The Griffy Fam

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween at our house. Eliza was Batgirl.

Luke was a stormtrooper from Star Wars.

JJ was Spiderman.

Eliza and Luke each had a carnival at their schools and the whole family got to attend. The kids had tons of fun at their school carnivals playing games and winning prizes. Eliza also had a parade at her school and loved showing off her costume and being with her friends.

The boys enjoyed watching all the kids walk by in their fun costumes. They also both made cool crafts at school that were proudly displayed at home. We decorated cookies and carved pumpkins like we do every year. Mike makes a scary one and I do a happy one.

On Halloween night of course everyone was excited to go trick-or-treating. Even Mike, who dressed up as Mayhem from the Allstate insurance commercials. The picture does not do his costume justice, he looked just like him in person. If you have seen the commercials you would recognize him. The messy hair, the cut on his face, and the ripped and dirty suit. He got the suit from the DI and he was going to cut it but after trying it on he decided he liked it and it fit well so he is going to wear it for real.

It was a little windy, but not too cold and everyone got plenty of candy. Liza and Luke thought it was just as much fun to pass out candy at our door as it was to go trick-or-treating. We had a fun evening and everyone had a great time!

Mommy and Me!

2011-09-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

So what did JJ and I do while the rest of the family was touring the great state of Missouri. I'll tell you, we had a relaxing, easy time in SLC. When you are the third child you don't get much time with mom just by yourself and I can't remember when I ever had so much time with just JJ. It was fun. We had to drive Mike and the kids to the Salt Lake airport and we decided to spend the weekend there. I stayed at my parents house and it was so fun to hang out with them. I have forgotten how nice it is to have someone make you breakfast, my dad spoiled me. The first day we went to Lindsay's house to eat lunch with her Grandma Ruth, and Grandma Kay. It was a nice visit. That night I went to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory with my mom and 4 sisters. What a great time. On Saturday we went to Jungle Jims.

JJ was in heaven. He got to ride fun rides with his cousins without his brother and sister in his way.

That night we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma. JJ got to wrestle with Grandpa because Dad was out of town. After church on Sunday we had a family dinner to celebrate my Dad's birthday. It was so good to see everyone. I can not tell you how easy one little boy is compared to 3. I was able to just sit back and relax all weekend because he just played with cousins. Here is the little boy tea party.

Plus that night Nana put JJ to sleep for me so I could watch a movie with Allie at her house. No kids=fun for mom. On Monday before I went to the airport we went with Nana and Papa to Liberty Park. JJ loved having the undivided attention all to himself. He played on the playground and in the Canyon water area.

Then we rode a few rides.

Nana and Papa are great hosts and I appreciate them letting us stay with them. We always love to come and visit!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

2011-09-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

It is one of Mike's dreams to visit all the MLB stadiums. So some of our vacations are to locations with baseball teams. Mike and I usually go together but we thought it would be a fun experience for him to take the kids. We had 3 airline tickets to use so he took Liza and Luke. They went to Missouri, Kansas City and St. Louis. The kids were so excited to ride an airplane. They first flew into Kansas City, it was 100 degrees when they landed with 100% humidity. They had red cheeks and Eliza needed new sunglasses.

That night they ate famous Kansas City ribs for dinner. The kids love ribs! Yummy!

The game that night was a little hot but luckily the Royals stadium has water fountains and they were able to cool off some.

They had seats on the first baseline outfield and a hard-hit foul ball came very close to them.

The next morning they rode the Amtrak train to St. Louis. It was a cool train ride with a dining and observation car.

They were excited for the St. Louis hotel because it had a swimming pool. They enjoyed the view from the window and had fun jumping on the bed.

That day they toured the city and went swimming.

The Cardinals game was better because it was cooler. They loved watching the games and eating yummy food. They both got a St. Louis shirt and a foam finger for cheering at the game.

The next day they visited the famous St. Louis Arch. You can actually ride a little elevator up to the top and enjoy the view of the city 630 feet in the air. They all said the elevator ride was a little spooky.

It was a fun trip. They loved the airplane rides, the train ride, 2 baseball games, swimming, staying up late and eating good food. But mostly they loved the uninterrupted time they had together. Mike said the kids never fought or got upset. I guess being with Dad all day is more fun than being with Mom and JJ. I am so glad that they had this time to be together and have fun.

Summer in a nutshell!

2011-08-27T01:23:00.000-07:00

Reader beware: this is a long post. Wow, we have had a very fun and busy summer. Now that it is over I guess I should go back and mention some of the highlights. The month of June was spent playing soccer and going to dance class. Luke and Eliza both played soccer on different teams but unfortunately their games were at the same time. So Mike and I had to divide up and take turns watching them play.

They both had lots of fun and looked really cute in their uniforms. Eliza loved playing goalie and had a few great stops.

Eliza took a summer dance class in Menan, a little town 15 minutes outside of Rigby. She absolutely loved it. She was the best in her class. The boys and I would play outside during her class. They could throw rocks in a river for 45 minutes straight. She had a recital at the end of it all loved being on stage. Unfortunately we only took video not pictures that night. At the end of June we had a visit from the Benson family. We love having cousins come to see us. We had fun with water fights and playing basketball in the yard. We went to Heise Hot Springs and had a great time.

July

We were out of town almost every weekend in July. We love going to the family cabin every year. Playing with cousins is the best. We stayed up late playing games, hiked, walked in the water, jumped on the tramp, and ate yummy food. It is always so much fun. A few weeks later I went to SLC with the kids to visit Nana after her surgery. We got to stay with the Nigburs and the Cooks. Thanks so much, we love coming to visit. We went swimming with most of the cousins and had a blast.

I think Eliza went down the big water slides about 100 times. JJ and Luke loved the kiddie slides too.

Mike took Eliza and Luke golfing, they are actually pretty good. They both hit a ball over a little river, most impressive.

I think riding on the cart and just being with Dad was their favorite part.

Our annual Griffiths family trip was in Bear Lake this year. We rented a little cabin on what was supposed to be the beach but the lake was very high. So we drove to the north beach and spent the day playing in water and sand got everywhere.

Luke would just lay in it and play.

JJ loved throwing rocks and sticks in the water.

