Eternity is more than 17

Today is my Mom and Dad's 35 wedding anniversary. I have spent all morning feeling so grateful that even though they only had 17 years together before my dad passed away that they will still have all of eternity together. Eternity is WAY more than 17! My mom is amazing. I sometimes want to kick myself when I complain about Devin being gone for this or that. My mom has done a fantastic job all on her own. But I know that it hasn't really been on her own. I know my dad has been there for us all the way. I feel so lucky to have the best parents. They are pretty amazing people. My mom saves the world for someone every day. I'm sure my dad is busy doing the same thing.

My dad's parents Grandpa and Grandma Henderson, my dad, my mom, and my mom's parent's Grandpa and Grandma Upton. You've got to admit that my Grandma Upton's hair is amazing!

Saturday Sampler #2

Today I learned how to "pop the seams." I learned this as I was working on my quilt blocks for my Saturday Sampler class. I've always wanted to know how to make the seams flat when there are lots of them connecting. Apparently there is this technique in which you "pop the seams" and the seams lay flat and don't get bunched up. You sew your four patch and then just twist and "pop" the seams. It made me nervous because you really have to twist. I'm not use to pulling at my blocks like that. After four blocks I think I have it down.

So here they are the next four blocks in my mystery quilt.

After "popping the seams" even the back looks pretty good.

Can you see how flat it is?????

Really, it is pretty cool! Though I must admit this block had me a bit confused at times trying to remember which way to twist to have it lay flat.

Nothing But A Few Somethings

Today....I have nothing new and exciting to report. Except the fact that we have been waging a war with bedtime this last week and we are winning!!!! Tonight Anna cried until Devin shut the door and she hasn't made a peep since. Much, much better than the 2 hours we were dealing with a week ago. I guess that is exciting! That really is something to be excited about.

Also, Anna has mastered the art of clapping. She loves to clap. Often she starts clapping while we are praying. Funny kid!

She can now sit up from her tummy all by herself without having to pull herself up on anything. Way to go Anna!

I don't have pictures of any of those things but here are a few really cute random pictures.

On a sad sad sad sad note, my brother and his family moved back up to Logan this last week. They have been living at my mom's house all summer. We have LOVED having them so close. We are really going to miss them. Anna has had so much fun playing with Zach and Elizabeth. I really just don't know what we are going to do without them close by.

Anna loves playing with Zach.

I think Zach loves playing with Anna too.

Finger Foods

Over the last few weeks Anna has learned that she can feed herself. She loves eating bread, cheerios, mac & cheese, apple sauce, peaches, pears, pancakes, and french toast to name a few of her favorites. Back when she was eating just baby food I made sure that she got vegetables, fruits, and grains every day. Now that she is eating "real food" I'd like to keep up the good balance but I'm wondering what are some easy finger foods for a kid who only has one tooth. Any suggestions for healthy finger food type meals or things that we could give her?

On a side note, here are a few cute pictures of Anna and Devin playing.

They have tons of fun together as you can see.

Provo Half Marathon

Saturday I ran the Provo River 1/2 marathon. It was one of the most unorganized races I have ever run, but at the same time it was absolutely beautiful. It didn't feel like 13.1 miles at all. Maybe it was because it was mostly downhill. Or perhaps it was because you could never see very far ahead of you because the trail curves so much. Whatever the reason each time we would pass a mile marker I'd think, "Are you serious? That was fast!"

It was really cold to start. I ran the first quarter of a mile with my teeth chattering. It is a really weird feeling to run and have your jaw going nuts chattering your teeth together. It warmed right up as the sun came up. I'm glad it started as cold as it did because it never got too hot.
Another fun part of this race was that I saw my aunt Wendy and all of her kids there running the race. Each time I run a race alone I wish I had friends to run with. It makes me smile every time I bump into my aunt and my cousins. Side note my cousin Jordan got 8th place with a time of 1:19:27 NUTS!!!

The best part of the race was my time. I started feeling sick Wednesday night. My throat was killing me. Thursday I tried to doctor myself as much as possible but I kept feeling worse. Friday morning I felt horrible. Devin was sweet enough to "work from home" so I slept most of the morning and took it easy Friday afternoon. By Friday night I was feeling better but my nose was running like a faucet. I decided I'd just run and not worry about time. Well, the downhill factor made me run way faster than I had planned. When I passed mile 7 I looked down at my watch and was shocked! I thought I was running really slow because so many people were passing me, but it had only been an hour. Nothing like a surprise like that to get you to push and run a little faster. Long story short, I crossed the finish line just under 2 hours. (1:57:13) I've never run a half under 2 hours before! Thanks to all the hills, I couldn't have done it without you!

Big Springs Park

Devin was experiencing a bit of cabin fever today and by noon he had decided that it was the perfect day to go have lunch up in the canyon. We fed Anna, quickly packed things up for our lunch and headed up the canyon. We thought that Big Springs Park would be the perfect spot for a nice quite lunch. It was great. There were not a lot of people at all. We grilled up some hot dogs. We tried to help Anna understand that cows eat grass, not little girls. We went for a nice walk by the stream. It was just right. We look forward to many more quick little trips up the canyon.

Anna enjoying being outside--before she started eating the grass.

Anna thinks she needs to drink some lemonade.

Devin's happy to be up the canyon, can you tell?

Anna loves to be tickled by daddy.

Enjoying the walk by the stream.

The stream.

Devin lifting Anna up so she can see the stream. Thank heavens for the 5 point harness in the stroller.

Anna and mom.

Better than a "NO!"

I have always loved to write. Two of my heroes are Anne Shirley and Jo March. Of all the characters in the world I think I am most like Jo and Anne. I may not be very good at writing, but it makes me so happy. Someday, I'd love to see something I've written published.

I got a letter yesterday from the Church Magazines. The article that I submitted has been selected for "possible use in a future issue" of the New Era. Devin keeps telling me not to get my hopes up because of the word "possible." But I can't help but be excited that they didn't just say "NO!" "Possible" is way better than "NO!" Everyone that I have talked to says it could take YEARS for things to ever show up in the magazine. Maybe in 5 to 10 years there will be an article called "Checking for Messages" written by Julie Ann Baldwin that appears in the New Era. But for now I don't feel rejected. I might even be brave enough to submit another story.

A Real FUN Run

Tuesday night we ran a real fun run. It was the Chase a Crook Out of Town 5k Fun Run. (I think that is what it was called.) This was the first REAL fun run that I have ever seen. Kids were there with their bikes and scooters and little yappy dogs were there in abundance. It was fun to see so many people from our ward there too.

Devin was able to skip Young Men's because of the four boys, two weren't planning to go to YM and two were running the race. As you can see from the picture, they were all still able to do typically Young Men teacher-type activities like pouring water on each other. And yes, Devin did start it.

It was HOT because we were running at 7pm. It made me really miss running those nice early morning races when it is still cool outside. I tried to keep up with Jake, but let's be honest. Did I really think that I could keep up with a boy who is on the cross country team for his high school? But there was a boy I could keep up with. One of the neighbor kids, Ben, was riding his bike. Just as I finally lost sight of Jake, Ben comes zipping by on his bike. He was a great pace setter all the way to the finish. Maybe his mom could lend him to me to be my running coach. I was tickled pink when I finished the race at 25:19. Thanks Ben! I look forward to breaking into the 24 minute. It will be fun next year to have Anna do more than just ride in the stroller for this race. Thanks to everyone for letting us know about this race. It really was a fun run.