Well it has been quite awhile since this blog has been updated. I know we're slackers...sorry. We have been busy with life and wiht the lives of our children. Let's do a little run down on the children.

Christian - unemployeed and searching for employment

In the fall Christian ran on the cross country team. They competed in meets all over the state and ended up doing respectable for a 2nd year high school. He told me that he doesn't really like to run but was glad that he had the opportunity.

This was the first year that Christian had ever wrestled. He did really well and worked very

hard at it. He had a few injuries but fought through them and learned a lot. He doesn't have the prototypical wrestling physique, he is long and lanky but in some situations seemed to work to his advantage. In January he had the chance to go with his team to a meet in Las Vegas where they wrestled against schools from several different states.

He is still playing his trumpet in the band and even sat in with the jazz band at the request of his teacher. Even with all of the things that he is involved with Christian

Karlee has turned 13, so now we have 2 teenagers in the house and so far it isn't bad at all. She is still playing the tenor saxophone in the West Point Jr. High 7th grade band. She is the first chair (there is only one tenor sax). Karlee has started track but hasn't quite landed on which event(s) to do. Her knee has been bothering her so we'll just have to wait and see how that all plays out.

Karlee is still maintaining straight A's in all of her classes and when we have an opportunity to speak with her teachers they all have very favorable things to say.

Kendall just turned 9 and is advancing into the Bear den in Cub Scouts. He has worked really hard earning awards as a wolf. He is struggling with sitting still, listening, and following through with his school and school work, but he is working hard at it. Kendall makes friends easily and we will quite often have light saber battles waging in our basement between him and his friends.

Amber is attending pre-school two days a week and really enjoys it. She is learning alot of things but the most important thing for her is socially she is adjusting to sharing and getting along with others. Cindi teaches there the two days that Amber goes which is nice for both of them.

Christian and Maddie's Big Night

Christian had the easier task with the wrist corsage. Poor Maddie drew blood pinning on his boutonniere.

Last night was the Syracuse High School Homecoming Dance. Fortunately they won their Homecoming game on Friday against their arch rival Clearfield High.

Christian went to the Homecoming Dance with a very nice girl named Maddie Sorenson who he met last year in band. They spent the day in Salt Lake City and then went to dinner before the dance.

A Really Really Long Marathon (no just a regular one, but still really long)

Well my big news... I ran, walked, hobbled but completed the Top of Utah marathon held in Cache Valley on September 20. It started at Hardware Ranch up Blacksmith Fork Canyon at 7:00 am. Last spring one of my missionary companions named Kendall Dilling, yes he is the namesake of my son Kendall, convinced me that I could run a marathon. I had started running regularly last July but hadn't run anything longer than 3 miles. So I started training but had to fight through a couple of injuries and a lot of traveling this summer that really messed up my training. However, I did get in one 10 mile run and a lot of 7-8 mile runs. I was really worried about it but my friend gave me a lot of confidence that I could do it.

On Friday night I went out for a big pasta dinner with Kendall Dilling and his friends that came down from Calgary, AB, Canada and then stayed in the hotel with them. Prior to turning in for the night, I set out my stuff and realized that I had left something home. Off we went to the store and fortunately found one open. Crisis adverted!!!

We went to bed early and got up at 4:30 am and walked over to the bus for our ride from Logan up to the starting line 26.2 (the .2 is very annoying) miles away. I started realizing how far it was going to be on the bus ride, not the best way to prepare for a marathon.

Everything was going great with our plan to run for 5 minutes and walk for 1 minute. I felt great all the way to mile 19 when my left quad started cramping up. Our 5-1 changed to a 4-2 and then at mile 22 I told Kendall D. to just go on without me that I was going to be walking for awhile. I walked from 22-25 1/2, trying to run intermittently but it didn't work very well. I did manage to run the last 1/2 mile and passed about 5 people, so I felt pretty good about that. I finished 1407 out of 2129 people at 5 hours 11 minutes.

I have never been so exhausted physically and mentally at the same time in all of my life. It was both a horrible and incredible experience. With a few days of distance and the use of my legs back and can honestly say that I am looking forward to doing it again next year. I know I've told a few people that I wouldn't do it again but it was too close to the situation. With better preparation I am confident that I can do much better.

Catching up

Well it has been almost a month since we have posted anything. Not much has happened...pshyc. We have been very busy!! So here we go.

I'll start where I left off. Kendall finished his football season with a 2-3 record in league play. It was both fun and very frustrating for me and the other coaches. I know that they are only 7-9 years old but at times they seem to speak some other language that apparently the coaches don't have the translation for. We had a great time with the kids and really grew to love them. However, it is nice that it is over. Now my afternoons will be free.

Cindi just got called to be in the Young Women's Presidency as the 2nd counsellor over the Beehives. Karlee is in there with her and seems to think that it is OK to have her mom in there with her. Cindi has also begun working two days a week teaching at a pre-school. The really nice thing about the arrangement is that Amber gets to go for free. It has been a bit stressful during the transition for her as she is getting accustomed to the new stress. Everyone else is also adjusting to the situation as well.

Chrisitian is busy in school getting straight A's. He has done that since 7th grade when they started using letter grades. Yeah...scholarship anyone? He actually puts in a lot of work and we are very proud of him. He is running Cross Country for his high school and is improving all of the time. He is still playing his trumpet in the high school band. His band is not as good as he is accustomed to playing with. When he is not running, studying, playing his trumpet or on his computer, or hanging with his friends, he is eating. Pretty much anything that isn't moving ...fast. Growing boy, you know.

Karlee has started 7th grade and also getting straight A's. She is pretty smart as well. Volleyball tryouts didn't go quite like she had hoped. They have one team for 7, 8, and 9th grades. Pretty stupid if you ask me. She made it to the last cut but didn't make the team. She is playing the tenor sax in band. She has been playing for a couple of years but here they start band at 7th grade so she is ahead of the rest of the kids. She is also thinking about picking up the guitar, which means that she will be playing my guitar... I'm not sure how I feel about that. Christian playing my trumpet didn't turn out very well. Somehow someone stepped on it and it still hasn't recovered.

Amber is learning lots of fun things at pre-school. The way the school works is that normally she would go for only 1/2 a day. But, because her mom is teaching there she goes all day Tuesday and Thursday, which means that she gets to do everything twice. It is nice reinforcement for her. It seems to be working pretty well.

My little football player

This is Kendall's first year playing football and his first game which they lost (oh darn!@#!@). He seemed to have fun, but would have liked to play more. Thomas is helping to coach the team and trying to impart his infinite football wisdom to little kids who seem more interested in who farted than playing football. He is learning patience. Kendall plays defensive tackle, linebacker, and left guard on offense. Hopefully he will learn that this is an acceptable place to release his aggression, which he has been doing for most of his life when he isn't being completely kind and sweet.(?) I think that he is trying to look tough for the game. More to come....

Some pics of our recent trip to Nauvoo, Illinois

Joseph Smith's Mansion House

This is the stage for the Nauvoo pageant.

Tom actually had to work a little while in Nauvoo. He is inspecting...if you can call that work.

This is on a memorial in Nauvoo, Illinois for all of the pioneers that lost their lives on the trail westward. John Kettle was one of Thomas' great-grandfathers on his father's side. There was a special spirit in Nauvoo, which touched our hearts often.