Share a Smile Triathlon

On Saturday Brandon and I competed in the Share a Smile Triathlon. It took place at Orem's Scera Pool and around the surrounding streets. It consisted of an 800 yd swim, 7 1/2 mile bike and 3.2 mile run. Yes, it was a pretty short triathlon but we still feel very accomplished and exhuasted! I completed the race in 1:17 and Brandon did it in 1:08. We were happy with how we did considering we only trained for about 4 weeks. All the proceeds go towards dental work for the poor and homeless in Utah County. The dentist who does the work is the one who put on the whole race. It was really fun to be a part of it all. We hope to do this one every year!

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Go Orem Owlz!

My dad had a Doctor's appreciation night at the baseball stadium at UVSC last night. The invited us to come and we had so much fun! It started with a yummy bbq and then the kids had a little while to play on the park and the blow up toys. Caleb got his face painted (it's a snake if you can't tell...) and both the kids won some prizes by throwing a ball through this cardboard picture thing. After playing for a while we into the stadium and got some free ice cream! IHC gave each family $15 in vouchers for treats at the game. Gotta love free ice cream. Then the game started. Caleb was way more interested in the star wars characters that were walking around the stadium than the game itself, but that's ok. We watched two innings and then decided it was way past their bedtime (it was 7:45 *gasp*) and we'd better get going. We had a very fun and very free evening! Thanks IHC and the Orem Owlz! (Oh, thanks to you too, dad, for inviting us!)

Caleb's first day of preschool

Today was Caleb's first day of real preschool! Last year he went to a 3 year old preschool, but this year is real, full-on, educational preschool. Get ready world, here we come! You may be wondering about the backpack... yeah, me too. I mean, really, what do preschoolers need to bring? Last year a bunch of kids wore backpacks and I have no clue what the parents put in them. But Caleb wanted to bring his this year. So I let him bring his puppy and his photo album in his backpack. I'm sure it just sat in his cubby the whole time but if it made him feel better, it's fine by me.

Si, yo hablo espanol.

The grass in our little front yard area is totally dead. (An HOA takes care of it for those of you who don't know.) We think it has to do with the fact that they are mowing it very short. So, today I caught the guy while he was mowing. Caleb and I went up to him and I said, "Can you cut it a little longer than usual. It doesn't seem to be doing so well." He stared at me blankly. (He was mexican.) Great, I thought. I crouched down and said, "Grass (pointing) too short. Dying. Longer?" Still blank. Ok, here comes what I have left of high school spanish... (don't laugh) "(pointing at grass)pequeno. Deseo mas grande. (pointing across the street) ahi muy bueno. (pointing to my grass) Aqui no es bueno." He smiles and nods and stops cutting the lawn. "Gracias" I say. I turn and start walking to the garage. I turn and see Caleb staring at me wide-eyed in amazement as he says, "I didn't know you talked Spanish!"

Sad Day

Wormy died today. Caleb cried. Now he's over it and watching TV.

My Dilema: Opinions PLEASE!

I have recently been informed (thanks Bret and Marisa) that you can print and publish your blog into a book form. Here's the link for all of you who are interested.

http://www.blurb.com/home/1/

My dilema is this. I would love to print my blog, say, at the end of every year or something. Then I wouldn't have to feel so guilty about not writing in a journal. I also print ALL of our pictures (that actually turn out that is) and put them into photo albums. With both of these records... why do I scrapbook? Don't get me wrong I really like to scrapbook. But I'm always about a year behind, sometimes i kind of dread working on it, and it's quite an expensive hobby. Is there any reason why I need a scrapbook if I have printed blogs and photo albums? I plan on scrapbooking up until I started blogging for sure. But when I reach that point of overlapping... what should i do? Should i give up scrapbooking except for occasional projects? Maybe do albums like a birthday album with all the kids birthdays so i can watch how they grew or other specialty albums like that? What do you guys think? I'm so torn right now.

Edited to add: Ok, go to the link and click blog books down at the bottom. Scroll through the pages. I think they actually look really, really cool. The blogging is earning points...

WE LOVE BRIAN REGAN!!!!!!

