the last dozen days...

Max snoozing with his Grandma!

This is where Tom got to stay for his training...it was totally out of reception for phone services and in the middle of no-where...and breathtaking! It was so nice to drive him and there last Thursday morning and pick him up on Saturday...we were very excited to see each other!

Camp Keisel--Ogden, Utah

On Friday morning/afternoon my friend Laurel and I went on a nice, long walk through Provo Canyon along the river...it was so beautiful!

me, Taylor and her newly found pet boxelder bug (in her hand) on the slide...poor, little bug! This was Taylor's second pet bug in the last few days...she held it in her hand for at least a good 30 minutes!

Taylor taking her little pet bug on a walk! ;-)

my wonderful friend Laurel and her cutie Melia...one of those people who enriches your life continually! Our morning/afternoon together was a highlight of my trip! Thanks Laurel!!!

my sweet, little man!

snoozing kids! seriously, a blessing for this part of my trip! They fell asleep on our walk back to our cars so I said goodbye to Laurel and kept walking for another hour so they could keep napping. It was a very enjoyable way to spend nap time!

Taylor and my friend Megan's cute little son seemed to have a blast playing together. They were pretty cute to watch.

Megan, Julie, Christine, April, me and Max--I hadn't seen these amazing girls in years, but have stayed in touch thanks to blogging and facebook...it was so great to see them and spend some time together!

my big brother Josh and the kiddos...

Two weeks ago I got to have the ultimate "me" time...I attended an AAAI fitness conference at the Broadmoor. It was all day Saturday and Sunday and I participated in the advanced Pilates program. It was so, SO enjoyable! The presenter was this guy who is a former professional ballet dancer and now owns and runs his own Pilates studio in Connecticut. He was great! Very "ballet-esque" and I loved it! We spent about 80% of the time doing the exercises, which I love...I learn best by doing and it also felt great to get about 3 weeks worth of working out crammed into 2 days. I just feel so blessed to be able to learn more and more about something I love and then be able to teach others! It was also a beautiful weekend and I spent both days lunch breaks walking around the beautiful hotel, lake and golf course. It was so nice to have some time to myself and be reminded of how blessed I am.

If anyone is interested in learning more about fitness and getting instructor certifications...this conference comes to the Broadmoor every year in March. It's very affordable too so if you're interested...let me know and I can get you more information about it!

On St. Patricks day (Max's birthday), I taught my regular Tuesday classes at the health club next door. I teach mostly seniors in my afternoon Pilates class and they are the most amazing people! They truly inspire me and I LOVE being around them. We have lots of fun in class! There are two ladies (one in her sixties and one who just turned sixty) who are participating in a triathlon the first of August...they've talked to me about it and I told them it sounded really fun (I've been wanting to do a triathlon for a couple of years) so I went home and looked up this particular triathlon, but it cost 85 bucks to register (which is a lot of money for us...we still feel like college kids and don't like spending large amounts of money without analyzing every aspect of the purchase for a few weeks to decide if it is really necessary). Anyway, back at class, the ladies asked if I had registered for the race and I told them that I had looked it up, but that I would probably have to wait a few weeks to register b/c 85 dollars was a lot of money for us.

Okay, so back to St. Patrick's day...these ladies brought me a card and said "happy St. Patrick's Day!" I thought that was sweet, got home, opened it up and there was 55 dollars inside and a note saying they hoped that would help me be able to register for the tri! I felt SO touched and loved...and without question, I guess I am participating in my first triathlon!!! Yikes! I am really excited though! I'm not expecting any amazing performance, just enjoyment in the completion!! I look forward to training for it too! It'll be great to add cycling and swimming to my weekly workouts. I'm also looking forward to getting to be there with these ladies to support each other and be with them and their families! I just feel so enormously grateful for my little 4 hour a week part time job! It has blessed my life in many ways, most of all with the company of some of the most genuine, uplifting people...who could ask for anything better?! I am thinking of tracking my training on my blog....we'll see!

We also just got back (Tuesday) from a little trip to Utah. Tom had a training for his job with the Boy Scouts. He spent the weekend up in the middle of no-where in Ogden canyon while I got to spend time with my sister in law Emily, my brother Josh and some great friends, including 4 beautiful girls I served with on my mission. Last Saturday, the kids and I drove back up to the Boy Scout camp Tom was at and picked him up...we always love reuniting with each other. Then, we drove up to his parents in northern Utah and stayed there until Tuesday morning. It was great getting to see some of our fam and we didn't get too sick this time....just colds! ;-)

Today, Thursday, has been wonderful b/c although I am so happy Spring is here...it's not quite here today and it's been snowing (actually blizzarding) since about noon and Tom came home early from work and will hopefully be snowed home tomorrow! Yay!!! Hopefully, we'll continue having power and will just get to enjoy this extra time together! Well, it is still snowing like crazy outside and Tom and I are going to go watch and laugh at Twilight together! ;-)