The Hawaii Chair

Do any of you watch "Ellen?" It's my absolute favorite show. I TiVo and watch it daily. She cracks me up. I wish we could hang out. I was blog surfing and was reminded of this episode. Check it out, you won't regret it!

http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2008/01/all_hawaii_chair.php

Happy Birthday Jill!

Jill's birthday was actually yesterday. She was way nice to come over and help with work stuff (she's training to be an appraiser). I felt bad having her come in on her big 28th birthday celebration, but I've been slammed lately so she came in all morning to help get stuff caught up. I woke up early, got a good work out in, the kids were sleeping in a little later than normal (7:30ish rather than 7:00!) so I decided to make Jill a yummy treat to say thank you and happy birthday. I decided to make "coffee cake muffins" a personal favorite and a family tradition for birthday breakfast. Everything is from scratch...they're delicious! I thought, "hey lets double this, that way I can give some to Steve and Mandy (Mandy watches my kids on Wednesdays) and I'll even have a few left for Matt after work!" I was so proud of myself for thinking of others for a change. They were baking and smelling so delicious! The kids were awake by now and in the tub. I was running back and forth between the bathroom and kitchen to check on these muffins (heaven forbid they burn). Only a few more seconds to go....

The timer went off, I ran back, opened the oven, took them out...and.......



Well, what a disaster. They went crashing to the floor. There was only one halfway normal looking muffin, so I gave that to Jill and said "Happy Birthday." Thanks Jill for all you do! I'd be even more crazy without your help!



Jill has a blog folks! Check it out! Glad you finally joined the blogging world!

Canyonlands

On Sunday before we drove home we went to Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point. What incredible views! We all agreed there was nothing better than fresh air, sunny skies and the beautiful scenery. It was a little chilly, but we still enjoyed incredible views of the Colorado River. We could see a bunch of rafts on the river.



We walked around, took a bunch of photos, and then headed home. It was such a fun weekend. I feel like this is my thing. Matt has a ton of bike races we attend year round, and we LOVE to go cheer him on and support him, but it's fun to have this weekend be for me. The kids and Matt cheer me on, and I'm the one prepping before the race, getting my stuff together, carbo loading...it's fun. I was super excited about Moab weekend, and it was all I hyped it up to be. Thanks for a fun weekend Matt, Stacie and Katy! Stacie, thank you for being our nanny! The kids had such a blast with auntie Stacie, and I hope we didn't make the trip miserable for you!

Arches/Canyonlands

Shortly after the race we went to Arches and hiked around a little bit. Delicate Arch was insanely crowded, so we did a hike with a different view of Delicate Arch. Amber had fallen asleep on the way over, so when we woke her up she was disaster and cried the whole way up. I'm sure people around us were wondering what kind of parents we were and why we were "making" her do this hike. It's amazing how well we as parents can tune out our children's cry. It really didn't bother me until I saw people staring at us like "what's wrong with her!"




The hike was beautiful. Each time I go to Arches it's like I'm seeing it for the first time again. It really is such a beautiful place.




I loved being there with two of my best friends, and of course my family. It makes the trip so memorable. I love that year after year we've come down together and run this race. We've run this so many times together, and it's crazy to think of where we've been since then. I remember eight years ago just getting engaged and running with my brand new engagement ring, and talking about planning the wedding. I also remember Katy talking about Dan (her husband now) and how she wasn't sure where things were going, but how she really liked him. The first time we ran this together, we kind of made a pact saying we'd run it every year, through pregnancies, through what ever! We really have. It's amazing 10 years later we're still running it together. And I loved that Katy came this year, even though she didn't run. This year we made a new pact that we'd come every year regardless.

Moab 1/2 Marathon

Last weekend we went to Moab to run the annual Canyonlands 1/2 Marathon. This has been a tradition since I graduated from high school. This was my seventh 1/2 Marathon (due to pregnancy I've missed 2 years, and one year I wussed out and ran the 5 mile instead). It's a lottery, so I've been lucky to draw out every year except this one. I was so dang sad, and mad at the same time. They have a 10 year club and if you've run it 7 times you qualify to be automatically drawn out. Since I had only done 6 to this point, I didn't qualify obviously. So anyway, Katy Carter & Stacie Stevens both drew out, but Katy found out she was pregnant and gave me her bib #. So lucky for me, I got to run it (in Katy's name). Thanks Katy! Katy and her family came down anyway, which was a ton of fun. We loved hanging out together, and the kids enjoyed each other as well. Our kids are just a few months apart, so they had fun together.





