Memorial Day - Sun and Snow

Our Memorial Day weekend was as varied as the weather - my parents came to town for a much awaited visit, and they were game for whatever we had planned. We got to have Duke visit us as well - he stayed at our house and Claire and Miles fought over him - who got to walk him, feed him, or put him in his kennel. We went swimming, to our ward volleyball game where I scored the winning point for the other team (grr), to Miles gymnastics class, Claire's ballet, and then up to Mt. Charleston for the day.






The Hillers always go camping on Memorial Day weekend - we enjoyed the weather, the hiking, the food and the company until it started getting a bit chilly after the sun went down. Matt and Claire camped overnight but the rest of us went home to sleep in our warm beds.







I went back the next afternoon with Miles only to find the camp covered in snow. I started getting a little nervous when cars were leaving the mountain with about 4 inches of snow on them, but with no cell service I just had to keep going to meet up with Matt. As soon as I got there, Matt said they were packing up to go home. So we played in the snow for a few minutes and then headed back down the mountain to 70 degree weather in Las Vegas.



It was a fun weekend - I am so glad my parents could spend time with us and create some fun memories. Come again soon!

Yep, That's My Brother

See that person way, way up in the tree? That's my brother Kenny, who was up there for five hours cutting the tree down in sections that then had to be removed by a crew below before he could cut the next piece.

500th Post!!

This blog is the best journal I have ever kept - a record of our family's happenings and milestones, generally a positive outlook on the craziness that is raising two young children while one spouse works and the other is in school.

For example, though not a regular occurrence, I left the house this morning before the kids were awake and got home around 7:30 pm just in time to snuggle for a bit and put them to bed. I missed these kiddos today.




For my 500th post I wanted to share a favorite quote that graces a friend's blog, and I have been wanting to steal it for some time because it is the perspective I am striving for, though I often fall short. It is how I want to prioritize my life, even amidst the craziness that I often feel when I am having one of those rushing around, dropping off the kids, driving to work, only to realize I left my laptop at home kind of days.

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenck's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived." -Marjorie Pay Hinckley

I got new shoes for my birthday

Aren't they cute?

I have been walking/running in the mornings whenever I can - though I never made it back to boot camp, I am slowly but surely losing a pound or two here and there, and just trying to be more active. We did a pedometer challenge at work and I came in second with about 85,000 steps in one week - 2,000 steps is a mile. So over 42 miles in one week - that is pretty good for me. I found out that playing basketball earns me about 5 miles of running. Now if I were to just set out to run 5 miles, I would just hate it and be so bored and probably never finish. Hopefully my birthday gifts of new shoes, new workout clothes and an iPod filled with great songs will help me keep up this new habit. I would love to be one of the old ladies I see out walking every morning - they are in great shape and out enjoying the day.

Birthday Sunrise

It is only for a very special person that I would get up at 4:30 am on a Saturday to go see the Sunrise over Mountain's Edge. But if that's all they want for their birthday, how can you say no? Happy Birthday Emily!

Ode to Cafe Rio

Oh how we love you, let us count the ways! We always see someone we know at Cafe Rio, it is inevitable. We have the perfect order figured out (free kids quesadillas and a shared grilled chicken salad). Our kids (unfortunately for the other guests), treat the restaurant like our second living room. Our record is 3 visits in one week - I don't think we will top that anytime soon, I mean we have to draw the line somewhere, right? So if you haven't seen us in awhile, stop by Cafe Rio and you can share some chips and salsa with us. :)

Haircut

Miles is getting better about getting his regular haircut - at least he doesn't cry anymore. He was covered in hair but played happily in the water and brushed his teeth with a hairy toothbrush. Yum!

Claire Quotes

Time for another round of "what will that girl say next?" I am starting to wish I had a hidden camera in my earrings or something so I could switch it on without Claire knowing, and capture the funny, random things she says all the time. Here are a few of them from the past week or so - unfortunately not caught on camera:

"Mom, can we go to Old McDonald's for lunch?" And then she insisted we sing the song.

Claire and I were looking at clothes for Miles and I had her choose between two outfits - she chose the one with a rugby style shirt with a jersey number on it over a striped shirt "because me and Miles are a team!"

She likes to make up stories that are basically one long run on sentence that combines very random things together, along with things she sees around her at the time. The other day she told me a story about some scary people who were in the woods and they were fighting and they were animals like bears all around, and then they got married. I said, "The bears got married?" "No silly, the people got married!"

"Mom, I want to be just like you when I grow up" (aahhh)

Happy Mother's Day!

The words to this song were changed a little bit to be for grandmas, but I have just always loved this song from our children's song book and sing it to Claire and Miles, substituting their own names for "mother."


Thank you to all the women who have taught me something along the way, especially my own mom. Happy Mother's Day!

Fashion Sense

Claire picked out her outfit today - it literally hurts me to see her so mismatched. She found my pile of clothes that are too small for her, but not yet put away in storage. Striped shirt, plaid way-too-tight stretch pants, and silver church shoes. At least she let me do her hair, which she had specific instructions about.

Fun day at the park though with Halle and Zach, as seen here: