SOJO 2010

Ronny just after mile 10

Mile 14

Ronny's cheering squad. They enjoyed munching on peaches and nectarines while we waited for him to run by.

Roger from Portland. He was a very entertaining runner and the kids cheered him on all the way to the finish.

Ronny at the finish feeling all 26 miles now. He says he is a big believer in KT tape . (Green tape on his knees)

Ronny's blisters, he insisted I take a picture.
(Just another reason why I will never run a marathon!)

Ronny with his division certificate, he apparently will get a nice plaque in the mail with a picture of him running the race.

The first annual South Jordan marathon was run yesterday. Our good friend Dr. Luce was one of the initial sponsors and begged Ronny to run. Of course Ronny jumped in with two feet, literally! The race sold out with 97 marathon runners and over 500 half marathon runners not to mention all those who ran the 5k and the children's race. The marathon ran right by the temple and through our neighborhood.

The night before the race we watched Dr. Luce's kids while he taped and treated runners at the check-in. Afterwards he stopped by his office to pick up more tape to tape Ronny at home and discovered his office had been broken into. After the police finished up their report he still came over to tape Ronny. It was a late night for them but Ronny sure appreciated his willingness to tape his knees. He said they didn't hurt at all during the race.

Just after 9:00 a.m. the kids and I went down to cheer him on. We saw him pass by in front of the temple and then decided we were having so much fun we jumped in the car and drove ahead and cheered him on again. We ended up doing this all the way to the finish. The kids had a great time and we met some fun people along the way. They also enjoyed the treats from the gas station and from the farm that we hit up during our journey. One of the runners that was near Ron most of the way stopped and requested a picture with the kids as he appreciated all their cheers for the last 16 miles. We found out he had fl0wn in from Portland to run the race and catch the BYU game. (We won't talk about that much).

We made it to the finish line with only minutes to spare to cheer Ronny in. He did great with his time being 3:42. Not a Boston qualifier but he wasn't shooting for that this year he says. It was however good enough to be #1 place in his age group. It helps to be 35 in the 35-40 age group! This gets him a free admission into the race next year. I'm all for that as the admission fee is steep! (I still don't get why you would pay so much money for someone to let you run 26.2 miles!)

We were pleasantly surprised at the finish line with lunch sandwiches from Chick Fil A, fruit, ice cream bars, nuts, frozen yogurt, and water bottles for all those cheering loved ones on. The racers were treated with free massages, chiropractic adjustments and lots of food and water. Ben went right up to one of the massage therapists and asked if he could be next, it was hilarious! It was a great day, way to go Ronny!

No Fun!

What an 8 year old boy looks like after having his second tooth pulled in a week.

While the kids were off track this month we made our semi annual dental appointments. This is always an adventure. Charley had finally lost her last baby tooth so we knew we would be referred to the orthodontist at this visit. It was a surprise when the nurse came out and explained that Joseph was in need of seeing one too. She then proceeded to tell us that he would need 2 more teeth pulled (already had one done this year) and a retainer put in ASAP. She also showed us that his gums were receeding pretty bad on the bottom and would most likely need surgery to correct that. I then went back and started making all the appointments that he would need. All three other kids had a clean bill and were free to return in 6 months (other than Charley's ortho consult.)

Joseph has returned twice to have the teeth pulled and his cavities filled and was fitted for the retaining wire. He and Charley see the Orthodontist tomorrow and depending on what happens there, he will have another dental appointment on Friday to have the retainer fastened in unless he gets brackets put on. The tooth fairy has visited often this last month and is broke! (Especially after she finds out how much braces are going to run for 2 kiddos and a possible surgery, blahhhhhh!) NO FUN! Hopefully their next break won't be so filled with appointments.

The Perfect Day

For Labor Day we decided to pack as much in with Dad on his day off as possible. We started at the zoo. With the kids on the year round school schedule we became zoo members as a way to find things to do while the kids go off track. For the price of two visits we became members and now the whole family can go as many times as we want for a year.

The tigers at Hogle Zoo are very active as far as zoo animals go. Every time we go they are up walking around. Last time we went two cats came and sat just a couple feet from us and then started to follow us as we walked away. The kids loved it!