Eliza loved going on the tube behind the boat. She was so brave and actually liked falling off. She took turns riding with dad, Abby, Brennan, and Cameron.

Luke also went on with me. I was nervous, that thing is hard to balance. I asked to stop before we tipped. We hiked the Minnetonka caves and had a great time with cousins.

The last weekend in July was the Spudman Triathlon. This year Grandpa Dennis joined in the fun. He did a fantastic job!

Mike's time was better than last year, way to go! We had a great time with friends and watching Mike and Dennis compete.

August

August was the hottest month of summer. To beat the heat we went played with the sprinkler under the tramp and in our little kiddie pool. We also went to swimming pools. We went to Heise Hot Springs again, Rexburg Rapids twice, and the spray park in Rexburg lots of times. They get soaked and love it!

I usually forget my camera when we head out to the water, but here a few fun photos.

We also went to Rigby Lake several times. Each time I thought why don't we come here more. It is so close and so fun. Eliza loves to swim out to the floating dock and go down the slide. She is so brave, she does it all by herself. The boys could dig and play in sand for hours. Of course, I forgot my camera and have no pictures. One weekend in August we took a little trip to Huntsman Springs in Driggs, Idaho. We stayed in a gorgeous house, the Nigburs and Grandma and Grandpa came with us.

The boys played lots of great golf on a beautiful course.

The cousins played and rode bikes.

We took a chair-lift ride to the top on Grand Targhee ski resort and had a great view of the Teton mountains. The kids had fun exploring and dancing high on a mountain top.

We also drove into Jackson Hole and watched a cowboy shoot-out show.

Then Grandma and Grandpa came back to spend a night with us in Rigby.

We are so glad we have the chance to do fun things with our family. It sure made for a memorable summer!

Race Day

2011-04-19T20:37:00.000-07:00

Last year some time Mike got this crazy idea from our friends in Hailey that he should run a marathon. So just after Christmas he started his 4 month training for the Salt Lake Marathon on April 16th. I have to admit I was impressed. He really stuck with his training and was doing really well. He was getting in great condition and was able to run long distances like 16-18 miles. Then in the beginning of March his left foot started to bother him when he ran. Then it got to the point when it hurt just to walk, so running was out of the question. He self diagnosed the problem as a stress fracture. He got new shoes and tried taping his foot. But the only real cure was rest when he was supposed to be running 20 miles every Saturday. So he rested and was really worried that he would not be able to run the marathon. When race day came he decided to try and see what happened. To be honest I did not think he should run. I was not sure he was going to be able to finish. I knew he was in pain with just walking and he had lost some conditioning while resting his foot for the last month. But he wanted to to do it anyway. He said he would call me from one of the aid stations if he had to stop. I saw him on the course at mile 4 in the intersection of 2100 South and 2100 East. He looked great and was running with his buddy Brad. Mike is wearing a red shirt.

After that I did not get to see him because it was hard to time when he would get to a specific point on the course. So I went to the finish line and hoped for the best. I did not hear from him and just assumed he was fine. It was not until almost 5 hours later that his buddy crossed the finish line and said they stayed together for the first 18 miles. So I knew he was going to make it, I just did not know when. Then I heard the announcer say Mike Griffiths from Rigby, Idaho. He had made it! His time was 4 hours and 59 minutes. It was not the time he had hoped for at the beginning of training but considering the circumstances he was happy just to finish.

The last 8 miles were torture. He had to stop every 1/2 mile because his right quad muscles would cramp up. He had adjusted his running to compensate for his bad left foot and therefore put more stress on his other muscles. He would walk and stretch and then run until the pain made him stop again. When he crossed the finish line he looked spent. But I was so proud of him! What an accomplishment! He was very sore and stiff the rest of the day and the next day. He looked like an old man trying to walk around. But now he can say he ran a marathon. Way to go Griff!

Eliza also had a race that same day. She ran in a Kid's Marathon 1K race. It was 0.62 miles and she ran the whole way. She said she even passed a 7 year old. She was so excited and even trained a few days before the race. She got a t-shirt and a medal for participating. Way to go Eliza, we are so proud of you! Thank you to Nana and Grandma Kay who came to support our runners and help with the boys. I would not have been able to do it without your help.

Happy Birthday Eliza!

2011-03-29T20:29:00.001-07:00

Well it finally came after a long 30 day count-down, Eliza turned 6 years old. Eliza had decided what she wanted for her birthday months ago and we got those presents so she could not change her mind. She wanted Webkinz and mighty beans. She also wanted a new 2 wheel bike, she still has to learn how to ride without the training wheels. Her old bike was so tiny compared to this big one.

She wanted to have a party with her friends. We had it the Saturday before her birthday because Grandma and Grandpa were visiting. It was fun to have them at the party to celebrate with us and help with the boys. We had a great weekend with them.

We had the typical party with games, a pinata, presents, and goody bags. Eliza loved decorating for the party and she is very creative with her ideas. She also requested chocolate pie for her cake. I had never made it before but it turned out yummy.

Eliza got fun presents from her friends and grandparents and she was very grateful for all of them. She is such a sweetheart!

Today on her birthday she took chocolate donuts to school and her class sang to her. She got to wear a birthday sticker and crown. She helped me make pizza for dinner tonight and then we watched Tangled and ate cupcakes and played with her new toys. What a fun day!

Eliza is such a wonderful daughter. She is smart, funny, creative, kind, helpful, and beautiful. We love her so much and are glad she is part of our family!

Weekends Away

2011-03-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

I have been lucky to go visit Salt Lake for the last 2 weekends. I forgot to take my camera the first weekend. Just Eliza and I came and stayed at the Cook's home. We walked to the park and went to a Utah Utes basketball game. The girls got pom poms and tried hard to get on the jumbo-tron dancing and cheering. I am glad we had the chance to go to a Utah game because it allowed Eliza to turn back into a Utah fan. Then we went to church with them and saw some of our old neighbors, it seems like forever ago when we lived there. Thanks Cam and Emily for the fun visit and being great hosts.

Then the next weekend Mike was out of town and I drove to SLC with the kiddos. We went to Chuck E. Cheese with most of the cousins, we were quite the crew. My kids have wanted to go for months. They all had a blast.

