Cross Country 2013

 Jaxon and Connor are both doing Cross Country this year.  It didn't surprise me when Jaxon told us he was going to do it as a fall sport.  He has quite a few friends who run track in the spring and wanted him to do it as well.  He does Lacrosse in the spring and just wasn't willing to give that up to be with his friends.  This worked out to be a great compromise!  But then he tells us that he thinks that Connor should do it with him.  What?!  Running is not Connor's strongest.  And long distance running REALLY not Connor's strongest!  But Jaxon had a good point in that is EXACTLY why Connor should do it.  It would be good for his endurance and so on.  Connor jumped on board and was all for it.  I think he started to rethink that after he started going to practice and his first meet!
Their first meet was at Sugar House Park and is the second hardest rout they will run.  Needless to say Jaxon was not overly happy with his time but I was so very proud of him for getting right in there and giving it his all.  He has improved even in the short time since that first race.  Connor was probably the last kid to come in in that first race but all I can say is that he FINISHED!  Jaxon called to give me times and tell me how they did and when he gave me Connor's time I wanted to shout out loud I was so proud of both of them!
Wednesday September 4, 2013 was the first meet I was able to be to.  With football for Porter and dance with the girls it has kept us all very busy.  This meet was at the Cottonwood Complex.  The route was set up around the park and they basically looped the park 3 times.  That was nice because you could stay in one spot and see them multiple times! The girls ran first and there was a section toward the end of the "loop" that the boys had lined up to cheer the girls on as they ran past.  (which I have to say was so cute to watch those boy cheer the girls on!)  It was a great place to set up...it was in the shade!  It was fun to watch the girls finish up their race.  I did feel bad, there was one girl who was having a hard time yesterday and didn't finish until after the first boys had lapped her.  I watched her pass and even though I didn't know her I was so proud of this young woman!  I talked to her mom a little bit before and on top of running not being her strong suit (just like Connor) she was sick and running a fever.  I was very impressed by this young woman because as she ran past us you could tell she was still giving it her all.



Jaxon came by first and was doing pretty well at that point.

I only took pictures the first time around.  His second round I could tell he was hurting and I realized he had forgotten his knee brace.  I hope he learned that lesson!  I love that when I cheer my kids on I can tell that they hear me.  I know that most of the time they are able to just ignore the outside and keep going. I don't know if all kids are like this but when my boys hear me I can tell that they heard me!  When Jaxon ran by that second time and I could tell he was hurting and I started yelling those things you yell, "you can do this, push through it, keep going, you got this" I saw his stride lengthen again and his pace pick up just that little bit.  That is one of the best parts of being a mom! 

Connor was back just enough that I was starting to worry about him.  Knowing this was just the first lap and he still had two more to go made me hurt a little bit inside.  If you look at this picture Connor is the one in the middle.  To his right is a girl from the team that isn't qualified to run right now so she ran with Connor...the whole way.  She was with him every step of the way! Talking to him, encouraging him, doing what I couldn't.  To his left is a good friend of Jaxon's.  When I sent this picture to Jeron he asked, "Is that Kimble lapping Connor?"  Yep it is! =) But Connor was running and he kept running!

I stayed in this spot until both Jaxon and Connor passed the second time.  Jaxon came close enough to lapping Connor that by the time Connor passed me and I started up to the finish line I didn't make it before Jaxon was on top of me!  Literally!  I was walking up the hill to get ready to take pictures and Jamie Latimer hollers and points behind me.  I turned around and there was Jaxon running right at me!  No way to get a picture that way!

We were waiting for Connor to come in.  As I stayed up near the finish line with a good view to watch Connor come up the hill the rest of the West Jordan Cross Country team went down to that same area I had been before to wait and cheer on my son.  He was the only member of the team not in yet.  We had a good view and could see him coming.  And then I saw Jaxon take off toward Connor.  I watched as he ran with him and encouraged him.  I watched the team cheer him on.  I watched as those long legs finally did what they were meant to do and stretch out and move him...faster then I thought Connor could go!  Connor cut 10 minuets off his time from his first race and this was a little bit longer course!  Jaxon was beaming with pride!

