Conference Part 2

First off, a 36 weeker. I'm 37 weeks now, and have started my final count down to D-day. I have also started right into the crazy nesting phase...it's unfortunate that one starts nesting when bending over to pick things up becomes the hardest thing in the world...Sorry for the blurry picture and the fake smile. Nate is not a great photographer, and I am not a great poser so...lose-lose, I guess.

So, remember how the day before was 70 and sunny and we went for a hike? Well, Sunday we woke up to LOTS of snow! Provo has INSANE spring weather. Lucky for me it snowed enough so that it was still fun to play in. I didn't get any pictures, but we went to Rock Canyon park in between conference sessions and thoroughly romped in about 7 inches of snow. I was so happy to get one more snow adventure in this winter!

This is how we roll. Watching conference on the big screen plasma. Link LOVES when the choir sings, but quickly finds something better to do as soon as someone starts talking. He also does this in church. And his nursery class.

What could be in this cupboard?

Peek-a-boo!

The boys discovered this great new game where they hollow out any given cupboard (making a nice big mess for me to clean up) and open and shut the doors yelling; "hello! Goodbye!" It's actually pretty cute when Link does it, and I have to say that I love when my boys play together nicely and make each other laugh.


Reid loves to have his picture taken, and I think he's so handsome that I'm always happy to oblige.

Even when he's sitting on the table...

Mr. Linkers

My Linkers is almost two years old these days (how did THAT happen?!), and it has been really interesting to see the dramatic difference between my two little dudes. One thing he loves is cleaning up, (and making huge messes. HUGE messes...) and he loves to sing about it too. Here he is helping daddy do some yard work. He's my little stink bug!

He wanted to carry them over and throw them in the garbage all by himself. What a big boy.


He is also getting really good at eating like a big boy. He loves eating cereal with a spoon and dinner with a fork. This may not seem like a big deal, but it makes life a little easier when he eats what we eat!

Another Link favorite is putting on other people's clothes. Especially shoes. He will walk around the house in everyone's shoes but his own. Here he has decided to put on my puffer vest. Funny kid!

In-between conference sessions today we went on a little family hike on the Shoreline trail. These boys love to be outside, and boy am I glad. If they were homebodies their momma would go crazy!

The last few days have been really warm and sunny, so I told the boys that we would be living outside before it snows again (that's how Provo rolls). Unfortunately, I forgot that when the sun hasn't been out much since the fall we tend to get a little TOO much sunshine TOO quickly, so we all have a little bit of a pink hue (especially me) because Mamma forgot that we needed sunscreen. Oops. Mom of the year award.

Yay for sunshine!

Elevate Triathlon Series

ammie and me after the race

So, I am FULLY aware that this is about the least flattering picture of myself in the history of the universe, but it's all I've got!

So, I signed up to do this indoor triathlon series at the Elevate training center in Orem. I thought it would be perfect because you swim in an endless pool, (not my favorite by the way) they put your bike on a trainer, and then you do the run on the treadmill. Perfect for a pregnant woman who doesn't want to fall off her bike! (although I DID fall off a stationary bike in spin class HARD CORE the other day. It was pretty much the most embarrassing thing ever, and I have MONSTER bruises to prove it!)

The first race was in November which would have been perfect because I wasn't pukey anymore, and I wasn't enormous yet. Unfortunately, I got a really nasty cold that week and didn't do it. Bummer.

The next race was at the end of January, and I did it with my great friend, Heather. We had SUCH a great time, and I believe I came in 4th from the bottom. I was pretty excited about this for being six months pregnant!

The final race was on Saturday, and Heather couldn't make it to this one, so I was ALL business! (and all belly too! I sure got some funny looks!) Anyway, I actually swam faster and biked faster this time, and my run was only a little slower. I ended up getting 4th place out of 12 women! I was so excited! I was fully prepared to come in dead last, but I actually beat two guys as well! I also got to do this race alongside Ammie, (pictured above) who I have met and chatted with at a few triathlons. We are typically fairly similar speed-wise, but she's not going to have a baby this spring, so I have a feeling she is going to pass me up pretty hard core.

For anyone interested here's how the course went:

-10 min. swim in an endless pool which means that you swim in a hot-tub like thing that shoots water at you so you feel like you're swimming upstream in a river. Your time is based on how high you set the water pressure. This series was the first time I had ever swam in one, and I did not love it. I would much rather swim outside thank you very much.

-13 mile bike ride on a trainer that simulates a hilly course. I actually kind of liked this because I wasn't worried about falling, and the fact that I don't have as nice of a bike as some of the other racers didn't really matter. I still like riding outside a little better though.

-3.1 miles on the treadmill. Running on a treadmill is kind of a pain, but running has been by far the hardest thing for me to do this pregnancy, and I like the treadmill better these days because I can pick a speed and just zone out. This was definitely my slowest leg too by the way.

