Here's to Allstate...No not the insurance company...the fish!

The other day Ryan and I were walking home from a neighborhood BBQ and as we were getting to our front door, our good friends Aaron, Amy and cute little Abby walk around from the side of the house and surprise us! They came by to visit us but since we weren't home they decided to take advantage of us and use our backyard....HAHA!! Just KIDDING...No we thought it was pretty funny! (We are good friends with the Moores so anything that is ours is theirs and vise versa...lol. right??...and besides Aaron saved my life a few months back, so they and anyone else who wants to play in our yard anytime is always welcomed!:)) Anyway, as we were talking with them that night I had mentioned that we wanted to buy a fish for Madi. We were going to buy one when we took our trip to the pet store last week, but decided to wait. Well, Amy said they have had a fish for almost three years and wished they were fish-less... well I guess their fish, Allstate must have overheard because a few days later he went belly up and they had to flush the poor thing ...what a coincidence huh?? Hmm...sounds pretty "fishy" to me...hehe. (JK guys! I know you didn't murder your fish...)

Amy remembered me saying that we wanted to get a fish for Madi to feed and take care of. So after their fish Allstate died, they surprised us with a new fish, a fishbowl, and fish food for Madi!!! Isn't that SO nice!? We were pretty surprised and well, Happy! Madi watch it last night for awhile telling me over and over again that we have a fish...We asked her what we should name it-don't know if it's a boy or girl... but she kept saying, it's Happy Fish, I don't know if she meant that's what she wanted to name it, or if she was just saying she was happy to have a fish...so we decided to call our new fish, Happy. Happy the Fish. Sounds fitting as Madi was so happy! Thanks Aaron, Amy and Abby for the fish! And thanks to Allstate for giving up his home for Happy...here's to you!

May you rest in peace.

Our new fish...Happy!

Madi went in and got her stepstool to watch Happy.

What to Blog??

There is not a lot going on, just day to day stuff cleaning, shopping, laundry, visiting friends but I wanted to blog today and didn't really have anything to report and found these funny cartoons!! I love cartoons! Hope everyone is having a good day!

The Power of Music

Everytime Ryan or I sit down to play the piano this is what happens...it draws Madisen and Avery in and they take over! I am glad that they both show an interest in music already at this age. Avery really likes to hit the keys over and over again and Madi really likes to sing!

We bought the piano for a lot of reasons, the most important being music and an interest in creating music in our home. We believe that this will create a spark of interest in our kids to appreciate good music and contribute to music with their own developing skills.

A Visit with the Animals...

I know I have said this before, but Madisen absolutely LOVES animals!!! She is always wanting to either read books about animals, watch movies about animals, or pretend to be an animal... always growling, barking or crawling like one. She even at times eat likes an animal...hands becoming like paws as she pretends to be a dog, or vicious claws like a lion. I know, it's kind of weird, but cute at times too. She has also developed a love for dinosaurs lately, and can even name quite a few of them...Maiasaura, Ankylosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Pachycephalosaurus, Deinonychus, Seismosaurus, Parasaurolophus, etc....it's SO cute to hear her say those words! She doesn't pronouce all of them exactly perfect but she says them pretty close and can identify each one of them. (Ok sorry, I am done bragging now...every once in awhile you just can't help but be a proud parent of a future archeologist)

Anyway, this morning when I got up I said to Ryan, let's go visit an animal store, we haven't done that in awhile and we know how much Madi loves see and be with animals! Madi watching the big turtles

Madi petting a "kitty cat". The kitty-cat and the turtles she said were her favorite when we asked her what animals she enjoyed seeing the most.
Madi, Avery and Daddy looking at all the fish...

Avery and me looking at more fish... "Say... Fish"

More "kitty-cats"

She squealed with delight when she saw these little puppies... I could definitely see her doing something with animals when she grows up.

Madi and Daddy feeding the sheep and horses.

This Parrot was really cool looking, it was like a peach color, (you can't tell in this picture too well...) It also talked to us, but we didn't quite catch what it was said. It kept tilting his head down until he was looking at us upside down! "Pretty bird..." This was a crazy monkey that they had locked away...I guess it was going to be put down for biting someone, but this animal store (McKee's Pet Store) said they would take care of it but could never let the public near it except behind a glass wall...sad huh? :(Madi riding a horse

This turkey seemed pretty upset the whole time we were there...I guess he doesn't like visitors, or maybe bright lights flashing in his face...OR maybe he knows that Thanksgiving is only 6 months away....??Avery and I were next to this Emu, and it kept leaning over and would get right in Avery's or my face. A few times it came so close that I was afraid of it biting us, so I would scream and and then jump back ...Ryan thought it was pretty humorous for some reason...He always gets a good laugh from my fear of stuff... lol.Once it was time to go, it was hard to get Madi to leave the animals. We had to tell her that it was time to go home and eat lunch and then nap time. We told her that is was time for the animals to eat lunch and take a nap too...she eventually understood, but was sad to leave. We will have to visit again soon...sorry so many pictures!

