Family Race

Forgive me for bragging a little: (after that last "spiritual" post I want to remind all my loved ones how prideful I can be!) Last weekend, the boys and I ran a race. I ran the 5K, and the boys ran in a Kid's Race (a sprint around the track), competing against their age-groups. Here's the brag: Spencer, Mikey and I each finished first in our age categories of our races! I love being in the "Over 30" age-group b/c I don't have to keep up with those young-bucks to stand out! I was so thrilled, that I vowed to keep running until I'm in my 80's just so I could always come in first place (and only place!)!

It was also a great bonding moment for the boys and me (Jaron had to work). I loved sharing something that I love so much with them, and for them to actually experience the stress and exhilaration of a race for themselves. They talked for days about how fun their race was (and how FAST their mom is--just kidding!!). Sadly, my camera ran out of batteries after taking only one (blurry) picture, so I have nothing to show!

A Bit of Heaven on Earth

Heaven is manifested all around us--the beauties of nature; the kindness of a stranger; the wisdom and thoughtfulness of a friend; the unconditional love we receive from family; moments when we pause to listen to and connect with the true Source of Light and Love.

We got to do some connecting this weekend, during General Conference (aka "Jennifer" conference, if you're Mikey). I made some delicious food (if I do say so myself)--cinnamon rolls that were to DIE for, and some scrumptious Cafe Rio knock-off dishes--to tempt my family to cozy up with me and listen to 8 hours of talks from inspired servants of God. Not that they needed much bribing--the kids have come to look forward to the bi-annual General Conference weekends as special time with family (crafting, eating, coloring, drawing), and and even a little listening to the inspired messages.

We have a tradition where, at the start of each talk, Jaron or I will pick a word (like "families), and every time the speaker says the word, the kids can get a candy from a bowl up by the computer. It keeps them (and us) from falling asleep (which is no easy feat after all that good food and cozy-ness!), and helps them stay at least a little attentive to the speakers. This year, we kept forgetting to mention a "keyword", so the kids just took the initiative to reward themselves with a candy whenever they thought they deserved one. The candy bowl emptied pretty quick this year.

The weather was also gorgeous here, so in the mornings before the sessions started we'd go for a "bike ride" (mom huffing it on foot to keep up with the youngsters on bikes), and then settle in at 11 for some good food and inspiration from the internet. Jaron also took advantage of the before-and-between session time to paint his skateboard ramp. And can I just say that I am SO grateful for the internet?? When I was a child, we'd go to the church to watch the satellite broadcast of Conference. Since the church building was 25-ish minutes away, we never had time to go home and relax or eat in between sessions, so we'd haul our food to the church (sandwiches again...yum), and of course be in our "Sunday best" (which really means "un-comfortable") all day. I much prefer cozying up on the couch in my sweats and slippers, cuddling all my boys while I watch and listen.

There were a lot of powerful, peace-inspiring messages given. I'm glad I can go to the LDS website and re-watch or listen to all of the talks, so that I can really let them sink in better. But I wanted to share on this post something I liked that President Monson said:

"My counsel for all of us is to look to the lighthouse of the Lord. There is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what its beacon light can rescue. It beckons through the storms of life. The lighthouse of the Lord sends forth signals readily recognized and never failing. I love the words found in Psalms: “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; … I will call upon the Lord … so [I shall] be saved from mine enemies.”³

Add a Note

The Lord loves us, my brothers and sisters, and will bless us as we call upon Him."

I agree wholeheartedly with what President Monson says--that Heavenly Father is the God of ALL His children, and that he'll nourish and guide us more abundantly than we probably recognize. I have had too many specific, heart-wrenching prayers answered in clear and powerful ways to ever deny that God is Real, Present, and Ever Ready for us to seek Him so that He can bless us. May we all seek Him a little more intently, because surely He is all around us and has the power to open our spiritual eyes to recognize Him.

I also came away from this Conference weekend filled with love for others and desire to serve others better! Let me start by saying that I'm SO grateful for all your friendship!! I feel like I'm the luckiest gal because I've always been surrounded by good, fun, inspiring friends. If you're reading this blog, you can be sure that you've touched my or Jaron's life in some way, and from the bottom of my heart, I (and we) thank you!

Talents

At church on Sunday, Mikey's teacher gave a lesson on talents. She had the children list some of their talents, then sent a card home with each child's talents on it.

Among Mikey's talents??

"Kung Fu Master"

...Enough said.

After church, when I saw the card:

Em: "Mikey, how did you learn to become a kung fu master?"

M: "Spencer taught me...Wanna see my super high kick?"

Glad he's getting a lot out of church.

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A couple days later, Mikey was riding his bike alongside me as I pushed Trevor in the jogging stroller. This is the conversation we had:

M: "Bike riding really makes your leg muscles strong, right mom?"

E: "That's right, Mikey."

