Happy Birthday Nick!

"Nick what would you like to do for your birthday?" I asked.  "Ummm I wanna go to Subway and sleepover at your house, wait no, I want to make sandwiches at your house and sleepover."
Really? ummm OK (I thought to myself)
We went to Wal-Mart to pick out his sandwich stuff and we went down the craft isle while he picked out some things and kept saying "don't worry, I have a plan."
Oh and by the way -- this boys needs a dog!  I think he picked a sleepover just so he could play with Remi and Lincoln :)

We were sitting at the counter (eating our gourmet birthday sandwiches) and I was telling Nick that me and Keith were brother and sister just like he was with Hannah.  He got a really funny look on his face and said so "Uncle Cam is my Dad's brother?" I said, "no Uncle Cam is married to your mom's sister."  Nick made another funny face and then said "Oh um this is awkward." then pointed to Mike and said "uh I forgot his name." HA!  I thought it was hilarious but Mikes said "Well, that's awesome."
Later Mike started looking at the crafts Nick had picked out.  There were bells, sticks, glitter poof ball things, glue and paper.  Mike looked at me like "what the ????"

But then Nick made us this

A Fire!  I thought it was awesome.  Mike was still confused.

Nick is the first kid that hasn't wanted to sleep on the air mattress in the front room.  He slept in Mikes office and we gave him the ipad to watch a show on.  He loved it!!  I can't wait to see what he picks next year - What an entertaining kid!

Westfest

Decided to run the Westfest 5K this year.  Dave, April and Norma were going to run it too and there was talk of "Team Hendrickson" shirts.  Ummm no was all I thought, I am pretty sure they were kidding, but still.....no.  Things have been going really well with running lately and working out with Jared has made me feel really strong.  I was excited to see what I could push myself to.  I was also excited because Clyde and Mike came to be supportive and I got a picture of me running!

My final time was 27:57 - My best ever!!  not only did I FINALLY break the 30 minute mark (which has been a goal for awhile) I beat it quite nicely!  It was a really great feeling and a fun race.

Pretend Parents - Part 2

Dave and April went to Hawaii and we got their kids for the weekend (did you know that 4 kids is a lot????) The Weeds were nice enough to suggest we all go riding and the kids were SO excited.  We loaded everyone up (after some pre packaged outfit drama lol) and headed to 5 mile.  We were about 1/2 way there when it started to rain and Mike looked at me like "really? this is a terrible idea" while I tried to distract the kids by playing 20 questions. (side note: playing 20 questions with Sam goes a little something like this -
me: Is it a person?
Sam: no
me: is it a place?
Sam: Do you need me to just tell you?)
We finally got to where we were going to set up camp and it looked like this -

Sam was NOT happy about the rain situation (and neither was Mike) while I was trying to think of a plan B.  Dallen said "let's just set up the canopy and see if it passes" Logan was being so great about the whole thing he kept finding random blue spots in the sky and saying "look Sam, those are happy clouds!"

Finally the rain stopped and we actually got some nice weather.  We got a fire going and unloaded all the machines.  I loved that while I was helping Neve get used to Pearl (the Ranger) Mike came over and said "Sam is killing me, you have to hurry and take a picture" I turned around and saw this

Just chillin by the fire waiting for everyone.  Such a great kid and so patient.

The kids loved the Ranger and we spent the majority of our time on that.  Sam kept saying "everyone, do no hands!" We rode for awhile and then did lunch over the fire.

Lyn told us that roasted Twinkies were delicious - I had my doubts (and so did Sam) but we tried them anyway.

They were actually really good!  I couldn't believe it because I don't like Twinkies, but really everyone give it a try, I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

Grace LOVED Neve and followed her around all day long.  I also think that Neve was loving the attention because she wouldn't eat her hot dog for me, Mike or Dallen, but when Grace tried she was all over it.  I love that I captured this picture - so stinkin cute!

Oh and Grace made Neve this "relaxation station" which she loved

When the day was winding down Dallen asked Logan if he wanted to ride a motorcycle - Logan got really excited and looked at me "Can I?" and I said sure not knowing how Dave and April felt about it, but thank goodness they weren't mad at me!  He did so great!

I felt this same way at the end of the day, but it was beyond worth it!  Thank you again to the Weeds!

Big Changes

This morning I got on a plane and flew to Arizona for an interview - pretty grown up huh? Yeah, I thought so too!  I was a little nervous, only because I really really wanted this job and was so excited about the new company.  We went to lunch and talked about the position and what I had been doing with Amsource.  They seemed interested, but it was hard to tell.  We went back to the office and then Gary (my would be boss) said well, I think thats it, so I will just take you to the airport.  OK I thought, but it is about 3 hours before my flight that YOU booked (not a good sign right?) when he dropped me off he said "we'll let you know" and that was it.  Once I was through security, I called Mike and said "I don't think that went very well" but then Gary was calling me on the other line so I switched over.  he said "I thought it was pretty mean to leave you in suspense so I am calling to offer you the job" YEAH!!!  I called Mike back and told him the good news, then got on the plane to fly home.  I walked in the house to balloons, friends and CONGRATULATIONS!

