Alyssa's Long Hair - Gone

Tonight Alyssa's hair was reduced to shoulder length. She originally was going to donate her hair but it would have needed to be a few more inches longer than it was. It was becoming unbearable and she wanted it shortened. Cynthia took Alyssa to the hairdresser with Bradley, Isabella and their cousin McKenna in tow. I happened to leave work and get to the hair salon the same time they did. It was quite an ordeal for one person. It is the first time any significant length had been removed from her hair. First she was placed in a chair for the initial trim. Even from that trim there was a good 4 inches of hair on the floor. I was shocked. She then had it washed and went back to the original chair for further work. The lady that was cutting her hair, Brooke, is in our Ward. Brooke then continued to trim and style until Alyssa was beaming with glee at the sight of her shorter hair. When it was all said and done she left there as one happy, a little older looking, beautiful young lady.
It was funny to see her grab the back of her hair and run her fingers through the end...only to have no hair in her hand after just a short stroke. She had to run over to McKenzie's house, her friend, and then show granny and grandpa Hatch.
Now she wants Cynthia to use the straightener on her hair. The fun begins.
Bring on the teenage years.

Long hair before she got it cut - front view

Long hair before she got it cut - view from back

After cut - front view

After cut - view from back

Need your Opinion - Alyssa v's Cell Phone

Alyssa turns 11 February 23rd. Those who have talked with her knows she is a bright and smart person. We have a bit of a dilemma. We are thinking of getting her a cell phone for her birthday. I am still on the fence. Obviously she says yes but Cynthia is unsure although i think she would say yes quite easily. Before you pass your judgement or opinion let me point out a few things.
The cost is minimal. To add a line is only $10 a month. We are able to restrict her phone use based on who she can call and text. So there might be only 10 people she could communicate with. Cynthia has been working more at the school and there are times she needs to be away from the home.
I have talked to a few people that have given their a phone when they were 9 because both parents worked and it was for emergencies. Some have waited until they are 13 or 14 or older.
So, add some comments and let me know what you think. Should we or shouldn't we?
Remember Alyssa and Cynthia read this so be nice. ha ha ha just kidding.

Two Months later and a New Year

Us at Build a Bear

Alyssa's bear Pixie

Bradley's bear Dexx

Choosing Outfits

Bella's bear Ginger

Bella and her cake

Well i guess i could not keep this going as well as i thought. Maybe, just maybe I should teach Cynthia and turn it over to her. Nah!!!

Yesterday was Isabella's 6th birthday. She has been excited everyday since new years day. She counted down every day until it got here.

We took her to build a bear. Of course that included Alyssa and Bradley getting their own bear too. We had alot of fun. I had always walked past the store but never ventured in. Some of the stuff they have was just crazy. If we had more time and money I am sure Isabella would have come home with 20 outfits for her bear. By the time we left she had changed outfits twice and gone home with the third choice.

We had a party in the afternoon which included 15 kids not including ours. I did the honors of entertaining the troops for the first 15 minutes and then they party went on from there. We had a great time and before we knew it the 1 1/2 hours had passed and the kids were being picked up. A little bit of clean up later and the house was back to normal except for a few lingering friends...you know who you are. lol

Cat's Out of the Bag!

Well tonight the cat has been released. Cynthia's friend Paige (and kids) came over for dinner. Paige has been trying to get Cynthia to start a blog for months. I could not take the silence anymore and pulled the laptop to the table and brought up the blog. Cynthia now knows there is a blog out there that has her life on it. Well there are posts mainly about me and a few for the kids. I might have to be more family friendly from now on. I will now be pressured to add posts more often as Cynthia reads a few of the family blogs in the Ward and will want to keep up with the them. It has been a month since the last post so I was due anyway.

Bradley's Big Day

Here is the family right before Bradley's baptism. He was very nervous but ready to be done.

He wanted to aTrasnformers cake for his birthday. We got this one for the family after the baptism

This cake was for the party we had with his friends later in the day

Bradley blowing out the candle. I love this picture cause it shows how much effort he put into blowing out the candle. lol

Father and son right before baptism

Alyssa, Bradley and Isabella as we were leaving for the church

What do you think? Any Ideas?

Ok. I have been running more the last 4 or so months than i have in my life and I am enjoying it.
I would like it to mean even more. I am looking for help and support from friends and family.

Tim Cord, is a marine and works with me. He is only 24 but has been overseas three times to Iraq and Afghanistan. He has told us stories about his 'tours of duty', some funny, some not so funny.
Anyway, he and 4 other marines got together to form a band called The American Hitmen. They occassionally play at small locations as a fundraiser to buy certain items to send over to the troops he knows and does not know. There are other entities that send care packages but they send the same thing everytime. Seeing as he served he knows what our men and women would like instead of the same items over and over again. I have gone to a few of these performances and helped out when I can.
Here is where everyone else comes in. I was thinking i could have family and friends donate as well. How would this work you ask? Well for every mile i run, in an official race, a donation could be made. This could be based on either me finishing the race or an amount per mile. The races i have run so far have been 5k's or 3.1 miles. I am planning to run a half marathon (13.2 miles) in November. As you can see by this blog i have only run 2 races since July so it is not like i would be asking all the time. Plus, you would not have to donate to every race. it is purely up to you.

