Some more odd days of Summer

June 26,2012

A little Ryker and Addie swimming time.

June 27th

A little Ryker and Addie standing on their head time.

 June 27

Anna and Sierra's first Tae kwon do class. This was their first lesson, they both fell in love and now are taking classes a couple times a week.

 June 30th 

A little family ice cream night. MMMM IceBerg

July 2nd

Addie got a donut at my sisters work, does that count as fun?

Not a very healthy start to summer but, oh well.

Some odd days of summer.

I didn't like last years short summer but, I did like my idea to blog about the days. Once again I will try to update my blog with fun summer events.  A couple of weeks ago, Mark said he wanted to record quality family time we spend together, so the girls would realize, we did like doing things as a family. So he made a spreadsheet (very engineer-like of him). I thought I would just use my much neglected blog to capture the same info, mine would just be a lot cuter. Anna isn't officially out of school until Friday, but lets begin anyway.
Thursday, June 21
Experiment Day at Anna's class. We tried to show the experiment of how Rice Krispies can protect an egg dropped from a building. We changed it and just dropped it from high atop the desks (it feels a lot rebellious to stand on the desk, even when the teacher told me it was okay).

Friday, June 22

A little track time was the exercise of the morning. Emma wants to run a 1 mile race and then a 5k so Emma, Addie and I went to train at Riverton High School's track with the cute Morrison family. After that we went and signed the family up for Riverton's 1 mile fun run on July 4th.

Saturday, June 23
While Mark was off running the Wahasatch Steeple Chase (17 miles through the mountains by Capitol Hill). The girls and I went again to the track. Funny story: Emma's running training consists of running one lap around the track then about a 5 minute break, then another and another, up to 4 times around. This was Anna's first day training and at the end of one lap she just kept running. Anna decided she would rather get it over with run 2 laps at a time, then take a break. Have I told you Anna is the toughest person I know.
Mark made it home just in time for me to leave to go see my old friend Chara at her baby shower. I miss her, I love old friends.


Sunday, June 24

It was Stake Conference and I was too burnt out to go so we went on a little ride in the canyon. Until Emma decided to run into a tree. Poor little tree didn't survive, Mark tipped it over so it wouldn't fall on anyone.

Rowberry Christmas Fiesta

Every December 23rd, the Rowberry Clan meets together for a little Christmas cheer, including the Guest of Honor, Mr. Claus himself.

Grandma is getting on in years but, what a neat time to spend with her and all the Great-grandchildren.

Christmas Elf

Adelie had her Christmas Program on December 16th.

Of course she was the cutest.

Adelie and Mrs. Aldridge

Ward Christmas Party

Our Ward Christmas Party is the best. I get the privilege of hanging out at the kids table(room), which is the funnest place to be.

Daddy Daughter Activity

A Witch, a Pirate and Jessie walk into a bar...

Not really but, that would be funny.
They actually walked the neighborhood in search for CANDY!


Emma and Anna ran off with Lexi to canvas the entire neighborhood, while Addie and BFF Hailey went hand in hand in search for treats.
At school with a little parade.
Anna and Seth at the School Parade.

Children

“Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”








Thanks Elder Andersen, its nice to remember what I am doing here.

Why I Run Part Duex (Finally)!

I have never ever wanted to run a marathon, so it is a good thing I am good at math. So when I do the following equation

13.1+13.1=26.2

The answer then states that I have completed a marathon right?

I can check that off the life bucket list right?

Enough with the math lessons, onto running. I learn a lot about myself when I run, sometimes good and sometimes bad. While training for the Top of Utah Half Marathon, these are the things I have learned.

1. Girls Weekends are so much fun, even if it includes 13.1 miles of pain.

2. Sometimes you need to unplug and just run. Meaning that the head phones and the GPS watch are a distraction to running. I rediscovered that I love to run when I left all the gear and home and just ran.

