Week Four Marathon Update

The week didn't go as well as I had hoped that it would. I still wasn't feeling well and had a hard time of it. My body just wasn't up to it. I had a couple of workouts during the week and tried to prepare for the weekend run. This time it was only three miles. We were out of town on Saturday morning so my plan was to do it on Sunday morning instead. So the alarm went off, I got up to get ready, and then I looked outside. This is what I saw:

Now I know that most hard-core runners wouldn't have let a few inches of snow get in the way of a good workout, but I opted to stay inside where it was warm. This morning, however, I did get up and go with Olivia. The only problem was that it was 18 degrees outside. While we had good intentions to go for a nice run, we ended up just walking because we were just too cold! I do love the winter but it really is not very condusive to marathon training. I am looking forward to this coming weekend but it's going to be a killer - SEVEN MILES!

Poor Little One....

Last Wednesday night Samantha was complaining of an earache. I knew it was an ear infection because she is prone to them. She was up most of the night not feeling well. I took her into the doctor and she definitely had an ear infection for which she was given an antibiotic..... Amoxicillin. We were told to take it twice daily for ten days. Well, everything has been going just fine and she was on the mend until this morning. She woke up with a horrible rash that was all over her body and was very itchy. I thought maybe it was a problem with the medicine so I quickly called the Children's Clinic and we saw the doctor first thing. The good news is...... it's just an allergic reaction and nothing to worry about. The bad news is..... she is allergic to penicillin and it could take a week for the rash to clear up. Fortunately she is not contagious - she's just going to look a little different for a while. Thank heavens for Benadryl which not only helps with the itchiness but also makes her drowsy. This will definitely come in handy at bedtime tonight!

Bagel Making

Recently, I found a website that I have really enjoyed that talks a lot about frugal living, living debt free, and also includes lots of recipes which I am always on the lookout for. I came across a recipe for homemade bagels which I had never tried before. It sounded easy enough and something that I could probably handle. So.... Emma and I whipped up a batch and they turned out WONDERFULLY! They were gone in less than two days and they are really healthy. It's so nice to find a snack for my family that is healthy and delicious. Here are a few pictures of our bagel making afternoon.

Week 3 Marathon Update

Well...... my marathon training was actually derailed a bit this week. The girls and I have been struggling with colds. I thought that mine was fairly minor so I went ahead with my Monday and Tuesday workouts which went well. On Tuesday night Samantha woke up with severe ear pain and I knew she had an ear infection. I was up through the night with her so first thing Wednesday we took Sam to the doctor to get an antibiotic. Unfortunately that meant that my Wednesday morning workout didn't happen. By Thursday morning I could tell that my cold was moving into my chest but I wanted to persevere! That evening I did a great workout with my friend Olivia. I felt energized and figured that the fresh air had done me good. Friday morning I woke up not feeling well at all so I took a rest day hoping that the rest would help me to feel much better by Saturday morning. My hopes were dampened on Saturday when I woke up at 4am and I knew that there would not be a five mile run. (Thanks to Olivia who came by the house to accompany me on the run, even though I had to tell her I wouldn't be going.) I'm still not much better today so I am very disappointed. I was really looking forward to doing the five miles. But, I know that if I don't take care of myself then next week's workouts will be in jeopardy as well. We'll keep our fingers crossed that all goes well in the coming week. Here's to getting back on track!!!

Half-Marathon

In two months I am going to be participating in a half-marathon in Boise, along with a bunch of girls from my stake as well as my two sisters. I've never attempted anything like this before and I am very excited. We all have a training schedule that we are following and it's nice to be able to check in with the girls and motivate each other.

Each Saturday we have a "group" run but during the week we all train on our own. Last week the group runs started with a three mile loop. It was freezing cold but we managed to finish just fine. Today was the four mile run. Most of the girls were going to participate in a locak 10k race, but I decided to just put on my IPod and do a four mile loop by myself.

It was a beautiful morning. It was cool and crisp outside but not freezing. I love getting out early in the mornings. It's quiet and peaceful and a wonderful way to start your day. I put on some Mormon Tabernacle Choir music and just hustled along. The only downside to my run was that I am breaking in a new pair of running shoes and about half way through, was feeling the pain on the backs of my ankles. I was getting blisters. Fortunately I had my cell phone with me so I called up my sweet husband who packed the kiddos in the car and drove to find me with a box of band-aids. I put four on each ankle and then started off again. My family just followed me the rest of the way home so I felt like I had my own little cheering section with me.

