happenings

I really do prefer to write something when I blog but I get so far behind that my posts are starting to become pictures. and that's it. But I haven't thought much about blogging like I normally do because I am honestly loving summer. I dreaded the kids getting out of school because the lack of schedule and "my time" but I get really sad at the thought of school starting again. I love this warm weather! I love the gorgeous mountains this time of year, summer storms, sleeping in, staying outside until the sun goes down and doing fun stuff. I have also been doing quite a few races this summer and that is another thing I love about summer. I prefer to be hot and sweaty when I run rather than freezing with a runny nose. I actually have started letting my kids go to bed dirty this summer. that is a big deal for me. I'm anal about clean beds. Ever since I can remember I would either wash my feet or wear socks to bed when I was younger because it grossed me out to get into bed dirty. The kids and I have been having a lot of fun together (wish dad could join us more, but he has this thing called work) doing summer things.

Let's start with the mountains. We live 10 minutes from a great day use area in the canyon and we head up at least once a week. It's great because it's free and the kids love to be up there. Sometimes we have a fire and other times we grab a Little Caesar's pizza and bring it up. The kids love to hike and I love the fresh air, it smells so good up there.

Kids Bowl free summer program. great for rainy or too hot of days. And at 2:00 they turn the lights off and black lights on and blast the music, so fun. And come on, watching my kids dance like no one is watching, hilarious.
Girls day. I bought a groupon to Color Me Mine to use as a date for the girls. I had never been there before and didn't realize that place was so expensive. But they had fun.
Ryan and Abbey on the go karts at Trafalga. He does exist.
4th of July with my family (really the 2nd of July) up in the canyon. Grandpa let brody be in charge of the fire and he is surprisingly safe. The kids hiked and played in the creek where it had been damned. I relaxed.
I love summer evenings. Our front yard faces east so I can sit on the porch or lawn and it is nice and cool in the shade and we usually get a nice breeze coming out of the canyon, love it! This is why we eat dinner so late at night, the last place I want to be is in a hot kitchen.
The 4th of July with the Brown's. "can I light one?" over and over. We had a great BBQ, baseball game and fireworks. I enjoy hanging out with Ryan's family and the kids love playing with their cousins so we all have a good time and leave happy but tired.

run, eat, sleep? repeat.

I decided to run the Wasatch Back Ragnar race again this year and don't expect to see me doing it again next year. I got about 3.5 hours of sleep the night before because our teams start time was 5 am and then at night in the middle of the race I got somewhere between 2 or 3 hours I think. Lying in a sleeping bag on the grass has never been more comfortable after sitting in a car all day and feeling sleep deprived. But at the same time I also loved it and want to do it again. I had some great runs. I was runner #6 and my first run was at about 11 am. It was 6.9 miles down Avon Pass, which is a dirt road with cars kicking up dirt, steep descending switch backs but I loved it. I felt like I was about to puke at the end but I couldn't slow down. We rested at Snowbasin ski resort while the other van ran their legs. My second leg was just as the sunlight was fading so about 9:30 pm up east canyon. This was by far my favorite run, it was amazing. It was 8.1 miles up the canyon but because of the darkness I couldn't see much of the road ahead so I had no hills or steep incline to dread, I just ran. The stars were clear, the moon was full and it smelt so fresh. A mountain lion could have dragged me into the bushes and no one would've known. I would love to go on long night runs more often but it just isn't safe for a little ole' lady like me. But the bummer about this leg is that there was tons of traffic at the exchange and I couldn't find the car so I started to get really cold. We then attempted to sleep and were awoken before the sun to start running again. My last leg was my least favorite. It was only 3.1 miles flat, easy terrain and I think the flat terrain through the neighborhoods of Heber city is what made it so painful. Our car was done after I finished but we still had to wait for the other van to do their legs before we crossed the finish line. We went to Dairy Keen for lunch and it was so good! One great thing about this year is I had some good friends in my car so we had a good time hanging out for 36 hours straight talking and joking. And a team we enjoyed was "Sofa King Amazing runners". Last year I totally crashed from exhaustion when I got home but this year wasn't as bad. I had to make Ryan's cinnamon rolls for Father's Day so i kept busy.

