A trip to Texas Part:1

Our family took a road trip for Thanksgiving this year. Justin grew up in Texas and still has one sister that lives there so we decided we'd get a motorhome and take a drive half way across the country! It sounded really fun til it came time to pack and go. But it was definitely a trip we will never forget. We had a great time! Our motor home isn't exactly brand new :) it was a total trip back in time!!! It is definitely the way to travel long distances with five kids. We listened to books, ate breakfast, lunch and dinner on the road. The best part was just letting the kids sleep while we drove early in the morning or late at night. What a trip!
This is Max after I told him he was going to be in his
car seat for the next 24 hours or so


Hailey and Claire helping with the Thanksgiving food

Black Friday!!! Woot Woot!

Of course the best part of the trip was getting to spend time with Heather and her family. We only get to see them about once a year so it was really fun to be able to spend time at their house. Our days and nights consisted mostly of movies, dutch blitz, yahtzee, dr. pepper and lots of food! What more could we want?!

Here we are ready to pile back in the RV and head home. The ride home wasn't nearly as fun and exciting as the ride there, but we survived......and we hope we can do it again!!

Bliss and Christiansen kids!

We did take a trip to Justin's home town and our first house we lived in on the dairy. When I have time I'll post part 2!

Want to see something cute?

Could these be any cuter? Brittni Schroeder is a friend of mine from High School turned awesome photographer!! I love these! Did you notice Max is missing? He wasn't in the best of moods, so we're hoping to get him later. I could look at these all day. Thanks Britt!
Check her out at pocketsfullofposes.blogspot.com
There is a link on my blog

Happy Halloween!

Halloween came and went in a blur this year! Is our school district trying to punish us by having Red Ribbon week and Halloween in the same week?!?! Pretty much every day was Halloween for us, and when you have 4 kids in 3 different schools....things can get confusing! I do wish I would have got more pictures of the kids though. They looked pretty cute. But since we barely were making it to the bus in time, there was no time for pictures.

Sydni was a go-go girl. She looked so cute in her costume. She went trick-or-treating with her friends this year and LOVED it! Jonah was a vampire and Danny was Mario! When Danny got his costume, I was seriously in love with it! It was so cute on him! But after putting the mustache and inflatable belly on him 500 times, I got really tired of it. But it was a hit on Halloween! Max was a 5th child, which means, he probably won't dress up until he starts school and demands to.

After some fun trick-or-treatin we came home and had soup and a movie with Kim and Cory. We made homemade root beer too and it was delicious!

Hailey was a zombie this year. Her dance team does Thriller so she decided her dance costume would make a good Halloween costume. Easy! After her Thriller performance on Thursday night Justin took the girls to the Pizza House for dinner. They were supposed to be at the daddy daughter date at the skating rink, but since Justin couldn't skate they didn't want to go. Anyway.....Hailey took my camera to the Pizza House and LEFT IT THERE!!!! It has a memory card full of pictures! I am dying over it. So if you find a camera and there are pictures of my kids on the memory card.....PLEASE return it to me!

Happy Halloween!

Poor Dad!

About a year and a half ago, Justin came off a horse and broke his leg. He was in a boot forever and it still kept hurting. After seeing several different doctors, he finally got an MRI and we found out he had a cyst growing in his bone and needed surgery. :( They got in there and found way more than just a cyst. There was torn cartilage, a bone spur and pieces of bone just floating around causing pain. Poor guy! He made it through surgery and is recovering well. He is so excited to be pain free!! While spending the first week in bed with his leg elevated, he had lots of company!!

I can't wait til this is all healed and we can start running together again! Maybe even go to Disneyland!!!

Camping Trip

We finally took a couple camping trips this year. We didn't camp at all last year (who wants to camp when they're pregnant?) The kids were so excited to go! Our first campout was to Lehmans cave with my family. Darlene and her family came and stayed the whole time with us and Mike and Russ' families came for the evening. We had so much fun...to bad I forgot my camera. We went through Lehman's cave and the kids did some other hikes. We ate way too much food and got really dirty. Thats what camping is though, right? We were a little stressed after driving two hours and not being able to find a camp site. But we did a little investigating and found a group circle that we had all to ourselves! So it was great!

