Lengthen Your Stride!

As you may know I've started to try to be a runner in the last 6-7 months. I've been surprised at some of the things I've been learning from running. For example today I learned what it means to lengthen your stride. I have always heard that phrase because President Kimball used it to help members of the church try a little harder. That made sense to me, but as a runner it became even more meaningful.

Until recently I've been running outside all the time. I didn't really know how fast I was running or exactly how far. With winter upon us I found that when it was below 20 degrees I just couldn't do it. So from Thanksgiving until the beginning of January I didn't run at all. But now we have a treadmill so I can keep running during the winter. Running on a treadmill is different than running outside. There's nothing to look at except the wall or the display that shows my speed, distance, calories burned, etc. It's very boring that way. I've had to work up to my same level as before over the last couple of weeks. It's kind of harder knowing exactly how far I've gone. It seems like it takes forever to get anywhere!

The point of all this is that in my boredom I notice more about how I run--technique I guess. I've discovered that when I wanted to go faster I was taking more short steps which tired me out---fast! But when I just stretched my legs a little bit farther instead of taking more shorter steps the difference in speed didn't affect my fatigue very much at all. So by lengthening my stride just a little I could cover a lot more distance without getting too tired to endure.

So what President Kimball was saying was that we just need to stretch a little bit farther in our efforts to do what is right and we can be much better people with just a little bit more effort. President Hinckley was always telling us to try just a little bit harder each day to be a little kinder, a little bit more loving, a little bit more like the Savior. It's the same idea and that's what I want to do.

Skiing!

For the first time in over twenty years I went skiing yesterday. Every year Stephen's work has a discount night at Beaver Mountain in Logan Canyon and he and some of the kids go every year. We've always had kids that were too little so I would stay home or in the lodge with them.
But this year we decided that Superstar and Cutie were old enough to try so we bought tickets for all of us. So with two first-timers and me practically a first timer(this is only my second time ever) we went up the mountain.

Juice and Sonny Pie couldn't come so Stephen had his hands full trying to help everyone but we all had fun. Superstar kept hollering, "That was totally AWESOME!," whether he stayed up or fell down and Cutie was so cute(imagine that). Everytime he made a pizza(or snowplowed) he stuck his elbows out as well as the back of his skis.

In the end I think everyone was happy. Superstar got to go up the lift and down the big hill once after much practice on the small hill and Cutie made it down the little practice hill all by himself on his last try. I learned a great lesson that applies to more than just skiing. It's very easy to fall. The hard part, but most worth it, is getting back up to try again!

Happy 19th Birthday Juice!

Juice wasn't able to be with us on her birthday, but when Cutie heard that it was her birthday he said, " We have to make a cake!" so he did(with a little help from Mom). He had a really good time decorating it! We took this video of us lighting and blowing out the candles for her.

We did celebrate before she left to go back to school. She got to choose all the meals and get presents and we made her a birthday baklava(as per tradition--it's her favorite) which she took back to school with her.

Good Night Grandma! We'll See You in the Morning

My wonderful Grandma Hymas passed away on January 2. I'm so glad she could finally return to be with Grandpa. She has missed him dearly. I was really grateful for the opportunity to perform 'O Divine Redeemer' with Juice on the violin and Stephen at the piano for the funeral. It was one of her favorite songs. She was such a great example of being happy with what she had and having a positive attitude under any circumstances. I'm so glad I've had her as my Grandma.

Christmas 2009

What a great Christmas we had! I think it felt more Christmas-y than it has for a long time because I got to be with my family for the big family party. Everyone had fun doing the nativity on Christmas eve--you can see a shepherd and some kings in the center of this collage and a sheep playing the piano. Cutie was delighted with his pirate costume given to him by Superstar and went around all day saying, "aaargh", to everyone. Superstar thought his disguise set from Silly Guy was the best. He put it on and told everyone his name was Bishop Bishop. Grandma Hymas was entertained by them and we are so glad since Christmas was the last time we got to see her--but that's another post.

The following week we made a 24 hour trip to Boise to see our dear friends the Krommenhoeks. We don't get to see them very often but wanted to see them before their oldest son leaves on his mission in January. It was so fun to see them again!