My Hubby Rocks!

Matt had his Top of Utah Half Marathon Race on Saturday.  He wanted to beat his time from last year, and set a goal of 1 hour and 30 minutes.  He missed his goal by 9 minutes, but still beat his time from last year.  He did AWESOME!  Matt placed 15th out of his age division.  I am not sure what his overall score was, but there were 2,300 runners that day.  It is so fun to be there at the Finish Line, but I hope my mom will get to come cheer next year.  It was hard to try and watch for Matt, and keep the kids under control.  It was a fun day and the weather ended up being perfect.

Abbie was being so silly just dancing and spinning! The shirt I made for her had some big rocks drawn on and said, "My Dad Rocks!"

Note to self: fabric paint sketches do not work the same as pencil drawing sketches.  The rocks look much cooler sketched on paper:) 

 Asher was saying, "Good job Daddy, run!" 

For Asher's shirt, I used the same black fabric paint and did a stippling effect.  I really like how it turned out.

Asher had to carry around the sign that Matt's sister made for him.

 A family finish line

 My sexy, but much too sweaty spouse:)

Our brother in law also won the race.  He set the goal after losing 60 pounds.  His dad ran it as well.  I am so proud of all of them for meeting this goal. They did so well!

Here is Matt racing to the finish line.

Bliss

Yesterday was the last day Matt and I could be together all day, before Fall Semester starts.  I called in sick to work because my throat was scratchy, Abbie was coughing, and Asher's finger was infected. 

We took it easy by loading the kids in the bike trailer and going on a ten mile bike ride, in the rain.  The kids were toasty warm with their blankie and toys.  Matt and I took off as it started to sprinkle.  Matt led us to a a canopy of trees and moss covered marshes, because he knew I would love it.  If we would have kept going, we would have made it to Antelope Island.  Before the weather turns cold, we are going on that parkway again and having a family picnic out at the island.  By the time we made it home, we were soaked, but the kids stayed dry.  I lifted the rain guard to get Asher out, and he informed me, "Oh no! It's raining, we better hurry!" I love how kids can be so cute while stating the obvious.

Next after Abbie took a nap, I took the kids to the store, and Matt went to the gym.  I went to JC Penny's first, and Asher had to try on all of the slippers.  He is in love with slippers.  One of the workers took Asher over to try on some teenage girl slippers, because they were bright and fun.  He let me know that I could get him the Toy Story slippers, "Maybe for Asher's Birthday."  Some creepy older dude followed us around the bra section, and tried to have a conversation. It was weird.

After we went grocery shopping and saw some guys having a battle with their cars, then pull into a parking lot to fight, Matt was sad he missed it:)

When we pulled into the drive way, Asher was super excited because two ambulances were on their way to rescue someone.  One hundred fifty feet before the ambulance passes our house, and adult male tips over on his bike on the asphalt.  He was okay, but I thought he was going to get hit by a rescue vehicle.  How ironic would that have been?  Overall it was an odd people watching afternoon.

Lastly, but most importantly; Matt and I were finally able to go to the temple together.  Because of Matt's school schedule during the summer; the only night we could have gone would have been Monday night when the temple was closed.  We have both been longing to go, and last night was perfect.  We were in the smallest session I have ever seen, and it was so nice to leave the chaos behind.  We had a good, long talk and made goals.  It felt awesome to strengthen our relationship.

After we went and watched people do the indoor surfing, which Matt now wants to try.  Then he took me to Sonora Grill.  We had a coupon, but we have decided that we need to find a new restaurant.  They keep changing their menu and the stuff that is left is either really expensive, or has no flavor.  The important thing was we were able to continue talking and focusing on each other.

It was such a fun night and we ended it by watching a movie and preparing our own version of Cafe Rio style pork to cook all night long.  Bizarre, funny, yummy... who cares:)

It was such a fun and unique day, and I am so glad that we were able to be together.

I Love Date Night!

Wordy Wednesday

Word Prompt: View

Views I love

 #1

 Yellowstone and the Teton Mountain Range~ my all time favorite place to be. The lush forest, large bodies of water, and the gorgeous jagged peaks beckon to me always.

#2

I have been to California almost every year I have been alive.  My great grandparents live there, and only thirty minuets from Disneyland.  I have always loved the beach.  The sounds, the smells, the beach combing.  It's great.

