Our little gymnast

Isabel has been taking gymnastics for quite a while now. She is getting really good, and can now do a back handspring on the trampoline by herself, but is still a little nervous to do one on the mat with out a spotter there to catch her, just in case she falls. Her coach says she is ready to do it, and barely touches her when she is spotting her. But Isabel is still to afraid. Hopefully she will have enough self confidence soon. We are going to Utah on Friday to a U of U gymnastics meet. Isabel is really excited to see the gymnasts compete. She has never competed before, and the competitor in her is really excited to start. I don't think she is quite ready for that just yet, but soon.

After our crazy schedule last summer with three kids playing baseball and soccer, and me coaching two soccer teams with Lillia in tow, we told the kids they would each have to just choose one sport this summer. Isabel was devastated!!! She cried and cried and just could not decide which sport was her favorite. She even started having nightmares about it! So I gave in, and told them they could play both. So I guess it will be another crazy summer! I can hardly wait until next summer when Will is old enough to play also! (can you hear the sarcasm dripping from my voice?):) I really try not to over schedule my kids, but now Isabel has gym, piano, and soon baseball, and soccer will over lap for a week or so!! She is definatly our little athlete. The boys enjoy it, but don't really care about the compitition. Isabel wants to get down and dirty!!! She gets that from her Dad!!(that is not at all on the Browns side!)

Easter Sunday

The kids looked so nice on Sunday morning in all their Easter clothes. They really wanted to wear them to Grandma's house and hunt for their Easter eggs in them, but Mom is just to mean to let them do that! I think it was about 42 degrees, and where the snow had melted, was now a mud patch. So the nice white things got put away after church.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa Erickson's for dinner and fun. Johnnie and Treena, J.T. and Amanda, and Jake and the kids were also there. Megan was not feeling well, so couldn't come. (we missed you Megan!) Dinner was great, as always, and I had planned a few games. First we had the Easter egg hunt. There were a few places out in their yard where the snow had melted, and the kids had fun running around finding the eggs. I had to keep reminding Bennett and Isabel that the little kids needed to find some eggs too! They were really good at sharing and put the eggs back for Evan, Will, and Malory to find. After that we had the "guess how many jelly beans are in the jar" game. After some very different guesses (we had all the way up to 9000, thanks to Will) Grandpa ended up guessing the closest and winning the jar of jelly beans! There were actually 635 in the jar, I know because I counted every "flippin" bean! Next came the spoon race. I paired up the kids according to their age, so Isabel and Bennett, Evan and Jace, and Mallory and Will raced against each other. It was so funny to watch. We played this game out on the deck, since it was the driest place. I think the kids enjoyed this game the most. Although it was pretty tricky for Malory and Will. The last game we played was the egg toss. I had the "big kids" play this one with us. I think that was a mistake, because Jason, Jake, and John don't follow directions very well! They were throwing it when they were not supposed to and throwing it up as high as they could. It was very unorganized! Grandma and Grandpa, ended up winning even through all the confusion. I think they have been practicing! If the Olympics had an egg toss competition, those two could enter and win the gold! We had a wonderful Easter and hope everyone else did as well!






I have to apologize to Jace, From where I was standing it looked like Evan won, but after watching the video I think that was a tie!! Good job Jace, nice comeback!

decorating eggs

Saturday we decided to decorate eggs instead of going to the city park for the so called Easter egg hunt. I say "so called" because this year instead of an actual Easter egg hunt, because of all the snow, they decided to have an Easter bunny there, that would pass out candy to the kids. So basically we would have to stand in a long line out in the cold, um... no thanks! We had a blast at home. We tried a new way to decorate the eggs. You put the boiled egg in a colander, put on a few drops of vinegar, one drop of food coloring, and you spin the egg around in the colander. You can put up to three colors on an egg, after that they basically turn black. The eggs turned out really cool, kind of tie dyed. We also did it the traditional way because it would take way to long to color the 46 eggs that I cooked, doing them one at a time like that! I was glad to have some bleach in the house after the kids knocked over the cups of dye all over my white counter tops! by the time we were done, my counter tops were a purple-black-brown color! Oh well, the kids had so much fun, so what's a little mess compared to that?!

plucking?

