A funny...

I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for the past week...for many reasons we won't go into.
Late this afternoon, as I was enjoying a freshly baked sugar cookie, I remembered I needed to move our dog, Sadie into the garage before it got too cold. With cookie in hand, I got my coat and grabbed a doggy biscuit out of the cupboard (we use it to bribe Sadie into listening to us) and headed out the back door. As I walked out the door, I instinctively took another bite of my cookie. But, to my surprise, it wasn't the cookie that I put in my mouth. Yeah. I ate the dog biscuit!! It was hard not to fall on the ground laughing as I spit it out on to the grass.

It was funny.

I've never been so distracted with life-stuff, that I've eaten my dog's treats before. I guess there's a first time for everything.

13.1 miles of the pain you crave...

This is the group of us that did the Run the River Half Marathon on November 14th. Starting from the left- Brian and Robin Gibson, Julianne (my SIL) and me, and Becky and Terry Weaver. Notice the medals. We all wore them very proudly while we ate our victory lunch at In and Out Burger.

It was fun, but actually my most painful half marathon. I think I pushed myself way harder this time. It paid off. I was hoping just to cross the finish line, and we (Becky and I) actually ended up beating our old time by 4 minutes- YEAH!!

It was really great running and training with you guys. Can't wait for the next one. Hopefully I'll be able to walk normally by then. Seriously. Even after a 20 pound bag of ice in an ice bath, I was still in pain and it took a good week to feel human again. OUCH! But, its like the logo for the marathon my brother Todd ran in June- "26.2 miles of the pain that you crave". Crazy, but very true..

mine should read- 13.1 miles of the pain you crave.

totally WICKED...

The first weekend in November, Brian and I went with the Webb's and the Weaver's to see a great musical! It was Terry's birthday so we went to San Fran for dinner then walked about 100 blocks from the restaurant to see WICKED. So fun! I have to say, its at the top with my favorites now...it was really good. Even Brian really liked it, and that's saying A LOT. It gives you a whole new perspective from the Wizard of Oz movie- that's for sure.

So Proud!

We have a few things to "brag" about. J was chosen as Student of the Month in his class in September. Pretty awesome!! The teachers choose students who are excelling academically, getting along really well with classmates, also who don't have any behavior issues. J is a really super kid and he was so surprised to be student of the month. They don't find out until they get called up during the assembly. Lucky for us, his teacher emailed a few days in advance to give us the heads up. I personally enjoy his old man smile...


On October 30th, during an all-school assembly, B and 2 friends sang a song in front of everyone! What I love about this is not that she sang and sounded great (she did, I am biased), but that her and two of her friends thought up the idea and asked their teacher (they are all in the same class), and the principal. They basically made all of the arrangements and practiced every day to make sure they sounded good. I'm afraid every teacher at the school heard them sing in a private concert at least twice! Just so you know, they were dressing up for Halloween/Sports Day at school. So, that is why they look the way they do... (B is the one in the middle).

I do have a video, but I'm having trouble uploading it (its a really big file). So...I guess you'll have to come over to my house if you want to see the video because I've lost my patience with trying to upload it!

Happy Halloween!

Ok. One day I will get used to blogger. But until then, you'll have to handle my un-organized posts. I typed up some stuff and then added the pictures...so, here are the pictures, you'll have to scroll down to get the info on them...sorry!

S at her preschool party

S is dressed up as Pumpkin Spice (I don't know, that's just what the package said...)

Here is Mulan...

and a very scary skeleton...Yikes!

What a bunch of cuties!

We love Halloween! It was a great weekend. We got to celebrate at school parties, and a party at church, and then trick-or-treating. I have picture of Sophie at preschool, and then a few of the kids before our ward Halloween party at church. I don't have any of trick-or-treating because...well, I don't! We went with the big Wilhelm clan. It was really fun to be with friends we've known forever, and we just feel like part of the family (it does help that my sister really IS part of the family!) We ended our Halloween night by stopping off at the Weaver's house for a post trick-or-treating gathering of food and friends. We got there early and left before most others came. Our kids were so tired and ready for bed by 9pm! Can you imagine?

