"The 4th of July Race"

Before you think I'm some harsh mother that made her 2 year old run a 2.2 mile "fun run", I thought and was told it was only 1 mile. Thanks Stacie, I blame you! Every year the kids run this "Country Mile" and Chan does it too. Stacie talked me into having Chloee do it earlier on this year and she assured me it was only 1 mile. Chan has ran it 2 other years and she has always thought it was only a mile. Tells you how well she knows distance, just kidding Stac! Well, we were already registered when I found out and I was so worried that she wouldn't finish or that she would scream the entire time.

Seriously, how stinking cute do they look with their little numbers on?

Here's Chlo with her little trainer, Rach, who stayed with her the entire time so that she wouldn't be alone.

There are a lot of pictures in this post but I couldn't help but put every adorable picture in here. Here they are, just after they started the race.... and they're off!

Jake came in 1st for the Country Mile and did a fine job!

These are all for Stacie. Chandler was AMAZING, to say the least. He is only 4 and ran the ENTIRE thing and finished the 2.2 miles in 28 minutes. I believe that was his time, it could have been less. That's smokin! The people were all clapping and saying, "Check out that kid, how old is he? Wow!". It was really neat to see him come in. I wish you could have seen it Stacie! Amanda ran with him the whole time and said he was singing songs and was chipper and upbeat through the whole race!

A good shot of Cody. He took 2nd in his division. A very nice, strong finish Cody! He and Tami are training for the TOU Marathon. They both did the 10K, so you know... a little bit more than the Country Mile!

I had to post all of these pictures of her. I was just so PROUD of her when I saw her coming around the corner to the finish line. Tears streamed down my face as I watched her face and what a great accomplishment my little girl had made. It was as though everything and everyone else disappeared, time stopped and the only person I could see was Chloee and the beaming smile on her face as she yelled, "Mommy"! It was a very NEAT experience and I felt like I was the proudest parent there. I couldn't control my emotions and I can't even now, as I write about it. It was a feeling indescribable, an emotion I think I had never felt, an overwhelming rush of love and a million other things that made me feel what I was feeling as she accomplished something so big for a little 2 year old. She ran/walked the entire thing and even though it did take her 55 minutes, she never quit, she never wanted to be held, she did it all on her own and THAT is something I love about this little girl's personality. She NEVER, NEVER, NEVER gives up! I love you Chloee and am so proud of you!!!

Yes, Chan was sooo happy to have his picture taken. I thought it was hilarious, Stacie... not so much!

The group of runners! Oh yes, and Kathy ran with the kids the whole time and pushed them, you know gave them pep talks, she was a great support. Thanks, Kathy!

Grandma giving Chloee a "I'm so proud of you, congrats hug".

The 2 little running buds sharing food after the race!

Josh and Rhyder, the cheer leading squad. Ok, so they both ran/walked it with everyone else but still it's a cute picture of them together.

Baby Rhyder is constantly being smothered in kisses from Chloee. She adores that cute, little chunk, as does everyone else who comes in contact with him!

Fun In The Sun

Kathy and Gary put out a huge roll of visqueen wrap and put water down it with dish soap. The kids had so much fun, even though it was quite a climb up the hill to go back down again. Here are just a few pictures of them enjoying themselves.

Love those little cheeks hanging out!

I loved this picture of Rach! She actually went down once doing the splits. Limber little bugger!

This is Stacie's friend, Jen's little boy, Tanner. He was such a hoot to watch go down. He loved it and smiled this big every time. He was my favorite to watch!

Check out Tyler's face! I'm glad I caught that on camera! Nice, Ty!

Right here, Chloee was screaming and Chan caught a hold of her hand and was like, "It's okay Chlos, I got ya". It was so stinking cute!

Check out Rhyder's ever so concerned face! He looks like he's so scared but I don't even think he knew what was going on!

This group of 4 did everything together this fun 4th of July. Thanks for everything you did, Kathy & Gary, to make it such a fun and special day for the kids!

THE PARADE

We went down to Josh's Mom's house for the 4th of July. We went to their city parade. It was so hot, as most of you know. Everyone was sweating. Sorry to anyone that was too close to me!

What a patriotic little cutie! This was when the American Flag was being marched by at the beginning of the parade!

This girl LOVES taffy, ok, so really ANY candy!

All the kids enjoyed their popsicles. Thanks Stacie for sharing with everyone. You can especially tell how much Rhyder LOVED his. He was so mad when Stacie took it away. That little chunk just grew up overnight!

Don't ask, I don't know why Josh took this picture. I had to put it in so that I could tease him about it! Seriously though, what?

