You just have to love a baby's laugh...

I was putting Kelsi to bed the other night and she was so slap happy. I always want to remember her sweet giggle.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 6th anniversary, and it has been such a wonderful 6 years. I wish I had digital wedding pictures to post, but they would take to much time to find and dig out. :) The past 6 years have been wonderful. We have both graduated from college, moved 6 times, 4 of which were cross-country back and forth to Connecticut, we have 2 kids, worked a real job, gone back to grad school... And had a great time. DJ is truly wonderful and I am so grateful for him. That fateful kiss almost 7 years ago started an eternity of bliss. :) (HE kissed ME, in case there was any question- he even admits to it now after 6 years.)

Last night the Swensons watched the girls and we went to Pei Wei and then shopped for a double jogging stroller and found a great deal on running shoes for DJ. Does anyone know of a good brand of jogging stroller? We were going to go to PF Changs, but as I was at the grocery store the day before, they had asparagus at a killer price, as well as spinach and strawberries, and I knew I had London Broil in the freezer, which we grilled in addition to fresh pineapple, and the asparagus... Why go out for an expensive dinner, when you have all the fixings for an amazing dinner at home-plus Pei Wei was really good. We also made roasted sweet and red potatoes, which we LOVE, we dipped fresh bread in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and had triple chocolate ice cream with fresh strawberries and snickers bar... but what to do the kids?

We decided to have a candlelight pajama party picnic (bajammies as Jes called them). (Thanks for the idea Kelley) It was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures : )

(You can't see the table very well because of a placemat, but my mom painted it for Jes for Christmas with the "Three Little Pigs- it is fantastic) (Kelley wanted a picture- so here it is)

(This picture is what you get for setting it on the counter with a timer)Thanks Hon, for a WONDERUL 6 years!!! I love you.

I've got a Girlie-Girl

So apparently I am on a blogging kick. Enjoy while it lasts. :)

Kelsi has been sick for the last 5 weeks with a bad cold, at least one bad ear infection (the other ear had too much wax) and a sinus infection. I took her back in for a second round of antibiotics when she didn't get completely better and now I have my little girl back!!! Her personality is blossoming. I was worried because she wasn't talking a ton during a key language development month, but the poor girl could not hear! She has been saying new words right and left for the past few days. What a fun age!

It's Spring!!!

Spring is Sprung, the grass is riz... YEAH!!!!!! We have a beautiful tree in full bloom just outside our front window. What beautiful weather!!!





A little blurry, but funny girl.

I did it!

My triathlon was yesterday and I had a lot of fun. It felt REALLY good- I didn't go so fast that I was dead yesterday, but I completed the whole thing and had a great time. It was really nice to make the goal so long ago (in January) and complete it!!!

Here is the start. I am just behind the lady with the neon yellow jacket with the white stripe going down my black pant leg.

Here is the tail end of the run just before the bike. Our lovely camera battery died so we didn't get many pictures, but hopefully my parents got some good ones, too.

We think that is me in the swim in the center on my final lap. :)

My family and friends were SOOOOOO supportive. DJ was amazing and encouraged me to get out of bed and train, and many days he either got the kids up in the morning or put them to bed- some days towards the end both. Thanks Hon. My friends I was training with (Emily and Emily) bought me some energy gels the day before, called me and had a big poster on my door when I got home- so nice! My mom came to watch 3 weeks out of knee surgery, Brittany called me the morning of, on her way to take a final at 6:45 (yes- I was already up), Kelley called me from Kansas just before the race, and at the race were DJ, the girls, my parents, DJ's parents came and Britt came after her final and caught the swim. Everyone was sooooooo supportive. THANK YOU!!!

My sisters, DJ and I are thinking about doing one is August now. :) I am going to keep training, but work on increasing speed now that I know I can do it. What fun. I highly recommend sprint triathlons. Mine included a 5K run (3.1 miles), a 10 mile bike, and a 1/4 mile swim. I had to train for it, but it was very do-able. Triathlons are great because they are well rounded, full body, and you don't get overuse injuries as easily. Plus they are lifetime skills. I have always wanted to run a 5K and last week was my first one ever. (and I ran the whole time without stopping to walk- a HUGE achievement for me) :) DJ and I love bike riding with the girls. Last summer we often put the girls to bed by getting them in their PJ's and going for a ride around 8:00 pm (which came in great handy camping). Before, I couldn't keep up with DJ, even with him pulling the trailor. Now I can totally keep up and we can go for miles. The only swimming lessons I have taken were the summer before I turned 9. The first time I went swimming this January, I swam 6 laps and was THRILLED. Now I can swim a mile (64 laps) or more. What a great safety skill to have. Plus swimming is great exercise. Have I talked you into it yet? :)

What we have been up to...

A while ago I showed Jessica a video on my friend Michelle's blog and of course she wanted to do it, too. A few minutes later Daddy walked in the door and she requested "flips."