 

I am so proud of BOTH of my boys!

I am so glad they have chosen to do this together!

Dating, Dancing, Driving!

 As of October 30, 2012 I have a 16 year old! Holy Crap! The dating started right off. Surprise surprise! He went to Sadie Hawkins. The girl was very cute and got in contact with Jeron and I to ask permission to ask Jaxon to the dance. He went on a couple of other dates (always the one to be asked) but found out quickly that most of his friends didn't turn 16 until closer to the end of the year or even into the summer...what a bummer!

 Jaxon and Megan

Sadie Hawkins 2012

He also went to Sweethearts - another girls choice dance.



 

Jaxon and Kylie

Sweethearts 2013

We moved right into Jr. Prom and trying to figure out if we could aford it for one thing! Wow - dances are expensive. He did well keeping things within reason. There was some drama but I have to say, my son has a great atitude and turned something that could have been a real bummer of a date into a learning experiance. I'm sure I was more upset by the whole thing then he was. He really is a good kid!

Jaxon and Lexi

Jr. Prom 2013

As far as driving we are still working on his Eagle so we aren't pushing that much. It won't be long and I'll be able to make him run erends and we can say, "just take the car!" =)

There is so much more to turning 16, esspecially for a young man. I had watched twice before as Jeron put his hands on his head and ordain him to both a Deacon and a Teacher. It wasn't any less of an experiance then it had been either of those times. It was wonderful two weeks later to watch him stand in the circle as Porter was ordained a Deacon, and then just a couple of weeks ago as Connor was ordained a Teacher.
I have alo listened to him say the Sacrament Prayers. I know I started listening better to the prayers. I have always tried to listen, but having young children that I am trying to teach to also listen I haven't listened quite as intently as I had in the past. But as I listened to him say those prayers and strugle to say them perfectly it brought new understanding to me. Part of that came from our bishop insisting they be absoulutly perfect. We went to another ward and I felt a differance when I could tell there had been a mistake (very minor, but I noticed) and the priest wasn't asked to do it again. Part of it came from more then one person coming to me and telling me how much they apprechiated Jaxon's efforts to make sure it was perfect. He didn't wait for the bishop to tell him, if he knew he had made a mistake he would just start over! It has been a good reminder to me that I need to make sure I am in line with my Heavenly Father's plan for me daily! Another thing that helped me was watching the other priests with Jaxon. They were encouraging and helpful. They didn't keep him from blessing because he had made mistakes. They knew that he had to keep trying to be able to do it, so they made sure he kept trying! He now does both prayers perfectly and I know that it helps not only him and myself but many others as well.
Jaxon is a good kid. He is not perfect...but he is a really good kid! I love him and the joy he brings into our home. I LOVE YOU JAXON!!

Oh, and HE MADE CONCERT CHOIR!!!

When he tried out the teacher looked at him and asked, "why do I not have you this year?!"

Believe it or not...

Believe it or not I have a number of blog entries running through my head! But for some reason I'm having a hard time getting them out. I'm hoping that something clicked this morning for me and that the block is gone!
I was working on my Personal Progress and as I was writing in my Journal I realized what I was writing should really be going into a blog post. For the longest time I have felt like I didn't really have anything to say. As I was Journaling I was reminded of why I really started my blog in the first place. Yes, it's fun to know people read it and are keeping up with what is going on with our little clan. But the real reason I blog is to keep a record for my family. I'm not writing for the world. I'm writing for me, for my family, for my posterity.

