A visit from Mom

I'm so glad I could talk my mom into coming down and spending some time with us. It had been way too long since she had been here. She helped us out so much in taking care of the kids so Paul and I could run the Ragnar Relay together--dealing with fevers and cleaning up Barik's throw-up, keeping all the other kids away from him while he wasn't feeling well. And in general spending lots of quality time with the boys--reading stories and taking them to the park.

Her last night here was Lori's first night here, so the girls all went out for a little pampering.I love girls night out with my mom and sister!

RAGNAR

Taken from Ragnar's home page:
"Ragnar was a 9th century Norse King. He was a pirate, a raider, a conqueror, an explorer, and a wild man. The tough, fearless, rugged attributes of this Norse King are shared by all who participate in a Ragnar Relay. In much the same way, a Ragnar Relay provides runners the freedom to roam, to explore - a free-spirited curiosity to get out there and experience outdoor adventure. And maybe even to conquer. And though tough or rugged may not perfectly describe you, these attributes become a goal - something to strive for.

In a Ragnar Relay the wild nature of this Norse King is embraced by many participants. Participants who aren't afraid to paint their van plaid, to bring along their own hair band, to join together in yelling as they cross the finish line. You may think that you are not one of them, but you are. Everyone has a wild side and nothing brings it out of you like a Ragnar Relay.

Long live the Ragnar in us all!"

Just reading this gets me pumped up to do another! Although at the time of completion, I was sure one would be enough. Funny how time dims certain parts of the memory.

So here's how it all happened...
About the first of October, a friend from High School (who I hadn't seen since 1994) posted a plea on facebook for someone to join their Ragnar team, who suddenly became 2 runners short. After emailing back and forth, I realized it was something I could do. The timing would work out. I could handle a few legs of 3 miles (with time to recover between each run). Now the tricky part was getting Paul to join me. Not that he ever hesitated in wanting to join me, just trying to get all the details worked out of having Mom AND Dad gone for a weekend. With no family in town, it makes weekend excursions like this a little complicated. But after several phone calls, we were able to talk my mom into coming down to watch the kids so Paul and I could both run this relay together. I could have done it alone, but it was SO great to have him along with me!

4:00 Thursday, we loaded up Paul's car and headed to Las Vegas. Once he got all his work stuff taken care of (I kept teasing Paul that Larry, one of the guys he works with, was riding in the back seat), the drive was bliss! We chatted the whole time! Didn't even listen to any music or the book on CD he had gotten from the library for us to listen to. We stayed at the Stratosphere. This was the view from our room.I'll tell ya, I will never understand the attraction of Casino's. They stink! I really dislike the noise of the slot machines. I felt like we were in Sodom and Gomorrah. Surrounded by sin! Do I sound too judgemental? Oh well...
With free tickets to go to the top of the Stratosphere, we took advantage of that and then got back to our room and to bed around midnight only to wake up at 5 am to start our 30 hour adventure.

The beginning of the race was a hoot! Vans and people were dressed up in tutu's, devil horns, matching t-shirts, pig outfits and so many others. But my favorite's was the "Return of the Mullets" team. Check out the cut off jean shorts, the mullet and the pack of beer this guy was carrying!

Becky (runner #1) and Brooke (runner #5) were our first runners. They both decided that they wanted a challenge, so they ran each others legs together. Nutty girls! Dan was runner #2, Colby was runner #3, I was #4, Brooke was #5, and Paul always finished up our van of runners as #6. There was another van of 6 runners (runners #7-12) that rested while we ran and we rested while they ran. I don't even remember any of the names from Van #2--that tells you how much contact we had with them. We had a mini van with 7 adults in it. We got comfy, cozy real quick. This was my view during most of our driving time. Paul and Colby right in front of me, with Momma Rothe in the drivers seat and Dan riding shot gun.Becky and Brooke snuggled in close next to me.With this many people in a mini van (along with changes of clothes, sleeping equipment, bagels, etc., we were a bit short on space. We brought a case of water bottles (something we definately weren't willing to part with) and had to get a bit creative with the loading of the van. The back was full. There was a cooler between the bucket seats. So Paul adjusted the cross bars on the top of the van to snug the water bottles between them. At every stop, another runner would bring to our attention the water bottles on the top of the van--very concerned that they would fall off. We thanked these concerned citizens and then went on our merry little way. Only to be reminded as we were driving, as we were stopped, and any other time people saw us that we had water bottles on the top of our van. It became a "running" joke with us.

