Christmas morning

It was another great Christmas! Santa even brought us a trampoline.... lucky us!

Tangled

Last night Ryan and I took Isabel to see Tangled and I have to say I loved it! It was so good!! I laughed, it was exciting and full of drama, it was touching, and it was just amazing! If you have not see it, you should. Isabel loved it too. It's a movie for all ages. SO GOOD!

Happy Anniversary

I can't believe it been 6 years, but it's true. It happened so fast. I feel like it was just yesterday and yet I don't remember life without Ryan. I feel like we have been together forever. Ryan is my best friend. He understands me, is patient with me, cares for me on many levels, and would never hurt me. He is my perfect match. I honestly could not have asked for a better companion.

These past 6 years have been very busy. One or both of us has been in school (Ryan only has one more semester though, yay!), we've built 3 houses, and moved 5 times, we've had our 2 beautiful daughters, owned 8 cars (I might be leaving one out, I can't remember), and this will be our 6th Christmas together.

I love Ryan so much! Happy Anniversary Honey!

(our anniversary is actually on the 18th, but we'll be in Lava Hot Springs without kids celebrating).

Christmas Dresses

The girls wore their Christmas dresses to church today, and they looked so cute! I can't get enough of my girls! Look how cute they are.......

Gingerbread party

A few weeks ago, we had a gingerbread house making party at my mom's house. It was my first time making a gingerbread house. It was a lot of fun! I was really pleased with it. Here are pictures from that day. All of us in front of our houses (with Ryan and the girls in the back ground). L to R: Elisabeth, Jane, Katy, Michelle, my mom, Melissa, me, Rebecca, and Jennifer.

My house, close up.

My roof. I melted peppermint candies in the oven and then flattened them. I thought it turned out pretty good.

I love my house!

Triathlon

On Saturday I did my triathlon and it went great! Okay, maybe not great, but good. I did not win (I never really hoped for that), but I did not come in last either. I finished in a decent time (1 hour 6 minutes) and was really pleased with myself.
Here I am before the event being..... me (a little goofy). The swim portion. I did great this portion of the race. My swim only took me 5 minutes 30 seconds.

My transition after the swim.

Coming back from the bike. As you can tell from my face, it was hard. The bike was mostly uphill. It was difficult and I was so exhausted after riding. My calves were like rocks.

Coming over the finish line. I'm smiling because it's over. The run was not hilly or really even that hard, but because my calves were like rocks (literally) I could barely walk the first half of the run. My run was really slow, but I was able to run the last half of the run.

I did the race with my best friend Leslie. She did so awesome! She places 2nd in our age group and 7th over-all for the women. She did great! It was fun doing it with someone.

Yellowstone and Jackson

Over the weekend we went to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone with Ryan's parents and brother. It was a fun trip. I had only been to Yellowstone once before when I was about 13, so I did not remember much. It was great to be outside and see such amazing things. Yellowstone is such an interesting place. We all commented many times that the early explorers must have thought that the gates of hell where here. It is such an unbelievable place. I really loved it! It was beautiful and wonderous.

Usually Lucy was in the stroller, but we were doing some hiking and could not take the stroller so I carried her. It was quite the work out, carrying 25 lbs in a baby bjorn. I think she might be a little too big for it. She liked it though.

There was a huge herd of bison on the side of the road. They are so big! They just do whatever they want there. There was one just standing in the road.

Lucy was way more interested in the box of raisins than she was in Old Faithful.

Isabel with Old Faithful going off. It was just as cool as I remember it being.

Isabel loved it here. As I am typing this she keeps saying she wants to go back to the volcano place with all the mud and steam. She's a funny girl!

Lucy in the stroller. What a life.

Ryan pushing the girls and the boardwalk through the hot spots. It was really amazing.

The famous elk arches in Jackson Hole. We didn't spent too much time in Jackson, but it was fun. Isabel loved touching the "bone caves" as she called it.

Marathon Anyone?

