my own worst enemy

So - for over a month now I have been waking up at 5:45 AM, yes AM, and going on a walk/run with my neighbor. You'd think I would lose weight. Oh no, this morning on the scale the same horrid number glared back at me. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I wanted to throw it across the bathroom and go back to bed. What's the point in getting up before the sun to torture myself if I am still going to be a fat pig? So I told my neighbor the sad story and we only did a short walk. Instead of doing my strength stuff after my walk, I crawled back in bed and wanted to stay there all day. Then I was talking to a friend of mine (actually two of them) and they said that it usually takes SIX WEEKS of consistent exercise before you see the pounds start to come off. Freak, I think I'll just be fat. But I came home and rounded up enough motivation to do my strength training. I can't give up now!

And for those of you who want a picture of me running at 6AM - here ya go. This will be me (eventually) - if I can get that dang scale to function properly!!

Sweet Adeline

My sweet Adeline started first grade today! All day - I'm going to miss her. She was super excited. I packed her a snack for recess - carrot sticks, raisins and water. She is having school lunch today. I REALLY didn't want her to because I know how unhealthy most of it is, and the choice today is chicken nuggets (trans fat city). BUT I also wanted her to get acclimated to the routine and have it be her first time with the whole class. I don't want her doing it in a week or so and being the only one who doesn't know what she is doing. So for today, I have let my health threats sit on the back burner.

She is in the "walk zone" and so we can walk, drive, or ride bikes to school. Hallelujah - NO BUS!

my babies get haircuts

Just before the wedding, Aunt Nicole came over and gave them all haircuts. Of course Lora put her order in and knew exactly what she wanted. And to the shock of us all, Adeline actually ASKED for a haircut! YES! And as usual, Henry loves to get his haircut.

YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS SONG

"Online" by Brad Paisley. Remind you of anyone??? I won't say anymore...

Wedding fun

We went down to Utah (yes, again) for Nicole and Duke's wedding (Keith's sister). We tried many times to get a family picture, and this was the best (except for Henry who suddenly had an obsession with his tongue.) This was even our FOURTH shooting from various photographers - thanks Jan for getting the best one! Actually, the one where we all look decent is our profile picture - this one takes second. But of course, the one where he looks super cute - the girls are out of control. Anyone know how to edit this pic of him in? And here is a picture that needs to be blown up and framed. It is a rare occassion where Adeline and Lora are getting along! QUICK! GRAB THE CAMERA! And of course we have to add a wedding picture. It looks like they did things out of order. Isn't this a temple wedding? JK. Don't the kids look just thrilled? I think this picture should be titled, "BIRTH CONTROL". hee hee

my hubby, Keith

"Just what I needed" by The Cars - dedicated to Keith. He is "just what I needed". I had never heard this song until we were dating. I remember we were in my car, Speck (the mazda), and this song came on the radio. My roommate Heather, and his roommate Glen were in the back of the car. Suddenly Keith turns up the radio, "I LOVE THIS SONG!" and then continues to sing at the top of his lungs. If you know Keith at all, he doesn't express extreme opinion very much. So for him to LOVE THIS SONG must've really meant something. And from then on it has been a favorite in our house. It's our song for each other. He is so quiet hearted. He has a real gentleness about him and a quiet commitment of faith. He's not a romantic, but he will do ANYTHING asked of him. He cleans, cooks, puts kids to bed, and anything else that most men would refuse to do. He is a gem and "just what I needed". He listens and loves unconditionally without any criticism. He calms me (which needs to be done quite often) and validates me at the same time. He is my love.

roasty

Well, last night we ate roasty. Yes, you remember the previous blog about the chickens. Well, their time was up, and we mustered up the courage to do it. Saturday we finished butchering all of them. We had spread it out over a few weeks so we weren't overwhelmed with too many birds at one time. Of course, the day before we finished we were at Costco and saw ORGANIC whole chicken for $2.29/lb. Keith looks at me at says, "We aren't doing chickens next year." Yeah, I agree. We've had the experience - not a pleasant one. Messy, stinky, gross and everything else you'd imagine. Not enjoyable. But if the world starts to come to an end and we all have to live on food storage - we know how to butcher chickens!

Thought this was interesting.

my girls are so into princesses, I thought I would see who I am.
You Are Ariel!

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Save the salmon!

Keith took a class called "Wild About Salmon" through the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. I tagged along and this is what we did!

This is the fish trap at the south fork of the Salmon River. They are Chinook Salmon which are an endangered species. They are 4 years old, were born in this same exact spot, traveled 900+ miles to the ocean where they lived for a few years, and then swam UPSTREAM back to this EXACT spot where they were born. This is where they spawn and die. They are endangered because of some dams that were built along their path to the ocean. It makes it very difficult for them to get to and from the ocean and many die. Because of this, there are a few hatcheries that try to keep the population from becoming extinct. The hatchery fish are marked by the removal of their adipose fin. So at the trap they track the population. Here we are, catching them and tagging them as needed. The blue tube is where we put them to be reviewed and tagged before we send them off to the hatchery or back to the wild.

It you are lucky enough to get a WILD salmon (not born in a hatchery), that has its adipose fin intact, you get to take it down into the stream and release it. The others are kept for stock, to spawn, and for harvest if there is enough.

Yes, I am kissing the fish. Since I did not take the class for credit, the teacher let me stay at the fish trap to watch while the others moved onto another assignment. They were kind enough to let me release a wild fish when they caught one. Only 6% of the salmon returning are wild, all the rest are hatchery fish. We love the WILD SALMON! They are amazing creatures! They live in fresh and salt water, travel 900 miles to live in the ocean, and then travel back to the same spot where they came from! And all this while surviving a slew of dangers, the worst being 8-10 dams in their way. AMAZING! So if you get a rare wild salmon, you give it a kiss as you release it into the stream. Just a little encouragement for them to keep up the great work! HEE HEE!