Another race and a new school year

It's been a while. I hate it when I go this long without updating because then I can't remember all we've done. Well, first of all, I did another race. It was supposed to be the base triathlon, which me and a couple of friends were doing together. We got there the morning of and saw that the pool was only about half full. I guess the guy that usually takes care of the pool levels and all that went on vacation and his replacement screwed up big time by emptying the pool! Oops! We were all pretty disappointed that our triathlon was canceled, so we decided as a group to just do a biathlon instead. So we did the biking and running portions of the race. It was super fun. Once again, it was harder than I thought it would be, but I was so glad I did it. Unfortunately, I still can't say I've ever completed a triathlon, though. :)

That afternoon, I drove down to Idaho to see my brother who had just returned from his mission (Texas, Houston East mission). It was awesome to see him. He has sure grown up a lot. We did a lot of fun things. We went to a movie together, just David, me and Kelli. We took the kids to an indoor playground/arcade and once again Kelli, David and I got to escape for a while to play mini-golf while our angel mother watched the kids. It was so great to spend time with my siblings. We missed Brent, though. David gave a great talk in church and we had a whole lot of family there. They all came to my parent's house after and had lunch. It was nice to see so much family that I hardly ever get to see anymore.

James started first grade the day after we got home from Idaho. I can't believe he is old enough to be in first grade! I blows my mind. He is doing very well in school so far. His teachers name is Mrs. Kakalesic. Try saying that 5 times fast. The poor first graders just call her Mrs. K. He says he likes her and that she is nice. That's always good news. Jayden will go to Miss Carol's preschool again this year. He starts this week.

Our trip

My parents were supposed to come up last Sunday, but called me and said they were having serious car trouble and couldn't make the trip. As a last minute decision, me and the kids went down to Idaho. It was really fun. We went swimming at Lava Hot Springs the first day. It took all of us to keep track of the kids! It was a super fun day. Then we went camping at Scout Mountain. We rode my parent's four-wheeler and made s'mores. My dad brought some wakie tackies and James spent most of the time talking to Grandpa and me on them. My dad taught him some nice phrases like, "over and out" & "rodger that." He thought it was great fun and it was so cute to listen to him.

After the overnighter, we took the kids with their cousin Kassidi to the Idaho Falls zoo. It was really fun. The kids were excited to be together and see all the animals. There was this really funny monkey there that was totally showing off.

10K

Me and some friends decided to do a 10K. We trained together 2-3 times per week at 6 o'clock in the morning. It was a lot of fun running with friends who encouraged me and helped me improve. On the day of the 10K, I drove to Choteau with my friend Alicia. She was doing the 5K, and some other friends of ours had driven up the day before because they were doing the half marathon starting at 6 am (Yikes!). The run was harder than I thought it would be, with a killer hill right before the turn around. But I'm so glad I did it! I used to hate running, but now, I think I'm starting to like it. It's surprisingly relaxing. :) After the race, someone pointed out that I was bleeding! I had a scab on my ankle from running with an anklet a few days before, and it opened up on the run and blood was running into my shoe. Yuck. But it was fun to get a picture of my battle wound. :)

Jayden's birthday

We've had an eventful few weeks. Jayden turned 4, and I can hardly believe it. I know I say that every time my kids have a birthday, but man! It was a super fun party. We had a lot of friends come over for a BBQ and water party. I wasn't sure if the weather was going to cooperate, but it turns out that kids don't care. They see a slip-n-slide and they are in it! Jayden really enjoyed himself, and so did I.

Temple trip

I had a great weekend. On Friday, we went to the base picnic, which was...fine. It was hot and I was by myself with the kids. I saw some friends, so that part was fun. Anyway, after the picnic, I packed and got ready to go on a girl's weekend out. I was so excited.

My friend Alicia drove, and my friends Patty and Kathy went, too. We drove to Billings and stayed in La Quinta. We ate at Red Lobster, so yummy, and then just hung out talking, laughing, and playing card games in the hotel. I gotta say, I love girls nights out!!

The next morning we went to the temple, which was a great experience. I feel very blessed to have been able to go the temple 2 months in a row. Jason was great to stay home and watch the kids to help make it happen.

So, after the temple, we went to an LDS bookstore, and I bought a Worldwide Ward Cookbook. There are lots of yummy looking recipes in there I am excited to try. Then we ate Thai food. Soooo good. Jason isn't much of an adventurous eater, so I was happy to be with friends who would be adventurous with me. Maybe I'll have to try some Thai food recipes when we is on alert. My friends told me about a great new Thai place here in Great Falls, so I'll definitely have to find an excuse to try it out sometime.

So, that was my week. I am looking forward to my parents coming up the first few days of August. We might even go camping, so that should be fun. Then my brother comes home from his mission in just over 3 weeks! Yay!

Just Chillin'

Hey. Just thought I'd write a little. We haven't been up to much. The kids have been in swimming lessons for the past few weeks. I keep forgetting to bring the camera, but the boys are doing really well. James can go off the diving board by himself without help, which is a big improvement over last year. Jayden has lots of fun and is being brave in the water. He is already showing improvements and it's his first year.

I took my first formal test for my Master's degree today. I think it went OK. We'll see when I get my grade back!

I am totally annoyed that we haven't got our orders yet. For months they told us "early to mid summer" and now it's the end of July and they are still saying "it might be a while." I am on the edge of my seat, here. A lot depends on this move. Midwifery in every state is different. I really hope we go somewhere where midwifery is legalized. Anyway, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. When we know, you'll know! :)

Charlee is FINALLY walking. She was taking a few steps here and there for a while, but not really trying to walk. Now, she is pretty much walking everywhere and crawling only when she is on an unstable surface. She is very proud of herself and gets really excited when she sees me watching her. I love it.

Jayden is turning 4 next week. I can't believe it! He was only 4 months old when we moved to Montana. We are having a backyard BBQ and slip'n'slide party with a few of his friends. It should be a fun time. I'll post some pictures of it after the big event.

Fourth of July

Charlee was a big pill today in church. She doesn't do too well with the 11:00 church schedule. It is right in the middle of naptime. After we got home, I asked Jason to take her while I cooked lunch. He came and got me after a few minutes to show me what Charlee had done. He said she had thrown a huge fit for a couple of minutes and then it all the sudden got quiet. He checked on her and this is what he found!

We had a really fun fourth. Me and the kids went to our ward breakfast. It was fun. Then we went with my friend Shar and her boys to the parade. It was fun to be there with a friend, especially considering that it was really hot and the parade was really long! But we had a good time and the boys got tons of candy. They have a new rule here that they can't throw candy. They have to hand it directly to them. So the boys had bags they held out like trick-or-treating and got tons of candy. Then we went home to rest for a while before our evening festivities. Jason came home from alert and then we went over to our friends, the Lotz's house, and had a potluck BBQ. It was really great. Finally, we finished out the holiday by going to yet another friend's house, the Daw's, to light fireworks. It rained on us really hard for a good part of the time we were trying to do fireworks, but we still had fun. Jason sat in the car to light them and then either threw them out the window onto the street, or else ran out to the middle of the street after lighting the bigger ones. It was pretty funny. But the rain settled down and we finished up just chatting with our friends.

We missed our families. We love you all and hope you had a good holiday.