He pulled a fast one on me

Yesterday, I guess Kobe had an assembly at school where someone really good with a yo- yo came. Afterwards, the kids could buy yo- yo's if they wanted. Kobe came home wanting one really bad. I told him he should save his money for Lagoon this weekend.

So...today he comes home from school and I'm down stairs working. I could here him walking around upstairs looking for me when all of a sudden he comes darting down the stairs yelling, "Mom, mom guess what? I won a yo- yo at school today!" I said...What? How? He began telling me that they drew his name and he won. I told him that I couldn't believe it! I couldn't believe how lucky he was. I never win anything so it's a good thing someones lucky!! I was so excited for him. I went on and on about how cool I thought it was. He had wanted one pretty bad, and he got it.

Well..... Kobe then starts laughing his head off and tells me he was joking that he never really won a yo-yo. That STINKER!! He's always trying to trick me. Most of the time I can tell because he can't keep a straight face. But this time he really got me good! I can't let him know he's perfecting it though.....otherwise when he's older and a teenager he won't believe me when I say, "Mom and Dad know when your telling a lie, they really do know everything".

Thanksgiving Point Animal Farm

Now that Kobe is in school all day everyday, Kylee has been missing him allot. She has been pretty bored so I decided to take her to the animal farm, just me and her. We had so much fun together. Of course her favorite thing to do was ride the horses. Sometimes I wish I could just untie the horse and hop on to go running out in the field. I miss those days back in Horsefly. But I'm sure Thanksgiving point wouldn't go for it.

Kylee was a little nervous to feed the animals all except the ducks. They were little enough and behind a fence. Who wouldn't be afraid to feed this thing.....


Anyways I'll have to plan at least one fun thing a week for her and I to do. I have to enjoy it while I can right? They always grow up too fast.

Love'n Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Kobe is in love with a new sport. BMX racing. I should have known how much he would love to do this considering his history. About 6 weeks ago we took him out to the track to practise and see if he would like it before signing him up. And what do you know, he is totally HOOKED! Part of me can't believe it after his nasty crash and part of me totally can- that's just Kobe! He was coming out of the gate which is on a pretty big hill followed by an uphill which he totally got air on. He landed over his handle bars skidding his chest and face on the ground. A boy probably about 10 years old, stopped and helped him up and told him it was a pretty sweet crash. Kobe felt so big and pretty cool. The next day all he could talk about was how he needed to practise. He wanted me to set up a course for him at home, which turned out pretty lame- he hasn't asked me to set up one for him since.

His very first race night he did awesome! He qualified for the final race and took 5th place! He was so proud of his trophy and we were so proud of him. Kylee would even cheer, "Kobe, Kobe, Kobe!"

So Just to explain a little bit.... depending on how many kids in his division register for the race that day, that will determine how many Moto's (groups) there are racing. They have two heats and in those 2 heats you have to get either 1st or 2nd to qualify for the Main event or Final race.

Because Kobe is in the six year old age group Aaron can't help him at the gate. Learning to come out of the gate fast is one of the most important parts. Kobe has learned to sit there and balance on his bike without putting his foot down. When the announcer says, "riders ready", Kobe totally stands up on both peddles and flies out of the gate! He is always up front coming out of the gate! I wouldn't even be able to stand up on my peddles and balance. Wow buddy!

Kobe is the 3rd one from the far end. We'll try to get a better picture soon, but you get the idea.

Here is a video of his second week of racing. This is the race that put him into the finals. He's the one in front in the yellow shirt. I'm sad I never got the beginning when he comes out of the gate- I guess I need a better video of this too. Soon I promise!

I had no idea how much I would love going and watching him. We love seeing his excitment, we love cheering for him, and we love to see how much he learns and improves each time we go. Way to go Kobe!

*Happy Birthday Kylee*

WoW, this Kiddo is two already! I still remember how long we waited for her to come into this world and join our family. I remember right when she was born and they put her up on my chest for the first time, I swear she smiled at me, as if to say, " Yeah, I'm here and I'm so glad to see you! It's about time Mom and Dad, I've been waiting forever to get here". We are so blessed to have her as a part of our family! She has brought us so much joy and happiness.

