5k for Education

So I ran my first 5k of the year yesterday, and look how it panned out:




I got 2nd in my age group, which totally shocked me. This is the first race since High School track that I actually trained for, so i was pretty happy. It was a nice run on the Skyline Resort Golf Course.
-Chavonne-

Happy Easter

We had a nice Easter weekend. The kids hunted for eggs at the park in the morning. Then we headed up north to be with some of my family for my niece's birthday party. I didn't get any pics from the park because my camera is having issues.


I did get some cute pics of Morgan playing with his younger cousin, Logan. They were playing peek-a-boo with each other.

Today, we went to church, and the kids all wore their new Easter outfits. I sewed Misty a skirt this year. I had the intent of a matching hat too, but I ran out of time.


I know this one is blurry, but he escaped before I could get a better one. You can still see his handsome smile.








After church, we had dinner with some of the Bailey's. Then we lounged around and visited. A nice weekend with family. Happy Easter!!

-Chavonne-

First haircut

Bye bye curls. :(






-Chavonne-

Friday

Today was our monthly sister lunch. Wyatt and Misty went to their cousins' house for the day while Morgan and I went up with my sisters-in- law to meet up a few more SIL. We ate at Brick Oven Pizza. I didn't get a picture of us today, but this is a picture at Mimi's Cafe from a few months ago.



I love these ladies. We're missing a few- a sister in CO, a sister in MD, and mom. We realized today that we've kept this up for over a year now. It's been a really good way to get together and keep in touch.

After that, we made a stop at Bonnie's friends' quilting business. They had some pretty awesome bikes on display when you first walked in. They didn't look like anybody rode them. I think they may have been advertising the fabric lined baskets. Although the bikes were pretty decked out, so I'm not sure exactly why they were there. Bottom line--they were sweet.



Some day when I own a bike, I want it to be this cool.



After that, we got ice cream and headed home.

Misty and Wyatt got to take a walk to the park and have a picnic. A first for them this year. So their cousins didn't let them down with a new adventure. I, of course, didn't get any pictures, but I would have like to see that parade for 4 blocks. A 12-, 10-,9-, 6-, 3-and 2-year-old.

I came home and cleaned up the house to prepare for General Conference . Then to wrap up the day, we watched "Tangled". It was the first time any of us had seen it, and it was way cute!

-Chavonne-

Thursday

So I've been blogging about each day of my Spring Break. And while it's not that exciting for any of you, I have thoroughly enjoyed having no daily agenda and doing out of the ordinary things with my family.



We started the day with strawberry banana, Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes.









Misty LOVES berries!






Ross took Wyatt with him later on after lunch. This was the first day this year it was warm enough to rev up the motor bike. Misty, Morgan, and I went for a walk. When we got back, we headed down to the farm where Wyatt and Ross were getting ready for lambing to start. I assisted Ross in making an iron brand for the sheep. I never realized that paint is used to brand sheep instead of hot iron that is used on calves. I just helped herd them into the chute. The kids just played and played and enjoyed being out doors.



Morgan ate a clump of dirt. He walked around pretty good, but had difficulties with the uneven ground. He didn't mind crawling around in the dirt though. I picked him up once to show him the sheep. He protested and reached back towards the ground. He just wanted to play in the dirt.



Wyatt and Misty were just at home on the farm. They played and enjoyed the sunshine. Did I say that already?



And the sun wore them out...
-Chavonne-

Spring Break!

This week is my spring break! No, I'm not in school, but no piano lessons, no church obligations, and Ross has four days off. So not much of a schedule means a little more play time this week. I've decided to do something with the kids each day a little more out of the games, coloring, movies and puzzles we normally do. Then document it hopefully every day starting today. Since it's Wednesday, I'll cover three days with this post.

Monday: if you know me at all, you know I can't relax and have fun if the house is a disaster. So nothing to report but cleaning and laundry. Housework makes you ugly!

Tuesday: I decided to have a picnic with the kids. It was a little chilly outside, so I spread a blanket out on the living room floor. Cousin Autumn was over and the kids enjoyed it.






