Really liked this; thought I'd share

"There have been times, often at Christmas, when we have felt parts (forgiveness, charity, and light) of what we will experience when we at last come home to the Father who loves us and answers our prayers and to the Savior who has lighted our lives and lifted us up. I testify that because of Him you may have an assurance that you can go home not only at Christmastime but also to live forever with a family whom you love and who love each other."

-President Henry B. Eyring (Ensign-December 2009)

Monthly Update

I want our 2009 book to be complete, so every now and again, I need to do a general re-cap of our latest happenings.

1. Lucy has gone vertical. Our little one seems too little to walk. At least that's what people keep telling me as she toddles around everywhere. She is pretty fearless so far too; she heads right for stairs any chance she gets. I have tried to teach her to turn around to go down them, but she refuses. She wants to walk down them like every one else. I both admire and fear her courage. She loves her "da", saying what we say, Curious George, Elmo, tickling, dancing, the toilet (gross), and following Sabrina and me around all day long.

2. Sabrina had a field trip to the Lehi Hutchings Museum. I think we've seen more interesting artifacts at my parent's house, but the kids seemed to have a decent time. There was a tribute to Porter Rockwell there; I took a minute to tell Sabrina that this was her 5th great grandpa, to which her teacher piped in with, "Oh, well that explains where Sabrina gets it from." Thanks, Miss Megan. (I'm pretty sure she was kidding... pretty sure.) As for Sabrina this month, she digs drawing, dress ups, cooking with mom, Angelina Ballerina, reading stories, and still playing with kids.

3. Paul and I got to go with the Petersons (Dave and Amy) to the Jazz game and had a swimming time despite the loss to Oklahoma City. There was one intense moment in the game when out of frustration I accidentally hit the guy in front of us. (Amy I don't think I shared this with you.) My bad. Thanks Dave and Amy!! It was great to have an evening out.

4. Thanksgiving was great and solidified itself as my favorite holiday. We went to Shelley's this year, and we had a fantastic day.

5.I did Black Friday this year with Natalie. We laughed our heads off all morning long watching the spectacle that is this day. It's ridiculous.

7. The Blackhursts were doing a good deed by hanging out with me while Paul studied, and Baby Kate (who's not a baby any more) broke her foot while she and Sabrina jumped on the bed. Nice. Aish, will you ever forgive me?

6. I'll end this post with the Sabrina conversation of the week:
(Scene: At Costco pushing both girls in the cart)
Sabrina: Mom, this cart is like our carriage.
Me: Oh really. Are you a princess.
Sabrina: No, I'm Sabrina. Lucy is the princess.
Me: So you're just riding with her.
Sabrina: Uh huh.
Me: And I'm the driver.
Sabrina: No mom, you're the horse.

Glad to know where I stand. Happy Holidays!

My First Half

I finished my first half-marathon in St. George with a time of 1:49. That's faster than I had planned; so I was pleased. Justina and Jessica came to St. George and did the race with me, and Shelley and Emily Smith came down and did the 5K. As you can see from the picture some people look like they are ready to have their picture taken for the cover of Elle Magazine after they run 13.1 miles. Others...are NOT so lucky. I would have felt like I was in the shape of my life after completing such a feat if I hadn't spent the rest of the weekend eating...and eating...and eating some more. A huge thanks to my mom, Carolyn, and Paul for watching my offspring so I could relax and refuel. I had a great weekend!

P.S. Justina, I stole your pics!! I'll be sure to take some next time!

30 for 30

Paul's favorite sports writer, Bill Simmons, had a brilliant idea for ESPN's 30th Anniversary. He thought it would be cool to get 30 acclaimed film makers and give them free reign to do a documentary about any sports story they wanted. They are going to play one every week for 30 weeks. They are on every Tuesday night on ESPN or ESPN2. If you are not watching these, you should be. I think we're on week 5 now, and while I am not a fan at all of some of the sports they are talking about, the human interest stories have gotten me, not to mention the different styles of the documentarians (pretty sure I just made up that word). We watched the story of Len Bias last night, and I'll admit, I was bawling. I was even riveted by the Ali v. Holmes fight, and that's saying something because I hate boxing in general.

There is no excuse for what you are looking at

Thanks to the Selims, Paul and I broke a streak of 5 years of not dressing up for Halloween. We could have gone as Romeo and Juliet, George and Martha, even Spencer and Heidi, but no. This is what we ended up as. I don't think this look would have been possible without the help of our sponsors, the Radmalls and WalMart. I'm guessing that when Mel Radmall wore this racing suit in the 70s, he broke more than a few hearts, and yes, I have never been as body conscious in my life as I was in those pants.

Halloween 2009

We are officially DONE with Halloween this year. I did enjoy it slightly more than in years past, so maybe I'm coming around on this holiday. The girls were butterflies this year. Well, Lucy actually never wore her entire costume at once and wasn't too thrilled about the whole thing in general. We'll bribe her with candy next year!

A Few Highlights: Sabrina's first Halloween Parade, SBA Law School Party and trick-or-treating in the study carrels, The Selim's ROCKING Halloween Bash (see next post...or don't...save yourself!), Playgroup Talking Party (with a few Halloween treats), Grandma Shar's Halloween Extravaganza, and Trick-or-Treating Lehi Style. It was all great, but I think I have to mention that my mom claims to hate Halloween (that's what 26 years of teaching will do to you), but always throws the most creative/fun Halloween party for her grandkids (that's also what 26 years of teaching will do to you). This year she had the kids make a witches gruel (party mix) with spooky names for all the ingredients. They made white chocolate ghost suckers. She also took all their pictures before hand with her Mac and distorted their faces. They then glued them on paper and drew monster bodies on the bottom and made a monster wall of fame. Add some treats and a show and there you have it. One good time! Happy Halloween Everyone!

Carving Pumpkins

We went for it this year and carved our pumpkins. No, I did not give Sabrina a knife. She did pick circle eyes, a triangle nose, and a "really happy" mouth. I made the Boo pumpkin, and Paul...well, Paul has done a Utah Jazz pumpkin for the last 5 years. (Note: I had a small Halloween [it really turned into a play/talk fest]themed playgroup at my house on Friday. Kasey said that she wasn't sure which apartment was ours until she saw the Utah Jazz pumpkin.)