"mini"

Growing up I remember my mom taking us to watch & cheer for my dad at his "mini" marathons...I absolutely luved it! We would "scout" the route & go to a couple different spots to cheer him on & I remember my mom with that BIG vhs camcorder on her shoulder recording it while all five of us tagged along for the ride! I always wished I could have run a "mini" (1/2) marathon with him, like my sister Amy did. In this picture he won the raffle after the race & received $100...he used it to buy a swing set for us. My dad use to "urge" (some might say force...) me & my sisters to run to stay in shape for sports & for health. While I strongly disliked it when I was younger (crying about it, fighting him on it)...he persisted and thus we became runners. As I've gotten older, it has become a major outlet and strength to me...it's helped me get back into shape after having my baby girls but it has come to mean more than that to me and I never feel better than after a nice run. I'm extremely grateful for a dad who "urged"...for those who don't know my dad, some might say he was a little "too" persistent & while most parents would get sick of trying to support their kids when they were so not-willing or those parents that preferred to spend their time at the country club or on cruises...my dad was always there, pushing me, teaching me, and loving me. And I'm sure he knew that one day I would be very grateful for it, and I am. I love that my girls see me running... they "pretend to go running like mommy" and I hope someday I can run some "mini's" with them!

This morning I just finished a half ("mini") marathon in the backcountry of Highlands Ranch...it was my six month goal after having Jillian. It was a trailrun, 30 degrees, very hilly, but FUN to be running with my friend Heather! While I am a very average runner (Savannah asked me last night "so are you gonna win or what???"), I luv the chance it gives me to think, evaluate, plan, reflect, rejuvenate...today I was thinking alot about jillian...my dad...and that hundred dollar bill. *cami

Heather just started running 4 months ago!
We had some great runs together this fall!

My little Jilly bean...where have the past SIX months gone...

My biggest fans...thanks Cam for watching the girls so much for me while I trained...wished you were on the trail with me!

royalty...

this past weekend my sweet friend janae came to visit me from arizona...it was so great to have her here! she flew in on friday and we had lunch at jimmy john's and just ran errands...that night we drove downtown & picked up J-Ru's yummy middle eastern food and met cam at the hospital for dinner...

i could say alot about janae (she is fun, patient, kind, light-hearted, a fantastic mom, has a strong testimony of jesus christ, understanding, determined...to name a few) but more than anything- one of her best qualities is that she is a true, loyal friend...which is very, very hard to come by. i was having a kinda hard week and to have her here for the weekend, was such a blessing. she doesn't need to be impressed and she doesn't judge. she was giving my kids baths, cleaning my kitchen, telling me what a great mom i was and was even laughing at jay leno with me at night. she has been through alot in the past year and i know that good things are headed her way because she deserves the very, very best!

ya we are posing in front of the denver temple!

i finally made it to the "royalty"...the royal gorge that is! the world's highest suspension bridge, yes i know you are impressed. i had to show janae a good time while she was in town (lol!) so i planned a day trip with some of our friends and we drove to canon city, colorado - which is about an hour & half away...it was beautiful weather and despite a slow start (two stops for gas, whoops! and jeff's walk-in order at mcdonald's...yes, the "face of all the tardiness" ha ha) the day went off without a hitch!

check out the bridge in the background...

jeff & mindy...nachelle & jay...janae...me & cam...

and all the cute kiddos of course.

...it was kinda windy...comical.

cam saw this side of the road go-kart place on the way and was determined to stop on the way home...some said it was their favorite part of the day!!!

i must admit, it was legit...

...and he doesn't get out much, above & below...proof.

checked another thing off my to-do-list in denver...luved it...you didn't disappoint gorge.

team kesler...happy halloween!

hoop player, cheerleaders, ref & basketball...game on! we had a fun nite at jeff & mindy's...chili, carmel apples, great decorations by mindy, spooky music, and of course...lots & lots of candy!!!

i cant believe miss jillian is 5 1/2 months

pumpkins out of snow...classic!

the girls giving us their spooky faces...

church trunk or treat party

the scott's family front yard spook ally was awesome! i luv this pic as we are getting ready to go in...lucy laughing and vanny terrified...

oh the weather outside is...

