Quincy's 10th Birthday!

Quincy turned 10 on May 12th. She got to have a "almost sleepover" birthday party. She had so much fun. She is such a good girl. I am really lucky to have her as my daughter!

playing musical sleeping bags

Happy Mother's Day!

i'm not sure i have any blog followers anymore due to the lack of posts, but this pretty much sums up what we've been up to.

The kids have been so excited and have been telling everyone so I thought it may be time to post...

Goalie

Quincy told her coach last week at practice that she wanted to play goalie. On Saturday she told me about it and said she was very nervous about it so at the game she told the coach she changed her mind. The coach ended up putting her in anyway for the 4Th quarter. Probably because they were up 4-0 so it was a good time for her to try it out without so much pressure. She did a really good job and only had to get the ball twice.

Her team pretty much dominated the whole game, so this is what she looked like most of the time...a little bored, but super cute. I was really impressed with her though. I was watching her when the ball would start to make it's way down to her end and she totally looked like she knew how to play goalie. She does play goalie at recess a lot, just never in a real soccer game. I just can't get over how exciting these games are for me to watch now. They have finally reached that age where they are playing as a team and know their positions.

Easter Egg Hunt

***off the subject***

A few weeks ago we took the training wheels off of Owen's bike. The only picture I took was when he was screaming bloody murder and riding his bike at the same time. It was hilarious...all of our kids have done that so far, it must be scary to when you first ride all by yourself.

Saturday was our neighborhood's Annual Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had lots of fun this year (no crying at all...miracle) finding eggs and in between age groups playing on the big blow slide and the playground.

Owen

Quincy (yellow shirt) Abbey (blue shirt bending over)

Jacob (blue and green striped shirt)

Owen going down the slide as the other 3 just got off. They loved this thing...they couldn't stop giggling.

St. Patricks Day!

For St. Patricks Day I went with some friends to the "green fountain." In Fountain Hills, Az they have this huge fountain that put green dye in at noon on St. Patricks Day. This fountain was super huge and it was at a nice park, so it was a great place to let the kids play. For me it was a great place to people watch. I did not realize that lots of people really get into this holiday.

Here it is when it was just starting to turn green.

Here is the fountain really emerald green. It was actually really pretty to watch.

Here are a couple of pictures of my favorite people to watch. If I was really brave I would of gone over there and asked them to pose for me. But I'm not.

We really had lots of fun. Thanks Liz for telling us about this place, hopefully we will turn this into a yearly tradition.

Field Trip

Last month I was able to go on a field trip with Owen's Kindergarten class. They went to a dairy farm and learned all about cows. They were also able to feed goats and horses, pet rabbits and hold chickens. Owen was game for everything but actually holding the chickens. They had lots of fun and so did I. That was the first time I have ever helped out at school. I really need to do that more often.

Owen's entire kindergarten class.

Feeding the horse.
Feeding the goat.

Another Soccer Season.

The girls are half way through another soccer season. We put them in a different league this time so they could play on the same team as some of there friends in the ward. They have really great coaches and it is getting really exciting to watch them play. They are learning how to actually play as a team instead of as individuals. I'm really enjoying this season.

Abbey

Quincy

The girls taking a knee...someone was hurt.

I need a RACE!

I have only run a few times since the half marathon and am in desperate need of a race. I've looked online and can't seem to find one. Most of the ones that I've found are either in the next week or two, or are in the first 2 weeks of April and Peter will be out of town. Does anybody know of any race in march, end of april or in may sometime? I need a goal to keep me running.

Half Marathon.

Peter and I have been training for the last 12 weeks for a Half Marathon. Neither one of us has ran one before and thought we'd try it. I wanted to do it to get me into shape, and that it did. I lost 11 pounds training for it. I only limited what I ate for the first couple of weeks and then the holidays kicked in. I think this is the first time I've lost weight over the holidays instead of gaining. Last weekend we went to St. George, UT and ran in the Painter's Half Marathon. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I didn't push myself too hard in fear that my body would give out and not finish but I actually think I could of ran longer. It gave me such a high afterwards that I think I am now addicted to running...race running anyway.

My cousin Scott and his wife Elizabeth, Peter and I, my Uncle Dennis, and my brother Jeff.

Jeff approaching the finish line...1 hour 23 minutes 19th place overall!!

Peter approaching the finish line...1 hour 54 minutes.

Peter

Me....2 hours 4 minutes.

Can I just say the sense of accomplishment is amazing! I'm looking forward to next year and hoping to get my time under 2 hours.

trampoline

Santa brought the kids a trampoline complete with safety enclosure, but it didn't get put up till after our trip to Utah. The kids absolutely love it! They play on it for hours. Not only do they jump on it, the use it as a club house and can't wait till it's a little warmer so they can sleep out under the stars. Santa is awesome.

lazy blogger...

time has flown by this past month so here are a few pictures of what we've been up to.

New Year's Eve Party

Peter was a trooper and wore a hat most of the night. Love that guy :)

My birthday happens to be on New Years Eve
Licking the super yummy "sticky frosting" off my birthday cake.

Janna, Me, Melissa, and my Mom

Sledding in Eagle Mountain, UT

Peter with Owen and Jake

Haley and Abbey


Abbey-so excited to see snow in what seemed like forever!

Jake playing in real snow for the first time...he had just turned one when we moved to AZ.

Owen all bundled up.

Christmas morning. This is the first year that we didn't get the whole family

For some reason blogger won't download the pictures in the order I want them and it is driving me nuts. We had a great Christmas and went to Utah a few days after. We surprised the kids and told them that was their main gift and they loved it. They had so much fun playing with their cousins and the SNOW!! Peter and I decided the snow and cold was fun for a day or two but then we were done. If there were only a way to live close to all your family and stay away from the cold!

Merry Christmas!!

I know I posted this last year, but this is my all time favorite.

Ward Christmas Party...

This morning was our wards christmas party. After breakfast there was a puppet show that the kids loved, and then of course...Santa.

Abbey asked for an her own personal elf.

Quincy asked for a video camera.

Owen asked for legos.


Jake wanted nothing to do with any of it...except for the food.

Welcome Home!!

This afternoon my parents returned home from their second mission. They served for 18 months in the Perth, Australia Mission. I have been thinking about them all day and am a little sad that I won't get to see them for a little while. But it is nice to know that they are home now and that we will be able to see them the next time we go to Utah.

I am so proud of them for the sacrifices they made to serve a mission and what a great example they are for me.