The 4 Mcclellan's

July!

2011-07-19T19:10:00.001-07:00

July has been pretty exciting so far, we've watched a lot of softball, seen some pretty swollen cheeks and been busy in the yard.

Aryn's team played really well and made it to state this year which was held in Payson. The first game they played Lehi and beat them 26-2, but unfortunately they lost the next 2 games both to Spanish Fork teams. But they had a lot of fun, and Clark and I got a couple of days off work :)

Aryn plays catcher
And I loved her face when she was up to bat in this one

The first night there was a huge thunder and lightning storm, so they had to call the game...

Aryn got her wisdom teeth out last Friday, she wouldn't let me take any pictures, but other than a whole lot of swelling, she did great!

Also, Clark has been working on a waterfall and a garden railroad in our backyard. It's looking amazing and I will get some pictures posted soon.

And last, if you're wondering about Caleb, he got his first job this summer answering phones at UCAS, he volunteers at the Springville Art Museum, and he is taking driver's ed! He is definitely keeping busy!

The things you do for the one's you love....

2011-06-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

Clark had been saying he needed a picture of me for his desk, and I really really hate my picture taken. I'm usually the one behind the camera! So I decided to leave my comfort zone behind and have some photos done for him. He has always been fond of the 40's and 50's pin up girls (honestly, what guy isn't) so I googled it, came up with pinmeuputah.com and made my appointment. I drug Aryn along for encouragement, she was a good sport! Anyway, here are a few of the pictures

Clark loved the pictures, and I had so much fun doing them! Sometimes it's good to leave your comfort zone, I guess!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

We love you!

The Hardest Working Man I Know!

2011-03-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

One of our co-workers emailed me this picture of my super cute husband today. I'm so thankful he has a job he loves. Aside from how it looks in this picture, he is the hardest working man I know! I try to tell him often, but probably not enough, how amazing I think he is and how lucky we are to have him.

Happy Birthday....a couple days late!

2011-02-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

I'm so so sorry I'm a couple of days late, but on February 21st, Aryn turned 14! She has turned into such an amazing and beautiful young woman. She has been working so hard at school and her grades are awesome! We couldn't be prouder to have her as our daughter. Love you baby bear!

No diet, no exercise, no danger!!

2011-02-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

This week I had my yearly friendly little visit with the Healthy Utah people at work, and was informed that my weight is "temporarily slightly elevated". As if I didn't already know..... :)

So in my hunt to find the magic pill for weight loss, I came across this old ad for tapeworms! Funniest thing I've ever seen! "friends for a fair form" and "no ill effects" hahahaha..... I'm just thankful they were sanitized....

Wow! I guess I will stick with my current exercise program and try to eat a bit healthier for now. But if I don't start getting results soon, I bet there's a black market for tapeworms out there somewhere, right?

New Year's Resolution...

2011-01-01T16:41:00.001-08:00

So, my New Year's resolution this year was to keep my blog up to date, yet here it is the 23rd of January and I have yet to post anything....

Well, from here on out I'm going to do better!

2010 was a great year for all of us! Caleb started the 11th grade at UCAS and Aryn is in the 8th grade at the Jr. High. So far they are both doing very well and loving school!

Over the summer and fall we were able to take a couple of vacations to our favorite place, Colorado. We took a couple of weeks in August and hit a few places. Our first stop was Mesa Verde. We love it there, so we try to stop for a couple of days every few years. Here are some pictures from Mesa Verde:

Aryn....

I love this picture of Caleb except he looks so grown up!

All of us after hiking up a mountain

Then we went to Chama, New Mexico. It's a really small town with a scenic railroad (of course). We found this really cool place called Brazos, it's a small community about 15 minutes from Chama that is just beautiful. We found a restaurant we all loved while we were there.

So sweet..... ;)

Everyone was really full....

Clark loves The Cumbres and Toltec railroad in Chama because they let you wander around the yard and check out all their equipment. Here is Clark and Aryn in the cab of a steam engine:

All of us!

Then we headed to our favorite place, Durango Colorado where we continued our tradition of riding the Durango and Silverton train at least once a year.

Caleb....

This is on the high line looking down at the Animas River

Me and Clark :)

The train stops in Silverton for lunch before you head back down the canyon. This is Caleb at Mother Clucker's (haha, I love the name) eating hot wings. He's just putting on a show, the wings weren't that hot!

Aryn, always the animal lover....

So we couldn't get the picture quite right on this next one, we weren't sure if the timer was working. But, if you're a John Wayne fan (as Clark is), this is called Katie's meadow in Ridgeway Colorado, and it's where the fighting scene from True Grit (the original) was filmed.

2010 was a fun year for me and my races. A bunch of us got together and did The Dirty Dash in Soldier Hollow. It was a 10k race with lots of obstacles and even more mud! We had a blast!

Caleb got invited to Springville high's homecoming and had a blast!

Aryn and her BFF Nina went to their Christmas formal at the Jr High

And this is our "Awkward Family Photo (check out the awkwardfamilyphotos.com if you're not sure what I'm referring to)

Hope you have enjoyed catching up on our year! Hopefully 2011 won't all end up in one blog :)

Art City Music Festival!

2010-06-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

Every year, Springville holds the Art City Music Festival, where musicians can spend the day writing songs together and then performing them. This was Caleb's first year participating, and he had a great time! There was a shortage of bassists, so he got to be in 3 bands. In the first video, I don't think they had the mike volume correct, because it was really hard to hear the singing. Anyway, enjoy! (Caleb is on the far right in the black shirt in each video)

The first band was Fourty-Two

The second band was Logan's Run

And the 3rd band (my personal favorite) was Igno

Broken Kid.....

2010-05-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

Last week I got a call from the school that every parent dreads, "Mrs. McClellan, we need you to come get Caleb and take him to the hospital."

