ALL ABOARD!

My twin sister, Rebecca came for a visit to Dallas with her cute little boy, Oliver. They stayed for a fun and relaxing 6 days! One of the highlights of the trip was this trolley ride through a shopping/eating district in Dallas. The conductor of this particular trolley was so cute, so we had to include him in the line-up.

Some of the fun things we did included shopping in old town McKinney, a day at the mall (yes- we took all three kids!), the trolley ride, a trip to Sprinkles, a dinner at CPK with just Reba and I, and Rebecca playing at my teams' soccer game. Rebecca and I haven't played soccer together since intramurals at BYU and before that, in high school. So, it was fun to re-live the good ole' days, even if the game wasn't until 10:45 (props to Rebecca for being such a good sport about staying up so late- and for playing so dang good).

Can't wait to do it again!

I Highly Recommend...

It has completely and totally changed my perspective on parenting. After reading this, I feel like I'm spending less energy getting my kids to behave- and it really works. I have my two year old doing things that absolutely amaze me. It really does teach what it says- how to parent as Christ would. In fact, as you implement the principles like patience, joy, love, and non-reviling, you actually become more Christlike yourself and your children behave so much better in the process- killing two birds with one stone! If you haven't already read this, please pick up a copy- it will definitely be worth your while. I just cannot say enough good things about it...

PS- You can buy it online at Deseretbook.com- I'm not sure if the guy is LDS or not so it might be at regular bookstores. I actually bought mine at Amazon.com.

Pumas are # 1!

We won our division championship on Monday night. This past season has been so much fun and I can hardly wait to start all over again on Monday night. I know this isn't the best picture- but you get the idea- its such a fun group of girls and our weekly soccer games are certainly something to look forward to.

ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW! ...

I've never been one to promote any certain political agenda and in fact, although I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, I've never even cast an official vote in my life. But, I received a link to this video and I think you'll agree that it is a must-see for any American- its a refreshing update on how religion fits into the American fabric. The words spoken here are moving and inspiring. Please take the time to watch this and inform yourselves.

Go to mittromney.com and the video pops right up.

Atlanta Half Marathon

Brian and I completed our first race together- the Atlanta Half Marathon, on Thanksgiving Day. My brother, Jordan, and two sisters, Emily and Claire, also ran with us. I wish I could say we did our best but, it didn't exactly start out perfectly...

To begin, we were 45 minutes late to the the start line! Yes, you heard right. We had to ride the Marta up to the start and the trains took alot longer than planned to arrive. Then, we couldn't find the start line once we got there b/c it was so late, so we ran at least a half mile all over the place looking for the start. Once we reached it, we realized that they had moved the mats back to accomodate the marathoners' split times. So, we don't know how far we ran, but it was much more than 13.1 miles. On top of all that, it was pouring rain- not sprinkling, not just normal rain, torrential rain. We had to wipe our eyes just to see in front of us. Kind of crazy. The one good part was that it wasn't cold. If it would have been, we might have just turned around and gone back home. Brian and I finished in great time, but you would have never known it since we were hanging with the fast-walkers by the end. It was decent to roadkill the entire race though! To explain my low-hanging clothing, I must remind you that I was carrying at least 2 pounds of water around with me on that clothing. Brian did an awesome job on the race, especially considering that about 4 weeks prior he got hit with bronchitis and couldn't train for 3 weeks. He really pulled it off and trained twice as hard at the end just to make up for it and pulled off an impressive time, all things considered.

Brian and I ran together until about mile 9 when I decided I was ready to be done, so I took off and tried to finish as quick as I could. I even sprinted in the last half mile. I felt great until about 10 minutes after the race and my stomach decided it had had enough. I didn't realize until several hours later that I was seriously dehydrated and I paid the ultimate price. We had to stop a few times on the way home to accomodate my little condition. Some "magic pills" and liquid helped me get better by bedtime. One of the other side effects of dehydration is loss of appetite- of all days! I had to FORCE myself to eat Thanksgiving dinner.

Here are some lovely pics...



Game On!

So, I've been "tagged"- I've been seeing people get tagged all over the place and finally I am now in the in-"tagged" crowd. Thanks to Nora! Here goes: 6 facts about myself - I'll try not to bore you.

1. I absolutely LOVE where I live. If anybody is looking for a great place to raise a family- check it out. The church is really strong (but not too strong), great family atmosphere everywhere you go, and fairly decent weather (that might be a stretch come July/August).

2. I have learned more about myself, the gospel, love, and well, just everything in general since June 2, 2004 than I have in my entire life combined (thats in the last 3 1/2 years- or since my first daughter, Kate, was born)

3. I come frome a family of eleven children and I'm a twin. Wait, the fun doesn't stop there- I was also a middle child. Hmm, so basically I had no identity of my own growing up, as I was simply referred to as "twin".

4. I love to exercise- its the one thing I do everyday that I feel is just for me- but it also gives me more energy, enthusiasm, and just plain go-ism, which in turn, makes me a better (and well, lets face it- less cranky) mom. Lately, I've taken up running and I love it- there is a major rush following a 10-mile run with no running partner and yes, no ipod! And, I might as well post this too- I'm starting up an indoor soccer team and if anyone is interested, we still need a couple of players. Let me know ASAP!

5. My husband is my best friend- if I had the choice of hanging out with just one person every moment for a week straight (no kids!)- it would definitely be him. Eternity will probably be pretty nice...

6. Like my sister-in-law, Natalie, I LOVE giving birth. Sounds crazy, right? It is the coolest, most amazing, thrilling thing that can happen to someone (provided an epidural is involved- I'm a wimp!) I guess it helps that I have had two very quick (under 4 hours) labor and deliveries. Its the stuff that follows that can get a little crazy (Kate is our exhibit A). But, so worth it!