I think Will has been watching me a little to closely! I found him in the bathroom, up on the counter with my tweezers. I asked him what he was doing he said, "I'm trying to get all these widdle hairs!" Through my laughing I asked where He had seen this, and he replied, "I watch you Mom." Maybe he needs to spend a little more time with Dad! You can't tell from the picture, but his poor face was bright red where he had been plucking!

A day with an apostle

Jason And I were given tickets to a special meeting to dedicate the newly remodeled Idaho Falls Visitors Center, where Elder L. Tom Perry would be speaking. We were very excited at this opportunity to hear an apostle speak in person. We were asked to attend a temple session before the meeting and to also to tour the visitors center. So we did, the new visitors center is really beautiful. (Jason was especially impressed with the big flat screen t.v.'s) I had actually never been in the visitors center before, so I can't really talk about what improvements were made, but it really is a lovely place. We are going to take the kids on Monday for fhe. At the meeting there were three talks, first was the mission president for the Pocatello- Idaho Falls area, President Sommers, The Temple president, President Groberg, and Elder Perry. They were all wonderful talks, and were mostly about missionary work. Elder Perry has quite the sense of humor, he was talking about the importance of a ward mission leader (Jason's calling) and said if he were to organize a new ward, he would first select the most spiritual of the ward and make him the ward bishop. Next would be the ward clerk, "because we need to keep records of all this stuff." Then third he would choose the ward mission leader. He said "I would not pick an attorney for this job,(everyone was laughing so I missed the explanation for this) and I would not pick a doctor either, they would cut every thing up and leave it a mess, I would choose a starving insurance salesman for the job, they have the drive needed for this position." Jason and I got quite a laugh out of this, because although he is not an insurance salesman, he is and has been a salesman all of our marriage. So I guess our bishop got it right when he called Jason to this position. I was really surprised how many people were there. Only the stake president, the bishop,the stake high counselor, the ward mission leader and stake relief society president and all their spouses were invited for each stake, the entire stake center was full! The chapel, the over flow, the gym, and the stage, they even had broadcast it in all the classrooms, and they were full! So they broadcast it to another stake center two blocks away to help with the over flow! I guess I didn't realize how big our area is! The entire day was wonderful!!

toothless no more

Lillia finally got her first tooth! She is now ten months old, and just barely cut her first tooth. All my other kids got their teeth much earlier. The crazy thing is, she is the perfect baby to nurse (no biting) but of coarse I had to quit nursing long ago. It's funny how these things work out. The poor girl is just miserable!! She has been like a leaky faucet for days now, with a runny nose and drooling like crazy, and today she has a little fever. She has been laying around like a bump on a log all day. I'm hoping that this doesn't last to much longer. I tried to take a picture of the cute little teeth, but they are still in that see through stage. Really hard to see, but you can definitely feel the sharp buggers! As soon as they are visible I will try again.

Kiss me I'm Irish!

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

Girls just want to have fun!

While Jason and I were in Moab, my sister Robyn and her girls were in SLC with my parents, staying at my Grandma's. Isabel was really excited when we told her she would get to spend the weekend with her cousins. She doesn't get to spend very much time with them since they live in the Seattle area, and since most of the cousins we do see are boys, she was thrilled to have a little girl time. On Saturday they all went to the zoo in Salt Lake. They had so much fun, Isabel went on and on about all the animals they got to see. She loved the giraffes, but said they were really stinky. (I think you could have figured that out on your own because of the pictures!) She also went on and on about the cool white alligator. (I wish they had taken a picture of that one, because I have never seen one and it sounded pretty cool.) I really think they could have sat around in the dirt all day and still had a blast just because they were together. On Sunday we all came back to Idaho, and they got a little more time together. Monday morning My kids went to school and my parents, Robyn and the girls, all went back to Bozeman for a few more days until they had to go home. Isabel got home from school, and saw that they had gone, and just started uncontrollably bawling!! "I didn't get to say goodbye!!" she kept saying that over and over. We really need to plan a trip to Seattle so it wont be so long until they see each other again.