What I Learned At The Gym

This morning I was having a hard time getting myself to the gym.  I just go to our local rec center and in the couple of weeks that I missed they replaced some of the old dieing equipment with brand new stuff.  I know that sounds like a good thing...I know in my head it is a good thing but my body is not in agreement!  See, the new equipment is giving me a much better workout.  And again, even though I know this to be a good thing a sore body just doesn't want to go to the gym.
My mom watches Maycie on Mondays and Wednesdays for me but I still call and check to make sure that is going to work.  Well, I forgot to call last night and check.  I thought I was going to be able to use this as an excuse to get out of it today.  And then I got a phone call from my mom, "Are you bringing Maycie over this morning?"  So thanks to my mom I was able to get a good workout but I was also able to receive some peace about this election.
I don't really like election time.  I don't like all of the contention and the mud slinging that comes with it.  I believe that we are all entitled to our own opinions and shouldn't be judged for them.  In a perfect world we would be able to put our support behind a candidates based on the issues. And the candidates would be upfront and tell us where they stand so we could make informed decisions.  But, unfortunately that is not how it works.  They make speeches dancing around the issues and, if we are lucky, somewhere hidden in that dancing speech is something about the issues and where they stand.  But no matter who we vote for we are all Americans.  We need to stand united.  I know this and it is what I want and that is why this article helped me so much.
I have started reading the Ensign while I do the elliptical (thanks to my Nook - thank you to my sweet husband!).  Today I read an article that helped me in a way I did not expect.  The article is called "From Longing to Belonging"   I really hope you take the time to read it - it is a wonderful article.  It was an article that was good for me, reminding me that it is my responsibility to make sure I have good experiences.  And as that helped me, what really got to me today is a statement at the end by President Howard W. Hunter from 1976.  It talked about unity and how we must do more to be and stay united.  So, no matter how we feel about the election we must stand united.  We must support one another!  We must support and pray for those who are leading our country, our states and our local government.

My Pit

I have been doing a lot of thinking as of late.  My sweet cousin (in-law technically) has been giving me a few gentle reminders of my lack of blogging.  It made me think about a few things one of which was WHY I have not been blogging.  See, I kept coming up with excuses like, time, nothing of real interest, etc, etc.  But the more I thought about it the more I realized that I am not any busier then I was a year or two ago.  We have the same kinds of things going on as we did a year or two ago.  If any thing things are getting more exciting!  So then I started telling myself I had to do blog entries in an "order"  like a timeline.  I know better then that as well so that one didn't really hold water either.  So as I have kept this mulling around in the back of my mind I finally realized that it all came down to me.  It came down to this pit I have put myself in.  It is one of those pits that you get in that you start to climb out, get almost to the top and fall back down.  Sometimes you don't realize how close to the top you are and give up.  Sometimes someone else comes along and pushes you back in.  Sometimes you just loose your grip and fall.  But it seems that much deeper every time you end up at the bottom.  Sometimes you have a hard time starting the climb all over again.
Well, I have to say I hope I have learned my lesson.  I have a choice.  I the choice to stay in that pit or to get myself out.  I had a whole bunch of tools to help me get out of that pit.  Sometimes I used them and sometimes I left them sitting at the bottom telling myself I didn't need them.  They were too hard to take with me.  I didn't have the time to worry about silly tools.  I even had a sweet husband trying to throw me a rope to help pull me out and I pushed that away at times.  I was so upset about being in my pit that I was ignoring all of the things that I had to help me get out.
Well, I would like to say that I will never be in that pit I was in.  But I can't.  I'm sure I'll end up there again.  I just hope that I remember my tools a little faster next time.  I hope I never forget my blog and how therapeutic it is for me.  I hope I never forget my scriptures and the inspiration that I am able to receive when I read.  I hope I never forget my prayers and the connection to my Father in Heaven that I have when I communicate with Him each day.  I hope I never forget my amazing husband and wonderful children and the joy they bring into my life.  (I'll be honest everyday isn't bliss and it is some of those hard times of my kids making me want to tare my hair out that puts me in that pit in the first place...keeping it real!)  I hope I never forget the gospel and the peace that brings into my life.
So I may not be perfect and I will slip and fall but I will get up again and I will keep trying.

