.

Special shout out to Linz, who was definitely on my mind today. The last marathon I did was with her. I'm hoping they do celestial marathons so we can run together again. Love you Linz!

Kindergarten Graduation

Zack finished kindergarten! He was so excited for the program they did. They sang some great songs and Zack did an awesome job. Now we get to play for the summer and then on to first grade. Crazy!