Twins mean two ... right?

We got a text from Joe's little brother on Sunday night asking if we want to get together on Monday. OF COURSE! We run on Monday nights so I was trying to think of something that we could do that was physically active. We decided to hike up to Twin Lake Reservoir. The description of it said EASY ... I beg to differ. It wasn't long, but it was 100% uphill (at least until we turned around and went back -- the rest was downhill. So technically it was 50% uphill.) I was huffing and puffing the whole way up. I am out of shape -- but it was tough.

When we got to the top of the hill we didn't think that we went up the right path. First of all it WASN'T easy. Second -- the hike was to a place called Twin Lake. We got to the top and there was this huge dam. We were expecting two of something so we figured that we had taken the wrong path. The sight was gorgeous and totally fun to get to the top. The only downfall was that it was pretty cold.

The more we go and exercise outside -- the more Jace expects it and enjoys it. There were a couple of nights last week that we didn't go out ... and Jace was cranky the whole night. He stayed up late and was pretty fussy. He loves to be outside and he loves to look around. Something about the air, the smells, the outdoors. We are training him well.

Oh and don't forget to check out his hat. It is way too big -- but kept the mosquitoes off! Besides Spiderman is our favorite ... and his.

Water Baby?

We have wanted to take Jace swimming for a long time. Well we were going to Lagoon -- and thought that we could take him to lagoon-a-beach when we were done with the rides and when it was starting to get hot. The night before we bought him his swim diapers and a little life jacket. We strapped him up and started out to the water.

I walked in the water and, to my surprise, it was pretty cold! SO we took him to a very shallow part of the pool -- thinking it would be warmer since it was ... shallow. Unfortunately the temperature was about the same. Joe and I sat down and put Jace's toes in the water. It wasn't surprising at all that he didn't like it. He cried and cried. I guess we don't have a COLD water baby. Now we need to find a pool that is warmer so that we can try again. Oh well! We got some cute pictures. That's all that matters really.

Bell Canyon Reservoir

As part of our quest to get healthy ... we have been spending a lot of time outside. Last night we decided it would be fun to take our little family up the canyon. I started researching which trail we should go up ... I wanted something that could be done in a couple of hours but not so easy that we weren't getting a workout. The decision: Bell Canyon Reservoir.

There are two different trails that can take you to the reservoir. Stephanie had taken both and we went up the "better" of the two. You walk around this ridge and you can see the entire valley. It's about 0.75 miles up to the reservoir. We stopped there to have our little dinner and enjoy the view. Because of all of the unusual rain fall in the valley recently ... the water level was really high and we couldn't even get down to it. (We didn't try though ... we wanted to keep walking!)

I'll stop right now to say that Jace did wonderful! By the time we got there he should have started to fuss and get ready for bed (7 p.m.) But we weren't home ... so we couldn't go to sleep yet. He just was happy as a bug! Watching everything around him and ... sucking in the backpack. (On the way down the mountain there was a lady behind me. She was like: "IS that a DOLL? I laughed. "NOPE! It's my boy!" :) She was concerned that a full grown woman was carrying a doll up the mountain! hahaha)

After we ate dinner we continued on our way. The path was gorgeous! We climbed a long way, passed over a bridge and then kept going. We saw several rivers, but didn't think that they were the waterfall we were expecting -- SO we kept going. The terrain started to get a bit bumpier and we had to step over and climb up several rocks. At this point, dear Stephanie had to go to the bathroom. Not easy to do when you are a girl. She refused, but the longer she waited ... the grouchier she got! "THAT'S FALLING WATER!" "THERE" "THERE" "AND THERE". We laughed at her, pointing to all of the trees she could borrow for the moment. Stubborn Steph. Finally she turns around and yells: "THIS PATH ISN'T TAKING US ANYWHERE! CAN WE GO BACK ALREADY?" We decided to go back -- we had seen a small waterfall and I guess we won't know if that was the waterfall in question until we take the hike again. We turned around to go back and I swear that Steph was halfway down the mountain! We took our time going back, taking pictures and enjoying ourselves. Jace was doing great still -- started to blabber a bit and by the time we got to the bottom he was asleep. About half way down the hill here comes Steph. She couldn't make it down the mountain so had to find a cozy spot off in the brush. She is much more enjoyable when not being manipulated by her bladder.