Example; 3 miles x $1 per mile = $3 Simple math right.

Let me know what you all think. I know times are tough and we are all stretching our dollars but after listening to Tim and his experiences and to hear it so passionate in his music i too have become passionate about this cause. Simple things like jerky and gum are appreciated more than we know.

Thanks for listening.

No Pressure

Cynthia and I were cruising along thinking we have 5 weeks until Bradley's baptism on Sat Nov 1st. Someone from the Primary Presidency dropped off the details and the date said Sat Oct 11th, which is actually Bradley's birthday. Because of General Conference the first week of Oct and Fast Sunday being the next week he will actually be baptised in just over 2 weeks. I found this out 10 minutes ago.
Ok, so now we have the baptism at 12:30pm, around the the same we were going to have a party for him and his friends. Looks like that will be pushed to later that day.
Right after cleaning up after the family leaves (as I am sure we will have food and cake after the baptism), we will have to get ready for the second party. What a lucky boy.
What a privilege to be baptised on his birthday. Not many 8 year olds can say that these days.
All I know is the next day will be truly a day of rest...well deserved and needed.

Isabella

I left work at 7:40 last night. As I pulled in the driveway Isabella came running up yelling something. As I got out I finally understand what she was saying. She was all excited cause she is able to ride her bike without the training wheels anymore. So of course she had to show me. I spent about 10 minutes outside watching her. She was so proud. The cool thing is it only took her 2 days. I was impressed.
It was fun to watch her zip down the street, until i realized she was going all the way down the street and it was getting dark. I had to call her to come back. She only knows one speed right now and that is fast. I walked beside her and tried to get her ride slowly. It lasted about 10 seconds. I think once she gets the hang of balancing she will be alot better.
To stop she would drive up onto our driveway and onto the grass and lay the bike down and she kind of fell / jumped off. Good thing our driveway is sloped. She will get the hang of braking.
It was just as impressive to hear the support from Alyssa and Bradley. They were so excited that she could ride. They all ride to the park with Cynthia so Bella can now feel free without the extra wheels. Normally she would either ride the scooter, bike with training wheels or ride on the back of Bradley's bike cause he has pegs.
Way to go Bella...although i am scared to think of what is next. lol

Oh you had to be there!

Saturday night our Ward held a daddy / daughter activity (for achievement days) with a country and western theme. Of course there was dinner involved which was not bad. They then had the dads dancing with their daughters. Seeing as most of us (well it appeared that way) did not dance that often a few lessons were in order.
First they started a line dance. It was quite funny that a lady from South Africa was teaching us a country dance. Well it was funny to me.
Anyway, there were about 15 or so dads and their daughters (all aged between 8 and 11) in 3 rows. We took it slowly and finally got through the whole dance. The song we danced to was a popular oldie 'Boot Scootin' Boogie' by Brooks and Dunn. By the time we turned the third time my feet were kind of tangled. it was quite funny to watch all the dads with their girls. We were all huffing and puffing after only 20 minutes. We then formed a large circle and we were taught how to Waltz. Poor Alyssa. Only once did I step on her toes but I messed up at least 3 times but she was a trooper and kept on going. I apologized every time but either way it did not bother her. She was just concentrating on her steps. She found it a little difficult cause she was trying to do the opposite of what i was doing. She did a better job of going backwards than I did going forward.
Those who know me well know I suck at dancing. All in all it was a great night with Alyssa and we had alot of fun.

Spanish Fork 5k Race

This past Saturday I ran my second 5k race. The race started at 8am and it was quite cool. There were about 15 people from Caselle also running in the 5k and half marathon. We used it as part of our wellness program.
I was talking to one of the guys before the race and he happened to mention that he finishes the race fast. Josh usually runs a good race and puts up a good time. I felt that if I could stay with him I could also post a good time. I lined up with him and his wife and a few others at the start. We took off. There were some of the walkers lined up at the front. This was not good as we had to run around them and not knock anyone down. I kept sight of Josh and within the first few hundred yards we were in the clear of others. I stuck about 5 feet behind him. He started out at a good pace and I decide I could stick with him. I was feeling it. The race went out 1 1/2 miles and then you turn around and run back to the start/finish. About the half way point I was breathing pretty heavy but kept on going. Josh had got no more than 20 feet ahead and then i closed back in. With less than a mile to go I decided to make a move. My thinking was I knew I did not have closing speed and would stay consistent the rest of the race. Josh said he had great closing speed so i increased my speed and got a good lead on Josh. If he passed me near the end then I would still come in with a great time. The last few hundred yards I kept looking for Josh to pass me so I could cheer him on. I got to the finish and turned around to see Josh coming in behind. We finished about 15 seconds a part. I was excited not cause i beat him but because of my time. I completed the race in 24 minutes and 34 seconds. That was over a minute better than my first race. I asked Josh what happened and he said that when I took off he didn't have the legs to go with me and it deflated him a little. I apologized but he said I ran a great race. I thanked him for pacing me.
Do i sound conceded...No! I am just excited at how well I did and look forward to more races.
They had some great raffle prizes so I stayed around in case I won something. Well I have the White curse and did not win anything. Others from work had to leave so I had their bib's but still nothing. Oh well. It was a great morning.