In order to have some accountability I thought that I would post each week about the progress I am making. That way you can all check in and make sure that I am sticking to the training schedule as I should. I've already had a couple of phone calls this morning to find out how I did. Next week is the five mile run so hopefully I'll be able to keep it up! What am I saying? OF COURSE I'll be keeping it up! 'Til next Saturday!

Too Much TV

Earlier this week Mark and I agreed that there has been far too much television watching in our family. As much as we hate to admit it, we have become complacent. With our busy schedules, we are more tired at night and the TV was our excuse to relax. It also became the excuse to keep the kids entertained so that Mom could get things done around the house or Dad could focus on his homework.

We decided that we would try an experiment. For three days the TV would stay OFF and we would find other things to do. I was certain that the girls would have a very difficult time with it. I also figured that I would miss being able to watch the news whenever I wanted and that Mark would miss the History Channel and ESPN.

Interestingly enough ..... the experiment was very enlightening. Not only did we not really miss the television, but we were more productive, spent more quality time together, and we were generally a happier family. The girls behaved better and I actually got a few projects done that I had been putting off for quite a while. Emma even told us that she wasn't sad about not watching television at all!

So the bottom line is that we made it through the three days just fine and we have new rules for television use in our family. I have more motivation and I feel like I have had some great fun with my girls this week for which I am extremely thankful.

Irish Dancing Anyone?

One afternoon a couple of weeks ago we were having a difficult time with the girls. They had a lot of extra energy and were acting up. So I looked through our video collection to see if there was a fun movie for them to watch and came across "The Lord of the Dance." I hadn't watched it for a very long time but the girls usually enjoy watching movies with music and dancing. So I put it in for them hoping to calm them down a bit. Little did I know that they would become obsessed with it! They beg us to watch it every day and they will also turn the sound track on in the playroom and dance for entire afternoons. A couple of days ago I took a video of Samantha who has always been the little dancer in our family. Unfortunately we don't have any Irish Dance classes in La Grande.

New Calling

Two weeks ago I was sustained as the new Young Women President in our ward. I'm actually pretty excited to continue working with our girls. I've been serving as Secretary and then 1st Counselor for the past two years and have really developed a love for these Young Women. So between my new calling and Mark's calling in the Bishopric we are keeping quite busy. No complaining though ..... we are very grateful to be able to serve. But, if anyone out there ever has any good ideas to help out the Young Women, I'll be very grateful for any input.

Wallowa Lake

Since yesterday was a holiday for us and we were all home together we decided to take a drive up the mountain to Wallowa Lake. We had a fun lunch in Joseph at the "Sweet Shoppe" and then went onto the lake to enjoy it's beauty. The lake is still frozen over but is was still gorgeous. There are quite a few cabins and lodges for the tourists to come to as well as A LOT of deer. The deer are used to being fed by the tourists so while we were enjoying a little snack on the lake, a herd of ten deer came to join us.

We love going to the lake. Hopefully we'll be able to get up there again soon.

Happenings

I haven't made a post onto our blog for a little over a month now. It seems hard to find the time when there are so many other things going on that occupy our lives. We did have a few fun things to include so even though these pictures are up to a month old, we'd like you to know what we've been up to!

Here is Mark chopping some wood on our back patio for use in our fireplace. Emma, as always, is wanting to be a good helper.

We haven't had a good snowfall for a while now but while we had it, the girls sure enjoyed it!

Emma has decided that she really enjoys being responsible for the dishes in our home. She is happy to wash the dishes and be a wonderful helper! It might take her a half hour to get it done, but at least she's learning. Her chores also include emptying the dish washer which she is very good at.
For my birthday in January, my sister and brother-in-law took Mark and I out to lunch at the Red Robin in the Tri-Cities. It was really fun. The best part was being able to spend some quality time with my sweet niece, Karlie! What a princess she is! Being with them helped me to endure the fact that I am now 32 years old...... YIKES!

Go Utes!