I was pretty excited and anxious for my first run--just wanting to get it started and one run under my belt. At the place of my first exchange w/ Colby, there weren't any port-a-potties and I was very well hydrated. So found a bush to hide behind. And wouldn't you know my #1 Fan was stalking me, taking a photo.Finally it was my turn!My first run had a 400 foot incline. The first 2 miles were pretty gradual, but the last mile was pretty steep. Dan said that Momma Rothe had to put the van in low to get up the hill. I'm not sure if that's true, or if he just told me that to make me feel good. Either way, it was steep. I'm not ashamed to admit that I walked the steepest parts.Whew! One down, 2 more to go! Here's my first hand-off to Brooke:

Paul finished his first 5 mile leg strong. He had a pretty steep hill to go up also and passed 6 runners in during his leg. He sprinted to his exchange, ready and very anxious to hand off to the next runner (the first runner of Van 2), but they weren't there! So, he sat and sat and sat until finally Van 2's first runner showed up to relieve him of his position. While he was waiting, all 6 of those runners he had worked so hard to pass handed off their bracelets to their next runners. A bit of a let down, for sure! At his request, I didn't shoot any photos of him.

Now for food. The closest place for food was Overton (the place where the race started). So we made the trek back to Overton in hoped of finding a Subway. The only food place was McDonalds. Gag! We found Lins grocery store and stopped there for some mediocre sandwiches then headed to Lake Mead in wait for Van 2 to finish their legs. The had 40+ miles to cover between the 6 of them--and some of those miles included pretty rough hills. (So glad we were Van 1!) While some napped, others read and I just sat, hoping to sleep, knowing I should sleep because our next set of runs were going to be in the night, but with the sun shining, sleep continually escaped me. But the view was great and hanging out with my new friends was great.

Van 2 finished their legs about 9pm. Our turn again. My second leg was just under 3 miles, some slight hills and in the dark. Ragnar requires that the runners wear reflective vests, head lights and rear flashers for our safety. You can imagine that on these deserted desert roads, with only occasional cars, runners are not what they're expecting to see. I was passed several times during this run and was a bit annoyed by this until I found out that these were the "ultra" runners--Runners with only 6 people on their teams who started many hours after us, but because they're in such great shape, they finish the run in half the time as us with half the amount of runners. Ok. Not so humiliated anymore. I finished my last run about midnight. Weird! Paul, again our last leg, finished his last 5 mile run around 2 am. And he waited. And waited. And waited. Van 2 wasn't there AGAIN! Colby had been texting them for over an hour, calls had been made, but there were no responses. Where were they? Had they fallen asleep at Lake Mead and not woken up to their alarms? Were they sleeping at this exchange in the parking lot? Where were they? Dan walked up and down the parking lot, hollering out "109! You're up!" He woke up several sleeping runners, but still no Van 2. We waited at 2 am at the finish line for nearly 10 minutes and couldn't leave until their first runner showed up. We were very unimpressed with Van 2 at this point.

We were all exhausted by this point! We were all running on empty, with an average of 5 hours of sleep in the previous 24 hours. We got to a park, or high school (I'm still not sure which, and really didn't care), got out our sleeping bags and mats, and I plopped my stuff down at the first open spot. Imagine, a field of grass covered with sleeping runners. Paul came by and told me that we should probably move. The spot I was sleeping in was in a main traffic area and would most likely be woken up every time someone walked by. While I knew he was right, I did NOT want to move! I was so warm and comfy and SO tired that I really didn't care. But I knew he was right and so begrudgingly picked up my sleeping stuff and moved farther away. I fell asleep right away. And before I knew it, Brooke was calling our names saying it was time to go. I was so disoriented--didn't want Van 2 waiting for us! Can you imagine?! (ha-ha) Hurrying, I went to the bathroom and got to the van where Becky, Dan, Brooke, Colby and Momma Rothe spent the last 3 1/2 hours sleeping.

