December Project

While Trisha was gone for the month, I thought it was a good time to take on a project in the house. I had this idea and I went for it. It took a few days and lots and lots of painters tape but here it is, our new bedroom.

BEFORE:

The Base Coat: "Coffee Bean"

 

Add: Blue Stripes "Powder Blue 5"

Add: Rolls of Tape

Add: Green Stripes "Olive Tree"

THE FINAL PRODUCT

Bathroom Before:

Bathroom After ("Coffee" paint):

Toiletroom After ("Winter Wheat" paint):

It was a fun project to work on and it kept me busy for a while. I am really impressed by how well the stripes came out and I would definitely do it again.

Happy Thanksgiving and More

We had an awesome Thanksgiving. I didn't have to work most of the week and it made it really relaxing and fun. We drove out to Salt Lake on Wednesday after I finished working. We have a new tradition that we started last year and continued this year. At 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning we go to the Utah Human Race (http://www.utahhumanrace.com/). This year they expanded it to a 10k and a 5k which worked out perfectly as I ran the 10k and Trisha ran the 5k. Neither of us have run in a while so it felt good to get out there and do it, even though it was less than 10 degrees. Brrr.

Here we are before the race

Next, we relaxed for some time after the race before Trisha starting working on the 7 dozen rolls that she was assigned to bake for dinner that night. They turned out delicious!!

We always do dinner at my Grandma and Grandpa Ballis house later in the day so people can go to the in-laws earlier in the day. The dinner was amazing and we had a good time hanging out with all of my family.

We were going to try to get out for some Black Friday doorbusters but nothing seemed worth it when it came time to get out of bed. We did go later in the morning and found some great deals on things at JCPenney, Target, and Kohl's. Mostly it was pretty easy and we only had a long wait in line at Kohl's which turned out to be 1 hour of waiting and taking turns browsing the store.

Let the holidays begin!!

The Bumbo

Our friends bought us the Bumbo for Sam and this week while they were over, we decided he was big enough to put him in it. It has now become a daily thing. I think he likes it because it makes him feel independent; He can just sit up by himself and look around where he wants to look. He only likes it for a few minutes at a time but seems to really enjoy those few minutes.

"I've had enough" face

"Hi Daddy" face

"Content" face

"I have to really concentrate to move my arm" face

"I'm about to have an accident" face

"Staring into space" face

"Sleep? or Cry?" face

"What's going on?" face

"Wide eyed" face

In the last few weeks, he has changed a lot. We are finally starting to see more of the Cheney come out in him. Several times we have looked at him and think he looks just like a mini uncle TJ. I have also observed that he looks the most like his mom when he is angry/sad and more like me when he is happy; which is not at all reflective of our personalities but it is true nonetheless. 

Sam is 2...months

Sam is 2 months old now and he is growing so much!!

Sam at birth

His first trip to church at 6 weeks

6 week old Dinosaur

2 months old chillin on the infant lounger that used to drown him

Staring anywhere but at the camera

He has always had a really strong neck and likes to be perched up so he can look around

He is fascinated with ceiling lights

We tried to prop him up again but he was too tired so he rolled down into a comfortable position and instantly fell asleep

He has started to smile a little bit but I'm still not sure he knows what he is doing. He is eating and sleeping on a pretty good schedule, although Trisha does not enjoy his 6am waking up for the day. He is almost always content. He loves to be held and get some attention. He fights sleep as if he may not wake up if he closes his eyes. Once he is sound asleep, not even a hurrican could wake him up. He will take the boob, a bottle or whatever you want to give him as long as it fills up his belly. He grunts a lot! He loves staring at bright lights and the tv. He is so much work and so much fun. We love him!

Top Of Utah

The Top of Utah Marathon

September 18, 2010

My second marathon was nothing like my first. The timing was not great and I did very little training for it. I decided that I wanted to do it anyway and I did it. My little brother, Shayne, ran it with me too.

We drove to Logan on Friday afternoon and got there in time to sit at Olive Garden for over an hour waiting for a table. I guess we weren't the only ones that wanted the never-ending pasta bowl the night before a big race. CJ, Tania, Clara, Shayne and Chalise all met us there. It was a really fun dinner and good to spend some time with my family! Afterwards we crashed at CJ and Tanias house.

Shayne picked me up for the race at 5:00am. We had to be shuttled up the canyon to the starting line and it took a while. When we got there it was a half hour til race time and we rushed to get ready. It was also freezing cold, probably in the upper 30s I'm guessing (maybe lower 40s but COLD no matter)! We stretched and the race began. Once we crossed the start line, we said good luck and he went to the right and I went to the left. I didn't see him again until the finish line because he smoked me.

I did pretty well for the first half of the race but it felt all uphill from there. The run down the mountain was really pretty, especially when the sun came out and it started to warm up. It was awesome to finally see spectators about mile 15 and got to see some personal supporters at mile 17. After that I didn't really have a lot of energy and kept having to walk. It was a huge relief to finally get into downtown Logan and know that the race was almost over. I did not do as well as my first marathon but I still feel really good about this. While I was running it I was sure I would never do it again, but now I'm not sure I'm done quite yet...

Shayne at mile 17

Me making a face at my nephew at mile 17

Me coming up to the finish line

Me at the finish line with my family in the background

Trisha, Sam and I after the finish line. Sam is zonked out :)

Official Time: 04:51:15.2

And if you were wondering, Shayne got: 04:07:44.9

Day at the lake

We got to go out on the lake last week and it was so fun!! I was lucky enough to have the day off so we packed up ourselves and our little man and headed out for his first boating experience. It started out a little chilly and I was scared but it turned out to be a beautiful day and we had a great time! Sam didn't fuss too much, so I will take that as a sign that he loved it and can't wait to go again.

Me holding Sam on the beach. Can you find him?!

Ammon on the beach

The kids eating lunch

Clara

Logan

Lily

Zach

Landon

Caleb

Dad, Mom and Lily

Our family photo on the beach

His swimsuit wasn't even close to fitting him but we were determined to have him wear it

Little guy wedged between his hat, his life jacket and his binky

Trisha and Sam

Lisel and Ammon

Landon watching the tubers. Who can sit like that?

Zach and Lily

Shannon and Logan

Me and Landon on a "fast ride" in the tube. He was way brave and we had an awesome time bouncing around!

I LOVE the lake! I'm sad I only went once this year and summer is basically over but at least I got to go one time. It was way fun. Thanks mom and dad for taking us!