Have a holly jolly Christmas!

We sure did, so grateful for this time of year. We want to wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Eyelash Extensions

Well I am deffinetly behind on blogging, but incase you still care. This is what I have been up to lately. I am now a certified eyelash extension technician. I did a training in Utah on 11/11/11 with Extensions by Lindy. This was a one on one training and I had to do two model's eyelashes, both of which were my wonderful little sisters. I had a hard time settling on a name, but I decided with "Bonjour Beautiful". Only few of you know that I took French in high school and in college. Am I fluent, absolutely not. I thought it would be fun to use a name that sounded couture. Here is my new blog with my beautiful eyelash models. More pictures to come, contact me if you're interested.
http://bonjourbeautifulbelle.blogspot.com/

Maddie's 3rd Birthday

Celebrated Maddie's birthday on October 22nd this year, TWO days early, seriously unplanned or organized, but it was so much fun to get together and watch the kids play.Lots of wonderful presents this year for Maddie. She got outfits from Grandparents, dress ups from her parents, Rapunzel barbie, Aurora doll, Zhu Zhu puppy pet, pink monkey, beautiful hat/head bands/clips, cute boots, and even more!She looks so grown up in this picture, it totally freaks me out.It was very unorganized so via text message I tried to tell everyone to wear a costume since it was a week before Halloween.
Thanks to everyone who came and those who celebrate earlier and later with us. Our family and friends are FAR TOO generous, we love you! On a side note I attempted to make candy corn cupcakes made with yellow cake and food coloring layers. Topped with homemade whipped buttercream frosting courtesy of Ourbestbites.com and it was delicious. Hope you enjoy all the photos and sorry none of them were edited. I love my little terrible 3 year old :)

One Here On Earth & Two In Heaven

I feel like I've been M.I.A., well if you've been wondering what has been going on I'll fill you in a little bit. I have not been cooking up new exciting delicious recipes, I haven't been running like AT ALL, I haven't been taking any pictures with the exception of today, I have NOT got Maddie potty trained, I haven't been the best at home preschool teacher, and haven't felt well for a entire month. I have been doing a lot of reading of talks, attended the temple, reading of scriptures, and spent a lot of time in prayer. A few of you might have been expecting this post, but a majority of you probably were not. Without telling the world I wanted my family and friends to know that we were expecting a baby this spring. As eager and excited as I was to tell you all I wanted to wait till after my first doctor appointment which I thought was scheduled at the end of my first trimester. When I went in I found out I was only half as far along as I thought I was. It was confusing, frustrating, and scary but I was still hopeful that we would yet have a healthy baby. Three ultrasounds & too many blood tests later it was revealed that we would not have a baby joining our family anytime soon. You'd think the second time around it would be easier, in some ways it was but in different ways it wasn't. I wanted to blog this previously, but I ran solely for the purpose of preparing my body for a future healthy pregnancy. I was impressed to do the race and then promised to our Heavenly Father that I would take care of my body if I was blessed with another baby. Well two days after the race was completed I found out I was expecting. Unfortunately my family figured out my secret on a trip to Utah for my dear Aunt's funeral. I was not prepared to tell everyone, but realized it would be hard to cover up my nausea. I did tell my immediate family and wanted to wait till after my first doctor appointment to tell anyone else. I was sick so sick and was sure this was going to be exactly like my first pregnancy. Sorry this turned into a long post. During Conference weekend every talk spoke to me PATIENCE and I couldn't believe Elder Anderson gave a talk specifically about this situation. Well after all the tests my doctor called me on Monday to give me the bad news. She offered a d&c which I felt would be the best option as I was still having nausea and headaches. Jon gave me a powerful Priesthood blessing Thursday morning and I felt calm the rest of the day. I am two days out from my d&c procedure and feeling well. I've felt so much like my old self today that I can't wait to start running again. I'm still alittle emotional, but overall feeling at peace & hopeful for the future. We are more grateful now than ever for our sweet and slightly terrible soon to be 3 year old. The other day I said to her, "Maddie you are my baby". In response she said, "No mom I'm a sister". I looked up at her and smiled and said, "Yes you are a sister".

