We Are Family

Tiercy, Alayna, Liesel, Ellen

I love my family.

I also love my extended family.

Luckily, my extended family is pretty close to each other.

We always know what is going on in their lives for the most part...either through direct conversations, word of mouth (passed along usually from talking with the moms) or through technology ( Facebook) We are always willing to help each other out. For example, my cousin was driving from California to his new home state of New York. So, one of his pit stops was in Denver where he was graciously hosted by our second cousin, Katie. And this past Friday night, my aunt Ellen (my mom's sister) and her new hubby, Dickie, are making the same trip with the same start and end only with different destinations in between. Yahoo. That means I got to see them. They were staying the night at my cousin, Liesel's brand new Park City home. So, Laney and I headed up to Park City to shop at the outlets and to dine with family.

Liesel's new house was designed by her brother-in-law, who has been showcased in several known architecht magazines. Her house has a very modern feel. Because it was built in the wetlands, it couldn't touch the ground, so it is built on large steel ??? thingys. I am sorry I don't have a picture of this to show you. But here is her house from the outside:
What isn't shown is the guest house to the right.

Here is what I love about her house:

This is her dining room.

Ah..mazing! I love the floor to ceiling windows. When you are inside, you hardly feel like you are inside because of these windows. And the fireplace that you see in the top picture serves both the dining room and the living room.


This is her living room. Did you notice the window? the placement of it??? Pretty cool huh? I guess that her brother-in-law is known for these little details. The window is placed there so that when you are sitting on the couch it is the perfect height for still being able to look out the window.

There is something poignant about this scene for me.

If you are sitting in one of those chairs, here is the view you see. Ah..mazing! In the distance is The Canyons ski resort. My camera was zoomed, so before the bushes you have more wetland which you can see in the picture above.

Oh yeah, here are some pictures of us:

I Conquered Unity Pass!

But, I'll get to that in a minute.

First I want to introduce you to my new best friends.

I was especially fitted for these shoes, Nike women's air pegasus.  I went to a store where they measured, measured again, then I walked, I ran, I ran again. Actually, those had to be returned to the store because Steve found the same shoes online for $40 less, and the store wouldn't price match. I made him take them back for me.

Although today because of the rain storm that ended only minutes after I made the decision to run, I wore my other shoes; you know, the ones I am cheating on. They are dependable and I knew I could count on them. I knew I needed all the help that I could get. I also didn't want my new ones to get wet or muddy from the rain.

Okay, back to Unity Pass...

Today is starting what I consider to be the longer runs for the training program for my first half-marathon. 7 miles. I know. Awesome. (If you are just tuning in to my blog, you can read here for the start of this journey.)

At first I was going to zig zag around my neighborhood to make up the seven miles. Then I decided that was making it way too difficult when I could just persuade Steve to drive me seven miles away and drop me off or just kick me to the curb. After all, my cousin's husband does it for her, surely mine could do it for me. Luckily he was totally willing. (phew) We brought Laney with us.

So, our drive started out ordinarily enough. Until...

I started realizing how far we were going.

At this point, I started talking (I talk when I am nervous).

Me: So, if I'm not back in an hour and a half you'd better come looking for me.
Steve: Why, what are you thinking by saying that?
Me: What if I get a cramp? Or, you know, there was that mountain lion seen in the neighborhood last week.
Steve: Seriously...(add a look of total disdain here)
Me: Just know that you will be the last thing I am thinking of as I get devoured.

A minute later...
Me: We have gone so far, this can't only be 3 miles. I think the odometer is wrong.

Silence. A minute later...
Me: This is sooooo far.

deafening silence...
Me: Okay, seriously, look at this "hill"...with a runner's eye. NOW doesn't it seem impossible?!

Only sound is Laney's darling, senseless chatter from the backseat...
Me: Oh no, I think I have to go to the bathroom.

He's not even looking at me...a minute later...
Me: What if I need a tissue, for my nose or worse what if I need toilet paper?

