Here's the first post of many. I've been meaning to put quite a few post on the blog but haven't been good about doing it. We have been pretty busy the past few monthes. At the end of April we started our road trip out to Mississippi for the summer, to find that we were only there a few weeks. Nothing like a 36 hour drive for a 2 week vacation. Actually, Glenn was going to work out there for the summer but got a job offer in Ca on our way out. We enjoyed hanging out with family while we were out there and actually wished we could have been there longer. On the flip side, we were really excited for the opportunity Glenn was presented with in Ca. So we packed up and drove back. I stopped off in Arizona for a week and spent time with my sister and her family and Hess'. It was so glad I was able to stay down there and spend time with everyone. The kids had a blast as well. When we got back to Ca we started our search for a place to live. It didn't take us long to find it. Now we are all moved in and ready to get life back to normal... but what is normal? I feel so far removed from it. Maybe I should just hope for things to quiet down a little. So, here are some pic of the place. It is in a beautiful neighborhood with an amazing view of the mountains. And yes, this is the neighborhood where the 2 mountain lion cubs came down and attacked a dog. Hopefully that was a one time thing. So far we haven't had any mountain lion sitings just some deer and a grey fox.

The view out front.

All the closets are funny shapes and sizes. This one is perfect size for the kids.

The front yard

Master Bedroom

Kids bedroom with a closet they have to climb into. They love it!!!

The kids room.

The play room

The family room

The simple joys of motherhood...

I just woke up from a really long and much needed nap. Church started bright and early for us this morning and considering we played games until 2 in the morning, 9:00 church seemed like a bit of a stretch. But, we made it there and almost on time I might add. When we got home I got a delisious crepe breakfast with wonderful company (my family, Shelly and Billy, and Andy and Tricia). After some hangout time that consisted of catching a lizard (which Isaac caught all by himself) and other such family activities. Then Glenn put Noah down for a nap and took Isaac out for a few hours. Bayley tucked me into bed and read me some poems from A Light In The Attic until I fell asleep and then quitely snuck off. Then Noah woke up and climbed into my bed and snuggled up to me and fell back asleep.

This really has been one of my favorite Mother's Days. I love my 3 little people so much and am so grateful for the chance to experience life in a way that is so rewarding. I feel so blessed. I think it is only fitting to thank Glenn for all his love and support which makes it possible for me to be the mother that I am. I love you. I guess reflecting back on all that we have had to go through in the past year with all the extreme ups and downs, I have realized that the deep meaning to my life and the satisfaction that I have comes from the sweet mercies of our Savior. That through it all I have a beautiful family that I love so very much. That is what life is all about.

And finally... I couldn't let Mothers Day go by without sending out a post to my mom. She is such a wonderful person full of so much love. I am also very grateful to be raised my such a magnificent woman. Mom, I'm sending you an ehug. I love you.

I just thought I would add these pictures of me bowling with the kids this week. Three tries to get a cute picture. 1. Noah picking is nose. 2. Isaac making a goober face. and 3. Everyone colliding and falling down.. oh well we tried

So Bayley got the game Pretty, Pretty Princess for her birthday (thank you Seth and Julie) and thanks to that wonderful game I caught both my sons cross dressing. The other day I came upstairs and Isaac was all by himself sitting at the kids table with earrings, a crown and necklace on. He looked embarrassed that I saw him and quickly said, "Faith (his cousin) wanted me to play the game with her earlier but we didn't finish." I didn't need to tell him boys don't wear that stuff, he already knew. But then, the other day we were at their cousins house playing games. Bayley, Noah, Lexi and Faith were all in the back room. It was pretty quiet back there, so we kind of forgot about them until Noah came out like this...The next day Noah kept walking around saying Noah pretty pretty princess. AHHHH

Does this necklace go with the pink hat?

Lexi, Noah's fashion coordinator.
You gotta kiss the girl...la, la, la

Here's everyone that raced with us.
So here are some of my favorite pictures from the race. For those of you who think we look like a strange group...all I can say is we are?!?! I'm not sure where the idea originated, but at some point in the last 3 months everyone decided that it would be funny if we all showed up in ridiculous outfits. I think we sent as much time training for the race as we did shopping for the perfect outfit. But thanks to Marshals and Ross we were able to pull it off. I don't think a single person passed me without commenting on the hat. The comments ranges from "nice hat" to "watch out the hat's gonna get ya". Glenn really represented Wisconsin with his handle bar mustache and biker bandanna. The first comment someone said when we all walked in together was "wow, those are some pretty intimidating outfits"! However, I think we were more amused by them then anyone else. Now enough about the outfits and on to the race. It was a pretty brutal course. I'm still feeling it 2 days later. We really had a lot of fun. The second stream I crossed was kind of tricky. There was a lady in front of me that as I was crossing told me to be careful, she slipped on one of the rocks and almost peed herself. Just as she was saying that I slipped and said kind of like that. Then I looked up to see her at the side of the trail pants down and peeing. She pulled up her pants as I past and started to run with me and talk. It was strange and really funny. I even managed to fall down once. Fortunately it wasn't a bad fall. The family after the race
Bayley not wanting me to leave, right when the race was about to start
Run Glenn run

At the turn around

Isaac giving me five After the race





A little disclosure to this picture. Andy and I are a little competitive to say the least. Well, I was ahead of him the whole race, so I thought I had it in the bag. Right around the last mile I was loosing steam fast and struggling to keep my pace up. I thought there was no one around me until I heard someone say (in a high pitched voice) passing on your left. Of course I thought it was a girl, but it really was Andy. He started sprinting, so I was forced to sprint. This is the picture right before I caught him, of course no one managed to get that picture. Anyway, he ended up beating me by one 100th of a second!!! Even though Andy beat me I was happy with my finish. I ended up finishing 2nd out of the girls. Glenn was the next one in out of our group. He did awesome finishing with a 1:55 time!!! Way to go Glenn.







Me and Glenn
Misty, me and Jenna










Glenn and our niece Amee

Dad, this is for you. I lost my tooth. I wanted you to be here for it, so I made a video of me pulling it out. Love you and miss you. Hurry back home. Love, Bayley Kate

One last post I swear. I just had to write about the race that Glenn and I did on Saturday. It was the first trail race we have ever done and it was so much fun. The scenery was breath taking. It was at China Camp which is in Marin right by the bay. We ran through forests with streams and little wooden bridges, passed some redwoods, and had several views of the bay (which I almost missed because I was focusing so hard at the ground). It has been raining for the past few weeks but the weather was clear and warm for the race. We did have to dodge quite a few mud puddles but it just added to the experience. Since it was a trail run they wouldn't allow earphones so I was kind of worried I wouldn't be able to make it the 20K without music to give me a boost, but surprisingly I really didn't miss it. Glenn took it easy since we have another race we are doing the end of March and he was kind of worried about his knee. But he still did really good for taking it easy. I wasn't sure how I would do on a trail, I wasn't even sure during the first half of the race where I would even be at. But there was a place right around the 9th mile where you had to loop around and back on to the trail to take you back to the start so I was able to see who was in front of me. It was perfect timing because I was loosing my momentum until I counted the woman passing me and only counted 5. There was a pretty big group of woman a little ways behind me. I didn't want them to pass me, so I pushed as hard as I could and held my place, finishing 6th. I was so excited considering I really didn't know how I would do. I would post pictures of us but we forgot the camera, so the pictures here are from the race website.

So I know I just did a post about Noah, but I had to share this picture. This is definitely blackmail material for further down the road! I swear I put him to bed fully clothed with a diaper on. This is how we found in the morning...