We spent that night with the Nigburs. It was an official sleepover because the kids stayed up late and slept in the rooms with their cousins.

Then we went to a fun park and the kids had a great time. JJ was so brave on all the slides. He went down on his tummy and on his bum. He also loved the swings.

JJ and Jack are 2 peas in a pod, they speak the same language.

They love getting to play outside, it was a nice spring day.

We also got to visit Grandma and Grandpa, the Stocks, and Great-Grandma Ruth. It was fun-filled day. We spent the night at Nana and Papa's house and the kids actually got to bed at a decent hour, they were exhausted. Thanks Nana and Papa for letting us stay and having fun with us. My kids love to play garbage can basketball with Papa and reading and playing games with Nana. It was a wonderful visit. We are so lucky we have such a great family!

Bye-Bye Baby Hair!

2011-03-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

Jameson has such blond beautiful hair, it has been cute at least 5 times. If he were a girl he would have hair down to his shoulders. But he is a boy and I am constantly trimming it. I knew that I would have to eventually give him a big boy haircut and use the buzzers to go way short, but I did not have the heart to do it yet. So my brave and kind husband did it for me. It actually turned out great. I was out of town, otherwise I might never have let it happen. He also had to deal with the clean-up and bath afterward. Plus JJ was probably better behaved for his dad than he would have been for me. Here is the lucusious locks I had grown to love.

It was so long a few weeks before the haircut that I could put into 2 ponytails.

So here is our big boy JJ after his haircut! Doesn't he look so grown-up?

Happy Birthday JJ!

2011-01-16T17:22:00.000-08:00

Jameson turned 2 years old last week. I can't believe my baby is getting so big! He is such a sweet boy and has such a fun and cute personality. He is learning to talk more everyday. He loves to wrestle and is very ticklish, we love to make him laugh. He loves to run around the kitchen with Luke and when Luke is done he stops and JJ comes over and pulls him back saying, "Fast, please." JJ loves to snuggle and give kisses. Eliza always wants to hold him, but he is just too busy to sit still. One day Eliza was laying on the couch and JJ came and laid on her belly. It was so cute but I was not fast enough to get a picture. We had a simple party with our little family. We made pizza for dinner and cupcakes for dessert. JJ opened his presents from his grandparents, they spoil him and he loves it!

Eliza made him a card and gave him $2.00. She is such a sweet girl.

When we sang Happy Birthday JJ almost touched the candles, it was a close call. When we told him to blow out the candles he closed his eyes and blew. It was funny!

When you ask JJ how old he is he says 2 and tries to put up 2 fingers but he doesn't quite get it right. But hey 2 hands is the same thing.

After a few minutes of eating his cupcake I guess he got tired and so he put it down and just ate it straight from the table. "Look mom, no hands!"

Jameson loves Toy Story. He will sit and watch the whole movie, any of them. I rotate between the 3 of them so he has some variety. He says, "toy toy tory, buzz." He especially loves buzz. We got him a buzz t-shirt, buzz jammies, and a buzz ride-on toy.

He loves the lights and sounds it makes. He rides it around the kitchen and also pushes it throughout the house. We love Jameson and appreciate the place he has in our family.

Merry Christmas!

2011-01-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas season this year and did many fun things. We went to a Christmas movie party with Mike's work and saw Santa. Grandma Kay and Grandpa Denny were visiting that weekend and so they came with us. We love it when they visit.

On Christmas Eve day we played in the snow in our front yard. We love having a white Christmas.

JJ got a kick out of throwing snowballs at Mike, he was laughing like crazy at Mike pretending to be hit.

That night we made cookies and toffee for Santa. We read stories and opened our jammies. It was nice low-key evening with just our little family. Eliza and Luke got to sleep together in Eliza's room that night. Eliza had such a hard time falling asleep because she was so excited. On Christmas morning JJ was the first awake at about 8:30. I love sleeping in, I am glad the excitement did not wake the kids up early. We had a great time opening presents. The kids got what they wanted from Santa and fun presents from grandparents. Eliza got a Baby-Allgone, an easy bake oven, and Webkinz.

Luke got boxing gloves, a remote control car, and a race track set.

JJ got a marble set and some toy cars.

Santa surprised our family with a Wii game system. The kids were very excited about that. The day was spent playing with toys and hanging out, we did not even get dressed. That night our friends the Johnsons came over for dinner. We had a fun evening with them. I love Christmas and the fun times we have together as a family. We were sad that we missed seeing our family in Utah so we made a trip to visit the week after Christmas for New Years. We hit some bad weather and snow on our drive and actually stopped in Ogden and spent the night in a hotel. We went to Fat Cats and played in the arcade and ate dinner. The kids loved staying in a hotel and then we safely continued our trip the next morning. We love coming to visit family in SLC and playing with cousins and grandparents.

We got to go sledding with the Raymonds and Nigburs. Thanks guys, it was fun. Eliza was a die hard. She and Hannah went down the hill dozens of times.

On New Years Eve we spent the night at the Bensons and played games until 2:00 am. Thanks for the fun games and laughs! Liza and Luke thought it was awesome to stay up until midnight with their cousins.

We also visited Great Grandma Ruth on our way out of town. She made us breakfast and the kids played with her Christmas village. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful family!

Happy Birthday Luke!

2010-12-16T13:37:00.000-08:00

So I am a little behind on blogging events for our family. Luke turned 4 years old back on November 14th. So I am only a month late. But it is not all my fault, I do have to wait for the pictures to be uploaded to the computer. Luke is such a cute, fun, wonderful boy. We are so glad he is in our family. Here are some of the reasons we love Lukas.

L: Loving & loud. He is a cuddle bug, but also makes plenty of noise.
U: Unique. He is one of kind with his personality and interests.
K: Kind. He is so sweet and always says please, thank you, and I love you.
A: Active. He runs, climbs, wrestles, and plays hard everyday.
S: Silly. He makes us laugh all the time. He is a silly boy.

Luke picked out his own present from mom and dad. He picked a Buzz Lightyear lego spaceship set. He loved putting it together with dad.

His birthday was on a Sunday so we celebrated the day before. We went bowling and he and Liza tied with 68 points. He loves to bowl and is pretty good. Then that night we went to the Olive Garden for dinner.