Still disoriented, we were told that a runner had been hit by a drunk driver. And that was all the information we got. Feeling a weight of sadness and distress, we continued on--if for no other reason, than to honor this fellow runner. There was much talk and speculation as to what had happened. Was it a man or a woman? Was this runner killed or just injured? Was this a runner that we had contact with? It wasn't until the finish line that we found out that the runner had been killed, but no other information was released until the family members had been informed. Monday, Ragnar released the information that indeed the runner had been killed and it was a 33 year old man from Utah by the name of Jeremy Kunz with small children. So sad! But the outpouring of support for the Kunz family was an amazing thing to witness through the Ragnar page on Facebook. Grateful for our safety and with a prayer in our hearts for continued safety, we continued our quest to finish the run.

These signs were all along the course guiding us to our next exchange places. They became a beacon for us to follow.

My last leg was my longest--5 miles at about 9 am running through the neighborhoods of Las Vegas.

Paul's last leg was a short one, but having pulled his butt muscle during one of the previous runs, he did extra stretching. At least that's what we'll say he was doing:)

He ran his last leg super hard--knowing it wasn't very long, he really pushed himself. But the question that weighed on all our minds was will Van 2 be there for the exchange? Alas! They were! They finally pulled through! So proud of them!

We hauled our tired, hungry bodies to the Red Rock casino to shower, change and eat. I don't think I had ever been that hungry. We had been living on bagels, crackers, granola bars, and of course the water bottles that were famously riding atop our van. We were all ready for some real food! Never had a meal tasted so good! A garden salad, turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, a brownie with ice cream, and of course I helped Paul eat his chocolate cake. I was SO full by the end that my stomach was literally protruding! And I didn't feel one bit guilty!

We waited at the finish line for Van 2's last runner so we could all run across the finish line together. And get this, their last runner came running up the last hill, and the rest of their van wasn't there. Surprised? I think not. They couldn't find a parking spot, or something crazy like that. So, again we waited for Van 2 so we could all finish together.

What a fun, exhausting experience! Thanks so much, mom, for coming down to watch the kiddos so Paul and I could share this experience with each other. It was so awesome having my #1 Fan cheer me on, snuggle into his shoulder, have him watch after me and take care of me like only he can.

My latest project

Now that the kids are back in school, and the temperatures have dropped, I've had the time to work on some projects that I've been wanting to get done for quite some time. Here's one of the latest. I busted my hiney to get these done before my mom got here. I've got the island and the upper cabinets done in the kitchen. Hopefully the "after" is obvious.

The downstairs bathroom is done.

This has been a very time consuming project. And while I'm in "project" mode, that's all I can think about and get very Gung Ho on getting it done. So the few weeks "off" in between is healthy for my kids and my husband! He's been great to help me out with the kids so I can stay focused and complete which ever phase of the project I'm in. I'm sure it helps to see the end result. We LOVE it! It will sure be fun to have it all done. Then who knows what will come next...hopefully granite and/or new stainless appliances. Only time and money will tell. To be continued...

It's been one of those days...

Yesterday Drake was running a fever and was NOT a happy camper. Between crying, sporadic naps, and snuggles, I was wiped out at the end of the day. So you would think I would sleep like a log, right? Not so. I woke up around 1:30 am and couldn't get back to sleep until after 3 am. Try as I may, I couldn't get thoughts of RAGNAR (a relay race I agreed to run at the last minute) out of my head (Who will watch the kids? Will we take them with us, or try to find a friend here to watch them? Will Paul run it too? Where will we park? Where will we stay? What should I take?) You get the idea. My brain doesn't work well in the middle of the night (it struggles in the middle of the day too), so of course none of these "pressing" issues were resolved in my head which equates to one very tired momma.

I knew I was in for it when my patience was already being tested at 6:30 am (of course the kids had been up since before 6 am). Cooper had a grocery store field trip today which was mandatory for a "responsible" parent to attend. After walking around the grocery store for an hour, Cooper was spent--throwing himself on the ground in tantrum mode. It's no good when mom wants to do the same. Trying my best to hold it together, I got him into the car (at which time another kicking and screaming tantrum is thrown). My saving grace...Nap time! And both kids should go down for a nap at the same time which means I could try to catch some zzzzz's too.