More silence...
Me: This is soooooo far.

...wait for it...
Steve: You are worse then a kid!!

I love how he doesn't even need to contribute to the conversation, but I still keep going.

He had no hesitation about leaving me there. He just drove off. Even with the ominous gray clouds floating overhead. I didn't even see a tapping on the brakes, at all. Nope. He's gone. With Laney's little arm waving at me from the backseat.

The best route for me on these longer runs traverses a mountain. I'm not kidding. I didn't say Utah mountain, but definitely what passes as a mountain, back there...in Maryland where I grew up. I think it is about 1 1/2 mile of incline where some parts are steeper then others. It is one tough "hill." And, I did it. Yay me!!!! The name of the trail that I ran on was called Unity Pass, but I think of that really hard mountain as Unity Pass. I had to keep reminding myself to slow down. And to concentrate on my breathing. I have found that a long deep breath in and two short outs keep the side stitches away. Any hoo...I conquered it.

And, I ran it all in 66 minutes. It took me 40 minutes to run the first four miles, which included that blasted mountain, and then 26 minutes for the last 3 miles. I was totally happy with that.

Since the beginning of June, I have been running on the open road. Running outside has been great as I have seen progress. But, it has also brought it's fair share of challenges:

• more aches and pains to my legs
• getting a little discouraged because I can't run as fast
• dealing with elements of the weather: wind, rain, heat, sun, and bugs
• never knowing exactly how far I have run

But, I know this is the best thing for me as I prepare for my half-marathon. I am so excited to have this experience in my life. Thanks again to Michelle and Emilie for getting it all started.

My Girly Girl

She is such a girly girl and I LOVE it! I can't wait until she's older and and she and I can get manicures together, say when there is a father's and son's campout, or a birthday, or just because. We are at the stage now where she loves to play in my makeup. So, suffice it to say, it takes me twice as long some mornings to get ready. I will lightly dab my lightest colors and then lightly dab on her so she feels like she is wearing makeup too. What is it with little girls and makeup?

She also loves lip gloss. She is constantly going through my purse or church bag to find one of a dozen lip glosses that I have. I love her darling little pucker as I will put it on her. Although lately she has insisted that I place it on her finger. I wonder who taught her that? Any thoughts, Steve?
Can you tell what she is doing?

That's right, "plucking" her eyebrows.

I thought it was hilarious when she climbed up on my bathroom counter and got both the mirror and the tweezers and started imitating me.

So, I don't know if you remember the post where I outed myself? One of the things that I didn't out myself for, but would have if I had thought about it is that I didn't start plucking my eyebrows until later in life. Until after I was married in fact.

Who knew it made such a difference?

BEFORE (taken right after Laney was born):















AFTER (our Valentine's photo shoot this year)
Can you see the difference?

I can, and I love it!

Shark Attack #72

Today Steve participated in the Desert Shark Triathlon at the Riverton Rec center. The announcer would call each participant a shark as there were in transition or headed out; I thought it was cute.

It was really rainy (off and on), windy and cold, but the triathletes didn't let that stop them. Nor did we let it stop us from being there to cheer him on. And yes, we had to set alarms on a summer morning for 5:55 a.m. It was a 7 a.m. start time.

It didn't matter.

I love being there for Steve.

It really makes me want to do one with him.
This time we were there for the start of it and were able to get some pictures of Steve during the swim portion:

It looks like a Michael Phelps race to the finish.
(Steve is the one in the red cap. Oops, I means Steve is closets to the red and yellow lap divider.)

Then it was on to the bikes. I wasn't able to get any pictures with the bike this time. But here is what we did while we waited, a movie in the car:

Watching Open Season.

I was keeping an eye on the time so I was able to take a few pics of Steve as he headed out for the run:

He even manages a wave.
(Don't worry, his arm looks normal if you enlarge the picture.)

Fishing Requirement: Check.

