Spartan Sprint – Portland {August 6}

Justin left bright and early this morning for the Spartan Sprint in Portland.  This is his second leg of the 2016 Trifecta he’s working towards completing.  This is the shortest of the three at 4+ miles, plus 26 obstacles.  Unlike the two previous Supers (8+ miles, plus obstacles) he participated in, he ran alone today so working as a team to complete the obstacles wasn’t an option.  There were two other guys from our old ward that he saw before the race, but they are pretty hard core and plowed through the course.  One placing 36th the other 99th out of the 5,400 racers. 

The littles dragged me to the gym in the morning, Jason and Katie love hanging out at the YMCA especially when they can play outside or in the gym.  They even begged me to stay for the full two hours allowed.  It actually flew by and I mainly stuck to the bike or elliptical so I could catch up on emails and scripture reading while plugging along on the machine.

The girls had an 8+ hour joint babysitting gig this afternoon/evening.  I picked up a few friends to join me at our stake center for a special fireside with the 1st counselors in the general Relief Society, YW, and Primary organizations.  We got the live version while 40 other locations broadcasted the fireside.  It was good, albeit long, especially for the young girls the joined their Mom’s (eight and older were all invited).  We hit The Ram afterward – I was torn between ordering pretzel sticks and a skillet cookie. In the end I settled on the pretzels determined to make skillet cookies for a Sunday treat tomorrow.

Friday {August 5}

My late night on Wednesday caught up with me this morning and I didn’t roll myself out of bed until 10am.  Thankfully my kids are pretty self-sufficient and a lazy summer morning is allowed every now and then.

We weren’t very productive this week.  The kids have been book addicts, especially Abigail and Carly.  I feel like I had to tell them multiple times to stop reading and get things done.  Jason and Katie have loved getting new books at the library each week.

Abigail and Carly did attempt to work on getting their room cleaned up today.  Much needed. Things got worse before they got better.

(I particularly love the check list Abigail created on a white board)

They also spent some time going through their clothes to figure out what didn’t fit anymore and what items them may need/want for the new school year.  I’ve asked each of them to propose a clothing budget to me this week.  Abigail was on a budget last year ($150) and anything over that she was to purchase herself.  Now that Carly is making money she will also be moving toward the budget system; though, I don’t think I’ll be getting by with that low of a clothing allowance this year.

Justin and I went out tonight – a BOGO free dinner at a Pogacha in Issaquah – so yummy (Thanks T-Mobile!)  Dinner was followed by a free movie also courtesy of T-Mobile (T-Mobile Tuesdays!).  Let’s just say the movie, Suicide Squad, wasn’t as enjoyable as dinner. 

Thursday {August 4}

My legs have finally healed enough that I was able to catch a class at the gym this morning.  When I got home my legs were all bubbly – the top layer of skin is fried dead so the sweat couldn’t escape.  I’m a picker by nature so I didn’t mind spending the next half hour peeling away skin so my pores could breathe.

I didn’t feel up to spending the afternoon in the sun at Lake Wilderness with friends, but Carly was able to go down with friends and had a great time.

This evening was Back to Camp night at the stake center.  The turn out was pretty small; however, the girls enjoyed reconnecting with some of the friends they’d made at camp.  I’m excited to get a link to all the pictures taken at camp.  So far all we have are pictures (that I scanned) of their units taken on the first day of camp. 

Carly went straight from the camp activity to our local outdoor movie night at the park with friends.  

My Tribe {August 3}

The girls were off shopping with Grandma Fletcher all day.  So today was one of those days where I stayed home in loungewear checking tasks off the never-ending to-do list.  I like days like today.

This afternoon Tara texted me that Stephanie was in town and asked if I could come down that evening and hang out with the ladies. Thankfully the evening was free and I was excited to catch up with some of the Auburn gang.   

No need to get out of jammies when you're hanging out with some of your besties - though I did step things up and put on a bra :)

I was wearing the shirt Laura made for our Sunriver couples trip in May. 

When a couple of my friends asked what it said I didn't really get into the origin or significance of the quote but as the evening progressed I felt it's meaning so strongly. 

When I moved from Auburn five years ago I wasn't sure what would happen to those friendships. We'd lived there for 10 years but could those friendships remain strong with only a handful of get togethers a year?  Five years later, I truly feel those friendships have only gotten stronger even with those that have moved on to other states. Sure I may not be aware of the everyday goings on of their lives, but I feel a closer bond to them as women and friends.  Whenever we get together it’s just fits, no matter how much time has past, we always have a great time together. 

I was reflecting in this on the drive home (at nearly 3am!)  I've always felt comfortable with who am I and I don't think I've tried to be anything but that. However, somewhere in my mid-thirties I embraced who I am. There is a difference there between an acceptance and a love. I hope that doesn't sound like I had a low self-esteem cause that’s not at all the case. Of course I don't love everything about myself and certainly there are things I could/should change or improve, but I have never been happier being me. 

