My Birthday

I had such a great birthday. My family was so sweet to me all day long. Sweet words and hugs and texts go a long way with me.
It was a regular school day for Kent and Camryn. I had work off and took it easy with Kendra and Corinne. After school, Kent came home with Cafe Rio (yummy!!!) and this super chocolaty cake.It is from Costco and supposedly weighs over 7 lbs. If you are a chocolate lover and haven't tried this cake, you must. Just be sure to have a gallon of milk on hand.

Kent helped Camryn and Kendra buy me a new purse and some beads for watch bands. He told me he had to work really hard to persuade Camryn away from the purse that was covered in lots of tiny little mirrors. She was sure I would like that shimmery one best. She finally begrudgingly agreed to this one. I love it!
Kendra picked out some nice blue beads, and Camryn picked some pink heart beads. They also got me some silver beads to go along with them. I can't wait to make something with them.

Kent also got me a sapphire ring. I told him awhile ago that I have always wanted one.
My new sapphire ring along with my wedding ring. I love them both so much!

So now I am 30. Perception of age is definitely relative.

Thanks to my family for making my birthday so wonderful!

Goodbye Youth

Hello 30



Ahhhhhhhh..........

Camryn's School Story

Camryn brought this home form homework. The assignment was to tell me a story, using these pictures. Here was Camryn's story:

Mom Mouse said, "Wake-up sweetheart. It's time to get ready for your first day of Kindergarten.".
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Tie your shoes and get dressed.
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Get your backpack and all your things inside.
Little Mouse said, "I'm going to take a picture of my family so I don't get lonely."
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On the way to school Mom Mouse said," At school, you are going to learn your alphabet."
Little Mouse said, "I already know my alphabet."
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Mom Mouse said, "You are going to learn your numbers."
Little Mouse said, "I already know my numbers."
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Mom mouse said, "Maybe you will learn how to read."

No. Reading is for First Grade, not for Kindergarten.
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Little Mouse went to school and drew a picture.

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And she played.
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Mom Mouse came to get Little Mouse after school. Little Mouse said, "I am not ready to go yet. I am having fun."


Hmmm.....at least she is having fun.

Camryn at 6 Years Old

Today, I asked Camryn what her favorite food is. She replied chili rice and cheese. This is my sister, Mickell's favorite dish. You just mix those three things together. When I made it for Camryn, she said it was her favorite too. I guess I should make it for her again, since she's only had it twice.

I also asked Camryn what her favorite thing to do is. She gave me a list, numbering things as she went.
#1-going to Megan's to ride horses, hold chickens, and pet chinchillas
#2-going to the fair
#3-getting hugs and kisses from mommy and daddy at night
#4-getting tickled by daddy
#5-swimming.
She absolutely LOVES swimming.
We started attending swimming lessons, and everyone says she is a little fish. She loves the water and is fearless.
This part of the pool she was jumping into was 10 feet deep. She would jump and swim to the side all by herself.
She has picked up on swimming so quickly.
#6-holding Corinne
#7-playing with her sissy, Kendra, and with Corinne

Camryn went on for quite some time, numbering more things she likes to do. Unfortunately, I started loosing track. I should have been writing things down. She numbered things up to 11. Another item was getting thrown on the bean bag.

Camryn is my sweet, silly, fun girl. She loves knock-knock jokes. She tries to make them up. Tonight at dinner, she tried having us do a game. She said knock-knock. I said who's there? She said the big bad wolf and that I was supposed to ask what color egg she wanted. If the wolf picked the same color egg you did, then you had to run. Then she realized we were at the dinner table and said we can run like this--bobbing her head from side to side like she was running, then said wait, we can run like this--adding shaking her hands next to her head. You had to have seen it. She was so stinkin cute. She is always making us laugh, and has the sweetest smile and laugh.

She always does her best to make us happy. I'm sure some of her responses above were given because she knew it would make us happy.

She loves drawing, especially on a doodle board. She is really good. I've asked her to draw on paper more, because I would like to keep some of her pictures. The doodle board is still her favorite though.

She still loves many of the things she has loved for a long time, like music, animals, and super heroes.

I can't believe that she is already six. I can't believe that she just started school.