Morgan stuffing his face with a potato wedge. He loved not being confined in the high chair.



Wyatt and Misty fought over my fish sticks. Three fish fillets and we gobbled them up! Made me feel good.



Autumn pulling a face after eating a grape.



The real cuteness.

Wednesday: Morgan is 15 months old today. He is getting braver and braver with his walking. This morning, after I got him dressed, I folded up the diaper. I handed it to him and said, "Go put it in the garbage." I didn't expect him to. Just then my phone rang and I ran into the kitchen to answer. While I was on the phone, I turned around to see Morgan walking in with the diaper and he threw it away! Yes, child number three and I still got excited!


After lunch we went for a walk. It was a little warmer today, and I was dying to get out. Misty fell asleep, so when we got back I put a blanket on her and let her keep sleeping with the seat reclined. I checked on her a few times before she woke up, but once she did, she wanted to stay right where she was. The sun was out and I think she just wanted to be in it. A girl after her mama's heart.





Later on, we drove over to Nephi to drop my vehicle off at the auto shop. We piled in the truck with Ross and went to Arby's for dinner. I love my young children. They are so easy to please. The highlight of their day was picking out their drink to go with their chicken and fries.



Not to mention the fun airplanes that came with their kids meals.



Misty thought hers was a gun at first. That made Ross smile--a girl after her daddy's heart as well.

-Posted via Chavonne's iPod-

Our Pet Dragon

If you've ever seen the Dreamworks film "How to Train Your Dragon," you will understand when I say that I want my own Toothless. Well, I kind of got my my wish. This guy loves to pretend he's a dragon or sometimes Batman with his discovered wings :





As awesome as it would be to have a real pet dragon, it would surely come with its own catastrophes. I think we'll stick with this little sweetheart. The other day at breakfast he said this to Ross, "Dad, you're my friend!" It was so cute. And I have to admit that I was a little jealous :)
-Posted via Chavonne's iPod-

The Big 3-0!!!

I threw Ross a surprise party for his thirtieth birthday. He was surprised, well kind of. I'm terrible at keeping secrets and Ross is excellent at figuring stuff out. All in all, it was a fun night and he got to go hunting the next day. They got a coyote. I just wanted him to feel young again going into his thirties and I'm glad he had a fun weekend. I love you honey. Thank you for all that you do!












It made me tired just watching him blow out all those candles!

My Morgan Man

I know it has been a super long time. And I don't want to recap the last six months. I think I'll just pick up with what is going on now. Morgan, as you can see is growing right up. He picks up on the little games that his brother and sister play and quite enjoys them. He took his first steps at 14 months to the day. That was four days ago and since then he will only venture if he thinks we aren't looking.

Also something about this guy that is worth recording: After about four month of moving into this place in Fountain Green, I finally hung some pictures on the wall. One is located in Wyatt and Misty's room, and it is a picture that my grandma gave me for graduation. It's a picture of Christ holding a little boy in a garden observing a blue butterfly. Anyway, the other day, Morgan was crying so I picked him up and started walking around. I stopped at that picture to observe it. It's like new to me again since it's been in storage for a year. Morgan looked at it, pointed, and grinned from ear to ear. I looked at him admiring his grin and watched his mouth make out and speak the word "Jesus" as he pointed and grinned. It was the sweetest thing ever and a testament to me that we really did know and love our Savior in the pre-mortal life. It is so important to do our best to have that relationship with Him in this life as well. I am grateful for this knowledge and moments of strength like this.

Miracles

My church calling is in the Primary. This month has been all about the Miracles that Jesus Christ performed while he was on the earth. As I've listened each week to the scriptures and stories, I have thought to myself about the miracles that I witness on a daily basis. I'm not going to list them. They are personal, and sometimes a miracle for me wouldn't mean the same to you. All of our miracles occur in our little family, and are usually related to the children. There is one that came to mind while I was making the babies bed (adding the bumper, sheets, etc.) I was thinking about where this crib set came from. We got it after we had Wyatt. Most couples buy that stuff before the baby arrives, but we were so poor, it just wasn't a priority at the time. Wyatt was born a week before Ross' last semester of classes. We moved to Fountain Green after that while he did his student teaching in the spring. Student teaching means no pay.