I guess they were playing soccer in P.E. and Caleb and another boy were going for the ball at the same time when the other kid's shoulder collided with Caleb's collar bone. His collar bone lost that battle and snapped right in half. This just confirmed my belief that they should stick to measuring ball circumference and velocity in P.E. at the smart kids school and stay away from actual physical activity... :)

Once I got to the school, I found him lying on the soccer field surrounded by friends offering to make him cookies and bring him Slurpee's, AND having his head rubbed by a really cute girl. The counsellor got him all bound up and on the back of the golf cart, which was a really fun, bumpy ride, then we got him into the Jeep for another really fun, bumpy ride to the hospital where he was a very strange shade of green and telling the triage nurse the pain was a SEVEN!

The doctor came in, took one look at his collar bone and said "Yep, it's broke" . They still x-ray ed it and then put him in a sling. This is is first broken bone....

He had a really rough couple of days between the pain meds and the nausea that they caused, but we are 6 days later and he already has much more mobility and hardly any pain! He's just glad he got out of P.E. for the rest of the year!

St George Ironman

2010-05-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I got to go volunteer at the St George Ironman. For those of you who may not know what the Ironman is, I'll tell you! It is the triathlon of all triathlons! It's a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a full marathon (26.2 miles)!! I know, crazy! These people are amazing! My friend Heather has been training for it for the past year. She is amazing!!

I was lucky enough to get picked to be a finish line volunteer from 8 p.m. until midnight. Heather's predicted finish time was around 9:30 or 10, so it was perfect!

Since I didn't volunteer until later at night, I got to watch the whole swim, and then the bike transition. The swim was held at Sand Hollow Reservoir. The water temperature was only about 58 degrees....brrrr!!

Here are some of her support crew at the swim. Her mom's friend Carole is on the left end, then her brother Troy, her mom, her friend Janet from California, me, and her brother Chad

Then we headed down to watch her on the second loop of her bike, and the wind had picked up!

It's not a very good picture, but she's the first biker

She had an amazing family and support crew, here's her mom:

And her brother Chad, his wife Jordan, and their baby Garrett. Chad was playing the Rocky theme on the kazoo! Very inspirational!

The best spectator shirt ever!

And then it was time for a nap before I headed to the finish line. Another volunteer got this short video of Heather after she crossed the finish line (and me chasing her around). She was just smiling and giggling, so glad to be done! She completed 140 miles in 15 hours 8 minutes. She is absolutely amazing!

From now on when I introduce her or talk about her, I am going to call her Ironman Heather!

Creative Easter Eggs?

2010-04-04T10:12:00.000-07:00

Even though our kids are getting "too old to color eggs", I love to force them to do things they don't want to do just because I am the mom! They were VERY excited about it:

I bought the super monster egg coloring kit which turned out to be a big hit with the whole family.

Aryn made a moustached egg:

Caleb, still obsessed with The Shining, made a Jack Torrance Easter egg:

Complete with ax:

Clark made a red neck Easter egg:

And mine is a Richard Simmons egg:

It turned out to be a really fun night with lots of laughs and stained fingers :)

16 years ago today....

2010-03-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

16 years ago today, I married an amazing man.

Even though sometimes I don't always bring out the best in him...

I somehow manage to keep him around

He is the hardest working, most dedicated family man I know. And no matter what we do, together we always end up having a great time

I can't imagine my life without you babe, and I can't wait to see what the next 16 years bring.

Preference Dance!

2010-03-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Last night was Springville High's Preference dance, and Caleb was invited by Angela. Teenagers sometimes crack me up, he could not understand why he had to dress nice. He thought jeans and a t-shirt were more than appropriate for a formal dance..... poor Angela :)

But after finally convincing a not happy Caleb, he dressed up, and looked very handsome. And Angela was beautiful as always!

Here they are in what has been named the "nice picture" location of our house:

Caleb putting on her corsage, which he picked out himself, and was beautiful:

Angela trying to put on the boutineer:

And then me AND Clark trying to put on the boutineer:

We FINALLY got it!

They had a great time, the girls made the boys dinner at one of their houses, then they went to the dance which was held at one of Caleb's favorite locations, the Springville art museum, and then went back to another girl's house for dessert.

Stress Fracture.....

2010-03-11T11:44:00.000-08:00

As some of you might know, I am addicted to running. I has been my Prozac for the last few years. Unfortunately, as hard as I have tried to avoid it, injuries sometimes happen. A couple of weeks ago I started having some pain in my lower right leg, and even though I knew better, I continued to run on it. The pain was fairly moderate at first, but then I ran 18 miles. A few hours after the pain had gotten worse to the point that I could only put a little weight on that leg. I decided to take a break from running for about 10 days and then assumed I would resume training for my marathon on April 17th. So last Monday I suited up and headed out, ran about 10 steps and had to stop because of the pain. I finally made an appointment with a sport's medicine physician, thinking he would tell me to cowboy up, there is nothing wrong. Well... I was wrong. After a couple of x-rays the doctor pointed out 2 small black lines, which happen to be stress fractures. So I guess my running has to be put on hold for the next 6-8 weeks, and the Salt Lake marathon will have to wait until next year. As frustrating as it is, it just makes me realize that I may need to take it a bit slower, and lose these last 20 pounds that have been hanging on the past year or so. Luckily I have a few smaller races planned that will keep me occupied until I can train for a marathon again.

On the bright side, Clark has started running on our treadmill and is doing awesome! He is already starting to understand my running addiction!

And she's a teenager.......

2010-02-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Today is Aryn's 13th birthday! I know it's said all the time, but I can't believe how time flies! It seems like just yesterday that Clark and I were bringing her home from the hospital. I can't imagine my life without her, she is growing up to be such an amazing girl, and we are so proud of her!

This past year has brought a lot of firsts. She made her first Jr High honor roll, had her first babysitting job,

Made new friends,

Went to her first Jr High formal dance,

Had her first boyfriend,

And her second..... :)

And discovered a whole new sense of fashion

Happy birthday sweetie, you will always be our baby bear!