We drove the Suburban because we failed to find a van. It served us well.

Running my first leg down Avon Pass, the mountain behind me, accomplished.
our whole team at the finish. I threw the medal away. I hate keeping them because I have no use for them and they just become stuff. Should I be more sentimental?

summer going ons

Wheeler farm and free summer school lunches in the park with cousins.
The girls spent the night at Grandma's so Charlie and Brody were playing after his baseball game and decided to gather some firewood. They were being so cute together. Sometimes I wonder what she would be like if she didn't have older siblings because she tries to keep up with them.
Seven Peaks!! We try to go once a week and the kids love it. Now my sister has a pass so Charlotte has a friend to roll in the waves with.

Happy father's day to our favorite Dad. I love how Charlie poses.
Art City Days children's art festival. Once again, over crowded, hot and not worth the time and effort. This was our only Art City's Days festivity we attended. I just wasn't feeling it this year.
The weekend of my triathlon, two of our hens that the kids raised from chicks were killed by a dog that got out. These are the replacements, they aren't as old but they were a good deal. A kid was selling them for $8 to raise money for scout camp. Then a few days later, the yellow one was torn apart by two dogs right in front of Cloe. Poor thing was trying to save the little guys and the dogs snuck in the cage or the stupid chickens snuck out, can't remember. But I beat the crap out of one of the dogs after and chased down the other one but couldn't quite catch it. So we went back to the nice boy scout and bought another one, a white one.
Cloe got 11 inches cut off and "donated" it to locks of love. I put it in quotations because the hair was in a grocery sack and I accidentally threw it away. It was nice thick long hair that would've made a great wig. smooth move exlax.
enjoying a hot dog at Cloe's softball game. Cloe loves to play but I think gets a little spacey and by the time the ball is hit to her she has forgotten where she is.
Charlotte watching Abbey and Brody at swim lessons. Brody made huge improvements this year, I was very impressed because he has always been the most fearful in the pool.
Riding his bike to Cloe's game. It was about 3 miles and we trailed him looking like a stalking kidnapper. I could tell he felt pretty cool riding his bike.
Brody plays coach pitch baseball but they let the boys pitch and if the kids can't hit it then the coach pitches. They put Brody in as pitcher and I was shocked at how well he did. He was pitching so fast. We have never practiced so I didn't know he had it in him. I loved watching him.
He's all boy. Why can't they just sit and enjoy the fire? Why do they have to constantly poke at it and throw things in? I let him have a small fire while I enjoyed the sunset and cool evening breeze. I love summer evenings and since we live close to the mouth of the canyon we get such a nice breeze.

Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red is an all woman's bike ride in the Logan area and it is so gorgeous and so fun. I was planning to do it with my cousin Emily but didn't sign up fast enough since it sold out in 12 hours. I decided to bag the idea because I had already been doing long runs while training for a half marathon so the last thing I wanted to do was more long bike rides to train for a 50 miler. Last minute I changed my mind and bought a registration that someone was selling 2 weeks before the race. I had been training for a triathlon so I had been riding my bike. I rode with my cousin and her neighbor Julie. I'm so glad I did it because it was so much fun and such a good experience. I loved it. By mile 40 my butt was sore from the bike seat but besides that it was great. Next time I do it, I want to do at least the 80 miler, possibly the 100 miles. we'll see.

my camera battery died so this was the only picture I took, unloading bikes. next time I will check the battery.

last day of school

hooray for summer! I could not wait to have a more relaxed day and not worry about constantly nagging my kids "to get ready" and "let's go" and then to do their homework after school. Abbey got out a day earlier than Cloe and Brody and her class did a little program with songs and then we had cookies afterwards. On the last day, Cloe and Brody had free dress day and field day. Cloe, Brody, Charlotte and I rode bikes home from school. They always beg me to ride bikes but to get to our house from the school is up hill. So actually we rode to Ryan's studio and then drove the rest of the way home. The kids all had great teachers this year and I was especially thankful for Brody's teacher because she was so patient and positive with him.

I need to blog. I will blog.

