A few more Las Vegas pics

We had a great new years in Vegas. And now maybe I will start to get caught up on posting. Just a little glimpse into our fun.

Bridgett and Wyatt cracking each other up while they build a marble track.

A group of hoodlums hanging out by the bbq.

All the boys sharing a bit of Wii time. They didn't even get too annoyed with Wyatt blocking the TV half the time.

A little look at the excitement of our New Years Eve dance off. Yep, we are big partyers.

Valley of Fire

A couple of days after Christmas we headed down to Las Vegas to visit the Turleys. My parents and Bridgett came too. Since they had been in AZ for Christmas, they brought all of the Larson kids with them until Heidi and Mark could arrive a couple of days later.

The first full day we were there Caleb convinced us all to load up in 3 cars and head out to spend the day at The Valley of Fire. It was worth the hour drive, the kids absolutely loved it. Th weather was perfect and there were so many places to run around and climb and explore little caves and rock formations. I can imagine that in the summer if feels a lot more like the fire it is named for, but in December, it was great.

Alaina and Alan both had to work that day, so they missed out, but Cheyenne came to give a us a little more teenage street cred.

All of the little kids crammed into a cave they found on one of the trails. I think the petroglyphs next to them say something about how fat people and skinny people can hike on that trail.

Gavin, Rachel, Hannah and Miran hanging out on a cliff. Some of them may have climbed a little higher than their grandfather would have preferred, but luckily he and Caleb brought them all down in one piece.

Wyatt really loved all of the climbing too. I don't he has ever been so glad that we didn't think to throw in the hiking backpack.

So many cool rock formations everywhere we looked.

All of kids (both young and old) had a great time fitting into little a big caves and making themselves at home.

Wyatt getting a little ride, not that he didn't think he could make it alone.

Henry and Tia heading up, gotta keep that hat low.

Hannah decided to bring sassy back to the great outdoors with lime green beaded socks and a purple sequined hat. Pair that with your turquoise capri leggings and a pink hoodie and you can make even the most conservative ground squirrels rethink their spring apparel.

We really enjoyed our day, even the scenic driving. I would highly recommend it... as long as it is winter.

Christmas Morning

Ahh, Christmas Morning. I am still very fortunate that my kids are always tired enough on Christmas Eve not to wake up before 7am. Wyatt was a bit afraid of walking into the living room, but Gavin and Henry were excited to lead the way. Gotta love those faces.

Once Wyatt realized there were some new toys for him, he cheered right up and got to vacuuming.

There was a lot of excitement about all of the many legos that Santa brought.

Even Wyatt dived in to help the boys play with their Legos.

Many hours of assembly followed throughout the day...

We decided to check out presents from Santa first thing in the morning and then open the other gifts after church. Henry decided that he needed to get back into his pajamas in order to open his presents. Can't say that I blame him.

Wyatt was much more into this part. He got right to texting his friends and playing some music and singing.

Christmas really is a lot of fun with these guys around. We had a great weekend with them.

Christmas Eve

We had a great Christmas Eve at Nathan and Stacy's. There was of course lots of Wii time, and then kids even spent some time outside in the unseasonably warm weather.

Wyatt stayed focused on stealing remoted and then bringing them to an adult.

There was a small and very creative nativity, including a shepard in a sweater vest who bowed over his guitar next to baby Jesus.

Time to open Christmas Eve PJs.

The boys all loved their cute warm pajamas.

Then Wyatt decided he was in a bad mood and hated his pajamas, and would do whatever it took to try and get them off.

All of the kids snuggled up on the couch to Skype with the people in Iowa.

At least Jaren really liked his new jammies.

We Love Christmas Lights

We love seeing the Christmas Lights. And we especially love going to see them at Temple Square.We also really love going to see them with these wonderful cousins.

My shepards

For our church Christmas party this year the theme was Night in Bethlehem and they asked people to dress up like they were from Bethlehem. Not that many of us did, but the boys were pretty excited when our neighbor called to say she had some great stuff they could borrow. They looked awesome. In every picture Henry had on his tough guy face. When I told him he looked like kind a mean shepard, he said, "Ammon was a shepard and he cut off the bad guys' arms."

Ok, point taken.

December is passing up by

This month has been passing us by in a hurry. We have been having a lot of fun and trying to stay warm. Wyatt has been running around like a maniac making messes everywhere he goes.