Apple Hill and Pumpkin Patch

In October, we went to Apple Hill with Heaps family that were in town for Ben's wedding. It was a great place to go and spend time together. My picture taking skills are lacking, and I realized I did not get pictures of everyone there- LAME! But, here are some of my family with a few cousins.

Wilhelm family, our family and one Olson...

S petting a pony

B riding a pony with cousins

J on his pony

S and A, one of her favorite cousins...

B and L

We took this picture with a few of us while we were waiting for others to arrive. We always have fun at Apple Hill and we go every year. We were excited to go up there this year with more family. Can't help eating all the yummy apple treats they create up there. I think that is why I like to go!

S and I went on a preschool field trip to a pumpkin patch that same week. It was fun to go with Jody too! Here are a few pictures:

Here's Jody and I on the hay ride...S is in the black and white striped sweater on the side...

S and E picking their pumpkins to take home.

I think Fall is my favorite season. I love the weather changing, I love the colors of the leaves. I love the smell of fires and cider and pumpkins...I could go on and on! It helps me get ready for my favorite time of year...CHRISTMAS TIME!!! Hopefully soon, I finish catching up on my posts so that I can actually blog about Christmas on time!

A Heaps Wedding...

On October 17th, my not so little brother, Benny Boy (as he is affectionately known in our family) got married! He scored in the spouse department (so did she, Ben is a super guy!!). Shannon is amazing. She has passed the test of the Heaps family. Its a rigorous test, I tell you. Not many pass. I'm kidding. There's no test. But she fits into our family like a hand fits a glove. 3 points that I make:

The first time she met a large group of our Heaps family together (it wasn't all of us) she did not freak out at the sheer number of people around. Lets face it. That ca be scary for anyone! In fact, she jumped right in the mix- helped cook, talk, played with the kids, etc.

Second, her middle name is Leone. Not very common, right? Well, my mom's name is Cleone! Can't you see the coincidence?! Or is it...

Finally, she can handle Ben (and I say this with all the love in my heart) and all of his stinkiness. She's amazing!

Shannon has many other amazing things about her. I could go on and on. Just know that we love her and we are so happy for both of them! Here are a few pictures from the big day (in no particular order. Thanks blogger!):

I love this picture. Shannon's face says it all. Ben just got slammed with cake!

Myself, Ben and Jody- AKA (in the Heaps family) as the "three little kids" not to be confused with the "three little pigs"!!

Some Heaps cousins bustin' a move...

What little cuties!

Ben and Shannon with Ben's siblings (2 are missing. Marilee is serving a mission for our church in Puerto Rico, and Kelly was dog sick, along with her whole family, and had to stay in Utah).

I wish I had pictures of Shannon's family. They are really great too! It was fun to meet them and hear stories about Shannon growing up. She comes from great roots. It was a beautiful wedding. I'm so glad I got to be there and support them.

Kindness begins with me

I just have to say that I'm surrounded by amazing people! I cannot begin to express to you how grateful I am for the amazing people in my life and what I've been able to learn from them.

I've always wanted to be that person who sees someone in need and just KNOWS exactly what to do to help out. I feel like the lame one who stands on the sideline watching someone struggle, wishing I could do something, but not knowing what that is. And in all of my lame-ness, I end up watching other people help out and serve (which is great to see, I learn a lot by watching others!!) I've just always wanted to feel like I could help someone in need and know that I'm doing some good.

I've learned a few things over the past year about kindness and showing love for others ( I've learned this in all of my spectating that I seem to do...).

First, never suppress a generous thought. If you think, "I should really do.... for (so and so). " Do it. What harm could come from doing a kind deed?

Second- you don't always have to ask "What can I do to help?" Most of the time, you will get an answer like "Oh, I'm fine. I don't need anything." Just do SOMETHING. If you feel like someone could use a hand up or just a helping hand, do something.