Facebook.....It's what makes a normally boring day fantastic!

2009-12-23T18:17:00.001-08:00

Facebook can be so handy! It made a collage of 2009 photos for me!

I thought this was funny, you can create a collage of some of your Facebook status posts from 2009. It just reminds me that I may have too much free time....

Aftermath!

2009-11-21T14:10:00.001-08:00

Last Tuesday Caleb and his band Aftermath got to play their first live show..... well okay, 1 song, but it was awesome! They wrote the song and performed it a week later. Caleb is on the right playing the bass, his best friend Jake is in the middle playing the drums, and their other friend Matt is on the left playing the electric guitar. Enjoy! ( I just noticed that the video is off from the music. I don't know why....)

Colorado, Clark's 40th Birthday, Halloween and another triathlon!

2009-11-07T15:26:00.001-08:00

I keep thinking I will do better and post more often, but life just gets so crazy sometimes!

We were able to get away for a few days and go back to Colorado. It was a great get away and we can't wait to do it again. We got to see a lot of things we don't normally take the time to see. We drove over to Telluride and rode the gondolas up the mountain, 3 of us had fun, 1 of us kept asking what the point of this was..... (his names starts with C and ends with aleb).

Here is Clark with that certain someone just as we started up the mountain:

And here are me and Aryn:

We stayed a couple of nights in Ouray and found out it has tons of waterfalls that are fairly easy to hike to. Clark and I had a great time hiking around, and eventually Caleb got out of the car once in awhile to check things out, Aryn, however, preferred her Ipod and the car......

I guess we can always photo shop the kids in later :)

As some of you may know, Clark is lucky enough to have been born on Halloween. And this year was THE BIG ONE for him. He turned 40, although he will be the first to tell you he still gets ID'd when buying beer. I think he looks great for an old dude :)

The girls at work and I always have a good time making sure EVERYONE in the office knows it's his birthday:

This year since it was THE BIG ONE, the kids and I decided to throw him a surprise birthday party. It was so much fun planning it, and with the help of Facebook, we were able to track down some old friends he hadn't seen in years. We had a great turnout, and he was really surprised! I really appreciate everyone who helped plan the party, and helped get him out of the house so we could get it ready. We hope every one had as much fun as we did.
This is Clark, Chris, and Greg. They were high school buddies. I'm sure there are teachers and staff at Springville high who would break down in tears if they saw these 3 together again.....

Hopefully it won't be another 10 to 15 years before we get together with old friends again!

Halloween was a good time too, here is Caleb dressed up as Jim from the Office dressed up as Facebook.

This is where the picture of Aryn dressed up as Madonna would be if they hadn't all been deleted off my camera some how..... I'm hoping I will get her to dress up again, so I can get some pictures. It was a great costume!

We had a fun Halloween party at work on Friday, this is some of us who dressed up in our "action" photo:

Lastly, today I completed my 3rd triathlon! Sadly it was the last one of the season, and now I am back in marathon training getting ready for the Salt Lake Marathon next April.

Here are me and Tatum after the race:

Caleb's Poem!!

2009-10-22T11:02:00.001-07:00

Here it is, Caleb's first published poem!

http://www.galleryofwriting.org/writing/93094

I am a HORRIBLE mother!!

2009-10-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I didn't create a post for Caleb's birthday. His 16th birthday no less! My only excuse is that I was taking care of him since he decided to get the swine flu for his birthday. Seriously, that had to be the worst birthday ever. No one could even stop and see him, but everyone called him, which made him feel slightly better. I can't believe he is 16!! We are so lucky to have such a great kid. He is amazingly smart, and handsome, and so polite. And he even lets me and Clark be his friends on facebook :). I got to talk to most of his teachers last week when I went to pick up the homework he had missed, and every one of them that I talked to told me what an awesome kid he is. We are so proud of him, and all he has accomplished at such a young age. Speaking of, the poem that he got published is coming out on the 20th of this month, so I will be sure to post a link to it as soon as I get it.

Happy (late) Birthday Caleb! We love you!

H1N1 vs. the McClellans

2009-10-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

We've heard about it on the news, and in the papers but we hadn't paid much attention to it until yesterday. Caleb woke up complaining that he was dizzy when he stoop up and had some back pain. As the morning continued the back pain got worse and he had a fever and nausea. So I decided to take him to the doctor thinking he had a kidney infection or something like that. We were both so surprised when he said swine flu. There isn't really anything they can do for him, so we brought him home and put him to bed. I am amazed how hard it hits a healthy teenage boy. The doctor warned us that it would get worse before it gets better, and this morning he seems to be worse already. He also said we should all expect to get it, but the good news is once you have it you are immune to it. We can't decide if we want to get it and have it done with or avoid it!

Caleb will be out of school for the week, which is not very good news for him. And according to our work policy, we are not allowed to go to work until he is no longer contagious, which is 24 hours after all his symptoms are gone. So I'm off work for the week, but Clark gets to work as long as he doesn't go to the office.

The worse part is his 16th birthday is tomorrow! Guess this won't be the best birthday ever, but I think he will remember it. For his birthday we got him concert tickets. The concert is Sunday night, so we all have our fingers crossed that he will be well enough to go.

Daybreak Triathlon

2009-09-23T10:24:00.001-07:00

What started off as just crossing another goal off my list almost turned into a nightmare....

I signed up for this triathlon kind of last minute thinking I would finally complete my first open water swim tri. The swim was scheduled for the Oquirrh Lake in Daybreak. If you are from Utah, I'm sure you've heard that there were 3 cases of roundworm that are linked to the lake. This information was released the Wednesday before the tri, what a close call! So what was supposed to be a 750 meter open water swim turned into a 75 meter swim in the clubhouse pool, and then a mile run to transition. All in all, it was the perfect day for a race, and tons of fun. I guess I'll figure the open water swim thing out next year.....