3. I love my Garmin Forerunner GPS watch but, I think it lies to me. I got my watch for my birthday. I love that the watch keeps me honest with my training, telling me my pace, elapsed time and distance in an instance. It makes it hard to run less than I am supposed to. It lies to me because I really can't be running that slow.

4. I love training on treadmill when a dear friend is next to me. This is the only way I am able to keep up with these beautiful ladies.

5. Running is pain that you enjoy.

6. Four o'clock in the morning is way to damn early to be up.

7. I love the quote by Steve Prefontaine.

"Most people run a race to see who is fastest.

I run a race to see who has the most guts."

But, I love my version more

"Most people run a race to see who is fastest.

I run a race to see if I have the guts."

The "Girls" ( Carolee, Laura, Emily and I, with the support of sweet Tamera) took off the great white north, known as Logan Utah, to run the Top of Utah Half Marathon. I was worried to go without my rock (Mark). I was worried that I did not have the mental toughness to make it by myself. I love the "Girls", they inspire me and commiserate with me when running sucks but, they are a lot faster than me so this one was up to me and me alone.

• I am thankful for a sweet smiling Laura that came back and ran with me the last half mile. I cannot tell you how seeing her lifted my spirits.
• I am thankful that Carolee constantly surprise me, with her growth and insight as a person.
• I am thankful for Emily who taught me what an athlete really is. Emily was not able to finish due to injury. As I looked up all of our times online at the finish of the race I noticed something, next to Emily's name there was a DNF (Did not Finish), next to names that followed her was DNS (Did not Start). So kudos to you Miss Emily for trying and making the effort.
• I am thankful for Tamera, who besides being a great driver, is such an amazing women, mother and friend.
• Thank you all Ladies.

I love that running can give me a purpose to exercise. I love running on track nights with the girls. I love that my family is so supportive of me. I love that on good days, I find clarity and my problems disappear. Somebody once said

Running to me is more of an emotional/spiritual journey than a physical one.

Until about a month ago I thought,
"I run, but I am not a runner."
Today, again I know that
I am a runner!

SCHOOL

Adelie and I now have to sit and stare at each other until they return.

Twenty some-odd days of Summer (Day 20-24)

Day 20: July 21st, Thursday: Camping fun was the order of the day. We took off with the fam to Soap Stone Campground. Too bad we forgot our camera and the tent. The poles and rain cover made it so, Mark "Bear Grylls" Vader made us a little shelter. Emma was freaking out about Bears so she and Anna slept in the car.

Day 21: Friday, July 22, 2010: After cleaning up our tent sight we went fishing up at Trial Lake. Then we meet Grandma Sondra and Grandpa Kay for a Strippy ride at Soap Stone Basin. Then we came home.

Day 22: Saturday, July 23rd. Can you say Giant Waterslides at Grandma Carol's. Sweet! Plus Justin Bieber showed up, I will post video later. Loved spending time with my cousins.

Day 23: Happy Pioneer Day: Mark and the girls spent the day up at Mark's Aunt JoAnne and Uncle Frank's cabin in Oakley. Complete with ATV rides and fishing. I met them for dinner. It is always fun to see the cousins.

Day 24: The LAST DAY: July 25th. I sure enjoyed hanging out with my cute girls.

Twenty some-odd days of Summer (Day 14-19)

Day 14: Friday, July 15th. As I prepared for my first Primary activity, the girls tagged along. Then the girls went to Aubrey Jex's birthday party. And I once again went to the Apple store to see if they could fix Mark's phone. No dice on fixing it but, amazingly it still works after falling out of Mark's pocket at a reported 120 mph.

Day 15: Saturday, July 16th. Today was the Primary Parade, complete with cop cars, cannons, kids, leis and breakfast. Thanks to my wonderful Primary Presidency and a wonderfully supportive ward the Parade and Breakfast was a success. The girls had a blast and we even borrowed Grandma Sondra's Polaris Ranger (Stripey) in the parade.

Day 16: Sunday, July 17th. The dreaded first sunday of my new calling. Anyway, before church the girls and I took Stripey for a little ride around the neighborhood and then loaded it up and the family took it back to Grandma's house. Emma says that church was fun. I am not sure it was, it was kind of a blurr to me, but overall it went well.