#3

I love to be at the Bountiful Temple, especially with Matt.  We don't get there as often as we like, but we will have more opportunities with Matt's new Fall schedule.  I love the feeling there.  I also love the fact that it is the temple I remember walking through as a little kid during the open house.  I saw the chandelier, and knew I wanted to get married there.  I like that it is up on a mountain.  When you walk out you can see the vast expanse of the valley below, and the cloud covered mountains above.  It makes you feel like you are at this half way point to Heaven and when you walk into the temple you know you've just moved a little closer to Heavenly Father.

 #4

Disneyland~ What could ever be bad about it:)

 #5

Afton, Wyoming and Bear Lake.  I love to camp anywhere really. I see all of the pretty scenery and wish I could freeze the image in my mind's eye.  Camera's don't always capture the immense beauty, and small but important details are lost.  I love being in nature, and especially being there with my family.

Places I long to view~

I long to go back to New England.  Now that I am older and can appreciate what I saw when I was ten; I want to go back and see all of the history of our nation on the East Coast.  This would be especially great in the fall.

I grew up with my dad having to work in Germany and other countries for large chunks of time.  I still have every postcard he ever sent to me.  I still have the poster of some castles on a hillside that he brought home for me once.  I love German history. I would love to learn the language.  I love the beauty all around.  I also gained a knowledge that our US chocolate is sub par, and Milka Bars and Toblerone make a mouth happy. 

I want to go there and to the surrounding countries and step back in time. 

When Matt is FINALLY done with school, we are going to go on a cruise.  We will FINALLY have a long trip alone together, and our goal is to go to Venezuela.  My boss is from Venezuela and tells me frequently how beautiful and relaxing it is.  I know that this would be a great celebration for all of Matt's dedication to us and to his career.

I can't wait to go back to school and get my degree.  I can't wait to be doing art again.  Whether I am back at Weber State or some other school out of Utah; it will be nice to say I made it.

Most importantly~ I can't wait to be home with these two each and everyday.  I can't wait to get Asher ready for school, and to help him with homework.  I look forward to taking Abbie to dance, and to having another baby or two (or five if the grandparents have anything to say about it:)

Some of these will happen sooner than others, but I hope to do them all, and create all of the memories along the way.

Meet Me At The Fair Part II

Because Grandma and Papa Joy were gone to girls camp all last week; we went to the fair with them on Saturday.  There wasn't as much to do, because there was no rodeo.  The kids still had fun even though it was quite hot.

The kids had fun at the ping pong ball toss.

More fish pond, and Abbie got a plastic horse.  She was HEAVEN.  She made that thing trot all over everyone saying, "Orsie Orsie!"

Asher with a beloved tractor

The look on his face is so sad, yet so hilarious.  He won the parrot hat at the ball toss.

Here he looks much happier. 

We then went into an exhibit hall to see some submissions made by family members.  We walked over to the baking submissions, and my dad and I agreed that I need to do it next year, I could win.  Though I am trying to figure out if it is worth going to all of the work for a ribbon.  I guess it is a good artistic, extracurricular activity, we'll see.

Meet Me At The Fair

If you remember last year's fair excursion, you can plainly see that Matt redeemed himself at the ball toss, in record time.  We were so proud *sniff sniff*

I made him act like a dork for the picture.

You can tell that Asher was excited, as he gave a genuine smile for the camera!

The highlight of the fair this year, and what we did almost the whole time we were there, was watch the RODEO!

Asher and Abbie loved watching the bucking animals and cheering for the cowboys.  They also didn't mind the fact that we were constantly getting sprayed by dirt from the horses and bulls trying to buck the cowboys off.

They were so intent sometimes, and they loved to see the little cows in the roping contests.  Abbie also enjoyed dancing and leading the music when a cowboy was setting up to ride a bull. I told Matt that it would be awesome if Abbie did Barrel Racing.  He informed me that that would be better than her starting dance.  I scoffed and said she could do both... I win!:)

We did some interesting people watching, got the kids some homemade ice cream and cotton candy.  We also took them to the school district mini fair for the kids to do the fish pond, and Matt to do the ball toss.

I love this picture.  The kids were enthralled, the temperature was perfect, the seats were awesome, and the sky was gorgeous.

We stayed after the actual rodeo ended and watched all of the horses and riders that didn't get to compete.  We also got to see the tractor come out and smooth the dirt.  That was of course the highlight of the night.

We had so much fun, and we were so glad that we were able to go.  We were sad though that my dad and Janis were up at girls' camp and missed the yearly tradition.  Maybe we will just have to go to the State Fair with them:)