Here are some photos from after the race:

This is Lee (a friend of Sarah's), and Sarah, who I owe all my weight loss and accomplishments too, and me

I love going to races, and since I'll talk to anyone who listens, sometimes I end up making new friends!

This is me and Tatum. A true inspiration, it was her first tri AND she's lost 90 pounds!! She is amazing!

This is Tatum, me, and Joe. We all met before the race waiting to get on the bus that would take us to the pool. We started the race around the same time, and finished close together! We are hoping to meet up for another tri and a 5k in November.

A little behind......

2009-09-16T13:37:00.001-07:00

I'm finally going to get these pictures posted. It's only been a month since vacation, and school started a few weeks ago, I guess it's time.

Last month we went to Colorado for our year trip and for some odd reason, I didn't take many photos! I'll try harder next time.

Here is Caleb, Clark and Aryn on the train. I love this picture because I think it really shows Caleb's true personality.
This is the Animas River from the highline during the train ride.

Clark on the train......

And the family at the Bar D Chuckwagon. I wish I could remember what the person taking the photo said that was so funny......

We are planning a trip back next month, so maybe I will be a little better with the picture taking!

And here are the kids on their first day of school. Aryn started Jr High, and is loving, and so far her grades are excellent! And I'm mostly impressed that she is wearing a dress. I never thought I'd see the day!

And Caleb Started highschool at UCAS. It was a rough couple of weeks at first, but once he realized he is still the smartest kid, things have been looking up! :)

Caleb also got news that a poem he wrote is being published next month in a literary magazine. I will try to pry it out of his hands and post it on the blog.

Root Canals.

2009-08-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

They really really suck.

The "Bishop's" Office

2009-07-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we were lucky enough to have been invited to spend the day with some friends (the Bishop's) on their boat (The Bishop's Office, very clever name, right?). I was very excited because it's probably been 15 years since I was on a boat, and my kids never have been. Sadly, since it is irrigation season, Clark was not able to go, he had to stay home and work.......

We were sad he couldn't go, but didn't want to pass up the opportunity, so we spent a few hours on the very merky waters of Utah Lake. We all had a blast, and hope they invite us again soon!

Me & the kids
Caleb kneeboarding:
Aryn kneeboarding:
Me attempting to wakeboard, I never got up, maybe next time.....

Me & Kippy on the tube:

Caleb & Aryn on the tube:

On the boat...

Me & Kippy

I can't believe I forgot!!

2009-07-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

We also bought a new car about 3 weeks ago. It's a brand new Dodge Journey and we love it!

So it's been awhile.......

2009-07-22T06:59:00.001-07:00

Since summer is half over, I decided it was probably time for a new post. It's been a busy summer so far with camping, 4-wheeling, softball and work and now the kids are getting anxious to start school!

We have been able to go camping once so far, we are hoping to get out more before the snow flies! Here are some photos of our camping trip to Payson Lakes:

Clark & Ozzy by the campfire:

I was very excited because while the boys were fishing, I built my first campfire, and no one even got hurt!

Clark getting the pole ready for some fishing. The caught quite a few fish that day!

Aryn hanging out by the fire

And Caleb, always with a book or two....

Aryn played softball on a team called the Voodoo Dolls. They were quite good, and made it to tourniment, but were sadly beat out in the 4th game. They played hard, and had fun!

Aryn plays catcher for her team

And batting, wearing her "lucky" socks, pink and black stripes with skulls!

A couple of weekends ago, we got the 4-wheelers out and rode from the left hand fork of Hobblecreek to Daniels summit lodge for breakfast.

One Sunday, we decided to take a tour of one of Clark's offices (aka Diamond Fork canyon) and we discovered what he does all day at work!

I got asked to play softball with Heather from work, their team was short of players, yes, they were desperate! But I had forgotton how much fun softball is!

This picture cracked me up. A typical dinner time at our house....... At least I'm reading the instructions for the frozen dinners to them! :)

So that's our summer so far, and my goal is to be better about updating the blog!

I ran a marathon!!

2009-04-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

Finally. After 6 months of training and preparation!

If you want the short version, here it is: I finished! My time was 4:34:47, which was almost 30 minutes quicker than I had anticipated! I finished 4th in my category, and 662 out of 1067.

In case you are really bored, or have a lot of free time, here is the longer version:

I was born March 20, 1975 in Payson Utah....... JUST KIDDING!!

So, the race started at the Olympic Bridge up by the University of Utah, and it was the coolest starting line I have ever seen! They had a gospel choir singing up on the bridge while we were getting ready to start and there were TONS of people. The route was awesome, I would never have seen those parts of Salt Lake any other way. There were people along the whole route, and music at about every other mile marker. I couldn't believe the people who came just to watch, and cheer, and give encouragement! I was feeling pretty darn good until about mile 13 when I realized I had started off a bit too fast and was getting worn out already. My quads were really starting to tighten up, and I have been having some issues with my Achilles for a couple of weeks, but over all, I felt like I was still in it. Until mile 20. Somewhere in here there was a house with a bunch of people and signs that said "Temptation Station" and "If this were the finish line, you'd be done" and "Runners Drink Free" and "Why run when you could drink rum!". They had a huge bar set up right on the front lawn. I have to say I was more than slightly tempted! My feet were so sore at this point, I didn't know how I was going to finish the last 6 miles and I wondered if just one shot of rum would numb the pain :)

By mile 24 or so my pace had slowed down quite a bit and we were heading up State Street towards the capitol. There was what would be considered a slight incline on any other day, but Saturday it seemed like the biggest hill I have ever seen! But when I finally reached the top, and turned towards the Energy Solutions Arena, I checked my Garmin and realized I only had .6 miles to go, and that was the first time I realized I was actually going to finish. The route took us past the Energy Solutions Arena and down the street to the Gateway. We turned into the Gateway and I could see the finish line! But there was one last obstacle. In the sidewalk ever few feet are these cobblestone or brick looking things. My feet were so sore, and running over these was the same as running bare foot over broken glass!! But finally, I was across the finish line and done!

