Mud

Today was my birthday and it was long planned that Ian and Liam would be there to cheer me on for my mud run. It was such a GREAT morning full of good old fashion fun in the mud.  Liam joined the last obstacle to get his mud fix and then joined me in the suds at the finish line!  Such a memorable and wonderful morning!  I am so blessed to have the wonderful family and friends that I do. 

Liam Finishes The Book of Mormon

Liam finished reading The Book of Mormon tonight.  He's probably read half of it on his own and I've been very impressed with his reading skills - and with larger words such as "wickedness" and "Nephites" and many more he sounded out on his own.

I've ordered the Old and New Testaments in the same story board format and also the Doctrine and Covenants.  He's excited to get those soon!

5K and Mud Run

Liam joined me for an early morning in Farmington, Utah... we did a 5K fun run together and he really pushed me!  We would do little sprints here and there... sometimes he would do them alone and then come all the way back to get me.  I was really proud of him for going over 3 miles - he was proud of himself and told everyone afterward that one mile is the furthest he's ever gone before now.  ;)

Here we are after the run.  He was anxious to get the show on the road for the next part... a mud run for kids ONLY!

As we waited for the families and tons of kids to gather for the race, we met up with Heather and Nathan Sachs and their two boys Taylor and Lee.  Liam remembered them well, but it's been a long time since we made it up to their neck of the woods!  It was such a treat to see them especially for a cool event like this one!

Below is a photo of Liam going back to help his friend, Lee, finish the race.  Heather reported there was a bit of applause from the stands for his good deed.  She also said Lee was going to throw in the towel until Liam came along.  So proud of our boy!

After all the age groups finished their runs, the firemen had a hose going to spray the kids off.  I will post more photos of Liam braving the spray!  He was such a nut getting closer and closer to the mouth of the hose!  

 Here is a photo of Taylor all soaked!

It was such a fun morning!  On our way home we stopped to help clean the church and Liam got a good work out cleaning chalk boards and lining trash cans.  We then went swimming for about 2 hours. 

Me and Ian in Park City - celebrating at one of our favorite places, Chimayo!

Ian and I had an anniversary date scheduled to celebrate 12 years so Sadie came over to babysit.  She later reported that they only played for a little while before Liam ASKED to go to bed!  We were stunned to hear that.  I don't think that has ever happened... and now we know the formula of activities to cook up in order for this kiddo to be completely worn out! 

5K + playing in the mud + cleaning chalkboards + 2 hours swimming = Worn Out Liam

Solo

Liam flew solo on the stand today as he stood before the congregation to bear his testimony.

For most of July he's been anxious to get up there again and do it without my help.  So, this last Friday night as we had our pillow talk, I let him know that this Sunday was fast and testimony Sunday.  He was excited to hear that.  He recited to me what he wanted to say and then asked what else he should say.  I responded with, "What else do you know about the church?"  So he added a couple things on his second rendition.  He then asked me to write it all down for him.  I declined to do so and reminded him that when he gets up to bear testimony he needs to speak from his heart.  This isn't a planned talk that we organize and write down.  A testimony is something that we feel and then express in words at the time we bear it.  He understood and said, "Oooooh!"

So this morning Liam walked to the stand right after the Bishop was done with his testimony.  I thought it was sweet of him to let another little girl go first since they both had the same excitement to share their testimonies.

Liam said:

"I'd like to bear my testimony, that I know this church is true.  I am thankful to Jesus Christ for dying on the cross for us so we can repent of our sins and live with Him and Heavenly Father again in heaven.  I am thankful for President Monson and I know he is a true prophet.  (He got stuck here with his nerves, but was able to utter that last sentence eventually as he looked to me for guidance... which I didn't provide - I only smiled in approval.)  I love the scriptures and know they are true.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen"

He came reverently back to our pew and sat on my lap as I hugged and whispered praises to him.  I then got up there to bear my own testimony of the truthfulness and goodness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was a lovely meeting.  I love hearing the personal witnesses of Christ each fast Sunday.  We have such a special group of people in our ward family.

Prayer

Liam has been very willing to say the family prayer when we’ve ask him this last week.  We used to get a lot of push back where he’d claim is was our turn, etc.   So his willingness is such a welcome change.