"It's raining, it's pouring..."

It has been cold today,actually it has been cold for the last several days with glimpses of sunshine here and there, but I thought it would be fun to take a stroller ride after naptime today anyway…However it started raining and then hailing!! It was pouring down pretty hard against the house and windows. ( I love the sound of the rain beating against the windows) The girls just stood there and looked out the window watching it for a long while. Madi asked to go out and play in it, but both she and Avery have had running noses, so I had to be a mean mom and say no. I love the rain though! Especially how the grass looks so green afterwards, and the air smells so refreshing!

Guess our stroller ride will have to wait!

Happy Birthday MOM!!!

I hope you had a great day today! We love you so much! I love this picture...you are just gorgeous Mom!

Just putting around...

This morning we all got up early and headed to the driving range. It was my first attempt at golfing...and what a sight that was! Balls flying through the air in every direction, people ducking all over nearly taking off their heads and some even running for their lives...ok maybe it wasn't quite as dramatic as that...but close. Ryan on the other hand was close to perfection beside from his bent arms and slicing some of the balls. He sure does have incredible power and after some more practice swings, I could see him on the green touring with the PGA.

Looking way too cool is Ryan and Dad

Ryan at bat...I mean...jk honey...I love you! No Ryan actually did really well, he just had a few mishaps...

"There she goes! OH and she misses...let's try it again...Oh she swings and misses again..."

"...third times a charm...Yay!! she nails it....bad form though I must say....but at least she hit it, right? I mean we can't all be Pros!"

Then there were the Pros who had prefect form....Dad, Wendy and Jerry. Who have been playing golf since the great depression....haha, jk! They are not that old! Love you guys! ;) They were all so nice to take time and teach me the correct form and stance to hit the ball. Eventually it paid off, because I had a few pretty good hits that went flying straight ahead! Ryan had several good hits, of course in between the good hits he managed to somehow break two golf clubs...yes, two! The head of one golf club went flying through the air and went as far as the ball itself!! How he did that I have no idea...(sorry about that again Jerry! We owe you a couple of golf clubs!) We all had a great time and I can't wait to get out there again and tear it up! haha...

The Pros...DadWendy

--Picture not shown of Jerry--

Madi had a few hits today as well! She had a great time playing with all the golf balls...I don't think she has ever seen that many balls in one place before!

Avery was also enjoying herself...eating crackers, crawling around and watching mommy make a fool out of herself, as she missed the golf ball over and over again... thank you Avery for not laughing at mommy...too much. ;)

What a way to end the game...Ryan and Dad showing off their golf skills...that's HOT!!!

Weekend with Dad

Ryan's dad flew into Salt Lake, picked up grandma Hodges then drove up to Pocatello to stay with us. Grandma stayed with our aunt and uncle, Wendy and Jerry (Wendy is Ryan's dad's sister), and Dad stayed with us. It was such a fun weekend and it was so good to see Dad and grandma. Friday night we ordered pizza, and had a lot of laughs as we talked about old stories!

Madi in the middle of a growl-as she was pretending to be a dinosaur all morning

Saturday morning everyone (except for me and the girls) drove down to Preston to visit Grandpas headstone in the cemetery. Then they came back up and we had a great feast of a BBQ, with all the goodness a BBQ brings! Heidi and Ben (Ryan's cousins) also came over. We had such a fun time with everyone and laughter filled our home! That is one of my favorite sounds....sadly the time came when our family returned to their homes. But before they went, Madi had a few rounds of happiness, as she got tossed in the air ove and over again by grandpa and Wendy, going back and forth between the two of them....she also got to ride on Aunt Wendy's back. After tiring them out so bad she unexpectedly turned into "gollum" as she walked upright on all fours and made some frightening noises! She sure is a funny kid sometimes and makes us all laugh! Love Jerry's face in this one!

Madi getting tossed in the air...(she is potty trained, but still wears a diaper at night...haven't conquered night time yet, any suggetions by the way??)Madi riding Wendy

Madi's great grandma and grandpa Hodges

Later that night Ryan, Dad and I had a Bourne night as we watched the first two Bourne Identity movies earlier in the day and went out and bought the third movie to watch that night. I seriously love those movies!

Sunday is always a great day as we head to church. After church we went to Wendy and Jerry's for dinner, which was just great, thank you Wendy. And then things got really serious as we had a Settlers of Catan game. I won't tell you who won...but let's just say I showed up and brought my "A" game ...hehe.

A few months back Ryan's dad, Wendy and Jerry and all of grandma's kids went on a cruise to Hawaii, as he was there he bought two little Hawaiian dresses for the girls. This was their first time wearing them since the weather has been so cold!

Morning BOOGER!

Yesterday morning Ryan went up to get Madi, who was hysterically crying (which isn't unusual... most of the time she is crying when she gets up) and he asked her what was wrong...to her reply, "I have a booger up my nose!"

Thank you Madi, for that morning report! :) haha!

