Summer Lovin'

It's 5:50am and I have already been to the gym, and Hayden is already gone to work. Wade has been back North since Monday when I took him to the train in SLC.  I had him come twice to our 5am workouts while he was here, and he thought that was pure torture.  He did say that one of the things he misses from being in Tremonton during the summer, is that they don't make him exercise. So... in my "motherly" way that I have... I have come up with a "long distance workout plan" for Wade. If he runs 7/9 of the days he is there before coming back here, I have offered him an itunes gift card. So far, he has 2/3 days down... :)

carriage ride @ birthday party

We had Aspen's birthday party on Tuesday. It was B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.!!! My definition of beautiful means stress free. Other than getting the kids to the party, because we had to pick up a few, everything was done for us. They rode ponies, fed all the animals, had a carriage ride, ate cake, opened presents, and played. Now I don't have to listen to her and all her birthday party plans... for about a week, anyway, then she will start planning her next one. 

She stayed at Grandma Fraser's for a couple days last week, but she never makes it more than a couple nights before she is dreadfully homesick. Sure enough... her Sunday return home date had to be moved to Saturday, and that was pushing it. Friday night she was in tears on the phone begging to come home. We definitely took advantage of having her gone. Thursday we went to the Toby Keith concert, Friday I got a manicure, did a "long"-ish run on Saturday, ran a million errands, and got her birthday party plans taken care of. 

We took Wade for a little IKEA initiation last week. He had never been before, and I was pretty sure by the time we ended that he was just going to pack a bag of stuff and move into one of the little model apartments they have set up. 

Our fridge... with an artist in the house.

Aspen got her first bee sting last week as well. She was poking a stick in the hammock stand and apparently there was a hornets nest just inside the hole. We knew something had happened because the scream that came from the backyard was HORRIFIC. Seriously. A bee sting and the loss of a leg sound pretty close to the same thing, I'm sure. Aspen isn't dramatic at all. :)  After a good dose of bee-spray, we killed off a few nests hanging around the back yard.

Punching ball

I have a half marathon on Saturday in AF Canyon. I haven't really trained for it, but then again... I hadn't really trained for Ogden and I managed to pull out a PR on a marathon and felt GREAT afterwards. Something to be said for cross training I guess. 

Brenden is in his third week at the MTC, and is district leader.  His companion had to be sent home for medical reasons, so he has been adjusting to a new partner.  I have been guilty of driving by the MTC very slowly and looking for him when I have to be in Provo for meetings or whatever.  Aspen misses him already.  His blog address is elderoxborrow.blogspot.com.  I post his letters there as they come in.

Happy #5 to My Little Spit-Fire

My little fire-cracker.

 Painter and artist (especially of animals and people).

Dare-devil and stunt man (hanging upside down on your swing by your legs with no hands)

Determined little gal.

Homesick after 3 days... yes, even at Grandma's house.

Daddy's little princess.

Trampoline master (still trying to not land on your head on your "flip")

Lover of going on walks... even when it's 92 degrees.

Particular little bugger... who REFUSES to wear any color of pant that doesn't match EXACTLY with her top (and jeans don't match ANYTHING).

Photogenic girl.

Runner wanna be.

Diva.  Fashionista. 

Creative little story teller.

Pouty little fits (onto her bed) when she doesn't get her way.

Chocolate milk lover.

Cuddle bug... kiss giver... affectionate.

Misses her dogs and her space when she is away.

Daddy's little fellow beach bum.

Her brother Wade's little shadow.

We sure love you.

Thanks so much for loving us... literally.

Summer craziness

This week has been a crazy week here. Aspen has her last day of swim tomorrow, and is in the second level of the 6 year old swim class. She is an animal. Today she showed off her backstroke, front crawl and her treading water (which she says is the hardest).

beautiful "V" of 100+ pelicans flying into town

Kara and her family went to Lake Powell this week (on Tuesday), and because my schedule was so busy, and Hayden had work all week, we passed on the invite. When Wade found out that there WAS an invite (on Monday night... of course) he had a little bit of a nervous breakdown about missing this year. So Tuesday morning at 5am, we drove to meet Kara in Price, and then I drove back, took Aspen to reading class, swim, etc, etc... it was a long day.

Climbing a tree in a dress... cause she can

I had Wade come to a treadmill class yesterday. He LOVED LOVED it. I think the speed work we did made him feel like he was as fast as he would like to be... if even for just 4 minutes at a time. He put in 10 miles in 80 minutes.

I have a race next weekend... a good way to give myself a birthday present a day early. I will probably be running it solo, because my marathon buddy, Arica, has an injury and is struggling to do a half mile.

Aspen's birthday is on Saturday, so I better START TOMORROW planning the party she has been talking about for over three months, in order to pull off a party by Tuesday. Hayden is trying to find her a swing set on KSL. She is trying to do a flip on the tramp this week, and has landed on her head more than once. She keeps begging me to get her in gymnastics, and talks about all the wonderful flips she will be able to do once she gets in. Yeah... I guess I better get on that tomorrow too.

Next week Morgan and Wade will be gone...so I will be having my typical "mom" meltdown of loneliness for the first couple days. Then I hope to get a few things sewn that I have been putting off.

I have a missionary!!

 The sure sign of aging... having your kids grow and leave off on their own adventures.  

Brenden entered the MTC on May 30 at 1pm, off on his own adventure.  He will spend two years in the Montreal Canada mission.  I don't get to see him as much as I would like, so I didn't think it would be as hard to see him go as it was.  I figured... hey, it'll just be like he hasn't come down to visit for awhile, right??

Wrong.

I was playing a game of scrabble with him about a week before he left, via my phone, and I sent my word to him and then thought "I won't even be able to do THAT when he leaves".  As dumb as it sounds, it was my reality check for how much I'll miss him.

His farewell was great.  He did a great job, and will be an awesome missionary.  He has already been made district leader for his group during his first week at the MTC.  Before he left, we had lunch at Chuck-a-Rama, said our goodbye's before we pulled up to the MTC, and then pulled in.  We dropped him off, gave him hugs, and off he went with some elders.

He has a blog:  elderoxborrow.blogspot.com

I post his letters he sends there, and pictures along the way.

We miss him already.  So proud of him!

am I laughing or crying??

last glimpse of him for a few years

at the farewell