Tonight the University of Utah UTES won the BCS Sugar Bowl! They beat Alabama 31-17! It was a great game and one that we enjoyed watching, considering that the commentators and "experts" didn't have much confidence in our team, but we knew they could pull it out! We are both big BYU and Ute fans, but the U of U is Mark's alma mater. While we reside in Oregon and are happy to be here, we have never forgotten where our roots are. We are a little sad that the football season is coming to a close but we will be ready again in eight months to start it all up again.

2009

We've never really been into celebrating the New Year with parties and staying up until the wee hours of the morning. Since having kids, we usually watch the ball drop on the East Coast, share a quick kiss and a glass of sparkling cider, and then say goodnight. (Midnight is just too late for us). But in keeping with the spirit of starting fresh, we always try to set some good goals for our family to work on. We don't always reach all of our goals, but we do try. What is it about the New Year that makes us feel motivated and feel like we can achieve anything? But why is it that so many of us tend to give up on our goals after a few months? If anyone has any ideas on how to keep up the dedication to our goals that we set, we'd love to hear your input!

In any event..... Happy New Year to all of our family and friends! We wish you all a wonderful 2009!

Santa Claus Has Come To Town!

What a wonderful Christmas Day we had! It was just so nice to have a day together as a family and see the happiness of our children. The girls were sufficiently spoiled between Santa Claus, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Santa Claus even brought a couple of things for Mom and Dad, too.

As a parent, the most wonderful thing about Christmas morning for me is seeing the looks on my sweet girls' faces when they come out of their bedrooms and see all of the magical surprises that were brought for them during the night. It's the best gift that I can receive.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful.....

Winter is my favorite season of the year. I know that most people enjoy the sunshine and the sun, but I prefer a gray, gloomy, snowy day. I'm so grateful to live in the mountains where the snow is plentiful and the surroundings are beautiful. We've had lots of snow in the past couple of weeks and we wouldn't have it any other way! Winter lasts about six months out of the year here and that's just fine with me! It gives me a good excuse to make a fire and cozy up with a nice blanket and a mug of hot cocoa.

As you all know by now, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin passed away this past week. I always loved Elder Wirthlin. He had a very quiet manner about him. He wasn't always the most eloquent of speakers, but his messages were nonetheless inspiring. He had a wonderful sense of humor. His last talk he gave in the October General Conference was so memorable and I got a big kick out of watching him chuckle while telling his stories. He will definitely be missed.......

Happy Birthday Emma!

Last Wednesday we celebrated Emma's 6th Birthday! What a special day she had. We can't believe our little girl is six years old. It seems like yesterday when she was born and had to spend all that time in the ICU because she was so sick. Emma is a joy to be around and her mommy and daddy love her soooo much! We are very proud of the good little girl that she is.

The girls always look forward to going out to the pizza place for their birthday dinner. It's become a tradition with us. The pizza is yummy and there are games for the kids to play on.

We came back to the house to have birthday cake. I got on the internet and found a cute cow cake that I made for Emma. She really loves animals so I thought that this would be a fun birthday cake to have. It wasn't perfect, but Emma told me how much she loved the cake. She said, "I don't even care that there are mistakes on it."

Family Time

There never seems to be enough hours in our days or enough days in our weeks. Most often we are looking for more time to have that extra Church meeting or finish one more homework assignment. Recently we've tried to get into the habit of having a regular Family Game Night with the girls aside from our weekly FHE. It has been so much fun!! Each week we choose a new game to play and even though Emma and Samantha may not pick up on it right away, we have the greatest time just spending the evening together. We've learned that it's so easy to get caught up in our busy schedules and we definitely suffer from time constraints in our family, but if we can set aside an hour or two each week that is devoted to family and nothing else, life has a way of working the rest out. We are better parents and the girls know that their dad and mom love them and love spending spending time with them. These are a couple of pictures from our last game night - mom popped popcorn and we had an exciting game of UNO! Needless to say, the girls got a wee bit silly during our evening.....

Last Friday was "Girls Night Out" to see the new movie. It was so much fun. There were about ten of us from Church who bought tickets a week earlier. I'm not someone who really analyzes the movies they see, I watch them for pure entertainment value. I had a wonderful time and I can't wait for the next movies to come out!!! TWO THUMBS UP!!!

