Little Things

I wanted to catch up on some little things that have been going on around these parts.

One day it was finally warm enough to go to the park so we took advantage.  We were the only ones there (until a little boy came for a bit) but it was so nice to get out and let the kids run around.  Nate loved climbing as high as he could in this tree.

Can you spot him?

I got talked into running a half-marathon with Katie and Kari and so I'm trying my best to stick to a training schedule.  I could only run about 2 miles when I started.  We'll see how this goes!  It has been so good for me to get up early and run, though.  There is something magical to me in being outside early in the morning, watching the sun come up or looking at the stars--even when it's freezing cold.  It makes me feel so alive! :)  

I loved this view of the temple one morning:

Unfortunately, I wasn't so smart one morning as I left.  There was a bit of snow on the ground and I couldn't get out the back gate like I normally do because the snow was piled up behind it.  So, I moved over one of our patio chairs and thought I could hop the fence and then move the snow to get back in.  Sadly, the plastic chair was very brittle in the cold temperatures and the armrest snapped right off when I stepped on it.  I scraped my leg up pretty bad on the way down:

With the cold and the adrenaline, it didn't hurt too much so I put a piece of paper towel on it and wrapped it with an ace bandage to go back out and run (although not very far because of all the time I had spent on all of that).  It was only when I got home that it hurt like crazy!  Anyway, another painful lesson learned! :)

One day Eli and I went out for a little bike ride to the temple just the two of us:

He loves bike rides and wishes we could go every day.

I guess you could say I'm trying to implement some healthy habits in my life like getting outside (even when it's cold), exercising, eating more vegetables, and reading my scriptures every morning.

I put this favorite of mine up on our quote board:

I'm learning that getting up in the morning is a battle every day but once I do it everything else becomes more automatic and life is so much better.

I still quite like the snow:

Ask me again in April or May.  :)

I made my first legit snowman with the kids.  You know, the kind where you can just roll the snow into a ball?  We decided to make Harry Potter:

One night as I was getting ready to go to bed, I looked outside and saw this:

It was light!  At 11pm!  It was so weird and I still don't have any idea what caused it.

My boys sure love to steal my phone and take pictures these days.  I have to post some of the gems I've found recently:

Pizza night!

It's fun to see how the world looks from a kid's perspective:

These are from a Sunday afternoon.  Eli was mad Nate had the phone and then he got it:

I LOVE those cheeks.

My feet:

:)

Here's one from scripture time one morning:

Finally, these boys have taken to sleeping together lately (not always Nate's choice) and it melts my heart every time:

I also got this shot of a night when the girls shared a bed, too:

I love those kids.