Happy Halloween!

Halloween for us is on Friday. With all the school carnivals and activities, work trick or treats and ward stuff, Im happy its all done. We had a great time and Tristan was quite a sport. He was happy to carry his bag around to all my office mates, grabing handfuls of candy and saying thankyou when he was done. However we still had the night events to attend. My friend Pati and her girls and my Sister Jessica and her daughter Sylah --- we all headed down to crash our old wards trunk or treat( as our ward didnt do ANYTHING- LAME!) and then crash Pati's ward chili cookoff. All in all- busy day, but lots of fun.

Can Elijiah look any happier?!

Elijiah and Max are the perfect Ninjas!

School parade
On to the work trick or treat....Jonathan was able to come!

Had to get my picture as well with the boys...

Here we are at the ward trunk or treat. Sylah and Elijiah having a ball running wild...

Pati and I( we look HUGE in our white coats, but I dont care as long as I am warm!)

Jonathan is so intently listening to Pati...however I didnt catch what they were saying...

Taking photos while the kids were getting candy.

Me and my sis Jessica

Wasatch Back Relay

Im super excited! My friend at work discussed doing "this" race a few months back and I wanted in. I talked my mom into doing it with me and Agnes( friend from work) put together the remaining team members- all women! The race goes from Logan to Park City- a total of 188 miles which will be run in "legs" over a period of 30 hours or less. I figure if I can make it through a "hard" 6.7 run the other two legs of the race will be easy enough. Just not too thrilled to be running in the middle of the night! Ill have to bring lots of headlamps and put them all over my body. I hate being alone in the dark- running- in the wilderness.....SCARY! BUT IM SOOOOO EXCITED!

So on June 18-19th 2010 we will be running and running a LONG TIME that day!

( I volunteered my MOM for this leg-#6)
6.9 miles Very Hard
8.1 miles Very Hard
3.1 miles Easy
18.1 miles--She can do it. In fact - as the oldest member of the team, she has the fastest pre-qual race time of anyone. I have the second- however I think that is bull. Im not a real runner- I just enjoy getting out from time to time. My mom would laugh as she can and does kick my butt each and EVERY time we run together. SO MOM- I know you can do it! hahaha!

My leg of the race:

2- Leg #
6.7 miles Hard
3 miles Easy
3.3 miles Easy
total=13 miles

I guess the training begins!

Weekend News

Between soccer games, baking, cooking, cleaning, studying- it was a full and enjoyable weekend. Sunday was the primary program and I invited Khory and Melinda to come. Its the one time a year that Khory will attend church, and its been that way since Elijiah was born. Elijiah did a great job and it was great to see him do his part.

Jonathans work did a "work Olympics" with such events as rubber band archery, and waste paper basketball. I uploaded a few pictures. I guess one of the teams was "team supreme" and so Jonathan created his poster to reflect the competition(they were the penguins). I got a good chuckle out of it.

New home

Do you know how hard it is to find a place to rent? WOW! Its been years since Ive rented( okay there was the stint when I was single but I was renting from friends) and so this adventure of looking EVERY day for the last month and a half was STRESSFUL! I would find things I liked but the price would be too high. Then there was the neighborhood to consider- will it have kids for Elijiah to play with, is it safe-DO THEY ALLOW PETS? etc etc. Over the last few weeks I really stepped up the looking game....looking EVERYWHERE from Draper to Bountiful. To be honest I really wanted to stay close to where we are or go back to the place where I rented when single. And GUESS what? I found the most adorable townhouse in Holladay ever. I called on it the SAME day it was listed, and went and saw it that night. Much to my surprise I was there along with 4 other people to look. I was heartbroken to find out that we werent selected.
I looked at a place right up the street from Westminster( where Jonathan is at school) only it wasnt right. Too small, old....not updated- it just didnt FEEL right. Then there was another condo in Millcreek. NOT - felt like an apartment and I didnt like the location- no kids. Then on an off chance I decided to call on a place in Draper- well I have to say I immediately liked the location as its right next to a school and park...in amongst a neighborhood...and is newer, and very nice. Jonathan and I felt like we were interviewing for a job, and wanted to shout "pick us pick us!!". Especially knowing that finding something in our price range we are competing with SO MANY people! We wont like the additional commute time, but finding something we can call home for the next year or so until we can buy again- this is the place---Im happy to be in one spot where we know we will stay for a while. No more moving for us - 3x in one year is plenty!
We sign the lease this weekend!

Baby Einstein

Tristan LOVES baby Einstein....so when we fixed the old school VHS version of : Neighborhood Animals- he was TRANSFIXED! Camped out and chillin' on his bedroom floor.

***update- had 18 month appointment last thursday and our bugs is 35.5 in long(99%) and 29 pounds. ****

Little Bugs

Without a doubt Tristan has an obsession about being in the kitchen when Im cooking. He pulls and pushes his stool around and watches very intently whenever I am baking/cooking. I do worry about him getting hurt, and so I am very careful. Even if I insist he has to get down or move, it can cause a serious melt down, so I have started to embrace his participation wherever I can.
Today we made oatmeal cookies...and Tristan was in heaven! He got Elijiahs apron on, and was very proud of his ensemble- which prompted me to have Jonathan take a picture of my little helper!