A few months ago I learned new something about my brother-in-law.

He likes to fish.

Have I mentioned Steve or I don't fish?

So, I did what any good mother to a cub scout would do.

I enlisted his help to take Ty when the weather got warmer.

Fast forward until today. The phone rang and it was Uncle Scott. He wanted to take my boys fishing. He is a man of his word. He was calling because he wanted to take them fishing in Vivian Park up Provo Canyon.

According to Tyler: Fishing was really fun! And the fish was really slimy. And we got wet when it sprinkled rain. No mom, I got wet when the fish struggled and got me all wet. Well, you also got wet by a little rain today too. Glad you boys were good sports about it.
According to Ethan: We caught fish and it was fun. I got to hold it.

Uncle Scott and teaching Ethan how to fish.

(guess who likes to take the pictures?)

And of course, it's not an afternoon with Uncle Scott unless there are treats involved. He assured me that they did indeed wash their hands.


And here is Ty trying his fish. He thought it was okay. We all tried his.
And Laney couldn't get enough of Ethan's fish. She ate it all! Ethan opted out of trying his fish.

A Whole Lotta Cake Going On

Cake. Yummy.

A whole lotta cake: even better.

All the cakes I talk about below are related to a baby shower that I threw for a friend yesterday.

She is having a girl, after three boys. I know how excited she is to be having a girl. Before she had the ultrasound revealing, I told her if she was having a girl that I would throw her a shower and it would look pink had invaded my house. In the end it wasn't quite all pink, because we had a pink and brown theme; I loved it.

So, the first cake that I knew I wanted to make was this:
a cake made out of diapers!

How cute is this adorable centerpiece? I just love it. I first saw it at a babyshower last summer and knew that if I ever threw a baby shower that I was going to make one too. To my utter amazement, I looked online and found out that some sites sell these centerpieces for close to $100.

Ridiculous. Especially when you can make and and it turns out this cute.

The other cake I knew I wanted to make was these:
More cake pops!

Only this time they are called "cake bites" because I left off the lollipop stick. I bought a peanut butter cup mold to make these in. They were really fun to make. And my memory didn't let me down and they tasted awesome! What I mean is, do you know how you can build something up in your mind and the reality never matches? Well, that didn't happen this time. I had been craving them since the last time I made them.

And the final cake is this:

Isn't it darling!! I couldn't have made this even if you gave me a year to try. Although, maybe one day I will try. My friend, Kelly is actually the BFF of the friend I threw the shower for (did you follow that?) and wanted to bring a special cake for her. So cute! Unfortunately we didnt' cut into it, so I don't really know how it tasted. As part of her present, Angela got to take it home with her. (sigh).

mmm...cake.

I wonder what I can try to do with it next.

Steve's Day Off

What's a family to do?

We went bike riding and running in Willow Park.

This was actually taken at the end of our run. You can barely see the boys and Steve if you look hard enough.

Steve had ridden off before us, and he finished up with the boys, while I finished the last quarter mile of my run with Laney. She is so afraid of bugs right now and freaked out when a Lady bug landed on her blankies. I thought her foot had been caught in the spoke. She sent my heart racing with her screams.

This picture is taken at the beginning of the path, but as we were on our way back to the car.

Thanks Steve! It was fun to spend an impromptu day with you while we waited for your car to get fixed.

Family, Firepit, and Fireworks

I love summer!

It's nice not to have to worry about an early bedtime for the boys. Or our school routines the next morning.

And, I've been able to sleep in (if you call 8 a.m. sleeping in) a few mornings with Alayna by my side, and the boys downstairs, happily watching tv. Together. I know, it's shameless. But, oh so delicious.

We had a fun evening spent together roasting s'mores.





After the s'mores, I took Laney upstairs and fell asleep in her bed. But woke up to the pops of fireworks. I was able to go and join the boys as they were watching the fireworks. They were really spectacular! It even seemed like there were some new styles that Steve or I hadn't seen before. So cool. The fireworks were the end of Pony Express Days celebration.

