let's go fly a kite! (Easter & General Conference '10)

We had a beautiful Easter and Conference this April.

We enjoyed hunting for eggs with both sets of grandparents and cousins,

visiting the Dinosaur Museum, watching Conference, and flying giant kites!

Halle & Grandpa John did a great job getting that butterfly

up in the air, even with very little wind!

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"High-five, Cuz!"

Aunt Heidi and Baby Avaree

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Grandma Dixie's new chickens!

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Celebrating SPRING at a school classroom party!

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Halle with two of her favorite classmates,

Logan & good ol' what's-her-face

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Huntin' eggs at Grandma K.'s church,

but first: time for lunch...Happy Meals!

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Benson cracked me up because he was not about to get

his hands dirty holding greasy chicken nuggets.

So he carefully wrapped each one up into a napkin to eat it!

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Relieved the Easter Bunny found us all the way out in Vernal,

and excited to watch our new "Princess & The Frog" movie!

Wyatt lovin' his new pocket-size Primary Children's Songbook

Mr. Cool

Always fun to play at Grandma's!

playing things like

Dollhouse,

Cars and Ramps,

& Play-Doh!

This was the park I remember going to most

when I was a kid. Makes me feel nostalgic...

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It was fun to watch "Annie", Grandma's robot

vacuum go around doing her chores...

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs!

Digging for bones at the Dinosaur Museum

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I was so proud of my kids and how reverent and quiet

they were during Conference. Halle and Wyatt even took notes!

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Li'l Beethoven playing around

on Aunt Fawn's Pianoforte

Conference Brunch at Fawn's. YUM!

Dad with his standard 'thumbs up' I thought this platter was so cute!

29+1=Lots of Fun!

For my thirtieth birthday, and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the day Brett put the engagement ring on my finger (he proposed to me on my 20th birthday), Brett planned a surprise weekend-getaway. And boy did he ever plan! He recreated the night he proposed and he also REALLY took me by surprise when we slept not only in the same B&B, but the same room as we did our wedding night!

Isn't he such a romantic softy???

Here we are at Tuscany.

I had the salmon, he had the pork chops. Both were divine!

I believe I'd recall ordering the pasta the night he proposed...

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the beautiful lobby of the Inn on the Hill

it is so ornate and elegant!

For breakfast we had a tray delivered to our room with Apple-Cream Cheese French Toast, Orange Juice, and Cinnamon Bananas with real Whipped Cream. So good but we only had a few bites because a couple hours later we gorged ourselves at the brunch buffet at the Little America.

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Here's some pictures from our suite:

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This is the view from the 3 southern windows in the room,

overlooking Temple Square & the city...breathtaking!

I'm pouting because ten years ago this was a window that looked out onto the temple. Now it holds a much needed A/C unit, but still...sad to see that view is no longer available from that West window...

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Brett's favorite part about the Brunch Buffet?

The Omelettes.

My favorite part?

Easy! THE CREPES!

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Look at that skinny man!

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We loved walking around the grounds of the McCune Mansion.

This is a statue of a Boar in the garden--the plaque claimes

if you rub it's nose you'll have good luck!

sometimes free-agency doesn't feel like the greatest thing in the world.

that's it.
that title is basically all I can say at this time.
or maybe having free-agency ourselves doesn't stink as much as other people having free-agency. sometimes I wish I could make their decisions for them.

MY CHUBBY BUDDIES...

I'M A BREAKFAST PERSON. I CANNOT GO WITHOUT IT, OTHERWISE I FEEL NAUSEOUS AND GET A BAD HEADACHE. LATELY, THIS HAS BEEN MY DELICIOUS BREAKFAST OF CHOICE: EGG WHITE, SPINACH, & FAT-FREE FETA OMELETTE WITH SLICES OF SWEET, JUICY ORANGE. MMMMMM, ESPECIALLY WITH A LITTLE GREEN TOBASCO ON THE TOP!