On his birthday we had a little party at home with cake and ice cream and opened presents. Don't you love his long hair? We cut it a few weeks later but we thought it was fun to have it long for a while.

It was just our little family but it was fun. Maybe next year we will attempt a friend party. We sure do love our big 4 year old boy!

November in SLC

2010-12-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

So I know it is a little late to do a Thanksgiving post. So this is not one, it is a recap of our fun in SLC at the end of November. We were in SLC for Thanksgiving time and we had such a fun time being with family and hanging out. We got to enjoy two wonderful dinners and great company.

Here is Eliza with Abby and Belle.

Here is Eliza again with Hailey, Samantha, Hannah, and Abby.

Here is Luke with Isaac and Nick.

I had fun playing basketball with the guys on Thanksgiving morning. It was nice to see that I was not the only one who was a little slow and rusty after a year of not playing, just kidding. I went shopping on black Friday with Lindsay and Lexi. We as much fun as you can at 4:00 in the morning after eating way too much food. I got some good deals but the lines at Target were ridiculous. Michael also went shopping with his dad at 4:00 am. They hit more stores, saw less crowds, and got better deals than we did. Who knew they were such expert shoppers.

Eliza and I went to Great-grandma Ruth's house with Grandma Kay to see all her wonderful Christmas decorations. We were lucky because she was setting up her amazing village and Eliza got to help. She had so much fun.

We also went to hang out at Aunt Allie's house and play with Hannah and Nick just like the good old days in Vegas. It was fun to catch up and let the big kids play without the babies JJ and Jack, they were napping.

Nana and Papa invited us to the Utah Ute basketball game. Thanks for the tickets Nana and Papa! We went to dinner at Zuppa's before the game and had such a fun time with them.

Grandma and Grandpa also went to the game and moved to sit by us. Our kids are so lucky to have such loving, wonderful, involved grandparents. Eliza and Abby tried so hard to get on the jumbo-tron. They would dance during every time-out and they looked so cute. Their hard work finally paid off and the camera guy put them up on the jumbo screen dancing away. They actually made it twice. They loved it! Luke and JJ loved cheering for the Utes. JJ met Swoop and they shared some popcorn. Surprisingly he was not scared of him. He called Swoop a duck.

Our kids just love hanging out with cousins and catching up. We love coming to visit and see everyone that we miss and love!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

We had a fun October getting ready for Halloween. The kids loved decorating the house with window clings, pumpkins, a skeleton, and lights. Eliza painted a few decorations and made pictures at school. We decorated a haunted halloween gingerbread house and sugar cookies. We put pumpkin face stickers on small pumpkins and carved a big jack-o-lantern. The Friday before Halloween Eliza had a party in her class at school. I got a babysitter for JJ and took Luke to the party. He knows her teacher and had so much fun with her friends. Then we had great time watching the parade of all the kids in their costumes. That night the school had a carnival with games and treats. Eliza loved seeing her friends and getting prizes. Eliza and Luke had been counting down the days until they could go trick-or-treating.

Eliza was a witch. She painted her face green and wore a wig on Halloween night.

Luke was Spiderman. He loved being a hero and flexing his muscles.

Jameson was a garden gnome. His costume was a little small so he was busting out of it and his beard was hilarious.

Our neighborhood is great because we know most people and the houses are not too far apart. So we walked until Luke got tired. Then I drove Eliza to another neighborhood to do more becaue she is a die-hard. She did not want to stop. I guess the idea of getting free candy is pretty awesome. Luckily the weather was nice, no rain and it was pretty warm for the end of October. We had so much fun!

Like father, like son.

2010-10-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

We bought Luke his own little golf clubs this summer because he showed interest in playing golf. He loves to hit practice wiffle balls in our backyard and is really pretty good. After a few pointers from dad he had decent form and made nice contact with the ball. So a few weeks ago Michael took Luke golfing for the first time on a Par 3 course by our house. They both had so much fun! Mike was really impressed with Luke's ability to hit the ball and keep interested in the game.

They walked and played 9 holes. Par for the course is 27, and Luke shot a 94. Not bad for a 3 year old. Next time they may take a cart for added fun. Look for this kid on the PGA tour in 15 years.

My 2 front teeth!

2010-10-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

Last week I did something I did not think I would have to do as a mother. I was the family dentist, twice. Eliza's 2 top front teeth have been loose for a few weeks. She was always having trouble biting her food and brushing her teeth. They were loose but not falling out. One was more loose than the other and I offered to pull it for her. She of course freaked out and said no way. I told her I was just going to wiggle it and see what happened. I had flashbacks to when I was a little girl in my parents bathroom. My dad sitting on the edge of the tub with his Chevrolet pliers and me waiting while he counted to 3 and pulled my tooth on 2. It worked and so I did the same thing. I did not use the pliers for Eliza's sake. But I held her tooth with my fingers and counted 1, 2, pull, 3. She did not even know that I did it. The apprehension was the worst part. Here she is with one tooth missing.

A few days later the other tooth was getting looser and she wanted to be rid of the annoyance so she asked me to pull it for her. The same technique with the same results. I was proud of myself and her. She of course was visited by the tooth fairy which made it all worthwhile. Her is our big, beautiful, toothless girl!

Kindergarten!

2010-10-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

I wrote this post just days after school started but did not get the pictures downloaded until last week. So here is the very late post about school starting.

Well little miss Liza started kindergarten on September 1st. She was so excited and counted down the days until it started. Mrs. Clark is her teacher and she really seems to like it. On the first day she was not nervous at all. She said she was a little shy but that did not last long. On the second day she wanted to walk in all by herself. She already has made friends and wants to have them over for playdates. I wish I could be as outgoing and brave as she is. Eliza loves to write and draw pictures. She is a great artist. I know she will pick up on reading very quickly because she knows all her letters and sounds. She has such a desire to learn and a great memory. The elementary school is just down the street so she loves walking to school and we are there to walk her home. We love Eliza and are so proud of the student she is becoming.

Once a week I get to come to Eliza's class and help the teacher. Tuesday was my first day. It was fun to see Eliza interact with her friends in class. She was using the restroom when I first came. When she returned to class to see me there she ran up to me and gave me a big hug. I felt very special. The class divided into 3 groups and rotated stations. At my station the kids had to match up magnets of capital letters to the corresponding lower case letter. Not only did Eliza not need any of my help, she was the fastest at completing the task. I was very proud of her. She is not afraid to talk to her teacher and is very polite. It was a joy to be able to watch her.