First Day of Kindergarten

Camryn has been so excited to start school. She has been working hard to get ready for over a year. She loves working on "homework" with us. She has gotten pretty good at reading and writing. She is reading level 1 books we got from my mom. She seems to be a natural at math, and can already add numbers that equal up to 20. She can also do subtraction. We are so proud of her.
I can't count how many times she has asked us when she would start kindergarten. That morning, while I was helping her get ready, I asked if she was excited. She replied that she was a little bit nervous. I tried to assure her, and said that everyone else would be new too. That she just needed to listen to her teacher and she would tell her everything she needed to do.
I couldn't take her to school. I had to go to work to early. So Kent got to take her. I asked him to take the camera for me.

Camryn approaching the playground.

She ran right up to play.
Here she is walking into her classroom. The head you can just barely see is Mrs. Jacobsen, her teacher.

She is loving school so far. We hope the year continues to go this well.

Just looking at pictures of her still blows me away. How did she get so big? I can already see the lady in her. Where did my baby go?

I am so proud of the girl you have become, Camryn. I love you so much.

Labor Day Weekend

Our Labor Day weekend was packed.

On Saturday, Kent and I ran the half-marathon in Pocatello. Two weeks prior, we were debating if we should still attempt the race. Our summer has been so busy that we had a hard time working our training in. The weekly long run is probably the most important run. We did our 5 mile, then 6 mile, then a couple weeks later the 8 mile, and it went on like that. We did at least one short run each week, sometimes more, but never ran as often as we should have. In the four weeks just prior to the race, we only did one long run, and that one was only days before the race. Kent ran 9 miles the Monday before the race, and I ran it on Tuesday.

This is NOT how you should train for a half-marathon, and we both knew it. We discussed whether or not we should attempt the race. We decided to do it. We wouldn't worry about time; we would just do it and try to finish.

We ran side by side the whole way. No music, just each other. We finished the race holding hands, with a 2:14:48 time.

We shed blood, sweat, and tears. Sweat from every pore, tears from our eyes, and blood from Kent's nipples. Seriously.

When you run 13.1 miles, there is a lot of chaffing. We prepared with vaseline, but forgot Ken't band aids.

Things to remember for the next race. Surprisingly, we are already discussing our next race. Next time we will bring band aids for Kent's poor nipples, and more importantly, we will train. Next time will be the Ogden half-marathon in the spring.

After the race, Nicole, Mom, Jessica, and I had a girl's day. We wanted to get to know Jessica better, and thought it would be fun to go shopping. We are very slow shoppers. We only made it through three stores before we were out of time and had to meet up with our men. Then we all went out to dinner together. It was a lot of fun.

Camryn's 6th Birthday

Camryn turned six on Labor Day. She was born on Labor Day, and this was the first year her birthday fell on that holiday again. Camryn LOVES animals, but especially loves horses. I have an AMAZING friend, Megan. We have been friends since I was in third grade. She has always been a great friend. She is an absolute sweetheart and I love her to death. Megan has horses.

I asked if we could come and ride horses as a surprise for Camryn's birthday.

Camryn was in heaven.

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Megan leading Hawk with Kendra.
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Nicole, Travis, Kaydence, Jonathan, Jessica, Mickell, Kent, Camryn, Kendra, and I all took turns riding.

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Megan has more than just horses, she has an entire petting zoo.
She has chickens that are used to being held.
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She has chinchillas.

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She also has dogs and cats. All the kids loved every minute of it.

After Megan's house, we all headed to my mom's house.





My dad barbecued hamburgers for us (Camryn's choice for lunch).



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I made her this cake. In my defense, I started with a 9x13 cake and ended up with this.

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After cake and presents, we went to the fair. We went through most of the animal barns with Megan. The kids got to see horses, pigs, chickens, sheep, cows being milked, pigeons, and all sorts of animals. Megan had to leave to work in one of the fair booths (the one with the BEST homemade pie).

We took the kids to the petting zoo.

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And to a little play area.

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Then we went to the rides. We told the girls we would ride some rides. Then we realized it would cost $4 per person for the cheap rides. We rode the ferris wheel. That was a great $12 ride for us 3 girls. Kent and Corinne watched, we couldn't afford for them to ride too.

The girls didn't get scared at all. They loved it. They kept waving to Daddy and blowing him kisses from the ferris wheel.

After the fair we headed home. It was a full days celebration for Camryn. We all got to have fun with her.

Thank Megan, for making it so wonderful.

Happy Birthday to my BIG Girl!!!!

My sister talks about more stuff we did this weekend, so read her account of this weekend here, if you'd like.