We lived in his sister's basement for a time and lived off of our savings. Wyatt was getting older and it was time for him to move from the bassinet to the crib. My parents had already offered their crib that they used for their last few babies. So we were set there, but we had no sheets or anything. If anyone has ever purchased these crib sets before, you know they can be very pricey. They were more than we could afford, even the ones on sale were too expensive for us. I worried about what we could do. That week I received a call from my parents. My aunt had sent up a bunch of boy clothes for me to come look at. Her son is about two years older than Wyatt, so he was well out of anything Wyatt could use. Among this stuff was a complete Winnie the Pooh crib set with extra sheets! I was amazed and overcome with gratitude. We were provided for, and it truly was a miracle to us! I'm still using this set on my third baby and it is a reminder to me of the tender mercies the Lord has on each of us daily.

I challenge you to look for the daily miracles in your life. I would love to even read some posts of them. Thanks for reading.

July

Here are some goings on for us. July was our busiest month, so bear with me on the picture overload. Above is a picture of Morgan and his buddy who is 3 MONTHS younger than him. It shocked me when we put them side by side. He will be a big boy!

Below is a picture that kind of goes along with my last post about Mischievous Misty. That is baby powder, and that is not the only time she has done this, but this was the best of the artwork. Luckily it was JUST baby powder.

To start off Lamb Day this year we ran a 5k. Me and Ross with our good friends Grant and Holly. I hadn't trained at all, so I decided to try the course a few days before the actual race. I ran it pretty well that time,considering, but I was so sore when it came time for the race, that I was just hoping to finish. Ross finished way ahead of me. When I made the last turn, where the last stretch was uphill, I had to walk. Then I looked up to see that Ross was coming back for me, and he finished, again, with me. It was very sweet, and it gave me the will to at least jog to the end.

Getting ready for the parade.

Ross pulled the Lamb Day royalty in his dad's truck.

Miss Lamb Day Royalty. Ross' baby sister is the Queen in the pink dress.

Ross' dad driving the team pulling the city council. Can you see the colt?
Ross drove the same team for our Primary to have a float in the Pioneer Day Parade. I didn't get any pics. We were all dressed up like Pioneers. Everyone commented on how authentic we looked. Er, I guess...minus the rubber wheels and padded seats.

Something memorable for Wyatt. They hold softball games the whole week of Lamb Days. I had just given the baby to Aunt Alice so I could clean up Wyatt's skinned knees. As I held him on my lap, I heard a "head's UP!" I looked up just in time to hear a POP! then my little boy wailing. We got up and took him under some lights, where four different nurses concluded that there was no concussion, and he would be fine. This is a picture with the guy who threw the ball. He was throwing from 2nd to 3rd, but overthrew. The ball skimmed the bar above the chain-linked fence, which luckily slowed it down some. We were right in line with it. The kid felt really bad. We were just grateful it was nothing serious. This picture was taken a few days later.

Wiped out after the fireworks.

Glad to be home in our own beds.
During the week we stayed in a sheep camp parked on Grandma Bailey's lawn. It was nice to be where all the action was and not have to pack and haul the kids over there every day.

These two pictures were taken at the Cox Family Reunion.
Above is my handsome cowboy, and Buddy Boy coming behind him.
Below is Wyatt and his 2nd cousin making tracks. I never realized how much they looked alike until I saw this picture. It was a good time. Wish I would've gotten more pictures.

Grandpa Cox is passed away, and his birthday was that weekend when the reunion was held. Grandma and her four children all got up to talk about about him. Then they had a slide show with some very cool pictures throughout his life. I never knew him, but i felt like I got to know him a little better, and as I get to know his children, I can see him in each of them. I hope that made sense. It was the highlight of the reunion for me.