Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Good ol' Time at Cornbelly's


Last week we had our cousins come into town to stay with us and we had a GREAT time! One of the things we did was go to Cornbelly's Corn Maze at Thanksgiving Point. The actual adult corn maze is 13 acres (if I remember right) and takes 45 minutes to 2 hours to get through. The 'kiddie corn maze' was about .003 of an acre and took approximately 5 minutes to get through....that was more our style. It had rained the previous weekend and so the mud was pretty nasty. Pushing the double stroller through the maze would have been impossible, so we opted for Mark to stay with the babies, while I ventured the small corn maze with the kids.

They also had other things there, as you'll see by the pictures. It gave us 'city-folk' a little taste of 'farm country'. In fact, the kids mentioned that Grandpa could have done all this at his house. So, Grandpa Larry, if you're looking for your next business venture, I think we've found it. You'd just have to start planting corn in that 30 acres!


















There was some pretty tough competition on the race track that day!



And nothing like a good sucker to finish the day off right!

Doggie Ears - Ooohh the little joys in life!

On Wednesday's Sophie attends a class at the public library. A librarian reads them books and they sing songs and make a craft of somekind. Sophie really has a great time. Today they sang that song, 'Do your ears hang low, do they whobble too and frow,...etc' and made 'doggie ears' to take home. Right after dinner, Sophie decided that she wanted to make doggie ears for Carson and Bella and asked for my help. They had such a good time and all looked so cute, that I had to take a few pictures. We then had to make doggie ears for Dad too. They are ready and waiting for him too! I'm sure he'll be excited to wear them!


Sunday, October 12, 2008

Crazy Sleeper


At the end of each night, Mark and I go and check on the kids just to make sure they are snug as a bug and safely tucked into bed. Occasionally we find Sophie upside down with her feet on her pillow, or other random sleeping positions. Tonight we found this....head hanging off the side, sound asleep. So, of course we had to get our camera and take a picture.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Two Wheeler!! (with training wheels!)


Sophie just got her first two wheeler this weekend for her fourth birthday and she's pretty excited about it.

Mark was putting shoes on to go outside to help her learn to ride it the first time and by the time he got out there, Sophie had already opened the garage door and taken it for a spin. Who needs Dad??

She's crashed several times, but just laughs and get's back on. She's always been pretty athletic and coordinated and it's just fun to watch her ride around and around on that bike. She sings while she rides too, which is pretty entertaining. Today she was singing about a 'princess biker' and yesterday it was, 'go faster, princess bike'. Every lap around was a new line. And periodically, she would stop and say, "Mom, Dad, thank you for the bike". Day two, and she's already doing the 'no hands' trick! And, of course, today she had to wear her new red sparkle shoes that Grandma Peggy gave her for her birthday while riding. She told me that she would be really darling cute if she rode her bike while wearing the sparkle shoes. And she was!! These are the 'pay-day' moments in parenting that make it all worth it!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

TOU Marathon...We Conquered!

Everyone says that once you run one marathon, you'll be addicted and want to run more and more. Maybe we'll change our minds at a later date, but Coty and I are pretty content with just running this one.

Coty's bus got in at 5:30 on Friday night, and Grandpa and Grandma picked him up and came to Logan to meet us. Our friends, Ryan and Nikki Ostler (who were also running the marathon), drove the course with us so that we would know what we could expect. We then picked up our packets which included our shirts, bib numbers, timing chips, etc. And then headed out for a late pasta dinner.

After a sleep-less night (mine was anyway...I think Coty was able to get some sleep), we awoke at 4:00am in order to catch our bus. We ended up at the start line around 6:00 where we hung out in the warming tents stretching and relaxing for approx. an hour before the race started. We lined up in our supposed finish times and Coty was a bit modest when we chose to stand in the 3:30-4:00 area. He ended up spending a little time trying to pass everyone.

