Grandma's Visit

Grandma Terre left yesterday morning and we already miss her like crazy. The kids had a blast but are now struggling with spoiled kid syndrome.

We went to The Pie the last night she was here and I think those were the only pictures I took the whole time she was here.

Love,
Tamber

Emma's 5th Birthday

It seems like we have been really busy around here. I meant to post on Wednesday about Emma turning 5 and I didn't.

So, here it goes.
Not only is Emma growing in age, but her personality is growing as well. She is becoming
her own person. I love seeing her as an amazing big sister, a dedicated daughter and of coarse a loving friend. She is always the 'motherly' friend. Not only is she a friend to the kids her age, but she loves all of the younger children in our neighborhood.
She is becoming so independent. She will have nothing to do with her mother telling her how to match her clothes. She Loves shopping. Let's just say that Emma and Grandma Terre are a dangerous combination.
On her 5th Birthday she told me that she was a big girl now and wanted to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels. And she did (mostly).
She use to be very hesitant, but she is starting to become a little more daring. She is learning to swim on her own and even picks up the ants she finds in our house just to make sure they find a safe place outside.

Friday was Emma's 'Real' Birthday (as she says) because she had a Birthday Party.
We decided to do a Rainbow theme.
Emma had fun playing with her friends and making lifelong memories.

Love,
Tamber

Dreaming again

Dreaming of this Master Bedroom.....

Do you like?

Love,

Tamber

What's Next

I have been on Cloud nine and it has finally sunk in that I have finished a half marathon. Though I am very proud of myself, I was not sure what I was going to do next. I love to have something to work toward.
Drum roll please. The next adventure is going to be The Dirty Dash. It is a 10K mud race. How fun does that sound?!?

I need some friends though. I think it would be a lot more fun to do it with someone. Anyone want to take me up on it?

It is going to be on September 25th at Soldier Hollow. They have 10 different obstacles that you have to go through including a mud pit, high wall, and water balloon launch (where the spectators can throw water balloons at the runners). I am so excited. I am totally going to do it. Who wants to join? Let me know.

Love, Tamber

Zoo

On Friday night Eric's company rented out the Zoo for all the employees. We had a great time eating, looking at the animals, riding the train and carousel, getting faces painted and hanging out with friends. Here are some pictures from our trip to the Zoo.











Love,
Tamber

Done....and Done!

I finished in about 2 hours 24 minutes and 38 seconds (that's not official, that is off my ipod). I am so glad that I went under 2:30.

We got up the canyon at 4:20 and had to wait for all the other runners to get there. It was freezing! Luckily they were prepared and had 6 or 7 fire pits that we could stand around. It was kind of cool talking to people and hearing their stories. One lady next to me turns 55 on Sunday and signed up so that she could cross it off of her bucket list. oh, and that's not all. In the last year she has lost 104 lbs all on her own while getting in shape for it. That really shows you that anyone can do it. She was so inspiring.

I started out at a good pace, about 10:00/ mile. At about mile 3 through 5 I was struggling and dropped to about a 11:15 pace. Then I caught a second wind when I say my family around mile 7. Right after my family I noticed that I was keeping pace with a girl next to me, so I started talking to her and she pushed me pretty good. We finished mile 7-12.5 together holding about a 9:50 pace (and we didn't stop once to walk). She kept me busy and we talked to get to know each other which made it a lot easier. Then around mile 11, I was really feeling it! I wanted to stop and walk but because I had her I didn't. I kept feeling like I was going to puke.

The last .5 mile (which seemed a lot longer than that) I took off and finished hard. It felt so good to cross that finish line. I had to continue to hold back the puke for about 20 minutes though. My body was thoroughly exhausted.

I was very proud of myself and happy with accomplishing my goal.

I think I am going to do the same half next year.

Now it is time for me to say Good Night cause I am in desperate need of a nap!

Love,
Tamber

Tomorrow

I am really excited for this day to finally be here. Althought I have mixed emotions about the whole thing, I have been training for the past 5 months for this, so I am excited to see how I do. Why mixed emotions? I am scared, excited, nervous, anxious and so much more. I am excited for the fun of the race, I am nervous because I want to finish under 2.5 hours, and I am scared that things won't go my way.

