We're Going Sledding!

For years growing up, during the Christmas vacation, my brothers and I loved to go sledding down grandma's hill. We would spend hours icing the hill to get it just right for the so called "competition" we would have with the neighbors the following day. After a while, our fingers and toes froze so we would go in for hot chocolate, doughnuts, or sometimes my mom would help us make honey candy.
It was a perfect day today for a sledding, so I decided to take the family sledding down Grandma's hill.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from all of us. This month has been busy for everyone I'm sure. A few weeks ago we went to the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville to celebrate their Frontier Christmas. Chalisse and Andrea performed as part of the activities with their clogging team Gotta Dance. We really enjoyed seeing the family who came to support our daughters. We have an awesome family! Afterwards we took five to say hi to an old fashioned Santa and get a picture. Notice he is wearing a wreath on his head instead of a cap(FYI).

Thanksgiving = Food, Fun, Family

For years during Thanksgiving time I like to reflect back on the blessings throughout the year. I am thankful for my family, for the food we are blessed with, and all the fun times we share together.
This year for Thanksgiving we wrapped up the food, family, and fun into one and went pheasant hunting. Actually I wanted to go with my brothers to share in their excitement and to put in a good couple of miles of walking. Jake made all the arrangements at a private club and for the first time I shot my first pheasant.
Here we are getting ready and loading our pockets with bullets.
Bella was a good dog and even swam out into the river to get the hen that was shot down.
Wow! Cherilee actually hit a pheasant. That deserves a hi-5.
This is the rooster I shot.
Here we are flushing the pheasants out.
This is Teep trying to find the pheasant he just shot down.
And he found it.
Josh is bound and determined to get every last pheasant.
Grayce got a couple of nice pheasants.
Kaleena flushing out the pheasants.
Jensen wasn't to sure about putting the pheasants in the back of his jacket.
Teep and Greg searching for pheasants.
This is our little band of intrepid hunters and our 12 pheasants.

Turkey Trotting All The Way

Okay, I have to be honest with myself and say that the Turkey Trot was kind of a last minute thing. When this was first advertised Greg said jokingly, "Honey, you gotta win us a turkey." (Whatever I thought) but after being in the hospital for a few days, I really didn't feel like running a 5k race the following weekend. But as the day grew closer I realized that I couldn't pass up this chance. First of all let me explain a little. It only cost $1.00 to run and you would get a FREE T-shirt. And if you dressed up as your favorite Thanksgiving character you could win a prize. The first people in their age groups to come in would receive a turkey and second place would win a pumpkin pie.

So a few days before the Turkey Trot I got busy and made a few changes on an old Nun costume that I had laying around and turned it into a pilgrim. I found some left over material and made an apron and a head piece. My daughter Andrea was my designer who told me exactly what a pilgrim needed. After all how could I pass up a FREE prize.

This is how the final costume looked. Here I am lined up at the starting line.

I will have to admit it was kind of hard running a race in a dress. I caught a lot of wind and my head piece blew off. Here I am running in. My headpiece is in my hand and I had to move my apron to the back to run. I actually came in at 23:26. It is not my best time, but it was good enough to win first place in my age group(25-39)and bring home a turkey.
My kids also ran the kids 1 mile race. Jensen ran in at 7:43. Coming in 4th and Andrea had a time of 9:54. She was 21st. All the kids ran together ages 0-10.
This is a picture of the kids at the starting line. This is a much better picture.
Here comes Jensen running in.
Here comes Andrea running in.
Greg did a good job taking pictures.
Here we are together. Over all we all had a lot of fun. It was worth dressing up. My prize was a $5.00 gift certificate to Taco Time. And I won my honey a turkey!!

Halloween Activities

Tag Were It!

We were tagged by Kaleena and Josh to tell 6 disturbing/ unique facts about us. So here it goes.
Cherilee
1. My profile is different on each side of my face. (I have this extra piece of cartilage in my nose on one side) gross huh!
2. I don't know if I am left or right handed. I write and eat with my left hand, everything else I do with my right hand.
3. One of my favorite things at work to do is clean out people's ears.
4. I hate to shop for personal clothing items like slips, nylons, bras, underwear, p,js. These things are usually done by Greg. (He says the women in the stores always glare at him) I love him for it. Because if he didn't do it, it wouldn't get done.
5. When I was a senior in high school I got an "A" and a "U". I guess this is impossible now, after your citizenship grade gets to a "N" it starts coming off of your grade. I was really bored, so I played game-boy during class.
6. I thoroughly wash my dishes twice. I wash my dishes and then put them in the dishwasher to be washed again, and then I turn off the drying cycle to save time and energy. Crazy, but I do it.

