Three strikes and.......

HAD to share this one!  Yesterday Coleman and Katelyn were watching some dumb sitcom on netflix.  I overheard something from the show and said, "Uh oh.  That's not appropriate."  Another minute or two I heard something else and said, "I don't like that either.  Maybe we should turn this off."  Katelyn was quick to remind me that "it's THREE strikes and you're out."  So the show went on a few more minutes when something else inappropriate was said.  Both of my kids turned around to look at me and see my reaction.  I just raised my eyebrows at them.  Coleman quickly spoke up...."That was a foul ball."

Ha Ha!  They crack me up!

Mother's Day Tattle Tale

I love Mother's Day.  I love sleeping in and listening to the whispering and the clinking sounds in the kitchen.  Then when they bring me breakfast in bed, I love the smiles on their faces and how excited they get (although Morgan and Jamison are growing out of this stage).  I also love that I can use Mother's Day for an excuse to get kids to do what they're supposed to do.  It evokes feelings of guilt in kids that can be very productive.  You get these cute little gifts from your kids that they made at school where they were "assigned" to write nice things about you.  I love them all, but I need to share two special mother's day cards that I received from my boys.

This first one is from Coleman.  It came flying in in the form of an airplane.

Front of Coleman's card

Back of Coleman's card 

Not to be outdone, Jamison quickly wrote down his most heart-felt feeling for his mother and slipped it under the door.

Front of Jamison's card

 Back of Jamison's card

The most true and honest mother's day cards ever written . . . without any fluff.  

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ME!!!

Katelyn Pics

My wonderfully talented friend took these pictures of Katelyn.

I thought they'd be fun to share:

It was a fun photo shoot, and as you can tell, she loved showing off her missing teeth!

Gurney Family Reunion

All year long we wait for it. Summer camp and lessons are meticulously planned not to conflict. Tiff's and Heather's family plan trips to Utah to be here. Finally it arrives . . . the week Kevin and Kim and their family come to visit! My kids (especially Morgan and Jamison) are soooo excited.

Yeah, I realize it is October, but I'm taking you back in time to the first week of August . . . . . .

This is the entire Gurney Clan! Kevin & Kim's fam in red, Paul & Jennifer in Yellow, my family in BYU blue, Heather & John in light blue, Brent & Ashlee in green, Sarah & Cody in white, Tiffany & Mike in Orange, and Rachelle & Craig in black. Whew!!

We went hiking up Battlecreek to the falls. Played and picnicked at the park with the McNamara side where we had a mean game of kickball going on. (Dan hurt his shoulder - again). Seven Peaks Waterpark was a highlight. All the kids had a blast and we found out that Ashlee's a little daredevil.

We had fun trying out our gymnastic skills at "Extreme Air Sports" where . . . uh . . . someone . . . landed head first in a pile of foam while trying to to a double front flip. Don't worry, Heather came to my rescue. With my head packed in blue foam cubes, I could hear Heather's voice like a distant echo. First she was laughing, then screaming, "Cynthia needs help!" I was actually fine, but I couldn't move -- all I could do was kick my legs that were sticking out. A couple days later, when the neck pain gradually got worse, Paul adjusted my neck and informed everyone that "Cynthia's head wasn't on straight!" Obviously -- hello? What was I thinking?

The dad's and sons went on a campout to Strawberry, caught ground squirrels and crawdads. Saw the movie "17 Miracles." Grandpa cooked-up some good dutch oven grub up South Fork. We had a wonderful time all together.

Grandpa and Kyle Kevin

Brianne, Jessica, Sage and Morgan

What a great family we have! We'll be counting down again, until next summer . . . . . . . .

Let Freedom Run!

Heather was here for the 4th of July -- so she found a 5K and recruited a few co-runners. Rachelle, Morgan, and I agreed to the torture . . . and the fun. This race was actually a lot of fun. There were about 4,000 participants. It went all along the parade route for the freedom festival parade in Provo. We had people cheering us on the whole way -- and they added a little extra pressure to keep running. The costumes of the runners were the best part. We ran with wonder woman, captain america, uncle sam, and many other interesting people. Morgan did great, despite the fact her shoes were three sizes too small (not to plagiarize Dr. Suess). Her feet are now bigger than mine!

Despite her blisters, and getting lost after the race (which way is the southeast corner??) we all had a great time. Wonderful way to celebrate the 4th!

a short break

After a short 4 months break . . . . I'm back in cub scouts! Coleman and Katelyn had their birthdays in May, and Coleman turned the ripe old age of 8. Here we are at the raingutter regatta. Coleman is racing his cousin, Tanner. Not surprisingly, the Finch boys, with the help and encouragement of their dads, designed their boats all BYU!!! Tanner's is a Jimmer catamaran, and Coleman's is decked out in "Y"'s. They had a fun night.

The end of school was quite hectic. We tried to fit in the last bits of homework and projects in between the baseball games. Jamison decided to run for student council. His posters had the following cover of Sports Illustrated (read closely - notice what it says on his jersey) that read "Don't get Jimmered, Vote for Jamison". Since the majority of our student body are cougar fans, he couldn't lose ..... and he didn't!

Lastly I'll show a video of Katelyn from the dance festival. She was hilarious! She was giving the dance 200% effort! This is a clip from the "Ugly Bug ball". Katelyn is the front right leader (green shirt).

Timp Shadow 5K

Heather is way too motivated. She is working up to running the "Speedy Spaniard 10K" this July. She wanted to try out a 5K while she was here this last weekend. The only one going on, that was close, was this Timp Shadow race. It's TRAIL Running!

I really didn't want to do it. I was hoping the bad weather would have changed her mind. It almost did, too, until . . . . . Ashlee came over the night before. "Let's do it!!! It will be fun!!!" Well, I caved under peer pressure.

Keep in mind that I don't exercise . . . . . . EVER! (Do I dare admit that!?) And here I went, cold turkey. My new best friend has been Ibuprofen. My kids were not too impressed to hear I came in third from last (out of about 35).

The view was beautiful, the snow fell lightly, the deer tracks criss-crossed the trail, and all I could hear was "squelch, squerch, squelch, squerch" through the mud. After it was all over, there was a good feeling of accomplishment --- and a free T-shirt! Will I do it again? ....Maybe :)