We put up the tree and decked all the halls.

We've done some baking and plenty of eating.

We've gotten dressed up to look handsome and festive.

And we have even had time to do some hanging out and reading lots of books.

Been having lots of fun and hopefully I'll get around to blogging more of it soon. Meanwhile, we will keep working hard to have a lot more fun this month. Only 4 more days of school before the break.

Looking Handsome for Church

Today was the Primary program at church, where all of the kids 12 and older get to a chance to participate talks and song for the whole church to watch. The teachers did a great job this year of helping the kids put on a fabulous program. This has to be one of the favorite meetings of the year for everyone who attends. Such cute talks are written by all of the kids and of course the songs are the best. Both Gavin and Henry gave a talk this year, it was Henry's first year of being both old enough and brave enough to participate. Here they are looking really handsome before church.

Gavin got his first suit... and it was an amazing $8 DI find... nice work Caleb. He loves it, and it is a 3-piece. Very fancy.

Henry loves to get dressed up and wear a tie. He is hoping that we can find him a suit too. Since Gav's was so inexpensive, I am now on the look out for an ensemble worthy of Henry.

Wyatt wasn't in the program, but he of course loved watching it. Not the best at posing for photos today, as you can see from the garden shovel he is holding, but always cute.

First big snow of the year

While I was enjoying the sun in Saint George, the boys were all at home and enjoying the first snow of the year. They threw snowballs and made a snowman, then proceeded to knock it down.

They also made some intense snow angels. Looks like lots of very cold fun.

Glad this white junk isn't here to stay, yet.

6th time is a charm- Snow Canyon Half Marathon

Yesterday I ran my 6th half marathon. I didn't take this picture while running, I almost carried my phone in a backpack so that I could take a couple of photos, but decided that I didn't want to be bothered with extra baggage. This is a picture from a year before when I visited Snow Canyon with the fam and thought it would be a great place to go for a run. My fabulous sister-in-law, Stacy, had heard of this race and a couple months ago said she was going to go. I ended up deciding to go a long too and even conned Caryn into coming. As adventures go, the plan changed several time in the couple of weeks before the race and Caryn and I ended up going to Saint George alone. (Stacy caught the stomach bug that was circulating right before the race and wasn't able to come at all. We really missed her.)

We drove down on Friday night, slept a few hours at Caryn's aunt's house and woke up to fridged temperatures and some pretty high winds. We rode the bus up to about 4 miles above the state park to start the race. The wait was close to 25 minutes by the time they started. Since there was snow on the ground, we were numb and shivering at the race start. We hit 2 miles before I really felt my toes and fingers regain full circulation. Luckily as the sun got higher and we entered the park, the mountains blocked out the wind and we warmed up. It was such a beautiful and amazing place and even though there weren't as many downhill stretches as people had led us to believe. The scenery really carried us through. At 7 miles we were at 58 minutes and quite amazed at our progress. Caryn and I split up after that since she races much fast than I do, and we were each going against a different personal time to beat. So I turned on the music and kept on moving.

When I was still feeling strong at 10 miles, I knew that I had it in the bag and ended a great run with my fastest ever time- 1:57:43. What?!?! I know, I am surprised too. 10 minutes faster than my previous personal best.

And while I did feel a bit off for the rest of the day and was exhausted beyond belief by the time we hurried to shower and drove home to go on dates with our husbands, I didn't end up sick. And that to me is another reason to call it a Fabulous race.

There is a point in every race I have ever done were I start to feel amazed at the world around me and amazed at what the human body can do. As I pass people of all ages and with all kinds of stories out spending their time running, it just chokes me up a little. Somehow no matter what excuse you use for running or what you use to motivate you, running is about doing something good for your mind, body and soul. And I for one am so grateful that I have reached that realization in my life and hope to see myself at the age and mental condition of several women that I passed who have much more life experience that I do, but were out their running a race to prove something to themselves and just because they want to. The only thing better than that is having wonderful women to be running along side you.

If you haven't had a good run lately... I'll see you on MWF and Sat at 6:10am on the corner. ;-)

(for those that are interested... and since Caryn may not blog about this for 6 months, she ran a personal best of 1:49:40... that girl is "one fast cookie.")