the dinner table

has taken on new meaning in our home the past few weeks. I have been a bit discouraged that our evenings are so crazy that we don't have complete meals together and are usually eating them on our way out door to some sporting event. Phil and I have discussed how glad we are that our boys are able to participate on their respective teams, we think it is great for them, but dinnertime definitely suffers.

Enter "food at night", which is what Jacob was thankful for in his prayers tonight. About 8:30 the past few weeks, we all seem to gather from our various activities at the kitchen table and chow down. They boys seem to eat much better after running around and quite frankly it is more pleasant that most of our normal dinners. Tonight we had tacos, zucchini bread, taco salad, cereal and sprite. Not the most traditional meal, but we were all so happy to be hanging out together, hearing about the day and just goofing off. Much more informal and casual than regular meal time, "Who wants ice cream?", but I'm thankful to have a bit of time at the end of the day with my boys. Perhaps it is a sign that our family is growing up, but I take it as a sign that we're growing a bit closer together. Thanks for making the dinner table a happy place to be boys!!

Every run is hard

I finished up my training for the Top of Utah marathon on Friday - 10 "easy" miles as my last long run. Every training period has ups and downs. Having to miss a few training runs for various reasons, little aches and pains that are a worry, feeling like it would never end. I did have one perfect 15 mile run: the weather was ideal, my speed was where my plan told me to be, I didn't feel like death at the end of the run and I felt like I could actually keep going if I absolutely had to! That was one run in about 80 over the course of 16 weeks that felt great. Boy, that isn't the greatest odds is it?

So as I finished up my last big run of 10 "easy" miles on Friday, I wondered why, after all these runs are none of them ever "easy" to me? I seem to be able to push as hard as I have to, and that's about all I have to give! I'm even ready to be done at the end of my slow 3 milers. Every run pushes me and hopefully, somehow makes me stronger.

As a runner, I feel a need to relate running to all things in life! As I ran on Friday, I thought about our current stage of life. There are very few "easy" stages. When we were new parents, we wondered how life would ever be any harder. It was so physically demanding and so new. Now we look back and think how simple life was back then. And I know in the future we'll look back on these times with our boys and their various interests as some of the easier times when our worries were few. They are all in bed by 10:00 at night, we don't have to worry about who they are hanging out with and where they are, they are all doing fairly well.

But in the moment, it is a hard ride!! We are currently in the stage of hurry up and eat your dinner, we need to be three places at once in 5 minutes!! In all the hustle and bustle, it is fun to have a few "perfect" moments. Just like my perfect run, sometimes they are hard to come by, but we had one such moment on Thursday night. After running around getting everyone where they needed to be, we all ended up at Ben's soccer game together. Jacob and I showed up late and sat down to watch Ben. He was amazing!! I have never seen him work so hard or have so much fun! I had to keep checking to make sure it was him. It made all the running around, forcing kids to leave their toys to go get some exercise, and snarfing down dinner, worth it!! The air was crisp and cool, the mountains towered in the background and it was so relaxing and enjoyable.

So you see, life is indeed a marathon. Thank heavens there are aid stations along the way to keep us going and buoy us up. Thanks Ben for keeping us going and let's hope for another great run on Saturday!!! I'm about due for an easy one, don't you think?

Bens' Baptism

Benjamin and another friend named Benjamin were baptized yesterday!! It was such a nice day and a nice family to share it with. We had most of our families here (missed you Em & Barry & JD), and it was just such nice reminder of the things that are important in life. We have been so busy, bustling about trying to get kids where they needed to be and everything done that needed to be done, that it was nice to sit back and reflect upon the importance of the gospel and starting clean and pure.

(I apologize for standing in front of John the Baptist! Sorry about that.)

Ben & Ben
These boys are good friends

It was a great day. We are proud of you Ben and the great young man you are becoming. Thanks for reminding us what it is all about!

First Day of School

Well, it took a week, but now everyone is back in school...including Micah!! I had a few tears the first day as I waited for the teacher to let all the kids in, but he is doing so great in Mrs. Jenkins kindergarten class. I think we're going to make it!!

First Day for Jake and Ben
First day for Micah
(He looks all broken up about not seeing me for a few hours doesn't he?)

It's nice to be back in to routine and nice to already have Labor Day off!!