Day 17: Monday, July 18th. Does visiting teaching count as fun? Well, Emma thought so she made a new friend. Once again we went to library and played a lot.

Day 18: Tuesday July 19th. Emma and Anna went to Cowabunga Bay, if that counts for fun(Thanks Romerils). Addie played pretty much all day with Hailey.

Day 19: Wednesday, July 20th. Finally we made it to the lake for a little bike ride. And since we were there, we played at the park a little too.

Twenty some-odd days of Summer (Day 10-13)

Day 10: Monday, July 11, 2012. I am sure we did something fun today but, what was it. Mopped the floor?? No, probably not. Oh yeah, thanks to an invite from Grandma Carol we went swimming at the South Jordan Rec. Center with Gage, Ryker and Haley Laird . Addie loved the alligator slide and the big girls loved the big slide. Thanks Mom.

Day11: Tuesday, July 12. Anna swears we did something fun. Hmmm! Oh, yeah, Anna and her dad went hiking with the Young Men and Emma, Addie and I went and played with fire, I mean taught the Young Women proper fire starting and safety. Otherwise, we played around here and had fun. Oh yeah, I had my first Primary Presidency meeting. I had a dream the night before, no one showed up. Actually, everyone made it and somewhere along the way we gained an extra member. Emma decided to join us. I asked her once( okay, maybe multiple times) to go away, she said, "Okay, but I will be back to check on you in 10 minutes." Thanks Emma, when does she school start again ???

Day 12: Wednesday, July 13th. I called my Dad to see if he would drive us up to Lake with his truck for a bike ride( we would never make it UP to lake without a little help). Since he was busy irrigating (flooding) his backyard the answer was a negative. We hence jumped on our bikes with Miss Lexi and rode up to his house to play in the water with the cousins.

Day 13: Thursday July 14th: Happy Birthday Grandma Fern and Aunt Lois. (Two of my favorite people ever, I will tell you about them later).

Once again we ran to the gym for a quick workout and then a long dip in the pool. Emma and Anna passed the little swim test to be able to go down the big slides. They were so excited and then Addie and I barely saw them again.

Found my cameras (obviously), this blog posting and picture taking is fun, maybe I should keep doing it.

Twenty some-odd days of Summer (Day 7-9)

Day 7: July 8th Friday. Summer camp at South Jordan Rec. Center with two of their favorite cousins, Gage and Cora. Addie and I went to Costco, if that counts for fun?

Anna drying off at Legacy Plaza.

Day 8: Saturday, July 9th. Since Mark's computer took a dive and he had to go help out at work the girls and I were assigned the task of taking it to get fixed. No prob, we love the Apple Store and the fact on hot summer days, they are located right next to Legacy Plaza and the water cannons.

Day 9: Sunday July 10th. Once again, church was the order of the day. However, after church the girls and I went on a bike ride in the rain. All we needed was a pina colda and it would have been perfect. Oh yeah, I g0t called to be Primary President. Emma was upset because in the deal she lost her Activity Day Leader, and it was all my fault.

Twenty some-odd days of Summer (Day 1-6)

So I decided that since our Summer is so short this year, due to changing tracks, that everyday, the girls and I have to do something fun. To remember that once I was a fun Mom, I have decided to blog about it.

Day 1: July 2nd. Emma June got baptized by her father. After we had friends and family over to my Mom's house for lunch and little game of kick ball. A little firework action to top off a wonderful day.

Day 2: July 3rd. Church (always a good time). Then a quick jaunt to Grandma and Grandpa's house, which the girls always enjoy.

Day 3: July 4th. Happy Independence Day! Mark and I got some much needed alone time while we hiked up in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The girls got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house again, for some glittery art work time and a lot of Barbie time. Then once again a little death-defying fireworks to round out the day. ( Mark and I almost got hit by a defective firework that is how we defied death).