ON ANOTHER NOTE, WYATT AND CARSON HAVE BEEN MY EXERCISING BUDDIES! I USUALLY GO TO THE GYM, BUT ON PARTICULARLY BUSY DAYS I DO A 20-MINUTE JILLIAN VIDEO. THE BOYS ENJOY IT BUT HAVE BEEN BUMMED OUT WHEN IT GETS TO THE WEIGHTS PART BECAUSE THEY CAN'T PARTICIPATE AS MUCH. SO THE OTHER DAY I PICKED UP SOME 1-LB. WEIGHTS FOR THEM TO USE. WYATT WAS IN MUSCLE-HEAVEN! CHECK OUT HIS FACE ON THE BOTTOM PICTURE AS HE ****STRAINS**** TO LIFT THAT HEAVY 2 POUNDS!

it's within us...

Last night Brett and I were talking about the power our doubts and fears can have over us. And how crucial it is to live your life in a way that the Spirit can draw near to you in order to remove those insecurities. I think sometimes the hardest kind of faith to have is faith in yourself.

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We can believe in others, we can even believe in answers to our own prayers--it's not hard to have faith that our Heavenly Father is real and aware of us, but why is it so easy to lose faith in our own abilities and strengths? Isn't that like saying we don't have faith that He will help us be everything we need to be? As though He is not enough to make up the difference? And yet we do. So frequently we receive answers to prayers, we come to know His will for our lives, and still we hesitate because we doubt our own capability to follow-thru with that will. If we have come to believe that a particular path is what Heavenly Father wants for us, and more importantly if we have come to believe that path will bring blessings into our lives, why is it so hard to take the first step simply because we foolishly wonder if we have what it takes to make it down that path to begin with? With our knowledge of where we come from, our knowledge of our individual worth and divine heritage as children of a KING, just what is it that we feel we might be lacking? It's there. Everything we need is there within us. The challenge is having the faith that it's there and that we'll be able to draw from the divine within us when things get hard. I'm starting to believe that's a big part of what we're sent to earth to learn: how to tap into that Divinity so we can reach our full potential.

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I know the path I need to take. Brett knows the path WE need to take. Now we just need to have a little faith in ourselves.

what I gave myself for my birthday? two minutes.

Today is the 30th anniversary of my debut here into mortality!

Yes, I say 30 LOUD AND PROUD! I am excited about this new chapter in my life. I've felt 30 for a while now...may as well have the badge of honor to go along with it!

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A little update on the mass-effort to lost a few L-B's: after I fell off the wagon on Monday, I realized the key to my eating right is exercising EVERY DAY. Days that I exercise I am soooo much more aware of what I'm putting in my mouth and have more discipline as I don't want my physical efforts to go in vain. So far it's working out. And for my birthday Carson gave me extra motivation when we were in a large bathroom stall together at Paradise Bakery (sweet Dixie took me to lunch where I had a delicious salad and splurged on a cup of creamy potato soup!). So here I am with my two boys in the large bathroom stall, there' s a lady in the stall next to me and a woman waiting for her turn, so...full bathroom. The boys "go" and now I'm up. As I place my pink derrierre on the royal throne, Carson booms in his echoing voice, "Mom, I see your big, fat butt!" I kind of chuckle in agreeance, but he continues with wide eyes, "No really, that is a BIG. FAT. BUTT!" Ooooookay, Carse, I get it. But he is not to be silenced as he runs over to Wyatt pointing at me, "Wyatt, go look at Mom's big fat butt!" At this point it's safe to say I am thoroughly mortified and am now physically covering his mouth with my hand. Thanks, Carson--you motivated me to order healthier foods for lunch today. Way to offer your support, buddy.

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Back to my birthday present to myself: I'm trying to save up my "birthday splurginess" for this weekend when Brett is whisking me away on a surprise celebration, so I hit the gym after dinner and (here it comes...) I pushed myself harder and shaved two minutes off my 2-mile jog! I've been frustrated because I've been doing intervals for 2 miles for my cardio workouts and I haven't liked my time on it. So tonight I ran as long and as hard as I could and in the end I was 2 minutes faster than I've ever been!