We were able to finish our little hike in the sunset. I am so grateful to live so close to places that we can just escape. We had a great time as a family -- and I am exploring which mountain we are going to conquer next!!

A Healthier You

Every time I see someone running on the side of the road I wish I could be like them. I wish that I had the motivation (and stamina) to do what they do. It finally dawned on me ... why can't I do it? Joe and I bought Jace his "jeep" and are ready to get rolling. I'm sure that Joe isn't challenged much anymore running with me ... but more importantly we are getting healthier together and teaching Jace good habits.

We go running every other day and on the "off" days we strap Jace in his back pack and take the dogs for a walk. It is a great way to spend time as a family ... and to keep Jace awake so that he sleeps through the night. BRILLIANT!

Happy Independence Day

For the fourth of July, we spent it celebrating my Grandma's 80th birthday! I had many cousins and friends come from my dad's side of the family that we haven't seen in a long time. It was great to catch up. We enjoyed a great meal ... and a lot of catching up! I ate more brownies than you can count and enjoyed my grandma's potato salad like only she can make it.

All American Cutie ... I think so!

Going gangsta with his sideways "visor"

Hanging out with his daddy
(Look at how he's holding his hands. He does that all of the time now!)

After everyone left we played a couple of games and celebrated our Nation's birthday with some fireworks. My parent's neighbors really get into the fireworks--it's their favorite holiday. We had a great time!

Growing Up

When I started working for the public school system, I was given a nice little bonus. This is a special bonus that they would give to math, science, and special ed teachers. I didn't have to repay that amount if I finished two years of teaching. I was also told that I would receive the same amount at the end of my fourth year teaching. All year I have waited for this bonus. I KNEW it was coming. I planned. I waited. I anticipated. I received the check about two weeks ago and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it: Kitchen.

When we were first married, Joe and I received a cute little dinet set from his parents. It served us well -- lasting us eight good years and five moves. The chairs died out a couple of years ago, but our little table survived. We decided it was time for an upgrade. We went to John Paris Furniture on 33rd and Redwood. They were great! They asked if we needed help and when we said we were just looking they left us alone. He came back about 15 minutes later to see if we were still okay. TOTALLY no-pressure to buy. Well ... we ended up choosing this beauty:

We love it. When the leaf is put away we can easily fit 6 adults. With the leaf ... probably 8 - 10. It should last us many many years.

With the rest of my bonus we got a new fridge, dishwasher, and ... stamps. For new appliances we chose black -- and I don't know what I was thinking. It actually is growing on me a little, but I believe that our kitchen would look better if we had white, so we are going to exchange them soon. As soon as we do, I'll post new pictures!

GO GO GO JOSEPH!

About December/January ish Joe came home from work and told me that he had the opportunity to run in a relay. He told me that he wanted to get back into shape -- and he always wanted to do something like this. I'm thinking ... 5K ... cool! Well the race was no small feat. Him and 11 others would run from Logan to Park City (the Wasatch back) on June 19th/20th. Wow!

He spent the next several months training. He would run several times a week .. trying to average 3 times per week. I'm not going to lie ... I wasn't always the most supportive wife. When I was still pregnant ... we had a TON to do to get ready for Jace to come home. After Jace was home ... well ... being a new mom isn't easy and I had a difficult time staying home with him alone so much. Well we worked through his running schedule and finally the big day was here.

I dropped Joe off at a runner's home and Jace and I went to my parent's house. We decided it would be a good idea to make a "WAY TO GO" poster for him. Now ... to explain the poster ... his team name was: "team hot RUNS". Their "mascot" was the toilet paper. {{GET IT?}} Gross I know. So on the poster we put the slogan for a ... "runs" medication. haha.

Jace, Stephanie, and I went up to see him along the way. We were stationed perfectly ... close to the finish line, but out of the way. We waited and waited for the red head with maroon shorts. Found him! Then we were cheering so loud that I forgot to take a picture while he was close! oops. Well because we were so close to the end he was able to come back and see us. We hugged the sweaty boy and took a couple of photos.

