The Last of 2007! September through December

September
I earned my Wonder Woman T-shirt from Katy on the first Saturday in September by participating in a sprint triathlon (800 m. swim, 13 mile bike, 5K run) at Yuba Lake. I had been freaking out about the swim for two months. By freaking out, I mean swimming at the pool a lot and praying that I wouldn't drown even more. As you can see from this photo, I had reason for concern (no separate start for women and children). That's me in the bright pink swim cap. (I wore the pink cap so that Brian could find me. Didn't he do a nice job getting that photo?) Since the huge men weren't passing me after about 50 meters, I swam by them. Then I swam by some more people. Next thing I knew I was getting out of the water and I wasn't even close to the last person to do so. Hooray! The bike went well and I successfully dodged all the cow pies on the run (it was in a giant field). If I had hurried a little more in my transitions I would have taken 3rd in my age group, but I did not hurry, so I took 4th place.

I missed the deadline to hand in my jam at the state fair in September. It was a sad time, but we got through it.

Bridget and I toured the land getting pictures of her with cousin Vivien's school buddy, Flat Stanley. We had a great time trying to get pictures of Bridget with Stanley before Bridget tore off his limbs. By the time we sent him back to North Carolina he was in a full-body cast. Sorry, Stan!



October
I started this blog in October! That means you can look at the archived posts if you really want to know what happened. A-ha!

November
That goes for November, too. :)

December
Bridget helped us decorate the Christmas tree this year. We had several people advise us to put the whole tree in a playpen. We did not. It took a few days, but Bridget lost interest in the tree except for one snowflake ornament (from my friend Angie). She brings me the snowflake ornament every morning. I like to imagine what Bridget thinks when she sees it in the same place every day, "What?! There's that snowflake again. I better take it to Mom." Sigh.

We've had lots of playdates with Clara over the last few weeks while Kristi and I try to get all the Christmas done. Bridget and Clara have started to play together a little instead of just playing next to each other. They were pointing at each other's noses and eyes and ears and it started getting a little rough. I suggested they be soft and give hugs and kisses. Clara immediately obliged. I'm surprised I actually caught it on camera because I was laughing so hard.

On the 12th of this month, my family (the ones who live in Utah) performed at Greenwood Manor. Dad sang several numbers, Makenzie played the violin, Mom and I had piano solos and Makenzie and I played a few duets on the piano. (Brian filmed it and David spent most of the show in the hall with Gabriel.) Afterward the activity director wanted to marry Dad. That's what I got from all the gushing, anyway. :) She pronounced us all blessed by God. She also said Grandpa was lucky to have us, but we're the lucky ones to have him.

All that's left is my birthday, Jen's birthday, Brian's family Christmas party, Christmas Eve at my parent's house, Christmas Day, Gabriel's blessing, and New Year's Eve. I'm suddenly very tired.

More 2007 Review - May through August

May
We planted a vegetable garden! Brian made some grow boxes, we filled them with soil instead of the usual dirt, and we bought WAY too many starts of tomatoes, onions, peppers, and butternut squash (I thought). Brian's parents took a few starts off our hands and ended up getting the only real butternut squashes. I was left with 8-ball zucchini and cream-of-the-crop winter squash. Secretly, a crazy-looking bug was left with the cream-of-the-crop squash.

We celebrated Mother's Day by getting me a porch swing (see left column for "getting old" items) and crying in church. What else is there?







June
Who could forget Brian's 33rd birthday? I mean besides me, of course. AH! We got up early that day and had a nice breakfast and STILL I didn't remember that it was his birthday. After he'd left for work, I gave Bridget a bath and started singing "Happy Birthday" to her (since her birthday is six days after Brian's). That's when I realized I was the worst wife in the history of marriage. Bridget and I scrambled around to find balloons and steaks (for Brian to cook on his Father's Day grill), but it didn't change the facts.

Bridget celebrated her first birthday on June 25th! It was the social event of the summer. I put pigtails in her hair for the first time and baked her a chocolate cake (with matching cupcakes for the rest of the crowd). We had tables set up in the backyard and Brian grilled hamburgers. Both sides of our family came. There were flies and a little bit of crying, but that's true of all major social triumphs.

Besides turning 33 in June, Brian also did a sprint triathlon and an Olympic triathlon. His parents and my Mom all came to watch him at the Salem Spring Triathlon. (Mom, Bridget and I also picked strawberries in Mapleton before the race.) Brian improved his time from last year in Salem. More importantly, he beat that weird guy who always talks smack to him. Again. The Olympic (1 mile swim, 26 mile bike, 10K run) was the Provo Triathlon only a few weeks after Salem. Brian left our house with his friend in what seemed like the middle of the night. He called me a few hours later from a number I didn't recognize. He had dropped his cell phone in the step-up-from-a-port-a-jon next to the starting line at Utah Lake. Hilarious! Disgusting! Fun for the whole family! Bridget and I were ready with fresh batteries in the camera for every leg of the race. Brian met his goals and looked great doing it. :)

July
We celebrated our independence by watching the balloon launch in Provo without my parents. (We were supposed to meet them, but we made no plan.) We found them as we walked back to our car and made up for our ramshackleness by going back to their house for star shaped pancakes. That afternoon we had a barbeque at Makenzie and David's house with all the meat in Pleasant Grove present and accounted for. We watched a pretty good fireworks show at Thanksgiving Point that night. It took us 30 seconds to get there (it's about a mile from our house) and 30 minutes to get home. Next year we're walking.

