Just a pane of glass

I have never been more greateful for a pane of glass as I was when Betsy sent me this pic. While the other two girls that Betsy took to the Zoo with her were more than likely wrapped around her legs, Ella I guess went right up to the glass and was laughing hysterically as this MAMMOTH Gorilla stared her down. Oh Ella. You are fearless.

It made my heart JUMP when I first looked at it and it did not take much of a stretch of my imagination to see Ella just laughing at this HUGE Gorilla who I am hoping was more interested in the snack she was holding than being laughed at by this 4 year old. Thank you Gorilla for not traumatizing my daughter, thus ensuring further visits to come and see you.

More Dirt...pics of the race

They are small cause these were taken by the photographers at the event and if you want them you pay for em!

Kiss Me Dirty Run and Obstacle Course

Even though this was the "after" pic...you get the idea...

I did a 5k run and obstacle course over the weekend and it being the first time I have done one in the mud, I was not sure what to expect. Its called KISS ME DIRTY and an all women race. Some women have been doing this for years. It benefits Gynecological Cancer Research and man. Did it have obstacles! Some of the obstacles were certainly a bit more challenging than I expected them to be, and I will have to get some before pics so you can see us clean, but it was so much fun!

Mud, water, and costumes were basically all you saw throughout the race. This is what our costumes looked like following the race....they were thrown away. I also donated my tshirt to the garbage as it was just not worth getting through the grime to see if it could make it another day. I was sore after the race, not more than what I thought I would be, but sore all the same!
The girls came and were at a few of the obstacles cheering me on and that was the absolute best part of the entire experience. I loved hearing them yell "Run Mom Run. Run Mom Run." I think they were a little proud of me and it made my heart SWELL to see them. Or maybe it was just the chance they had to hose me down once we got home with ice cold water from the hose in the backyard!

I must have liked it because I am doing another (this one is co-ed) 5k mud and obstacle course- this one will a timed race and I have heard it makes the Kiss me Dirty race look like a cake walk....great.
Our team Name? "The Dirty Thirty Somethings" Yep. Those race pics will be coming soon!

Renee's Baby Shower

The girls have been anxiously awaiting this day for a LONG time. Betsy's sister Renee is expecting her first little one-a boy and since the girls know Renee almost as well as they know Betsy, they were pretty excited when the shower came along.
Sofia was her usual self and started to delegate what the group would be doing (as far as playing goes: trampoline, then tag, hide and seek, etc.) and in which order. Ella took a beating on the trampoline early on and decided it was safest near Betsy or myself.
It was so fun and Betsy did AMAZING on all the decorations. She's just awesome like that.

 Ella hovered around this table, as when we left we got to fill up goodie bags to take home!

One of the games was to make a diaper with a partner and a roll of TP. Ella and Sof went right to work! When that didnt work, Sofia and I were a team and just rolled her up. We won the race and she got her very own watermelon chapstick! She was ecstatic!

Oktoberfest at Snowbird

We were supposed to be up in the mountains of Park City with a cousin reunion, but unfortunately that was cancelled so we decided to head up to the hills anyway! I had wanted to take the girls on the Alpine slide for awhile, as I remember it so fondly from when I was a kid. So we went up with Jacki, Tim and thier boys, and since Oktoberfest was going on at Snowbird, it was perfect!!
As we were waiting in line, a very nice lady gave us some free tickets for the TRAM as well, so we got to go on the Alpine slide, the TRAM and added in a bouncy house there as well. We paid WAY too much money for 1 gatorade and 1 water, got a little sun, the girls got thier faces painted and we ALL had a FABULOUS time.

I took Ella on the slide with me and Artyom took Sof. Artyom and Ella took off before us, but I guess Artyom let Sofia have control of the stick and she could not quite push it forward enough to get the momentum and speed they wanted...although Sof DID still scream girly screams the entire way down! I asked Ella is she wanted to go fast, and she was all over it! We pushed that stick all the way forward and FLEW down the slide. We not only caught up to Papa and Sofia but BEAT them. It was awesome.

