We BOTH TRIed!!!!

Yesterday, Shane and I BOTH competed in the Pumpkinman Triathlon!!! It was so much fun to train and compete together. My little sister came down to help take the kids from point A to point B and take pictures for us!!! Shane accomplished his two main goals..... 1- To NOT DIE!!! and 2- To FINISH!!! I was happy that I beat my time from last year by two minutes - I also beat my run by 3 minutes!!!

At the finish with the whole family!!!

Getting Ready to Go!!!

A Little JITTERY!!!

Hey - NICE HATS!!!!

After the swim......

Bringing DAD in!!!!

(see #4 in the orange shirt, #1 & #2 are off to the side)

WE SURVIVED!!!!

One Determined Soul!!

One of my favorite quotes that I learned in college and still have memorized is....

"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder

or control the firm resolve of a determined soul!!!"

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Little did I know, that I would give birth to one of those determined souls.....

HERE'S BOO!!!

Great Blessings!!!

Lately, I have felt BUSY BUSY BUSY!!! I can't seem to accomplish all of the things I feel like I NEED to. But, I also feel like I am starting to come to the point where I need to change my list of what NEEDS to be done. My cute little kiddos are growing up right before my eyes. Although #5 is constantly doing things she shouldn't... like spilling water all over everything several times/day, using the home phone in the bathtub, throwing food all over the floor, hitting EVERYONE and on and on and on. I know I need to enjoy these moments before they are gone!!! I keep thinking... I wish she would talk... but then once she does, she won't ever go back to being a 'baby'!!! So.... here's to not getting all of those things done and enjoying my five greatest blessings!!!

Funny Shane!!!

One of the many things I love about being married to Shane, is that he ALWAYS makes me laugh!!!! He is always making silly jokes and being funny!!! On our way home from Arizona, his arms were REALLY sunburned!! We were all in the same sun.... but he is the only one who got burned (he doesn't live in a swimming pool like the rest of us!!).... anyway... We were driving home right into the sun... you know, where the sun is shining below the sunvisor, but right at you???? Well, he was complaining about the sun burning and shining on his sunburned arms.... so I suggested that he could put some wet wipes on his arms.... for coolness and to shield them from the sun..... I DIDN'T THINK HE WOULD ACTUALLY DO IT!!!!! But he thought it was a GREAT idea..... so here you go... a little glimpse of our drive home from Arizona!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Lucky Mom!!

I just want to share why I feel like I am a lucky Mom today!!! I was sitting on the couch reading a book while my cute #4 was watching TV!!! After a while, he came over and said, "Mommy, can I sit by you?" Delighted, I said, "Sure!" So he snuggled right up next to me and we sat for a while.... Then a little while later he said, "Mommy, I love you!!!" That made my day!! How lucky I am to be a mother to these wonderful children that bless my life!!!

Labor Day in Arizona!!!

For Labor Day, we decided to go visit Shane's sister and her family, who recently moved to Arizona. They live up in the mountains about an hour south of Flagstaff.... in the middle of NOWHERE!!!! It is WAY up in the sticks... but BEAUTIFUL!!! We decided to take our four wheelers and motorcycle to have some good ol' fashioned outdoor fun!! And boy, was it ever fun!!! Our kids kept saying that they want to live there and didn't want to come home. We rode four wheelers, got lost, shot gophers, saw an ENORMOUS herd of ELK, caught giant 'crawdads', got lost, drank LOTS AND LOTS of hot chocolate, went to church with 'Grizzly Adams' and his friends at the local LDS Branch, caught lizards, got lost, played in the campfire, ate all of Aunt Jamies food, played in the treehouse and had a BLAST!!!!
We arrived late on Friday night. So, Saturday, we were ready to get outside and have fun!! Uncle Dustin needed help herding some cows from one pasture to another. So, he drew Shane a 'map' (that is kindof an oxymoron because a 'map' would imply that it helped us find our way.... let's just say it was a good drawing of where we 'should' have been able to go if we were even remotely familiar with the area.... which we were NOT AT ALL!!!! ) We took #1 and #2 and four- four wheelers to drive. We were 'suppose' to meet Dustin at certain 'water hole' in about 20 minutes. Well, we got to 'a' watering hole in about 20 minutes and waited there for about 30 minutes... after a while, we gave up and decided to try another road. All the while, we were suppose to be herding cows to a different 'pasture'!! We had seen a few cows, but didn't know which pasture or which way to herd them... so we went exploring. After about 1 hour, we found some cows and just started herding them up into a group 'that way'!!! We had no idea where we were suppose to take them... but we were so excited to find them, that we were just herding them along 'that way'!! IT WAS SO..... FUN!!!! If you have never herded cows on a four wheeler.... you should add it to your list of 'things to do before I die'!!! I am not kidding!! It sounds silly, but it was so fun... Finally, we found Dustin and he told us we were going the wrong way..... surprising, eh?? So, we turned them around and went 'that way' instead!!! Either way, we had a blast!!! We finally got them into the pasture where they needed to go. As we finished, it started to rain. It wasn't just sprinkling either.... it was coming down hard. Like a 'cow peeing on a flat rock' pouring rain!! We were all wearing sweatshirts and nothing waterproof, so, Dustin sent us off to find the 'road' which would be a faster way for us to get home. He gave Shane the directions... which were kindof unclear... but in Shane's optomistic attitude.... he just figured we would find our way....eventually.....!! We were looking for a road marked 82---after a few minutes, we came to a road marked 93.... not even close to 82... we could go right or left... we went right..... We (#2 and I) were feeling quite lost at this point and very wet, muddy and cold. #2 just kept saying, 'we're gonna die!!" I was praying and praying that we would find the right road..... Dad and #1 were loving the mud the rain and the whole adventure!!!! THEN, all of sudden, this truck with a hunter in it is there... on the same road we are on... in the pouring rain... in the middle of the forest.... like a beacon in the desert!!! I was in the back of the pack and the only one that thought it was 'ironic' that he would be there at that point in time... so I stopped and asked for directions. After he told me we were going the 'opposite' way we should have been... I chased down my family to have us turn around. It took me quite a while to catch up to them... as they didn't even know I had stopped.... I could have been back on the road DEAD and they wouldn't have even noticed!! Feeling just a 'tad' frustrated....that FIRST.... they didn't think we NEEDED directions and SECOND that they weren't even aware that I wasn't following behind them... Of course, Shane is laughing and thinks this whole thing is "AWESOME"!!! I was furious!!!! We could be lost forever and he thinks it is funny!!! Anyway... after about another HOUR of riding in THE RIGHT DIRECTION in the pouring rain... we were all COVERED in MUD...... and couldn't have been more wet if we had jumped into a lake....ALAS, we made our way back to Aunt Jamie's house safe and sound... !!!!
After all.....it was PRETTY AWESOME!!!!


Thanks Aunt Jamie and Uncle Dustin for a SUPER FUN WEEKEND!!!

Stickers, Underwear and High Heels

This may sound like an 'inappropriate' title to an 'inappropriate' movie.....Don't worry, it's just our cute #5 and her latest fashions!!! (Although, Shane wishes I would sport this 'look' once in a while.... I could never pull it off nearly as well as our Boo!!!!)

Frustrated that she can't get them off!!

Her favorite scowl...
By the way, she had quite a bit of help putting all of these stickers on!!!

WHAT A HOTTIE!!!