Spudman Triathlon

2010-09-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

So this post is a little late, but better late than never. Michael did the Spudman Triathlon in Burley Idaho at the end of July. The triathlon consisted of a 1 mile swim in the Snake River, a 26 mile bike ride, and then a 6.2 mile run. Michael trained for this race for several months. He was very dedicated to running in the evenings and biking to and from work when he could. I was very impressed with his level of commitment and ability to stick with training. All his hard work paid off because he was able to finish the race with a better time than he expected. His total time was 2 hours and 41 minutes.

The swim was first and his time was 24:41. Not bad considering he did not practice at all for the swim.

Next was the bike. He finished in 1 hour and 13 minutes. It was fun to watch him come in on his bike and wave to us. He did not look tired at all. Then we got to watch him put on his running shoes and take off for the run.

He finished the 6 mile run in just 57 minutes and did not have to walk at all, he was able to run the whole time. I was so glad to see him running toward the finish line. He looked great and very happy. I was so proud of him for finishing so strong.

Eliza, Luke, and Jameson were his fans cheering him on to the finish line.

Out of his group of 5 friends he took 2nd place, and only by 9 minutes. Overall out of 1545 participants he took 684th place. Finishing in the top half for your first triathlon is quite an accomplishment.

I was so proud of Michael and I was glad I got to watch him participate and do so well. Thanks to his parents and Cameron, Brennan, and Abby for coming to cheer for him and support him. Way to go Mike!

Vacation!

2010-07-05T15:16:00.000-07:00

At the end of June we went to Bryce Canyon for the annual Griffiths family camping trip. We rented a tent trailer and it made things much more pleasant. We slept great every night.

We spent the days hiking, swimming, and 4 wheeling. Eliza is quite the little hiker. She walked on her own on every hike. Luke and JJ got the easy ride in the backpacks.

My favorite hike was a short one to Mossy Cave and there was a waterfall, Luke's favorite. We got to walk in the river and it was very refreshing.

Our evenings were spent eating and playing games while visiting with family. It was a fun trip and the kids loved seeing their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.

On our way home from Bryce we went to Lagoon. We had such a great time with Liza and Luke. Jameson stayed home with Nana for most of the day and then joined us later. Thanks so much Nana! We spent most of our time in Kiddieland but we did go to Laguna Beach and hit some big kid rides.

Eliza was almost tall enough for all the big rides. They let her on the Big White Roller Coaster without measuring her. She loved it! We did not get away with that on other rides though. Luke loved the Dinosaur Drop and the Dragon ride. Jameson did the train, Carousel, and boats.

Everyone got to win a stuffed animal playing a game as well. On the way out of Lagoon they all got soaked running through the water fountain at the front. What a way to end a fun and fabulous day!

Sporting new looks!

2010-05-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

This past week all 3 kids had some new looks that changed their faces.
First, Eliza had two loose teeth last Friday and on Tuesday she lost both of them. The first fell out during breakfast. She did not know it fell out until she felt the hole with her tongue. She was so excited and relieved when we found it.

The second one was hanging by a thread. I offered to pull it so it would not fall out at school but she was against that idea. Several hours after breakfast Eliza went into the bathroom and about 10 minutes later said it had come out. She just worked it back and forth until it was out. I was so pround of her, she was so brave! She was so excited for the tooth fairy to come that night. We told her it was neat that she had two teeth to leave in one night and that the tooth fairy might leave more money because they were her first teeth. When she woke up she was thrilled to find 5 one dollar bills. She looks so different with her teeth missing, she looks older. Because of the hole she has a slight lisp when she talks. It is adorable!

On Monday we were at Eliza's t-ball practice, it was cold and started to rain. So I put the boys in the backseat of Mike's truck to let them play while I put things away and got Eliza's jacket. I came back 5 minutes later and Jameson looked like he had been crying and Luke said, "JJ got hurt." Jameson had a huge red mark on his cheek and it was starting to bruise. I did not see what happened but he probably bumped his cheek on the console. Either that or Luke clopped him, just kidding! But by the next day he had his first black eye. Poor guy! But he was super tough.

Luke loves to eat ribs. Like father, like son. It must be the fact that he gets to eat meat off the bone and he is supposed to get messy. He really does a good job cleaning the bone and the BBQ sauce makes for great fun. Nice work Luke!

Lastly, about a month ago I bought matching PJ's for the kids. Eliza was always bummed when Luke and Jameson matched and she did not have a twin. So now I have matching triplets. They think it is great fun! I love these little guys!

Chicago!

2010-04-21T11:59:00.000-07:00

Michael and I went on a vacation without our 3 little kids a few weeks ago. Thanks to our wonderful babysitters in Salt Lake who made it possible. We were gone 6 nights and the kids spent time with the Bensons, Grandma Kay and Grandpa Dennis, and Nana and Papa. It was so much fun! I love my kids, but sometimes it is nice to have time alone. Michael is a huge baseball fan, and I also enjoy watching baseball. One of his dreams is to visit every major league baseball stadium. So when we go to big cities we have to include baseball games. We flew into Milwaukee, Wisconsin and went to a Brewers game where they played the St. Louis Cardinals.

Miller Park was one of the coolest stadiums I have ever seen. It is covered with a roof but has windows and awesome lights. I could smell the grass and dirt because we were so close to the field. Our tickets were awesome! We sat on the first row along the third baseline. The Cardinals dugout was right in front of us. We could almost touch the players as they ran in and out.

I made eye contact with Albert Pujols, if Luke or Liza were there he would have thrown a ball to us. I actually did catch a ball thrown towards us but I gave it to the kid behind us because his dad said the player was throwing it to them. Even though I had the right to keep it I decided to give it to him because I felt stupid. It was an exciting game. The Brewers lost, but we also like the Cardinals. We didn't even leave our seats the whole game. I watched every pitch, it was very entertaining sitting that close. I thought it was one of the highlights of the trip. We then toured downtown Milwaukee and went to a science discovery museum and saw Lake Michigan.