Day 4: July 5th. Library day, which my girls love especially when we go to the Riverton City Hall Park with friends too.

Day 5: July 6th. So that I could get my workout in I made a deal with the girls. If they would go to the Child Center at the gym for an hour, we then would go SWIMMING! With workout complete and smoothie in hand we headed to the pool. I love my GYM.

Day 6: July 7th. On the 5th the girls came with Mark and I to the Riverton High School track and loved running around it. So today the girls and I jumped on our bikes and took a little ride down there. We had fun timing each other around the track. The ride back home (slightly uphill) posed a little bit more challenging but we made it, than we had to make a stop at Maverick for a refill and some ice cream for my own little Peleton (Tour de France/ biking reference).

Look what a great start I am off too. Back in a few days. If you ever want to join us or have a suggestion we'd love to hear from you.

Why I love Anna.

Anna does not have the ability to walk through a room, she has to skip. (She gets that from me but, my mom tells me I would cartwheel through rooms.)

I asked Anna once to stop skipping to see how long she could go without skipping. She made it about 15 feet before the skipping began again.

Anna thinks that your age is a direct correlation to the number of times you've been to the emergency room. I should start a little bank account to cover her annual emergency room deductible. (She might get this one from me too.)

Anna is a little carpenter girl. Her and her dad disappear to Lowe's and then to the garage,where the girl stores her own power tools. She is awesome, she made Mark a pencil holder for his desk that was beyond cool.

Anna has angry eyes that make me chuckle.

Anna thinks she can tell Mark and I what to do. Not that she tries to sneak it past us, she just blatantly tells us how she thinks it should go. We have to catch ourselves every once in awhile and tell her no.

Anna is a tom boy and barbie girl rolled up in one. Anna probably owns 30 barbies and a Barbie house that is as big as she is. ( Honestlly, I am jealous about this, I would have loved to be her friend growing up. I had brothers that weren't the kindest to my "girl toys.")

Anna is nobodies monkey. Anna will never preform on cue. This is how she was even when she was really small, there is no way she is here to entertain you if you ask her too.

Mark claims Anna is the funniest person he knows. Now that is a compliment, he doesn't think too many people are funny, not even me, and I am hilarious.

And when Addie or I am upset by something. Anna is the first one there to give us a hug. Anna saved my life once and for that I will be eternally grateful. She is so sweet to me and I am blessed to be her mother.

Anna turned 6 on February 24th. She had ice cream for breakfast, Ikea meatballs for lunch and got to have ice cream with the best primary teacher ever. I think she had a pretty great day.

Sassy

Adelie is a very curious child. She loves to play make believe, mainly "Mommy and Baby", with just about any object lying around, i.e. Scissors ( a little scary), spoons, hands, shoes and occasionally actually dollies.

Adelie turned the big Three on Saturday. We had a little birthday lunch with her and her 3 BFF's (Aubrey Jex, Hailey Laird and Ryker Vance). She loved having a princess cake, and more princess' to play Mommy and Baby with.

Addie-isms:

Christmas Eve: "Mommy, Santa bring me presents?"

Me: "Yes, Addie if you go to sleep."

Addie: "Mommy? Santa rip my head off?"

HUH????? Where did she get that from. All she watches is Dora or Diego, I hope she didn't pick it up from that.

3 Year Check up: Me: "Addie you need to go to the doctors after we take Anna to school."

Addie: " No, I am going to Carolee's."

Me: "No its not school today.""

Addie: " Than I go to Marianne's."

Me: Giggling," No, we need to go see Dr. Cox."

Addie: " No. Mommy? Dr. Cox kill a polar bear?"

Me: "What?"

Addie "Dr. Cox is mean he kills polar bears."

I asked Dr. Cox about his feelings about polar bears because Adelie had some concerns, he said he really like polar bears. Adelie was relieved.

Speaking of " going to Carolee's" Addie started school at Mrs. Rogers and Mrs. Burtons at the beginning of January and loves it. Two hours off, oh what to do, what to do with myself.