All in all he ran about 17 miles split in to three chunks. The first was about 3.5 miles (easy). The next was very hard (9.6) because of the distance. The last was very hard because of the pitch (3.5). He was going straight up on the last one. Luckily his sister, parents, and nephew came to cheer him on.

I am so proud of Joe. This was a huge accomplishment -- one that he plans to continue on next year. He has inspired our family to get more active. We are running together 3 times a week now. I have gone twice .. and boy am I out of shape ... but it will come. We even want to do a marathon relay in September if we can find 3 more people to do it with. It is 5.2 miles per person.

Congrats Joe! You did great.

Who Said Water is Free?

While in the midst of our crazy rain storm a few weeks ago, I noticed that the water meter had water on it ... to the height of our long grass. I just thought to myself: MAN it sure is raining a lot! Well it continued to rain off and on for several days and I completely forgot about the water meter. After it had dried off for a day or two I noticed that the water level hadn't gone down on the meter. I mentioned it to Joe and he took a look at it. Low and behold ... our meter had a leak. I called the lady at the utilities office and she said someone would come and look at it. No one did. I called the next day and talked to, what I can only assume to be, the same lady as the day before. Now I know pretty much nothing about how this meter works. Infact, I didn't even know that WAS the meter until this whole fiasco. Needless to say I felt rather ... retarded ... talking to this woman on the phone. I was frustrated and embarrassed. Finally she let me know someone would return to my house. He did ... and indeed there is a leak, but he didn't have the proper equiptment to handle it and let me know they would send someone in the morning. The next day four men came to rip my front yard apart. It is finally all fixed.

Except for the bill!

I would say that this thing was leaking for over a week, but because of the rain nobody noticed it. I got a call from the office yesterday and they let me know that they could credit my account from a $530 water bill down to $400. Now that is significantly higher than our bill in the summer time ... grrr!! Hopefully we can haggle them down a bit further ... but I don't think that we'll be able to. Being a grown up is tough!

Happy Father's Day!

I feel bad that I didn't post this closer to the actual day. Joe is a great great dad! I love him so much and he does such a fantastic job with Jace. Of course -- I always knew he would! It is so fun watching them interact with each other. When Jace hears his dad's voice he looks around to see where he's at. He is such a good example to us ... and if Jace grows up to be just like his daddy ... he is going to make some little girl very very happy!

I don't come from a very touchy-feely family who gives hugs and says I love you very often. I probably don't tell my dad enough how much I love him and how much I look up to him. He has had some difficult trials in his life ... and I truly know that they have refined him. Made him a great man. I know that I can always go to him if I have a problem or just want to hang out. He is a one of a kind dad and a spectacular grandpa. Through his words and actions ... I know he loves us and I hope that he knows wer love him too! LOVE YA DAD!!

25 cents old

The other day I was hanging out at Andy and Becky's house. Lizzy, their youngest (5), asked me how old he was. I said almost 3 months. "Is he a year?" she asked. I said no, he was only 3 months. She didn't seem to understand that he wasn't a year. So I gave her a world class analogy. I said: "So it's like if you had $1 ... he'd be 25 cents of it." Brittany, (13) looked at me and said, "So he's 25 cents old ... it makes sense!" I thought so.

I can't believe my baby is 3 months already. That's a third of a pregnancy. It has gone by SO SO fast. I can't hardly believe it.

At 3 months I can ...

He is so much fun! He shows off his dimples to anyone who will pay attention to him. He has a conversation with me -- cooing non-stop. When I sing to him ... he likes to sing along. He only cries when he is tired -- and doesn't even cry for very long then. He can roll over -- but has been doing that since he was 6 weeks. He likes standing up, and all we have to do to support him is hold his arms. He wobbles a bit -- but is getting stronger every day. He is the silent watcher! He prefers to face outward ... and just look at things. You can tell that he is just thinking -- taking everything in. He has discovered his hands ... particularly his right hand. When he spits his binky out he will just chew on his hand. He likes to blow raspberries with his spit and smiles when I try to wipe it up. His mama loves him ... very much!

Our Journey this Last Month

Chillin' With Dad
Photo-opHaving "Fun" at the Dino ParkGetting Ready to go to the Zoo with Ethan
Hanging out with Daphne
(the dog was having more fun!)Playing with Grannie and Grandad3 month ALREADY