On To the Next Thing

Well, now that the marathon is over and done with, it's time for me to move on to my next goal: to learn to play the piano (and play well!) When I was a kid, I took lessons for a few years, but due to a lack of motivation to practice, my mom threatened to sell the piano, but I didn't take her seriously... I came home from school one day and it was gone. And now, more than 20 years later, I really regret it! But I am a big subscriber to the belief that anything is possible, and it's never to late to reach for your goals, no matter how difficult they might seem. I found a great teacher (my bishop's wife- she is awesome) who is willing to teach me on Saturdays, so Marshall can watch the kids. The funny thing is, we don't even have a piano...just a little keyboard for now. It's better than nothing, I guess! (Besides-I have a key to the church.) Marshall and I went to a Jim Brickman concert the other night, and I am so inspired by his music. I can really feel it, and I can't wait until I can sit down at the piano and just play that type of music on my own. I know I can do it. I told Marshall as we were sitting there on the blanket outside listening to the concert that that will be me one day. He chuckled and said something to the effect that I need to be careful what goals I set because I will do anything to do what I say I'm going to do. It was maybe one of the best compliments I have ever received. Right now, running another marathon seems much less daunting than learning a musical instrument since I am old and my brain is hard and no longer pliable...lol -but with hard work and practice I know I can do anything I want to do. Even if all I can play right now is chopsticks...!

4 Hours 45 Minutes 12.9 Seconds

My thirtieth birthday present to myself was training for and running the Utah Valley Marathon. It was my first marathon, and it went great! Perfectly, actually, given the circumstances going in. About a month before the race, I developed some knee problems that forced me to cut back on my training, and caused me quite a bit of pain and trouble finishing my runs. I was so worried that I wasn't going to be able to finish the marathon, and after all the work I had put in, and especially the sacrifices that my family had made with my absence during training. After a few doctors visits, some physical therapy, and lots of hope and prayer, the actual race went off without a hitch! I literally didn't sleep a wink the night before, I guess because I was so nervous, which is fine I guess, since I had to wake up at 4:00 am anyway to be there on time. (From talking to the other runners, apparently many of them don't sleep the night before a race. Weird.) There were threats of rain, but it never showed, which was a huge relief. The very best part was that my knee didn't hurt at all during the race. It was truly a miracle! I held back and kind of babied it for the first 20 miles or so, since I didn't know how long it would hold up, but by mile 20 I realized it was going to be fine, so I just let loose and sailed through to the finish. Having my family there cheering for me absolutely meant the world to me. They were there at the 14 mile mark, the 20, and then were there at the end to cheer me home. I never hit any "wall" as I have heard people describe happens around mile 20. Having my family there was all the boost I needed! I used to say that I would never want to run a marathon, and anyone who would want to run 26.2 miles must be crazy. I suppose the latter part is a bit true, but I am so glad I did it. I suppose the reason I decided to do it because I knew that if I could do this, I could do just about anything. Thanks to all of my family and friends for all your love and support, especially Marshall for being so positive and for believing in me and not making me feel like I am silly for having such a lofty goal. Thanks to Drew for your sweet little prayers to "help Mom's knee to get better"...those prayers were answered. Thanks to Def Leppard and Nickelback, among others, for your great running tunes that always helped me to plug along. A special thanks to my body, for being so patient and resilient, and for enduring much abuse to help me prove to myself that with hard work, anything is possible. I know this sounds hard to believe, but I actually had so much fun running! I would totally do it again. But not anytime soon- I am a bit sore today.

The Big Three-Zero!

Last Tuesday I officially crossed the threshold from twenties to thirties. It was a fun day! Marshall surprised me by taking the day off work, and arranging for his parents to take the kids and said the day was mine, and we could do whatever I wanted. It was great! Of course, we started off the day with the traditional pajama-clad trip with the kids to Krispy Kreme at dawn. Then, I decided I wanted him to stay home and take care of a few "honey-do" items, and I went out shopping all alone! Then we met up for lunch, shopped a little bit more, and then went out to a nice dinner at P.F. Chang's. We picked up the kids, and then went home to my wonderful sister-in-law's delicious ganache chocolate cake she made and brought over for me. It was a great day. I think turning thirty is cool. I don't get why people freak out about getting older. I figure, as long as you are doing something worthwhile with your life, it can only get better with age! And mine is. I am very blessed with so many wonderful people in my life that love me. Thanks to everyone for your kind birthday wishes and gifts. It was a great day!

Allie's First Haircut

I took the kids to this darling little place called Cookie Cutters, it is a salon just for kids. It was perfect. They had little chairs shaped like cars and airplanes, and let the kids pick out a video to watch while they were getting their hair cut. Top that off with a balloon and a sucker, and you've got yourself a great haircut experience!

After

Poor Allie does't have much hair to work with, but the mullet had to go. He basically just trimmed it up the same length so it would look thicker (thank you!). It isn't the most darling haircut ever, but with what little hair she has, this is about as good as it gets. Hopefully this way it can thicken up as it grows out.

After



The guy that cut their hair was so good and knowledgeable, and really good with the kids. I am the one who usually cuts Drew's hair, so it was really nice to see what he looks like with an actual hair cut. The stylist was so thoughtful- he even gave me cute a little bag to save a lock of her hair in.