Greg
1. I can't stand stuff in the bed sheets. (Very sad for Cherilee, No more midnight munchies like popcorn)
2. I snore if I sleep on my back. Cherilee usually plugs my nose and mouth and I end up turning over.
3. I can switch hit in baseball really well.
4. I once missed so many days of my billard's class that the teacher told me the only way he would pass me is if I beat him in a game. And I did.
5. I own the entire Louis Lamour collection. (Wife hates westerns)
6. I was dragged by a fire truck when I was the fire chief of Honeyville when responding to a fire call.

Okay, now we're supposed to tag 5 other people. We pick Chani, Mallory, Kim, Jamie, and Jaydale.

Banana Crumb Muffins

I got tired of making banana bread every time the bananas got to ripe. I found a really yummy recipe for Banana Crumb Muffins. This one is a keeper for me.




1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and oil. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Attitude-- It's Everything

Sometimes I wonder how it would be to live in a "glass house" where everything seems perfect. Would life really be better? Would I be happy? Would it be happily ever after? Well I guess life is all how you look at it.

I Love You

As I listened to General Conference last weekend, I made a mental note in my head of several things that I needed to do better. One of them was to tell the people you love that you love them. Although I tell Greg everyday that I love him the most, sometimes repetitive things go in one ear and out the other. So as the prophet instructed us all to do. I will try a feeble attempt to let you know, Greg, how much I love you.

You may have noticed that over the years I have let the little things go. I no longer complain about the hair shavings dumped in the sink instead of the garbage, the mountain of tools in our garage, or the VISA purchases that are not written in the checkbook because you are a wonderful husband and father.

Our children love you very much. You are kind,understanding, and find time even working two jobs to be a dad who is always there. You have kept every promise you have made to me since we were dating, and you honor your priesthood. Our family has been blessed because of you.

I love you so much. You are my best friend. I can talk to you about anything. You are stable and constant, and help me through all my emotional needs. You help me accomplish all of my goals. You support me through all of life's decisions that I have made (right or wrong) and you know all my mistakes and faults and still love me unconditionally.

You have tolerance with my cooking and all my crazy wonderful ideas. And you love the special things that I do. You share the responsibility of housework and treat me better than I could ever ask. Thank you Greg for sharing your life with me and for loving me unconditionally. I love you! Cherilee

P.S. I bet you a milkshake it will be a week before you even read this.

A Broken Heart

Yesterday, our Himilayan Netherland Dwarf gave birth to three baby kits. The baby kits didn't survive because they were born outside the nesting box. Although we have delt with the loss of new born kits before (that comes with raising and selling rabbits), we have never had to deal with the death of the mother.

Himi, the mother, passed away this morning at 7:00. Himi just didn't look right after giving birth yesterday, and I told Jensen that she may die. He gave her some fresh hay and plenty of water, and dad put the heat lamp by her and we left her alone to rest.

This morning, Jensen came in and told me that Himi was still breathing, but not moving. I told him to bring her in the nesting box and I would try to get her to eat to gain some strength. When I saw the rabbit, my heart went out to her, here she had lost her babies, and was holding on to her own life. As I picked her up I noticed how limp she was and I tried to syringe feed her, she took a couple of swallows and then lay limp again. I laid her in a towel and petted her, after a while, I tried again to feed her. As I laid her down, I noticed that she opened up her mouth and her eyes, and she was gone. I told Jensen that I thought she had just died. He burst into tears and ran out of the house.

I then was remimded how fragile life is. How it comes and goes. I have never seen death come before, and it was an amazing experience. It brought back memories of bringing my own children into the world. I realized how much a mother loves a child that she would give up her own life to bring another into the world. If it wouldn't have been for the good doctors that knew what to do, I would have lost my own life as well.

I tried my best to console Jensen, but a child's love for an animal runs deep. We talked about her and reflected upon her life. Netherland Dwarf rabbits have a history of not making the best mothers, and we talked about what a good mother she had been and how her legacy lives on. We talked about the passing away of Grandma Great Anderson and how her legacy lives on in each of us. Some way or another she left a piece of her in our hearts and I told him that the he will have a place in his heart for Himi as well.
I tried to find some pictures of Himi, but I only had pictures of her kits over the summer.
This is Jensen with one of Himi's babies when it was two weeks old.
Another picture of Himi's babies that were born in May.