He had a particularly rough night Wednesday and we had to walk out of his room without saying prayers.  I went back to him a few minutes later when he calmed down.  I asked if he wanted me to say a prayer with him.  He said he already talked to Heavenly Father.  I told him I was proud of him for saying his own personal prayers and how great that was.

The next night I asked him what he had prayed about the previous night.  He said the regular things he says in his prayers, but also asked Heavenly Father to bless him to calm down and to help us to calm down.  He said, “When you came in to my room after that, I knew my prayer was answered.”

I say his faih is growing.  So very proud of him.

Bear Lake - A boy's haven

Thanks to our glamorous hostess, Vicky, for sharing her beautiful cabin with us!

Again

Liam gave a talk in Primary today.  It was a totally different experience since he can read half the words on the paper now.  He was taking the lead now and then.  What a man!

He also got up and bore his testimony during sacrament meeting.  So proud of him and his faith in the Lord.

4th of July 2012

It was such a nice day to spend time as a family on the 4^th of July.

• Slept in until 9am
•  Breakfast at Einstein’s Bagels
•  Hike to Donut Falls (and making it to the top!)
•  Yummy lunch with Ian’s parents
•  Mini nap on the couch
•  Dip in the pool with Liam (and playing Barko Howlo a.k.a. Marco Polo – laughed long at that)
•  Met friends at a secluded park to watch the kids run free and see a double fireworks show

I don’t think a summer holiday can get better than that!!!

Thanks, Lindsey, Greg, Gavin, Preslie - and you too Matthew!  It was such a fun night!

27 years old

That particular birthday I was 7 months pregnant with Liam. I had been married 5 years. I found out I had Gestational Diabetes. 
In that year, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy! I was able to take 9 weeks off of work. Spent 5 of those weeks with my darling Mother-in-law who took such good care of us. 
I started learning that "good sleep" was a dear friend that I'd probably never see again.
This was the year my body wasn't mine.
I learned how selfish and self-absorbed I was (still learning that at times).
My baby gave me joy-love-glee every single day.
It was a growing year for me. It was painful, stressful, and a special time in my life.

Dear Liam

Art in the park

We met up with Sabrina and Emilia Watts today at Orem's Art Festival.  Rebecca Packard, Editori of the Provo Orem Word (and former VT companion from our newlywed days), invited us to a special art session for children.  It was a windy windy day, but we kept the paint on the paper and the paper out of our faces.

We checked out the rest of the art fair and were sure to get some funnel cakes to share.  I swear whenever there are funnel cakes available, it's a windy day.  Powdered sugar everywhere, but it was so so so yummy!

Faith of a 6.5 year old

Liam bore his testimony at church today in front of the whole congregation.  I was so impressed with him.

On our walk home afterwards, I asked him how he felt after bearing testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time.  After a pause, he said thoughtfully, "It felt good, Mom!"

Geode Hunting - Memorial Day

We had a plan for our Memorial Day a few weeks in advance. Liam had been wanting to go geode hunting for a few months, so we set it in stone (ha).  From what we could tell, it would take 90 minutes for us to drive to Dugway's geode beds.  We also thought the beds would be rich with geodes.  And don't forget we thought this would be soooo fun!

We estimated wrong on all of the above.  BUT, we did have a full day of family time together.  And that was a nice bonus.

So, it took 3 hours for us to get to the geode beds.  LOTS of dirt and gravel roads along the old Pony Express.  Gorgeous sites all around... blue skies, billowing clouds, glorious mountains.  I took a lot of photos out the windows - including the sun roof.  Here's one example.



We arrived and there were only a few other crazy people parked out there digging in the dirt.  We walked right past their claimed spots and did a little hiking...

Did a little exploring....

Did a little digging...

Did some posing...

And ultimately got skunked on finding any geodes...

Dad had to bribe Liam with purchasing geodes online to get him to stop digging.  (A week later he cracked 12 mail order rocks.  Dad even got out a black light to have another perspective on their cool white insides!)

On the way back we bumped along the dirt and gravel road.  We took a potty break at the Pony Express Post and took a look around.

And did some more posing....

We all got back into the car for a long ride home.  And I took a few more photos...