So great, in fact, that we went back again! This time with the Ekins family. Our kids are all pretty close in age so they had lots of fun. We ended up in the exact same group circle and had it all to ourselves again (after a few little run-ins with some forest rangers) It was definately colder the second time. The days were nice, the nights we froze. The last day we were there Justin woke me up and said it was snowing! SNOWING!!! And it snowed all day! I couldn't believe it! The kids loved it but it was a muddy mess so we packed up and headed home. Shanda had bought all the food for dinner Sunday night, so we took it up to my dad's cabin and ate there. It was lots of fun......and warm!

It was a fun time and I'm looking forward to more camping trips next year!

Oh Max! So dirty!!
You can't tell too much, but the white stuff on
the ground is snow!

Luckily Klell and Shanda had a nice big camper

we could all eat in! I think the kids would have eaten

outside in the snow if we would have let them!

Max, Justin and me....trying to stay warm!

At the cabin. We haven't been up here since my

parents left on their mission. I am obviously excited

to be back!

Eating Shanda's yummy dutch oven dinner

Happy Birthday Hailey!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy HaIlEy!!!!
It seems like Birthdays always go on for a few days around our house. Hailey's was no exception. When it comes to birthday parties I am definately a loser mom. I will bribe my kids with just about ANYTHING to talk them out of a party. Hailey has caught on to this little trick and had been talking about what she wanted to do for a year! Going to Provo with Mikah, eating at the Pizza Factory, and getting pedicures. So....thats exactly what we did. Hailey and Mikah have been best friends since they were about 3. They have also loved make-up, fingernail polish and all other things girly for that long also, so this was right up thier alley. It was a fun day and Darlene came along to keep me company.


Hailey and Mikah eating at the Pizza Factory
Getting pedicures. I think I need one for my b-day too!

The finished product

We ended the day with a stop at the Sweet Tooth Fairy. YUM! So many cupcakes!

Then on Tuesday (the real birthday) we took the family bowling. It was a lot of fun. After that Justin grilled us some steaks for dinner, Hailey's favorite. Then Darlene and Jeff came over to have cupcakes and ice cream and open some presents.

Darlene gave Hailey this make-up bag...she was so excited!
Then it was the moment she's been waiting for!

Hailey has been drilling me on her present forever!

When I rolled out the suitcase that matched the make-up

bag, she was pretty excited!

My little masterpiece. It turned out cute, but why do

things always look so much better in my mind? It tasted

good though.

Happy Birthday Hailey! Hailey is such a sweet girl. She is such a big help around the house and with Danny and Max. Her and Sydni are the best of friends and I love watching them grow up together. This year Hailey has made friends with a severely handicapped girl in her school. She spends every recess visiting with her, reading to her, or painting her fingernails. She has even made a few trips to the care center to visit this little girl. I am so proud of Hailey for this. Not just anyone has what it takes to be friends with someone so handicapped. She has now decided when she grows up she wants to be a nurse who can work with kids like that. We love you Hailey!

Hobble Creek Half Marathon

2 Half marathons this summer? Are you kidding me? If it wasn't for the girls weekend getaway, I probably would not have done this race. I was really not ready and when the race started, it showed. I was actually feeling pretty good until about mile 9 and I was pretty much done. The race started way too late making it hot towards the end. Not to mention the hills I was totally unprepared for. I was pretty much hating life for the last 4 miles but I (very slowly) finished. I did have an awesome cheering section when I came in to the finish line since all my friends had finished about a half hour before me!!! Yes, I am that slow! But I have to remind myself.....when I started running I couldn't even run around the track one time! I have come a long way since then and I hope next summer I can do better. It was a fun weekend with great friends that I love!