The only reason I am scared things won't go my way is that this whole time I have pictured 'race day' as a sunny summer day and of coarse with my luck is is suppose to be cold and possibly rainy. Normally i wouldn't mind this, but with my allergy to the cold, I can't let my skin get cold or I will start to swell, get hives, light headed, etc. So, I am going to over dress so that I can peel clothes off if I need.

I will give you all an update tomorrow after the race if I am not dead in the road.

Love, Tamber

Treehouse.

Last weekend I had the chance to take the kids up to Layton and stay at my friends house.
I don't get the chance to see Billie very often, but she is one of those friends that even if you don't see each other often, you pick right back where you ended the last time.

Not only did she let us hangout with her and crash at her house, but she took us to the Treehouse museum in Ogden. It was a lot of work with all of the kids, but we had a blast spending time with each other.

As you can tell from the pictures below, the kids enjoyed it as well.

Love,
Tamber

Emma Graduates Preschool

Last week I was able to go with Emma to school the whole day for her last day of school.
We had a blast. She showed me all around, we ate lunch together,and I watched her go get her graduation certificate.
She and her class put together a program with lots of songs to sing to the parents. Here is a video of one of them.


The day after preschool was out, we took her over to the local elementary school and signed her up for Kindergarten. We are lucky to live in an area where the schools are amazing.
She will be going to Cherry Hill Elementary.
It is sometimes scary to think how old it makes me because I have a
daughter that is going to start kindergarten soon, but I am so glad that Emma is
who she is. She brings joy to my life everyday.
Her laugh is contagious and I couldn't ask for a bigger helper than she is.

More pictures

Here are some more pictures from Emma's preschool graduation...







Love, Tamber

School's Out For Summer

Unlike the song 'School's Out For Summer' by Alice Cooper (which I have always loved) the phrase now brings new meaning. As a kid I dont think that I ever looked forward to anything more that summer, especially since I love swimming. That made summer even more desirable. Now as a mom it the phrase 'Schools Out For Summer' makes me quiver in my apron.

Don't get me wrong. I love my kids...both of them, equally. But there is something quite intimidating about entertaining your children for 3 months. Especially cause we dont have any fun vacations planned this summer. We dont have excess money lying around that I can take them to the local water park or indoor discovery museum. This is going to be an old school summer. One where I have to entertain them. So, in order to be prepared and not look back the last day of summer and say 'Where did our summer go?', we decided to make a list of things we wanted to do this summer. I will keep you updated as we mark things off of our list.

Here it is...Thing we want to do this summer:

Slip N Slide

Water Bucket Day

Make a Lemonade Stand

Obstacle Course (www.ehow.com/how_3113_set-obstacle-course.html )

Bowling

Water Park (on the day that my work pays = free)

Visit New Parks (Once a week – Tuesdays)

Camping

Hiking

Go see Dollar Movie

Make Edible Play dough

Bike Rides

Go see water falls

Water Fight Day

Paint with Pudding

Write Letters to Friends that live far away

Go Fishing

Scavenger Hunt

Treasure Hunt (www.allthatstuff.net/treasurehunt.htm )

Make a small box garden

Video Tape Singing

Have a Talent Show

Picnic

Play Frisbee

Make Homemade Ice Cream

Practice Hoola Hooping

Make Finger Paint

Animal Farm

Ride the Tram up mountains (might be too expensive)

Learn Moonwalk

Clean up a Trail/Road

Make A Movie

Make A Fire Plan

Find A Pen Pal (www.stonesoup.com/main2/penpal.html )

Tie Dye T-shirts

Track the moon phases in a book

Keep a Journal of what you do this summer

Make a video of re enacted scripture story (Animoto.com – video software)

The Butterfly Experience

Decorate Flip Flops

Go to Summer Fest (June 11-12)

Play Sponge Football (with a soaking wet sponge)

Solar Cook Lunch (Bagel Bites)

Weekly Hiking Trip with Friends (Thursdays)

Paint Rocks

Make a Bird Feeder

Splash Pad (5400 W Civic Center, Highland Utah)

What are your plans for this summer?


Love,
Tamber