On my way to #27

I recently reviewed my 30 before 30 list.  

I made a few changes.  

For one I switched taking a photography class (because they’re way too expensive) 

to milking a cow (I’ve always wanted to, but never have).

I also debated taking off relearning to do a back flip on the trampoline 

because I am never around any trampolines.

Well, last night that changed!  Because WE GOT A TRAMPOLINE!!

Matt LOVES it!  

Lindsay loves it too, as long as Matt doesn't jump too high.

Matt jumped for more than 2 hours, came in, ate dinner, fell asleep at 6:00 and slept for 14 hours! 

Hopefully I’ll get up my courage and learn that backflip before long!

Thank you Wellings!  We LOVE it!!

Bountiful Handcart Days!

Ok, I LOVE Bountiful!  I know, I’ve said it before, but I DO!!

The parade was awesome!  We didn’t have the best seats, but it was still really fun!

The highlights included:

My grandpa Welling being one of the oldest Eagle Scouts in Bountiful,

Matt playing with Eliza.

Lindsay trying to steal random strangers food--so she had to stay with mom or dad.

Matt loved the Madagascar float.  

Here is Matt’s face when he saw it (You did an AMAZING job Barbie!)

and of course, The 2,000 Stripling Warriors.  They got the most cheers out of everyone! 

  I LOVED it!

Another highlight was just being there with my handsome date!

After the parade we went to my sister Heather’s house to watch the Mueller Park fireworks.

First we got to watch the sunset.

We were east of Orchard Dr. so we couldn’t have any fireworks, 

so Heather bought 350 glow sticks for the kids to play with!

It was the perfect ending to a perfect day!

Glow little Bug!

Aunt Kristy invited all of the cousins over to her house to make “fireflies.” 

They turned out so cute!  And the kids LOVED them!

Here are the kids showing off their bugs. 

They stuck glow sticks inside the bugs to make them glow.  

The kids kept “buzzzzing” in Eliza’s room.

After we were all done aunt Heather gave the kids some taffy!

Matt loved using Heather’s extra glow sticks to take a glow bath!

Thanks Kristy for the fun day!

It's Raining! It's Pouring!

I told Darin I wanted to take a picture of him in his "outfit."

He said, "This is NOT an OUTFIT, it's RAIN GEAR!"  ha ha

#2- Run a Half Marathon!

 Yes!  I did it!  That one feels good to have done!  A few months ago my friend Jana started training me for a half.  But a little while in she threw out her back L and we stopped running. 

Last week my sister in law, Kristy, convinced me to go up to Wyoming and run the Star Valley Half.  I debated, but finally gave in and did it (even though I hadn’t been running for almost a month).

Kristy’s sister (who is also my friend), Jess, (who is actually the one that got me started on this whole 30 before 30 thing), ran the race with us!

Kristy, Jess, and I all started out together, but then Jess and I finished it together.  Jessica is pretty much amazing (as in she runs two halfs a year) and she was WAY too nice to me!  She went at my pace the whole time, with a few exceptions when she got in the zone and got far ahead of me.  Then, when she saw that I was WAY behind her, she stopped and walked until I caught up! 

Mile 12 was pretty hard (ok REALLY hard), and I was barely hobbling along.  Then, right as we came around the last corner to the last stretch, the crowd started cheering, my power song came on, and I pushed the last stretch a little too hard—and I am REALLY sore today!

Posing for a picture on the left, then feeling light headed, and lost my balance on the right.

After the race we went back to the Bott cabin (more like the Bott mansion—it is huge and gorgeous!)  Kristy watched my kids while I took a long bath in their HUGE tub!  It felt SOO nice! THANK YOU KRISTY!! But I felt bad because Ben and Darin went golfing and got back before Kristy got to take a bath.  So I got a long bath and she got a quick shower.  Sorry Kristy!

We took the kids over to the pond for a little while, packed up, then headed home (with a stop on the way for some sushi).  It was a quick trip, but a fun one!

THANK YOU BEN AND KRISTY FOR EVERYTHING!!  

YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!

Lindsay’s Update.

Today we went in to Primary Children’s for Lindsay’s CT.  They talked about sedating her because she’s getting bigger and more mobile.  But luckily she held still but just kept saying, “Mom! Mama! Mom! Mama! Mom!”

After the CT we went into meet with Dr. Kestle.  Matt found this toy that he loved.

Dr. Kestle looked at the pictures for what felt like forever without saying anything.  

He kept zooming in and out, measuring, and comparing the pictures.

Finally he said, 

“Well, it definitely doesn’t look any worse, but it doesn’t look any better either.  Hmmm.”

Her head size is still far off the charts, and it isn’t getting any closer to where she should be, but then he asked how she was doing with everything else.  I told him that she was walking and talking, and he seemed really impressed with that progress, but still a little concerned that her ventricles haven’t gotten any smaller, so we’ll be going back again in six months.

So, that was kind of a blah report.  Not too happy, but not too sad either.