New Calling

Yesterday was a big day for the family and especially for Mark. He was called to serve as the 1st Counselor in our ward Bishopric which came as quite a surprise to all of us. It was a fun day for us as my parents, Stephanie and her family, and Jonathan and his family came up from Hermiston to participate in the event. Unfortunately for Mark, the work has already begun and while the rest of us were enjoying one another's company at the house, he was at the Church taking care of ward business for the next several hours..... In any event, he is anxious to serve and will, as always, do his very best and we are proud of him!

Graduation Day!

This past weekend Mark graduated from the Probation and Parole Academy and I was lucky enough to drive down to see his graduation in Salem. My mom and sisters watched the girls for us and we were able to have a night away together - our first one in seven years. It was a wonderful weekend and I was so proud of Mark and his accomplishment. He works very hard at what he does - how grateful I am to have him in my life!

Missing Daddy

Mark spent four weeks attending training at the Oregon Law Enforcement Academy in Salem. It was a very long time to be without Daddy. While the girls and I missed him immensely, Mark was having a down day and missing his girls back home. So we decided to send him a little pick-me-up to let him know that we were thinking of him. Hopefully it did the trick and we were able to cheer him up a bit. We are definitely glad to have him home with us now!

Baby Blessing

My brother and his wife (Jon and Natalie) blessed their third baby (Jordan) the first weekend in November. We were fortunate to have most of our family come back to Oregon to attend the blessing. My sister, Shellie, was the only one who couldn't be there but we definitely missed her. My other brother and his wife (Todd and Suzann) stayed for a couple days at our house with their two kiddos. These are some pictures of the kids with Uncle Todd and then with Aunt Wendie.

We then spent some time in Hermiston with the rest of the family. Sunday was blessing day and our whole family went to church together. We took up two entire rows at the chapel. Here are the girls with their adorable Perez cousins.

Sam and Emma with their new cousin Jordan. Their favorite thing to do is hold the baby and they do a great job!

Here is Samantha and her sweet cousin Karlie playing dress-up at Grandma's house.What a special gifit it is to be a part of such a wonderful family. Our girls are richly blessed to have two families (the Edwards and the Perrys) who love and care for them very much.

Happy Halloween!

It was a fun Halloween this year. Emma and Samantha were looking forward to costumes and candy for weeks! Although their costume decisions changed daily, we finally settled on Sam being Snow White and Emma dressing as Little Red Riding Hood. Sam had a preschool party at our local pumpkin patch and wore her costume. Emma dressed up for Kindergarten and participated in the school parade. We had dinner with our good friends, the Rasheeds, and then went to the Trunk or Treat at the Church. The girls went to bed exhausted but extremely satisfied. We'll be serving Halloween candy for months!

Moving Day

In early October my sister Stephanie and her family moved to a new house in Hermiston. We drove down to help them out with their move. After a long day of hard work, you have to lighten things up and have some fun at the same time.

I love spending time with my sisters and my mom. We always have so much fun and we really enjoy being with each other. My four sisters and six sisters-in-law are my best friends!
Stephanie and Silila have a riding lawnmower with a trailer. We hooked it up and put all the cousins in to have some rides. Everyone took turns driving the "tractor" and pulling the kids along. They had the greatest time. Who knew that riding lawnmowers could provide hours of entertainment??? The best part about it was all the memories it brought back to when my siblings and I were kids and our dad used to do the same thing with us on our grandpa's lawnmower.

This is a picture of Great-Grandma Peggy holding the newest cousin in the family, Jordan Richard. He's only a few weeks old.

Celebrate the Harvest

For the first time this year I decided to learn how to do some home canning. It was tricky at first but I caught on quickly and am grateful for the talent that I learned. With all the instability going on in the world today, I feel fortunate to have our food storage and know that it was worth the hard work of growing the garden, doing the canning, making the jam, etc. I did peaches, pears, syrups, pickles, relishes, apple butter, pear butter, applesauce and countless batches of several varieties of jam. We feel blessed to have such kind friends and neighbors who shared their bounty with us.

Here is Mark harvesting our potatoes. The growing season wasn't quite long enough here in the mountains for the potatoes but we did get a small box ful and we'll definitely put it all to use.