Last Day of School

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you for the awesome weather to help make our last day of school celebration amazing! 

We sent James off to school in the morning.

When he got home we invited friends over for a water party. Thank goodness Lehi City changed the water restrictions yesterday so this could be possible.

Lynnlee and Kaden took awhile to figure out the slip n slide but still had fun.

The minis got to spend the day outside on the blanket in the shade of the big umbrella. They are afraid of the grass so they stayed on the blanket the whole time which made it way easier to watch them. They ate lunch, played with toys and watched the big kids play in the water.

Kaden kept sitting in the pool even though the water was freezing cold. He would get out shivering, with goose bumps and tell me how cold he was. Then got right back in.

In the afternoon we had an ice cream social at a neighbors house to kick off the summer. It was fun watching all of the kids in the neighborhood play together.  The adults all visited. Everyone was so excited to be out and playing and it felt like we hadn't seen each other since last summer.

Later in the afternoon it wasn't so hot so the minis had a chance to play with the water table.

It couldn't have been a better day and a nice end to the school year! I am very excited for many more summer days like this.

So thank you, Mother Nature, for your cooperation. I have appreciated all of the rain and I hope there are more rainy days ahead to keep us out of a drought but I don't get me wrong, I still love a warm, sunny day here and there.

Sincerely,
Rose

Lynnlee's Preschool Graduation

Lynnlee graduated from preschool. It was a good year for her and she loved going. She will miss her teachers Ms. Tricia and Ms. Trish. So funny that her teachers have the same names because the teachers who taught James in preschool were both named Christy.
She is so excited to move on to kindergarten and be in the same school with James.

Payson Temple

We went to the Payson Temple open house last week. We had lots of help from my parents and aunt Pat. Thankfully everyone loved it and was happy for the most part.  James and Lynnlee loved the baptistry and celestial room the best.

Sunday Minis

The minis are starting to interact with each other more. When they are in their high chairs they are always trying to hold hands. Today I put Tag on the Nemo car and then Sienna pushed him around. It makes me so happy. It's fun that they have a buddy and it is definitely an awesome perk of having twins.

It's unbelievable how these two get every illness known to man. Last week and this week it has been throw up/diarrhea. They better have amazing immune systems after this first year because they are giving their immune systems lots of practice. I think they have forgotten how to be healthy. They both want held all the time so I took this snap shot during one of those times.

We went to a really fun park by Betsy's house on Monday. They loved it!

They watched a storm one night while I made dinner.

Lynnlee loves helping them walk. Her new thing is to help them stand up to the walker toy. Then she helps them walk around the house. She takes turns helping Sienna and Taggart. Yesterday I came into the room right after she finished. She said, "Mom I'm done walking Sienna and Taggart."

Lemons

When life gives you lemons...curl up on the couch and snuggle with a happy, cute little girl.

I really don't like being a landlord and we were really hoping to sell our Bountiful condo now that the market is better. We went under contract with a buyer and were set to close next week. We just found out that she backed out and so it looks like we will have to keep renting it out. Ugh, so frustrating. So I will cuddle with my sweet Lynnlee, take a few deep breaths, and take it one day at a time.

Sunday Minis

It's crazy to think the minis were truly mini when school first started. They didn't do much, just cry, sleep and eat. Now the school year is ending and they aren't so mini. They are trying to crawl out the door when James leaves to school.
We are making bets on who will walk first. Sienna crawled first and has been pulling herself up on everything. She will move around the room holding onto furniture but she will not stand on her own. She immediately gets soggy legs and sits down. Even if I try to get her to walk with her walker toy, she will take a few steps and then sit down and crawl away. She can crawl up the stairs with no problem.
Taggart will stand on his own and prefers to stand next to the couch and play. He isn't as active and can't crawl up the stairs. He can pull himself up to kneeling position but can't pull himself up to stand yet.  He does seem a little more confident on his feet though once he is standing. I think he will walk first.

5 in 5

This weekend I got to be "Runner Rose" instead of "Mom Rose" or "Nurse Rose." I drove up to Ogden Friday night and picked up my race packet. Then I drove to the finish line to see what I would be running to.

After I had the minis I needed to have a goal for me to work on personally. I wanted it to be a hobby and me time. Since running is my favorite hobby, and the Ogden marathon is on my race list, I signed up for the Ogden marathon. It was a little premature because I thought since I was running 5-6 times a week that training would be do able but that was not always the case during my training.
Recovering from twins has been harder on my body, not always getting a great sleep made it hard, and working part time added to the difficulty. I tried selling my race spot about half way through. It didn't sell and so I kept training. I had an ear infection a few weeks ago that took over 2 weeks to clear up and two round of antibiotics. That didn't help make training easier but I stuck with it.


 Today I woke up at 3:25 am. I set 5 alarms so I wouldn't sleep in. I stayed at Betsy's house so I wouldn't have as far to drive. I accidentally set off my car alarm while trying to leave. Hopefully I didn't wake up too many of her neighbors.