We also went to the movies and saw Clash of the Titans in 3D and Date Night. It was nice not to pay a babysitter to go to a movie and just plan things as we went. Besides the baseball games we did not have plans set in stone. The next day we took the Amtrak train to Chicago. In Chicago we went to a White Sox game and Chicago Cubs game. The White Sox game was cold and windy but we had fun cuddling in the upper deck along the first baseline. It was opening day for the Cubs and it was crowded at Wrigley Field. There were probably 43,000 plus fans there, it was sold out and some fans had standing room only tickets. Our seats were in the outfield bleachers. It was also a fun game, the Cubs won. I must say they seem to have the best fans. We had a great time walking the streets of downtown Chicago and looking at all the buildings. We visited the Sky Deck in the Willis tower, formally the Sears tower. It is the tallest building in America. We had a fantastic night view of the whole city. Mike took some awesome pictures.

We also visited the John Hancock building during the day. There we enjoyed splendid views of the city and Lake Michigan.

We walked through Millennium park and to Navy Pier. The famous "Silver Bean" was quite the structure to see.

We walked down the Magnificent Mile on Michigan avenue which is world famous for shopping. Everyday we walked several miles, my feet got tired. The subway was very convenient and quickly got us to destinations beyond walking distance. Mike is an expert at navigating through the city. He always knew where we needed to go and never got lost. I just followed him and always felt safe. Sometimes I was cold, it is the windy city for a reason.

It was so fun to be with just Michael. I love our kids, but they can be a lot of work. I only had to take care of myself. We ate out at restaurants where our kids would not fit in. The subway and crowded streets would not have been conducive to children. It was a great place to visit without the kids, which is why we did it that way. Although sometimes we would say "oh the kids would like this." But ultimately it was much more fun without them. I am so glad that I enjoy spending time with my wonderful husband who is my best friend. It was a wonderful vacation and I loved having all that time to be with Michael. I can't wait for the next trip to somewhere fun!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T20:35:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Easter weekend eventhough it snowed on Friday night. It was only a few inches but it turned the saturday morning egg hunt at Albertsons into an indoor event. On Saturday afternoon I took Eliza and Luke to the movies, we saw "How to Train Your Dragon." I thought it was cute and the kids liked it. They sat through the whole thing and laughed as they guzzled popcorn. That night we colored eggs. On Easter morning we had an egg hunt for all the candy eggs the Easter Bunny left us. Jameson loved walking around and picking up eggs, he knew just what to do. We took a video but the file was too big to upload to the blog. We enjoyed a relaxing day of watching conference and eating candy. We all stayed in our PJ's the whole day, it was so fun! It was a great family holiday.

The circus came to town.

2010-04-02T17:27:00.001-07:00

So my sister Allison and her 3 kids came to visit us last weekend. It also happened to be Eliza's birthday. So my sister Emily also came to visit with her 2 girls. Eliza was so lucky to have her cousins Hannah, Nick, Jack, Emma, and Maren come to visit and go to her party.

They also stayed for an extra 2 days which made her extra happy. We just love having visitors and showing off our cute new town. It was so fun to hang out with Allison and Emily and their adorable kids. Mike took a day off work and we showed them around town. We threw rocks in the river, played in the yard, and walked around Sun Valley. It snowed off and on so we also played inside and had lots of time to chat and catch up. We went to dinner at the Burger Grill in Ketchum. It was just Mike, 3 moms, and 8 kids. We were a crowd but I thought we were well behaved. As we left the restaurant an old man who was sitting by himself said to Allie, "I did not know the circus was in town." Despite his opinion of us I had a great time and I can't wait for them to visit again. Thanks for coming girls!

Happy Birthday Eliza!

2010-03-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

Eliza was so excited for her birthday, she began counting down the days on the first of March. On her birthday she got to take cookies to preschool and wear a birthday crown and necklace. After school she had a fun princess party with friends and cousins.

Because Eliza is now 5 years old I wanted to share 5 things I love about Eliza.

E: Entertaining, she makes me laugh everyday.
L: Loving, she cares for everyone and wants them to be happy.
I: Intelligent, she loves to learn.
Z: Zest for life, never a dull moment.
A: Adorable, she is so beautiful, inside and out.

I can't believe my little baby girl is 5 years old, time flies when your having fun. We love you Eliza!

Our Boys!

2010-03-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

Michael took some adorable pictures of Jameson and Luke about 2 months ago. It was a photo shoot for Jameson's 1 year old picture. I thought it would also be cute to take some of both of them with their matching shirts. They are brothers but look different. Luke has dark hair and Jameson has light hair. But they both have their father's beautiful blue eyes. Here are my cute little guys!

Look out, here comes JJ!

2010-03-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

During the last month Jameson has been taking steps by himself here and there. But in the last 2 weeks he has started walking all the time. He doesn't crawl very often anymore, except up and down the stairs. Because he is 14 months old and probably could have walked at 12 months he has taken the last 2 months to really perfect his walking ability. He rarely falls and he has tremendous balance. I should have taken a video 2 weeks ago, but oh well. Here is a video we took on Sunday. He is so cute! We love you Jameson!

My favorite people!

2010-03-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

So some of my sisters have done really cute posts about each of their wonderful children and sweet husbands. I don't mean to be a copy cat but I promise the things I say will be different.

Eliza is almost 5 years old, she is counting down the days until her birthday. She is becoming very interested in numbers and math. At preschool she has learned all about the days of the week and the months of the year. So now I say something like "maybe tomorrow we can" and she says, "you mean Thursday." Eliza loves to write and is so curious about spelling everything. She has even started to read some words. You can often find her drawing pictures and writing notes to people. She loves to wrestle her brother and play Star Wars but the very next minute she is playing princess in dress-up clothes. The best of both worlds. Eliza can hear a song only a few times and already have it memorized. Listening to music on her Ipod is one of her favorite things to do. She is growing up so fast and I can't believe how smart she is.

