bikes races (usa pro cycling challenge)

at the end of august logan, dave and pete (dave's dad) went camping for a couple of days and saw the usa pro cycling challenge, considered the most challenging bike race held on American soil. for about a month before the trip logan would ask about camping and seeing the bike races. poor kid, he probably thought the trip was never going to come! and then for weeks after the trip everyday (often multiple times a day) he would tell me, "go camping with daddy and pappy and see the bike races!" to say the trip was a hit would be an understatement.

 

they spent the day in crested butte and had a lot of time to kill while waiting for the bikers (hours of waiting to see the bikers fly by in a matter of seconds). so they wandered around the town, ate pizza, watched the locals bike race and the hand cyclists. crested butte looks like a cool little town i would like to visit. i was happy to hear that logan was a champ during all of the waiting (and without a nap)!

check out that dude's arm! whoa!

 hand cyclists - amazing and so inspiring. some of these bikers competed (and medaled i think) in the summer olympics in beijing.

 these two are best buds

 logan loved cheering, "go bikers!" and now when we are on a run and pass a cyclist on the trail wearing a jersey, logan will often say "go biker!"

 each of the teams had support crews that would follow them throughout the race (it was a week long race).

 along the road up to cottonwood pass

 his face looks a little like he is upset, but i think it was actually excitement!

until next year (when it will hopefully be a family event and not just a boys trip)...

4 years!

“Love is a fragile thing, and some elements in life can try to break it. Much damage can be done if we are not in tender hands, caring hands. To give ourselves totally to another person, as we do in marriage, is the most trusting step we take in any human relationship. It is a real act of faith—faith all of us must be willing to exercise. If we do it right, we end up sharing everything—all our hopes, all our fears, all our dreams, all our weaknesses, and all our joys— with another person. No serious courtship or engagement or marriage is worth the name if we do not fully invest all that we have in it and in so doing trust ourselves totally to the one we love. You cannot succeed in love if you keep one foot out on the bank for safety’s sake. The very nature of the endeavor requires that you hold on to each other as tightly as you can and jump in the pool together.” 

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland "How Do I Love Thee"

 

 on august 4th dave and i celebrated our fourth anniversary. it is hard to believe that is has already been four years and at the same time that it has only been four years. i am grateful that four years ago we decided to hold onto one another tightly and "jump into the pool together." marriage is incredible, wonderful, fantastic and hard. and it's worth every bit of effort required to make it amazing! 

dave had to work until 6:00 on our actual anniversary, so i just got some chinese takeout (a vietnamese noodle bowl for him). in the little blue takeout box were 4 fortune cookies. i slipped a memory from each of our 4 years of marriage into each fortune cookie (i got the idea for the cute tag from here).

then we had chocolate fondue for dessert. although to be honest i think i was more excited about it than he was. next time i'll just get ben and jerry's since it's his dessert of choice (and a lot easier)!

a few days later we went out to dinner to celebrate. we went to a restaurant that 3 people had recommended, but we were less than impressed (maybe we both ordered the wrong thing?). it's a major bummer to pay a lot of money for less than stellar food. but it was great to be together, reminisce on four years and all that is yet to come!

leaving our reception and off to start our new adventure as a family (and what a great adventure it's been)!

as i wrote this post i thought about this talk. it is one of the most beautiful, personal, heartfelt talks on marriage. i love it and want to be more like how he described his wife (it's even better if you listen to it. you can hear and feel the love he has for his wife).

emma: 4 & 5 months

i am woefully behind at blogging, which is apparent since this post is capturing both months 4 and 5 of emma's life! when i was taking these pictures she was definitely not into it. she was hungry and my determination to finally take her monthly picture (which was delaying her feeding) did not make for a happy baby or good pictures. so i finally gave up and figured something was better than nothing (i did take the bottom right hand picture after i fed her and i love how she still has the red nose and cheeks, aka: nursing face).

these days emma:

• is getting 2 bottom teeth (and possibly another in the back). she started getting her 1st tooth at 4 months and it has taken it's time coming in. teething doesn't make emma a happy girl, especially during the night.
• is always grabbing at stuff and putting stuff in her mouth (see the 1st picture). probably a product of teething. she love to bite down on our fingers (and she's got a sharp bite) and she loves to suck on my necklaces (and pull my hair).
• still gives the biggest smiles and is a content baby
• is not rolling yet. she gets so close but can't seem to make it over her arm. luckily she has a great helper in logan. he is always happy to "help" her roll (and he is so proud of himself when he does).
• is a squealer. she is one loud baby! she especially squeals when i am burping her between sides when i am nursing her. she squeals in protest that her meal has been interrupted.
• often fights her naps. but i fight back (as in i leave her in her crib and let her cry herself to sleep).
• in addition to taking a binky she is a thumb sucker! talk about a double whammy! she seems to be preferring her thumb more and more these days.
• is grabbing his feet. i think it is so cute when babies find their feet. 
• constantly watches logan and seems to want to do what he is doing. patience baby!
• like clockwork, at dinnertime emma wants to be held. if we try and put her in her bumbo or swing while we eat she wails the whole time. we finally relent and one of us holds her. she watches us intently as we eat and is always reaching for our drink. i think she might be ready to try solid food. i was planning on waiting until she was 6 months and we will see if she can hold off a little longer (i'm not anxious for the extra time it will take to feed her solids). if anything, maybe we'll get her a sippy cup right now!
• wants to be where the action is. she doesn't like being left alone in a room.

for my records her 

4 month stats:

12 pounds 11 oz. - 20th percentile

25 inches - 70th percentile

41.25 cm - 50th percentile

august in review

some of the little things we were up to last month

logan testing out some of emma's things

playgroup at heather's new house. it was soo much fun! i love these girls!

tummy time and cookies (emma looks like she is eyeing logan's cookie. smart girl)

playing in bed. he wanted to and i was happy to oblige (while i tried to get a few things done. like washing his sheet) 

playing with papa. emma hangs with papa every thursday while logan and i go to the gym (less than 1 month until emma can go to kids club ;) after the class we hang out and play for a while

just looking cute

riding in the awesome car cart at the grocery store (the tv feature makes shopping trips better for both of us). this particular day watson the gloworm came along for the ride.

morning smiles (this picture makes her head look huge. rest assured her head is in the 50th percentile)

jazz hands?!

logan and his backpack full of all his little toys. precious cargo!

one last day at the fountains before they closed for the season

just hanging out

kisses for emma (don't mind my shirt being all crazy)

sleeping baby

i think sleeping babies are so sweet.

emma likes to sleep on her side. 

she's been moving around in her crib and usually when we go in to get her she is sleeping perpendicular to how we put her down. 

she sleeps swaddled, with her arms out.

she starts out with her binky but usually ends up sucking her thumb.

she sleeps with her lovey. she likes to have it right up next to her face (or covering her face).

  

 the next pictures aren't sleeping pictures, but emma's in her cute jammies that one of dave's former students was sweet enough to send us. i just can't get over how darling she is!

9.10.11

9.10.11 has proven to be a good day (besides just being a cool date)!

dave and i ran a 5K this morning. it was dave's first 5K (or race of any kind) and my first one in awhile (and of course logan and emma's first race too). the weather was perfect and the race had a great community feel to it (cheerleaders from a bunch of local high schools cheered us off at the starting line and a marching band even played). i pushed the kids in the stroller and i learned that it isn't easy to maneuver a stroller through a race (duh). but seriously, i got stuck behind way too many walkers for way too long. i'd like to think that is why my time wasn't as good as i wanted, but it's probably just because i'm not in my best shape. i'm soo proud of dave. he has told me more than once that he is not a runner (like every time i've begged him to run with me previously). but he finished the race way under his goal time and he even liked it ;) it was so fun! plus, the food at the end seriously rocked. not your typical race food. there were booths set up with noodles and company, morton's steakhouse, mad greens, il fornaio, pasquinis, jason's deli, yia yia's, a frozen yogurt shop. like i said, awesome! i can't wait for our next race together!

afterward i baked pumpkin chocolate chip bread which made my house smell amazing and made it feel like fall. dave finished a paper for school, finished writing his talk for church and finished preparing his lesson to teach to the young men at our church. talk about productive! we finished off the night at the annual stake fair that our church puts on. it was the perfect night filled with lots of yummy food, friends and little games. and logan got a green truck painted on his face (by one of the sweet young women i used to work with). bring on the rest of september! i think it's going to be a good month!