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Happy Birthday to me, AND to my Big, Fat Butt! :)

(in a weak voice...) "must be strong...must not give in...must have choc...olate...

I'm failing already!
Today I ate a handful of chocolate chips.
Why is it when I decide I won't eat anything like that suddenly it's all I can think about? I swear before I chose to deprive myself of it, I hadn't given it a second thought--now all I think about is how much I want a piece of bread or a pan of brownies or a bag of pepperoni.
I feel so hungry, like visiting an all-you-can-eat buffet!

WILLLLLLLL POWWWWWWEEEERRRRRRR!!!!

Good thing I'm doing a weightlifting class tonight with Heather...
How much weight do you think you have to lift to burn off 1/2 c. of chocolate chips?

Wyatt's a Killer Whale! (Or at least he's on their soccer team!)

May is for Me.

OK, this is it. May is "The Month". This is the month I am testing my body to see if it just needs "more" from me or if something is wrong here...

Since January I have been pretty dang faithful exercising an hour on an average of 3 days a week for (which is 3 more than I was prior to that) and eating fairly well, with the occasional splurge. By eating well, I mean my typical diet was:
Breakfast, one of the following:
- egg white omelette with spinach and fat-free feta cheese
- oatmeal
- whole grain, low-fat waffles with fruit
- yogurt
- low-fat cold cereal
- scrambled egg with low-fat turkey sausage
Lunch, one of the following:
- baked potato with fat-free sour cream
- sweet potato (no sugar or butter)
- cooked spinach
- salad (spring mix, apple or orange, fat-free dressing, about 1/8 c. walnuts)
Dinner
I cook the typical meals but I use low-fat or fat-free ingredients as much as possible and I typically avoid the "naughty-naughty" foods.

I've even been good when we eat out to choose some healthier options, such as salads or steamed vegetables over french fries; marinara sauce instead of creamy alfredo, etc.

Could I work myself harder? Yes. Could I deprive myself of more foods? Sure. And yet I feel I'm overall eating healthier than I have in a very long time and definitely exercising more than I EVER have. And yet I am not only "not losing", I am actually GAINING! And don't bother telling me it's "muscle"...it's not. I'm on the verge of being too fat for my FAT PANTS (ugh, it's so depressing saying that). I admit I have not had this huge desire to lose all this weight, but simply wanted to live a healthier lifestyle and be happy where that put me. However, packing on more weight was NOT IN THE PLAN. And we all know how much I like to make a plan. This is so aggravating. I'm seriously starting to wonder if something is up with my body.

So May is IT. For the next 31 days, I'm depriving myself of more things (nothing extreme, just stuff I enjoy that I feel could be hampering my succes like my morning glass of orange juice, eating bread, rice, and pasta, etc.) and stepping up the exercising. I have a goal to exercise AT LEAST 4 days a week, but shooting for 6. I want to push myself harder. In my opinion, I should see results by the end of the month. If I don't, then I really think I need to consider seeing a medical professional, because seriously, I don't understand the weight-gain. I can see maybe only maintaining my weight because yes, I could work harder, but the mere fact that I'm working at it at all tells me my weight should in the very least be steady if not going lower.

So wish me luck--we shall see!

Here's my starting weight and measurements:
WEIGHT: 171.4
BICEPS (or lack thereof): 13"
WAIST/STOMACH: 39.50"
BUTT (I like to affectionally call it my 'THUTT' as there's no real definition to where my thighs end and my butt begins): 44.75"
THIGHS: 27.75"

P.S. Could I have picked a worse month than my birth month? I guess November and December are decidedly worse months to resist goodies, but I have to disclose that on my birthday I will be allowing myself a little treat. I am turning 30, you know...that in itself deserves a sweet acknowledgment.