To Health and 5 K's

In order to inspire myself to get regular exercise, I made a goal back in December to run a Half Marathon (Thirteenish miles?). I figured if I made a goal to run 4-6 times a week for..... well forever, I would never be able to measure it. So my sister-in-law Jen and I decided we would train and do it in August. The run is in Provo Canyon and is all down hill (that is what they tell me).

I have been running since then, but not always as consistently as I should (way to go Jen, for being consistent). Jen and I ran a 5 K with our children's school a few weeks ago and then did the Running with Angels 5K at Thanksgiving Point the following week. This is a picture of us at the Running with Angels run. I hesitated putting the picture on, but who gets up and does their hair for a race, not me. Wish me luck. Whatever happens with the runs, at least I am getting healthier, which is the real goal.

My Ten Year Run Is Over

The last time I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting was the year 1998. I was just being released from the singles ward relief society presidency. I was still in school at the U. I was single. Our president was Clinton, 9/11 hadn't happened yet, and I could fill my gas tank for $15. I am sure there are many other noteworthy changes since then, but this is what comes to mind.

About a year ago, Kenny had to speak in sacrament meeting and pronounced to the congregation that in the almost 9 years we had been married that I had never been asked to speak. He has had to speak 7,8,or 9 times during that same time. Nothing came of it until two weeks ago when our bishop asked us to speak together. (We call that nature's spanking...Kenny.)

So last Sunday I broke my run and gave a talk on Family Scripture Study. Kenny spoke on Personal Scripture study and did a great job in the 6 minutes that the youth speaker and I left him. (Apparently I had stored up a lot of things to say in 10 years.)

And thus the next 10 year run begins. The next time I speak in church, Chelsie Clinton will be running for President and I will be paying $15/ gallon for gas.

Can you believe she is 4?

Kinlee turned 4 this month. We had cake and ice cream at Grandma Joyce's house. One of my friends made a cool Backyardigans cake of Pablo for her. She was amazed by it. I sat her by the cake to get a picture. I new I should take a picture of the cake first. She sat and looked at it, and wouldn't look at the camera. Right before I took the picture she reached over and grabbed a handful of icing. You can see the letters are messed up in the picture. I think she was just testing to see if Pablo was real or not. Natalie, you did a great job. Thanks for all of the presents from the family.

Makenna gets some love!

We had my two youngest sisters and their husbands over for dinner a few Sundays ago. It is hard to find couples that both like to eat fish. Kenny and I love it. I told them that I would fix fish and show them how easy it is to make. At one point Makenna got hurt and went to Jon (Donnarae's husband). I thought it was so cute. I had to put it on the blog. With all the grandkids in our family, these guys are going to be pros with kids before theirs ever come along. (You can see Beau is entertaining Daxton in the background). Thanks for coming guys.

I'M HOT!

It was great to hear Daxton utter these beautiful two words. I am ready for some warm weather. We went to St. George this weekend. Kenny had to get some continuing education credits, so we made a vacation out of it. Our neighbors, "The Dukes" ( I know they sound cool just from their name), came with us and Chris went to the classes with Kenny while Becky and all of the kids played. Jen and Troy came with their family just for fun. We are glad they did. We left early on Thursday morning in the snow and hoped for much warmer weather. The boys had a tee time at 1pm that we had to make it to. We dropped the boys off, but we couldn't check into the hotel yet. That would have been a concern had it not been 75 degrees out. We went to a park and played. We even played a game of kick ball. After checking in at the hotel and a swim in the pool, we picked up the boys and went to the Pasta Factory for dinner ( a St. George favorite).

Jen found us "the coolest park I have ever been to" ( a quote from Tanner Duke) south of St. George. It had about four or five times as much play equipment as a regular park. It had a splash area, but it was a little too cold for getting wet. Kinlee got the most wet and that was only because she fell on her bum when she was trying to touch the water. Troy played baseball with the older kids and the younger girls just played on the equipment. It was so nice. We also tried to play some sand volleyball. After swimming at the pool and some needed naps we went to see Horton Hears a Who. Luckily for me everyone was willing to help out with my two girls. I don't usually take my kids to the movie without their dad. We went back to the park after the boys were done with classes and played some fun volleyball. Then we went swimming at the pool and straight to bed.

On Saturday, we spent most of the day in Snow Canyon. The kids loved climbing the rocks the best. Kinlee took off up the side of the mountain after the kids climbing up to see the pioneer names. Kenny followed her up and helped, but that girl can climb! I was surprised. She slid down like it was a slide and Kenny had to keep hold of her. She is definately not like her mom and afraid of heights. We played on the petrified sand dunes and in the sand at the dunes. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to my brother Troy for carrying Kinlee and keeping her happy. She loves her uncle Troy. Daxton was Jed Duke's shadow for the entire trip. Jed is a cool kid and would always include Daxton in whatever he was doing. I never even had to worry about him, because Jed is responsible and Daxton was always with him. It was kind of like having Ronnie around, but a little younger.

On Sunday, we went to the temple and Brigham Young's home. The weather was starting to turn cold and we heard it was snowing in Salt Lake, so we headed home. It was a blizzard by the time we hit Beaver and we didn't drive out of it until we hit Provo. It was a little scary at times. I guess that is the price you pay for a little sun for the weekend.

Too many teeth.. Not enough mouth

I never thought that I would say that Daxton didn't have enough mouth. Daxton went to the dentist today to have three teeth pulled. He was very brave. I was a little nervous about him being on the "laughing gas". All this kid needs is a little less inhibition. Luckily for me the family secrets are still safe. (I'm not quite sure what I was afraid he would say, but you never know unitl you hear it). I don't think he was quite numb on the side that two teeth were pulled out of. He didn't show any signs of crying until the teeth were out, the dentist was gone, and he could see the bloody gauze. When the dentist gave him the shot to numb his mouth, he said that he was going to put some toothpaste in his mouth. When it was all done, Daxton said, "Was that the shot, 'cause it hurt". I'm sure his dad will have some comments about how he is the new time card puncher for Pine Valley Painting, but I will give him a couple days without a complex. He has to go back sometime this year to have more teeth pulled, this time on the top.

Bloody Straight Eyes

Sorry for those of you who faint at the sight of blood. If you say the title with a Brittish accent it doesn't even sound gross. I thought you might want to know that Kinlee's eye surgery went well. The doctor said that it was "technically sound" and that he was pleased. Despite not eating for almost 24 hours, she didn't complain much until she was coming out of the anesthesia. They gave her a medicine prior to leaving us for surgery. She just sat in her little wagon with a silly smile on her face and blew raspberries. It was cute to see her so loopy. This is a picture of her in her cute little hospital pajamas that didn't fit. We didn't get home until almost 8pm and then she went to bed and slept straight until 5:30 am. She has been pretty well back to normal except for blood in her tears and blood shot eyes. Prior to surgery one of her eyes would drift in when she looked at you, even though her eyes were fairly straight with glasses. As you can see in the second picture, her eyes are fairly straight on (she is looking a little to the right.) Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts, we appreciate it.