This is what the kids looked like most of the time at the zoo. We told them a few times to get down but realized quickly we were just talking to the air. The boys were so excited to wear their new "camo" pants and sweatshirts. Two signs fall is on its way.

The faces of the kids pretty much sum up how much fun we had at the zoo. Pure joy!

After the zoo we headed to a park for a late picnic lunch. The weather and the view were amazing! Joseph and Ben thought it was great to "water" a few of the trees while we were there. Boys!

We even convinced the kids to pose for a quick family picture.

After the zoo and the picnic we ventured out to the lake next to our house. With our HOA we can check out canoes, sailboats, and kayaks with our membership cards. This is the view of our house (yellow in the middle) from our canoe on the lake.

We finished our day up at the pizza parlor just down the street from our house. On Monday nights they offer half off pizzas. (They really know their demographic!) We fed our family for a whopping $12.35 and no clean up after wards. Amazing!

Ronny and I would constantly look at each other and comment on how good the kids were. No whining or complaining the entire day! That is worth writing about! After dinner the kids played Wii for a few minutes before bed. They were exhausted and went to bed without even a hesitation. We truly had a great family day. Hopefully we will have many more to come.

Last of the Summer Fun

Sam decided it was getting a little too cold.

Race for the ball that went out of bounds.

Keep Away (boys against girls, unfortunately there were only 3 girls including the Moms!)

As Labor Day approached and the temperature started to drop we were dreading the end of summer. We really haven't felt like we had a lot of it here with stitches, school starting, and moving our summer seemed to race by. Friday and Saturday we were determined to get one last gelato fix and concert and one last day of swimming in before everything closed for the season.
Living in the Daybreak area has a lot of perks that we discovered this summer. One of them is Friday Night concerts. Every Friday night a band or performance group performs out in SODA Row (the small retail section of our community). They have a tent and stage set up in the grass field and families and their pets can enjoy the summer evenings outside. The field is also right next to a big water fountain for kids to play in and a gelato shop is in the space next to field as well. We have enjoyed getting gelato as a family, seeing our neighbors, and getting wet almost every Friday night this summer and look forward to this again next summer and many more to come.

Saturday was warm enough to head over to the pool one last time. We all had a great time even after Ben decided to jump in the deep end without his life jacket with Mom racing after him. Thankfully the life guard was paying attention and realized he was just too fast for Mom and went in after him. Glad to see my HOA dollars at work! We thanked the life guard profusely and after a "time out" and a good lecture Ben raced back to the water. The other kids enjoyed playing keep away with a beach ball a friend had brought and just enjoyed the water.

After swimming we made it home just in time to barbecue some burgers and watch the Cougars beat the Huskies with some friends from our last neighborhood. They didn't get the game so we invited them over to watch. Unfortunately we could not say the same thing for the Beavers but they played well none the less. Great Fun!

First Day of Something

So our kiddos started school the last week of July this year. (year round school schedule) It was so odd to me and Ronny was out of town at the time that I just didn't get their first day of school photos taken. Friday the kids went off track and Saturday was their first day of break so I opted to take their photos then. We also went school shopping just this week so they were excited to put on their new clothes for the picture. We are getting back into the swing of things just in time for them to be home. This is the first year I have all 4 kids in school of some sort. I have 6 hours a week to myself which has already been filled with helping in their respective classrooms. Go figure. I do enjoy it and it allows me to see what is really going on in the classrooms.

Charley tested for the Accelerated Learning Placements program last year. The district takes all the gifted kids and puts them in their own classrooms at one or two schools. We decided to let Charley try it out this year knowing it would be challenging having her at a different school and commuting back and forth. She is enjoying the class and is being challenged which is great to see. She is still excelling and blossoming while making new friends. Mom is getting used to juggling picking up one child and racing home to meet two more.

Joseph and Sam are together at our neighborhood school. They like riding their bikes and making lots of new friends. Most days you can find them out playing soccer with 6 or 7 other kids at one of the parks near our house after school. They seem to have adjusted well to the move.

Ben has started preschool and it has been adjustment for the both of us. The first week was a little rocky as he was acting out and not listening. He is learning to socialize and be patient. He has finally settled in and comes home with reports of playing with friends and having to let the teacher read the book instead of him. Its pretty funny!