I took Kylee in for her 2 year check up and, yep, she's definitely still a little peanut. She weighed in at a teeny tiny 20 pounds fully dressed. Yeah! we can turn her around in her car seat now, well..... actually we did when she turned 1, sshhhh, don't tell anyone. Is it bad that before we go to the doctor we make a trip to McDonald's and I have her try to pound a milk shake? She also kinda dropped in percentile for her height. She is 30.7 inches. They want me to bring her back in 3 months to check her height again. If she hasn't grown a cm they want to do blood and urine tests... Ugh. Seriously, she's just tiny like Aaron and I were, plus....have you not seen Kobe, he's six years old and maybe 15 pounds heavier. Kylee, you just have you're own little growth chart going on. Your just as healthy as can be and you're so full of energy and actually pretty coordinated. You jump on the trampoline with the big kids and you would think you were one of them landing those big bounces! I love it when you run everywhere and you have this one arm that swings bag and forth. You love it when someone is chasing you and you can hardly run straight because your laughing so hard.

You love to read books. Sometimes I wonder where you are only to find you laying in your room looking through books. You try to be like your big brother and and sit by me instead of on my lap when reading, but the second Kobe tries to get on my lap you want to be there too.

You have quite the mullet going on. I try to keep your hair done so no one knows. You love to get your hair done. You love new clothes and shoes even though you never keep your shoes on. You even get split toes outside playing but that's still not enough to make you keep those dang shoes on. You definitely have your favorite outfits. This one time G-ma and G-pa Mendenhall brought you back a dress from Spain. It was really bright and frilly and you insisted on wearing it to church. I have to admit as cute as it was I was a little embarrassed you wore it to church. You did look pretty dang cute though. You always say cute cute at your new outfits.

You LOVE to get your nails painted. You think the cute neighbor girl McCall Funk is just the best thing ever! You always say "pretty's, pretty's" when you see her. She will go get her stuff and then sit down and paint your fingers and toes. She even gave you some nail polish in a cute purse for your birthday. What would you ever do if they ever decided to move.

You're a PINCHER!! We have to keep your nails short because man, can you ever pinch!! Your poor brother and all his friends have to watch out for you. You're not quite sure how else to get what you want from those big kids, but we're learning to be nice. You usually throw yourself down on the floor and kick your feet when you don't get what you want. It's kind funny right now but I sure hope you get over that soon.

Your a big helper around the house. You love to help me put the laundry in the washing machine and dryer. But your favorite part is riding up and down the stairs in the laundry basket. You love to ride on the vacuum when Dad or I are vacuuming. You unload the dishes and like to be the one to put the soap in and start the dish washer.

Your starting to become pretty independent. Sometimes this drives your mom a little crazy, like the other day when you wanted to walk on your own like a big girl across the street. You didn't want to have anything to do with holding my hand. Although, You love to color but would rather watch me color perfectly in the lines than you doing it on your own.

You love playing popcorn popping or pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake with daddy. For some reason Dad always makes that so much funner than mom. He always ads fun things into the song and tickles you like crazy. We like to sing the, "Night Night Kylee", song at bedtime. You and Kobe hate that song because it means bedtime. You've even started saying Night Night Kobe because you know it bugs him and you'd rather him go to bed instead of you. When someone asks you who Teresa is you point to me, but if someone asks you who Aaron is you have no idea. Daddy will always be daddy. You are definitely a little daddy's girl. During the day you'll ask me where he is and I'll tell you he's at work. You'll then fold your arms and say ummmfff, or start to cry. You love it when you see his truck pull up at the end of the day.

You hate riding in the car, you always have. We try to bring shows in the car so we can get through the drive without you screaming. You rarely fall asleep, even if you haven't had a nap, and if you do, the slightest brake or turn wakes you right up and your restless again. If we get in the car without Kobe you wonder where he is and why we're leaving him behind.

You love to cheer for Kobe. You yell Kobe! Kobe! Kobe! As he's racing his BMX bike. You really think he's the greatest. I hope it always stays that way. I loved having an older brother.

*You are so friendly. You wave to everyone as we're shopping.

*You call all drinks juice, even if its milk or water.

*You love tubbies and are beginning to love showers too!

* You love to sit on the potty- even though you haven't gone yet you think it's pretty cool.

* You have a definite sweet tooth

* Your favorite foods are hot dogs, cottage cheese, yogurt, pizza, eggs, and anything dipped in ketchup or ranch dressing.

* You think your cousin Mckay is the Bomb diggity!

* You love to watch signing time and know allot of words in sign language.

* Your favorite show is Curious George & the first thing you say when getting up in the morning is either George or story. When watching shows in the morning you sit in your little chair and have to have another one to prop your feet up. Talk about a soft life.