Getting our carbs at the Brick Oven!
HA HA! The best part of the whole trip was shopping at the DI. We decided to go get sweatshirts we could wear before the race started, then chuck them once it warmed up. Tiff wasn't with us at the DI but she wanted something too! It was too good, how could we not buy her the sweetest slicky sweat suit in the whole store! We were laughing so hard picking out just the right thing! Who could have parted with this leapord print Ceaser's Palace sweat suit?! Its a beauty! We waited til the next morning to tell her we actuall got her something "normal"

After the race. (k, I don't even know who the girl in the hat is)

Chelese, Shannon, Stacia, Cassie, Tiff, Dani, me

Showin' off the big guns! ps...don't mess with Stacia

Oh ya! We did it!

HOORAY! I barely had the energy to pose for this picture!

As much as I hated this race, I'm already thinking about more races to come. CRAZY!!

Happy Birthday Sydni!

Sydni turned 9 last week! I can't believe how big she is getting! We had a birthday party for her on Sunday with Grandma & Grandpa Bliss and Lindsey's family (we missed Grandma & Grandpa Church though) Then on Monday we took Syd's best friend Macey to 7 Peaks. Lucky for me Amber came along so we had lots of fun. She wanted to eat at the Red Robin afterward and got a free chocolate cake for her birthday....and I never pulled my camera out once. But it was a super fun day! Sydni is such a fun girl to have around. She always keeps us laughing and is so so sweet. Happy Birthday Syd!!

First Day of School!

What can I say? I'm just not one of those moms that cry when school starts. We've had a great summer and the kids were just as ready for school to start as I was. So far they've loved it. Hailey is in middle school this year and really likes it. She can't quite figure out her locker yet, but when she does it will be the best decorated locker in all of 5th grade. She's had lots of fun buying magnents and a white board and other stuff to make it snazzy so hopefully she'll be able to open it by herself soon! :) She really likes her teacher and has made new friends already.

Sydni is in 4th grade this year and I really can't believe it. She also likes her teacher and has friends in her class so she is loving it. Since the south elementary combined with us this year she gets to see lots of friends and cousins she hasn't gone to school with before so she is enjoying that.

Jonah started 1st grade this year. I know his teacher is awesome because the girls had her. He has lots of friends in his class too. Mrs. Fowles said he is a good reader and writer. She told him to practice by writing letters to Grandpa Gary. We'll see. I can't get him to write anything. But I am glad he likes to read.

Last but not least....Danny is FINALLY a "school kid" Thats what he calls himself! He is probably the most excited kid I've ever had. It doesn't take much to make him happy (or mad) but going to school is definately at the top! He has only gone one day so far but loved it. I hope he listens to his teacher better than he listens to me!!!

I can't believe they're all in school. Who would have thought this day would ever come?! Luckily I have Max to keep my company (or take a nap with)

Happy 1st Birthday Max!

I am really behind on this post! July 28th Max turned one! I really can't believe how fast this year has gone by. We were on vacation for Max's birthday so he got to celebrate at Lindsey's in California! It was lots of fun! He loved his party hat, cake and presents. He thought it was really funny when we were all singing to him too. I just love this little guy!
Dig in! He loved getting messy eating his cake!

He really didn't know how to open his presents, but no worries!

He had lots of help!!

A few milestones for Max:

*finally sleeping in his crib in his own room and out of mine!

*8 teeth

*Went from crawling to walking in pretty much one day

*Loves ALL food

*says "hi"

*LOVES Backyardigans (not really a milestone, but a lifesaver for me!)

This is our last first birthday. I finally feel like one of those moms that hates to see thier baby grow up, but I'm totally looking forward to more fun years with Max!

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

I can finally say I have ran a half marathon. I've had this goal for quite a while now, and I'm happy to say I achieved it. I'm not much of a goal setter so it felt pretty great. I'm definately not the fastest, but I was pretty much there to finish and not die! Even though I almost did at mile 12! I couldn't believe I had 11 miles behind me and only one to go and all I wanted to do was lay down and be done! But my super sister-in-law Hilary got me through!

