Libby's Birthday

Considering how crazy busy things are around here, Libby had a pretty fun birthday.  

Breakfast in bed.  A Mickey Mouse pancake (that she didn't eat because I wouldn't let her have syrup in bed--SO mean!) and a grapefruit.

Libby asked for a Rock Star party, and she got it!  It was a tad more chaotic that I would have liked, but with a group of 5 and 6 year olds, I knew that I should just let them have fun on the stage.

Fun for Reid was sharing some facts.  It was fascinating!  I never knew that an octopus has 3 hearts.

An amazing rendition of Gangham Style

She's 6!

Libby and Ava enjoying licking their candles.  Not sure that Libby ate a cupcake.  I would be shocked!  

Ariel, I mean Sarah, enjoying her cupcake.

Her party was on the day before her birthday.  After swimming lessons on the big day (which felt a bit anti-climactic) we went to Red Robin for dinner.  They sang to Libby and gave her ice cream, which she promptly rejected (due to sprinkles and whip cream contaminating the ice cream) and gave it to Sarah.

Favorite birthday moment.  Auntie Jen gave Libby a picture of a Razor scooter to show that one was coming in the mail.  Libby got all huffy and said, "I didn't want a picture of a razor scooter!"  But when it came in the mail she was delighted.  She is still getting the hang of it, but is pretty excited.

Ragnar Results

Maren just shared this little tidbit with me:

Ragnar Times:

2013: 30:47:36

2012: 33:36:12

We were 3 hours faster this year!  Go team!

Ragnar 2013

After Ragnar last year, I couldn't wait to do it again.  Sort of.  It is so fun, so insane, so awesome...all at the same time.  This year we were much more prepared.  We had an awesome theme--"Run the World".  We made t-shirts and sweat shirts and had AWESOME van decor.  I brought an air mattress for the "sleeping" on the gym floor in Oak Harbor.  It in an experience that is hard to describe, but it brings together some of my favorite elements.  Exercise, road tripping, friends, dining in fun restaurants, wearing costumes, decorating, temporary tattoos, meeting new friends, random dance parties on the street, down time, and so on....We decided we might even try to do one in April in San Diego.  Here are my favorite pics:

On the way to the hotel on Thursday night, a car passed us to let us know our roof top carrier flew open.  I pulled to the left since were in the left lane.  There was nothing for me to do but climb out of my window, onto the top of the van and push it closed with my body.  We did lose one sleeping bag and one pillow, but thankfully everything else was there.  

My friend Linda always does fun Race Nails for her races.  Here are my Czech Flag nails.  (That was my country for the run--although I did Slovakia for my 2nd outfit.)

Our van, complete with a globe mounted on the hood.  It was awesome.  We got lots of great comments on it!

Just before my first run.  I have a Czech flag on one calf and the Ragnar symbol on the other calf.  My flag was by far  the smallest, my one regret in the equipment department this year.  

My night run outfit.  The Glimmer sleeves from Linda were a big hit!  This run was 5.5 miles of cornfields  I was runner 6, just like last year.  My routes were almost exactly the same as last year.  

Just before my 3rd run.  Our team shirts were awesome.  It was a bit misty in the air so you can't see the amazing view behind me, but this Ragnar has amazing scenery.  

About to check off my final run on the van.  I am super excited!  We each had our head photoshopped onto a body of a super buff runner.  It was sweet!

We did it!

Photo finish!