I guess I've never posted that Lindsay is walking or talking,

 so here is a little video to show how she’s doing.

Perspective.

I recently have had a few people tell me that my blog makes them feel depressed.  

WHAT!!?  MY blog!!?

I once read a disclaimer that I think should be on every blog that says something like,

“This is NOT real life.”

People take the best of everything that is going on in their life 

and put all in one spot to make it seem like a flawless life.  

I hope that no one feels that way when they look at our blog.

I will admit that I do LOVE my life, but it is FAR from perfect!

My house gets messy.  I get behind on the laundry.  My kids often look homeless.  I often look homeless.  I go swimming with hairy legs.  I serve cold cereal for dinner.  My kids can drive me crazy.  I am painfully frugal.  Our yard has weeds.  My bathroom sometimes smells like a little boy.  Should I go on?

So, today I thought  I’d add a little perspective to the blog.

The other day I made tarts.  The raspberries and the mint leaves are fresh from our garden!  

They’re beautiful right!?

And my neighbor gave me these flowers, and my table was set with these beautiful dishes.  

Aren’t they pretty?

So, normally I would just post those first two pictures, but guess what!?  

If I would have just turned the camera around, you would have seen this:

A messy kitchen, and a messy Haylee.

Let’s see what’s wrong with this picture.  First, a messy kitchen.  I’m in running clothes, but I never went running.  I have a bad habit of leaving the cupboard doors open when I'm cooking.  The baking powder and cornmeal aren’t put away in the right places in the cupboard.   The milk isn't in the fridge. The paper towel holder empty.  My shirt has all kinds of stuff on it. There is a random pencil sharpener on the counter. The kids were playing with the camera (hence this picture). I look nasty, and I let you see it! 

So, in the future, keep things in perspective as you look at other people's blogs.  

Things are NEVER as good as they seem.

#23- Make a Quilt

I accomplished another one of my 30 before 30 goals. 

I made a quilt.

I had some quilting friends that said,

 “Once you make your first quilt you’ll be addicted, and all you’ll want to do is make quilts."

That didn’t happen to me. 

  I messed up several times and kept getting frustrated.  

My poor mom –I was determined to do the whole thing by myself , 

and I’m sure she could have done the whole quilt in less than an hour. 

  Instead she had to spend hours and hours coaching me, showing me how to fix all my errors.

But, it is DONE!!  Don’t look too close because it is FAR from perfect,

 but I’m proud that I did it!

And all you quilting people, I’m officially impressed!  

I won’t be making another quilt anytime soon!

Thanks Bridget for the pattern!  

And thanks mom for your hours and hours of help!

The hours and hours were definitely worth it though.
The quilt is in the mail off to a cute little boy that I'm praying for in the North Carolina NICU.

Quixotic Getaway

We celebrated our 5^th Anniversary BIG TIME this year!!

We started by checking in to the Armstrong Mansion.  

(Thanks to getting a steal of a deal on KSL deals)

Then we went to Ruth’s Chris.  One word: AMAZING!!  

When we got to our table they had  scattered rose pedals on our candle lit table, 

and a card that said “Happy Anniversary.”

We had steak, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and three cheese Au Gratin potatoes for dinner.

They told us that since it was our anniversary they’d also like to give us dessert!  

(Umm, free dessert? Yes please!)

We got the Crème Brûlée with fresh berries, 

and they wrote “Happy Anniversary” in chocolate on the plate.

The food was incredible!  Really, it is fabulous! 

  However, we’ll probably never go there again because it is crazy expensive.  

Luckily for us we were given a gift card that helped with the bill. :)

After dinner we went to Gateway to see Brave.  

(Thanks Ben and Kristy for the gift card).  

It was a cute show.

After the movie we went back to the mansion.

Did I mention that our room was AWESOME!!?  

Here’s our room and if you look to the right that door leads to the bathroom.

But wait!  Then there is a secret staircase that leads to…

An attic with a Jacuzzi!!

They also had these cool old suitcases all around our room.

Going back down the staircase.

In the morning we had breakfast with a berry cobbler, casserole, fresh fruit, and a parfait.

Only two other rooms were being used so we got to peak in the other rooms.  I liked ours the best!

 I loved the details throughout the whole mansion.  Check out the ceiling.

If you make a reservation to stay one night at the mansion (Sunday through Thursday)
and then post about your experience on your blog, you can get at 25% discount!

You can click HERE to view the rooms and make a reservation!

After we checked out of the mansion we went and walked around City Creek.  

It is beautiful!

What!?  Did I get to marry that handsome guy!?  Lucky me!

Before we picked up the kids we got to do sealings in the Bountiful temple.  

A perfect end to our little getaway. 

The whole getaway was so fun.  I just LOVE being with Darin. 

I laughed so hard.  He's always saying and doing the funniest things.

I couldn't have asked for a better anniversary even if it was a little Quixotic!

Love you my handsome, smart, kind, giving, spiritual, strong man of my dreams!!

Thank you SO SO much mom and dad for watching 

Matt and Lindsay!!