WE DID IT!!! :)

Andy, my friend Sally & I decided a few months ago (like October-ish) to run the Ogden Half Marathon.  Andy had run 2-half marathons before ~ One in Provo with his sister, Nikki, and one in Snow Canyon-by St. George-with my sis-in-law, Andrea.  For Sally & I this was our first~both she & I were excited, nervous & determined to "run" the entire time.
This first pic is of Andy & I at the starting line in Eden.

  Here are Sally & I getting ready to go.

 The run was through Ogden Canyon~We ran along the river and had beautiful scenery almost the entire way.  I should have stopped & taken some pictures, but I was too paranoid about having to start again!

I was so grateful to see the finish line~the only problem was you could see it once we got onto Grant St. at 18th Street & we still had to run to 25th Street. :)

 Not to sound~Oh, I don't know the word~But I am so glad I ran the entire time, even though I ran SO slow~I mean seriously SLOW~but I don't even care.  Andy smoked me~he is such a good runner!

My sister-in-law, Andrea was SO great to bring our kids over for us~she got 7 kids up, ready to go and into Ogden by 7:30~~~IMPRESSIVE! :)  Lyndzi also came over & brought all 4 of her kiddos (by herself)~again, IMPRESSIVE! :)  Lyndzi also brought flowers~SO thougthful! :)

I don't know if I'll ever run another half, but I'm so glad I did it! :)  Some of the miles got LONG, but it is amazing the things you can do when you put your mind to it~"Mind over Matter."  We'll see if Andy still feels the 'mind over matter' saying still applies here in a few months cuz he just signed up for his first FULL MARATHON!!!  I know, he's crazy like that~Huntsville Marathon here he comes! :)

Conference

General Conference is such an amazing thing! Not only do we get to here the words of modern day prophets but we get hang out with our family!

Saturday night all the kids wanted s'mores SO bad, but the wind didn't get the memo and it was on a rampage and was blowing like no other. So, we had 'indoor' s'mores & the kids didn't even wanted the marshmallows heated. :)

Any Barthlome family gathering these days consists of some pretty serious baby snatching~cuz each of us wants to hold one or both of the twins SO much! :) Kennedi was in 7th heaven!
Now what good conference gathering does not consist of some seriously good snacks/treats going on!!! YUMMY! :)

Fingernail/toenail painting is also a conference tradition of ours. Anything that will keep them quiet & entertained is game!
Brooks & Andy moved some lumber into the basement from the street that is going to be used to frame our basement (they did this during sessions of course!). :) Brooks didn't have any other slip on shoes so ~ cowboy boots it was! Can you say 'redneck'!!! :) Love him!
Coloring is another conference must~this year a fun idea I found was to color a flower & write the topic on it and then tape it in a flower garden. The kids really liked the idea.
The flower garden.....
Another inevitable thing with conference~at least at our house~~~a nap. Don't ya love how Kennedi is 'hiding' under the pillow, hoping not to be discovered.
Brooks~a true dad~sleeping on a unicorn pillow pet with a black & pink polka dot blanket that Paisley was so nice to cover him with.

Conference this year was so great~so many talks I felt were made for me~I'm sure a lot of people feel that way. Saturday there were some great talks about family that I loved & Sunday had a lot about being happy for others successes and not judging! Loved it!

New Babies

We had been counting down for months waiting for the big day when my younger sister, Lyndzi, would deliver her babies. February 29th was the day!!! Henry Adams & Charlotte Elaine officially joined their (and our) family!

Kennedi, Andy & I were lucky enough to be able to go to the hospital and see them when they were brand new. There is nothing quite as special as a brand new baby!
We've all been soaking them up as much as we can!!! :)
Had & Ave holding Henry.

Hink & Raife holding Charlotte.
I love this picture of my parents~they are wonderful!

Proof

Do you ever have those days when you feel like your kids are going to kill each other either by the mean words they say or the way they act towards each other? PLEASE tell me you do, otherwise I might break down and cry right here and now! Because of that I wanted to take a few pictures to remind myself that they do really like each other, they just have a hard time showing it sometimes. :)

Averee & Hinkley love to sleep on Raife's floor on the weekend. They love to pull out their sleeping bags and "camp out." This picture was taken before they got in trouble for not settling down and going to bed. You can't win for losing at our house~they get in trouble for fighting and then in trouble again when they play when they are supposed to be sleeping. Crazy I know!

Kennedi has been reading them their bedtime stories this week. They all LOVE it when she reads to them and they sit and listen so well. :)
I really am so grateful for my kids~they are wonderful~but sometimes I am truly at a loss of the best way to parent them so they become the people I know they are capable of becoming. :)

Good Nap?

By the looks of that hair-do------I would say it was a very successful nap!!! :)

I love Raife's nap schedule right now. If we are at home in the afternoons he will, most of the time, lay down and take a nap. But, if we have to go somewhere in the afternoon while the girls are at school he is still good natured and we enjoy our 'outings'.

He really is such a good boy, but occasionally he lets the '3 year old attitude' out. All of our kids have hit the 'Terrible 2's' a couple of months before they turn 3 and it lasts a good year or so...SO fun!!! :)

Little Buddies

These two are such good friends~for so long this morning they played trucks and store in Raife's room and then they wanted to have a picnic in the living room and watch a show. :) It never fails they either want to watch 'Arthur' (Hinkley's first choice) or 'Super Why' (Raife's first choice). Their picnic this morning consisted of Doritos, Teddy Grahams & Twizzlers. YUM! :)

I don't know what Raife (and me for that matter) are going to do next year when Hink is in school all day. He/we are going to be lost without her~they are just the best little buddies!!!

Gingerbread houses

At my parents the day after Christmas all the grandkids NEEDED an activity! So, gingerbread houses it was. We had a few injuries, but that was with the adults who were putting the houses together with the HOT sugar. :)

How can you go wrong with any activity that involves playing with and eating candy!

Here is Kennedi with her house~you can't really tell, but her roof is amazing!!!
Hadlie went with a chocolate chip kind of a pattern.
We were getting ready to head home when I snapped this picture and sadly didn't even notice until later that I took the picture of the un-decorated side of Averee's house~bummer!
Hinkley had fun~even though her face doesn't really portray that in this picture. :)
Any activity with cousins is always a good time!!!