Children are so innocent and I think Heavenly Father made it that way for another reason, not just the obvious ones, so we as parents can have moments like these to just laugh...because with all the hard work, sacrifice, selflessness, craziness and FIRMness of raising kids, moments like these makes it all worth it!

"No, I Too Busy..."

Lately when Ryan and I ask Madi to come here, or do something or put something away, Madi continues doing whatever she is doing, shakes her head slightly back and forth and says, very matter of factly, "No, I too Busy..." (like gee, can't you tell I am in the middle of something!) haha! Where in the world did she learn that?? ...then it hits me like a ton of bricks, Ryan and I realize we tell her that when we are in the middle of whatever it is we are doing! Duh! ...making dinner, cleaning, talking on the phone, computer games, or paying bills..."In a minute Madi, Mommy or Daddy is busy..."

The way Madi says this makes me chuckle to myself. Yet, I know I really need to be more aware of her and stop whatever it is that I am doing and make sure that she knows she is most important. And give her my complete attention. I am grateful for these "Aha" moments (or a ton of bricks moments) of learning and knowing what is is that we as parents need to be aware of and work on.

Famous Idaho Potato Marathon

While we were up in Boise this weekend, Joanna and I ran in a race. It was called the Famous Idaho Potato Marathon. We didn't sign up to run the marathon, just the 10K (which is 6.2 miles). Joanna is an amazing runner and has actually done a marathon here in Pocatello before. I don't consider myself a runner, I still am not sure if I even enjoy running really, but I do run from time to time...why? I have no idea!

I am proud to say that I ran the entire 6.2 miles without stopping!! I would have stopped running at around 4 miles and walked, but Joanna kept me going. Joanna was always a step ahead of me (well more like 20 sometimes) encouraging me to keep going! There were a few times she would run ahead of me as I had to slow down because my legs were going to give way from exhaustion. I seriously felt like dropping dead right there, but during those moments I would see her ahead going strong and found it in me somewhere to push myself. I would tell myself I came here to do this with her, so then I would literally sprint to catch up to her! I have never ran that much or that hard in my entire life! It was excruciating to say the least and well just down right painful! As I was running, I asked myself several times, "why do people put themselves through this kind of torture?" Two days later, I am still feeling the effects of the run...I am sore in places I didn't know existed...yet I am proud that I stuck through it and I have been finding myself thinking, well what's next? I did 6.2 miles, can I do a half marathon which is, 13 miles??

Joanna and I before the race started...us getting ready before the run. We had such a fun time and laughed so much! (some of our jokes...to the other runners and older lady that wasn't in the race, "You are doing good...you're almost there!" "Do you have a carport?" Ya!!...uhh no, No we don't." LOL.)

The starting point- the marathon started first, the half marathon started a half and hour later, then I believe our 10K started a half an hour after that. Some of the runners....before the race started

Joanna and I....we did it! We did 6.2 miles in an hour and EIGHT minutes, which is way good for me! I probably slowed Joanna down some, she could have done it faster, but stayed with me!

Thanks Jo!

These are the actually results from the Race...

224 / 126 / 30 1184 MORIN, Joanna CALDWELL ID 10k Run Wome... 1:08:04.54 1:09:10.18 +30:28.39 11:09.4
225 / 127 / 31 1118 HODGES, Christy BOISE ID 10k Run Wome... 1:08:04.64 1:09:10.24 +30:28.45 11:09.4

Trip to Boise

This weekend we drove up to Boise (Caldwell) to stay with some good friends of ours, Nate and Joanna Morin and their kids, Kade(4) and Brooke(1). We met the Morin family when we lived in Boise for a year in 2006. We were in the same ward and even though we have both moved out of that ward over two years ago, we have still remained friends and have visited each other on three different occasions since moving away. Friday night we spent the night catching up with them with many stories and laughs! Saturday was the race, afterwards the guys went and played some golf while we visited and watched the kids. We had a BBQ that night with the best tasting hamburgers I have had in a long time! Great job Nate! We played a serious game of Settlers of Catan snacking on yummy food while laughing our heads off, followed by some oreo cookie contests and arm wrestling...yes I know, we are weird...but we had a blast! Sunday we got to hear Joanna sing in sacrament with two other girls from their ward. They did a fantastic job!! It was a beautiful song! Then sadly we had to drive back to Pocatello after church.

Joanna and Nate eating icecream bars!

My gorgeous friend, Joanna

Kade and Madi play so good together. They were making each other laugh the whole weekend... with funny faces, yelling at the top of their lungs, singing songs, riding their truck, playing in the backyard, wrestling around, lots of hugs, holding hands several times,(which I am sad I didn't get any pictures of!) and mostly pretended to be monsters or dinosaurs with sound effects included.Kade and Madi riding around on the truck

Wrestling...or something like that.

"Rarrr!!!"
Madi and Kade took a moment to quickly pose for the camera in the middle of their dinosaur roarings...

It was so good to see our friends and hang out like old times. Thanks for a great weekend!