Coty will have to tell his next 26.2 miles of tales...he had aches and pains (including some hamstring issues), but needless to say he did AMAZING! He placed 1st in his division, which was 15-19 yr old males, and 39th overall. He ended up with a time of 3:08 (which is an average pace of 7:14 minute miles for 26.2 miles)...absolutely incredible! And his time was so good, he qualified to run the Boston Marathon. WAY TO GO COTY! He walked away with a great trophy and a $50. check. I think they left off a zero...it should have been $500!

As for my 26.2 miles...all-in-all it was good. Relatively speaking I felt pretty good. The first 17 miles are in a canyon that has slight rolling hills. To be honest, I thought that was going to be easy, but I guess there are no free handouts in running 26.2 miles! The canyon was beautiful and was full of changing leaves, so that made the time go by a little faster. I was already hurting by mile 17 when Mark and fan club met up with me. Mark ran and chatted with me for a couple of minutes and gave me the update on Coty, Ryan, and Nikki. Seeing them gave me an extra boost. About mile 19 I got this overwhelming feeling of exhaustion. It was all I could do to keep moving. I didn't dare look down at my watch to see my pace because I didn't want to be discouraged. I just kept telling myself to stay running. I took a Roctane GU which gave me a huge pick-me-up. A little past mile 21, Mark, Mom, Dad, and kids surprised me which was awesome. The first thing I saw was Sophie running toward me to give me a 'five'! Just the faces I wanted to see, and just what I needed to gather myself physically and mentally to finish out the race. Ryan and Nikki met me around 25.8 miles and ran with me until the final turn, when you see the finish line in your sights. As soon as I saw that, I just took the last amount of anything I had left and pushed as hard as I could for the finish. What an amazing feeling of accomplishment! I finished in 4:42, which was a 10:35 pace. I ran, sometimes very slowly, the entire way (with the exception of water stops).

I feel great about accomplishing a marathon, and pushing through when times were tough. It's an interesting test of your will. It's as much mental as physical, and I guess you have to be mental to want to run 26.2 miles in the first place!


They did it!!!!

Good Job Cori and Coty! For those of you who are on the edge of your waiting to hear how Cori and Coty did at the marathon....



They did it! They both completed the 26 mile run that was located in Logan Utah. I can't even imagine running that far, but I know they both put a lot of work and training in preparation for this big day. We are very proud of you both!

I am sure there will be pictures coming shortly as Cori's husband, Mark, and her kids along with Grandma and Grandpa Thomas were there to document it. So check back.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Top of Utah Marathon - dedicated to Cori and Coty

I found this on youtube. It is a home video of some friends who ran the Top of Utah marathon last year. I thought this would hopefully motivate and give them an idea of what they are in for. We will be rooting for you two. RUN LIKE THE WIND BULLSEYE!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Zoo Times!

We went to Hogle Zoo on Monday with our friends, the Bichler's, and had a great time! They have two cute girls, Addie and Ella, that Sophie (and the rest of us) absolutely adore! We learned some pretty interesting facts: 1.) Mark correctly guessed the rip-off price of the carosel ($2/ea.), 2.) giraffe's walk using both left legs at the same time, then both right legs, 3.) that thier knees bend backwards just like a flamingo, and the most interesting fact: #4.) Aimee informed us that they can kick the head of a lion/tiger and kill them. Those are some pretty powerful flamingo legs!! Oh wait...she meant the giraffe!


Monday, August 4, 2008

Tisdall cont.

Just a few more pictures to add...


Saturday, August 2, 2008

Tisdale or Bust!

The annual trip to Tisdale in Canada was once again a wild success. Participants included Cori and daughter Sophie, Mark and Daughter Sidney, Kyle and sons Jack and Cole with Grandpa coming along to hold the fort down. The weather was decent but the mosquitos were abundant. The kids all came home looking like they had chicken pox, even with thick applications of repellant. Everyone caught fish and some of us lucky enough, even had some brought home. How great is that? I sent Mark with the camera but he isn't quit as click happy as me, so hopefully Cori or Kyle will have some pictures to add.

Fishing on Lake Tisdale. It is a bit of a drive, but a beautiful place to commune with wildlife.


