Let the Celebration Begin!

Today is my dad's birthday. Since I have been blogging for a couple of years now, you may already know this. Here is a list of some of the important things you should know about my dad:

1. His birthday falls on France's Independence Day (or whatever they call it), so the French are celebrating Daddy's birthday every year. It's nice of them to do that.

2. My dad is a published author and a prolific writer (not all published, of course). You can check out his books at amazon.com.

3. My dad is an optimist. It is one of his many gifts to the world.

4. There are very few people who cannot love my dad, and I don't know of ANY that my dad doesn't love.

5. My dad is a good Mormon. He's an even better Christian.

6. My dad is a wonderful dad. He's an even better husband. This is his greatest gift to his children.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! I love you!

Times When It Would Just Be Better to Be Asleep

Anytime before 7:00 a.m. OR the sun is up, whichever is later.

Anytime after 10:00 p.m. (My idea of heaven would include going to bed--and to sleep!--at 10:00 p.m. and awakening after 7:00 a.m. That may never happen in this life.)

When riding a bus, especially if there's a driver who jerks the vehicle. Because jerking busses make me sick.

When there's nothing to do at work (ugh).

Right after lunch, any day of the week. But only for about 1/2 hour.

Last Was This

Landon has been saving the money he's earned, along with some money that his grandparents gave to him, so he could provide a boys' day out. Today is the day, and the boys have played all day. They had Jamba Juice, they saw two movies, they went to the arcade, and they had Subway for lunch, all on Landon's dime (thanks, Grandpa and Grandma!). Dinner was provided at home. Ashtyn made menus and dinner for Landon and Spencer (Taylor left them early because he had to work this evening). Here they are at "Restaurant on a Hill."

The waitress and chef extraordinaire.

I got the dishes done, and now we are all vegging out. It's been a fabulous day!

Next Was This

Me and my two brothers, Derek and Brant. With a few years of exceptions during adolescence, we've been friends our entire lives. They are good men, and I am proud to call them my brothers.

This is Brant and me right next to the springs. It's a beautiful place, and our pretty faces only add to the scenery.

Here are Derek and Becky with three of their children. They are always such fun to be around. Danny, Brady, and Laurel are talented, happy, great young people, and they are blessed with fantastic parents!

Danny and Brady at the entrance to the park

Driving up Parley's Canyon, one could see that westbound I-80 was a parking lot for many miles, due to construction. We talked about going down via Provo Canyon but remembered they had construction going there, too. So we decided to go to Cascade Springs and down the Alpine Loop on the way home (thanks for the suggestion, Becky!). We convoyed up and had a fun little hike and lots of visiting. There's still lots of water coming from the ground!

(I love Utah. It's a truly lovely place. You should come visit our great state!)

And Then I Did This

When my mom and her cousins were children, one year they went to their grandparents' home for Grandma A's birthday. It became a yearly tradition to get together to sleep out, and The Sleepout was born. It has been going strongly ever since. Except for when we lived out of state, we never missed a Sleepout, and sometimes we made a trip to Utah just for the Sleepout. Each family (my grandpa and his siblings) have a color assigned to them--our family color is green.

The orange family (Jack and Jannie's clan) were in charge this year, and they had lots of fun, fun games. Actually, most of the orange clan is NUTS, which makes them all kinds of fun (though very competitive). I got there late and not in green and stinky, but I got there. The numbers are dwindling as each family now has their own get-togethers.

Somehow it's natural that I am 40-something (and sometimes it's not), but it's always weird to see people who were little children "just yesterday" who now have big kids of their own! My mom's cousin, who is my age, is a grandmother!

The Day Started Out With This

Amy and I ran a 5K for Zion's Children of Haiti. It was quite a small event, but it was fairly well-organized. It was held at Sugar House Park, which is a lovely venue (except for the nasty bathrooms!). We had to do 2 laps around the park. That was hard. But Amy got me through it, and I helped her, too. We're a pretty good team.

We stayed for the raffle, and we didn't win anything. But that's OK because we were having fun together.

Biggest part of this portion of the day: We are going to try to do a sprint triathlon together (hopefully with Ashtyn and Breezy, too)!

P.S. Do I love running? No, I do not. But it is fun to do something active with other people like Amy and Spencer and Bob and Stacy and Dan and MaryKay and Suzie and Phil and Kayla and others. Running hurts my muscles and it makes my heart beat fast and sometimes I get sunburned. But when it's done it makes me feel really cool and capable and generally awesome.

P.P.S. Anybody wanna join us for a sprint tri?

My Body Didn't Like It

Here are the 5 body safety rules that I taught in Good Touch/Bad Touch. They are good rules for everyone to know in order to keep their bodies safe:

1. It's MY body!
2. The Uh-Oh Feeling: If I think something is wrong, I'm probably right. I have the right to trust my feelings.
3. Say NO! and get away.
4. Tell a grown-up.
5. It's NEVER my fault!

Yesterday I had a mammogram. It was not fun. I have treated bread dough more kindly and gently than the technician treated me.

I skipped Rule 3. *sigh*

Going Home

This is a picture of all of my siblings, their spouses, and their children (including my spouse and our children). There are 30 of us. We were missing my parents, which was sad; but we had such a fabulous time together!

Aren'tcha glad families are forever?

Yeah, me too.

The Way Things Are

Nobody uses in-boxes any more. The only guarantee that the recipient will see what you're leaving is if you put it on his chair.

If you ask to borrow a friend's video she will tell you that it's a DVD.

Sometimes running involves taking a fall.

Even if the house you grew up in is 600 miles away, you can still go home if everyone in your family is laughing in your living room.

Home is even better with children, nieces, and nephews.

It is possible to be very cold on the 4th of July in Salt Lake City.

Sometimes I Flinch

This morning I walked into the bathroom after what might have been the longest night ever in the history of the world, and the person looking at me from the mirror did not look like me. She didn't even look like my friend. That was a rude awakening.

Later I walked into the bathroom and the woman looking back at me looking very much like my mother. MY 40-SOMETHING MOTHER! (At least she was put together. That lady earlier didn't look so hot.)

Of course, it's just me looking back. But today it's not the 18-year-old girl or the 25-year-old young mom. Nope, it's just the real 40-something me--the same me who has a daughter in college, two children in high school, and a child in middle school, but not one in elementary school or Primary; the same me who has been married longer than I was ever single; the me who has made a million mistakes but who has also done some pretty good stuff; the me who had quite a few sleepless nights with babies and now has some sleepless night with teens; the me who used to be mean when it meant no more cookies and now is mean when it means I-won't-buy-you-one-more thing-till-you-have-a-job-of-your-own; the me whose mother is now 60-something and whose grandparents are terrifyingly elderly (but still living, thank heaven!); the me whose children still occasionally come to sit on my lap, but I can't see over their SHOULDERS, let alone over their heads.

It's a tiny bit sickening when this person comes to visit my mirror.