Luke is so full of energy. His new favorite thing right now is Star Wars. Almost everyday he asks to watch the old Star Wars movies. His favorite is not Luke Skywalker but rather the Stormtroopers. He will run around the house playing Star Wars and shooting his stormtrooper gun. Luke is such a cuddle bug. He always says, "hold you me please." Several times I have snuggled him in bed at night and stroked his hair as he falls asleep, precious times. Luke is always learning and trying to follow in his sister's footsteps. Luckily he has a good example to follow. It is amazing how much Liza teaches him. Luke also loves to play games on the computer. I can not believe how good he is at using the mouse. He can start the games by himself and totally understands what he is doing, it is so second nature. We get to spend a few hours alone during the day when Liza is at school and Jameson is napping. He is such a fun little friend to have around.

Jameson is such a sweet boy. I can't believe he is over 1 year old, weaned, feeding himself, and basically walking. He can take like 20 steps by himself, then stops and stands there, then goes down to his knees and takes off crawling. He is constantly emptying things, like toy baskets, drawers and cupboards. I have to tape my pantry door closed or I have soup cans rolling around my kitchen floor. Jameson also loves to wrestle. If you lay down on the ground he comes over to you all excited and laughing. Then he crawls on top of you and starts to wrestle. He loves to be involved with whatever you are doing. He is very social and loves to play with his brother, sister, and dad. But I have to say I think I am his favorite person, ha ha. I am so glad he is learning and growing so well.

It is crazy how these little people can mean so much to me. They really are my friends and my day would not be the same without them.

Now last but not least, my wonderful husband, Michael. He truly is my best friend and I would be lost without him. Michael is such a great father and always makes time for his kids. He does such a great job teaching them. They love him so much and always want to play with him. He works so hard for us everyday so that I can be home. I will always appreciate that effort and sacrifice for our behalf. I love to spend time with him and we always have fun together. He is a wonderful helper and takes good care of me. I love him so much! I am so grateful to be a mother and to have Michael as my sweet, loving, patient husband.

Well it happened.

2010-02-26T11:28:00.000-08:00

Jameson finally learned to feed himself. Yeah, I think. I used to complain that if I put a cheerio on Jameson's highchair tray he would pick it up great but then not eat it. He wanted to be feed like a baby bird. But over the last week he learned to put food in his mouth. But unfortunately he puts more than just food in his mouth. Now all those little things on my floor that he used to ignore are going in his mouth. This is the normal behavior for most kids his age, but I am just not used to it. He used to never put anything in his mouth. So I am constantly scanning my floor and making sure we do not leave food in his reach. Not to make anyone worry, but he has already choked a few times. Luckily he has a great gak reflex and he throws up when he is choking so the thing he is choking on comes up as well. He is such a curious and social baby, he wants to be right where I am doing what I am doing. He is always underfoot and getting into things. This new skill has really made him a better eater. He seems to eat everything we offer him. He also still lets me feed him on a spoon. He is doing well with weaning. Now all I have to do is kick the 6:00 am feeding, which is the hardest because I don't want to be up for the day at 6:00 am. I have really grown accustomed to sleeping in.

We love visitors!

2010-02-09T20:32:00.000-08:00

We just love having family come to visit. We had Grandma Kay and Grandpa Dennis come for Jameson's birthday in the middle of January. We had a fun party and enjoyed hanging out with them. The kids love their grandparents. Then the last weekend of January my sister Emily, Cameron, Emma, and Maren came to Carey to visit the Cooks and they spent Sunday afternoon with us in Hailey. It was so much fun to visit, eat, hang out, and play games. The kids played and had a fabulous time. We really love their company and had so much fun visiting with them. But I forgot to take any pictures. I have made a vow to take more snap shots with my camera of everyday things. They will come in handy for blogging.

The very next weekend the Stocks came for a visit. We must be popular, or everyone loves this beautiful city. Mike and Jon went skiing in Sun Valley. The weather was sunny and they had a fantastic time. Lindsay and I had a wonderful time visiting while the kids played. They sure got along really well. They had so much playing Uno, pirates, and watching Star Wars. We tried to go ice skating but they were closed so we played in the snow instead.

The big kids had a super fun time playing Hand and Foot and Sequence. I will just say that the girls make the ultimate team. Go Linds and Mel! Thanks Jon, Lindsay, Belle, and Sam for a fun weekend. We are really grateful to be blessed with family that are also our friends. We look forward to having more visitors, anyone is welcome anytime.

Snowy Days

2010-01-22T13:14:00.000-08:00

I would guess that it has snowed about 2 feet over the last 3 days. Mike had to snow-blow the driveway every morning just so he could get out of the garage. The piles of snow on the sides of our house are enormous! Eliza and I played in the snow for almost 4 hours yesterday. Luke joined us for almost half the time, and Jameson napped for 3 hours. He was like a hibernating bear in the basement.

We built a snowman in our front yard and I kept sinking in the snow, it went past my knees. I had to stomp down all the snow around the snowman so Luke did not get lost in it.

We walked to the park down the street and went down the sledding hill a few times. But Liza and Luke perferred jumping off the playground platforms into the soft snow.

We also dug a tunnel in a huge pile by our driveway. It reminded me of when I was a kid playing with Chris Roberts and Cole Christensen in the church parking lot. Good times! The tunnel was only big enough for Eliza, I did not want to test its limits. But she thought it was so fun.

Last night I was beat. I played like a kid all day and that takes a lot of energy. So today when Eliza asked to go out again I said she would have to go by herself because I was too tired. She only played for about 30 minutes and got bored. I guess I should be flattered that I made it so fun for her yesterday. I'm sure I will be up for it again next week.

Winter Sports

2010-01-19T21:50:00.000-08:00

Because of our new climate we are having to broaden our horizons when it comes to outdoor activities in the winter. About a mile from our house is a park that is flooded in the winter to create a frozen lake for ice skating. There is a trailer full of skates to borrow at no charge. So you can go ice skating whenever you want for free. We went last Saturday and had a really great time.

Luke and James got pulled around the rink by Mike (who now wants to learn to play hockey). Luke was supposed to "boot skate" behind that chair for balance but thought it looked easier to sit and be pulled around. They had lots of fun on the stroller/chair train.

Eliza actually wore skates and used a little walker that slides with you for balance. She only fell once and really got quite good by the time we were done. She is so excited to go again soon.

She said, "Next time I am going to try to skate really fast. I did not say I will do it, but I will try." You might want to look for her in the 2018 Winter Olympic games.

Big Birthday Boy!

