Oh, this made me laugh so hard!

The Happenings

Every day with little Sophie is such an adventure! She is into everything, of course, and she loves to do everything with her Mommy.
Here she is painting a picture for her friend Simon's birthday. I didn't get pictures of it when it was done, but it went from what you see in the background to being brown smudges all over the poster board. She had a great time!

And here she is with Simon. She just loves him to pieces. Every time we tell her she's going to see him, she gets so excited. She calls him "My Simo."

He and Kristy came over for his little birthday celebration!

Sophie loves to try and distract Justin from his homework. Because Justin would rather do almost anything besides his homework, she is often successful.

There goes Sophie! Justin and I won new ipods recently, so here is Sophie listening to my old ipod shuffle. Do you think I'll ever get her to listen to me again???

Justin surprised me with roses one day (he's so wonderful)! A few days later, I found Sophie perched on the table ripping them to shreds. What do I do with her!

This is something I see quite often in my little world. Sophie loves to read books, and not only that, she loves to read the same books over and over and over until Mommy wants to go crazy! I seriously spend about 2-3 hours reading her books every day. I would just tell her to scram, but she recently learned to say please without being reminded, and let's face it saying please with that cute little face is a death sentence.

This is Sophie's other love....the park! She loves to go there every day! This particular park is tucked away at the back of a neighborhood about a 1/2 mile away from our house. It's always deserted which means Sophie can climb up the slides without any interruption, and yes I did say up; I don't get the fascination. I do love the park; it prevents Sophie from making huge messes in the house, and we get some much needed sunshine (maybe my legs won't glow in the dark this summer). The only problem is Sophie loves to walk to the park, not in a stroller, but by herself. A 1/2 mile is a long way for a little kid and even longer for an adult when she wants to examine every rock, pine cone, and flower on the way there. It usually takes about 1/2 hour to walk there, 1/2 hour to walk back, and a total of 20 minutes getting drinks from the drinking fountain. I have just learned to find joy in the journey!

When we do get there, she loves to do this...

The binky in her mouth is really cool. If it drops, it snaps shut to prevent it from getting all dirty. Perfect park solution I must say.

Being a mom certainly has its challenges, but when I get to see this face all day, it makes it all worthwhile.

Salt Lake City Marathon

After months of training, the Salt Lake City Marathon was something of a disappointment. I started off strong, finishing my first 5 miles in 45 minutes. I was feeling great! I even got to see my Cousin Brooke and my Aunt Cathy.
About mile 6, disaster struck! A woman in front of me had a shirt tied around her waist. As I was getting closer and about to pass, her shirt came off. I caught my foot on it and came down twisting my knee. This happened right by the EMT station, and they all came running (which I thought was great at the time). They checked my knee, told me it was sprained, put a red band on my arm to mark me injured, and followed me in a flashing truck. Talk about embarrassing!
Every few miles, the EMT guys would check my knee and retape it. This caused me some time delays, but I still hit mile 10 at 2 hours. It was all downhill from there. The pain in my knee really started to set in at this point, and it took me 35 minutes to make it the next 3 miles; at which point, I was no longer granted medical clearance for my knee. So the man following me in the flashing truck yelled, through a megaphone I might add with many runners around, "Get off the course!"
I was humiliated and extremely upset. I called Justin sobbing to tell them they kicked me off the course (they said I could continue on the sidewalk, but that they were no longer responsible for me). I walked to Cottonwood Elementary School and waited for Justin there.
The good thing is that the EMT guys called the finish line, and when I went to pick up my gear at the finish line, they gave me a 1/2 medal. So I guess it wasn't all bad. What a round of rotten luck! I guess there is always the St George Marathon! I am hoping to train hard and finish it in 4 hours!
While I was disappointed in the situation, I did the best I could, so I couldn't be disappointed in myself.
Thanks so much to all my family who came to support me!
My little sister ran with me. She was able to finish the whole marathon! Way to go Jen!

And my lovely half medal!

I will try to post some pictures of my black and blue and very swollen knee for your viewing pleasure!

And now for the grandmas and other people who look at this blog mainly for the purpose of seeing my adorable baby, here's the good stuff...

Sophie was playing with the big kids at my Aunt DeeAnn's house. She's getting way too big

She especially loves Emma!

Anna's Birthday

We celebrated Anna's birthday a few weeks ago. It was the first event without Justin's brother Michael there since he headed into the Air Force. It was different to have him gone, and he was greatly missed.
Here is Anna in the apron Justin and I made for her.
It was such a beautiful day, we spent most the time playing outside! Outside is pretty much Sophie's favorite place to be.

She loves to rearrange these rocks...

Justin playing outside. Check out the view from their yard!

Singing to the birthday girl!

I really should have people take more pictures of our family. Usually, I get just one, so I have to use it even though it's not too great.

Sophie wanted to wear this arm brace. She had Grandpa put it on, and she just loved it.