St. George 2010

A few weeks ago we went to St. George with my side of the family. It is always SO fun to be all together! With all of the children, sadly we are getting too big to sleep all in the same place, but we did enough activities during the day and games at night to spend time with each other.

The first night all of us were there we ate at the Pizza Factory and went bowling. Here's Barrett before one of his turns.

We probably found the oldest bowling alley in St. George and oddly enough their screens didn't work. So we had to keep score on paper. Luckily, my dad and Ryan still remember how to do this. Here is my dad diligently teaching all of us how to score bowling. Isn't his smile contagious?

My mom and brother waiting for their turns.

During the trip we also hiked at Snow Canyon. We should have taken a better picture of the steep volcano we climbed up with my nephews tagging along. Caden (5), Ethan (5), and Seth (almost 4) did very well with the hike.

Since we were all together we decided to take family pictures. When I get a copy of these I will post the pictures. Near the place where we took pictures there was sand we could all play in. Here is Barrett and me being kids again in the sand.

Swimming! What is St. George without swimming? It actually was a pretty cool weekend for St. George and this pool was freezing to say the least. Many of us spent most of the time on the side with only our feet in the water.

Barrett and Caden taking their usual "manly" pictures.

If you look closely you can see how cold the water really is on Caden and Ethan's faces.

Another Penrod trip come and gone, but lots of memories and pictures to capture the fun! We again miss Brittney and Ryan's family, but we will see you in a few weeks!

New painting

After years of always wanting to paint landscapes, I have found that I actually enjoy still life more than landscape. When I am outside I want to capture everything I see in paint, but when it comes to actually painting I like seeing the object in person. (I have a difficult time taking pictures of the paintings. Either the lighting is not right, it's blurry, or the color looks different, but this is the best I have: crooked)

A ride in a Lamborghini Murcielago (that last word is for Barrett, I didn't really know the full name)

One day we received a phone call from Barrett's sister telling us that her and her dad were coming over. We wondered why until we walked outside and saw this:

Jeff's boss loves to buy expensive cars and he often lets people drive them so they get the experience too. As a result, we were one of the lucky riders in the Lamborghini! Apparently there were many people gawking at the car as they drove it around so I thought we would gloat a little and show off that we rode in the car. I literally got butterflies when the car sped up at such a fast pace.

This is why I love my job

There are many highs and lows in jobs where you work one-on-one with people trying to help them change. Sometimes you see more than they do how their life would benefit from changing. I have definitely been blessed not to have to deal with many of the crises my coworkers have had to deal with, but have experienced the heartache of what families go through. Putting all this aside I look forward to working with those families who have a desire to receive help and want to implement anything they believe will benefit them or their family. The flowers I received from one family I finished with in May reminded me of why I chose to become a social worker. I was humbled by the changes this Mom had made and was overwhelmed at first when she brought out these flowers for me. Such a simple token of gratitude, yet it had such an impact on me. I thank Heavenly Father for the gifts he has blessed me with in this life and look forward to helping people throughout my journey. I took a picture of the flowers to help me remember the blessings of this job, because sometimes I do forget :).

2 year anniversary

Another year come and gone. Barrett and I celebrated our second anniversary this past Monday, May 24. I wanted to post this picture from our honeymoon to remember where it all started. On our anniversary we shared details about what we remembered on our wedding day and it was fun to reflect on that amazing day! I am grateful for the support Barrett gives me and hope I can always support him in his endeavors. I think the best part of our 2 year anniversary is realizing how many anniversaries we still have to celebrate throughout our life. I love you honey!

Happy Belated Mother's Day!

So I am not so focused on running that I wanted to leave my last post up for a long time. Between lack of time and our photo program not working I am just now getting to what I wanted to do. First, I did not want to pass up the opportunity to recognize the mother's in my life.

Mom:

I love this picture of my mom! It shows her great smile, caring personality, and love for her grandchildren. She is the person who is there to listen to all my problems, concerns, and successes. While I was growing up she was there to comfort me when I was sick, praise me when I excelled, and give me confidence when I felt down. I love spending time with her and I look forward to building a stronger and stronger relationship as my life continues. I can't wait until I start a family of my own and I can learn from her wisdom on raising children. Thank you mom for all you have sacrificed for me in my life!

Mother-in-law

Where do I begin with Shannon? What a great example she is to me of a supportive wife, a loving mother, and a great friend. I look up to her many qualities and I am always amazed at her concern for her family. She made me feel comfortable in their family from the beginning and I am grateful for that. Thanks for your positive attitude!

Sister:

I did not want to leave out my two sisters as I thought about Mother's Day, because they are great examples to me as well of how to be a mom. I have always looked up to Brittney and will always strive to follow in her footsteps. From her dedication to the Gospel to graduating from college to teaching piano or raising her children I want to be her. I miss her all the time and look forward to times when we can talk on the phone or spend time together. Thank you Brittney for showing how great life can be!

Sister:

Sorry Melissa, I had to put this picture on. :) This is the most awkward picture I have seen and we laughed so hard when we saw it. But that's why I love it... because it reminds me of how much fun we have together. We often have deep, introspective conversations, but I always know we will have a good laugh as well. Melissa has always been there for me as a great friend, a mentor, and a good example. I am grateful that we live near each other and can't wait for the day when I don't work, have children and we can spend more time together like we always talk about.

Oh and I thought I would include a better picture to represent the real Melissa.

Running Update

I have been training for 2 and 1/2 months and am just beginning to learn the reward in running for extended periods of time. Yesterday I ran 5.5 miles! This is not too far for those who consider themselves a "runner." However, the most I had run consecutively up to this training was 4 miles. I still have 2 months until my race and will be adding hills and more miles each week. It is still overwhelming and I get nervous thinking about the end result, yet I take it one run at a time. I heard about a team who ran last year and all the runners had cancer. The team captain had just received chemo the day before and was running. Wow! As I hear more stories about others succeeding it helps me to know that I can do it too. I look forward to the race and the other stories I will hear. Lastly, thank you to Barrett for being supportive in the time I spend running, encouraging me when I am not confident, and listening to the many complaints of my physical pains.