Meet Oso

Oso the bear is another member of our family. He goes on vacation with us, usually runs errands with us, and is constantly by Madelyn's side. Every morning when she gets out of bed, Oso has to come with her. She throws him overboard and then picks him up when her feet hit the floor. When we aren't watching, Oso slips outside with her and plays in the dirt. Whenever I get a chance, Oso is thrown into the washer. Maddie doesn't like that too much. Every night at bedtime, Madelyn tells us who Oso is going to "get" (kiss) first. He usually ends with Madelyn and then stays in bed with her.

Now that the girls are getting older, and sleeping through the night, it is a lot easier to go camping. We were able to make it to Moab over spring break this year. We learned about some dinosaur tracks that we hiked to. It was really cool to talk to the girls about dinosaurs and tell them how the sand turned to rock over time and preserved them so that we are able to see them today. I leave the explaining up to Brad. You would think that he would have all this geology jargon in my head by now, but for some reason, it doesn't all stick.

We stayed up Oinion Creek. We kept driving and driving and driving our van up the canyon. All of the campsites were taken. The canyon is called oinion creek because oinion creek meanders down the canyon. The road crosses it several times. Lets just say, we were the only ones driving a mini van in that canyon. We got to the last "official" campsite and it was taken. It was getting later, we were hungry and tired, and we really didn't want to go all the way back out. (Side note: A couple of years ago, 5 to be exact, Brad and I biked the Kokipelli trail with our current bishop and his family. Lets just say that it is one of the hardest things I have ever done. It gives me a little anxiety just thinking about it. It is a trail that goes from Grand Junction, Colorado to Moab, Utah in the beautiful mountains and hills that run next to the Colorado River.) We knew that the further we drove up the canyon, the closer we were getting to our Kokopelli Trail campsite. We decided to try and find that campsite and stay there. When we pulled into the campsite, it looked very different to me. I didn't remember the rock next to the site being SO big. The kids instantly loved it. It turned out to be a wonderful place for us to stay. We were alone, the kids could run around wild, and there was nothing to worry about. Except maybe that they might fall off the rock. There was a tree growing out of the top of the rock and they made a tree house in it.

We cooked dinner, set up camp, and ate in the dark. None of the flashlights seemed to be working and we didn't think to figure it all out before the sun went down. April in Moab is quite dangerous as well. It is really hot in the daylight, but things change in a matter of minutes when the sun sets. I was scrambling through the tent, in the dark, trying to find warm clothes. Camping always seems to be an adventure.

Being married to a geologist definetly has its perks. If you have been to Moab and seen the beautiful red sandstone formations, which I have learned is of the Cutler and Moenkopi formations, then you can picture how amazing Oinion Creek is. We were driving up the canyon enjoying the incredible views when things instantly changed. It was like our car was lifted out of the canyon and we were dropped in a not so pretty place. I was thinking to myself how ugly things had gotten, and Brad was pulling out the camera fascinated by our surroundings. When we decided to go for a hike, I was thinking somewhere in the red sandstone and Brad wanted to go right into the heart of that ugly area. I have now learned that this area was formed because salt beds were buried by layers of rock. They are less dense than the rock deposits and rise to the surface. The salt squeezes upward and intrudes rocks where they are weak. This happens at faults and fractures. It bends and moves the overlying rock which causes really neat things to happen on the surface. So, I trusted in the instincts of the geologists and we started up the canyon. Olivia loves rocks almost as much as her dad does and this canyon had it all. She was finding lots of fascinating rocks and minerals. Brad was enjoying himself as well. I had to put number restrictions on how many rocks we would be taking back with us. We were walking up a dry river bed which was getting slightly damp the further up we went. We felt that we were greatly rewarded when we climbed up a small rock face to find ourselves in a small, damp, cool room with a spring seeping out of the rock. The girls absoluetly loved it!

Girls on the Run

Girls on the Run is a program for third to fifth grade girls. It is basically a self esteem program that covers many issues girls that age face, gossip, self respect, communication, peer pressure, etc., and teaches the girls how to deal with these issues through running. I heard about the program about four years ago and have wanted to get the program started here ever since. Finally, this year, I did it. Life has seemed to calm down enough and the girls were old enough, that I felt ready to take it on. And what a rewarding experience it has been. We had about forty girls sign up for the program in addition to our (the coaches) daughters. Even though my girls are far from old enough to be enrolled in the program, they were able to attend the practices and classes. Olivia has loved it. The girls in the program have been so sweet to my girls, they loved going with me. Last Saturday we had our final GOTR 5K race. All but 3 girls came out to the race and did great. We are the Cedaredge Jelly Beans and made jelly bean bandanas to be able to find our girls in the masses of people at the race. Olivia had to run with me because there were so many girls (1500) and I didn't want her to get lost. I had to stop once to help a little girl who was struggling to breathe and Olivia wasn't very happy that she couldn't keep going. We finished the race in just over 30 minutes which is a great time for her little legs. She had so much fun and asked me when she could do it again. Tony the Tiger was at the race signing shirts, they had music playing, lots of food, medals, and goodies. It is fun to run races with the kids because of all the excitement that goes along with it. It is a rewarding way to end a season of training. I am sad that our season is over, but look forward to doing GOTR again next year. I am excited that my girls will get to be part of such a wonderful program. Aubree is a pretty good runner as well and wants to participate in the race next year. She is up to about 1.5 miles and going strong. It is fun to take the girls out running. The great thing about running is that it is free. Not many things in life are free anymore.

I was laying in bed one morning listening to my children talking in the next room over.

Livs: "I've lived in the yellow house down the road, in Scofield, in Hanksville, in a red house we call the cat house because I got sick from all of the cat hair there, and in a white house when I was a baby."

Aubs: "You lived a lot of places!"

Livs: "Yep"

Aubs: "Did you like those parents too?"

All I could do was smile to myself. Pure innocence. Hey, at least she thinks we are doing all right as parents.

Born to play soccer!

I think that we have found Olivia’s call in life. She was born to play soccer! (Well that and be a dancing princess) This is the first season Olivia has played and she is an all star. It took her a couple of games to realize how much she liked it, but now that she understands the rules and how the game works, she is unstoppable. She is really fast and can just keep going, which gives her a real advantage. I can not believe how aggressive and fast she is. Did I mention she is fast? Even though she is not old enough, I take her to Girls on the Run with me. I guess that is the advantage of being the coaches’ daughter. My point being, that she runs a lot to keep up with the older girls and has built up her lung strength, leg muscles, and has great endurance. Sometimes I can’t even keep up with her. I can barely get Olivia to change out of her dresses, take off her tiara, and put on her cleats, but when she does, she is on fire. And, I have turned into one of those soccer moms I vowed I’d never be – SCARY! (you know, the one that yells from the side lines) It is bound to get worse - she is only six.

Beautiful Blonde - Lovable Brunette - Sassy Red Head

I just love these three little girls. They bring so much happiness into my world.

cross country skiing

We had family come visit us right before Christmas and we took them up on the Mesa to have a little bit of fun. It was a beautiful day. I think that it was the perfect day for a little bit of cross country skiing.