Fun with the Andersons

While Jason and I were in Moab, the boys stayed at Trena and Kirk's house. They had so much fun. All the snow has melted in Salt Lake and my boy's thought they were in a new world. (we still have two feet of snow at home!) They were so excited to be able to play outside without their snow clothes, they played in the yard all day Friday and Saturday. Trena said she could hardly get them to come inside. When we got back to their house on Saturday afternoon, Jason and Kirk went to pick up this new play house that Trena bought from her friend. The kids were way excited about this new toy. Issac was so funny he said "it's not just Abbie's, you know." I was shocked at how many games they came up with to play with the house. One of the games they pretended it was Abbie's house, Seth was the guard dog, and the other boys were robbers. They even tied Seth to the house and gave him a mat to lay on. What bright and creative kids!! My boys did not want to come home, back to the cold and snow on Sunday. Hopefully spring will come soon, and the kids can come up with fun new games here. Thank you Andersons for such a fun visit!

Moab

While we were in Moab, we stayed up in the La Sal mountain range in the cutest little cabin. It was really beautiful up there. It felt like we were right on top of the mountain. It was funny because down in Moab it was 56 degrees and up in the range it was only in the upper twenties. We kept seeing all of these wild turkeys, I have never seen anything so ugly and yet really pretty at the same time. If that makes any sense. If we got to close to them, they would take off flying down the mountain. It was a really cool little place for a quick get away and I think we will stay there again if I get into the Moab race in October.

Moab race

Saturday march 8th, was the Moab 5 mile and 1/2 marathon race. Jason, Lillia and I went down to Moab on Friday morning, dropping off the other kids in SLC with Trena and my parents who were staying at my grandma's. The course for the race is really cool. It starts up the canyon by the river and finishes in town at the city park. The thing I didn't like was the course is pretty much closed to spectators until you get into town for the last two miles. So Jason was wondering what he would do while I was running. I told him just to stay at the park and to look for me at the finish around 10:00. So as I came into the finish I was expecting to hear him cheering for me, but no Jason. So I thought I would see him as I walked through the winding finish area, but no Jason. So I got some fruit and bread and ate it thinking Jason would find me at the finish area, but no Jason. So I went over to the area where they put your sweats,( you take them off at the start and they drive them down to the finish line for you to pick up) got dressed and still no Jason. I was starting to get a little mad now because it had been about 15 min. Just about then I saw Jason and Lillia walking by the finish line. When he saw me I could tell that he felt bad, he had decided that he would drive up the canyon to see if he could watch some of the race, but they had all the roads closed (like I told him they would be) and than he got stuck in traffic and couldn't turn around and ended up missing the whole thing!! So I don't have any pictures of me running and he made me pose in front of the finish so that he could get at least one picture.

I was also really embarrassed later when I realized that I had run the whole thing with my shirt on backwards!! I had to get up really early that morning because we were staying about 35 min. out of Moab and I have to eat at least 2 hours before I run. So when I woke up and got dressed I was still half asleep, and ended up putting my shirt on backwards. I thought it felt kinda funny but never put two and two together until I took a shower later and saw myself in the mirror. I know, I'm such a nerd!

I ended up running the five mile instead of the 1/2 marathon like I had planned. I only started running again in January, and I wasn't ready for the half. I did o.k., not as well as I had hoped, but like I said I have only been running for a month and a half so I shouldn't be to hard on myself. I ended up 34th out of 100 in my age group and was 324th out of about 5000 runners overall, and I averaged a 9 min. mile. I am planning on signing up for the other half in October, so if anyone wants to run it with me let me know. The whole time I kept thinking, this would be so much fun to do with someone else. I did have a lot of fun and I am looking forward to my next race.

Isabel won the race!!

Isabel and Evan have been racing to see who would would be the next one to lose a tooth. They would sit down together and say "one, two three go" and they would both start wiggling their loose tooth. Sunday Isabel came running up to me saying, "Mom, it's bleeding! I can pull it out now." She was so excited. You can see for yourself what happened next. (We copied this from Megan's blog, I thought it was a cute idea, hope you don't mind.)

