Easter

Yesterday morning, we went down to Dan's parents house for an Easter Egg Hunt, and lunch. The kids had a lot of fun. Dan and I were exhausted and felt like we could barely move. We had stayed up past 2 am the night before, working on the kitchen remodel. (And I got woken up by kids at 6 am) I will post more about this later.

My mom, Leslie, and Becca came over later in the day to help with the kids, and kitchen painting. Then my mom took our kids to her house to paint easter eggs. We have no kitchen to cook or paint eggs in. The kids had fun with her, and it was very helpful that she took the kids while we painted more in the kitchen. I felt a little sad that I didn't get to paint eggs with the kids, since I actually enjoy it. I sent my camera with Rachel, and told her to take pictures, since I usually take pictures of the kids painting their eggs.

Today was quite a relaxing day. Since it was Fast Sunday, I did not make a special breakfast or lunch. I did not make Rachel fast. Since we only have one child that fasts, it didn't seem fair to make her wait until later to eat her candy, while the other kids ate theirs. Maybe next time this happens, I will plan better and have the Easter Bunny come at a different time. We went to my parents house for a yummy dinner, and crashed on their couches for a while.

On a serious note, I am thankful for Easter, and for Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ suffered for my sins, and he was resurrected. No matter how hard I try to be good, it is not enough without the Saviour. I am so thankful for Jesus Christ.

Being Chased

The other day as I was driving home from dropping off my kids from school, I saw a runner being chased by a dog. It wasn't growling or biting him, just having a jolly time running after him. I can totally relate. I've been chased by dogs many times when I was running. I've learned to find the nearest pile of rocks to carry for self-defense.
When Leslie and I were teenagers there was a German Shepherd at a house at the end of the street. It looked like a mean dog (thought maybe it wasn't). It was ordinarily chained up. One day, she mentioned that it was not chained up. We ran really fast to get away from it.
My mom actually got bit by a dog when we were running once. She called animal control on it. Of course the owner claimed her dog would never get out, and would never bite anyone.
I remember running a race at Cottonwood Complex in high school. As I ran past a tree on the far side of the course, a cat starting chasing me. I guess my shoelace was untied, and it thought I was playing with it. After a little while, it figured out I wasn't playing and quit following me.
The next chasing event I remember was the rooster. Leslie and I were running on 106th south near Bingham. There were a few chickens near the sidewalk. As we ran past, a black rooster started going after Leslie. I'm pretty sure she screamed, and we picked up the pace.
The funniest "Chasing" has got to be my mom and the goats. I only wish I had been able to see this one. I don't remember if this was last year or the year before--you'd have to ask her. She was out for a run, and she ran past some goats. They started following her and bawling after her. She could not get them to leave her alone. As her run progressed, the goats persisted it following her and crying after her. At one point, she was along a busy road. She was afraid they were gonna get run over. So, she found something to tie them up with, and took them the rest of the way home with her. Once again, she called animal control to come get them. Those poor goats ran at least a mile---that was probably quite a workout for them. I only wish I could have videotaped it for amusement purposes.
When I was a teenager once, an old guy followed me on his bike. At first I thought he might just be out for a leisurely ride. But he turned around at the same point that I did. The thing is, a person riding a bike can usually bike a lot faster than a person running, even if they aren't pedaling too hard. Thankfully, there were still a few cars driving by. I ran home really fast.
When I was running with Erin and her sister Laura in the canyons a few years ago, they were ahead of me a little. They spotted a baby bear. (I didn't actually see it). If you know anything about nature, you know to stay far away from baby bears. There's usually a protective mom nearby. We ran back really fast.
I guess being chased is just a part of being a runner. It makes it a little more interesting at times.

AAAAAAHHHHHHH! I'm getting old!

