It's great to be 8!

My first baby just turned 8 last week. He got the chance to go to his first scouting day camp on his birthday, so we waited until friday to have his birthday party. I think he had a great time during the day camp and then that evening, we all went to Chuck-E-Cheese. My kids just love that cesspool of bacteria! With all the tickets we'd hoarded over the last couple years, we were able to get both the boys a decent gift from the prize area and Charlie a little lunch box. Kinda fun getting stuff for "free"! I did manage to grab a few shots of us there:

After dinner, Paul took the boys to a baseball game in Orem. I opted to take Charlie home since he's now decided naps are no longer necessary and he wouldn't have made it 2 innings. The boys had a great time with their dad and it turned out to be a great actual birthday for Andy.

Then on Friday, we let Andy invite 5 friends to go play Laser Tag for his birthday party. The boys had a GREAT time and it really made the party planning thing easier for me. Remember, I tend to freak out about hosting things, so I was very grateful for an easy way out this time!

Andy's baptism is coming up on August 1st and he's very excited about it. We are also excited to see those members of our family who will be coming. What can I say, it's great being 8! I love my little Andy so much. What a fun, sweet, and tenderhearted little man we have in Andy. Happy Birthday, kiddo!

I must be crazy!

After doing the triathlon in April, I fully intended to sign up for a couple more triathlons to compete in this summer. I thought about doing a race near Park City at Echo lake last week, but didn't manage to train myself properly. I've really slacked off on my swimming and biking, finding it hard to fit in the same number of workouts I was doing in preparation for that first tri. Since April, all I've done is the Art City 5K, and in a couple weeks, I'll be attempting my first 10K at the Speedy Spaniard in Spanish Fork!

Well, I made the mistake (j/k!) of going running with some friends in the ward (Julie and Tina) who are training for a half marathon. First of all, they kicked my butt on an 8 mile run down the canyon, and while doing so, we talked about the idea of doing one of those insane Ragnar relay races! There's one coming up called the Red Rock Relay and Tina got a fire lit up underneath her and within a week, got a team put together! It takes place Labor Day weekend and starts at the Brian Head resort and ends at the Tuacahn theater outside St. George. I'm actually really, really excited, despite one major factor... Tina, Julie and I are among the better runners of the group. This means we get the hardest legs in our van. AAACK! My first leg of the race is 6.5 miles all downhill. The second leg is 6.3 miles, again, all downhill (my poor quads!). My last leg is 3.9 miles with a nice 1/2 mile run up a dam to finish it off! So, I got some extra training to do in the next 6-7 weeks.

I'm really glad that I've got something really tough to shoot for again. Nothing like being totally intimidated to get your butt out there and moving again. I'll try to update on my progress. At this point, I can run 4 miles without too much difficulty. Five gets a bit tougher and by six... I'm really ready to stop. So far, my longest run was that 8 miler on July 4th. So, yep, better get busy! Wish me luck!

Getting some summer sun!

This summer, we've discovered yet another reason why it's wonderful being children of Steven & Rhyll. Not only are they awesome parents, it's also very nice to have access to something as useful as the family lodge! Well, they also happen to have REALLY awesome neighbors, the Shurians! Not only are Chris and Stephanie a ton of fun and salt-of-the-earth type of people, they also have a backyard pool that they have offered to let us come over and swim whenever the mood strikes. On some of the hot days this summer, we've taken them up on this offer and it has been so much fun. Just to throw some more pictures of us up here on the world wide web, here are a few of us swimming!

In just 3 swim days, Charlie has become a little pro in the water. The first time we went, he jumped in after Canon (thankfully, AFTER I put on the life jacket) and was freaking out because he kept spinning in circles from back to front getting water in his face! I had to jump in quickly to help him out and he'd hardly let go the rest of the time. But the next two times we went, he'd figured out how to keep his legs beneath him and to doggy paddle through the water. We all have a lot more fun now that he's more independent. Heaven forbid he ever get near the water without the life jacket on though! I'm afraid he's gotten a little too fearless!

I don't know if they'll ever read this post, but I want to thank the Shurians for being so awesome to us. We really appreciate your generosity and your genuine kindness. I'm honored to even KNOW you guys, let alone to have the chance to swim in your pool! You're the best!

A taste of baseball

This summer was the first time we've signed the boys up for baseball. I mentioned it a few posts ago how pointless T-ball is. So pointless, apparently, even that subconscious part of my brain that usually reminds me to take the camera to events so we can get some pictures for "documentation purposes" found it less than important. Here, instead of posting pictures, I'll just describe what they would have looked like...

Canon standing right on 3rd base with his glove on his head as he spins in circles... ideally he would have been paying attention to the fact that someone was batting and his team was planning on throwing it to him soon!

Canon hitting the ball and casually sauntering over to first base... he never actually skipped to first base, but he might as well have!

Canon chasing down one of the 2-3 runners that will eventually need to touch home plate after the last batter hits his mandatory grand slam.

Last one... the ADORABLE smile on Canon's face as he walks away with his Capri Sun and treat at the end of a fun game. Okay, okay... I guess T-ball isn't COMPLETELY pointless!

At least we got a couple pictures of Andy playing with his team this summer. He was in coach pitch and with a little help from Paul, he wasn't too bad! Still had some focusing issues, but nothing like Canon's team!