Here I am coming into the finish line. I actually started sprinting here,
but this picture makes me look like I was walking! Not So!
Me, Hilary, Misty - hooray for us!

Not only was it a weekend of achieving goals, but also a girls weekend! Nothing can top that! I have some pretty great sisters-in-law I was able to spend the weekend with and it was sooo much fun! We laughed til we cried! I rode down with Heather, Stephani, and Misty to Cedar where we picked up Hilary. Of course we had to carb up :) so we headed for the Pizza Factory...my favorite! Then it was off to Bryce Canyon. We had good intentions of a good nights sleep before the race but with 5 girls in one tiny hotel room, no such luck. But it sure was fun!

Misty, Hilary, me, Stephani, Heather - I just love these girls

After the race we decided to take in a little scenery. I heard the run was pretty scenic but somehow I missed that. Heather had never seen Bryce Canyon and the rest of us hadn't been in a while so it was fun to see.

us girls again - Heather, me, Steph, Hilary, Misty

Stephani and I

Thanks to my awesome sisters-in-law, that are more like real sisters to me! I can't wait to make this a tradition and do it every year.

More Summer Fun!

This summer continues to keep us busy! Justin got a wild hair and decided it would be fun to take the kids to Lagoon! Of course they thought this was a great idea also, so away we went. We went up Sunday after church and spent the night in Orem and headed to Lagoon Monday morning. (after a long night of Jonah screaming with a tooth ache!) We spent the whole day at Lagoon and had a great time. It was HOT but still fun. Hailey was a daredevil as always, and rode everything. Syd did pretty good this time. She's getting a little more brave all the time. We put big shoes on Jonah and set his hat high on his head and he was barely tall enough to ride the white roller coaster and a few other things. He really wanted to go on the collousus, but about half way up that really steep first part he changed his mind! Too late buddy! He decided it was pretty fun though and ended up riding again. I decided I must be too old because every ride seemed to hurt my body!!!

Syd, Max and Hailey at the motel
Danny on the merry-go-round. He is so easily entertained!

After an hour of waiting in line, they didn't even get wet! Hailey, Sydni, me and Danny on the BAT!

On to the 4th of July. This is always such a fun holiday in our little town! People come from all over to celebrate the 4th in Delta! The day before we let the kids decorate their bikes and be in the kiddy parade. Jonah and Sydni thought it was a race so I got stuck helping Danny down main street. About two pedals down the road he got too tired so I Pushed him the rest of the way. Pretty sure we won't be doing the kiddy parade next year! :) On the 4th I got up early with my girls and we ran a 5k here in town. Hailey and Syd thought it was about the hardest thing they had ever done, but they made it....even over the 8 foot fence!! After that we watched the parade and the kids got tons of candy, as usual. Hailey was in the parade this year with her dance class so that was fun. Thanks AGAIN to Russ and LeAnn for letting us sit at the laundromat. It's pretty much the best seat in town! Then it was off to the park for tritip sandwiches! I live for those every year...they are the BEST! The rest of the park day consisted of fighting with the kids over hermit crabs, bouncy slides, etc, etc. I don't think my sister really likes hanging out with me and my children at the park! Too bad for her! We ended the night with a big BBQ at the Bliss' and fireworks. It was a long day, but sooo much fun!

Jonah and Syd....Danny hadn't made it to the park yet! :)

Hailey, Hilary, me, Syd, Misty, Erica after the 5k

Hailey with her dance group

All of Justin's family has been here so we've been spending lots of time with them. We love going up to the canyon together. We brought 4 wheelers and Grandpa Bob brought his horses so everyone had a great time!

Max gets the graham cracker part of a s'more!

We had some black bath water goin' down the drain that night

Me and Danny going for a 4wheeler ride