When Good Things Go Wrong

Please help Andrea review the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet" was the note that was sent home from kindergarten last week.
How silly I thought. I try really hard to help my children be prepared for kindergarten by teaching them of course their phone number, colors, shapes, and patterns. But I also teach them how to read, their addition facts, and nursery rhymes.

That evening I got out the good old nursery rhyme book and asked Andrea to tell me the rhyme Little Miss Muffet. This is how it went.

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet
Eating her Nerds and gained weight.
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

I guess I will have to add vocabulary words to my list of kindergarten pre requisites.

Curds - solid part of sour milk: the solid substance formed when milk coagulates, used to make cheese.

Whey - watery part of curdled milk: the watery liquid that separates from the solid part of milk when it turns sour or when enzymes are added in cheese making.

I wonder if children understand these definitions. I didn't know what enzymes were until 7th grade. Wow! I'm impressed what things kids are learning these days.

So, Andrea and I worked really hard on this nursery rhyme all week and at the end of the week she was able to say it correctly. I guess no matter how hard you try to get your kids prepared for school, some things just go wrong.

Goal Accomplished-- Top of Utah Marathon

."I did it! I actually ran a marathon. It is one of those things that you would say you would like to do, but cannot possible fathom in reality doing it. But I would have to be honest that if it wasn't for all the help and support from friends and family that I would not have been able to do this. I finished the marathon in 4:05:34. This is a pace of 9.25 minutes/mile. When I looked at the results after they were posted, there were over four pages of women in my age group and the marathon wasn't even over yet. So, I finished 35th in my age group out of a lot. Thanks to all the people who came to cheer me on. Greg, Chalisse, Liz, Josh, Mom and Dad, Teep and Grayce, Jake and Bella(the dog), Kaleena's family. And a big thanks to my in- laws for taking Jensen to his soccer game that morning, for watching my kids the night before for a sleep over, and watching them during the marathon. Thanks to Kaleena who encouraged me to do this in the first place.

Some questions many people ask.

How did the race go?
Well, I had a lot of energy the first 15 miles. About mile 19-20, I started to feel my legs cramp up, and by mile 22 I had hit a wall. For the next 4.2 miles I alternated between running and walking with the thought in my mind to just finish the race.

Who did you run with?
For the first 6 or 7 miles I ran with my sister- in- law Kaleena. I thought she was just a step behind me and then about mile 7 I turned around to ask her a question about our pace because she was timing our miles, and she was gone. I wasn't sure if I was ahead of her or if she was ahead of me. It wasn't until mile 19 when I saw Greg, Josh, Liz, and Chalisse that I asked where Kaleena was. Liz said that she was behind me.
The last 2 miles, my other sister- in- law Grayce ran with me. This was absolutely the best thing that could have happened to me in the race. I had hit a wall at this point and she just kept motivating me to keep going. Whenever we came to an aid station she would say, "Cheryl, what do you need." At mile 25 she told me that I needed a banana and an orange quick. Even though I didn't feel like eating anything, I agreed to eat an orange. I ate it so quickly and it tasted so good. This gave me a little bit more energy to have a good finish. One thing that I thought was funny is that every time we came up to a person that was walking, she would grab their arm and say, "We are not finishing this race without you." So not only was she running with me, she had three other guys running with us also. During the very last stretch when you could see the finish line down the road, my brother Teep (Grayce's husband) joined in with me and said, "Come on Cheryl this is it. Push it Cheryl. You can do it.

How was the weather? and Did you get rained on?
This was my biggest fear about the whole marathon. The weekend before I wore my cold gear and I still froze and was so cold that I was miserable. I kept changing my mind about what I was going to wear the whole week. Finally the night before I decided with the weather predicting a 30% chance of rain to wear my tights, running gloves, and jacket. About 1:30 in the morning I was awakened by thunder showers and of course since this was my biggest fear could not sleep any longer. I kept trying to think up solutions for not being cold like having Greg bring my first pair of running shoes so when I came out of the canyon at least I would have dry shoes. Anyway, by the time we got over to Logan, it wasn't raining and it was kind of cloud covered and warm so I changed into my shorts in the car. I ended up wearing shorts and shirt and ran with hand warmers in my hand until mile 4 so I could just throw them away when I was done instead of running with my gloves. I did get rained on though, It was at mile 26. By this time it felt good and I didn't even care about the rain running off my face.