There were so many people, and photographers, it was crazy and awesome! I picked up my bag and was figuring out where to go to get back to my hotel when I heard some one screaming my name. I hadn't expected any one at the finish line, Clark and the kids had stayed home to cheer me on from there, so when I looked up and saw Linda (my friend from work) who has also run a marathon. I lost it! I started crying and laughing..... well, I was a mess! It was so great to have some one there who had experienced the same thing and understood the pain and the feelings of accomplishment. I can't tell her enough how much I appreciated her being there, it was the best surprise!

Clark and the kids had decided to stay home for the weekend, so when I got home, I had a dozen roses and an awesome banner hanging up on the garage! I appreciate them being so patient and supportive with all of my training.

At around mile 20, I had decided that would be my first, and last marathon, but as the days go by, and the memories of the pain fade, I'm re-thinking that decision. Some friends have asked me to sign up for the St George Marathon which is in October, but I'm trying to very nicely say no. I plan on running some shorter races this summer, and then a half marathon in August, but I have my eye on Salt Lake again next year!

This is before the race, at the most popular pre-marathon hangout:

Crossing the finish line! (I'm in the black and white)

After the race, when I finally had the energy to smile again

And here's what your toes look like after running 26.2 miles

Roses from Clark:

The Banner the kids made:

15 years!!

2009-03-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

Today is our 15th wedding anniversary and I can't believe how time flies! I was scanning our pictures for the blog and thinking it seems just like yesterday! And now we have one kid getting ready to start High School, and another getting ready to start Jr. High! It's funny to think how different the next 15 years will be for us, with kids going to college and moving out, and GRANDKIDS! Wow! So in honor of our anniversary, I thought I would post some of our wedding photos......

Our engagement photo:

My bridal photo, and yes I really was at the lake, and it was cold!

Clark, I love this picture of him :)

The ceremony

Congratulations Payton & Julie!

2009-03-24T18:28:00.001-07:00

Robb's step son Payton got married on Friday March 20, in Logan. They are such a cute couple, and it was a beautiful wedding! We wish them many years of happiness!

Payton & Julie:

Robb & Diane:

Me, Clark, & the kids:

Aryn's 12th Birthday!

2009-02-21T10:22:00.001-08:00

Today Aryn is 12. The last year of peace before she is officially a teenager, ha ha ha! We are so lucky to have her, especially with the rough start she had. She was born February 21, 1997 at 4:08 in the morning. And she looked just like a mini Clark. We later found out that she had broken a rib while being born. We cringe every time we watch a home video of us hugging and squeezing her! When she was just 13 days old she was admitted back to the hospital with a bad case of RSV after she quit breathing completely. Here oxygen levels were so low that the second they put her on oxygen you could see her color change. The doctors told us if we were lucky we brought her in when we did, because she probably wouldn't have survived the night. She was hospitalized for 5 days, and has no complications from it. She has been healthy and happy since then! Aryn LOVES the Twilight series and is anxiously awaiting it's release to dvd next month. She does great in school, and has lots of friends. She loves to run and ride her bike, and play softball. And most of all she loves animals. She has such a soft spot for all of them, just like her dad. Here are some pictures of her 12 years so far....

She was about 6 months old in these:

One year old:
When she was 1, she placed 3rd in the Art City Days baby contest:
About 3 years old:

Aryn & her second cousin Lexi:

She loves camping and fishing, but doesn't like hiking much:

She love her dog Durango:

She was about 10 here:

And last night she had her birthday party, here are some of the pictures:

Happy Birthday Bear!

Clark's dream come true.......

2009-02-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

I walked in the door tonight and Clark was watching tv. As soon as I walked in he started pointing at the tv with a look of pure joy on his face. This was the commercial playing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhgsz5DH7Mo

Apparently he thought this was really a new flavor of Doritos. It was such a let down when he found out it was just a joke.

Kind of Random.....

2009-02-18T06:53:00.000-08:00

It's kind of funny how sometimes life just sneaks up on you and makes you realize how lucky you are. Monday was a day off and since we have 4 animials, I decided it was time to clean the carpet. Once it was all done, I was really proud of myself. I had just finished putting everything back and Caleb walked up the stairs and I looked at him and said "I'm so happy!" He didn't know that I was happy about how the carpet turned out, but his response was "Good!" And I thought, he doesn't care why I'm happy, just that I'm happy, and I realized how lucky I am.

Aryn's sock hop

2009-02-14T12:50:00.000-08:00

Aryn's first blog:

On Friday the 13Th I had a sock hop and the first thing i did was run down to pick up my best friend charlamane and we were still in our pj's and we spent an hour getting ready because we had to dress up like we were from the fifties and then we were running late so my mom gave us a ride and then we were so excited but we had to wait though the spelling bee, reading groups, keyboarding and then it was finally lunch time and we were so happy it was so funny because me and chance and charlamane and chandler saw all these boys singing on the playground and then the bell finally rang and we went in and pass out the Valentine cards and then it was the sock hop and me and charlamane and chance and chandler went to the drive in movie(our class room ) and watch i love Lucy and then went to musical records then hula hoop contest then karaoke then hand jive then dessert chandler shoved a whole sugar Cookie down in his mouth then we went to root beer floats and i got two scoops of ice cream and i shoved both down in two bites then we went to the last one the bubble gum blowing contest and then the day ended.

Me & Charlamane:

Chandler, Sergio, Chance, Charlamane & Me:

Brandon:

The girls & the annoying singing boys:

Tagged! 10 Things that Bug Me

2009-02-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've been tagged, and I'm sure I can come up with at least 10 things that bug me. So here we go.....
If you know me at all, you can guess number 1!

1. Waiting
2. Excuses
3. Clutter
4. Laundry
5. Driving in the snow
6. Did I mention waiting?
7. Commercials
8. People who drive slow on the freeway
9. Grocery shopping
10.Restaurants that are cold.