I am running the wasatch back this weekend which means no sleep. So don't expect anything anytime soon.

woman of steel 2011

This past weekend I did a triathlon. I feel like it's nothing all that exciting to blog about because I do a couple every year but I do like to look back on my past races to see how I did and felt and compare them. This year was more fun because I had my cousin and some friends participating. Usually I go, I do and then I leave. My time was 1:22 but in my head, I'm subtracting 3 minutes because I got a little scatter brained at the first transition and it took me almost 5 minutes! I'm allowed to do that right? So we'll say 1:19 :) I took 25th out of 165 in my age group and overall 105th out of 750. I felt great, this is a really enjoyable race and I love doing it. And lets not forget the weather was perfect after a week of raining and then rain everyday since the race, that was lucky!

so happy to see my mom, Brody and Abbey cheering me on at the end of the race!
Abbey chasing me to the finish, but I told her she couldn't cross the finish line. (then I would feel like I had to slow down so she could run with me and I'm not that type of competitor, I'm finishing with all I've got left)
Lisa and I trained together (and she beat me)

My cousin Emily and I

the kids got in trouble, went to bed early

and so now I have time to blog an update.

My kids are a little obsessed with Michael Jackson. They constantly watch you tube videos, their favorite being Smooth Criminal. Brody used to always ask if Michael will still be 50 when he is resurrected. While watching the movie This is It, there are clips of young Michael and Brody said "he used to be black?!" I caught this picture of him, dressed in his Michael best (Smooth Criminal Michael best) doing the dance moves along with the video. This just thrills Ryan beyond thrilled to see his son wanting to be like Mike.

at the end of April, Ryan and I went to Atlanta for the Portrait Society of America Conference. It was wonderful. I stayed up late, slept in, worked out, went to the mall by myself and hung out with some cool people. Ryan had to give portfolio reviews for a few hours, here he is in action.

the kids helped celebrate my moms birthday.

We got The Pass of all Passes, along with the rest of Utah County and went to the batting cages on Friday. The passes will be fun for the summer but I just have to mentally prepare for the crowds. The batting cages only had 2 machines going and there was no rules about each turn. We just had to wait in line until the person in front of us was done.

Cloe was the only kids tall enough to drive the go karts by herself and they only had ONE double car. So that meant I had to drive this thing around in circles with 3 different kids, luckily they were excited enough to be patient while waiting in a long line.
I think the "baby chicken" (we still refer to them as the babies) that is black, won't be laying eggs for me in July. I think it just might be a rooster. I really really hope not, but we don't want a rooster so we may be finding Bella a new home soon.

Baseball season has officially begun, Cloe and Brody were in the opening day parade and loved it. I am already far more impressed with this cities recreation department than I was with the last city we lived in. The parade was so fun, the fields are so much nicer and they actually have jerseys rather than t-shirts with silk screening and it's the same price.

this was the view behind Brody's field, so pretty. Such a gorgeous day.
We passed the local grocery store and they had some sort of pirate promotional set up in the parking lot and I let the kids go down the slide a few times. Pointless activity to post? yes. But I loved Charlotte's reaction to the first time going down the slide that I thought I would make it sound like this great activity that has recently happened.
and our ghetto dinner outside. We dug a hole for the fire pit and need to invest in some more lawn chairs. But the upside down laundry basket will work for now. Abbey said "it's like were camping and our house is our trailer." If my kids are convinced this is camping, then let's go camping all summer!

Happy Mom's day to me and the other wonderful woman in my life.

This year I bought all my Mother's day gifts, handed them to the kids Saturday night and told them to wrap them. Ryan hadn't mentioned Mother's day and there were things that I wanted/needed but felt guilty buying them. Until i remembered Mother's day was just around the corner, "Oh, I'll buy it as a Mother's day gift". Look at the brain on Courtney. I think it is a tradition that I will continue. It ended up being a nice relaxing day and of course my favorite gifts were the handmade cards and bookmarks. Brody was very proud that he made me teary eyed with his letter he wrote.

we do celebrate holidays

In our Easter best. We headed to Ryan's studio after church for better lighting and it made for more interesting back drop.


the lamb. I leaned how to cook and marinate it while in Italy. I was surprised at how small the lamb section was at the store, In Florence there were meat cases full of lamb this time of year. Regardless, it still turned out delicious.

Let the egg hunt begin. My mom had fun crafts and activities for the kids and special bunny masks.