For those of you who know Jessica, Gymnastics is a perfect fit. I put her in a dance class last semester but pulled her out this semester to save up and search for a gymnastics class. I finally chose Baillie's in Draper since I will be down there often helping my mom for the next little bit helping her since she had knee surgery. I found this cute little leotard at Kid to Kid. I love that place.

Jessica has been busy. She also made it to the dentist a month or two ago and had 2 little cavities filled. The dentist was awesome and I highly recommend him. His name is Dr. Smyth and is located around 7050 S and Highland Drive. I had gone somewhere else where they were going to "put her under" and I just had a weird feeling about the place- mainly it was EMPTY. My friend recommended this Dr. and he was great. We had our free consultation the next day, and he was able to squeeze us in to do the actual fillings. He told me we could put her under, but at Primary Children's (as opposed to the other place was in-house), or we could do a mild anesthetic or do it with nothing. He recommended that if it was his child, he would try it with nothing and if it bothered her, they could try something else. She just watch Dora the entire time, mesmerized by the headphones, and I am sure the laughing gas helped. :) She did AWESOME and only flinched once at the very end. We were able to walk out and go straight to lunch- no numbing, no anesthesia- it was awesome. I was WAY impressed with the staff and how they worked with her. They showed her the "barbie pillows (cotton cylinders), the tiny washcloths, let her feel the drill vibrate on her finger, and even let her play with the blue light that hardens the filling. It was awesome!Kelsi LOVES to go outside and is always finding her coat and trying to put it on and have us zip it up- even when it is plenty warm outside. She is particularly attached to a certain rain coat and won't let us take it off of her.


Kelsi got stitches a while back- here they are the day before she got them out. They did a great job sewing her up and she healed very nicely.
Here are the girls watching General Conference... They looked so cute working on their conference packet. We got a few good pictures, but of course it didn't last long. :) They did really well, though. Conference was AMAZING!!!
Jes LOVES to go swimming. Here she is sporting some of our goggles- or "joggles" as she calls them.
Just a fun, WARM spring day. So, the weather says it is supposed to snow this week?We have been having fun and staying really busy. Sorry I haven't updated in FOREVER!

busy busy busy

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Happy Easter- I hope everyone had a great weekend. We did!

I have been REALLY busy lately... Okay most of it is brought on by myself. A big time-consumer is that I am training for my first thing ever- a triathlon (sprint distance) that is THIS SATURDAY!!!! (I'm just a little nervous) It is the Telos Timp Tri on April 18th in Orem. It involves a 5K run, 10 mile bike ride and just under 1/4 mile swim-one after the other. Wish me luck! It feels so good to be getting in shape and I love the balance of a triathlon instead of a marathon (like my sisters did- crazy), especially because the running is my least favorite part- but I am improving. Last Saturday I ran my very first 5K (I know- pathetic) but I achieved my goal of running the ENTIRE time, even when I so wanted to walk after the HUGE hill(s).

I have also been visiting my mom who just had successful knee surgery and is in recovery. She is doing really well, but I know it is so hard for her. LOTS of Physical Therapy. GO MOM!!!


The other thing I have been up to is teaching my neighbors to sew! Teaching really is my love- I majored well (Home Ec Ed.) It all started with a skirt Jessica's friend Noelle was wearing... everyday. I borrowed it and made a pattern from it and realized how easy and fast it would be to make... Noelle's mom, Tami, sews, but has never sewn garments so I decided to teach her. Then I talked to this person, and another person... and pretty quickly it grew. In my family we have a saying that pretty much describes all of the women. "If it is worth doing, it is worth doing to death." So, 10 skirts later (3 matching for my girls, 2 for cousin Pyper and 1 for cousin Rachel) I am calling it quits for a while... but the ball is still rolling. So far the court total not including mine are 3 + 3 + 1 + 1 1/2 +... My sister Kelley is also on a sewing binge right now, so it has been fun to trade stories. So... I am a true teacher and made a handout that explains how to make the skirt, how much fabric to by, measurements, instructions- complete with diagrams. Silly me- but it has been fun (and easier to type it out once and have it forever). If you want a copy of the pattern, just let me know and I can email it to you.

Another reason I have not shared photos recently is that I lost our new camera. Brittany came to visit with her 3 kids to go skiing for the weekend, and when they left, I couldn't find the camera, and still couldn't find it... I figured it would just show up as we cleaned up. Finally, 2 weeks later before Easter Weekend I was cleaning (again) and packing and I prayed that I could find it. I thought to look in Jessica's backpack for Kelsi's sandal that was also missing, and there was the camera (a little worse for the wear) mixed in with all her treasured toys she has been carting around for the last several weeks. It is found!!! Yeah!!! It is so nice that Heavenly Father answers all kinds of prayers, even about cameras.