Marlee turns 15 !

Our little Sweet Pea turned 15 today!!!

Her friends kidnapped her this morning & took her to breakfast & got ready for school together.

They made her this awesome t-shirt.

Then Brian & I took her to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, her fave.

Then later she has a 007 party planned.

I had her make a list of her.....

FAVES AT FIFTEEN

movie - Monty Python & the Holy Grail

song - 'All These Things That I've Done' by the Killers

singer - Taylor Swift

band - Muse / The Killers

food - burrrrito!!!

TV show - American Idol / 24

sport - volleyball

outfit - skinny jeans, leopard flats & some random shirt

celebrity - Taylor Lautner :D

thing to do after school - walk to someone's house w/ friends

school subject - biology or orchestra

possession - my new purple iPod

thing to do with friends - be crazy INSANE!!!

thing to look forward to - DRIVING!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARS! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Kids Rock Fun Run

Last Saturday morning Jake and Max ran the one-mile Kids Rock Fun Run, the kids version of the PF Chang's Rock-n-Roll Marathon. Over by ASU.

I thought it would be good for them to experience the excitement of being in a real race.

Jake was pretty diligent about training the few weeks beforehand. He'd get up early & go jogging around the neighborhood.
Max figured he ran around enough at school playing soccer & being chased by girls at recess, and didn't need to really train for it.

So they got their cool Kids Rock t-shirts & got their race numbers pinned on them & felt ready for the race.

The starting line.


And they're off!

They came in almost at the same time & were among the first 30 or so kids to cross the finish line out of about 600!

It was so exciting!!

We were so proud!!

While waiting for the race to start, the kids ran around on all these blow-up jump things.....
Zane had some sweet static-head going on.

Then.......what better way to top off a morning of teaching our children the excitement & importance of physical fitness than to head to.......

Dunkin' Donuts!

Yummmm!!!!

It's a beautiful day for the park!

So my Gus & I headed to our neighborhood playground.

Let's see........have we got everything?

fake gold medal.......check.

blue HotWheels car........check.

one Ritz cracker........check.

Gus's favorite thing to do at the park.............climb up the slide.

I love hanging out with this little guy.

He's happy about 99% of the time.

And he's growing up way too fast for me.

So I'm telling him all the time that he needs to stop growing up!

"Just stop it!" I tell him. "You're growing up too fast for Mommy. She can't handle it!"

And he'll smile & get a little mischievious sparkle in his eye.

And tell me,

"Mom, I am growing up so big!"

So then I say,

"But you'll always be my baby boy."

And then I pick him up in my arms & rock him back & forth like a little baby.

He thinks that's so funny!

19 years......

6939 days

9 years of school

18 jobs

9 moves

5 apartments

2 houses

1 navy barracks

10 cars

6 pregnancies

almost 6 children

15 pets

5 surgeries

3 hernias

40-ish family vacations

1 bungee jumping experience

countless gray hairs

a million laughs.....

....and I can't wait for a million more!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABE!!!

Zane's new exercise program....

I found this the other day.

15 push ups and 15 arm circles
in the morning.

So loving the pictures.

I think I just might be able to handle this exercise program..........OK, maybe not the push-ups........but definitely the arm circles.

Jesus Wants Gus for a Sunbeam

My baby boy is now a Sunbeam.
No more playtime & snacktime & toys & bubbles.
It really bites getting older.

He did pretty well, considering that he had been rudely woken up from a sacrament meeting nap on Dad's lap right before......

Gus is really good about leaving us for nursery & preschool......which is so nice.
He hardly looks back at us.

He's my little Mr. Sunshine.



He insisted I also take a picture with his truck.