I'm a Jazz fan

We saw Deron Williams and Al Jefferson at Cafe Rio during lunch today. I have to admit, I did want to be like all the other stupid fans and ask to take a picture with them....but I didn't. They declined many offers to take their picture...except a lady who had a baby...dang it, why didn't I think of that! Who can resist a baby? I just sat there, in their presence and that was enough for me. Ok.....I didn't just sit there, I texted everyone I thought would care and bragged that I ate lunch with them :) People get crazy stupid around celebrities...why?

Here are my other celebrity encounters:
Matt Harpring- waiting for an elevator at St. Marks Hospital (after his wife had a baby). I actually didn't recognize him at first and looked up (about 4 feet) and said, "Man you're tall"... DUH!
Kelsey Grammer- at Disneyland going to the front of the line with his girls while we waited :(
Yep, that's the only ones I can remember. My life is LAME!

Family Troubles

I wish I had a magic wand to fix everyone's lives. So many people in my family are hurting and in trouble. In Missouri and Utah, lives are changing and hearts are breaking.

I just sit here and thank God for how lucky I am to have my life....and pray that they can make it through their hardships.

Busy and Stuff

Its been forever since my last post, so here's a catch up....

My parents left to go back home on Nov 2nd after a 5 week stay with us. It was so nice to get to spend time with them. Kenlee loved being with them and getting ALL of their attention! I hope it won't be another 2 years before we get to see them again!

We had Thanksgiving at our house again this year. I didn't get any pictures with my camera, so I'll have to steal some and post them here later. It was the usual Thanksgiving fixin's. I did the turkey this year! I have only cooked like 2 my whole life so I was surprised that I didn't ruin it...YAY! Oh, and Justin had another turkey smoked at a BBQ place by his work.....it was a big hit!
I went "Black Friday" shopping at around 11am and was back by 1pm and hit 5 stores.....pretty dang good I say!

I got my tree up that weekend and the other Christmas decorations.

It got cold and snowed a lot. Kenlee was building a snow fort in the front yard with the neighbor kids....it melted yesterday :(

Kenlee has been spending a lot of time with Sandy, who now live only a couple streets away. They watch TV together, knit and talk about cats.

We cleaned out our basement and Justin (with a little help) installed light fixtures and switches!! It sure beats having to pull that dang string!

We got a new (to me) front loading washer and dryer and it has changed my life! No more missing the rinse cycle and 2 hours of drying time!!!

Oh, and I got a treadmill too! I am having a hard time with it....its just not the same as hitting the pavement. Hopefully I will get used to it and I will use it more. I still use my elliptical alot and its my favorite. Now I have set up my exercise equipment in our old office and put a TV in there too. I should be set until it warms up outside!

Happy Holidays!!!

Happy Together

Yep, we are a package deal....you can't have one without the other :) He's my best friend. It just works!

Ragnar Rocks!!

I survived the Las Vegas Ragnar! It was so much fun, I can't even describe it! All the girls on my team were awesome...every...single...one! We gathered in Provo (see picture below) and drove to Mequite where we stayed at one of the girl's parents house. We woke at 4am to head out and make the drive to the Valley of Fire, to the start line. It was so gorgeous there. We started the race at 7:15am. I was runner #2, I started around 8am. My first run was 8.8 miles, rated very hard. My team drove ahead and stopped a couple times to offer me water and lots of encouragement! I feel like I did pretty dang good! All the time I spent training really paid off. My second run began around 7pm and it was 4.3miles rated easy...It was NOT easy! My third and final run began sometime around 4am and I rocked it!!! 3.0 miles (5k) rated easy and I finished in just under 23 minutes...I have never ran that fast...I was floating by the end....talk about an adrenaline rush! L to R: Me, Jenn, Katie, Rebecca, Raychel, Kelli, Sara, Amy
Bottom: Sarah and Bobbi
(our other 2 runners met us in Vegas)

I'm on the team! YAY!!!
Our team name was "Training Broads"

Jenn giving me water during my first run.

keep on runnin'

And runnin'

Me, Rebecca, Sarah and Jenn at a water fountain in the Venitian (pic is out of order)

Van #1 waiting for the rest of our team at the finish line

The whole team at the finish line....195 miles in 31.07 hours

All the girls at the Venetian

We ran 195 miles through the desert in 31.07 hours. We finished 9th in the Women's Division! Not too bad for only getting 2 hours of sleep in 2 days, a pregnant woman, one trip to the ER and a knee injury.

Vegas here we come!

I leave Thursday morning for the Ragnar in Las Vegas! I am so nervous and excited! I think (I hope) I am ready. We will be running from 7am Friday until about 2:30pm Saturday. Our team, 12 fabulous women, are called "Training Broads". Bringing a few necessities....sleeping bag, baby wipes, energy Gu, toothbrush and running shoes.... and off I go!

I will post pictures when I return. Wish me luck!

Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat.

Family Pictures at Wheeler Farm

On Saturday I took my Mom and Dad with our family to Wheeler Farm to get pictures taken. Phil, my boss, kindly volunteered to take them for us. I think we got some really good ones!

Happy 12th Birthday Kenlee

On Friday, October 1st Kenlee turned 12! We had a little party for her at the house and it was a lot of fun for her and her friends.

Kenlee with her cake!

Giant Cupcake birthday cake
My boss let me borrow his bounce house for the party! It was a huge hit and the girls loved it. This was good for me because I was not super greaty at party-planning this year.

Classic Kenlee face!

Kenlee bouncing

Kenlee was super spoiled again this year!

She was really happy that her counsins got to come! Thanks Nat, for making the long drive to bring them :)

Goodbye Grandpa Madsen

Wednesday afternoon Justin's Grandpa passed away. He had been in the ICU at LDS Hospital for over 2 months, battling complications from Pancreatitis.

He meant a lot to so many people....especially Justin.

No matter how much time you spend with someone you love, its never enough and you will regret not spending more time when they are gone.

Here are some of our recent memories with Grandpa:

Elk Hunt 2009. Justin's first Elk hunt

We stayed with Grandpa and Sandy at the end of June (just 3 months ago) and

Justin fished with his grandpa all weekend.

Kenlee really enjoyed this trip and loved Grandpa's sparkly boat!

We loved him very much and he will truly be missed. You can't sum up his life in a few short words, so I won't even try. His memories and stories will always live on through those of us that were fortunate enough to be a part of his life.

Black Forest Cupcakes

1 box Devil's Food cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 C sour cream

1 tsp. almond extract

1 large can cherry pie filling (set aside)

1 C filling for topping

MIX cake mix, eggs, sour cream, almond extract, and pie filling until cake mix is moist. Do not overmix. Pour batter into paper liners 3/4 full.

BAKE at 350 degrees for 17-19 minutes, until barely done in center. allow to cool completely on rack.

FROST cupcakes with chocolate ganache, making a slight edge around cupcake to hold the pie filling.

ADD 1 tablespoon pie filling to top of each cupcake.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

1 C heavy whipping cream

12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips

HEAT cream in a saucepan until it comes to a boil.

REMOVE from heat and pour over chocolate in a mixing bowl. Stir until well blended. Cool in fridge until it reaches a thicker consistency for icing.

ENJOY!!!

Ragnar Las Vegas- 8 week countdown

On October 22nd and 23rd I will be running in the Las Vegas Ragnar relay race! Its a relay race with 12 runners per team. We will be running all day and through the night for a total of 195 miles. I am so excited and terrified at the same time. So, for the next 8 weeks I will be running my butt off! My neighbor and BFF, Sarah, got me into this and I am so glad she did. She is quite a bit faster than I am and a great motivator for me. We have been running 8.5 miles up Yellow Fork Canyon for the last couple Saturday mornings. The first time, I thought I was going to die...it was 97 degrees and it took me all day to recover. This last Saturday though, it was fabulous! Wish me luck...here's to miles and miles of pavement and gallons of sweat!

She can SWIM!

Back when Kenlee was about 5 years old we put her in swimming lessons. This was before we had her ADHD under control. It was a total waste of money and time. She just did her own thing and didn't learn anything.
This year Sarah (my good friend & neighbor) watched her while she was out of school for the summer. She took Kenlee to swimming lessons with her kids. I am proud to say that Kenlee can now swim! Its kind of sad that it has taken this long. She picked up on it super fast and did a great job!

Diving is not her favorite

Kenlee in a race with a boy doing the breaststroke

She was really good at it and won this little race!

I'm not sure what this dive is called...lol!

With friends during free time

Mom and Dad are coming!

I ordered the tickets for my parents to come and visit! I am super excited to see them! They will be here from September 25th through November 2nd...over a month! They will get to be here for my Mom, Kenlee and Justin's birthdays and Halloween!!!

Moon Lake 2010

We went camping at Moon Lake from Thurs. Aug 5th -Sun. Aug. 8th. It was our little family and Ken, Justin's Dad, and Ashlie (Kenlee's cousin). It's really beautiful up there. The weather stayed cool and it rained almost every day. But, we had fun anyway! Justin took up his boat and did some fishing with the girls and his Dad. Ken brought up his canoe. Ashlie and Kenlee both liked taking the canoe out with him. Other than Kenlee throwing up in the tent the first night and making a nasty mess and Ken not feeling well for the last little bit of the trip, it went pretty well. Enjoy the pics!

On the Hike

Our campsite
Sitting around the campfire

Kenlee and Ashlie being sillyUs girls being silly in the tent when it was raining.

Grandpa carving Kenlee's name on a piece of wood.

Beginning our hike

Ashlie taking a break

Kenlee is not a hiker...yep, she pretty much hates it. Ashlie was a trooper though :)