The other day as I was trying to clean the basement Tristan found some of Elijiahs sunglasses and thought he was a very cool cat indeed!!------ Love it!

This is a boyz house afterall!

What can I say- Ive surrendered. To a household of boys that is. And everything that goes with having two rambunctious, crazy, wild, and full of energy boys. Tristan decided that while he may only be 18 months that wont stop him from anything. From pushing furniture around, pushing YOU around and certainly wont stop him from wrestling with each of us...especially Elijiah.( whether Elijiah is a willing participant or not)
Yes Elijiah will start it -or not, but either way these two are great buddies.....

Tristan knows that while he may not be as big, he can throw his weight around when necessary!

Elijiah is so kind, to let Tristan beat on him....

Its a crazy new world that I'm discovering!

Weekend fun!

As I sit listening to conference, I cant help but be moved by the spirit. I am uplifted and encouraged, and feel SO so so blessed.

What a great weekend! Yesterday afternoon we took the kids to Thanksgiving point for halloween activities. As you can tell from the pictures, I think fun was had by all.

Afterwards we stopped by to see Dad and Nancy- and see the store he has started. I would classify it as an upscale shop. Its a pawn shop, but with a twist. He has local artists, and jewelry makers etc showcasing their merchandise and I have to say its quite cool. Its supposed to open shortly - so stay tuned for pictures and info!

In all with many fun times with the Family this weekend....

Tristan- was soooo determined to push the stroller- inspite it being WAY to top heavy for him!

Tristan was sure that every corn that he picked up would be one he could eat! Much to his sadness this wasnt the case!

Too many things going on

GRR so the other day - before I left for my trip- I wanted to take some pictures of the boys...especially of Elijiah and his mouth. See I know Im a crazy Mother. I know it! But I kinda lost it over the weekend. He had been working on his top front tooth for a while, with both Jonathan and I trying to pull it out...but it wasnt ready. However I saw him working on it at the soccer game last saturday and I knew it was close. I told him to wait till he came back to my house( as he was with his dad all weekend) so the tooth fairy could visit US! ( especially since the last time he lost a tooth it was because Khory girlfriend pulled it out on a plane)ANYWAY so saturday - I got a picture on my phone that night of Elijiah and his newly removed front tooth. I pretended I was happy for him and excited, only to find out it came OUT because the girlfriend pulled it. I was really bummed, and Jonathan talked me down out of a fit saying that it was okay he had two other loose teeth and one of them was bound to come out while we had him....I finally after much annoyance....agreed.
Well what to my surprise when I picked up MY child on Monday he proudly smiled to reveal those TWO additional loose teeth GONE from his mouth. I stared in shock and dismay! I asked him HOW he lost those- as they were BARELY loose. He said Melinda( the girlfriend) ALSO pulled those out. Now MOMMA bear reared its ugly head and I WAS PISSED! I immediately called his DAD and told him that I didnt appreciate his girlfriend pulling out MY kids teeth. That I am his mother, and want to have opportunities for those things and to tell her to keep her hands off of him( well a little nicer than that.) Typical response in return? "Chill out Amber- its no big deal...relax. Your over reacting." GRR GRR GRR. So as the consolation price they said I got to have Elijiah take home one of the teeth so I could do the whole tooth fairy thing. Well WASNT THAT nice????????
Can you tell Im still not over it? And is it any wonder that I have annoyances with those two. Can they not understand that there are only so many childhood things to be involved in while kids are young and still believe in such things? AND EVERY TOOTH HE HAS LOST HAS BEEN DONE AT THE HANDS OF THE GIRLFRIEND?
Okay moving on.....

I left for LA for a work trip. I wont mention anyone specific...and I am 100% sure there is only one person from work that reads this...however it was very eye opening to see the folks that I interact with from afar- in person.

I dont know if my experience in recruiting has made me turn my snap judgements of people - continue in real life. But that is the way it is. I have to decide very quickly with folks if they are someone that we would want to hire. Based off very little information sometimes. So Ive learned a few things regarding personal/professional behaviors, and I do have to say that Im right more often than not. SOOO when I meet people I tend- like my counterparts im sure...to size someone up. Like me, I know when they meet me, they are thinking
1.Is this person my competition
2.Can I trust them( personally or professionally?)
3.What is this person about
4.How much can I disclose or discuss both on a personal or professional level
etc etc
Lets just say my trip was FULL of vital information that will not be discussed here, but I feel I have a pretty good idea of what I am dealing with going forward. So while I hated being away from my kiddos, and hubby- it was worth the trip.

As I returned from my couple of days away- I was immediately overwhelmed with a desire to see everyone of course. Tristan was with his grandma, Elijiah with his dad( as Jonathan has to work at 6am, and in school at night) but though each of them were loved and safe, they completely melted down when I returned. Hysteria, fits, I couldnt be away from Tristan for a second, he wanted his blanket, and plug and just was sooo cuddly. It was odd...both Jonathan and I remarked on the boys behavior and how really while they are fine without us, they really do need us. It was just another confirmation that what we are doing is the right thing. Our plans if all goes well has me being with them full time - next year and it feels right - good.