Meeing Baby Isabella

Our good friends welcomed thier 2nd darling daughter a few weeks ago and we were able to go up and visit for just a little while and meet the little princess. Adorable as can be, she was so sweet and fun to meet. Her older sister Yulia (who is just a few months younger than Ella) LOVED having other girls over and Sofia instigated the ever popular "Fashion Show" within minutes of our arrival. I loved it!

Each of the girls got to hold the new baby, and as I helped Ella keep Bella's head up, everytime she would make a little whimper or any sort of noise, Ella would say "oohhhhh" and start rocking her gently. We all just laughed- it was precious! When Sofia had her turn, she was so gentle, and so sweet with her. Kurt, Baby Bella's Dad and myself both reached for our phone cameras to take a pic!
We had been gone ALL day up at Snowbird's Oktober fest and did the Alpine Slide, so that is the reason for the face paint. We had a LONG day. But this was by far the best part. Welcome to the world Isabella Jacqueline!

Since Sofia got her "solo post"

Ella.

Just saying her name puts a smile on my face. Artyom affectionately has taken to calling her "Blondinka" as she is the epiphone of the stereotypical Blonde. Her legs have scrapes and bruises since she often will just trip over nothing WE can see and she tends to run into things alot. She is just too immersed in the scenery around her, that she sometimes does not see what is right in front of her nose.

We adore her.

Life in our family would not be the same without her spirit and the sweet, and fun personality that she brings into our home. So when we got our family pics taken and the photographer was able to catch this? We could not stop laughing when we saw it. It portrays our Ella perfectly.

Ella my sweets, you make my life worth every moment I live in it with you.

Sofia means... lots of laundry

Sofia is a GIRL through and through. For quite awhile, I could not figure out why I was constantly finding her drawers empty when I just did her laundry. Then I started to pay a bit more attention to her habits after we got home in the afternoon. This girl was changing on an average of 3-4 times!! And no, I am not exaggerating. Both girls have a dress up box in thier closet which is used very often by both of them. Our friends Voni and Bill got a dress up for Ella for her birthday and it has become the one most often worn at the moment. So when Sofia asked me to close my eyes till she was ready-I obliged wondering what kind of ensemble would captivate my seeing pleasure...This girl does NOT disappoint. She posed, I took the pic and now? I believe this is one I may pull out at her Senior Prom...

Bees Baseball

Many moons ago I was able to sing the National Anthem at two different Salt Lake City Bees Games. When I told the girls this, they asked me what a baseball game was...Hmmm. So when Jacki, my bestie asked if we wanted $5 tickets which included a hot dog, well we had to say yes! I did not have Artyom with me as he was working late, but I am not one to shy away from taking them places solo. I don't want them to miss out on something because it was just me. It was some great Mom and me time with the two of them. I knew we would not stay for the whole time, but the girls hada great time. It was "Family Night" which meant not only the great deal on tickets, but there were alot of kids in the stands as well.  Both Sofia and Ella got into the game yelling "Keep your eyes on the ball!" to the players and Sofia said that the ball went "all the way up to the sky" a few times. We saw a player break a bat in two when he hit the ball and saw quite a few go up and over the fence and roof behind us. It was fun.

Yes. Ella is now our toothless wonder. A fall when she was a toddler, a dead tooth and recommendations from our wonderful Pediatric Dentist meant Ella will be without her front ones for a few months. Shell be fitted with her temp teeth when her gums heal and well wait for the permanent ones to come in. That story will be in another post. It was a bit more traumatic and I don't want to ruin the Bees Game fun!

Friday fabulousness

As many people know, I started a new job and new career move this January and I will be completely honest, I was a bit concerned that I would'nt really like it and want to stay. It was a bit of a learning curve and a slow start, but the patience has paid off! I had my first big success today and it was a BIG one. So my awesome team decided to take a pic and sent it Division wide including to one of our VP's. How is THAT for some support?! So I thought I'd slap it up here for my kids to see someday that yes, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to doing...even in cargo pants and your hair in a low bun.

Basically its my "assignment days confirmed" with a client that I've been working with. They accepted the Doc I presented and he will be helping them out for 3-6 months. So that is my in all my Casual Friday glory slapping our board with my 67 days confirmed. I have heard more than once today, my new mantra is "Go big or go home"...nothing like a little pressure.