FUNNY

Today as I was coloring with Gray he requested that I draw WALL-E. No surprise there.

Then, he requested "Two WALL-E". Very impressed with his math and language skills I readily obliged.

Finally he handed me a purple crayon with the request "purple WALL-E". As I finished the sketch his response was priceless: "Purple. WALL-E. Funny."

Yes, yes it is.

Mattson's First School Picture

Thought I'd post our first official school photo.

btw - I have no idea how they got him to pose like that.

Making Aunt Catherine proud

Growing up my sister, Catherine, used to declare that she was going to train her children to think that work was fun and play was hard. For example, "if you're really good you can dust your room" or, "if you throw a fit I'll make you go play outside". Today as my boys BEGGED to vacuum I couldn't help but laugh and think that maybe Catherine was onto something.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

I am still alive. I swam in the ocean, with sharks (or at least a dolphin) and I'm still alive. I biked 15 miles without crying and I'm still alive. I pounded out a
5k on a bruised foot and I'm still alive. So yes, it is possible and even kind of exhilirating to buckle to peer-pressure and face your fears. All I can say to my fellow triathletes (who all smashed our goal of 1:45) is; "it's been a pleasure training with you"

UTAH

We had a great time in Utah for Kyle and Hayley's wedding. It's always wonderful to see family and friends and enjoy some time together.

The most unluckiest person alive

Since I am too lazy to download pics from Utah I've swiped my post from our triathlon site to keep our blog from becoming completely obselete.

It all started EARLY Saturday morning as I faithfully met Ariel at her pool to complete our "triple play" for the day. All went well with the swim; no swallowed frogs or murderer attacks. But, as we ran up the hill it all started to go horribly wrong. I (of course) forgot my keys and sprinted back down the hill. Once at the pool I couldn't open the gate. It's only a little fence, so in all my 27 years of wisdom I decided to jump it. As the ball of my left foot hit the ground it was over. I did something horribly wrong to it (bruised my metatarsal bones and some tendons). I hobbled through the rest of our workout and spent the rest of the day on the couch, miserable.

While on the couch I debated wether or not to go to urgent care. What were they going to do? Tell me my foot was hurt? Thanks, but I think I figured that one out on my own. Also, I'm an expert on the whole RICE routine, it's just hard to follow in my current situation. Let me explain:

REST: Have you met my two little guys?

ICE: I'm allergic to the cold. Seriously, I break out in hives if I get too cold. Which would you pick? Swollen, deformed foot or itchy, swollen foot?

Compression: Did I mention I got an ant bite on the arch of my foot at Matts' soccer game. This may not seem like a big deal but, I'm also allergic to our lovely Georgian ants. Reed was fascinated to watch my ankle swell up until I had no ankle.

Elevation: No, real problem here, but give me a minute I'm sure something will come up.

And I couldn't even escape into oblivion, courtesy of pain-killers. As the day went on I came down with Gray's wicked cold. No wonder the child's been ornery. This left me debating the virtues of anti-inflammatories for my foot or cold medicine for my cold.

When it rains it pours.

Happy Birthday Elle

It may be a day late and with recycled pictures but I had to wish our sweetheart sunshine a very Happy Birthday. Six years ago Elizabeth Grace joined our family. The 77 days she spent with us were perhaps the most blissful, formative and sacred of my life.

This past Saturday at Hayley's wedding we were able to feel her sweet spirit very near. As I sat in the temple I was overcome with anticipation and gratitude as I savored her closeness and reflected on all that we have been blessed with and all that we will be blessed with as a result of the temple sealing.

Happy Birthday Elle.

We love you dearly.