M: "Yea, and I have really strong leg muscles for kung fu, so I can kick really high."

E: "That's great, Mikey."

M: "I also do exercises to get strong...I do sit-ups to make my arm muscles and head muscles strong...I do push-ups to make my legs and stomach strong...and I do jumping around on the couch because it makes me sweat."

Lesson learned: You can be whatever you dream with a little exercise.

THE Highlight of our Summer!

No question. Hands down. The most, MOST fun we had all summer was when the Haley Family drove cross-country to visit us for a week in August!! And it's not just because of all the REALLY fun things we did, like: skateboarding, waterslides, Children's museum, kiddie carnival rides, Wii, the beach, eating "restaurant style" waffles every morning, eating "Chicago-style" pizza, going out for ice-cream, the parent's double-date to downtown, staying up late playing games, and my morning walks with Jaimie on beautiful trails...

No, it was our absolute most favorite week of the summer because we got to do all those fun things with Aaron, Jaimie, Dallon, Dawson and Easton! It meant SO much to us that they made Iowa their family vacation destination (shows how hard-pressed they were for excitement!).

We know that it's not an easy drive, and on top of that, Aaron tore his ACL just a few days (or a week?) before they were supposed to come! They almost didn't come, but Aaron--who earns 5,000 brownie points, in my opinion, for making the trip with a painful leg--decided to "take one for the team" and make the trek anyway! And we're sooooo grateful that he did!

Before we dive into these incredible pics (have I enticed anyone else yet to come for a visit?) I need to give credit where it's due. The following barrage of pictures would literally not be possible without Jaimie's incredible photography skills AND her willingness to send me a CD in the mail of these superb vacation photos (thanks again SO much!!).

I love little Easton, he's such a sweetheart!

Jaron worked with the kids on "dropping in" on our ramp. They had a blast, and I breathed a sigh of relief when there were no broken bones!

We went to our local community pool. It's a fun one w/waterslides and a splash pad. I love these pictures Jaimie took:

I love this picture of Jaim and Aaron!

We had tons of fun at a nearby lake ("the beach"). Jaimie headed up the traditional sand-castle building, which turned out to be another grand one!

After a long day at the beach, we enjoyed delicious chicago-style pizza.

Fun at the Children's Museum:

...and getting ice cream...

...and at a local park with "carnival rides" (Trevor's favorite is this fun train!)

Then it's back on the skateboards for more fun..

...and a little "down time" playing Wii.

Before our double date with Jaimie and Aaron, Jaimie did a little photo shoot with us big-kids, and I think they turned out great!

Jaim and Aaron made time on their way out of town to watch Jaron compete in a road-bike race (which he did awesome in!!). Thanks for going the extra mile guys! We love you and have been missing you ever since you left!!

And the Winner is...

JARON!!! (Who else?? :-)

For Jaron and Emily's Birthdays (both at the beginning of September--Happy late Birthdays, by the way!!), Jaron got a new "toy"--a Cyclocross Bike. My take on it is that it's a cross between a streamlined, skinny-wheeled road bike (which he has already mastered), and a mountain bike (which I guess is next on the list of bikes to conquer). He's excited to be able to use it to commute to work, come rain, snow, or ice storm!! He's most excited, though, to use it to "punish" the competition in cyclocross races, which is exactly what he did in his first-ever Cyclocross race this week. Post-call no less (was that 2 hrs sleep you got??). And yes, I'm bragging up my Honey. And what exactly is a cyclocross race, you may ask? Just imagine a course similar to cross-country running: Gravel, mud and obstacles are all par for the course. Jaron's course was a mostly gravel 12-mile course, with hills, twists and turns. He loved it, and can't wait for his next race! And I say way-to-go Sweetie!

p.s. I didn't come away empty-handed for my birthday either--Jaron installed the beadboard in our kitchen for me! (And did lots of other sweet and wonderful things, which I will not mention here.)

Por Fin!!

(Translation: "Finally!!")

Before:

After:

(Notice the authentic "Spencer Sullivan" and "Mikey Sullivan" artwork--my favorite touch!)

Before:

After:

And the Kitchen is (almost) done!! (Just a little beadboard to mount on the wall, and we'll be set!) 6 months later, 9 coats of primer/paint/polyurethane on the cabinets, installing hardware, 2 coats of paint on the wall, new counters and appliances, and lots of love, is all it took!! Needless to say, we're all happy as can be with the results!!

1st Day of School

How many times in our lives do we use the expression, "I can't believe how time flies!" Well, I'm gonna use it yet again here, because we now have TWO of our babies in school! Such big boys--a Second Grader and a Kindergartner! Spencer has the same teacher he had last year (he's in a 1st/2nd combined class), whom we absolutely LOVE, Mikey is having a wonderful time in Kindergarten. They get to ride the bus this year, which is also fun for them (and for me--saves an hour of driving each day!). Here's a picture of the boys before they head off to school.