The Beach

I HATE THE BEACH!!!
The BLISTERING Sun, the STICKY sand, the STINKY water (with who knows WHAT in it); not to mention all the half naked skinny girls for me to compare myself too. I am just not a fan. But you just HAVE to go when you go to California and Judson couldn't wait to go. We went to a private beach with our friends who went to DL with us. Judson and I were sorely disappointed to find out that there were no sea shells at the beach. That is the only thing I like doing at the beach.

But look at the cute pictures we got. How happy do I look in this picture... hahaha
BAH HUMBUG to beaches!! POO POO BEACH!

Judson's First Day of First Grade!

Move mouse over the pictures to hold them still and move them.

Here are some cute pictures of Judson on his first day of school. He started saying he didn't want to go to school THE FIRST day. We are 5 weeks in and he didn't today was the first time he DIDN'T say it. I guess he has just figured that whether or not he says it he has to go either way. Poor kid, I agree, school is SO LONG! I miss him, but honestly it is better that he is gone most days b/c he is SO obnoxious lately.

A cute tradition our neighborhood does is meet for breakfast at the bus stop the first day of school. It is such a cute idea and lets us meet the parents and the kids at the bus stop. This bus stop has almost 50, YES, FIFTY kids. CRAZY huh. We are working with the school board to change it. Kids are like a wild pack of dogs when they get together. I swear I saved at least 3 kids lives in less than 2 weeks at the bus stop. CRAZINESS I TELL YA!

Judson's teacher is THE CUTEST lady! She has retired once already and is back for round 2. NUTS?? I don't know, but I feel blessed to have her. She is so sweet and smiley AND organized. She actually responds the first day I ask her a question, sends thank you notes and has a calendar of the month's homework for us to sign. She is AMAZING! I think this will be a GREAT year for Judson. He is already reading small books on his own. We are so proud of him.

Judson's Birthday!

I can't believe it has already been 7 years! That went by SO fast! I also can't believe it has been a month since I have been diligent in posting. I have SO much catching up to do and I am starting with Judson's birthday since it is the most important. He has been a busy kids lately. So much to post about his busy life.

The first picture is Judson's bug collection. Jared sent THE COOLEST bugs to add. THANKS JARED!! Now it looks way more complete. We have added 8 more beetles and a huge moth and the NASTIEST spider I have EVER SEEN!

Judson had 2 mini parties. We had a few of his neighborhood friends over Saturday night before his birthday (since his bday was on a Sunday). Mario, Matt, Connor & Clayton came. A sister from our ward made the coolest Darth Vader cake. Judson LOVED it, and who could blame him, it ROCKED! We played freeze tag, and Jedi, Jedi, Yoda (duck duck goose).

On Sunday we celebrated at the Tolmans. All the cousins were there to help celebrate. Michael and I made this cake and it wasn't nearly as cool as the Vader Cake. We tried to give it a "retro" flare when we realized it wasn't lookin' too hot. It has the Napoleon Dynamite look to it don't ya think? We had Watermelon and treats.. it was low maintenance and fun. How can it not be fun where there are so many boy cousins near his age to celebrate with? They are all TOO CUTE!!

Disney Land

Disney Land was SO much fun! even though it was SO HOT!!
I love it there and am always amazed at how much detail work goes into everything! Judson and Carma had so much fun too! Judson is braver than me when it comes to rides. He went on the Tower of Terror. He said he wouldn't go on it again, but he wanted me to. I never made it on there. Carma LOVED the Monster's Inc ride the most. We went on it 5 times. Judson and Carma also played musical chairs with Alice and the Mad Hatter. It was way too cute. Carma let her pick her up and dance with her and Judson was stealin' chairs like a pro. (so what that the other kids were 2 years younger:).
After going on the Pirates of the Caribbean I was debating whether or not to take Carma. We decided she would be fine, and she was. She LOVED it. She cracks me up on what she is scared of. Fireworks.. yes, SCARY, freaky looking pirates in semi-darkness.. NO.
Judson LOVED Indiana Jones. My kids are SO MUCH braver than I was (or am). I would have had nightmares for years!
My favorite ride is Soaring over California. It is AMAZING and so relaxing. Michael enjoyed it too~ even though he is not a rides fan.. or even Disneyland fan for that matter.
All of us LOVED the Crush interactive show. That is way too cute and funny.
To our surprise ,the kids did really great in the car. There was a tiny bit of whining but not bad. Thank goodness for DVD players. I hope we can go again and I hope to do the half again next year.. if is NOT in the summer.

