keep on rockin'

time for a quick post from grandma and grandpa's house. we are rockin' and rollin'which is very tiring.but, Corby and Ash never let us rest!!!!!!!

entering year six......

the years in numbers:

5 - number of married years

2 - number of children

9 - number of jobs between us

7 - number of moves

5,000 - number of diapers (approx.)

1,000,000 - number of kisses (approx.)

2 - number of states

100% - amount of love

can't wait for the next five years!!!!

the newlyweds

if at first your postpartum weight loss goals do not succeed...tri, tri, again!

The Run The Bike
The Swim

The Fans!!!!!!!

so, it's been my experience now twice over, that baby weight just doesn't budge. my new approach to dealing with a post-baby body is to set a goal that is not related to the number on the scale. you may recall that back in may i participated in my first competitive sport since seventh grade, a 5k run. well, stepped up my game and competed in a sprint triathlon this weekend. that's right, i am a triathlete. funny if you've known me any length of time, even funnier - i loved it! i'm all geared up for another one in december. the whole experience from training to recovery had me thinking a whole lot about my body issues. specifically, how to overcome them. this is not a new line of thinking for me. therefore, i set up a new blog so as not to bore those of you who come here just to check in on the family and not to hear me talk girly. check it out if you feel like glimpsing another side of my reality.

yum!!!

i love these faces! in our kitchen we have pics of Anna eating her first foods, and her first ventures into self-feeding. now baby sister joins the wall!!!

p.s.: Tonya thanks for the blogwear, we needed and update.

what you don't know about Arizona

so, many people don't understand that the state of AZ is more than just barren, hot, miserable desert. in fact, we are mere hours away from the mountains! we head up a couple times a year and have fabulous time. but, we've never seen it like this. last weekend, our neighbors, the Whites

took us up to their cabin in Vernon. it was much further into the woods than we have ever stayed before, a good hour up from our normal cabin. once there, we relished the crisp air and quiet solitude. the first day we took the quads up to a hill with the most breathtaking views, but were quickly scrambling for cover as a storm rolled in. (escaping the valley does not mean escaping the Monsoon.) but the rain was welcome and made everything seem fresher. thanks to the rain we were treated with a wonderful surprise the following day. we took a much longer ride to get the lay of the land. Chad, our neighbor and tour guide, is an avid Native American relic hunter. he took us to an ancient Indian ruin and there we found pottery, an arrow head and a baby horney toad.

our nights were spent working on our latest addiction, Settlers of Catan.

what an Arizona adventure!

beating the heat

for those of you who may be experiencing some "summer heat," here are a few tips on beating it. by the way, these are tried and true taught by some heat-beating masters, my neighbors - AZ natives!



1) eat ice cream in a bowling alley 2) dress appropriately, eg: diaper and princess shoes
3) chill with your friends
4) take a bath
5) play indoors
6) and probably the most important rule - get out of town!

hair today....gone tomorrow

(so, i've been wanting to write this post for the past 8 weeks now, but there are never any pictures of me. we took some family shots with my in-laws and i just got a hold of them.) here's the story, for the better part of my life, i have had long hair...really long hair. whenever i wanted to change it, i opted for color feeling that my length hid a myriad of flaws. i was scared to cut it. recently, craving a change and hating the 100+ degree weather, i finally took the plunge! the result - i love it. i decided being afraid to cut your hair is one of the silliest things to dread. some may still feel i look better with the long locks, and that's cool. at 31 i am finally okay with only caring about how i feel about my looks. (okay, that is a little lie. i still care what Jason thinks. he was skeptical about the cut, until he saw it. as it turns out, he loves me for more than my hair! who would have guessed!) anyway, i post this because i think a lot of women worry unnecessarily about changing their looks. and i am happy to say i am not one of them anymore. finally, i am free of feeling like i'm defined by my hair. next challenge - loving my body! yikes, this will take another 31 years! anyway, here are some before and after pics of my hair: this picture was taken just days before i was scheduled for the cut. i actually backed out and waited another 3 weeks because of this picture. everyone looked at this pic and said, "how can you cut that hair?" it scared me.

we took family pictures with the Earls 1 week after the cut. i cut 9 inches, and i don't think you'd notice if i didn't point it out. here's one of the reasons i finally took the plunge - note that Madeline does not have a handful of hair! also, on this beautiful Arizona morning at 9am, it is over 100 degrees. now it doesn't feel like i'm wearing a sweater and a scarf! talk about liberating!!!!