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...okay it did.

never disappoints....

going home to utah....never disappoints...

we had a blast at em & matt's friends annual halloween party...the theme was characters from books & the party was at an old bookstore on main street in downtown provo...it was so much fun! cam was such a good sport...he let me put the rouge on his checks but put his foot down on the lipstick! we luv hanging with em & matt....

okay so the byu game was a little disappointing...but the company wasn't (either were the cheese fry's post game at the training table!)! it was fun to catch up with some friends while in town...always wish i could have more time while i am home...

med school friends...brooke & cody

diego crew...phil & summer

our girls had so much fun playing together!

poppy got us tickets to the homecoming BYU spectacular...it was...spectacular!

a full day at the thanksgiving point scarecrow festival..wow what didn't they have...the kids luved it! train ride, pony's, climbing wall, bouncy's, pumpkins, lots & lots of games!

uncle matty teaching vanny to ride her bike without training wheels...she was luvin it!

lots & lots of cousin time!

a beautiful day in park city...shopping, the alpine slide, and a jaws attack in the hotel pool...

i luv utah and being with my family there...

thanks for all the fun you guys!

"lipstick"

where do i start...well i could start with the fact that since cam & i have been married we have lived in 7 different places (in 10 years) and thus i've gotten use to living in places that aren't usually "my style" (whatever that is...) or i could start with the fact that i do not paint - i once painted A room when savannah was born but it didn't go so great so i just don't paint...

but i guess i will start with this...

so a few weeks ago, we decided to get new countertops...im on a walk with my sister and she is like "you should totally re-paint your cabinets while your at it" i blew her off like fire on a marshmellow, quickly. then my friend nachelle was talking about re-painting her bunkbeds & that is something i had been wanting to do to the girls bunkbeds as well...she was like, "you can totally do it!" but the kicker came when i was on a run with my "friend" heather (im using friend lightly here because my new motto is "friends, don't let friends, PAINT!" heather, if your reading this just kidding girl...if your not reading this, im totally not kidding! lol) early one morning - two weeks ago! i was talking about my countertops & how i really wanted white cabinets and she totally convinced me..."you can do it!" she said ..."it's like putting on LIPSTICK!" i ran the idea past cam and he neither agreed or disagreed but said he was totally not involved...so within 24 hours...

i had taken all the cabinets off by myself and...

repainted the cabinets...luv you girl...you totally rocked this out with me!

not bad right...trust me it does get bad...

i rented a paint sprayer from home depot...heather started spraying and we started getting a little confident...first coat...looks promising...until the wind picked up & it started to rain...right onto my cabinet doors...so i basically had a breakdown...drove myself to mcdonalds and ate a cheeseburger in the parking lot and worked up the gusto to call cam and beg for his help (and forgiveness :)...or better yet, i thought can't we pay someone to finish the job?!?!

cam went from zero to hero in a matter of days...he luved that paint sprayer gun...and a big thanks to our friend who let us borrow theirs for a few days...

my dad was in town for the weekend and did a great job taping

up the garage for us...

so here you go...pretty legit right.

ps...yes, im crazy...i did the bunkbeds & a dresser too!

how cute did they turn out!!!

pss...im never painting again.

big "happs"

"happs"...our biggest happenings lately

LUCY LU turned 3!

Our little Lu is such a character...most people think she is a bit older than she really is because she has such a BIG personality.

What I luv most about Lucy...

~ how she says "holy mackerel", her sweet smile & laugh, how she runs to me after she brushes her teeth & blows in my face and says "smell it now!", her bluish eyes, how she had to have 4 candles on her birthday cake (even though she is 3!), the way she dances & sings...

~ she is adventurous...she usually does things Vannah won't...like last Sunday in church (we were sitting back in the chairs) and I asked Vanny to run my tithing up to the Bishop quick before the meeting started & she was "too shy"...Lucy pulled the envelope right out of my hand & ran it right up to him...giving the whole Bishopric fives as she walked off the stand!

~ she luvs band-aids...she uses them as stickers but also luvs to put them on anything that hurts!

~ how she pokes my face at 3am in the morning and asks me "momma what you doing?"

~ the way she uses the phrase BFF...we are at the bank and she will say "i need to get a sucker for vanny too, cause she is my BFF" or when she is in time-out, she likes to yell out to me "this is it mommy, you are not my BFF anymore!!!"

~ she luvs dresses & changing her clothes...multiple times a day.

~ her obsession with gum, barbies, babies, tinkerbell, dvd's in the car.

...although lucy does sometime give me a run for my money because she is slightly strong willed, i luv her for her big spirit...she is speicaly to me in many ways.

she had a great birthday breakfast & got to open a couple gifts! she luved the gumball machine from nanny & popie...and her baby alive (whom she quickly named "lola") from her aunt emma!

we had a super fun lunch & afternoon at Chuck-E-Cheese, where Lucy always tells everyone "a kid can be a kid!" she luved every minute of it!

it was so fun to have mom & dad in town to help celebrate!

*the other major happ...

Vannah lost her FIRST tooth! We were sitting out on the deck, eating dinner and she came running over to me and said "mom, i was eating my corn and my tooth felt really weird!" literally less than 10 minutes later that tooth was out! she has is waiting to put it under her pillow til monday, so she can show her teacher at school on monday!