Down to Dixie

I'd forgotten how gorgeous Southern Utah is in the spring; and how much fun mountain biking is, although I still get terrified every time I try to power up a technical bit, lose my determination, and can't get out of my pedal clips fast enough to make a graceful dismount off my bike. I've always said that I prefer rock climbing to mountain biking just for the fact that when I fall climbing at least the rope catches me but when I fall biking I hit the ground - and I always wreck at least once. I was not born with the superspeed reflexes that Scott was blessed with.

We had the chance to head to St. George for a few day with a few friends, without the girls (although I missed them terribly!) to bike around the area and hike in Zion.

Scott, Jason and David biked Gooseberry Mesa and Green Valley Loop while Becky, Jill and I hiked the Emeral Pools, Grotto and River Walk trails in Zion.


Here's Scott and I biking a slickrock section of the Church Rocks trail. I had never seen the desert so beautiful - there were tons of flowers blooming. Scott's now decided we should move back; we lived there our first few years of marriage before the life flight whisked us away. I do love it there; I just melt in the heat of the summer.

Spring Break

We spent our first day at Huntington Beach where Aspen experienced the ocean for the first time; she did not like the sand on her hands but thought the waves were fun. Mercedes collected as much seaweed as she could find. Aspen spent a lot of time zonked out in her carseat or the stroller the whole trip.


The first day at Disneyland was 98 degrees so we took an afternoon reprieve in the pool. Mercedes is finally tall enough to go on all the rides - her new favorite is 'Soarin'; she was a bit scared of 'Tower of Terror' and her first words after 'Space Mountain' were "That was so scary it made me cry!"

Mercedes also loved Splash Mountain and Aspen kept oohing and aahing in the Winnie the Pooh ride.



We had a great time on our first 'real' family vacation. Mercedes wasn't tall enough when we lived there before for all the bigger rides so it was fun for her and Scott (he never went as a kid) to experience them. Mercedes and I got completely soaked on the river run ride. Aspen was so cute toddling around but Scott finally had to put the brake webbing from the stroller around her waist so she wouldn't keep running off. We got to visit some of our friends and wish we still lived there. Of course Mercedes cried as we were taking off on the plane; begging to never leave California again, but it's always nice to come home - even though we got off the plane in freezing temps and snow. I'm sure we'll be back again soon!

Ode to Punk

The Easter Bunny brought Mercedes a hair streaking kit and while I was making dinner, Mercedes streaked her own hair while Scott gave Aspen a new do.

I Have Been Tagged

Cristina tagged me so here it is:

TEN YEARS AGO -

1. Got engaged, planned a wedding and then got married in the Timpanogos Temple- Yes it's been 10 years!

2. I was getting through classes during my 3rd year at BYU in Health Promotion.

3. Conquered The Porcupine Rim mountain biking trail in Moab with virtually unusable front suspension only and came out with only a few minor injuries. I did get so mad at one point on the trail I chucked my bike off a 20 foot cliff and then had to go retrieve it.

4. Locked myself out of my Chevy Corsica twice in the same week. Once after a night class at BYU, the second time when I went to visit Scott at work after I'd been skiing solo at Sundance all day.

5. I was working in the Risk Management Dept. at BYU - I got to teach Van Driving and Forklift classes among other things.

THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST TODAY

1. Finish this tag.

2. Organize Mercedes room - it's a disaster.

3. Volunteer in Mercedes Kindergarten class and hopefully keep Aspen from eating crayons.

4. Master a new Pilates exercise.

5. Keep Aspen fed - it's nearly impossible to keep that girl full and she's only in the 5th percentile for height and the 10th for weight! She toddles around saying "Bi, Bi" which means she wants a 'bite' of food.

THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE SUDDENLY MADE A BILLIONAIRE

1. Buy a house with a yard so Scott and the kids have a place to play.

2. Buy Scott a Bell and Ross, a Zenith, a Hamilton and whatever else his little watch obsessed heart desired.

3. Put a ton into savings and give a bunch to the Huntsman Cancer Institute - they did save my life more than once!

4. Go on a trip to Mexico or the Bahamas so Mercedes could swim with the dolpins as much as she wanted.

5. Go the the ACSM Summit and IDEA World.

BAD HABITS

1. Picking at my nails when I'm bored or stressed - I've already regrettably passed this on to Mercedes.

2. Spending way too much time searching random and unimportant topics on the internet.

3. Being an impatient tyrant.

4. Ignoring my home and family when I get involved in a good book.

5. Pulling out my hair

PLACES I HAVE LIVED.

1. Dillon, MT - born and raised

2. Provo, UT - while going to college

3. St. George, UT - the post college early marriage adventure years and where Mercedes was born - then Sandy & Lehi, UT (for medical treatment)

4. Mission Viejo, CA - loved it!

5. Cedar Hills, UT - currently

JOBS I HAVE NOW OR HAVE HAD

1. Dusted furniture at the Dilmart (my Dad's business), delivered flowers, made sandwiches at Subway (all during highschool)

2. Around the Clock Answering Service and Claims Assistant at BYU during college

3. Personal Trainer at Ufit

4. Personal Trainer/Fitness Instructor at Red Mountain Resort

5. Current Title - Mom!

THINGS PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME

1. Scott does almost all my shopping (shoes and clothes) for me

2. When I was pregnant with Mercedes I kept rockclimbing until I was 8 1/2 months pregnant. (see picture below, but please avoid the large pregnancy induced back side)

3. I almost died; a few times.

4. I grew up on a ranch.

5. I respond to stress with anger

THINGS THAT MAKE MY LIFE SUPERFABULOUS RIGHT NOW

1. Being alive and fully functional!

2. Scott, Mercedes and Aspen

3. My Parents and Sisters

4. The Gospel

5. Freedom

oh, and Ebay!

Free Books?!

So I found this cool website; www.dailylit.com, where you can read books for free - like Pride and Prejudice, The Count of Monte Cristo, etc. Newer books they charge for - but alot of the classics are free.

The Rollover

This is my current favorite Pilates exercise - and no the picture is not me. It's called the Advanced Rollover.

Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Step 1:Lie face up on your Pilates mat. Stretch your legs to the ceiling as if you are trying to touch it with your toes. Extend your arms diagonally while pressing them into the floor.
Step 2:Use your abdominal muscles to pull your tailbone up from the floor. Don't use momentum. This is an abdominal exercise and it will defeat the purpose of the movement. As you lift your tailbone up, your legs should continue over your head in to a plow position.
Step 3:Hold the plow position and try to touch your toes to the floor. Don't support yourself with your hands. Your abdominal muscles should be the only thing supporting you.
Step 4:Come down slowly from the plow in a controlled motion. Use your abdominal muscles to pull your feet away from your head once your hips touch down.
Step 5:Lower slowly until your legs are parallel with the floor or until your back begins to arch. Pull your hips back up to repeat the Rollover Pilates exercise 3 more times.

Big Girl

Mercedes said to me a little bit ago, "I'm ready for first grade now; want to know why?" So I asked why. "Because I lost a tooth!" Yes, today was the day. She's been asking me for days to pull out her tooth but I couldn't get myself to yank that little thing out of her precious mouth (plus I didn't want to face the wailing aftermath yet). But tonight she couldn't take it anymore, so used a napkin to keep it dry and it popped right out. I told her that my Dad would pull mine out with pliers and several times she's gone out to the tool box and come back in with pliers.

We had a discussion when she was 3 about how our baby teeth fall out and we get grownup teeth. A couple of days later I was pulling her behind me in the bike trailer and she said, "Mommy, when I get bigger, will my little legs fall off and I'll grow big grownup legs?" I tried not to laugh hysterically because she was asking in all seriousness, so I answered her seriously and then laughed to myself the entire way home.

My big girl is losing her baby teeth while my baby girl is getting hers.