Happy New Year Run!

Thanks to all who participated in our 2009/2010 run/walk/crawl/scoot... well you get the idea!

The participants...

Rik & I

Brett, Tyler, and & Rebecca Anderson

Porter & Stayc Webb

Steve & Jennie Boher

Allison Claridge

Not everyone took a picture, but everyone had their own way of participating from walking the local track to running around their neighborhood to running in the snow. It was even pretty fun running around our neighborhood at midnight (even though the sad but true fact was that we had to set an alarm to do it!). I had no idea that there were so many people outside their houses for New Years! I think we are going to try and make this a yearly event (after all, I loved hosting something and not having to clean my house!), so, please plan on where ever you are or whatever you are doing to make a resolution to participate in the 2010/2011 version of this event. My own children even have committed so that is encouraging! It would be fun to see people across the country do this! And what a great cause this was for. Thank you!

Goal for the New Year...

Fortunately or unfortunately for my family, I've been doing lots of reading on nutrition. I had no idea how many nutrients were lost in commericial breads, even those that are made with whole wheat. So, Rik graciously gave me part of his Christmas overtime check to purchase a wheat grinder so that I can grind wheat to make bread for our family. It came the week after Christmas and I am happy to report that I have made 6 loaves of bread so far out of the wheat I have ground. I've been grinding enough wheat to keep some in the freezer so I don't have to grind every bread making day, but about every other time. It really is much easier than it sounds. There is a tried and true great whole wheat bread recipe at http://www.urbanhomemaker.com/ - I highly recommend it! Of course, this all comes with a price. Rik's thing now is eating a peanut butter sandwich every time he gets a chance because the bread is so good. Either I should start rationing the bread or he's going to have to run a whole lot more!

Christmas break climb...

A lovely day at Prison Camp. Rik got to use his new Christmas gear. Lunch in the sun. Cold in the shade. What more do you need to know? (Rik probably wants you to know that he led a 5.10)

Christmas was...

Fantastic! :) And, since it was Christmas Eve a month ago, I thought it high time to get it posted and make a vow not to fall behind again! Caitlin was happy - mini video camera - I think she is going to make us all You Tube stars... Philip was happy - guitar... he can play quite well for a beginner... Rik was happy - for the first time in my life I got him something he actually wanted (OK, so he really had to write it down, show me the site to order it off of, let me know when the good deal was going to happen, and, OK, order it)... BUT, I think it's the first time ever he hasn't considered returning what I got (really trying not to think of last year's camera fiasco!). I am spoiled and got a new hot pink iPod nano and some really cool clothes (including a jacket I LOVE). I have since found that I am a podcast addict. I am using it as a early morning (chilly) run motivation. Grammar Girl, Stuff You Should Know, Manic Mommies... the list goes on!

Pre Christmas... the only way to go!

What's life without a little Pre-Christmas excitement? The kids and I went up to Phx the week before Christmas to visit my parents and sister and have a little Christmas cheer - early! We planned on getting there at lunchtime, but, had a 3 hour delay on the freeway on the way there... a dust storm caused a huge accident on the other side of the freeway, so, we had some unplanned time together!

That evening, we went to visit the Mesa Temple and their Christmas lights - beautiful! They also had a nativities from around the world display inside - it was really cool to see. I would have looked longer, but the kids wanted to move on and there were really a lot of people looking, so, it was hard anyway. There were nativities from every corner of the earth. The one pictured here was from Amish country. I would love one like this!

The next morning we had gifts - and as you can see, Caitlin had a lot of help with hers from Cocoa, the very busy pug!

Turkey...

Mmmmm.....


And - I decided to try a new way to cook our turkey when my parents came to visit for our 2nd Thanksgiving of Thanksgiving weekend. The Martha Stewart way. Basically, you cut our the backbone, smash the breastbone down, and bake for just over an hour. Done turkey. In this link is a pictoral step by step instructions. Martha Stewart Spatchcock's a turkeyWeird but true. The hardest part was cutting out the backbone, but after that it was totally stress free! And, it was *moist* and *tender*. Until someone, who will not be named, let the dogs in while he left the house and the dogs managed to get the turkey off the stove and crashed on to the floor. But that's a story for another time. ;)

The saddest picture of the year...

Not because of the subject matter, but the quality. Ugh. If you're looking for Caitlin, she's in the middle where it looks like 2 girls are running. She is the closer of the two. All the rest were too awful to even post.

So, Caitlin is taking dance in high school. Very cool because she now gets to dance at the studio and school. And, she is the only freshman in the advanced dance class. But, I am also a freshman mom, and even though she may be experienced in dance, I am not in the art of getting reserved tickets. This program took place over two nights. Night one, Philip had a homework makeup night at school (darn kid needed to make up some homework - ugh again), but he and I made it there by intermission. Caitlin didn't perform until after intermission, so, yay, we didn't miss it. Rik and his mom somehow got into the reserved seating, through a story that was not well explained to me, so when I got there, some people next to them left, so we had great seats! And since I didn't get there until late, the box office had closed and it was a free show for me. Too bad I didn't bring my camera. I figured I would just do the picts the next night. Well, the next night, I am there on time, but have to sit in open admission seating, which turns out to be the farthest seats back you can sit in with out being in the parking lot. Thus, none of my picts are very good since I am far far far away and at a weird angle - and the dance was really quite fast. I know, excuses, excuses! So, now I have at least emailed the teacher and have found out how to get advanced tickets for the spring performance!

The girls did a great job - and you could tell that they worked hard doing it. I just didn't like the whole thing because of the theater etiquette. It was hard telling if we were at a rock concert, pep assembly, or baseball game because of the noise level and behavior. I felt sorry for the girls and their concentration - esp some that were doing solos and someone from the audience calling out "HEY MELISSA!!! WOOT WOOT!" has got to knock you off your game. Of course, I could just be getting old too. Yeah, probably that.