How did you do all this training being a mom and working as well?
This is where I owe a lot of thanks to all the people who helped me. My oldest children Chalisse and Jensen watched the younger two kids while I went early morning running at 5:30 or 6:30. On my short run days, I usually could get home before the younger kids could wake up and on my long run days I came home and the older kids had already started on their chores and had the younger two with them. I have great kids. My husband Greg, was also a huge supporter for a number of reasons. First of all, running gear is not cheap and he went with me to shop for all that stuff. Next, he encouraged me to run in different races because running outside for exercise is one thing. Running in a race is completely different. He also did all the cross training with me and many times he rode his bike along the side of me even on long run days. Another one of my training buddies was Colleen Tolman. She is truly an awesome friend and an iron-woman herself. She ran with me several days a week as well as running half of the races with me. Another one of my friends at work Nan Checketts also helped me with a lot of pointers of how to keep my energy up.

What training program did you use?
I followed the Hal Higdon Intermediate level I. It is on the Internet.

What did you eat the night before the race?
It was chicken and pasta with Alfredo sauce, and bread sticks. It was delicious.

What did you think about the marathon?
I thought it was well organized. The course was beautiful. I remember running through the canyon(the first 14.2 miles) and seeing the leaves on the trees changing colors and a beautiful rainbow over the mountain. It doesn't get any better than that. There were port- o- potties at the front and at the end and two at each aid station. Not that I had to use them, but it minimized the amount of people peeing off to the side of the road. They had all flavors of Gatorade and handed out GU along the way. They also had fruit at the appropriate times. And I would probably do it again.

What would you recommend after the race?
Well first of all I better tell you that my friend at work handed me a present and said you will need this for after the marathon. It was a pair of slippers. She was right. Even though I love my running shoes, I wore my slippers the rest of the day. A wet wash cloth to wipe all the stink and sweat off you and a blanket for people like me who chill after they run. Make sure you rehydrate.

Did you lose any toe nails?
Nope, and I am certainly happy.

My Little Monkeys

Chalisse--12ish-13 soon, is such a really great girl. I am sure glad she sets such high standards and is such a great example to the younger monkeys in our family. She is also a really great babysitter by the way.

Jensen--10, scouts, piano, soccer, school. When does this monkey ever rest. He is always creating some invention that will make the world a better place.

Andrea --5, bound and determined to get chores done first thing in the morning even if we are running late so that after kindergarten she can go straight to Grandma Peggy's House and insists that Aunt Liz wear high heels and ear rings.

Carson--2, keeps me on my toes. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder. He has decided that his room is Mom and Dad's room.

Box Elder County Fair

It's a Girl!

This is the newest addition to our family. Her name is Oreo. She is such a sweet little puppy. She has brought a lot of joy into our lives.

Provo River Half Marathon

It seemed like the day would never come. But finally it did. This is my recap of the event. I had spent most of the night before staying up late and watching the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, so when the alarm went off at 3:30 Saturday morning, I was still pretty tired. But figured I was too excited to sleep anyway. I got ready and ate a bowl of rice and honey (hot cereal) and Greg drove to this place where we loaded the buses that drove up to the start. There were about 30 port -o- potties at the start and I made my way over to them, to wait in line.
The race started about 11 minutes late, and for the first 3 miles I felt like I was weaving in and out of people who should have been farther back in the line. The first 3 miles were down hill pretty easy. I passed the first aid station no problem with a smile on my face. The next two miles were uphill. This part was the worst, not because it was uphill, but because it was on the road where there was a lot of traffic. I saw an aid station as we doubled back, but I had no idea what mile marker it was so I kept on running. I had planned getting a drink and taking my GU at mile 6. But the next mile marker I saw was mile 7. Where did all those miles go? I told myself that I would take a drink at the next aid station. But little did I know the next aid station would be at mile 9. By then I was pretty wiped out. But I took a drink and my GU and kept running. The next mile or two went up and down, weaving in and out on a paved trail. (This was my favorite part because it was quiet). About mile 10 1/2 or 11 I don't know I couldn't really find the mile marker signs, I saw Kaleena's mom and dad. I needed a motivational keep going about that time so it really helped. Let's see how would I describe the last remaining miles? I know, It was like someone holding an ice cream cone in front of you and when ever you went to lick it, it got further away. All we did was wind back and forth in this parking lot trying to find the end. You knew you were near because you could see lots of people and hear a band playing.
I finished the race at 1:47:49. I was hoping to get 1:45:00, but oh well! I guess for a first, this was pretty good. I met up with my sister-in-law at the end of the race. During the whole race with all 1800 people I never found her. I came in the top 350 ish and finished 19th in my age group.

Up Close and Personal With Kyrylo Fesenko

Okay, so I took the kids to a Jazz Clinic. As you can tell all Carson wanted to do, was stare at the size of this 7 foot- 290 lb guy. But the rest of the kids had a lot of fun. After the clinic, I asked them what they learned.