Robyn

My sister Robyn, is an extremely talented writer. When I was a senior in high school, she wrote me a poem for Christmas. It was and still is my favorite Christmas present that I have ever received. I was going through some of my old things yesterday, and came across it. I thought I would share it with you.

An Angel
My sister,
a beauty
(who's beastly
if you mess
with me)
but she smiles,
my sister,
and the angels
laugh
with her-
She's one of them
you see
This woman-
child
Is just a
wild
administering
angel and
again and again
I trust her
with my life
and my soul-
it's my heart
she holds
The power to mend-
My confidant,
my sister,
my very best friend

Tag I'm it!

O.K. so I've been tagged. It's probably a good thing because I haven't had anything to post for a while! Let's see if I can even remember that long ago.

20 years: I was 10 years old, living in the Seattle, Washington area. I was in fourth grade and had a style all my own! My favorite pair of shoes were actually the kind of shoes you see boxers wear. They were tennis shoes but they went all the way up to my knees! They were bright purple and had pink laces. I wore them everywhere (church, school, home) I can even remember trying to wear them to bed, my Mom wouldn't let me. I can remember my sister trying to get me to take them off, telling me how embarrassing it was for her to be seen with me. I thought she was CRAZY!! My mom finally made me throw them out when they started to stink up the house because I wore them non-stop. My best friends were, Lanis Brunette and Nicky Brue, and I had my first crush on Jason Mercer. I would chase him around at recess trying to kiss him. (Bennett, don't do this!!!)

10 years: Jason and I had been married for a little over a year and Bennett was almost 1 month old. We were living in a little tiny green house out on highway 48 in Rigby. It was actually a nice little house, except for all the spiders! We called it the arachnophobia house. I couldn't wait to move, I really hate spiders!! I was really enjoying being a first time mom, and I can remember just sitting in my rocking chair holding Bennett all day and listening to the Titanic soundtrack.(Jason had given it to me for valentines day a few weeks earlier.) A few months later we bought our first house.

5 years: Jason and I were living in the house were in now, and I was a stay at home Mom to Bennett, Isabel and Evan. I was driving " the bus" for Bennett's school. It was actually a big van, and helping out a lot in his classroom. Jason was working at Colonial Truck and Auto in Rexburg. It's funny that I can remember more about life 20 years ago than I can 5 years ago. I guess it goes to show you how being a Mom can melt your brain!

1 year: Last year I was very pregnant with Lillia, on bed rest trying to keep her in a little longer, while still trying to be a good Mom to the other four. That was not an easy time. Jason had just changed jobs, from finance manager at Thrifty Car sales to Real estate agent. That was a difficult time for Jason as well. But a good change, he was able to be home a lot more and help with the kids.(I say it was a good change, but maybe Jason will tell you something else!)

This year: So far this year things have been both good and bad. Jason has started writing loans as well as the real estate, which he has really enjoyed. It is a lot like the finance he was doing with cars. I have been able to get my headaches under control, thanks to a great medicine my neurologist prescribed and I have been feeling more like myself. I have been making and selling baby slings,(Kangaroo pouch, custom baby slings by Gini)I am in the process of making a blog specifically for that, which I am really excited about. The bad news is my Mom has been diagnosed with Colon cancer, and after surgery last month is in the process of starting chemotherapy and will be going through it for six months. I am having a really hard time processing this. It is difficult when someone you love get sick, so please everyone remember her in your prayers.

Yesterday: I ran, I cooked, I played, I cleaned, I changed diapers, I kissed owies, I read books and did it all over again and again and again, until bedtime and then I relaxed with Jason and watched a movie.(if it was any good I would mention it by name, but it wasn't)

Today and Tomorrow: The same as above with a few very small changes. See why I haven't posted anything for a while! My Moab race is next Sat. and I am really excited for that.

This year: I am looking forward to spring, sunshine, and more life as a mother of five! (I know, I'm boring!)

Thanks, Megan for "tagging" me, it was fun to think back at all the changes over the past twenty years. It is strange to think what will happen in the next twenty!
I tag Trena and Tresa, you guys need to start a blog and now you have something to start with!