Aryn the photographer!

2009-01-27T17:04:00.000-08:00

Aryn got a digital camera for Christmas this year and she has been taking photos like crazy. We have a few dozen pictures of her posters of Edward (go figure) and a million of Durango. Tonight she took this picture from our deck, and I think it turned out really good. Who knows, maybe soon she'll be doing weddings!Durango, her favorite dog......

Aryn and her best friend Charlamane:

Flanger the cat:

Batman!

And me typing this blog!

Right now she says she will do any photo shoot in exchange for Edward paraphernalia!

Christmas, getting published, and a new school??

2009-01-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I posted, so I guess it's time! First of all we had a great Christmas, the kids got everything they wanted and claim it was the best Christmas ever! Now that they are getting older, everything they want is more expensive, but they kept the lists short this year. We spent Christmas Eve at Clark's sister Abby's house where Santa visits every year. This year was great because he had the kids make pledges to their parents to do better this year! It was awesome! Here are the kids:

Aren't they sweet? Actually that's not a smile on Caleb's face, he's gritting his teeth trying to hold Aryn down, but I like to pretend....

This is Clark and Abby, and I think you can all tell they are related!

It's pretty blurry, but you get the point!

And here are some Christmas morning photos, see if you can guess who Aryn is obssessed with...

Caleb got his laptop

And Clark got, well, Ozzy! He was so surprized and excited...

And I think I take the same picture of my dad every Christmas morning!

This is one of my favorite pictures. It is some of my Christmas, and if you look really closely you'll notice a Garmin Forerunner to take on my runs and burn the calories after I eat BOTH boxes of chocolate....
Okay, so now that I have done my required Christmas post (even though it's really really late), here is the other news at our house. Caleb is going to get published! He wrote a short story last year, and his English teach found a publisher for it! The assignment was to read a book, and write a short story picking up after the story. He chose the book The Shining. It is called Five Days in Death, and of course I think it is awesome! His teacher is also looking into getting a paper he wrote on the book Ivanhoe published as a teacher's aid for teaching the book. The other Caleb news is that he got a letter inviting him to UCAS. UCAS is a high school which is held on the campus of UVU. It is accelerated and he would graduate with his high school diploma and his associates degree. They only invite 120 kids from the county, so we are really excited! Okay, enough about Caleb, on to Aryn. Well, all I can tell you is she is still obssessed with Twilight and Edward, and she's read all the books 3 times! It's crazy! But she has really brought her grades up at school, and we are so so proud of her!

Grandpa Bob

2008-12-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

My Grandpa Bob passed away yesterday morning. He had been suffering quite sometime, and we all realize what a blessing it is that he is finally in a better place. I feel so lucky to have been his granddaughter, and I have so many great memories of growing up close to him. I love telling people who knew him that I am his granddaughter because they always have a story to tell about him. We will all miss him so much.

Ranting and the Nutcracker 5k

2008-12-06T16:11:00.000-08:00

Alright, that's it! I will no longer invite people to run races with me! First I take Caleb to the Human Race, and he beats me, then I invite my best friend April to go to the Nutcracker 5k with me, and she places 3rd in her age group, AND SHE WAS WALKING!!! From now on, I'm doing them alone!

Other than that I had a great time at the race. Since it was the Nutcracker 5k, tutus were recommended, so I stayed up late making them for us. It was my first attempt, but they turned out o.k. and I got pictures this time!

This is me and April warming up before the race:

Here is April WALKING the race to finish 3rd in her age group......

So anyway, if any one cares how I did, I finished in 28:23 and missed 3rd place in my age group by 1 stinking minute!

Okay, this is a really funny story. So while we were walking into the building to get registered for the Nutcracker race, we started talking with some other people who were also going to the race. We were teasing them because they didn't have tutu's. So we convinced (and believe me it wasn't hard) this guy "Ballerina Dude" aka Brandon to put on April's tutu so we could take a picture. He was a great sport! Well, unfortunately his picture didn't make the cut for my blog :), or I was just too busy ranting about not placing, but a couple days later I recieved a comment from his girlfriend wondering where the picture was. She had found the link to my blog through her cousin's blog who it turns out is also my cousin! So I think we are second cousins? I don't know but I think it's awesome! It's such a small world!

Thanksgiving Day Human Race 5k

2008-11-29T18:28:00.000-08:00

For the second year I ran the Human Race 5k in Draper. This year I talked Caleb into running with me. I don't know why I do this because I run all year, and he comes along, hasn't run since JUNE and beats me. Whatever!

Anyway, we didn't get any pictures, but Caleb's time was 26:34 and mine was 28:26. It was a nice flat course, and a cold rainy morning. There were almost 1900 runners and all the entry fees are donated to the Utah Food Bank. They raised almost $30,000! It's a great way to give back to the community, and burn some calories for that extra slice of pie later.....!

4-wheeling!

2008-11-16T15:55:00.001-08:00

Since today was so beautiful, we decided to take the 4-wheelers out for the first time this year! So, we loaded everything up, minus one child who doesn't think hanging out with is parents is cool anymore, and headed up Diamond Fork. Since Clark spends so much time up there, he knows all the good 4 wheeling trails. We had a really good ride, and it makes me mad that we went all summer without taking them out!

Happy Birthday Honey!

2008-10-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's true, my poor husband's birthday is on Halloween. I think it is almost as bad as having a birthday on Christmas! Every one is busy with trick or treating, and dressing up. But he's a good sport about it! I told him tonight that he never dresses up for Halloween, and Aryn came to me later and says Dad does too dress up! He dresses up like a birthday boy! I thought it was pretty cute.

So in honor of his birthday, here are some pictures of his favorite things:

Every one who knows Clark knows he LOVES steam engines. Working for the railroad runs pretty far back in his family, and Clark worked for Union Pacific railroad for a few years before we were married, and then he engineered the steam engine at the Heber Valley Railroad for a couple of years. He has a room dedicated to his trains, and sometimes, if we have been really good, me and the kids get to go in and see it!