Let me start by saying, "No". I will not be doing a marathon. Marathons are for crazy people, no offense to you out there who do them. I can't imagine running that far. However, a marathon relay is right up my alley. So I have registered myself and my siblings for the Ogden Marathon Relay on May 21st of next year. I am so excited. I will be running 5 miles for the relay and I ahve to say I am a little nervous about it already. I have never run more than 2.5 miles. I have 6 months to get ready though. It's going to be fun!?

Boo is 4

I can't believe that my baby is 4 years old. It seems like not that long ago I found out that I was pregnant with her and now 4 years (and 9 months) later here we are.
For her birthday we went to Boondocks to have some fun. Here are the highlights:
Isabel bowling, This was the first time she has bowled and she loved it.

Here we are on the bumper boats. We got really wet, but it was so much fun.

You can barely see Isabel, but she is in the go-kart with Ryan. She loved this! She also did this with me. It was super fun!

For her birthday Ryan and I got her a bike. She loves it!! I knew she would love it, but I think she would sleep on it if I let her.

We did birthday breakfast. Candle in a waffle. This was fun and I think we'll do it every year.

1 year

How time flys! This time last year I was in labor and welcoming Lucy into our family. I honestly can't believe it's been a year. It feels like a few months ago, not 1 year ago.
Lucy is such a sweet girl. I am grateful everyday that we have her. She adds so much to our family. You can't be around her and not fall in love her. She's quite a character! I love you Lucy!!

She has grown so much. She has 4 teeth and loves Mac n' Cheese and peaches. Oh, and frozen peas, those are her very favorite! She is so independent. I can't get enough of her.

Snugi Snug

I love these girls! My kids are the sweetest, dearest children ever! I can't express how much I love them. So, Lucy does this thing when she hold her baby (or a bear or pillow) up to her face to snuggle with them. Ryan started calling it "Snugi Snug" and now everytime we say it, she finds something to snuggle. It is so cute. She loves babies and always snuggles them when she sees them. Could she be any cuter?

I'm Not Crying - Flight Of The Conchords (Lyrics)

This is for you Emily!

Running with Kids

Aren't they cute? Did you know combined their weight is approximately 60 lbs.? And combine that with my stroller (which is a super nice one, thank you Rice parents) at about 8-ish lbs, and that a total of about 70 lbs. That's a lot of weight to push.
I normally run alone, but occationally Ryan comes with me. He puts the girls in the stroller and pushes them and I run along side him. On Wednesdays and Thursdays Ryan has class until 9:30pm (I like to run in the evenings). Since my kids go to bed around 7pm, I am left to go running with them or run in the morning (I hate getting up early). So, tonight I decided to try it out. IT WAS HARD! I am not really sure how Ryan does it with such ease. I will admit, I cut my run short tonight due to that extra 70 lbs I was pushing. I guess I'll be switching to Wednesday mornings. I'm such a wimp!
How I feel - GREAT (tired, but I love the way I feel after a run)!
How I look - I always look realy bad when I get home. You can't really tell in this picture, but I am actually bright red and sweating to death! People always stare at me while I'm out. I'm sure they are taking note of where I am and what I look like so that when I pass out and go missing they can describe me to the police. I'm such a hottie when I run.

Couch to 5K

I have been doing the program "Couch to 5K" and I can't tell you how much I am enjoying it! For all you who know me, you know that I do not run. I have horrible knees and have never wanted to run. However, this year I decided to become more physically active, signed up for a beginner triathlon, and so needed to train for it. I started 4 weeks ago with running and I am loving it! I went and bought custom running shoes and I haven't had any pain in my knees. It's been amazing, I can hardly believe it. Anyway, I am loving running and enjoying getting out 3 times a week. It's so not me, but maybe it's the new me.

New GEICO Commercial - Piggy

This is so funny! I laughed the entire time.

Salted-Nut-Roll Bars ("Crack Bars")

These are the bars I made at the reunion (my Boren family reunion) and got many requests to post. They are super good and not healthy (just to warn you). They are the perfect combination of crunchy, chewy, salt, and sweet.