Cooper fell asleep on the way home. I knew it would be a fight to get him to go potty and then get into bed, but I could handle that. I knew the payoff would be worth it. Got Cooper in bed, got Drake in bed and then read for a few minutes to relax before attempting a nap myself. But that was not to be. Cooper came out of his room in 15 minute intervals, and Drake was awake an hour later. What's up with that? They both should have been exhausted! I knew I was!

So at this point, hopes for a nap vanished, I knew I was in trouble. Now I had to endure until bedtime. I knew the kids would be a mess--Drake was still running a fever, and Cooper isn't much fun when he's tired. Not to mention a tired momma (who isn't much fun either). And then an amazing thing happened. It took me a couple hours to realize it. I still expected the kids to be acting up, so was poised, ready to react to their crying, tantrum, bad moods. But instead, they were great! They played well together. And for the first time in 2 days, Drake was content, and even happy playing with Cooper (as opposed to being held by me).

It was then that I said a silent prayer thanking our Father for blessing my children with happiness when I felt I was at the edge of the cliff and ready to jump.

We've got a walker

Drake, just like the rest of my cute boys, didn't start walking until about 13 months. I love watching these little monkeys wobble around the house with arms held high above their heads for stability.

Working really hard on walking:

Walking is mastered!

Elder's Quorum President

With the recent split of our Stake (this is the 3rd Stake we've been a part of since our move to AZ), our bishop was called as a member of the new Stake Presidency, the Elder's Quorum President was called to be a member of the bishopric, thus leaving the Elder's Quorum unattended (not really, but you know...). So I was not the least bit surprised when a few weeks ago Paul told me that he had been called as the Elder's Quorum President. This is the calling he had in Washington right before we left--he was only able to serve in that calling for a few months before moving here. He LOVED being in the Elder's Quorum and loved serving as President. And I think he's been itching to get back into it ever since. But the timing wasn't quite right. He was in the middle of Law school, teaching Sunday School to the 15-18 year olds, served as a counselor in the EQP, and then served as the Teachers Quorum Assistant Advisor. He has loved all of these callings, and has served in them well.

So when asked how he feels about this new calling, his response is that he's really excited. He's excited to serve in any capacity that he can. But he's especially excited to have the time and energy to invest in the Elder's Quorum. I have no doubt that he will serve well.

We met the Stake Presidency at the church at 4 pm for Paul to be set apart. We had to wake Cooper up to get there on time, and he was a bit clingy to Paul. As the time came for the blessing, Cooper was not happy about sitting on a chair by me, but wanted to sit on Paul's lap. Sweet President Thalman suggested having Cooper sit on Paul's lap during the setting apart. I cautioned President Hancock to not let his hands slip (thus avoiding setting apart a 3 year old to run the Elder's Quorum).

As President Hancock set Paul apart, he gave him the keys of the Priesthood to preside over the Quorum. He blessed Paul that he would always be able to put his family first--that is where his influence is most important. (President Hancock doesn't know my husband very well. Paul has this part mastered!) He was also blessed that he would have the time to serve his Elder's Quorum.

I feel very blessed to have a husband who is worthy and willing to serve wherever the Lord needs him.

You know you have all boys when...

This morning Paul was telling the boys how lucky they are to have one another--brothers! The conversation with Barik went something like this:

Paul: "Barik, you are so lucky to have an older brother AND younger brothers. You know, Nic (Andrew's best friend who spends lots of time at our house) doesn't have any brothers."

Barik: "Yes he does. He's got a brother that's a girl."

Apparantly "sister" isn't part of Barik's vocabulary:)

Our 5th Son

No I'm not pregnant! But sometimes it feels like we have 5 little boys. Andrew's best friend, Nic lives 2 doors down and is here as often as he can be. So, it shouldn't surprise us when the following happened:

Andrew, Barik and I were at Adrienne's hanging out for the afternoon. Paul, Cooper and Drake were taking naps. So when Paul woke up to voices down stairs, he was a bit perplexed. But when he came down, discovered that Cooper had woken up from his nap and had opened the front door to let Nic in. Nic (almost 9) and Cooper (3 1/2) were playing happily in the toy room.