Poor little Ethan was so tired that he couldn't fight entering dreamland anymore, and fell asleep before the fireworks were over. Steve carried him upstairs. Nighty Night Ethan.

Oquirrah Mountain Temple Open House

We were fortunate to have two temple Open Houses to attend this year: the Draper Temple and the Oquirrah Mountain Temple (which becomes our temple in August). The temple is really beautiful! I ended up having to take Alayna outside because she wouldn't settle down and was making a ton of noise with her shoes. The boys and Steve were able to finish the tour and met me outside with Alayna where we headed over to the beautifully decorated (tuscan style) reception area and had cookies.

I love the temple and have had many neat experiences there. I have a strong testimony of receiving personal revelation, and the temple has always been a great place for me to receive that revleation. The personal revelation I received in the temple brought me peace during trials. I love the feeling of uniting my family everytime I go.

Look at Me, I'm Three

She is definitely growing up.

I love this baby girl that I have been blessed with.

Alayna turned three on May 31, 2009.

That means this is our last year with a baby. By the time she is four the change will have been made; the change from a toddler into a little girl. At least for me, this is the year when the change happens.

For breakfast, Steve made smiley face pancakes for all of us. He added a secret ingredient into the batter that made them seriously, the most delicious pancakes I have ever had! IHOP move over. He also used butterscotch chips for the smile and those were yummy too. Afterwards Laney opened her presents. She really got into it and it was fun to watch her. She squealed over everything. She is such a girly girl.



For months now, all Alayna has talked about is having a Dora cake for her birthday. I was happy to try something new. My dear friend, Francel, came to my rescue and helped me so much. It was a fun activity for us to do together. It was a lot of work, but I would do it again. I wonder what I can make next year. (Do you have any cute girl cake ideas for me?) I received a lot of praise at the family party from Steve's mom and the cousins about how cute the cake looked. I had to have Steve cut the cake because after all of that work, I hated to see it cut into. Luckily I was to busy dishing out the ice cream to notice.

This is how it started out:
This is what it ended up looking like:


So, what does Alayna do right now that I want to remember?

You're Welcome. I love the way she says this. It's almost like she is saying: You're Lelcome.
Recognizing Letters and Sounds. Right now she can recognize a big A and takes great delight in pointing them out to me whenever she sees one on a book, a cereal box, or a store sign. She knows the sounds of the first four letters of the alphabet. Sometimes she gets the right sounds with the right letters, other times not so much.

Spiders. She is so afraid of spiders. I am not sure when or why this happened. One day she was outside playing with cousin Natalie and she came running inside. I could tell from her cry that she was really scared. When I knelt down beside her to find out what was wrong, she could only point at her foot. She had blades of grass on it and she thought it was a spider. Poor thing.

She also has a bad habit of picking apart her blankies. So, she pulls the thread out and then it lands where they may. Then later, when she happens to be walking through the family room she freaks out because she thinks they are spiders. Silly girl.

My Girly girl. She is still such a girly girl. I love it. She loves to have her nails painted, purses, shoes, and jewelry. (And my makeup.) Oh yeah, and she loves to wear a dress almost every day. The hard part comes when she wants to wear a church dress to play in the dirt. Yikes.

Her Name. If you ask her what her name is she says: Alayna Hadlock Paige or Laney Hadlock Paige. It is so cute that I don't correct her. She will learn the order soon enough.

The Informer. So, now that Laney can talk, she tells everything and usually on me. ha. Like the time in when we went shopping for Steve's birthday presents a month early and that evening when he came home, she told him that we had bought him shoes for his birthday. Or the other day when we were at the pool, I was trying to adjust her goggles, and I broke them. Oops. She didn't even talk about it all day, but the minute Steve came home from work, she rushed over to him and when he picked her up, she said: Mommy broke my "glasses" (that's what she calls them).