1 lb. peanut butter sandwich cookies, coarsely crumbled
1 stick butter, melted

For the topping:
2 cups peanut butter chips
2/3 cup light corn syrup
4 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups mini marshmallows
2 cups dry-roasted peanuts
2 cups crisp rice cereal (like Rice Krispies)

Preheat oven to 350, coat a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray. Pulverize cookies in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Add melted butter and process until crumbs clump together. Press crumbs into prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.
While that bakes, melt peanut butter chips, corn syrup, butter, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stirring until smooth, about 5 minutes. Pour half the mixture over the prepared crust.
Top mixture/crust with the marshmallows and return bars to oven. Bake until mallows puff, about 2 minutes, then remove from oven. Don't let mallows brown or they'll turn crunchy.
Toss peanuts and cereal with remaining peanut mixture/sauce in a large bowl. Drop spoonfuls of mixture over the mallows. Cool bars completely before cutting (it takes a long time for these to cool, give yourself at least 4 hours for complete cooling). Cut bars with a sharp knife (it may need to sprayed with non-stick spray).

Fitter Than Your Friend: Who is in it to Win it?

Check out the details by clicking on the link below.....
Fitter Than Your Friend: Who is in it to Win it?: "We are starting a get fit challenge. The challenge will be based on time exercised 5 days a week and good nutrition 7 days a week. The progr..."

Pretty Sure I'm Loved!

I know we are all loved by our Heavenly Father, but I'm pretty sure He loves me a lot. I feel like my children are the greatest blessing I have ever recieved. Kids can be hard, but totally worth the moments when they smile at you, hug you, tell you they love you, or snuggle with you. I truly feel like our kids are hand picked for us to raise on this earth and I am so lucky to have mine. For all you who know me personally, you know that I am not the most patient person and I have depression issues. I feel like Heavenly Father sent me nice kids because I could not handle hard kids. Lucy and Isabel are the sweetest kids. I can't get enough of Lucy, she lights up my darkest moments. She has so much personality and it's all good. Here are some of the highlights from the past few weeks.
This was funny. Ryan put Lucy in her seat and them started rocking it back and forth. She was laughing so hard, it was cute! Hold on for dear life Lucy! Aren't they cute? Isabel loves Lucy so much and vice versa. They are so cute together.

Lucy loves to clap. She was having so much fun playing. How can you resist a face like that? She is so endearing and lovable. Oh, I could just eat her up!

This was before the parade on the 3rd. We decided to have a glasses day. It was really funny and Lucy actually didn't mind them. I'm telling you, she is so sweet!

Trying out the glasses with a hat. The hat didn't last long, but it was cute while it lasted.

This was Lucy's Independence Day shirt. She is my Lil Miss Independent! I love her!!

GMAT

I forgot to tell everyone how proud I am of Ryan. On Saturday Ryan took the GMAT. He needs it to get into the Master's program so he can get his CPA. He needed at least a 500 (out of 800) to get accepted. Well, he did so awesome. He got a 650! I am so proud of him!!

Happy 4th

We have not been up to much. Lucy loves her patriotic jammies.
For the 4th we went to the Kaysville festivities, fireworks at Sam's, and the Layton parade. Over-all it was a lot of fun! Actually Lucy hated the parade and the fire trucks, but Isabel had a good time and loved the candy.

Lagoon

About 2 weeks ago we went to Lagoon. It was so much fun. This is the first time we have paid for Isabel to go on rides, normally we just take her on the free stuff on stake Lagoon day. She had so much fun. I don't think she wanted the day to ever end. Here are some of the highlights.
This is Isabel on the bumper cars. It was funny, she couldn't figure it out and so spent the entire time by herself in the corner. The log ride. In order in the boat is Michelle (Ryan's sister), her husband Kade, Liz (Ryan's mom), Isabel, and Ryan. I love this ride, but someone had to stay with Lucy.

This is what Lucy and I were doing while everyone was on the log ride. Actually this is what she did most of the day. She was so good hanging out in the stroller. She's a good baby!

When I was a kid, this one of my favorite rides. I love these cars and so did Isabel!

Bulgy The Whale. This was Ryan's favorite ride as a kid. Isabel loved this ride and even put her arms in the air at one point.

I love Lagoon. I know some people don't like amusement parks and think Lagoon is lame, but I love it! I have great memories as a kid there and I want my kids to have the smae memories.