Last night was the funniest night of our lives! We went to see Brian Regan live at the Waterfall Ampitheater at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. It was so much fun! We were laughing so hard we were practically screaming and we all ended the night with stomach aches. The place was packed! It was definately THE place to be in Utah County on saturday night! We got there over an hour early and we had to park in overflow and the grassy knoll was pretty much full. We ended up with a great spot though because this group didnt want people with chairs in front of them so they came and grabbed us and offered us the spot right in front of them. It was great. Brian Regan is freaking hilarious and totally clean. If you've never heard him check out.

And you must check out a show when he's in your area! You won't regret it!

Caleb's new pet

I went in the front yard to tend to my Petunias on friday only to find every single last flower dead! (That's another story in and of itself though... i'm a little upset with whatever is killing my flowers.) Anyway, i found a little green caterpillar and I thought, "Caleb would love this!" So, I found him to show him. He took right to the little bugger and wanted him for a pet. So we got a bowl for his cage (which later turned into a tupperware with a lid) and gave him some grass and my very last petunia to eat for a snack. Lo and behold, in that petunia was a baby caterpillar. Caleb was ecstatic! Two caterpillars! A mom and baby! He went around saying "A mom and baby! Cute! Look a mom and a baby!" A little while later he comes up to me and says, "Look mom, they're hugging!" A feeling of dread came over me as i tried to decide how to tell him what i was thinking. I finally just spit it out... "Honey, i think the mommy is eating the baby..." Caleb: "No, she's hugging it! Mommy's don't eat their babies." So, i let it go. A few minutes later he says "Actually, I think the mommy is eating her baby... Why would she eat her baby?" Hmmm... what do you say to that. Sure enough i look in the "cage" and the baby is half gone. And half there. Yuck. We had a good lesson on the circle of life that night. I also learned that caterpillars, at least not ours, don't eat apples. What is that book "The Hungry Caterpillar" teaching us anyway? Ours only eats petunias. Lots and lots of petunias.

Happy Birthday Caleb and Brynley!

Caleb and Brynley's birthdays are a week apart (Brynley is Aug. 9th and Caleb is Aug. 17). We had a combined birthday party for them this year at the Scera Pool. It was so much fun! We swam in the pool for a couple hours and then went over to the park and played with water balloons and water guns. Then we did the usual presents and cake. Caleb and Brynley had so much fun! Thank you to all of you who came and had fun with us!

Caleb and Jackson at the Pool


Brandon and Caleb going down the slide


"It's my party and I'll cry if i want to..."


The kids LOVED the water guns. Wes was a good sport and was right in on the action!


It's amazing how sprinkles can transorm a wedding cake to a birthday cake! (Thanks, kell, it was SO good!)


Happy Birthday Bryn!


A baby and stroller... a necessity for every little girl.


Caleb got this cheap little digital camera that he has been wanting and he absolutely loves it! But he feels the need to physically hold his other eye closed while he's taking a picture!


And this.... this was just too cute. Had to post. What a cool kid.

Swimming Lessons

Caleb took two sessions of swimming lessons this summer. He did a "preschool level 2" and passed that and then he took a "preschool level 3". He didn't quite pass that class so he'll take it again in next year. He is getting pretty good at swimming with big arms and kicking. He can't breathe to the side yet though so when he takes a breath he has to full on stop swimming. But heck, he's not even four yet... Here are some pics:

Trip to "Michinagain"

These are a bunch of pictures of our trip to Michigan. Caleb calls it "michinagain". We had a ton of fun. We went there because Brandon's brother, Jordan, got home from his mission to Argentina. Here are the kids with their Argentine suckers!


While we were there we took a trip to Ohio to go to Cedar Point, one of the best amusement parks in the world. (Seriously, it really is.)


Caleb loved all the kids rides. This is a pretty good sized kids roller coaster. He's with his cousin Collin.



Most of the day Caleb and Abby rode the rides together. Angie and I thought it was so funny b/c they held hands everywhere they went and always sat in the same car or boat or whatever the ride was, even if there were tons of empty ones. They love each other.




After Cedar Point we went to Kirtland, Ohio and visited the temple and all the other sites there.



Brandon's parents back yard is awesome! It borders these really cool woods that Caleb and Abby loved playing in. They called it the "Creepy, Nasty Forest". I have no idea where they came up with that!





While we were they we had family pictures taken.
The cousins and Grandma and Grandpa

Brandon and his brothers and parents

Collin, Sami, Abby, and Caleb

Our family