Chalisse said:

• When you are a rookie you are not supposed to talk, and you are supposed to bring doughnuts to practice.
• Fesenko's best friend is Andrei Kirilenko.
• Sportsmanship is important.
• Jerry Sloan is a hard coach to play for.
• If an older player tells you to do something, you better do it.
• Even though you play for the Utah Jazz, it is still possible to miss a shot.
• Never say, " I can't".

Jensen said:

• Coach Sloan is tough.
• Fesenko isn't a very good free throw shooter, but he is good at blocks and dunks.
• Sportmanship is another word for respect.
• Fesenko and Almond take turns bringing doughnuts.
• Fesenko does not have a drivers license.
• When you dribble a ball, don't dribble in front of you, dribble to the side.

Andrea said:

• He is really big.
• He can shoot a ball from a long ways.
• He has yellow hair like me.

Well there you have it! That is what one hour with a Jazz Player will do.

Naked Man Sighting

Let's just say I had a little adrenaline on this last race, the good thing is that my time was 22:23. The bad thing is what got my adrenaline up. It started the evening of July 25th. I noticed Tremonton City Days was holding a FREE 5K run that included FREE breakfast. Anybody that knows me knows that the word FREE is very appealing. First of all that means no cooking and no cleanup. So I told Greg that I would get up early the morning of the 26th around 5:30, run 4 miles and be back in time to go to the 5K where I would drag my entire family (including my sister Liz) to run, walk, or be pushed in a stroller just to get a FREE breakfast. Anyway right before I left the house, it came to my mind twice to take my cell phone with me. I ignored this thought because the last time nothing happened.
Approximately 1/2 mile from my house a naked man (YES BUTT NAKED) came out from the bushes and ran up to me. It was still dark outside so my first impression was is this guy really what I think he is. The closer he got, reality sunk in that yes this guy is BUTT NAKED (complete with package dangling) and dancing for me making suggestive gestures with his hands.
When I acknowledged his presence saying, "Hey Dude". He either turned around and ran back or kept running after me, I tend to think the later. I'm not sure the particulars. But I can tell you I was running 3x as fast the other way. I sprinted my quickest 1/4 mile run in less than 10 seconds (IT SEEMED) to my Brother in Law's house where I frantically explained the whole story, and insisted that I could not run back on that road towards home. He said he would take me home, and he had my husband on the phone.
When I got home, Greg met us at the door and they (Greg and Berto) went looking for this streaker.
To make a long story short, Greg called the cops, and based on the description I gave the cops, they found him and cited him for lewdness. Still I am still traumatized by this event.
-----------THE GOOD NEWS-----------
We had 20 minutes after we got home to wake up the kids (including Liz) and get to the race. Since I didn't have my run in yet. Greg told me to go ahead and run the race. Liz volunteered to push the 2 youngest in the stroller.
Our results: Cherilee 22:23, Chalisse 30:21, Greg 30:28, Jensen 38:20, Liz and crew 40:00.

To make the best out of a situation, I think this tops the list for the things that I have been chased by while running.

1. Naked Man
2. Baby Calf
3. Snarling Dogs
4. Skunks
5. Snakes
6. Deer (actually they just stand and stare at me)

Moral of this blog ( I will listen to the promtings and take my cell phone with me, and take the new pepper spray that Greg just bought).

Meet My Family

Greg-- works for Utah State University and Four Seasons. This year he has been soccer and softball coach as well as baseball assistant coach. He enjoys spending time with the family, reading and Dutch oven cooking whenever he has any spare time.

Cherilee-- works for Intermountain. She is an on going 4-H leader. She is currently training for a marathon. She enjoys spending time with the family, running and scrap booking.

Chalisse-- is a straight A student. This year she participated in the Geography Bee, Government Youth Council, Band, and will be on the Student Council for next year. She enjoys playing the piano, running, softball, swimming, and clogging (ranked nationally). She is in 4-H and has done a Triathlon and a 5K this year.

Jensen-- has a love for animals and currently breeds and sells Netherland Dwarf Rabbits. He enjoys playing soccer, basketball, swimming, and baseball. He is learning to play the piano as well. He is in 4-H and scouting.

Andrea-- just finished preschool and will be going to kindergarten in the fall. She likes to clog, play with friends and family, and is currently trying to read 100 books. She took swimming lessons this year and will be moving to level II. She likes to clean the house and water the flowers.

Carson-- is a best friend to everyone, even for a two year old. He loves to see the train and help Jensen feed the rabbits. He likes to help mom wash the dishes and pretend he is dad and wear his hat.