Third- when someone does ask for help- DO IT (if you possibly can!). Obviously, within reason. Why say no if you can possibly say yes? My husband would battle me on this because I do have a hard time saying no when asked to help, to the point of getting overwhelmed at times. I feel like there's got to be a balance...still working on that one.

Thank you so much to all of my friends and family for helping me learn! I could go on and on for hours about people who have been amazing examples of service to me. But I won't. I will tell you of two recent events in my life when someone has touched my heart when I really needed it. September was a rough month in my life, for many different reasons. It was really really tough for some people that I love dearly. Anyway, I made a comment (on Facebook, of all places) that my heart was hurting. That was all. I received a knock at my door later that night to find a sweet friend standing there with a pan full of heart shaped rice crispy treats and a hug. She didn't push me for more information, she just said she loved me and handed me the pan. Made my heart feel a bit better, not so heavy and sad.

Kindness does that, you know. Even in the form of hugs and heart shaped rice crispy treats.

Last month, I (gasp!) got sick with a yucky cold/flu. Not just sick, but beat-down sick. (Side note: Moms should not be allowed to get sick!!) Anyway, my super-duper sweet sister in law called me up one day and told me she was bringing my family dinner. And sure enough, she showed up with home made chicken noodle soup and warm rolls for my family to eat so that they didn't have to suffer through another night of mac'n cheese and hot dogs. THEN she proceeded to write me a note about how loving and thoughtful I was! HA! It made my week. She took the time to think about me, and I can't begin to describe how she made me feel (underneath the sick- yuckiness!). I hope she knows how much I love and appreciate her!! (In all of my lame-ness, I'm afraid I fall short at expressing that!)

You know most everyone has been touched by countless others who are really just angels living here on earth. I love this quote from Elder Holland. He talks about angels that live right here on earth.. "some of them we walk with and talk with- here, now, everyday...Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind."

My mom, who is one of those angels, would sing a song to my family growing up "Kindness begins with me." It runs over and over in my head more than I'd like sometimes! But hopefully it is something I can be, more often.

The end of an era...

It finally happened. After 9 years, we don't have a crib up in our home! It was kind of bitter sweet to pack it up (I did say pack it up, not give it away!). Our little baby isn't a baby anymore and I'm not quite sure how I feel about that!

So, here is a picture of her sleeping for the first night in a big girl bed. She was soooo excited. She slept in the crib longer than any of my other kids, probably because I had to kick them out before the next baby needed it. But, we don't have a next baby (yet), so we packed up and here we are! Don't you just want to kiss her little cheeks??

Soccer season!

Now that soccer season is almost over, I figured I better blog about it! J started soccer in August. This is his 3rd year playing. He has been having so much fun this year! He loves his team and loves his coach. He's not only the youngest on the team, but also the very smallest. But he puts his whole heart into the game. He has scored quite a few goals, and had a lot of assists. He prefers to play defense, but man, when he's on offense, he's all business!

I love this shot we got with him and his coach, Ken. This was his coach's first season in soccer and he loved these boys! They are a roudy, rough and tumble bunch, but he was always patient when he was working with them. About 3 weeks ago, Ken had an accident and severely injured his leg. I think he was in the hospital for a week and had quite a few surgeries. Anyway, another dad stepped up for the last few weeks of the season, but every practice and game the team would do a huddle/cheer and say "for coach!". Ken finally made it out to Saturday's game (although I'm pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be there!) and the boys were soooo happy to see him. He couldn't run up and down the side line coaching, but he sure did a lot of encouraging from his chair.

Its been a great season and we've met a lot of great people this year. I hope J still wants to play next season and maybe we'll be on the same team as some of the boys from this year.

