Keepers

Claire takes her artwork very seriously. She practices each day. She copies artwork in our house. She tries out new styles. And for a four year old, I think her style is pretty fantastic. Claire loves to ask, "Is this a keeper mom?" anytime she has worked on a new art project. Here is a sampling from my keeper files.

This cat on the stuffed chair is a replica of a piece of artwork on the wall in our kitchen.

Note Claire sitting in a chair watching Dave and me get married. The temple in the distance, the preacher (with a ball cap), Dave (with a ball cap) and the confetti showering down on us.

I love the fairy wings and the bird shooting directly up into the air. She has been working on getting her birds right for quite some time and nailed this one.

This is Dave and me with the girls and baby D watching over us. I love the dress, the flowers and the different hair styles.

The Teapot. The detail is exquisite. I almost wanted her to color it but then you couldn't see her lines as well.

Claire drew this for Dave the last time he was out of town. It is Dave in a golf cart with Claire in the back seat. Note the seat belts.

Proud Claire. Man, I love her creativity.

Shake N' Bake

Claire once told me that when Kennedy turns two she would be her best friend. It took a little longer than that but sometime this summer it happened, my girls became best friends. Watching my girls friendship unfold one of the best things I have seen as a parent. At first I found myself just holding my breath and trying to catch sly glimpses of them every time I would catch them together hoping my attention to them would drive their camaraderie away. Then, their friendship settled in and I realized that it was around to stay. Over the summer, I deliberately stayed around the house a lot more than we usually do just to give them time to really cement their relationship. They imagine, they chat, they create, they laugh, and of late, even share the same food. They ask a few times a week if they can put their food on the same plate, sit in the same chair and share their meal. Not exactly great table manners, but unbelievably cute.

Speaking of sharing, the other day I complimented Claire for sharing her toy with Kennedy in the car. Claire then says, "Do you know why I shared with Kennedy? I felt this warm thing around me that told me to share. It was the Holy Ghost."

So what do they talk about? About anything, but Claire usually leads off with some find-out that I would never think of asking such as "Kennedy, do you like hot dogs more, or watermelon, or cheese?" During play, the conversations get more elaborate. Overheard: "If you trade me your voice Kennedy, I will let you play with my Rapunzel."

Do they fight? Yes. At times, epically. The fights usually start over some misunderstanding like this: Kennedy says, "Why her al-er-ba-tor?" (Translation: Why is she on an elevator?) Claire retorts, "She's not an alligator, Kennedy!" They make up quickly though, usually with one of them trying to sneak the other one out of time-out and Kennedy saying "I'm sorry", even if Claire was the aggressor.

I love they are realizing how great having a best friend in your family can be. Nuf said, I hope it never ends.

The Real Housewives of Palm Springs

On Thursday I left to San Francisco with 12 friends to run a Ragnar relay race. The Ragnar website explains it like this:

You and 11 of your closest friends running 200(ish) miles, day and night, relay-style, through some of the most scenic terrain North America could muster. Add in crazy runners, inside jokes and a mild case of sleep deprivation. The result? Some call it a slumber party without sleep, pillows or deodorant. We call it a Ragnar Relay.

Our race started on the Golden Gate Bridge and ended in lush Napa Valley. There are two vans with six people in each van. I was in van two. Each runner had three legs. I had a three mile, a nine mile and a five mile run—more miles than I had ever run in my life. Leg one and leg two went really well for me. I ran my first leg late afternoon, and my second in the middle of the night. I loved the night run even though it was my longest. I flew, for me (which is more like a quick shuffle). I had a ton of energy. I only saw ten runners on my entire run and it was on these meandering county roads. I was so grateful my van stuck by me during the majority of my run, at one point they were literally passing me water out the window. My third leg was the last leg of the race and didn't start until almost 3pm the day after we started. It was by far my toughest run. After a full day and a half with about 15 minutes of sleep, I had hit a wall before I even started. My time wasn't what I wanted on leg 3 but I was really proud I didn't collapse before the finish line. I ended up grabbing some random guy at the mile marker and making him run with me the last mile. I don't think we could have finished the race running without each other.

The race taught me so much, that I am a little stronger than I thought, a little faster than I thought and that I really have some great friends. The twelve girls I went with are all amazing and I really bonded with them all, but particularly the girls in my van. There is something about spending four solid days together traveling, laughing, inspiring and supporting that really makes for a intense friendship building experience. We all pushed ourselves to our physical and mental limit. I think the race is harder emotionally than physically. Our van's last leg of running has it's fair share of laughter through tears, but we all made it and each said we would do it all over again.