He also enjoyed his time playing baseball, but it didn't spark any sort of passion, unfortunately. We're still hoping something BESIDES video games and Cartoon Network will ignite something within our boys! Guess we'll have to keep looking!

FHE night with friends

Several weeks ago, a handful of couples from our ward pooled together some grub and met up the canyon for FHE night. We got all the chairs set up, the fire going strong, and the hotdogs ready to roast. There isn't much to say about it, other than the fact that I sure do love being a part of this ward. Somehow, we've never lived in a bad ward. I'm so grateful for good and friendly people... it just makes things more fun! Here are some pictures of the event.

Just a few shots of us.

And a few more of Charlie. I've found that he who gets dirtiest, gets more pictures taken of him! Can't wait until we take this kid on an actual campout! He's a dirt magnet!

A milestone reached!

This last Friday (July 3rd), Paul and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. I know I already blogged about us actually celebrating it on our cruise 2 months ago, but I do need to acknowledge the passing of the actual date! Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to figure out how to scan some of our wedding pictures with our new printer, but once I do, I'll post some pictures of that day.

Our wedding day was wonderful! It wasn't glamorous or fancy in any way, but it was perfect for what we needed it to be. I am a lot of things, but fussy is not one of them. Basically, in planning my wedding, I went with a theme centered around INEXPENSIVE and SIMPLE! My parents gave me a budget to work with, we figured out how much an inexpensive honeymoon cruise would cost, subtracted that amount, and then worked with the rest. Good thing temple wedding ceremonies are free (well, except for the tithing part)!

We got married in the Logan, Utah temple. I love this beautiful building. I'm so thankful that Paul and I had made the choice early in life to marry in the temple. We were surrounded by family and our best friends. So many people came to support us, many of whom I didn't know at the time, but have grown to love them as much as my own family over the years. Our wedding ceremony was in the morning, followed immediately by pictures. After that, we had our wedding luncheon at the Bluebird restaurant on Main Street (I'll freak out if that place ever closes down!). I remember listening to words of advice collected from the different tables and Paul and I sang a song together... cuz we're cheesy that way! Looking back, we should have at least picked a better song, but oh well!

My immediate family had scheduled family pictures with our photographer in the afternoon since it had been the first time we were all together in a really long time. After we finished with that, we headed over to my Uncle Milton's beautiful home in Millville. We held our reception in their backyard, and enjoyed the nice summer evening overlooking Cache Valley. The reception wasn't very well attended due to the holiday weekend situation, but it was nice that we didn't really have a "line" to speak of. Paul's Aunt Marilyn and 3 of her children played a string quartet for us and there was lots of yummy food. Our reception was a little atypical in that I never threw my bouquet and we didn't have a wedding cake. Well, there was yummy cake, but it wasn't a wedding cake. My siblings enjoyed that cake for some time after we'd left on the honeymoon! Our car was decorated/vandalized with plenty of marshmallows, cookies, and other sticky things (something I admit to having a really bad attitude about at the time - because the last thing you want to do leaving your wedding reception is to HAVE to spend 20 min at the car wash - maybe I'm still a little bitter!). Anyway, the only thing I regret about the reception is that we opened the gifts we received that night before we left. THAT was a very dumb thing to do! Ah well. Can't do anything about that now!

We finally left the reception around 10:30 and (after the car wash) headed off to the Sherwood Hills hotel in Sardine Canyon. Can't remember why exactly, but the room that was reserved for us wasn't available, so we got to stay in one of their themed rooms... the Blue Bayou room to be exact! The scary blue-walled room had the bed sitting on a Tom Sawyer-type raft right next to a monstrous fish tank! Anyway, I won't go into anymore details of the evening, but thought the ridiculousness of the room should be mentioned. Needless to say, it added an extra flair to the memorable evening!

Ultimately, the wedding and the celebration itself wasn't anything remotely resembling a bridal magazine affair, but at the end of the day, I was married to my sweetheart. And that's all that really mattered... then AND now. Life is all about choices. Ten years ago, I can honestly say, I made the best choice of my life in choosing to be Paul Croshaw's bride. It's a decision I have never regretted and work hard so that he never will either. Happy 10 years, sweetie! I sure love you!

What do you do when you're upset?

I was in a funk pretty much all day yesterday. When I have days like this, one of two things happens; I either retreat into a corner and nothing gets accomplished, or I go into overdrive. Seriously, the best way to get me to clean my house, is to tick me off! I don't know why, but it feels good to sort of throw the silverware into the dishwasher and throw things away forcefully!

Another thing I do, (or at least what I did yesterday) is go out for a run. I've been trying to increase my distance over the last month, but have really struggled to get 5 miles. Last night, I ended up going 6, and it definitely worked all my "funky" thoughts away. By mile 4, I was tired enough to just be thinking about keeping my legs moving. It felt like the entire route I ran was uphill somehow. By the end, my hip flexor muscles were painin' and I was totally pooped! Thankfully, 'So You Think You Can Dance' was waiting for me on the DVR at home, and I was able to chill out and stretch while watching my favorite show.

So, even though the day had an irritating cloud hanging over it, at least it ended in just the right way. What do you do to drive away the 'funk'?