Whose the lucky dad taking these kids fishing? No tangled lines I bet.


Puttering around on the lake. Is there such a thing as speed fishing?


Nothing like a hot meal cooked over the campfire (or in the motorhome) after a long hard day of fishing.


It is good to see that even when moms aren't watching, the father's know that safety comes first. What great dads to take this group fishing! And the mothers enjoyed their 3 days of rest and relaxation (if that is what you call it :)

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Happy Birthday Jack


Jack had his 6th birthday!

This is his cheezy grin!
Jack also does math, 2 hands of 3 fingers! He is having summer fun between Kindergarten and first grade, as is Sidney and Nathan.

Cowgirl

Cowgirl

We had a ward family over to horse ride and BBQ, as our part of raising money for the Scouts. Mark and family came to help. One minute Sidney is riding, having a great time and then Popcorn got a bit caught crocked in his mouth and hoped sideways and would have decked any horse rider. Sidney held on and got a wild ride around the ring. Grandpa and Dad were calling "Hang on Sidney!" and boy she did, she earned her cowboy hat this night and we know now that Sidney is one tough (but pretty) cowgirl. This was shot just minutes before, and right after she told us she wanted back on to ride again. This tells us alot of her character!

Work Party Addition


I had a picture from work party, showing how fun some people who attend have

June Family Work Party

For those who are unaware of what a "Family Work Party" is, I will give you a little history. Several years ago someone came up with the idea that if we worked together we could get a lot more accomplished as a group than trying to do it indivudually. It was then decided that each family would take a turn and host the family work party at their house and we would rotate doing that once a month. Whoever's house it was at would decide ahead of time what they needed done, request tools or supplies that needed to be brought by others and would also provide lunch for everyone that day. It was kind of like raising barns in the old days.

Through this process we have painted a whole house in a day, put up and painted fences, installed patios, cut up trees into firewood that had fallen in a storm, poured tons of concrete pads, built barns and corrals, planted landscaping and did tons of other general maintenance. It has really helped getting those big projects done around your house not to mention the bonding that comes with working beside family. I know that my boys have enjoyed working with their uncles and this is also where they have developed many of the skills they have today. If this idea kind of tickles your fancy, I highly recommend it. You could also do this with friends as well as family.

Okay now on to the recap of June's work party. This month it was at Grandma and Grandpa's. This is usually a great place to have a work party because Grandma is a good cook and serves great lunches (think steak sandwiches).



The project was to install some fencing, move the corral and prep the area for a squeeze shoot to be installed (it needs a cement pad poured under it). The whole idea is to run the cows up the field into a smaller corral and then into a squeeze shoot which holds a cow while he/she gets doctored. Doctoring involves many things which I won't go into for the squeamish of heart, but know that it is for their own good. Much like us taking our vitamins. Here are the boys working on the fence.


This project also involved some tractor work. We teach them young at the TSR (ask Grandpa what that stands for :)


Here the guys are doing something really important and clever (I am not sure what but I know when they get that serious look it is important). I have also noticed that when I start taking pictures I get some scowly looks. I even heard mentioned by one character on the workteam that if he would have known there would be pictures, he would have worn a better shirt. Someone needs to inform them that even though they are all married, women like a working man. In fact, it is proven that when the pioneer woman puts cowboys from their ranch on her website wearing chaps, hits to her blog go up 100 percent. So if someone would volunteer to wear chaps next time it would help improve readership to our blog.


I love this picture. Here is Jack helping Grandpa move a section of the corral. This reminds me of my boys helping out and how they feel they were an important part of the "man team". Jack is a good worker!


Sidney was also a big help in the short time her attention span would allow her to scrape fences. She loves being outside with her dad, and of course when there are cousins to play with it just adds to the fun.

Well those are the highlights from this month. Check in next month as I believe we are tackling the cabin at the annual cabin cleanup.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Missionary Set-Apart



It was just yesterday. Blain's Set-Apart

Eagle Scouts




Another try at posting, retrain every try! We're proud of our Eagle Scouts!