Memorial Day

This entire weekend has been rainy, windy, and cold. With the exception of today. We found the most beautiful park in Boise. Albertson's Park. We took lots of great pictures there and then we enjoyed the beautiful day!

Maycee has found a way to entertain herself in the yard. Eating grass. She doesn't really like it that much but she just keeps picking the stuff and sticking it in her mouth. Every time she puts a blade of grass in her mouth she makes this look of disgust. However, she is still cute.

We took Maycee on her very first bike ride today. She enjoyed it thoroughly. We borrowed a bike cart from some friends and we were off. Partay!

Eventually the bike cart "rocked" her to sleep. I honestly don't know how. She was in the most uncomfortable position. Yet, she sleeps.

Yeah for sunny days with no work!

New Dress for Maycee

Grandma Melanie has been working up a storm.  If she is not sewing scrub tops for Krystal, or repairing Levis for the neighbors, she is sewing something for Maycee.  Her latest is a cute little summer dress. 

Isn't she adorable?

We even found a headband in our stash that matches!

We also noticed early on that the headband is a little small for her.  This is what I had to do to keep it on her.  I laughed SO hard when I saw what it did to her little eyes.

Poor Maycee.

This is, by far, the longest dress that Maycee owns.  She had a little bit more difficult of a time crawling in it, but she found a way.

I love this little girl!

Pretty little Maycee!

Plant Garden...Check!

Again this season is late. Technically I wasn't even supposed to plant yet because there was still snow on the mountain to the North-East...I can't remember what it is called...but according to Boise legend you are not supposed to plant until the snow is off the mountain. It is May 27th! So...I planted.

I started yesterday and finished up today. I planted strawberries, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, green beans, tomatoes, onions, and carrots.

I tried something new this year. This is the third year that I have planted a garden. For the last two years I have gotten four zucchinis and then those darn squash bugs kill my plant. Every time! A friend of mine told me that bugs hate the smell of marigolds. Marigolds are now surrounding my cucumber and zucchini.

I am expecting no death to come to my plants...or else...

Stinky Flower...this one said it was a french marigold.

Weekend of Pain

The weekend of pain began on Saturday at 3:45am with the buzzing of an alarm in Ogden, UT. Stephen rolled out of bed at 4:00am, ate breakfast, dressed in his running clothes, almost forgot his i-pod, and started on his adventure.

Uncle Wayne drove Stephen, Brandon, and Derek to the bus that would take them to the beginning of their race. The bus dropped them off at 5:30am and the starting gun went off at 7:00am to start their 26.2 miles.

Uncle Wayne took Mitzi and I to meet Brandon and Stephen at the 14 mile mark. While waiting there were these marathon runners holding long sticks with balloons attached to it and a time on them. Example "3:30" and "3:45" and "4:00". We later learned that the people carrying these signs were professional marathon runners. They knew running so well that they could keep a specific pace so the other runners would know their own pace. It was very intense looking.

We met Brandon first...and completely missed Derek. He was fast. Eight minutes later Stephen passed through. It was so crazy to think that they had already run 14 miles! I forgot to bring my camera at that point, so I don't have any pictures.

After seeing the boys, we dropped Uncle Wayne off at the house and then rushed to the finish line. We weren't sure what time the boys would get there. So we made sure that we got there early enough. My dad, Kory, and Charisse came to meet Stephen at the finish line. It was so good to see them!

Kory was very "patiently" waiting. He kept telling me that Stephen was dead on the side of the road. He was very supportive. He was the entertainment for Maycee.

Stephen came across the finish line with a time of 4 hours and 45 minutes.

Stephen did it! Here he is just before he ran across the finish line.

BROTHERS WITH THEIR FINISH METALS!! CONGRATULATIONS!

Our little family! We were there to hug our sweaty Stephen when he finished his 26.2 miles of pain. I LOVE YOU STEPHEN!!! You were AWESOME.

On our way home we stopped and stayed a night at my parents house. Stephen wouldn't make it all the way to Boise with those sore legs. While on the farm we got a cute picture of Grandma Donna and Maycee Donna! As a side note, Grandma was complaining forever before we took the picture that she was TOO ugly to take a picture. Hey...she smiled. Don't they look cute together?

This is how Dad handles it.

There are three things that Maycee is not allowed to play with. Every time she gets near one of those three things, we tell her, "No Maycee, you cannot play with ____." If she continues, we quickly grab her and put her elsewhere.

