Baby Steps

Braden took his first steps last thursday! He took 3 of them and hasn't cared to try again. He has done one step a few more times but isn't too interested in walking yet! It was very exciting though :)

These next few pictures were at a park while we were visitng my Grandma Ruth.

He layed like this for quite some time, picking up and throwing the wood chips and you can see riley in the background enjoying our picnic.

Learning to pump! This is the first time she kind of-sort of got the concept...i think it will still be awhile where her pumping builds any momentum but it was a proud mommy moment none the less!

Do you see his tongue?! He was LOVING this

I love these kids :)

Feeding the ducks-braden kept sneaking pieces of the bread though...not sure i wanted to teach him to throw food yet anyway.

Riley's first day of preschool. I'm in a 3yr old co-op with my cousin and two other friends. My cousin Katie has the first teaching slot and said the first day went great! Riley had fun, so she said and they learned sorting among other things. Katie said when she had them all line up to repeat the Pledge of Allegiance it was the cutest thing, i can only imagine and can't wait for my turn to teach!

She DID NOT want to take a "first day of school picture"

But she DID WANT whatever it was that i bribed her with...

I hooked up Riley's bike to the wagon and let 'em go! I had to stay close to braden for fear of him tipping or climbing out, there are not straps in this wagon. They had a blast and rode around our cul-de-sac for a loonng time.

Riley's first lemon.

I thought i might have wasted the entire two dollars i spent on it (major garage saleing day) but when i got home she instantly fell in LOVE with it. She gave it a good scrub and played in it the rest of the day.

Feels good to be caught up a little! Life is good, we are loving each day and finding fun things to do!

My First Duathlon

My father inlaw's stake hosted a duathlon (Run and Bike) so Josh's dad, my cousin Katie and myself decided to go and participate! I almost backed out the night before because we were going to have to leave at 6am the next morning and it didn't sound THAT fun...but Katie and i stuck with it and had a blast.

This was us before the race, getting warmed up. You can see all the bikes lined up behind us...

Our "lucky" numbers.  Take a good look at mine...remember it...

The 3mile run was first. Can you see "death hill" behind me as i've nicknamed it? The run started with about .05miles up hill then 1.5 down hill. So the entire second half of the race was up hill, most of it not too steep except the block right before the finish.

I had to throw in this picture of my goofy face. This is me finishing the first lap of the bike (3 laps total=9mile bike) when it just hit me that i still had to do TWO MORE LAPS ie:2 more laps up death hill. I knew from the get go the bike was 9 miles but almost the entire first lap i was like "this is fun, challenging but fun, almost there, almost done. ...wait...oh crap!"

And here i am SO happy that i just finished the race.  Can you see my bike tire hasn't even quite cleared the finish line and i have my hand up signaling a weak "woohoo".

Katie and I after the race with our favorite hill behind us.

Did you remember my bib number? #109...look at my time(middle sheet) 109.33. weird! I was joking that next time i should get bib #45 so i'll finish faster ;)

I have to say running a duathlon is WAY more fun then just running a race.  Can't wait to do more!

Perfect Summer Days and Nights

Crazy to think Summer will be ending shortly. I'm not done with the heat. I am looking forward to the holidays. The warm colors, yummy food and lots of family time.

Riley had her cousins over the other day for some slip n' slide action. When we got outside we set up under a blue sky with the sun blazin'. Just beyond our house I noticed a big yucky cloud and shortly after we started to hear lots of thunder....LOUD thunder. It was an odd feeling setting up beach chairs and sun screening the kids with thunder in the back ground. Well the storm moved over us and rained a little, we played in the water and watched the lightning show.

I tried to catch a lightning bolt on camera-didn't happen.

My plan was to put the kids down for their nap then lay on the grass and read a book while watching the lightning but i ended up reading a book and listening to it from our bedroom windows, almost as good.

Summer nights. Sliding door open to let in a cool breeze, freshly picked tomatos from the garden, riley drawing a new design for our chalkboard plate we proudly display on our kitchen counter and braden enjoying a big boy fork.

Hubby home shortly from home depot.

A run in the warm air under my belt.

Life doesn't get much better than this!

Up Close and Personal w/ my Swiffer

Swiffering (yes it's a verb too. like google) our kitchen floor and "KAPOW" the extension pull snapped clear at the bottom. so now this is how i will be cleaning the remaining 3 floors i planned on doing

Note the gangster style apparel...my pants are too long so i pulled both legs up and only one stayed after awhile...reminds me of "Pants on the floor, pants on the floor. Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the floor" thank you American Idol!

If I could live in a national park...

I'd pick Zion...it was BEAUTIFUL! We went to Cedar City for a family reunion and had a great time being outdoors.

In the car leaving home...Braden did enjoy being forward facing for this trip.

Our first (of many) potty breaks. This one happened to be on the side of the highway..our girl has NO shame!

Our cute little cabin...We stayed at a KOA where you could bring your trailor, sleep in a mobile home or cabin, or bring a tent...Our cabin was one bedroom, it had a full size bed, one set of bunk beds, a desk and chair and an air conditioner...it was perfect!

The pictures below were the first day/night we were there, just unpacking, enjoying family company and me walking/running braden around in the hiking back pack, he was cracking up when i would start galloping...who wouldn't?! (p.s.i need to find a hiking back pack, this was my bro. in laws and was great!!!)

Braden and Uncle Mathew getting ready to hike in Zion.

We all (meaning all of josh's cousins etc that were there for the reunion) got on shuttles and headed up for our first hike...we got all seperated but still had a blast.

This was our first hike, only a 2 miles round trip...I held Braden with the help of josh's dad and josh held riley the whole time (apparently we walked too fast and the water was dirty....she wasn't much of a hiker but loved being held!)

After we got back from this little hike we stopped to play in the stream. The current was really strong so josh just wedged himself between some rocks and let Braden play. He splashed forever and would stop to breath occasionally :)

This was the stream and view we had while the kids played...heck, while WE played! Pictures, of course, don't do it any justice.

The best hike...The Narrows (and Laurie i have to say i was thinking about you because you have to pass the "Angels Landing" trailhead stop on your way to the narrows...the bus driver mentioned that on some parts of that particular hike the trail is 3-4feet wide with a drop off of 800ft on one side and 1200 feet on the other. YES you are crazy for doing that!)

Back to the narrows. Ever since i heard about this i wanted to do it. Basically all i knew was that it was hiking in water and some places you had to swim through basically. And ya, that was right! It was sooo fun and of course gorgeous...

Josh is a stud and held riley the entire time on this hike, we left braden with the grandparents back on a different trail to rest. I needed both my feet, both hands and them some to manuver this trail...

That's how deep it was in some spots...You could walk to the other side of the stream and it wasnt' quite so deep, but where's the fun in that?

You should of seen the work it was to get into this spot...i'm impressed!

When we got back to the spot where the rest of the family was they told us we were gone for 3 hours! Time flys when you're swim-hiking.

The next day we hiked part of Kolob. Again...no words to describe it. This was a SUPER short hike(1mile round trip...that's how we roll...)

Even Riley hiked some of it

Josh's brother Taylor climbed way out, scared his mom half to death, and got an awesome picture...Now do you understand why i want to live here?!

These are the clothes and smirk you wear when you just peed on mom's sweater(aka her pillow), quickly, stuffed under your rear end before you peed in the car seat, AFTER you just stopped not once but TWICE to pee and poo in the last HOUR. Need i explain more...

The Origional Tee from the day, tigger pajama bottoms (comando) and water shoes...in her defense she tried really hard to hold it.

One great trip!

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Pictures for Shauna and Doug