What Does 13.1 Mean to You?

For those of you who didn't know, Jeron has been training for the Salt Lake City Half Marathon. In fact, it is what he got for Christmas. I paid his registration fee for him so that there was no question! I wanted him to know he had my full support! Well, this last Saturday was the day!

For his last few long training runs it was looking like it was going to take him about 4 hours or more. So the goal was 4. he ran into some problems earlier in the week that we figured were going to slow his time. Then he was up most of the night with a headache and throwing up. I was sure it was mostly nerves, but I was still worried. Really worried!

I had printed the map of the course and had picked two places besides the finish line to take pictures. I thought I knew what time to be to the first stop and then planed to be there a half hour before that. It being our first race we decided to leave the girls with my mom and dad and then my dad brought the girls and met us at the finish line. But I also wasn't sure the best place to park or to try to see him. I called my friend who has done this more then a few times and she helped me! I found a water station and they told me they were waiting for one more runner. Looking at what time it was I figured it was Jeron. But then the runner they were waiting for came through and it was not my husband! I wasn't sure what to think. I wasn't sure if I should be sad I'd missed him, proud he was ahead of what he thought he would be, or scared to death something had happened!  The boys and I decided the best thing to do was to go to our next stop and catch him there. It was a good thing we got going when we did too! We didn't have to wait nearly as long as we thought we would! We were waiting around mile 10 and his 10 mile training run had taken him 3 hours.  At about 2&1/2 hours I looked down the road and there he was!

 His best friend since high school had helped him with training.  He also ran the race with him. As I looked down the road and spotted them I could hear Kylan yelling at him, keeping him going!  There are more pictures, but they are even worse then this one!  I cried, I yelled, I even went out held his hand and ran with him.  I thought my chest was going to explode I was so proud!

We went to the finish line.  I found my friend who was waiting for her husband to finish the full Marathon.  We were able to squeeze in with them so we could see.  It was fun to see both of our husbands cross the finish line!  At 3 hours and 31 min. Jeron crossed the finish line!

I am so amazed at what he did!  I wish I could put into words what I saw in my boys faces.  The example that he set by doing this is so much more then any words ever could.  He had a blessing the night before.  In the blessing he was told that he had prepared for this and he would be blessed to preform to the best of his ability.  As Jeron finished, doing so much better then the goal he had, Porter turned to me and said, "It's the blessing!"  It was so cute!  From this I know my boys have a testimony of the priesthood and it's power.

Jeron has always told the boys that they can do anything.  When things are hard, when they are really struggling with something Jeron will say, "What can you do?"  and he will ask it over and over again until they say, "Anything!" back to him.  So on the way back to the car Jaxon asked Jeron, "What can you do?" and asked until his dad said back to him, "Anything!"  I started to cry all over again!

From the moment he said he was going to do this I would burst with pride every time I thought about it.  But it was nothing compared to actually seeing him push through the pain, keep going even when it was really hard.  He has already committed to a neighbor he will do it with him next year!

And the hardest part is done.  Now he knows he can do it!