2010-01-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

Jameson turned 1 year old on January 14th. It is hard to believe a year has gone by since he was born.

He is such a sweet boy and is learning something new everyday. He is not walking yet but he cruisers along the furniture like crazy. He sometimes will let go and take a small step forward and he can stand alone for several minutes at a time. Any day now he is just going to take off. We went to the Ketchum YMCA bouncy house on his birthday. He just loves crawling around and bouncing on his bum. He also loves to watch his brother and sister wrestle and tackle each other.

We did not have his party until Saturday afternoon because Mike's parents came to visit for the weekend and we wanted them to come to the party. The party lasted maybe 30 minutes. Jameson didn't really unwrap his presents, probably because Liza and Luke were doing it for him.

When we brought out the cake he went straight for the lighted candle and almost got it. Luckily I am faster than him and we did not have a crying baby on hand.

Jameson does not feed himself. He will pick up food but not put it in his mouth. So he got cake all over his hands but never really tasted it until Liza and Luke gave him bites from their fingers. He must have really loved the taste because he eventually figured out it was all over his fingers and started to lick them. But he was done after a few minutes so the clean-up was easy.

So the party was short lived but very fun. He is growing up so fast and I just love being able to watch him grow everyday. We love you JJ!

Luke is now a Sunbeam!

2010-01-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

And guess who his teacher is...that's right. I had a feeling I was going to be called to be the new Sunbeam teacher but I was hoping I was wrong. So today was the second week of Sunbeams and it went much better than the first week. I have 8 little ones and they all come every Sunday. I thought Luke would do better with someone else as his teacher. But now that I have set some rules, no sitting on my lap and no crying. He actually is doing really well. I am of course biased but he participates the most and likes my games. It helps that I know what games he likes. I am glad to be in Primary again. The best part is that Michael has to take Jameson the whole time because my hands are full. At least I get a break from that little guy. But who wouldn't want to teach this cute boy Luke!

All I want for Christmas is...

2009-12-27T20:23:00.001-08:00

electricity. So the power went out around 10:00 pm on Christmas Eve. So Santa had to leave our presents in the dark. Good thing he has Rudolph's nose. Because we had no electricity the furnace was not on all night and it was about 40 degrees in our house when we woke up. Needless to say we had a cold and dark night. But the kids did not mind, they were too excited.

We made them wait until Mike started a fire in the wood burning stove. After a while that really heated up the living room. In the meantime we put clothes on over our jammies and wore beanies to keep warm.

It was a fun new twist to Christmas morning. We even boiled water for hot chocolate on the stove. Luckily we did not need power for any toys that Santa left. So we cuddled by the fire and played Mousetrap. The kids had a blast opening presents and playing with toys all morning.

Luckily the power came back on around noon, just in time for lunch. I was just glad to be warm again. I would not have been a good pioneer. We had a fun Christmas with just our little family but we were glad we got to see grandparents and cousins just days before Christmas. For Christmas dinner we had Chinese takeout, yum! For Christmas Eve dinner we went to a friends house and had homemade soup and acted out the Navity story from the Bible. Eliza was Mary, she was so excited. Luke was a pirate shephard, that was the only way he would participate. I was the innkeeper and Mike played a wiseman. It was a fun evening. Then we headed home to open our Christmas jammies.

That is when Mike found his IPOD shuffle in the pocket of old PJ pants. It was a Christmas miracle. It had been lost for about a year. He put new songs on it and gave it to Eliza. She loves it! The day after Christmas Mike took the kids the see the new Chipmunks movie while I took down the tree, it was dry and making a mess. We had a wonderful Christmas and realized that we were just happy to be all together and have a warm house with electricity and heat.

Sun Valley Festivities

2009-12-27T19:59:00.000-08:00

The Saturday before Christmas we went to Sun Valley for outdoor Christmas fun. We saw Santa, the carolers, and ice sculptures. We also enjoyed the white lights and free hot chocolate and cookies. It was cold but lots of fun.

We also saw Santa at our ward Christmas party. As you can tell Jameson did not enjoy sitting on Santa's lap and Luke did not like the idea too much either.

Sledding anyone?

2009-12-27T19:45:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of December we bought a permit to cut down our own Christmas tree. We drove up the canyon and found what we thought was a good one. It looked better on the mountain than in our living room. But we had fun and also did some sledding down the road of the canyon. You surprising got going really fast. I forgot how fun sledding can be.

Eliza again was so brave and did it all by herself.

Mike and Eliza cruised down the road for several hundred yards and then I drove and picked them up.

Hit the slopes

2009-12-27T18:55:00.000-08:00

About a week before Christmas Mike took Eliza skiing for the first time. They went to Dollar Mountain in Sun Valley. Kids can ride the magic carpet up the bunny hill for free. Eliza wore a harness and Mike walked behind her. She did really well and only fell once. She said her legs were very tired after. She liked skiing and wants to go again soon. She is so brave and adventerous.

The newest little skiier in town and her proud coach.

Let it snow!

2009-12-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

It snowed off and on all day today. But we never did go out and play in it. Maybe the kids are already sick of it. Probably not, they will want to go out tomorrow. We did go out and play on Luke's birthday. Which was the first, of many to come, snow storms for us. I am sure there will be more days like this.

We jumped on the blog wagon!

2009-12-12T21:23:00.000-08:00

Better late than never right. I love to read other family blogs and often thought I should start one. This is a great way for you to see what we do here in Idaho. Being that everone lives elsewhere now we can keep in touch better. So it would be impossible to go back and blog about old news, so I will just start with what is happening now. I sure love to talk about my chilren and show them off. So most of my info will be about them. Let's face it, they are my life, so I don't have much else to talk about. Except for my wonderful husband who urged me to start this blog. He is full of great ideas. The big news of the day is Jameson finally has a tooth coming in! Maybe now he can eat real food. He just wants to cruise everywhere, the kid does not sit still. Eliza loves school and draws about 6 pictures a day for me. She is such a sweetheart and a great artist. Luke is 3, need I say more. He whines most of the day, just kidding. But earlier this week I got to play a game with just him, Liza at school and JJ napping, that sure was fun. He really is a sweet boy when he wants to be. This is the most recent picture I have of the 3 kiddos together.