* You love going for rides on the dirt bike or rhino- you always say Rhino, Rhino, Rhino!!

*You like to go for walks, bike rides, and going to the park- your favorite is the slide and swings.

* You love the word EEEWWWW. If the food looks gross or you see a bug you say, EEWW!

* You love to brush your teeth and wash your hands- this usually keeps you busy while I'm doing your hair- maybe that's why you like your hair done so much.

* You know when we're getting close to G- ma and G-pa Mendenhalls. You'll start saying buppa, buppa!

* We've never had a problem taking you to nursery- toys and treats, man...you know whats good!

* I love your laugh and the way you say, "Hey" all the time.- To cute!

Wow! What a great kid you are!!! How did we ever get so lucky to have you as a part of our family. We love your squeezes, your laughs and kisses and we hope they never end!!! Happy Happy Birthday! So I had to put these pictures in. Kobe insisted on giving you a Zu Zu for your birthday. I think he really just wanted one. This picture just says, "What the?? Kobe is this for you or me?" Kobe swares he just didn't want her bugging him for his.

I guess she decided she liked it!

Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon

So Pre- Marathon was a blast!! I got to train with my good friends Nicole Morris and Julie Funk. It was so fun getting together to run in the mornings all the time. I think my friendships with them grew even more! I love those girls! My knee the previously year had really bothered me. In training I had only got to mile 8, but this year with some new shoes and better stretching, it wasn't so bad. Training went pretty good but deep down I was feeling a little unprepared.

The day before the marathon 6 girls crammed into the SUV and we had a pretty sweet girls night out, as we traveled down to Logan. We went out to eat and hardly slept with all the pre- marathon gitters. The morning of, I met my niece Tristin who came to run it also. I was so excited to have her here. I knew I would probably only run the first couple miles with her and then she would leave me in her dust.

Wow.... what can I say but that this 1/2 marathon was nothing like the last. I was doing so awesome ( well for me anyways)! I was keeping a pace of an 8 1/2 minute mile until I reached mile 10 and then something bad happened. My body started shutting down. I didn't feel tired at all, I just felt really dizzy. Everything was spinning. I ran mile 10 and by the time I got to mile 11 I could no longer run. I could hardly walk straight. Everything was turning black like I was going to pass out, but I just kept walking. It took me forever to finish mile 11 when Jessica, the marathon queen, came running back. She had been meeting up with all of us friends to run us in the last couple miles. All I can say is if it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't have been able to finish the race. I finished in the same exact time as my very first 1/2 marathon. But was disappointed I never beat my first time.

Come to find out I had been really dehydrated. The EMT's had to put a couple bags of fluid in me and then I was totally fine...except for that 800 mg of IB provin that I took on an empty stomach. That made me puke the rest of the day.

Well....needless to say this won't be my last race!! Regardless of everything.... I'm addicted, and I'm going to kick butt next time (at least in the little world of Teresa)!

1st Grade..No way??

Kobe's first day of school was awesome, well for him anyways. I think sending him to first grade was even harder for me than sending him to kindergarten. First grade means Kobe being gone all day long. Lets just say little Ky and I missed him like crazy!! I kept looking at the clock wondering if it was almost time to go pick him up. Kylee kept looking around saying Bobe, Bobe??

We dropped him off that morning and could hardly get any pictures of him because he was so excited to go inside. His teacher was dressed like a pirate and the classroom was all decked out! And yes... he's in a portable. Not quite sure what I think about that, but he seems excited. There's no bathroom in the portable, so that means he has to go into the school for that. He's not going to like that in the winter. Lets just hope the teacher doesn't find any yellow spots in the snow behind the portable.

Kobe came home so excited about his teacher, friends, hot lunch, and P.E. I'm excited his good friend Jackson Greenberg is in his class. Now maybe between Whitney and I, we can figure out what they do each day.

Last minute I had decided to change Kobe from the 9:15am start time to the 8:00am start time. Call me crazy, I know. But he's surprisingly do well with it. I carry him into mine and Aaron's bedroom in the morning so he can wake up to Curious George and eat breakfast in our bed. Talk about a SOFT LIFE!!! But it works.

After school Kylee and I had made cookies for Kobe. I made his bed and wrote him a little card. He was pretty excited! Here's to a great year buddy!!!

What could be funner than this???

Didn't you just love building tents with blankets in the living room as a kid? Reading's so much funner under a tent!!