Tough Mudder Aftermath & BYU Homecoming

For a little more explanation on Tough Mudder I thought I'd share some of Austin's thoughts afterward.

Welcome Home!

During Austin's last fall in the electro-shock, his right eye hit the mud-covered hay bail and was just caked in mud. He went over to see the medics soon after the race was over. His eye was filled with rocks and dirt. They did their best to clean it out, but for the rest of the day, it was pretty puffy and still clearing the dirt out. Here he is, explaining a little more of what happened.

 Dad bought us tickets to the BYU Homecoming game. I waited for Austin to get home and clean up before going to join him and Keaton. It was my first BYU game - after living here almost 6 years! Sad, huh? Cross it off the Provo bucket list - we can move now! I still haven't seen one start to finish though (even on T.V.). I'm not sure the other fans appreciated me showing up 3rd quarter and asking a ton of questions about how the game of football is played. But, Austin was grateful his wife finally attended on with him.

Dad, Keaton, Austin

Austin, Amy (and Ethan) - check out the eye.

After the game, we walked for awhile to be picked up by Mom and the kids, then went out to eat for Michaela's 15th birthday (which, unfortunately, we have no pictures of because the camera died). Then we came home and Dad & Austin put a new wax ring on the toliet and we had ice cream cake for the birthday.
  The kids have been exhausted today, but we're so glad to have had a visit from family! We canned grape juice, finished the Christmas shopping for the boys, got the pipes cleared out, etc. It was a lot in such a small trip and we were so grateful for all of the help (I was especially feeling VERY pregnant this weekend).

Austin Tackles Tough Mudder

Yesterday, Austin completed the Tough Mudder obstacle course - 12 miles of obstacles designed for British special forces and now touring all over the United States. He finished in about 4 hours (the average time is 3 hours), an amazing feat for having hardly trained physically. His friend Beau invited him to join their team several months ago, and he said he was grateful to have a team to go with. Here are some pictures, graciously taken by Beau's parents (we didn't actually go to watch - can you imagine the boys sitting still with all this mud?).

On your mark...get set... GO! (It's actually not a race)

The Team Line-Up (Austin on the right, preparing for Dirty Ballerina)

Mount Everest on Film

Wounded Warrior Carry (Austin took a turn carrying as well)

Heading into Dirty Ballerina

Dirty Ballerina: In the trenches

Dirty Ballerina: Helping others over

Dirty Ballerina: Check out the mud

Time for a snack... thanks Mom!
(Beau's parents were there filming and nourishing the team) 

Just the Tip - Beau helping Austin get started

Scaling Just the Tip

Just the Tip: Finishing Up

Funky Monkey: "Hmmm..."

Funky Monkey - two bars in, dropped in and swam the whole way (ice water)

Funky Monkey: Completed!

And now what you've all been waiting for...

 

Electro-shock!!!

Tough Mudder: Mission Complete

Welcome Little Levi

We had a new nephew born in September. Unfortunately, he was born when all of us were sick, so we didn't make it up to Logan to see him until he was almost two weeks old. He is such an adorable baby and we're so happy for Taylor & Jon.

 We're also grateful for any excuse the family takes to come out and visit! We had Kelsey with us one week (she helped me paint the bedroom), Keaton with us the next week (who helped Austin with his projects), and went up to visit everyone during the last session of General Conference. We're looking forward to having the family visit this week.

John & Lynda Smith's grandchildren: Cadence, Kory, Levi, Sadi, & Cael

Shane, Cadence, & Kory - wearing the Armor of God

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Handsome Smith Boys and The Favorite Aunt

The Smith boys are growing up! I haven't taken new pictures of either of them since last December, so we ventured out for a photo shoot during the fall leaf change - General Conference weekend. Aunt Maria was a big help, and we got some good photos of her with and without the boys (the ones w/o aren't included). I'm really pleased with how they turned out, just wish I could've gotten some pregnancy photos of me... maybe soon? (though I realized the reason I don't ever have many is because of how awkward I feel taking pregnancy photos..). Then again, the ones after the baby is born are so much better :)

Little Daredevil

Kory has been a little daredevil lately.  He's gaining a lot of new skills such as climbing and jumping (without the trampoline) and tries feverishly to keep up with his older brother. Poor little guy has gotten a lot of bruisers lately because of it.

"Mom, don't take a picture of me!"

 The black eye came on a morning while I was curling my hair. He tried to get off the toliet (after climbing up to watch me), and while he was on his belly (horizontally), he slid forward instead of back and his eye met the cabinet door sticking out! Poor guy!

 

 The busted lip happened while he was playing on Cadence's bed. His mouth somehow hit the wood and his tooth and his lip didn't agree with each other. 

  People are always asking me where his bumps and bruises come from. Truth is, I don't always remember (they are frequent enough..). Part of his struggle is that he is small for his age, so he has to get extra creative to do what his brother does. Still, I'm impressed with how physically skilled he has become. He's a determined little boy and if you don't let him do something potentially daring, you'll hear even more screaming then what may happen with the bumps and bruises that follow. It's pretty funny going to the playground. I think he gives several other mom's heart attacks as he successfully climbs ladders that have rungs as tall as he is! Other time, mom's think I have a genius baby because their 12 month old can't do what Kory is doing! Then they find out he's 6 months older, and just small... :) Still, he is my little genius! He definitely keeps me running (I tell everyone that's why I'm think - I have two little boys to chase after)!

Joy School

We started a co-op preschool group with 3 other boys in our ward who are Cadence's age. They all turn 4 sometime within this "school year". We switch off which mom teaches, do a welcome, pledge, weather, days of the week, have a short lesson, a snack, and then LOTS of playtime!
  The first group was at our house. We had fun singing songs about the weather, going on an "A" hunt around the house, and learning about our 5 senses! It ended up being a really short activity, which I was aiming for, especially with this being their first "preschool" day. For our lesson we did:
 - Sight: Played "I Spy" - one of Cade's favorite games.
 - Hearing: Everyone closed their eyes while one person made a sound (clap, run water, etc.). Then, they had to guess the sound. They ended up making all sorts of sounds of animal sounds (which was funny because you don't have to close your eyes to guess those...).
 - Touch: Touch different items under a towel to see how they felt (smooth, rough, wet, etc.) and tried to guess what they were.
 - Smell: Used smelly markers to draw a picture.
 - Taste: For snack time, we made silly faces out of salty popcorn, sweet banana slices w/ choc. chips, tart/bitter apples (green), and sour lemonade. After tasting each part, I had a tray of everything they could pick whatever they wanted from (except the choc. chips).

  I also sang to them the song "My Heavenly Father loves Me" and pointed to the senses it describes in the lyrics. We talked about how Heavenly Father has given us our senses to help us enjoy His beautiful creations.
 We had a really fun time and Cadence spent the next week playing "school" with me and pretending he was the teacher! He really loves to learn and while we already did most of these things on our own, it's fun for him to get together once a week with his friends.

This is our semi-permanent "calendar" in the kitchen. It worked for today, but I'm still dreaming of making our own to use with the boys every day, not just preschool days.