Which takes me back to the shirt.  It's been a tough week for me with Laura heading back to Texas and Camden moving to Georgia. These two ladies got me and loved me anyhow. I don't even want to think of them not being close by. Tonight was a gentle reminder that there are friendships that can last – I’ve been blessed with so many friends that I hope to cherish forever. I love my tribe.

National Night Out & Candyland {August 2}

Soccer started today for Jason.  He was in need of new cleats this year, but they haven’t arrived yet so he had to wear a tight fitting size 6 with a pink swoosh on the side.  He wasn’t thrilled. 

After soccer we made a quick pit stop at the National Night Out sponsored by our local police station.  Free dinner – hot dogs, chips, cookies and drinks.  Drew and Katie got some balloon wands and were able to enjoy the bouncy houses.

Justin arrived just in time for me to take off with Jason and Carly for scout/youth activities.  Abigail is the new MiaMaid president and at their first meeting on Sunday they had to quickly plan a combined YW/YM activity for Tuesday.  Even with only a short time to plan she was able to put together a super successful human-sized Candyland game. 

They added fun obstacles for the teams to perform thoughout the course.  Abigail was really concerned about having enough activities and making sure everything would run smoothly.  A comment from the other presidency members was along the lines of, “We don’t want it to be too organized.  If it ends early people can just do whatever they want or leave.”  Abigail is much like her Mama and that easy-going, take-it-as-it-comes attitude wasn’t very comfortable for her.  This is also pretty accurate representation of the differences between our previous SnoFalls ward and our new MtSi ward – planning a big activity only two days before, starting late, ending early, etc...  A much less organized group for sure – something we’ll either have to get used to or change ;)

Day with J {August 1}

This afternoon Jason had his nine year well-child checkup with the pediatrician.  We snuck in a lunch date at MOD pizza beforehand and I snuck this funny picture.

No surprise that Jason’s stats pegged him as tall and thin:

Height:  4’ 10.5” (99^th percentile)

Weight:  80 lbs (89^th percentile)

Besides a small collection of warts on his left foot {ewe} he is doing great health and developmental wise.  I needed the doctor to fill out forms for both Jason and Katie to have epipens at school as well as sending in new prescriptions to our pharmacy.  The doctor was getting a little flustered and made a comment that he’s missing an X chromosome and can’t do more than one thing at a time.  He asked Jason if his Mom or Dad is better at doing more than one thing at a time and I was SHOCKED when Jason said that Justin was better at multi-tasking.  You better believe we had a little chat about that afterward.  I insisted Jason give me one example of his Dad multi-tasking and his reply, “He can drive and be on his phone”.  Ah-Oh!  A gentle reminder about a recent run in his Dad had with a bus pretty much invalidated that example and I was sure to point out that it was against the law as well.

Me Sad {July 31}

We’re all still adjusting to our new ward.  Even after four months, little Drew still misses our old ward.  He no longer cries when we drop him off in his new nursery class, but he’ll still point out that we’re going the wrong way on the freeway when we’re heading to church each Sunday.

Returns and Departures {July 30}

The girls got home from camp around 1pm today – dirty, exhausted and so grateful for the wonderful fun-filled week they’d had a camp.  After taking showers and starting some laundry I found them conked out in their room.

We got together with friends that evening to say good-bye to the LeeMaster’s who are moving to Atlanta.  It was a wonderful evening visiting with these ladies – definitely some of my favorites.

Saying goodbye to Camden was SUPER hard.  I just love her so, so much.  We moved to Snoqualmie around the same time, but because she lived across the parkway she was in a different ward.  We finally met two years ago when I started running and she single-handily got me trained and prepared for my half marathon.  Best running partner ever!  While running together three days a week she quickly became one of my best friends.  Even better is that her husband is awesome so they’ve been one of our favorite couples as well.

Laura has been here for the last five weeks – the Barlow’s moved to Dallas in the fall and made the Texodus to the NW for the summer.  It’s been so fun to reunite the Fletcher-Reynolds-Barlow-LeeMaster clans.  I’m heartbroken that two of our favorite families will no longer be just down the street.

Mount St. Helens {July 29}

While I was home today nursing my aching legs Justin was climbing Mount St. Helens with three buddies.  He applied for the passes back in February and has been really looking forward to it.  He climbed in back in 2002 with college friends Justin Tolman and Derek Rowe. 

Justin and his friends camped near the mountain Thursday night and spent Friday on the mountain.

Climber’s Bivouac 

   

Edge of the treeline

   

Bouldering up the mountain 

   

Death march to the top 

   

Summit 

   

Justin and Mike hiked further to the highest peak of the mountain seen in the distance here.

A little different view of the crater.  It was the perfect day for views - they were able to see Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood and the Three Sisters.

When they got back down to Teage and Brandon they took a much needed rest.

The way down went faster.  They were able to cover an area in 15 minutes glissading down the glacier on their hinnies that look them over an hour by foot.

Justin got home around 11pm and gave me the complete play by play of their adventure.  I should have recorded him cause who knows if he’ll ever get it typed up for posterity.  Each of the guys thought the experience was amazing and Justin’s already looking forward to doing it again sometime.