Timpanogos Half Marathon

Jeremy ran in and completed his first half marathon this morning. He ran down American Fork Canyon and then to American Fork High School. He has been training for the last several weeks and it paid off. He finished the race in just over two hours!

We were there when he crossed the finish line and we cheered for him. We were so proud!

Here are the boys are showing their pride for their dad. Jeremy received a huge medal that is quite cool (except when it slides off the counter and lands on your toe). He is already planning on running in another half marathon soon--even on the day of the race. Way to go Jeremy!

Tooth Deal

Josh had an extremely loose tooth on Sunday that he was anxious to pull. He and Grandma came up with a great idea: Who will pay Josh $1 to tie his tooth to a string and then to a door to pull it out? I was willing to pay money for that one! Josh was pledged $4 and so preparations began:

First he had his dad tie a string onto his tooth. Then he went over to the door for the actual event:



And here is the end result! Between the deals he made with everyone and the tooth fairy, Josh is five dollars richer. Now that is one smart kid! He is preparing his next tooth so that he can do it again-- hoping to make the same deal.

We Have Walls

It has been quite the journey, building a house. We get a major decision made and think "Whew!" and there is just another major decision waiting to be made. However, it is fun to see the decisions take shape in and on the house. In the last couple of weeks the windows have been installed, all the duct work, electrical and plumbing have been completed, exterior doors have been installed, the roof has been finished, and the drywall has gone up.

The front exterior.

The back exterior. Loving the covered back patio.

Drywall has been completed in the kitchen area.

From the balcony looking down in the great room and fireplace.

The basement rec room, toy room and media room.

Since these pictures, the walls have been mudded and textured. This next week the exterior will be going up. We closed on our existing house this week and we are renting back our house until August 15. It is nice to be able to not have to move twice. There are only about 6 weeks left until the complete date. Man time is going fast!

A Little YW Fun

I went on a photo scavenger hunt tonight with my Mia Maids for Young Women's. We had a great time:
The other two advisers and I teamed up against our Mia Maids. We had a great time wandering around finding the items on our list to take pictures of. This is a picture of us with a tree.

However, this picture took the cake. We saw Jackson Emery at Walmart and asked if we could take his picture. (Of course we explained ourselves.) He was very willing and his wife thought it was funny. What a nice guy. (I was a little embarrassed, can you tell?)

Framing Nears Completion

It has been interesting to watch our new house take shape. Things have been moving along rather quickly, even with all the rain we have had, they aren't too far behind. The framing is almost completed and this week they will be doing the duct work, electrical and plumbing.

The view here is from standing in the kitchen towards the staircase and front hall. Kind of hard to imagine.

The front garage and entry way.

Standing in the great room looking to the kitchen and the Juliet balcony.

Standing on the balcony looking down towards the great room and front entry way.

Standing on the balcony looking at Kayden's room.

View from the great room looking out through the windows to the backyard.

Standing in the backyard looking at the back of the house.

The front of the house. There is Kayden checking out all the wood.

Framing is just about completed. They were just finishing the roof and a couple of other things. It looks completely different now.

The back of the house with the framing almost completed. We are looking forward to using that covered patio!

Dance Dance Dance

That's right--THREE kids in the school's dance festival this year. It was so fun to watch each of them dance and enjoy a lasting tradition that my kids' school has each year. We will definitely miss it at this school, but I am sure we will enjoy the traditions of our new school next year. Here are some highlights of this year's dance festival:

McKay, along with the rest of the fifth grade, were able to sing and do sign language for the Star Spangled Banner to start out the dance festival.

Josh put on quite the show during his dance. They danced to It's A Small World and had to dress in clothes from a different culture. Josh is sporting a Cozumel, Mexico t-shirt along with a Mexican Sombrero.

Josh really got into it had I loved watching him take his dancing so seriously.

Jaxon and the rest of the third grade dance to the Hawaiian Hukilau. He was very good.

At the end of his dance, Jaxon put motioned his finger down his throat (as in gag) to let me know that this was not his choice of dance festival song and dance. However, I enjoyed it.

McKay and the rest of the fifth grade did a medley of songs for their dance and was a lot of fun to watch. Here McKay (in the center with the black cowboy hat) is dancing to I Love the Rainy Nights.

They also danced to Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing and a street song, and Dynamite (which is a favorite among most of the kids at school).

I loved the dance festival this year and so did the kids (even Jaxon). It was entertaining and fun! Way to go boys!

Josh's Kindergarten Program

Joshua's kindergarten class is wrapping up the year and so they put on a program to show us some of the things that they were up to this year. I was so proud of Josh and loved watching him. It was a proud parent moment and I even shed a tear or two.

Here Josh is all ready for his program to start. I love the hats that they made for their program.

Josh is telling everyone what it is about school that he likes. It the program he said, "I like school because school is fun." Later when he came home he told me that really he likes school because of recess.

Josh doing a little jig during the program. He is one cute kid.

During the program they played the song What A Wonderful World and showed pictures that the kids painted to go along with the song. This is Josh's picture. His pictures does show what a wonderful world it is.

Here is Josh with his good buddy Kaden and his teacher Mrs. Bigler. Josh has had a great year this year and Mrs. Bigler has been great!

On the way out to the car, Josh put his arm around Kayden and led him down the crowded halls. I love it when my kids show love and concern for each other. This time I was lucky enough to catch it on camera.