Stephen finds "creative" ways to keep her away.



Maycee is on the couch surrounded by pillows, blankets, and books. She certainly looks like she is understanding her "punishment".

9 Month Checkup

Yesterday we went in to get Maycee's nine month checkup. Just so you know...all is well.

Here are the stats:

28.5 inches long - 90th percentile

16.57 pounds - 10th to 25th percentile.

l o n g and l e a n

Entertainment Tonight

Maycee is in love with the dryer. Sometimes we just sit in front of it and watch the clothes spin and spin and spin.

Good thing we do laundry A LOT. Maycee can get all of the entertainment that she likes.

MY man is SUPERman!

This weekend has been a whirlwind of events. It was so full that when we were driving home last night at midnight, I felt that I had been gone from my home in Boise for weeks!

Friday, when Stephen got home from work, we piled into the car and drove to Spanish Fork, UT to visit family. Brandon, Mitzi, Samantha, and Beth.

We arrived at their home at 7pm and immediately Maycee was mauled by our two nieces. Maycee's new best friends are Sam and Beth...and of course I forgot my camera.

The purpose of my blog post is to brag on Stephen...he is AMAZING! Stephen and Brandon have been training to run the Ogden Marathon. The marathon is in two weeks. Saturday was the last real l o n g run before the marathon. And long it was. Twenty miles. Stephen did every step of that in 80 degree weather in a very strong, relentless headwind.

Mitzi and I were in the car driving the 20 miles to check up on the guys with our three girls in tow.

We first checked on them at 7 miles. Stephen looked great. He was ready to conquer Mt. Everest.

We checked on them at 10 miles. Still looking good and holding out strong.

Check at 15 miles. Stephen was definitely tired. I was getting nervous. I didn't want him to push too hard and get hurt.

Check at 17 miles. Stephen was dehydrated, sun-burned, and slowing down. BUT he kept going.

Check at 18.5 miles. Stephen asked if I would walk with him for a quarter of a mile. He wasn't hurt, but he was tired. He was also determined to finish.

FINISH LINE! Stephen ran strong at the end and made the 20 miles.

Now Stephen just has to add 6.2 miles to that for the marathon...

Sunday was Mother's Day. It was my first with an official child outside of the womb.

We had a cute little card to give to my mother-in-law. It was all set up. Maycee had the card tied on her back and she was supposed to crawl to Grandma so she could have her card.

Apparently Maycee doesn't crawl on command. Grandma still got her card.

After breakfast we all drove to Roy, UT for Stephen's cousin's mission homecoming talk. It was really awesome to see him and remember what it felt like to be a fresh returned missionary. I think I had it easy because I had Kory with me. It definitely would have been a lot harder without him.

After meeting at Stephen's cousin's house afterward, chit chatting, and getting reacquainted we were again on the road. Poor little Maycee was in her car seat A LOT this weekend.

We drove to the farm where we surprised my mom with a Mother's Day visit. We tried the same "crawling with the card" trick with my mom and it didn't work then either. Maycee just ended up sitting on the floor next to the kitchen bar and Karli finally turned around and screamed when she saw Maycee. My mom thought she saw a mouse or something and turned to see Maycee. She also screamed and ran to pick Maycee up...Don't worry I'm sure she was excited to see me and Stephen, but had conveniently forgotten about us in her excitement of seeing Maycee.

Our arrival back at our Boise abode was not until 12:15am on Monday morning. We were beat. We put Maycee in her crib and crawled into our beds.

I think we need another weekend to recoup from our weekend.

Nap Time

I put Maycee down for her nap this afternoon. She played for a while. Cried for a bit. Then passed out.

Here are the results:

Maycee falls asleep in the weirdest positions. I can't believe that she can sleep like that.

Indoor Swimming Pool

Yep.

Stephen and I spent thousands of dollars to put in a pool.

Maycee was the first one to use it.

After Maycee had a very rough day we decided to give her a little reprieve. We drove her all over Boise yesterday and she was not able to take her nap.

She was crabby.

That is putting it mildly.

BUT we found a way to cheer her up.

Making a mess.

After fifteen minutes of bliss there was water all over the kitchen counter, down the front of the cabinets, and all over the kitchen floor. Maycee's love in life is water. Maybe she will grow up to be a fish...or a sailor...or an accountant.

Here is where she decided to try and get out of the sink on her own.

All done!