Kiddie Kollege Graduation

Drew recently had his preschool graduation. The kids performed some cute little songs they had learned over the school year. We were really proud of Drew for even being willing to get up on stage, let alone actually sing and perform the songs. He has a really hard time doing stuff like that- he refuses to give talks in Primary, or go up to sing with the kids in Sacrament meeting, etc, so we were quite surprised to see his progress.


However, when it came time to come out and receive his diploma, it was back to the norm. Notice the eleven proud graduates on the left? Then notice Drew off to the right...he wouldn't come out when it was his turn, but then he slunk out a few minutes later when they were all done. Oh, Bubba! He wouldn't even wear the cool paper grad hat with yarn tassel. I am thinking he got this stage fright from me. I feel bad for him! Hopefully some day he will get over it.

Drew had a great experience with preschool. I am glad we did it because I really wanted him to love school, and realize it is a fun place to be. His teacher, Mrs. Steele, was wonderful and definitely made it fun for him, and a place where he always wanted to be. He never once said he didn't want to go to school. He ran in each day practically clicking his heels. His teacher gave the parents these cute alphabet books that the kids worked on all year, and it was neat to see his handwriting progression from the beginning of the year to the end. He has learned a lot this year, and had the opportunity to go on lots of cool field trips.I am so grateful to his sweet teacher, and for all teachers, for that matter. I am amazed at these wonderful, patient, and upbeat people that love our children so much, and want them to succeed and be happy. Drew's best friend is 6 months older than him and will be starting kindergarten in the fall, but Drew will have one more year of preschool before he starts kindergarten. After this great year, he is looking forward to that!

Two Birthdays!

Last Monday, Marshall officially said good-bye to his twenties, and Allie officially said good-bye to having her age measured in months. Big milestones for the both of them! Since it also happened to be Memorial Day, we celebrated by having lots of friends and family over for a backyard barbeque. A great time was had by all, and we were so happy to have so many of our loved ones in the same place at the same time. Thank you to everyone who attended and brought food, and made this such a fun and memorable event!

We started off the day as per our usual birthday tradition- an early morning trip to Krispy Kreme clad in our pajamas. We love it!

She was mad because this was all that was left of the pinata.

We had a pinata for the kids at the party, however, Allie could not possibly understand that the donkey was for disemboweling with a bat, and not for sitting upon...

...which resulted in this darling little tantrum. Ah, the glorious age of two- I had almost forgotten. Almost.

Drew and his best buddy, Ethan.

Swinging with cousins!

This is Marshall's older sister and her family, who were thoughtful enough to stop by the party oin their way home from their weekend camping trip. It was so nice to have them there.

My mom and I made 2 different cakes for the birthday crowd.

Enjoying some b-day cake with daddy!

It was kind of windy and so we had to light the candles several times. Allie knew just what to do, though!

The birthday royalty.

For my birthday gift to Marshall, I had all of our friends and family write him a little something and then I took their picture, and put it into a little keepsake book for him. It turned out great- thank you to everyone who helped me out.

Allie has been asking me for a bike- "My bike, too?" Whenever Drew is riding his bike. How can you say no to that? She loves her little tricycle.

Allie was showered with many gifts from our friends and family. Thank you so much to everyone. You are so sweet to her!

I guess the consensus is that Marshall is destined to become a golfer in his thirties- he got new golf shoes and clothes, a golf glove, a golf bag, ball retriever thing, among others. He loved them all. Now I will just have to convince him it is ok for him to spend the money golfing! Can't let all this great gear go to waste!

This is my mom and my nephew Zack (my brother Matt's oldest boy.) The rest of his family couldn't make it because they have relocated to Pittsburgh for the summer. We sure missed them!

Marshall's older brother Darren was kind enough to take over the grilling duties at the party. Marshall outfitted him with my girly apron. He was a good sport.

Thsi is Marshall's younger brother, Spencer, his wife Kristen, and their daughter Emma. They live super close by- we were so happy they could make it.

Marshall's parents are awesome. We have gotten to spend much more time with them
now that they are home from their mission in Texas. They have been so nice to offer to spend time with our kids so we can go out lots more. They are great, hardworking people.

These are our neighbors, the Nelson's. We are blessed to have them next door- they are the best.

These are our good friends, the McCulloughs. They had to come and leave early. (Actually, they left before Marshall even got home- in true Marshall form, he was late to a party at his own house. He likes to be fashionably late.) But it was nice to see them for a little bit.

Licking the bowl with daddy! This is a great tradition!

G-pa and G-ma Chamberlain.

Marshall's brother Darren and his family. We are so lucky to live so close to lots of family.

Drew the party animal.

Tiny the birthday girl.

We had such a great party- thanks again to everyone who came and helped. And for those of you who missed it, we sure missed you, and hope you will be able to make it next time!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

It is hard to believe that is has been six years since we were married. It seems like such a lot has happened since then, with so many address changes, a few job changes, and adding our two beautiful children into our family. We have been so blessed, and it was fun to be able to go out together on Saturday to celebrate putting up with each other for 6 whole years! The traditional 6th anniversary gift (yes, we do those- they are fun!) is candy, so I scored a box of hand-picked See's. (He also got me a new watch, which I also love.) Thanks! I love you, Marshy!