I loaded the bus at 4:45 and got to the start line at 5:45. The race didn't start until 7:15! So all of us runners sat around fire pits and tried to stay warm. It was long and boring.

The race started at 7:15 and my toes were numb from the cold. I could see dark clouds coming and thankfully my toes thawed by mile 2 before the rain started at mile 3. From there on out it rained the whole time. It was so brutal. By mile 16 I couldn't feel my arms/hands. I stopped by the medic station and got a garbage bag. This helped a ton! Especially because the rain and wind picked up as I got closer to the mouth of the canyon. Betsy met me outside the canyon with dry gloves. She was my support crew. She is the best and has helped me at 3 of my marathons. I finished the marathon in 4 hours and 31 minutes. It is my worst personal time yet. While I was running I knew my pace was slow. At first I was discouraged and then I decided that I was happy because I completed my goal.


Betsy took this and it was right before I crossed the finished line. I had a big smile on my face because I was about to cross the finish line.
I have now run five marathons in five years. I'm not sure what is next on the horizon but I definitely don't want to run another marathon in a crazy rain storm again for a very, very long time!

Fathers and Sons

The thing I love about fathers and sons is that it gives me a chance to spend time with fewer of my kids and it gives Marshall a chance too. I was planning on Kaden and James going with Marshall. Lynnlee and I planned a girls night with out to eat/drive thru window at McDonalds (easier with the minis) and a Barbie movie. Well, Kaden ended up throwing up all day which meant he crashed our girls night. Thankfully he was ok with pancakes for dinner and a Barbie movie. He even slept in his own bed and Lynnlee got to sleep in my room which is her favorite when Marshall is gone.

It was a stake camp out and James had fun playing with other kids from his school and our neighborhood. Marshall took his parent's trailer so it kept them dry through the night. I think it has rained every year over the weekend of fathers and sons.

Sunday Minis

The trouble I have with blogging is that my mind goes blank when I sit down to write about the experience or pictures. While I am in the moment I can think of a million things I want to write about.


The minis are so much fun as they crawl, sit, stand, and roam all around. I need to keep the video camera handy because there are so many funny moments throughout the day. One day I heard them laughing together and when I came around the corner they were standing up together holding onto the same toy laughing.


When I was playing the piano one day they came crawling in so fast and stood up by me. So after I let them sit on the bench and try it out.

I filled up the bath with a few inches of water and didn't make them sit in their bath chairs. They loved their freedom!

I still title the post Sunday Minis but I haven't actually taken their picture on Sundays for the last few weeks. Due to sickness or naps it hasn't worked out so I take them during the week. I will leave the title for now in hopes that we get back to our regular Sunday picture schedule.

I feel like a broken record saying this but the minis are sick again. It seems like every 3 weeks they come down with a cough and runny nose. Sienna has it worse this time. I couldn't get one of her big facial smiles for the picture. She has also learned how to take off her head bands.

Walk-a-thon

James had a walk-a-thon at school last week. Lynnlee and I tagged along. We ran around the field a few times with him. It's always a good time with these two. Also, the weather was cloudy but still warm and it didn't start raining until it was over.

Birthday and Mother's Day

My birthday kicked off the night before. Marshall came home early from work and helped get dinner ready. It is always stressful from 4:00-6:00 even when I don't work so on the nights I work it is craziness. I was so grateful to have him home and make that time go by smoothly before I left to work.

Then they surprised me at work with a birthday cake and treats. I was not thrilled about being at work prior to this so when I saw their bright, happy faces it totally made my night. They sang to me and brought tears to my eyes because I love their cuteness so much.

I got to sleep after work the next morning. My mom is so awesome and comes the day after I work so I can get some sleep. I would not be able to function without her! That night we went to Cafe Rio for dinner. It's one of my most favorite places. I could eat there everyday.

The best birthday present was Marshall surprising me with golfing with him and my sisters. We love to golf. It doesn't mean we are good but it's still really fun.

My cute sisters, Ali and Betsy.
We really missed Katie and wish she lived closer!

Sorry for the picture overload but we had fun taking pictures while waiting to tee off.

We had a fun family weekend and since my birthday is close to Mother's Day we found something fun to do everyday. Saturday we went to the dinosaur museum.

This girl came up with this all on her own. She makes me laugh.

Saturday night we celebrated Mother's Day and my birthday with my family. It was rainy and we enjoyed staying in and hanging out while my kids played with their cousins.

We stayed really last and everyone fell asleep on the way home. Lynnlee climbed into Marshall's arms so he could carry her to bed. I'm not sure how she thought this would be comfortable.

Marshall let me relax on Mother's Day after church. Later we played games and then went on a bike ride. I was suppose to work but thankfully my department was slow and I got to be on call instead.

I definitely felt loved this weekend!