Go Forth with Faith

To give you a true picture of why this Hymn touched me the way it did yesterday morning I need to give a bit of background.
Jeron had a meeting in the morning. No big deal, this happens two Sundays a month. In fact, those are usually the weeks we don't have problems getting to church on time. We are going at 9am now, and need to be there at 8:20 so the boys can set up chairs and Jaxon can help get the sacrament ready. We have been doing this pretty successfully so far! I started getting the kids up (reminding the boys that if they wanted breakfast it was now or never!) and I got in the shower. I was a little more then half way through my shower when I heard an argument start in the kitchen. I knew there was nothing I could do about it right then, I had a choice to make. #1) I could listen to them argue and let it make me tense and upset and ruin my whole day, or #2) I could relax and use the time to figure out how to help my kids. Shockingly I chose #2!
It meant taking a minute or two with each of them as we finished getting ready for church, but it didn't really take us any longer and because I stayed calm I didn't drive the spirit away from our Sunday. And because I didn't drive the spirit away to begin with I was able to receive some inspiration! See, fighting and contention has been a REAL problem at our house lately. It is something Jeron and I have been praying a lot about. As I was talking to one of the "fighters" the answer hit me! A lot of the problems have been centered around this particular child and so they get to give the Family Home Evening lesson on helping our family! I'm hoping the lesson will help them all see it's not a bad thing to go out of our way to help other people and that it really does need to start at home.
Okay, I'm sure by now you are thinking, "A bit of background? What does this have to do with the song?"
Well, like I said, fighting and contention has been a big problem lately. It really seems to be sucking the spirit right out of all of us, mom and dad included. I knew I had been struggling with this. I knew my family was suffering for it. And then the other day I was talking to my sister-in-law and I realized even though I have my dream job of being a mom, other people couldn't tell. It wasn't that she said anything. It was nothing like that. It was more one of those tangents your brain takes. (Please someone out there understand what I'm talking about!=) Anyway, it made me realize that if I wanted things to change around my home I needed to lead out. My family needs to know they are the most important thing in this world to me. I want us to be together forever.
Now, how it all ties into the song! Thanks for hanging in there! =)

Go Forth with Faith

Energetically

Go forth with faith to tell the world

Of Jesus Christ, the Lord.

Bear witness he is God's own Son;
Proclaim his wondrous word.

Go forth with hope and courage strong

To spread the word abroad

That people of all nations
Are children of our God.

With three boys and Jaxon being 15 , missions are something that are at the forefront of my mind. To make sure my boys, the girls too, are prepared to go out into the world and share the wonderful message of the gospel.

Go forth with love to tell the world

The joy of families

What better way for me to tell the world of the joy of families then for it to show in everything I do?

That we may be with those we love

Thru all eternity.

Not going to be much fun to be with my family for eternity if we aren't happy, and don't love each other, right?!

Go forth to serve and do your best

With no though of reward;

I do have to say, this is something my kids do really well. We are just trying to get them to figure out that chores are service, just at home!

Then you shall know the boundless joy

Of serving Christ, the Lord.

I love "boundless joy". What better way can you think of describing what we can have through our Savior? The things we are offered through the gospel and the atonement of our Savior. There is so much joy and peace offered to us. The amazing thing is all we have to do is reach out and take hold. I just wish I could remember to do it better!

Go forth with pow'r to tell the world

The gospel is restored,

That all may gain eternal life

Thru Jesus Christ, the Lord.

Go forth to preach his glorious truths

Of peace, of joy, and love,

That all who heed his holy word

May praise the Lord above.

Our Ward and Stake have really been emphasizing member missionary work. The gospel has such a wonderful and amazing message. I wish I did better about sharing it. I'm sure there are people out there I could/should have shared more with. I can think of one I KNOW I should have. Not that it is ever too late. I can share with those I come in contact with in the future and I can always go back and share with others.

I hope to do better at many things this coming year. I hope to be a better blogger! (Don't hold your breath haha!) I hope to be a better wife, mother and daughter. I hope to do better at taking care of myself through exercise and better eating. I hope to be a better friend. I hope to do better with my scriptures and prayers. But most of all I hope to be a better disciple of my Savior.

