Fall, First Day and of course...Football

School has been in for a few weeks and may I say..... I LOVE IT!!! Don't get me wrong....summer was fun. Love these kiddos. But my brain needed a break. The questions, the food requests..... "can I have a friend over", "what are we dong today?" I am not a homeschool kind of gal. I love getting them ready, making their breakfast, their lunch, going over the spelling words, but I also love my 3 hours each day while Autumn naps to be ALONE!!! It will end when she gives up the naps, but why think about that now? I am relishing each afternoon, working at lightening speed, watching TIVO'ed shows while I fold laundry. LOVING IT!!!!

Against my urging, Jaxen has started football. I think it's all a little nuts how young they are starting and how intense it is. He is doing well, but feeling a bit behind as everyone else started in 2nd or 3rd grade. I do love our coach, and I love the time Jason and Jaxen are spending together. Jro is coaching the tight ends (does that make anyone else laugh when you say it?) and the corners. Their team is kind of incredible. They just come in and score like crazy....really I feel bad for the other teams. The other parents tell me there will be some closer games, but it makes me sad to see those guys so sad. Really, I sometimes want to pop their "sometime insane" parents, barraging them from the side lines. Still, our parents do a good job of keeping their cool and having a winning team is helping Jaxen get through their tough practices.



Football really seems to be everywhere I look. We were able to head down to the BYU/ AIR FORCE game. Since it was on Sept. 11th, it really was touching to see the fly over and the half-time tribute to survivors of the attack and the soldiers who had served. The cadets are most impressive as they stand together and come down to the field for some push ups after each touch down. As for the Cougs, it was a bit sad. We did get to high-five Cosmo, but overall, it was a sad ride home.




As for fall, it's 90 degrees, and I am still in shorts. I don't like shorts. I like jeans, and I'm very ready to start layering once again. Colorado usually has short falls and springs. I'm waiting patiently, but I hope the snows stay away. Just give me fall and spring, fall and spring all year round.

Part 3: Bear Lake

We had an amazing trip to Bear Lake. I had never been and it quickly became one of my favorite places on earth.

It felt like we had the lake to ourselves. The water and the weather seemed to be on our sides and since we were there during the weekdays, it felt like our own private beach. The Davis' were our hosts, sharing their cabin and large collection of "big-boy toys". We also were able to get to know the Wride family better, us all sharing cooking duty and taking turns on the beach while others went out on the boat. To me it was my favorite family vacation because it was so relaxed, everyone had a friend (even me :)) and we just relaxed....no pressure, nowhere to be. Heaven!



















(I did eventually get up and stay up on the wake board.....I really wish I had proof because it may never happen again.)

Unemployed

Today, I am unemployed. The gym where I have been teaching had to close, due to a fight with the landlord. While I am so sad not to see my ladies and while I really do enjoy it...... I must say my main emotion is relief.

I have been trying to get up the guts to quit, but have been putting it off. I feel the need to slow down....take a breath and focus in on my family. It is no small thing to raise a family, and I do not have the personality to stretch myself as thin as I have been.

Tonight I will not make up a new Balletone routine, or listen to music to choreograph for yogamotion. I will blog, I will read, and I will hope---beyond hope--- that I can stay in shape without the added incentive of being prepared to teach.

Namaste------Shanti-Shanti

Where've I've been Part 2

Since we were headed to Bear Lake, we just could not pass up the opportunity to stop in Provo and SLC to visit our alma-mater and our med school friends.

BYU is just a great place!!! I get the butterflies just walking on campus and want to get a backpack and have that "first of the semester" excitement again. We do lots of "encouraging" our children to want to attend there. I know it is so much harder than when Jro and I made the cut, but still..... why not dream big!


It was short but sweet seeing our dear friends in Draper. I remember people telling me, before med school, that the friends we made there would be our friends for life. I had no idea how much I would need these ladies to make it through the uncertainty, the length and the poverty of med school. I learned how to be a wife and mother from them. I not only hung out, laughed and ran countless miles with them, but I observed them and I have tried to emulate these amazing women. We all had four children now, (the Bateman's is still cooking, but we will count her) It had been way too long, but the conversations just picked up where we left them, one two...even six years ago.



There's part 2.... part 3 coming......then I need to catch up on school and what not. AHHHHH!!!!!

Where've I've been Part 1

Here's what I've been up to.

Trekked 50 miles across Wyoming with my favorite teens. No make-up, sleeping on the ground and in my much coveted CHICKEN DRESS!! (Jro was there too, but as a medical guy, he way kept pretty busy)






I have received many makeovers by my glam squad.


I have passed many hours at parks. When the troops get restless, I simply hand them my phone so they can capture some stunning photographs.


We have explored the Rockies...




watched fireworks in the rain...


and wrapped up another stellar swim season.


(This is Jax's killer relay team. They placed 2nd in state)


I have splished...


and splashed.


I have celebrated


and met a new friend. (Chip the bunny ROCKS!!!)


It was a great summer. We ended with a trip to Utah/Idaho, but I will have to save that for another day. Big kids are at school, baby is sleeping...it is time to catch up on "The girl with the Dragon Tatoo"

Naughty Auty

Summer, swim team, callings and teaching are keeping me going like a tornado. As usual, I am signed up for too much, and trying to cram too much into each day. Busy, but doable.

Doable, that is, IF I wasn't trying to keep up with this little girl. She is running this house, hitting the terrible two's REALLY early and giving me a run for my money. Was it always like this? What makes us forget these days of wrestling them into their car seats, panicking when things are too quite and saying "use your words" over and over . Maybe I'm just getting old. Maybe she is that much more skilled in her two-ness.



My mother says it is a sign of her great will and intelligence. I say it is a sign of gray hair to come. I hold to those sweet times of cuddling on the couch, reading books before bed and my favorite, when she pats my cheeks and say "MOOOOMMMMY"
Heavenly Father was smart to make them so stinkin' cute for this stage. Love you Auty-----love your nap time as well!

First Race!!!

Elijah has reached the ripe old age of 5, which, in this house, means you start swim team!!! He started the first day of practice not able to use a kick board and scared to death to swim an entire lap. I knew he had the ability, it was just a mental block. The coaches were great, but being a bit too casual for my taste, so I stepped in (I know bad!) and entered into the psychological warfare. I feel almost guilty how easily I was able to convince him of my way of seeing things and making it seem like it was his idea to do the first race.

Then, thanks to Colorado weather, the day was rainy, miserable and only 50-some degrees. Had my pep talks been enough to overcome the elements?

You bet!!!! He was so cute, so nervous and may I say....... the best part of the whole meet. He made it the whole way, no stops, to panicing and not even hanging on the rope! I don't know why swimming does this to me, but I see these kids as so brave, so powerful and so darn CUTE as they go for it! (Notice the water in his goggles)

Welcome Rozeski #3. You have joined the ranks! Get that boy a hot cocoa!