For just a sampling of the favorite laughter through tears moments, here's my girls word for word.

No, I've got to keep praying (after being asked if she wants any music during her three mile climb)—Robyn
You just ran a mountain—Roxanne
What does your shirt mean?—Alysa
Let's do that for each other in heaven—Robyn
I ran up a ramp at the beach two months ago (when asked how she prepared for the Ragnar hills)—Robyn
If the answer to the question I just asked you somehow reflects on you, you misunderstood me—Tara
I ran fast for Shannon so she could get over with it—Robyn
A motorized scooter (after being asked if we could get her anything on her 7.7)—Shannon
TRANSITION!—Tara
You've dilated to a four (after asking Shannon how things are progressing)—Roxanne
How did I end up with the pee bottle—Alysa
This rag mag is one big lie—Alysa
You're cresting—Tara
I just let Roxanne's confidence, Alysa's silliness, Tara's calmness, Shannon's loyalty and Staci's gentleness wash over me (when asked how finished her hardest run)—Robyn

Van 1 (photos courtesy of Lillie and Lizzie)

Van 2

Providing the perfect motivation to make my bed each morning

I could look at this boy all day and still marvel at those long legs and arms, each soft stare, every new grimace, and every crazy/greedy pose (see last pic). I had to make do with this crazy/greedy eating hand shot since I couldn't post the undocumented image of that look complete with a frantic head shake and grrrr as he gets ready to latch on, which is really one of my favorite sights. He is six months old next week and I must say I have relished each day with my little guy.

Stuck inside. Resorted to on-line shopping.

And it paid off. I have been looking for something BIG enough for my front entry and I love this map of Manhattan. It's one of those things from our house that I hope my kids fight for when Dave and I are old. The kid who lives long enough in The City gets it.

Thatcher Family Reunion 2011

Dave and I were in charge of the Thatcher Family Reunion this year. This is a daunting task when there are ten kids in Dave's immediate family and 31 grandchildren. We choose to go to Southern Alberta, Canada where Dave's mom grew up. We quickly enlisted Dave's mom to help, who then quickly enlisted her siblings who still live in Canada to help. This proved to be a huge stroke of luck for us, as they pretty much took over planning of the reunion and it ended up to be one of the most amazing trips ever. We were there for five days and each moment was packed from sun-up to sundown (the sun didn't got down until midnight each night so we really packed it in). We stayed in a lodge that fit ALL OF US. We left happy, dirty, exhausted and with plans to return as soon as possible.

Day One: We arrived to breath-taking Canada via Great Falls, Montana, which was eye-popping as well. We went straight to the Smith Family Reunion (at my mother-in-law, Linda's, mom's family home) and couldn't resist right after heading to the ranch were Linda grew up. The kids quickly found the kitties in the barn which basically MADE their trip.

Day Two: The Hutterite colony and the family rodeo. I was thinking a couple of horses and us looking like rodeo clowns on them, but this was the real deal. We still looked like clowns, but they had barrel racing, mutton busting, steer wrestling (yep, Dave was the first to wrestle one to the ground--so proud), and tons of games on and off the horses for the kids.

Day Three: The Reeder Ranch walking tour. This is the home where Linda grew up and the hills she worked and played in as a kid. It was sensational roaming the fields in search of each mapped out station where Linda's family shared stories and mementos from their childhood. After, we went to Linda's family's summer home for a bonfire. It has been ruined by vandals through the years, but the property was stunning. This happened to be my birthday too and Heavenly Father gave me an incredible gift. When we drove into Canada we kept passing these lush, green pastures dotted with wild flowers. After seeing them, I knew before I left Canada I had to go and pick wild flowers with my girls, but as the days progressed we just never found the time. On day three I thought to myself that I could get up at 6am the next day, have Dave watch Baby D and take the girls out to make sure it happened. God had a bigger plan for me though because while we were at Linda's family's summer home Linda took us on a short tour to the higher pastures, Dave's sister, Angie, disappeared with Baby D, and Dave, me and the girls got lost for an hour picking wildflowers in the setting sun. The fields were spectacular--the prettiest I have ever seen. And I just thought this is one of those moments I will remember forever.

Day Four: Hiking to Crandall Lake in Glacier National Park, horse back riding and a family get together at the lodge with target shooting included.

Day Five: Exploring Wateron and more of Glacier.

Special shout out to MaRea, Dave's very talented sis, who took all of the good photos I posted. The rest were iPhone photos which were all I could manage wearing the baby the whole time (who also deserves a special shout out for being the BEST traveler ever).