What better way to celebrate our pioneer heritage than a trip to Oakley, Idaho? We stayed with my bff (and fellow old lady), Kellie, and her family. It was just like our sleepovers of old. :) I ran the Dam 10K (ha!) with another grade school/college friend, Anne. We had to be bussed to the dam and then run back into town. I was alone for most of the race (never a winner or a loser am I) and it was very pleasant to watch the sun rise over the valley where I grew up. Afterwards we ate a pancake breakfast in the park. During our trip to Clark's for Shopping the day before the race, a kind Clark personally invited us to the town lunch the next day. We couldn't resist, "We do this every year. I'll see ya there." (I like that he didn't raise our expectations unnecessarily.) Brian, Bridget and I toured the museum and even found a few pictures of my Great Grandparents. We were front-row-Joe at the 5-Horse Parade in the hot afternoon. Luckily Kellie's sister was on the float that sprayed water on us. That evening we attended the rodeo with Kellie, her husband Mike, and her little boy, Xander. Sitting on the top row of open bleachers with two wiggly toddlers is a lesson I don't need to learn twice. In the immortal words of Sharon Okelberry, "A good time was had by all."

While we were in Oakley, we drove down the road to Pella to visit Grandpa Curtis at his 60-something year high school reunion. Bridget hasn't stopped talking about him since. :)

August
After so much craziness in June & July, August was very still. My piano students started their fall semester and Bridget started walking. I entered my jams in the county fair in August. My blackberry and raspberry jams are the best in all of Utah County and my strawberry is second best. (No fair disputing it if you're not entering your jams in the fair.) The end.

From January to April 2007

As promised, the next few posts will be a 2007 review. Lucky for all of you, I don't remember much and it will mostly be pictures.

January
The biggest thing in January (or ever, really) is that our little family was sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. We went to court the day before the sealing and the only things I remember about that was our lawyer promising Brian he could answer "yes" or "no" to all the questions the judge would ask and the first question the judge asked Brian was, "What day were you married." Of course he was completely blank. The other thing I remember is taking pictures with the judge and then the judge offering to take a picture of us with our lawyer. Brian and I pretended to love that idea and stood next to our six foot tall woman lawyer for a picture. Really? Who wants a picture with their lawyer? She spelled our names wrong on every document three times before she got it right. We're not that tight.

The sealing was very much like our wedding day. In fact, the 90 year-old ladies at the temple thought I was a bride and offered me all kinds of assistance. We dropped a smiling Bridget off at the nursery and didn't see (hear) her again until right before the ceremony. We stepped off the elevator with Elder Hinckley and heard Bridget crying tragically way down the hall. The ladies admitted defeat and handed her over to us. Actually, they handed her to Brian and she calmed right down. Then she reached back and touched my face. My favorite moment ever. It was snowing outside and there were so many people there who were no doubt experiencing some form of stress, but for me it was the most calm and perfect day I've ever had. Every now and then I bask in the memory of it because I can.
February
I remember nothing about February. Here are photos of Bridget opening a valentine from Grandma Lee.

Isn't her hair ridiculous? Ha!

I just remembered that I put together a neighborhood cookbook in February. Of course it ended up being a lot more work than I bargained for, but I can't fight the gene pool. (Anyone who knows my Mom knows what I mean by that.) Also, I think the cookbook turned out great. It inspired me to start making cookies like a real mom.











March
Grandpa Furniss moved to Lehi in March! What a treat to have him living so close. He refers to Bridget as "the little tad" and I never get tired of hearing his stories. Especially ones that include "Toots" and Phyllis. You all wish you knew a couple with those names.

I believe March was also the month that Clara and Bridget started their best friendship forever in earnest. The weather was nice often enough for Kristi and me to take the girls on what became our weekly (and sometimes daily) outings. Cheers to our little friends!

April
Easter! The Tulip Festival! The Girl Scout Cookie Chaser 5K with no cookies. (Dumbest. Race. Ever.) Of course we forced a humiliating get-up on Bridget for Easter. I'm sure she saw it coming after her first Halloween costume (an elephant). We had an egg hunt with Brian's family - Bridget didn't show up for that with her game face on. It's like they always say, you can't train to feel good on the day of the race.

Bridget and I toured Thanksgiving Point Gardens with Grandma Lee and Aunt Makenzie at the end of April. I just kept saying, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HERE." This is Lehi, after all. Sure we have classy landmarks like the Lehi Roller Mill where the prom on "Footloose" was filmed, but you can't see the Thanksgiving Point Gardens from the freeway. It's so tucked away it's like they don't want locals to know it's there. Hmmmm.