Flashback Friday: Utah Snowboarding

I definitely DO NOT miss Utah winters and all the snow but I DO miss snowboarding. There is seriously not a mountain to be found in South Carolina. So, no snowboarding or mountain biking. :0( Here's my "ode to boarding" from South Carolina.

An invitation - Training Blog

There are a lot of people in the world out there that are like me and need a little help and motivation to workout and challenge themselves. That being said, in my efforts get back to training for triathlons I have found a few willing friends here in good 'ol SC that were interested in joining with me (or was it that I twisted their arm and promised them they would love it???). We have started a blog "Mamas In Training" as a place to share training/exercise info, bounce around questions, get inspiration, and basically just feel like we are not alone in our efforts. Our blog has been restricted to our small group but I would love to open it up and invite anyone else that is interested, no matter where you live, to join in on the fun. I know a few of my blog readers mentioned wanting to do a triathlon and wondered where to start. Now I am no expert but I have experienced a thing or two. :0) Whether you are interested in triathlon, exercising and being fit, or are a couch potato and want to get up and moving, we would love for you to take part in our training blog. We'll learn from eachother! As it is restricted to invited readers only, please leave your email in the comments section and I will send you an invite.

Flashback Friday: Diving in Cuba

This trip took place back in 2002ish. Plenty long ago at that rate. :0) Cuba was beautiful and the scuba diving was awesome!! One of our dive spots was the Bay of Pigs (location of the failed attempt of the US to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro and the Cuban government in 1961). The whole trip (planned by my dad) was quite adventurous! One day after diving we got to go eat at some locals house (friends of the Cuban guy that took us around diving) that sat right on the Bay. That's where the palm tree pic was taken. This was also the first time that I ate alligator with fried bananas!!! It wasn't bad going down but it sure had a nasty after taste. I think I still have that same beach towell, the same t-shirt, and those same flip-flops hiding somewhere in my closet. The sunglasses however were lost a year or two later to some Mexican dolphin trainers who refused to go retrieve them after they fell off my head and into the enclosure while I was getting ready to go swim with them. How funny!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Flashback Friday: Murder Mystery and a ton of good laughs!

It totally cracks me up to see these pictures!!! Some of my best memories of living in our good 'ol Kearns neighborhood were doing the Murder Mystery Dinners with our good friends. These things were a hoot! We were all a little apprehensive the first time around but after that we knew what we were doing and went all out! It's a ton of fun to get all dressed up into your character and decorate your house to the designated "theme." Our little group was somewhat of a running joke in the neighborhood because no matter when we got together for one of these, our bishop and other people from the ward would just "happen" to see us. We didn't take a group picture on our first one so I've posted a few separate ones. Enjoy!

"An Affair to Dismember"

"Class of '54"

"The Chicago Caper"

"Hoo Hung Wu"

Reality TV

Those of you that know me know that I LOVE my reality TV shows (Bachelor, Biggest Loser, Apprentice, Lost, Survivor, & Amazing Race). Thank heaven for the DVR so that I can watch them when I get a free moment after the kids are in bed for the night. And thank heaven that they are not all on at the same time!!!

Lately I can pretty much count on crying every Tuesday night (or whenever I get around to watching Biggest Loser). What is it with the contestants this season? I've never seen a group that cries so much! It's aready enough of an emotional show without all of that. :0)

The Bachelor is winding down and I am super excited for the finale! My views on the girls have changed over the course of the show but I think I am rooting for Jillian. ALso can't wait to see what happens when the crazy Deanna returns, but I know Jason won't even consider it.

Hooray for Survivor starting this evening!!! It's in the Brazilian Highlands and is supposed to be one of the most rugged locations to date. There is a guy on there that is LDS. Straight and not gay like the last one. :0) The Race starts up soon too!

And Lost . . . . . I am lost with Lost! I would have stopped watching long ago but you pretty much have to watch until the last episode of the last season if you want to understand anything. Anyone else feel like that?

Weekend Fun

On Friday Easton thought he had died and gone to heaven when he got to spend all evening with not only one friend, but two! They found all kinds of things to do and even got to decorate Valentine's cookies! (As always, click on picture for a better view.)

Flashback Friday

So these pics are from the same trip mentioned in my last "Flashback Friday." I am posting these because I can definitely say that this is one of the most craziest things I have ever done. It seemed even crazier at the time because I was 6 months pregnant with Easton. In Queenstown, New Zealand we took a FOREVER LONG bus ride (5-6 hours) out to Milford Sound. Beautiful place! We passed a few spots on the way where some of the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed, etc. There was NO WAY I was going to get on that bus to drive that same distance back in the same day so we checked into flying. Because the weather was a little on the bad side, the small prop planes were not flying that day. Our only choice was to return by helicopter. I was all stoked and excited about it until we were up so high near the tips of the mountains and the pilot put us down right smack on top of a glacier in the mountain tops!!!! My mom didn't dare get out of the helicopter and I thought for sure I was going to fall through some crevass in the snow but it was seriously one of the coolest views/settings ever! New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. Jighly recommended. Maybe someday I'll make it back there to do all the stuff I missed out on because I was pregnant (go bungee!).

Easton Funnies

A lot of bloggers do so well at keeping track of the funny things their kids say. My problem is that I forget what it was before I can get to doing a post on the blog! So, I made it a point to remember some of the funny exchanges from the past week. He's our silly boy!

*One afternoon Easton follows me into the bathroom. This is the bathroom that we have his potty chart and the treat jar. After I finished my business Easton said "good job mom, now you can have a treat! Go ahead, take one." It made me laugh.

*Easton (upon walking into Old Navy and seeing the head-less mannequins): "Dad, what happened to their heads???
Scott: I don't know Easton.
Easton: Let's go find them!

*(I am changing Mia's dirty diaper) Easton: (Busts into song from a Backyardigans episode)Peeuu, watch out! Peeuu it's rather stinky!

*Easton: Oh no! Oh no, mom!
Me: What's wrong Easton?
Easton: The sun. . . . . it's gone! Oh no! (It got cloudy and he thought the sun had disappeared)

*(Scott and Easton are watching the Super Bowl game) Scott: Look Easton, even football players are losing their jobs.
Easton: I don't believe it dad! (And hits his forehead with his hand.)

*Easton: Mom, I want to watch Tater Totter.
Me: What?
Easton: I want to watch Tater Totter, please!
(Come to find out, he wanted to watch Harry Potter!)