Overall, I probably wouldn't do this race if I wasn't pregnant, but it was really a prefect way for me to motivate myself to stay in good shape and remind myself how much I love doing these!

Luck O' The Irish

This St. Patty's day My friend, Jess suggested that we do a little scavenger hunt for the boys-perfect! It was freezing cold on the 17th, but my boys had a killer time looking for clues that would lead them to the pot of gold!

Link mostly wanted to jump in the water and catch the ducks. I spent most of the afternoon trying to keep him out of it!

Adam and Linkers exploring the pond!

Enjoying all the loot at the end! It was a great time, but I have to say it felt really weird doing a scavenger hunt without the Jarvis boys!

Happy Birthday, Self!

So, the 15th was my 27th birthday, and boy did I have a good time! Nate and I went to see "A Tale of Two Cities" at the Hale theater in Salt Lake, and I have to say that it is the BEST production I have ever seen! It was so incredible, and I have been to Broadway shows before! This is one of my favorite books, so I was pretty sure the play wouldn't live up to my expectations, but it exceeded them. I also was pretty worried that I would cry at the end because I cry every time I read the book, but I managed to suck it up. Seriously, if you get a chance to see this show you should!

I had never been to this theater before, so I was surprised to see that they have a round stage, (like the globe theater) so you get a 3 dimensional show. There are literally NO bad seats in this place.

The choreography was amazing, the singing was beautiful, and I found myself LOVING every aspect of this production. Very well done!

Nate also gave me the green light to order one of these babies; a waterproof ipod for my swimming pleasure. I have never had an ipod before because I don't really like to run with music in my ears, and biking with it is kind of dangerous, but swimming can get a little boring, so I am excited to have one. AND Nate didn't have to try and pick something out for me, so it's win-win, right?

On the 14th we took Reid to see "No Dogs Allowed" at the local Scera theater, (apparently I have really been into plays lately. I DO like them better than movies for sure...) and it was really cute.

We went with our great friends the Wilsons...and the other Wilsons ha ha! Anyway, the kids were so excited I had a hard time getting them to smile for the camera!


They said there was no photography allowed during the show, but I had to get a picture of their faces-they were so entranced!

Tuesday was supposed to be warm and sunny, so I wanted to go for a family adventure, (of course!) so we packed up the car and headed to Antelope Island for some exploring. It's funny because I always see tons of Bison (NOT buffalo, apparently) but never any antelopes...and this guy looks like he wants to kill me. Let's get out of here!


We first explored the visitor's center, and got some ideas on where we should hike. Some of you might remember that I did a race here last year, and although that would be a beautiful hike it would be too much for my little guys...

So, we went to Buffalo Point and hiked around on all of the big rocks. Definitely a winner with this family!



Reid is my little mountain goat. He can scale just about anything. Although he tends to give his momma a heart attack about every six seconds. I love the way his little tongue is hanging out here. I do the SAME thing when I am concentrating!

This is my new favorite picture of my handsome guys! They are all looking at the camera AND smiling. A small miracle!

Here is a belly shot for anyone interested. I am about 33 weeks here. Yikes!

There he goes again...

They have these great telescopes so Reid and I could watch the bison herds (herds, packs, groups?? Any zoologists out there?) from a safe distance.

Lunch time!

Aha! There's an antelope! I knew they had to be around here somewhere!

And you know you've had a successful family outing when this little guy falls asleep in the car. I always take a picture when he does because it almost never happens. The perfect day!

Happy Birthday Katrina!

Today is our lovely niece, Katrina's 22nd birthday! We had her over for a birthday dinner last night, and because I am awesome I forgot to bake a cake...whoops. So, instead we made scones and cut them out with our holiday cookie cutters. Now, don't you all wish that I was your auntie!?

That's a ghost, a moon, and a snowman for those of you keeping track at home. Also, I busted out the blue sprinkles and candles to add a little flair. Martha Stewart's got nothin' on me! Happy Birthday indeed.

The Zoo!

The weather forecast said that yesterday was supposed to be nice, so I decided that we should all head over to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Salt Lake. Then I remembered how well my busy little boys do in huge crowds...not well. As much as I wanted to go, I knew there was a descent chance I would lose one of them, and strapping them to the stroller didn't sound like much fun either. So, the zoo it is!

We all love the zoo, and we had so much fun that I only took one lousy picture of my boys on the train. That's their favorite part anyway, I guess!

This trip was great because there weren't too many people, and with the exception of the elephants and the rhinos all of the animals were out and active (unlike in the summertime when they are hot and sleeping most of the time!).

There was even this cute little monkey who came right up to the glass and ate a carrot nose to nose with Link. He loved it!

Thanks for a good time, Hogle Zoo. We will be back, and next time I promise to take more pictures...