Check out our pictures at:
http://www.disneyphotopass.com/photoeditor.aspx#

I DID IT!
I finished the half marathon. I didn't do nearly as well as I hoped. I finished in 3hr and 3 mins. TOTALLY TICKED that it took me over 3 hours to do. My goal was 2.45 max. But I am giving myself credit for even finishing since it was 100 degrees and SO HUMID. Seriously it was 108 on Monday and 14,000 people signed up for the race and a little over 9000 finished. I mean the heat was just "oppressive". It zapped everything. At different points during the race I pictured myself just stopping and calling Michael to get me.
It was pretty cool to go through the parks and even cooler for some reason to go through Angel's stadium on mile 10. To smell the fresh grass (be in the shade for part). The energy there was incredible. It really helped me to keep going.
Mile 11 I met this cute 65 year old woman and we talked to mile 12. By mile 12 I found more energy and started jogging again and mile 13 I sprinted as fast as I could. By the end I wanted to die and the sun felt as if it was actually pressing against my face and all I wanted was shade.
I didn't have that wonderful feeling of accomplishment that I hoped to have. Rather I was pissed that it was so DANG HOT!! I was wondering why I paid so much money to be so miserable. But as I got back to the hotel I was feel better and at this point I have been bitten by the "race" bug and Michael and I are going to start training for a race as early as November. I think there is one in St. George.

Lunch w/ Pix and Amiee and Soccer game

We had so much fun at lunch and the company made up for the mediocre food at Les Madeline's.
Amiee and Pix are so fun to be around and the hour and half seemed like 2 minutes. I can't wait to go out when Dana is in town.

Judson's soccer game was so cute. I thought I was going to have to coach, but two dads stepped in at the last minute.. THANK GOODNESS! But the boys are so cute.. and they slaughtered the other team.. poor other team. We were "the other team" last year. But these boys have improved so much. Judson is right in there! OK, this is sounding just like last post, but what can I say?

I went to RS Enrichment Service auction and it was SO fun! I got hooked up w/ cool stuff, family photo session, theme cake (that will come in handy for Judson's bday this week), & crochet lessons. I will be cleaning someone bathroom (with the stipulation that it has to be cleaned the month I clean it and no more than 3 boys.. haha, I was kidding.. kind of, I will cook a Cajun meal for a family, and teach a Thai cooking class.

The highlight of my week was reading Eclipse!!! It was SOOO GOOD! Highly recommended! Stephanie Meyers is AMAZING!!! I have the books if anyone wants to borrow them.

Oh, I looked up airline tickets for the dates that would work for us (meaning for us to be there on Christmas and stay less than 3 weeks) and I SWEAR it was $2,369.00. Can you believe that... we AREN'T going to EUROPE! That is CRAZY! So we are thinking we will drive! SUCKS, but that is what is going to have to happen. DANG IT!!

Bridal Veil Falls

We also went to the Canyons. Maw-maw has to visit at least once while she is here. I can't blame her.. it is so beautiful! The water was freezing, but it was fun anyway.

OK, here are some funny things Carma said this week.
"Trust me! I have a bad idea"
"Watch me, what I can doooo"
She just came in here saying "Sorry mommy, sorry." I said "what did you do?" as I followed her grubby hands into my bedroom. She got a popsickle ALL over my bed. But who can get mad when she is so cute. "Sorry mommy".
I will have to take a picture of Judson's and Carma's new hair cut, they look great!

Soccer

I have been busy this week while Maw-maw was here. We really didn't do too much, but we had a good time.
We went to Nikki's & Sylvia's graduation from Massage Therapy School, then went out to Pizza Factory.. food snob says YUK!
I did my long run 7.5miles on Saturday.. HURRAY! I actually feel like the half might actually happen. We have to do 8.5 this Saturday.
Then we went to Judson's soccer game. We are amazed at how much Judson has improved.. most of it is confidence. He is so much more assertive, yet patient b/c he waits for the ball in HIS area and the other kids are just running around like crazy. Dang he is CUTE!!