I ran my first 5k last week

This was a huge deal for me because I absolutely hate running. Do you see all the suckers behind me? I knew if I ran a race with thousands of other people I wouldn't be the last one to finish. It took me 32 minutes, respectable but room for improvement.

Our first piano concert

I almost forgot! Hannah started taking piano lessons at the beginning of the month and she had her very first recital the night before her Baptism. She memorized her song and did an excellent job!

Hannah's baptism

Hannah chose to be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints yesterday. It was an absolutely beautiful day in all ways. We are so fortunate to have so many loving family and friends who came to support her. I wish I had taken pictures of everyone who came. Thank you to all those who made it, and thank you to those who did not, but have supported and loved her nonetheless.

Pictures we quickly took a few days beforehand for her invitation

So many family and friends came to support Hannah, thank you!

Awww

I checked on Maddax one night and saw him sleeping like this, reminded me of when he was a baby. Such a bittersweet little moment. He's growing so quickly!

Kolby's new job and other happenings

Near the end of May Kolby applied for and got a new position at his same job. Since the beginning of our marriage, we have worked opposite times of the day. This resulted in the feeling of single parenting and more like having a roommate than a spouse. It wasn't conducive to family life in any sense of the meaning.

After much prayer, Kolby got the job where he goes in super early (4-5am) and gets off early in the afternoon and I get home from work around 5pm, so we have the evenings together for family dinner and spending time together before bedtime. I can't even begin to describe how utterly different in an amazing way life has been. It is so much easier to co-parent and have conversations during waking hours. I can't believe we did it the other way for 8 years.

We've been so happy to spend time doing things together, and I don't know if it will ever wear off, but I can tell you we won't be taking it for granted. This is one of the small miracles in our family this last month.

This last month was also one of our most trying thus far as well. We have encountered extremely busy schedules, lots of commitments outside of home, problems with our townhome renters, and otherwise extreme stress in various aspects. That is all putting it lightly. We've been tested - I correct myself - we are BEING tested still. We overcome one challenge just to encounter numerous more. But it is worth it. As difficult as these last few weeks have been, at least we have each other by our side to face them together. I am sure that comes across extremely cheesy. But I mean every word of it. We will continue to count our numerous blessings and be thankful for the good things we do have.

The new family pet - Take 115 or thereabouts

When we went to Deseret Book weeks before Hannah's birthday we stopped at PetsMart next door for fun. The kids fell in love immediately and wanted a pet. If any of you remember correctly, we've been down this road before and it hasn't turned out well for the pets.

So, I told the kids they could get a small low-maintenance pet if they bought it themselves. I never thought they'd come up with the money for the pet, cage, food, etc so quickly...

After literally emptying their piggy banks and adding in the money Hannah got for her birthday from grandparents and friends, they had enough money to buy a guinea pig and her cage and supplies. (over $100!!) 

They chose this sweet little friend they lovingly named 'Chubbies.' We've had her now for two weeks and they still adore her. She is settling in and I think we may have a keeper.

(Now just for clarification sake, we have always been good pet owners, its just that in the past, the pets have been found new loving homes after a few short months...don't want anyone thinking we weren't good to the little creatures who've been in our home.)

Hannah's birthday - Part II

On her actual birthday, I decorated our house to surprise her so when she woke up in the morning it was a big deal. Do you think any other 8 year-old would thank their mom for putting up streamers and balloons? Not likely. But Hannah did. Again, evidence of the sweet little person she is.

Morning of Hannah's 8th birthday

I took the day off and as promised 2 years ago, took them to Cowabunga Bay. (Local water-slide park).

Left to right: Maddax, Hayden P., Hannah, Mia F., Kenna T.

When we got home 4 hours later, we were all exhausted but being the good sports they were, we did cupcakes and presents. (You can see Maddax was totally jealous he didn't get to open presents.)

Hannah had a GREAT 8th birthday!

Hannah's 8th Birthday - Part I

With Hannah turning the big 8 this year, her birthday became a month long celebration of sorts. It began with dinner at my parents house the night before where they gave her M&M's printed with pictures of her on it and an Ipad. Spoiled? You bet she is. But it couldn't happen to a better kid, seriously. She is so sweet and humble.

Lets go fly a kite

Hannah is obsessed with kites. She has tried multiple times to fly them, and you'd think she'd be successful since we practically live in a wind tunnel. You'd think.
Well...
Not so much.
A+ for effort though. The best she's gotten to is running around the furniture in the house trying to make it fly. It's hilarious and endearing to watch :)

Gardening 101

So I tried my hand at gardening this year. In mid-March I started some seeds indoors (many pics on the ipad...but alas, I'm not on the tablet so no early garden pics). My seeds were doing so well and I was so proud of my first attempt. Until one sunny Sunday I put the tiny little greenhouse on the deck out back while we went to church and forgot to unzip it for circulation and came back to steamed veggies, without the veggies. Nearly all of my seedlings had wilted from the intense heat and lack of air. On top of it all, my plant markers that were labeled with marker had washed away from the humidity in the greenhouse. As a result, I planted the remaining seedlings in the garden, just guessing what they were. They've come a long ways so far, and while these pics are only a week old, my garden is so much bigger now. It's crazy how quickly they grow. We've harvested lettuce, spinach, peas, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes and zucchini thus far.

There are a couple pictures of the backyard on the bottom right. We added a few flower beds this spring as well.

Welcome Summer

Swimming at the neighborhood pool

We are fortunate enough to have a pool right around the corner. We've only been a few times so far this year, but it is really heating up and now that Kolby is home more (more on that later), we are planning on spending much more time there. The kids are getting much better at swimming as well.

New Years 2011

Yes, I know this is belated. I'm just now getting caught up. Pathetic? Yes. I blame the Ipad. Ever since I got one, I have pictures split between that and my camera (which was then broken in April, and I've just now replaced it.) I'm too digitally scrambled. Anyway, here goes my major attempt at bringing us current:

So, for New Years, my baby brother and his new wife came over, we played games on our new Xbox 360. We haven't played it much since then, sadly. However, we had a great night, toasted good old cider and welcomed the new year. And what a year it has been since then...