Nic has become part of our family. He shares meals with us, goes to the movies with us, says prayers with us. Sometimes preferring to play with Barik over Andrew. Andrew's brothers are also Nic's brothers. After all, he has grown up with my boys almost as long as Andrew has. Barik was only 6 months old when we moved in and Nic came along a couple months after that. We often remind the boys how lucky they are to have brothers. Nic just has an older sister. He really eats up all the boy energy at our house.

Andrew earned his Bobcat

Tonight was the first Pack Meeting since Andrew officially became a cub scout. This was a new experience for me and my boys. Andrew, along with 3 of his other friends (Mason Kiedrowski, Bryce Hackney and Walker ?), were introduced to the Pack tonight and when Andrew was asked what his favorite thing to do was, he replied "play Gotcha Force". Not too many of us knew what that was. Man, he sure loves to play game cube!

Since Paul is out of town, I was able to have all 4 boys to myself at Pack Meeting. About an hour into the meeting Cooper told me he needed to go poop. Great! So, here I go with Drake in one arm, a bottle of water, a bottle of milk and a binki in the other arm--off to the bathroom. Too bad the nursery bathroom was taken. That would have been so much easier. So Cooper (pooper) sat, and sat, and pushed and pushed. Meanwhile Drake and I patiently waited. Hmmm. Not quite what I had in mind for our first son's first Pack Meeting. But not to worry, my good friend Darbie Hall came calling for me in the bathroom saying that I needed to go pin something or other on Andrew and that everyone was waiting for me. What to do? Cooper is still in "pooper" position, I have toilet paper in my hand (ready to make the escape on the double), Drake in my other arm (still) and my sweet oldest is in need of a good "pinning". Sweet Darbie (to the rescue AGAIN) takes over the toilet paper and tells me to go. What kind of friend does that?!

After receiving his Bobcat, I was able to paint verticle lines on his face--2 blue lines on his left cheek and 2 yellow lines on his right cheek. He was pretty stoked. What a great beginning to Scouts! What a great way to get these young boys excited about learning to become more honest, trust worthy, loyal, brave (and all the rest of the great things that are in the scout motto). The Lord has blessed me with 4 boys so I can have an appreciation for this program. I used to think scouting was silly. But already, with the minimal experience that we've had with scouting, my respect for the program has grown. I sure love my boys and am very pleased that Andrew is so excited for this new adventure.

San Antonio

I got to spend 5 wonderful days with one of my bestest friend and her family in San Antonio. It has been too long since we've been together!

My girl, Ellie followed me around every chance she could, often sneeking away to get more time with me (Arianne didn't want her "bothering" me). But how often do I get a waist high, curly hair little girl shadow? I loved all her questions as she sat with me in the bathroom getting ready together. "What's that?" "A flat iron." "What's it for?" "To straighten my hair." "Will you straighten my hair?" "Why would we want to take those beautiful curls out of your hair?" "Why do you want to take them out of your hair?" (touche) OR "What is that?" "Powder." "Will you put some powder on my face?" "Sure, girl." "What's that?" "Blush." "Will you put some blush on my face?" "Sure, girl." "What's that?" "Eye liner." "Will you put some of that on my face?" "Sure, girl." "What's that?" "Eye shadow." "It's booful. Will you put some of that on my eyes?" "Sure, girl. Wow. That green eye shadow looks beautiful with your green eyes!" "What's that?" "Mascara." "Will you put some macara on me too?" "Sure, girl." And this is how my getting ready routine would go. Cute Ellie.

The first morning I was there, Arianne introduced me to her favorite step class at Lifetime fitness. Classes are always a bit intimidating to me because I don't like feeling like I'm being watched make a fool of myself. And when we got to the class (15 minutes early), there was a line of ladies waiting to get in. There were so many people in this class that I was worried I wouldn't have enough room to actually do the steps without stepping on someone else's step. Well, here goes nothing. I'm following along pretty good, until the instructor throws in "around the world". What? Not just up and down anymore, but I actually have to go up, down and turn around and not run into anyone else? I finally got the hang of it half way through and just hoped that no one behind me was watching--if so, they got a good laugh, for sure. At one point, I was sweating so much (no fans in this room--what's up with that?) that Arianne actually got down on all fours to mop up the sweat that was puddling on the floor beneath me. Gross! But fun! I enjoyed Arianne "power up" every move--she's hard core!