Leaps of Faith

A few times in my life I have taken giant leaps of faith.  Like when I submitted my mission papers, like when I gave up my graduate stipend (and our income) to look for a job, like when I gave up my teaching job to be a (mostly) stay-at-home mom.  Derek had been feeling like the time had come for us to move to Shoreline (only about 15 minutes away, but it would make a much bigger difference in his commute time during wrestling season. It is also an amazing school district.)  Anyway, I had been struggling with the decision.  I didn't want to just sell our house until we had somewhere to move to that was equally awesome (but with more space!).  I had been feeling very little peace on the subject.  Until this week.  Last Sunday I finally realized that we just had to do it.  We had to sell our house and take the leap.  We might be homeless for a bit.  But I know it is the right thing to do.  Now I feel like I can move forward with confidence.  The Lord has never let me fall when I have taken the leap.  In fact, I got called to the BEST possible mission, I got the BEST teaching job I could have ever had!  I know that we are being led to the BEST possible house for our family by taking this leap.  It is a daunting process.  But I know the Lord will see us through.  I was concerned most for Libby, who will have to change schools (probably after the school year starts).  I was praying and had the distinct impression, "Don't worry about Libby.  She will be okay.  I love her even more than you do!"  When she was praying last night, she prayed, "Please comfort me when we move."  I know He will!
Look for our listing in a couple of weeks! (Although there was a man at church today who is moving his family to the area asking about houses for sale in our ward...so who knows, maybe we won't even have to list it!)

Libby's Glasses

I was talking with a couple of my cousins in Salmon about how it has been a challenge having a kid in glasses.  We talked about the time she left them on the bus, and how Ben had broken a couple of pairs.  Then I said the words that I should never have said.  "We have been doing pretty well with the current pair."  Or something like that.  Of course, I went outside right after that to find that one of the little cousins had twisted up one of the earpieces of her glasses that were laying on the table.  Thankfully they weren't broken.  Then the other night, I realized I hadn't seen her glasses since she had put on a headband earlier in the day.  We still can't find them.  Ugh.

Maren's Birthday Bike Ride

We decided to do a bike ride party for Maren.  We met at Log Boom park and brought everyone's bikes.  I wasn't sure if Libby would end up riding (I was pretty sure Sarah wouldn't, she still isn't very confident.  I need to work on her skills).  Anyway, Libby ended up leading our group for a whole mile.  She did great!  The way back was a little rougher...just the two of us turned around, and the lack of group pressure was definitely felt.  But I was so stinking proud of her.  I can't wait for family bike rides.

Salmon IDAHO!

One of my favorite things every summer was our family trip to Salmon Idaho.  We would go there because some of our relatives on my Grandma's side had a ranch where my dad and his siblings worked in the summers.  One of the sons in that family in particular, Edward, was like a brother to my dad.  My aunt bought a house there too so we would go and see my aunt, ride horses, shoot guns (when we were older), and frolic with our cousins.  It was an amazing way to spend a few days (or weeks) in the summer.  The older generation of ranchers have now all passed on.  They stopped doing the Corbett reunion in Salmon.  So I haven't been for a few years.  

So, we planned our own Harris/Randall reunion at Myrna and Jerry's house.  You can see from the group shot, we have grown from 4 Harris cousins and 6 Randall cousins to a huge group (and Dave and Nick couldn't come).  It was so peaceful and amazing. 

We drove to Missoula on the 4th, then finished the drive on the 5th.  We came into Salmon just in time for the parade.  Derek and Ben came into the store we were stationed in front of for the parade to do some relaxing in the swing.

The amazing view from where we ate our meals.  

Jeralynn's EPIC train.  She actually welded this whole thing.  Awesome!  The kids love it!

Sarah had some great quotes on this trip.  This is just after she went down the super huge slip n' slide.  I said, "Was it fun?"  She said in a shaky voice, "Sort of."
She also walked by Derek one day with one of the cousins.  She patted him on the belly and said, "This is my dad.  He's soft."
She also got a leech on her bottom at Williams lake.  GROSS!

Libby swinging over the irrigation ditch.  Both girls were super into the water.  They wore their life jackets at Williams lake and did quite a bit of swimming around.  I was so amazed since they have only had one swimming lesson. 

Ben loved this swing!  He wasn't super happy on this trip.  Teething and being pestered by other kids that wanted to play didn't make for  a great combo.  

We recreated our fashion show from decades ago.  I LOVE those costumes.  So sad that many of them were burned when Jerry's giant shed burned down.  

This was one of Grandma Louise's dresses.   I couldn't zip it all the way :(

The whole crew minus Bryn who is behind the camera.  What a fun group!