So cute.  Mike called some people as soon as he got off the phone with me and then headed to the store.  There was a balloon that started playing "celebrate good times" when you hit it and Mike said it kept going off in the parking lot which was embarrassing to him. (I love that story)

This is such a great memory and I am really excited about my new job!

Let the Races Begin!

The Salt Lake Running Company put on a FREE 5K and thank goodness for facebook or I wouldn't have known about it!  I am doing a weight loss blog thing so I posted about it and a bunch of people signed up.  I love that when we got there Allie called me and said "Um there is snow on the ground, is this thing still happening?" HA! love her!

Because it was so cold, everyone went into the store to wait for the race to start - WOW there were a lot of people there.  I don't mind being in a crowd, but it was actually a little much for even me.

Here are all the girls from the blog that signed up.  Yes Lyn is part of the group, but they only gave shirts to the first 1,000 people that signed up - oops Lyn!  get on it faster next time! (she was actually really nervous and didn't sign up because she didn't know if she wanted to do it.  I was really proud of her!)

Here is me and Allie at the starting line.  She thought I didn't have enough clothing on to stay warm, but I LOVE running in cold weather.  I do so much better in that environment - in fact I was deciding (probably in this picture) that this was the race I was going to break the 30 minute mark!

Here is a group of us after the race (again no pictures of me running, I hate that!) I finished in 30:20 (ahhhh so close!!) but it was a good run and I love that it was a first 5K for everyone in this picture (except me) Way to go friends!

A week later I signed up to do the Susan Koman 5K with Liz.  I have never done it before and when I told Liz that she made big eyes and said "well don't try to break any records or anything" I wasn't really sure what she meant.

Here we are at the beginning of the race.  Geez we are so stinkin cute I can't even stand it :)

OK so this looks like a funny picture of me and Liz, but I took it to show the street lined with people behind us - WOW this was a huge event and I finally understood what Liz meant because you really couldn't run, there were just too many people!

Here is the Gateway at the end of the race - AMAZING to see it this way and I loved being a part of the event.  Like the 24th of July race, I think I would like to do this every year from now on :)

Easter Tradition

Hip Hip Horay for the 3rd Annual HenHarm egg hunt :)  I really love this so much and am amazing and impressed each year at the organization and time spent by the hostesses

Early morning hiding eggs.  Did you know that no matter what is happening, no matter what time it is, if you point a camera at Lisa she will stop and smile?  I so love that about her.

I really do love that these ladies continue to let me be apart of this each year.  I look forward to it (even though I stress about the hiding places.........) and I hope it never stops happening :)  Also, as a funny side note, I was looking back through old pictures and Lisa and I have worn these same hoodies at every egg hunt!  Lets keep the tradition going!

I know there are more people each year, but am still amazed by the amount of kids!  there really is no way to fully capture it in a picture, but I love when the whistle blow and the kids run off - so great!

You may not recognize this man, but it is my husband Mike.  Early morning, cold weather, lots of kids and a holiday - not his favorite things.  (every party has a pooper thats why we invite him........) Seriously though I was really glad he came and even though he won't admit it, he is glad too!

Pretty sure it helped that these guys were there too!

I was also glad that Keith and Allie braved the cold weather and were able to come again this year.  Here are the kids showing off their loot.
SO FUN!  Thanks HenHarm for keeping this thing going, you're the best!!

Pretend Parents

Mike and I got to watch Keith and Allies kids while they went on a cruise.  Always an adventure and I love it :)  Here are some highlights from our time as "parents."

Here is Mike teaching everyone a new game before we went over to his parents house for a Valentines Day party.

Oh and playing around with Jack (who loved Mike!) Pretty sure they did this for awhile and Mike said it made him feel like an old man :)

LOTS OF KIDS!  Made me laugh to see the Hendrickon Nigbur kids combined at this table, but everyone got along really well and they made some fabulous cookies.

See what I mean? Nick wants everyone to see how good his cookie turned out!

This totally cracked me up.  Nick is playing an app on Aprils phone where you make cookies by stirring with your fingers, etc. rather then frosting real cookies with the other kids.  I love technology :)
April was such a huge help to me during this time!  She was entertaining Nick and see that drink and cookie in her hands?  Those were Jacks, he would walk up to her, get what he needed and walk off.  too funny, but really I wouldn't have made it through the party without her!