Thinking Isn't Doing

I have been thinking about the blog a lot as of late. But you wouldn't know that because I haven't posted anything! Every Sunday I think about a song to post about and then don't do anything. I should be posting about school and my kids but there really hasn't been much besides the normal every day humdrum. (Although I do owe you a post about Porter and the broken hand! I forgot that I had not done that! Sorry!) But mostly I think I have been in some kind of funk. To be honest, I guess you could say I have been struggling. I have felt frustrated and very irritable. You should feel really bad for my family!
I'm not sure why I feel the need to confess all of this to whoever may read this. (Not that anyone will! It has been so long since I posted I probably don't have any followers left! =) It may be that I got on and started looking at how many posts all of you have been doing and I started to feel really guilty! I have always loved journals and family history etc. And all of a sudden it hit me just how much I have dropped the ball in this area lately, and how unfair this is to my kids. I hope to do better this year. I'm not making any promises, mind you! But I am trying! =)

Blanding

My brother, Taylor, and his wife had their first baby this summer! She is sooo... cute and we love her sooo.... much! The only problem is they live 5 hours away in Blanding. We hate that they are so far away from us and that we don't get to see them more often. We thought we were going to have to wait for her baby blessing to get to see her but my brother got a job promotion and they were coming to Salt Lake every week for a few weeks not long after she was born! So we were able to see her when she was just a couple of weeks old instead of almost 2 months! Yeah! But silly me I didn't get any pictures, when they came to visit or when we went to Blanding for the baby blessing! But take my word, she is adorable!

They blessed her Sunday August the 28th. We left about 5am Saturday morning to put as much time between the drives as we could. So we had some time on Saturday to kill. My mom and dad know one of the Dosi couples at the Bluff Fort Visitor Center so they thought it might be kind of fun to go down there for a little bit. Our motel had a pool so the kids had a hard time understanding why we were going to visit Bluff when we could just go to the pool. Once we got down there and they started looking around we had a hard time getting them to leave! We heard over and over again, "We have to come back here!"

First they dressed the girls up in pioneer garb. Then we watched a short movie about the pioneers who settled Bluff. For those of you who don't know it was settled by the group that came through the Hole in the Rock. The story is amazing! For more about the story click here.
They gave the boys a few things to fit the time period and then we got to go out side and take pictures!

I always pictured covered wagons much bigger then this.

Can you imagine what it would have been like for me to move my whole family across the country in this thing?!

This wagon is one of the wagons to actually come through the Hole in the Rock!
Can you believe it?!

My kids in front of the wagon that came through.

The girls were more then willing to keep posing for pictures! And I was more then willing to keep snapping them! I was amazed at this place and want to go back when we can spend more time.

They have handcarts that you can pull around the grounds if you would like. We didn't take the time while we were there, but it was fun to watch the kids think about how we would make that work as a family too!

Connor ready to take off on his own trek across the country!


Porter is a little less ready!
(I will take another post to explain the broken hand!)

The girls are more then ready!
They thought this was all very exciting!

Our stake is doing a trek next year for Youth Conference.
Jaxon is getting a head start!

We had a nice afternoon in Bluff and almost all we talked about on our way back to Blanding was going back!

We had a nice little trip to Blanding and we are so glad we were able to go and share that wonderful experience with The Harrison's!

Memorial Day 2011

Last year on Memorial Day weekend we went to Idaho for a Family Reunion. We did a mini tour of Southern Idaho! One of the stops that we made was Shoshone Falls. Soon after we lost my Grandma and then just 3 months after that we lost my Grandpa. I made a decision that I wanted to take my family back every year on Memorial Day weekend. We were starting a new family tradition! I cannot express enough my gratitude to my husband for supporting me in this! He went above and beyond to make this happen for me.

First we stopped at my grandparents house. I was amazed at how much this meant to my kids. The pictures in front of the house were their idea.

This trip we also went to the "Twin Falls" I think it is ironic that one of the falls that a whole city is named after hasn't been a "falls" for like forever!

Makes for a good picture though!


This is a picture of the Shoshone Falls 2011

This is a picture of the Shoshone Falls 2010


2011

I thought the falls were impressive last year! Holy Cow! But with more water comes more people! We sat in our car in line for 20 minutes. It took us FOREVER to find a parking space. But it was sooo... worth it!

I am so grateful for the example of my grandparents. For all the things they taught me. But mostly I am grateful for all the time they spent with me. I know they are watching over me the same way they always have.