Stacie and I did well! We were happy with our time (2:05) which wasn't our best time, but not our worst either, so that's good. Stacie's longest run to that point was 7 miles, so she did exceptionally well! Neither of us were sore after and had tons of energy. We went hiking shortly after, and both didn't feel as if we'd just run 13 miles. It was great. I think this is the first year I didn't feel sore after (not even sore the next day!).

It was so sad. When Stacie and I got to the finish line, I saw Matt and the kids cheering us on about 50 yards before the finish. I guess Amber wanted me to hold her hand and run in with her. I didn't know this, and didn't even think and just kept running. It totally devastated Amber, and she cried hard. When I saw her after the finish, she was crying telling me she wanted to run in with me, so I went back and ran through it again. She was so excited, and was giving all the spectators high fives as she ran through. I felt like such a bad mom for being caught up in the moment of me finishing and not listening to her as I ran by. It was fun to run in together, and it made Amber so happy. I LOVED that she wanted to give everyone a "5."

Amber Our Ballerina

Amber started a dance class a few weeks ago. Our cute friend Emily called me and asked if I'd want to put Amber in a class. I totally wanted to, but I thought Amber would be too shy and wouldn't participate. I put it off for about a month while we went on our cruise and when we got back Emily encouraged us to do it. That is so my personality. I always need a little nudge to get going. I'm not a go-getter. So thank you Emily for the encouragement and extra push to get her in. Amber has LOVED it! The first day was a little scary. She clung on to me and wouldn't do a whole lot of anything. She was nervous and shy. I kept prepping her for it for hours before. We went shopping together and bought a cute little ballerina outfit and tights, the whole works. I didn't buy anything too cute because I was certain she'd hate it. So I kept telling her she got to wear her special outfit, and she'd be with her friend Bailey. She kept telling me "no, I don't want to go." She fell asleep on the way to her first lesson, so I thought that was going to be a rough start! Like I said she was shy, but at least went in with out any tears. Her cute teacher is awesome and made Amber feel so welcome. She showed Amber she had candy and all sorts of fun incentives if she stayed. I was there about 30 minutes and left after she felt comfortable. It was such a fun experience. My first child off to a dance class! I felt like such a grown up Mommy with a grown up girl. I picked her up just a few minutes later, and she was so proud of herself and had stickers on her tap shoes and had treats for being so good. She was super excited and wanted to tell me all about it. She has been hooked ever since and loves Wednesdays now! She loves her teacher Miss Julie and looks forward to going.

Last week when I picked her up, she was telling me stories about her class. For the first time in her life, I had NO idea what she was talking about. We have spent practically every waking moment together, and here she is making memories with out me in them. It's kind of weird, but I love it. I love this time she gets away to just be herself and become more independent. She really is so proud of herself and just beams when I come get her.

I wish she weren't such a goof and would let me take her picture, but unfortunately she wouldn't pose (Bailey had no trouble posing). Anyway, a proud moment for the Deming family! I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures as the weeks go on!

Our Fun Weekend!

We just took a fun quick trip to St. George. Matt did a little bike race this weekend and did so well! We had fun cheering him on. The weather was much better there than here in SLC. We were sporting short sleeved shirts! What a nice break! During Matt's ride it rained a little, so the conditions were cold. He did awesome and rode about 65 miles (this was more of a "ride" rather than a race, no times were taken and there was a 50 mile, 65 mile or 100 mile finish). Anyway, Matt hasn't been on the bike since the LoToJa, so I expected a long day. He called me after about 3 hours and said "where are you?" I was at mile 25, and he was at 50! So I totally underestimated him. Most of the riders that day looked like they had pooped their pants, Matt included. So I took a picture of his bum because I thought it looked funny! It was a great day, and fun to get away.



Way to go Matt! We love this season. Matt's bike riding/racing takes us to all sorts of fun places.


We also went to Zions, which was a lot of fun, but cold. There was snow there, which Matt and I both agreed we hadn't ever seen Zion's with snow. It was beautiful though.