There were a few times Arianne and I got to get out (without our girl, Ellie). One evening we spent the night at the River Walk. Historic San Antonio has a picturesque river running down the middle with restaurants on both sides. We settled on a Mexican restaurant. It was packed! (and this was just a Thursday night) An entertaining, and very loud mariachi band provided entertainment and cut off our conversation (we couldn't hear each other speak over their music). We walked the streets a bit longer, ate a white chocolate apple pie apple from Rocky Mountain chocolate factory (DELICIOUS) and then headed home. The next day we did a little shopping. Arianne introduced me to the most amazing work out clothes every! Lululemon--the wicking, non stinking work out gear! Hook me up! (but does it REALLY work? Can any clothing item REALLY make it so I don't stink after working out?) I was skeptical, but was able to put it to the test the next morning during a run in one of the local parks. Tree covered, almost mossy trails reminded me so much of running in Washington. What a beautiful run. And would you believe that when we got done running (with sweat dripping off any part of my body not covered in Lululemon), I smelled like new clothes? I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't smelled it!

After showering, it was ready to get to work--paint! I love to paint, and Arianne hates to paint. I loved spending time with her chatting while we beautified her house. We painted a wall behind her tv to make the "white room" not quite as white. Then painted a white border 3/4 high on Ellie's walls for her brown and purple vinyl polka dots. And while we were at it, we painted a little cupboard of Ellies that didn't quite match the rest of her bedroom set. Good music was listened to and great conversation was had! All four kids loved checking out our progress. And would have LOVED to paint right along with us. They got their chance to help the next day when the dots went up. Fun times were had by all!

Sunday morning Arianne made a super yummy breakfast of homemade whole wheat french toast with her yummy buttermilk syrup, fresh strawberries and fresh whoopin cream. MMMMMMMMM! Then off to church, San Antonio style (not any different than AZ style). After church, we headed to Austin for a visit with Arianne's brothers Ryan and Jeremy and their families. The whole Searle family must be made from the same mold--outgoing and fun. Nothing like the quiet, reserved family I grew up in. Arianne snuggled right up to Ryan and they proceeded to harass one another the majority of the time we were there. The evening ended with one of her nephews throwing a pickle at his little sister. What?!

We went out on Ryan's boat Monday (Labor day) morning and almost had the whole lake to ourselves. The lake is so low that if your boat isn't docked IN the lake, you can't get it in our out. Lucky for us, Ryan has a spot on the lake. I'm not much of a water sports type of girl, so just enjoyed watching the kids and Arianne do their tricks. Then we went back to Jeremy's house and had a great time in his awesome pool! Of course I had to remind myself to be happy with my pool without a diving board, hot tub, slide or rock wall. Cole, Dallin and I jumped off the rock wall together. Arianne and I jumped off it once too. We did some awesome toe touches and cannon balls. Oh yeah, watch summer olympics!

Our last night was spent watching a chick flick and eating skookies (only one of the many times I ate Arianne's YUMMY skookies!) Man, she knows how to treat me right!

Paul was so sweet to let me go! He kept telling me that I deserve it and never complained about the boredom he felt. He has a really hard time being stuck at home--doesn't know what to do with himself or the kids. In fact, he got soooo bored one day he ended up taking 5 boys (our 4 plus Nic) to the mall. I don't ever take the kids to the mall. What fun is that?! Crazy boy! (and wonderful!)

Several of my friends also helped make this trip possible: Adrienne watched Cooper and Drake for a day, Darbie had them all over to play one evening (so Paul could golf with her husband, Brad) and fed them ALL (8 kids, 3 adults and 2 missionaries) dinner after. And Laura Thompson got up at 6:30 Tuesday morning so Paul could drop Cooper and Drake off until I got home (our flights overlapped by a few minutes). I also want to thank Bret for sacrificing his very limited time with his wife so I could have her to myself. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the whole Pearce family! It was so nice to see where they live and spend their time. I sure miss them all!