Clark also loves the outdoors. He loves to go anywhere and camp. We have spent many weekends camping and fishing at Payson lake. But his favorite camping spots are Durango Colorado, and Chama New Mexico.

4 wheeling is also another love of Clark's. Although we have 4-wheelers, we don't get out on them nearly enough.

Clark is happiest when surrounded by his family.

So happy birthday sweetie! We love you! Oh, and enjoy your last year before you head over the other side of the hill!

Vegas Baby!

2008-10-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

So, I got to go to Vegas for work this last week. Surprisingly, it was only the second time I have been there. We flew in (I officially HATE flying). I got sick on the plane ride, and they lost my bag! What a great start to a trip, right? Well it definitately got better after that. We stayed at the Las Vegas Hilton which has really nice rooms. And I had my own room which was nice. Our convention was next door at the Las Vegas Convention Center so we could just walk over. I went with my boss Chris, and our I.T. guy John. They really knew their way around so we had a good time. Here are some pictures I took while we were there:

Me at the Venetian
Me and John at the Bellagio

John waited so patiently while we shopped...

Sorry Chris, this is the only picture I have of you! Linda- don't tell her I made it bigger :)

(please don't fire me again!)

Fiddler on the Roof

2008-10-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

So, these past few weeks, Caleb had his first experience of being in a play. He didn't even try out, he was asked to be in the play, probably because he is a member of the Master Singers, (don't ask I know all of you who have heard me sing are saying What the!?!) Anyway, he played a papa and a Russian. We were very impressed with his dancing skills! It is very hard to get pictures because they move around so fast. We saw the play twice, and I asked him the second time if he could just freeze every once in awhile so I could get some pictures ( I don't think that's too much to ask) but no, I think he moved even faster! I did, however, finally get a close up of him with his makeup on! Oh yea, can you say bribery pictures? He actually looks good in guy liner (as he calls it). Anyway, Springville Jr High did a great job, and we are really proud of Caleb's new accomplishment! Here are some pictures, a couple of them are kind of blurry, so thank him next time you see him! But those of you who knew me in Jr High will recognize my mad makeup skills!!

Caleb playing a really mean Russian (he's on the left in the dark blue):
Another mean Russian scene (on the right hand side standing in front):

Happy Birthday Caleb!!

2008-10-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official, Caleb's 15 and I'm getting old! I'm sure when I woke up this morning there were a few more grey hairs, and alot more wrinkles than yesterday!

I'll try not to get too mushy, but I just have to say that Caleb has grown up into an awesome person. He is an honor roll student, with his goals set to graduate high school with his associates degree. He is already 2 years ahead of his class in math, he's in honors english, and biology, and he's taking chinese. He's also in the play Fiddler on the Roof, and he's in master singers. He also wrote a short story last year, that his English teacher is trying to get published! We aren't sure where all this talent has come from (we are pretty sure he was switched in the hospital, but we aren't giving him back!).

So here are some pictures of Caleb over the years:

I was induced with Caleb the morning after this picture was taken

Just after he got out of the hospital
about 3 months old
Caleb & Dad on Christmas morning
Caleb & Aryn Halloween
Caleb & Aryn in Colorado Caleb & his best friend Jake at the Kindergarten Cafe
Caleb at Sizzler, kiwi and chicken wings, yummy!

Caleb the dinosaur

Caleb took our cat Ed to 3rd grade bring your
pet to school day, Ed didn't like it much
Caleb & Aryn
Caleb loves fishing

ATTENTION ALL UTAH DRIVERS!!!!

2008-09-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

Take a good look at this picture:

This kid can get his learners permit in 7 days! He has not had much experience behind the wheel, but I was just informed from a reliable source that all he needs is to read a book and take a written test. He happens to be really good at taking written tests. It looks like it is up to Clark and I to teach him all of our driving skills! So you can look for him running over curbs, and experience the road rage first hand!

Good luck to all, and drive safe!

Spanish Fork Half Marathon

2008-09-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

So I can finally say I have 2 half marathons under my belt, with a full marathon floating around in my mind, I really need to lay off the diet coke, I think it's making me crazy....

Anyway, this was the first time I have run the Spansh Fork Half, and it was a very beautiful course. We ran through the riverbottems, into Salem, then looped around back to the river bottems. The first 11 miles felt fantastic, even with hills lasting miles 6 through mile 8. The last two miles were a bit harder. Usually when I'm running, I think I could definately run one more mile. This time I was thinking I definately hope I can run one more mile!

But I finished with a time of 2:12:39, which beats last years time by 31 minutes, so I'm thrilled!

This picture is right before I cross the finish line, and it doesn't even look like I am running, but I swear I am!

Utah Valley Marathon, here I come!!??

What do you do when your boss and your husband don't get along????

2008-09-09T07:42:00.001-07:00

So, as some of you may know, Clark and I work at the same place. Well 2 years ago when I first started working here, I kind of, on accident (giggle giggle) let an old 90's photo of Clark slip, and it ended up on the yearly O&M meeting program for all the district employees to see. I think he looks cute, and I really like mullets!!!!! So for the last 2 years there have been pranks played between the 2 of them (with no involvement on my part of course).

So my boss is the most wonderful, understanding, caring boss in the whole world. Here is a picture of her

This isn't even Halloween, she just really is an angel. Clark's a really nice guy to, but you can only push him so far

So while on vacation, a certain photo floated to the surface again, and upon returning it showed up OUTSIDE his cubicle wall (with a conference room right across the hall that apparently held many meetings in the days this photo was displayed). It measured about 5 feet long by 3 feet wide. Here it is:

In case you can't quite read the inscription, it says:

I am out of the office but will return soon.
In the mean time you may bask in the glow of my mullet.