I haven't seen any gray hairs yet. I am thankful for that. Yesterday morning I was looking in the mirror, and guess what I noticed? I have a few wrinkles!!!! So I have to say AAAAAAAAHHHHHH! I'm getting old. I still feel like I'm 21. I guess I never thought I'd get old and have wrinkles. If I ever see I gray hair, I will be getting my hair colored immediately. My mom was funny when I was a teenager. She would look in the mirror and pull out all of her gray hairs. She would try to get us to help her pull the gray ones. I never would. That's gross! Since she is in her late 50's now, she just colors her hair. I think it would be bad to pull out all of the gray ones when you get that old. Then you would be balding instead of going gray.

Independent Alex

Today I took the kids to the park. I just randomly picked a park in a neighborhood in South Jordan. We were the only ones there. I thought Alex would just run around the park. Nope. He climbed on the playground equipment too. At 16 months old, he is already getting so independent. I walked near him the whole time he was climbing. He climbed all the way to the "twirly" slide and went down by himself. He did this many times.

I didn't take pictures of this. I have an extra child on Thursday (my niece Allison). I'm lucky enough to get out the door with all of the kids. I can't manage a camera too.

Alex seems to have an independent streak. I hope he is a little more mild than Anna though. She is still tough to handle when we go places.

I can't wait for Spring

When I came out of the gym this morning, it was actually getting light! Hooray! It will be Spring soon. I always have a harder time getting up in the morning when it still looks like it is the middle of the night.
I'm already planning out our vegetable garden. I'm thinking of getting a few new plants this year.
Yellow Carrots--They taste really good in Lean Cuisines. I want to plant some to see what they taste like.
Tomatillos--I want to make some good dressing, like Cafe Rio's with some of these. Can you grow these in Utah? I haven't researched these yet.
Once again, I am going to plant "Jack Be Little" pumpkins. They really aren't pumpkins. They are more like gourds. They make great Fall decorations. We got between 20-25 off one plant. I'm only gonna plant one and hope the squash bugs don't get it.
Rachel always loves cherry tomatoes. This last year we only planted one plant. Cherry tomato plants almost always grow like weeds---very well. Rachel eats them like candy. But she just doesn't eat them fast enough. We had tons of them go rotten.
Does anyone have any magic to turn our white grapes into Concord grapes? We have tons and tons of white grapes. They came with the house. They made okay juice. But I really like purple grape juice, not white.
Corn and tomatoes are my favorite things to plant. MMM............
Last year we planted about 12 rows of corn. That was waaaay too much corn. Since we moved, we have a bigger garden. Our lot is .35 acres, which is a good size. Last year was our first garden here. After we planted everything, we had a bunch of corn seeds left and a huge space left in the garden. So we planted more and more rows.
I can't wait for the tulips, daffodils and crocus flowers to come up.
That's all for my garden rambling today. :)

A Momentary Pity Party

I woke up at 3 am with a sick stomach. Around 5, I went back to sleep. I got up before 6 to go to the gym. While putting on my clothes, I decided that it was a bad idea to go to the gym with a sick stomach. So, I went back to bed. I didn't get back to sleep. Thankfully, my stomach is feeling quite a bit better now.
I really wanted Dan to stay home from work. He has about 2 months of paid time off saved up. He told me that he couldn't. I said, "I'm sure other people call in sick if their wife is sick." He said, "No, they call their mom or sister to help them out." So I cried. My mom and sisters who live around here work. I have nobody to call to help me out.
I'm feeling okay now. I don't feel great. I didn't get much sleep. Sometimes it is hard to be a mom. So this is my momentary pity party.

BYU Game

On Saturday we went to the BYU basketball game as a family. We left Alex with my mom. He doesn't hold still for more than about 10 seconds unless he's asleep.

I bought the cheap seats. The kids were disappointed that we were almost the top row of the Marriot Center. They thought that nobody would be able to see the "GO BYU" signs they had made. I'm sure the people we sat next to could see the signs.

Dan went out and bought BYU shirts for those of us who didn't have one. The kids were so excited. Between screaming and cheering, and a snack of Nachos, the kids had a great time. This is a picture of all of the kids ready to go, in their BYU shirts.