After the parade we went over to the park and they did a "movie in the park". It was, The Bee Movie. Chloee loved it and so did the rest of the kids! I walked over to Holiday with Stacie to get her "daily fix" of carbonation! It was good to talk, I didn't really care to stay for the movie anyway!

Brazil, His 2nd Home

On July 3rd Josh returned home from his mission to Brazil. Every year I try to do something memorable for him about Brazil, on the 3rd. This year I made Brigadeiro. Evidently this is a candy commonly used in Brazil for pretty much any special occasion. I must say, they were pretty good. Chloee and I decorated the house, put up a sign and also bought Josh's favorite Brazilian drink, Guarana. Which we have yet to find anywhere else but Macey's.

It was nothing big but a fun reminder of Josh's 2nd home. He talks about going back all the time. I would love to see the places I hear so much about. Maybe someday we'll make it there. Oh yes and Stacie, thanks for the recipe for the Brigadeiro. You're a lifesaver!

Bad Day

Josh and I should not have been allowed to leave the house today. After visiting a friend this afternoon we made our way to the mall to look at a sale at The Children's Place. Well, no such luck there and we were getting ready to leave when we hit someone. It just so happens that the EXACT same parking stall JUST behind us was pulling out at the SAME time and they hit each other. FABULOUS! We were in the Honda and there was pretty much no damage done to the other car but ours has a big dent in the bumper, a little dent in the trunk and a broken light in the back! It was awful to say the least!

Then we head over to Wal-Mart to buy a few groceries and I go to pay for it and realize that my card is missing. Let me make this very clear, I DON'T EVER NOT KNOW WHERE MY CARD IS! Not good. I rush home to check the banking online and to search for my card. No such luck, I think it was stolen. Who knows, either way, it freaked me out and I had to cancel my card. It's been a great day!!!

Chloee's Twin

Don't you see the resemblance here? They are totally 2 look-a-likes, I can hardly tell them apart! Everyone KNOWS how much Chloee LOVES Darth Vader so when Amy was cleaning out her apartment, she gave this life size (well, life size to Chloee) Darth Vader model to Chloee! To say the least, she was beyond pleased. Thanks Amy... and Micheal!

Here she is kissing her "best friend" or twin, whatever you want to call him!

And now a hug for the little softy. That's right, Darth Vader is quite the marshmallow when it comes to Chlo. I know you wouldn't think so where he is always strangling people in Star Wars, well, need not worry, it is all a facade.

This is for Stacie. These are the shorts I bought for Chlo for her race on the 4th! So cute!

Last but not least, this is the adorable present Amy gave Chloee for her birthday. Amy's entire family have their own water bottles like this and they are decorated according to their personalities. Well, Chloee loves Amy's water bottle and wants to drink out of it every time Amy is here so Amy got her one and decorated it PERFECTLY. She said, "It's the 2 sides of the Chlo. The sweet girlie side and the dark side, you know, Darth Vader style." I love it and Chloee takes it around with her everywhere!

You know Chloee and Darth Vader DO have a lot in common. They both get what they want, when they want it and they both want to bring anyone over to the "dark side" with them. Even if it is the "dark chocolate" side. I love Chlo, she is great but her personality is WILD, CRAZY, DETERMINED, RELENTLESS, STUBBORN, STRONG-WILLED..... Ok, I could go on FOREVER! To sum it up, she's MY girl and I wouldn't trade that personality for anything in the world, even if it does drive me crazy 80% of the time!

Riverton Carnival

I know there are A LOT of pictures in this post but I HAD to put them in. We went down to Kathy's on Friday and went to their city's carnival. The kids had a blast. Rachael was a total sweetie and took Chloee on pretty much all of the rides. Chlo is her shadow, no joke, she goes wherever Rach goes.

Poor Jaydan on this ride. He kept trying to climb out. It was not funny at all that he almost fell out but if you could have seen his face popping out from the back of this straw umbrella, you would have laughed so hard. I thought Stacie was going to pee her pants. It really was THAT funny!














Jaydan, expressing his concern to Dana.
































So midnight was a little late for Chloee to get to bed but it was all worth it to see how much fun she had. Almost everyone was there. Ok, out of Kathy's kids, it was only Josh and Stacie but Tami & Cody, Chris & Brandi, David and Michael were there. It was so fun. Hopefully, we've started a new tradition!

Chan seriously beat everyone in this fun house. I mean beat them like going through it. He is so fast, definitely a climber, he b-lined to to top and came down the slide before most of the other kids were even past the first step.

Chlo being ever so cautious!

Ty and Jaydan coming down the slide!