Family Vacation August 2009

Wow! Time flies when you're having fun...or really busy! I can't believe its the end of October and I haven't blogged for 3 months! Well, I'm going to try to get a re-cap of 3 months in a few blog entries so bear with me!
The last weekend in July/August, we took one last family summer trip to San Diego. Brian grew up there and we have to go back every few years so that he can get his beach fix. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. We LOVE San Diego. We went with the Webb family and the Weaver family and had a really great time.
Here are some pictures to fill you in on what we did (sorry for the lack of editing, but I'm already 3 months behind...editing would make it way longer!).

We played at the beach AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE! This was our typical beach set up (thanks Becky for letting me "steal" some pictures from your blog!)

I love this picture!

Becky and S just chillin'

Just having some fun in the sun...

Playing in the sand (building a Volcano!)

This is J's favorite thing to do when he's at the beach!

Cute girls!

So, the next few pictures you'll see some body surfing. To say that Brian loves body surfing would be an understatement. At the end of July, when Brian tore up his arm and had to get 6 stitches, the doctor told him ABSOLUTELY no going in the ocean. But that would be like telling Brian to stop breathing- not going to happen. He always finds a way...

Brian promised the older boys he would teach them how to body surf. It can be pretty rough, especially since Brian almost always prefers to surf shore break. Needless to say, the boys (and Brian) all got pretty tore up in these waves, but they had a BLAST doing it!

Here is a picture of half of the elevator we were ALL crammed into. Pretty amazing the thing could lift all of us!

We stayed at the Grant Hotel in downtown San Diego. It was BEAUTIFUL! This was a picture of the lobby on our floor when you get out of the elevator. Lets just say this was the nicest hotel I've EVER stayed in or probably will ever stay in. An amazing friend hooked us up with a sweet deal. We were all so spoiled and we loved every minute of it!

The next few shots are just some of my favorites from the trip. I'm kind of crazy and I'm obsessed with pictures of feet. I wanted to get a picture of all of my family's feet in the sand (around our last name written in the sand..I know so creative- LOL!). Here's what I've got- one in color and one in black and white....which one do you like the best???

This one makes me laugh every time I see it. Yes, Terry did make the dent in my van, but not with his super-human strength!!!

My sweetie pie just having so much fun! This one is on the all time favorite list!

Just so that you know we did a few other things besides just play at the beach (although not too many!) here are a few pictures of us our first night in SD. Brian took us all out to the beach to shore fish. Although we didn't ever catch anything but seaweed, it was fun digging for the sand crabs! (There was supposed to be a picture here of the fishing action but I accidentally deleted it- AHHHHHH! So, just use your imagination...)

Say Cheese!!

Our little S LOVES her Grandma Weaver. What am I saying? We all LOVE Grandma Weaver!!! But S especially does and she took advantage of spending as much time as she could with her!

On Sunday, we went to church in the morning and then walked through a beautiful botanical garden (which I have NO pictures of!)..after that we had a little bonfire/weenie roast on the beach.

Grandma got in some good reading time when S wasn't requiring her attention!

B did a lot of digging...

Dena and her son...

J loves to do/play anything that requires throwing or kicking something...including Frisbee!

The guys started a rousing game of pickle after regular old catch got old. It was fun to watch Justin and Brian really get into it!

Roasting some weenies...

As it got dark we drove over to the cove and walked out on the ledge at seal beach. Here's the crazy kids:

As sad as it is, all vacations must come to an end. So, Monday morning we packed up and headed out to Oceanside to play on the beach one last time. On our way out of town, we stopped for some authentic Hawaiian Shave Ice...oh, so nice!

Here's to great friends!

She's such a beauty, isn't she???

Now, that's a blue tongue...

Dena and I with our littlest ones, savoring every bite!

What a bunch of cuties!

How could we resist a shot like this? (thanks again Becky!!)

These two were sooo cute together. They played so much and had a great time everyday.

Obviously, the Hawaiians don't believe in the "no shirt, no shoes, no service" thing. NICE!
We had an amazing amount of fun and were all sad to leave San Diego. We are looking forward to many more family vacations to come!