So now, the war is on. I don't really know how many of the rumors are true, because I, of course, am just an innocent bystander. But I have heard talk of a munchkin poster (from Clark to Chris, because she is slightly vertically challenged), and something about a Alka Seltzering of Clark's office from Chris. I'm sure in the coming days there will be more and more retaliation, and all I can hope for is to work hard, as always, and keep my record clean.

So wish me luck!

Vacation Photos.....finally!

2008-09-06T16:53:00.001-07:00

We got back from vacation a couple of weeks ago, but I am finally getting my blog updated! We go to Colorado every year in August. We don't have friends or family there, we just love the area! We have so much fun, and this year was no exception. We stayed in Ouray Colorado for 2 nights, Silverton Colorado for 2 nights, then on to our favorite, Durango Colorado for 5 nights. We have a fifth wheel, which is our home away from home! We love it, and we were all sad to come back to the real world! Anyway, here you go......

This is at the KOA in Ouray they had BBQ and live bands, and I was really excited some one offered to take our picture because we have so few of our whole family together!

Here are the 3 most important people in my life, and look the kids aren't even fighting!

We always seem to end up with some theme to our vacations. Last year all the pictures are of my family pointing at signs, and scenic things with a straight face (no smiles), they say that is how all the pictures in the old days were taken. So this year our theme turned out to be hats! I have a bizillion pictures of them in hats. We never plan this, it just seems to happen!

So.....here is one of Caleb's hat pictures. He was a good sport, even if he is a teenager!

And here is Aryn, she is appropriately wearing a bear hat, which is her nickname. You would understand if you ever had to wake her up for school!

And Clark, the go with the flow dad, even if "what the..." is coming out of his mouth! Good times!

I call this one "mom witnesses yet another blonde moment!" Really she is probably rolling her eyes at something I just said, but I like it better my way! By the way, we are on the Durango and Silverton train waiting to leave. This is the town of Silverton. It is really neat, it still has all the old buildings from the railroading days, and only a couple of the roads are actually paved.

Here is the picture of the Silverton train that Clark took. It is a gorgeous ride, and we have done it every August for the past 12 years!

This is the last one I will post, and it is actually from last years ride on the Cumbres and Toltec in Chama New Mexico, but I love the looks on Clark and Aryn's faces. They are so much alike, and they just don't get each other!

I paid $30 for THIS?!?!?!

2008-09-03T09:47:00.001-07:00

So today's lesson is: Don't get a photo cd made of a roll of film when you have no idea what's on it, (or in this case, you think your children may have gotten their hands on it)! We had a couple of old rolls of film, and decided it was time to get them developed since we have had a digital camera for a couple of years now. So here are some examples of what was on the film, which I now have prints, and a cd of!

I checked this picture for snakes, animals, and bigfoot footprints, but couldn't find any!

Although a great picture of the view from our deck, I'm not sure what the toy car is all about!

This has got to be my favorite! Dead plant with toy cars! I think this could win some sort of award somewhere! If you have any ideas where I could submit it, let me know!

Before and After Pictures

2008-08-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

I really debated on whether or not to put these on my blog, BUT as my half marathon grows closer (a week from tomorrow), I am slowly losing motivation. So I figured I'd post these on here because, it would be embarrassing to gain the weight back and have to post pictures later, so it is really motivation for me! I also made a list with my runs on here to keep me honest! The fist picture was taken in about July 2007, we were camping at Payson lakes, and the second picture was taken during the running leg of my triathlon. I have to say, the thought of wearing spandex after my drill team days was very scary (Chris and Heather if you read this you will remember the fight I put up about it!), but I did it, and I survived!

O.k. stop laughing now! It took a lot of guts to post those!

My First Blog!

2008-08-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Wow! I am finally in the 21st century! I keep seeing all these cute blogs pages, and decided it was time to start one for my family. So here is my story! Clark and I have been married for about 14 and a half years and it's gone by so fast! We live in Springville, and Clark and I both work full time for Central Utah Water Conservancy District. Clark is the Operations and Maintenance guy for the Spanish Fork structures, and I work in the records department. He has worked for them 10 years this September, and I'm a newbie with only 2 years this October. Before the district I worked for 12 years between Mountain View Hospital and Timpanogos Hospital as the computer software support. My job phased out 2 years ago, and hence the career change! I also have my real estate license, but as those of you who live in Utah county know, it is a dead market!

It has been an exciting, and scary year for our family. My brother Robb was called to serve in Iraq with the national guard in June 2007. He was stationed at a "holding facility" where Iraq prisoners were held. He says it was a life changing year (of course) and we are all happy he is now safely home on friendly soil, well Logan anyway! With the life changing turn in my brother's life, I decided it was time to change mine. When I stepped on the scale and realized I weighed more than I had at 9 months pregnant, it was time for a BIG change! I have since lost 40 pounds (with about 20 more to go), and completed my first ever triathlon! I am now getting ready for the Spanish Fork Half marathon on September 6th!

On to the kids..... we have a 14 (will be 15 in October) year old son Caleb who just started 9th grade. He is a great kid, and ends up on the honor roll every term. He is already taking 12th grade math! He is such a good kid, and so far, an easy teenager! It's the other one who gives ma run for my money! Our baby is Aryn and she is 11 going on 21, and just started 6th grade. She is definately our athlete! I always wanted my daughter to be a dancer like me, and I was going to start her early. So when she turned 3, I enrolled her in lessons. It only lasted about a year and she was DONE! Turns out she likes softball! Who knew?

Since this is my first post, I am going to post some pictures from last year. But keep in mind, I am 40 pounds lighter now, and Caleb finally cut his hair!

Aryn with Smokey the Bear at Timpanogos Caves 2006

Our family after hiking to Timpanogos Caves 2006

Clark and my dad at Caleb's baseball game 2007
Me and Robb right before deployment 2007
Robb, his wife Diane, and his step kids Peyton & B.J. the day of his deployment 2007