I wanted to share this sweet picture of my babies :)

Love this picture. Everyone has been so nice so don't worry I'm doing fine. This blog title was inspired by the beautiful Mormon.org ad created by

Rob & Tracie Morris - Former Super Bowl, Champion, Parents of 5

http://youtu.be/48njTrFpUZM

and while I was watching this video again today this one below came up. What not a coincidence :) thought I'd share if any of you are struggling through life and maybe feeling a little disheartened.

http://youtu.be/8nczw6xHJ0I

How cool is my Grandpa?

Yeah that's right, 86 and going strong! This year at our family reunion Grandpa took his yearly ride on the new jet ski.

Maddie cakes

I haven't posted a recent picture of Maddie lately, and I don't even know when this one was taken or where it was at or who took it. However, this was her cute swimsuit this summer. I wish they made one in adult sizes. I heart you Target. Maddie's fake smile here.

From the mouth of Heslops

I don't know if there's something in our water, but we've all been caught saying funny things lately.

Maddie- while I was in my room I could hear a metal clinking noise, I went out in the living room to find her with giant toenail clippers. She said, "I'm gonna cut off my toes mom."

Jon- bought new fabulous Garnier Fructis shampoo and has been raving about how thick & heavy it makes his hair feel. The other day he said, "You know that awesome shampoo I bought, well its actually conditioner."

Julee- feeling totally awful tonight and Jon was working, so I came over to my mom's house hoping she'd baby me. I was laying on the couch when I looked at Maddie and said, "Where is your mother? I mean uh Father?" My dad was in ear shot and chuckled while replying, "Yeah where is your mother?"

Runnin Sisters

I forgot to post a picture of all the sisters that were able to run the race. Wished Carrie would have been able to stick around, she was running right along with us in training. I feel like I should explain why I'm not on my sister's team. However, that is a long story that I might blog about at another time. My sister Wendy did organize a team, but I was undecided when her team filled up. In the end there was an opening on my cousin's team and I finally convinced myself to do it. So glad I did.

What have I been up to?

My team "The Quick & The Well Fed", yes there is a hamburger on our shirts.Teams being announced at the starting line. The were 10 teams starting at 8 different times, a total of 80 teams at the Spokane to Sandpoint relay (185 miles).
My first leg of 4.6 mi started around noon on Friday.My second leg of 4.2 mi started around 10:00 pm, head lamps and reflective vests required.
Refueling with Cliff energy blocks, I was literally forcing myself to eat them. Ick.I was so excited and super anxious the entire time. I whoo hooo-ed everyone along the way.
My last leg of 4.3 mi started around 8 am Saturday morning. The best run of all.While we were waiting we put on our team shirts to meet our team at the finish line.Well most of you know, because I'm crazy about documenting my runs on facebook. However, for the 1% that may not know I have been running, jogging, and walking. I started running 1.5 miles in July and worked up to 6.2 miles in August. I participated in my first official race this last weekend it started Friday 8/12/11 at 5:00 am and did not end until Saturday 8/13/11 at 1:00 pm. It was a relay race as you might have guessed, which similar to a Ragnar race, is 185 miles broken up between 12 runners. There was lots of laughing and not much sleeping. It was definitely a test of the body's ability to preform on little to no sleep just as much as it was the actual running. I was runner #9 so my first leg of 4.6 miles began around noon in the heat of the day on a narrow mountain road, and when I had less than a mile to go I realized the biggest challenge laid waiting for me at the end called "Doomsday Hill" which I renamed Doomsday Mountain. My favorite part was when one of the men teams drove by and squirted me with a water gun. A few other teams also pulled over to offer me a drink & to spray my face. Afterwards I had a large blister that formed after that leg of the race. My second leg was 4.2 miles around 10:00 pm. It was my easiest run and should have been a peice of cake but the blister on my arch fired up after about 2 miles and I knew I was in trouble. So during that leg I did some walking which was alittle disappointing as I had a goal to not walk my legs. I also got passed by at least 10 other runners, which I cheered on. After my van was done running we went to Silverwood (amusement park) where we waited for our team's runner to meet up with us so all 12 of us could ride the rollercoaster. At 1:00 am we rode the rollercoaster called Tremors known for plunging into dark tunnels. We then went to our hotel in Priest River were I slept for 2 hrs, but was so grateful for that shower. I felt human again and finally clean. My last leg was 4.3 miles that started around 8 am. It was the best leg of all because the temperature was significantly cooler and we had tried everything we could think of to care for my blister that night. I got passed by one of the faster teams runner and tried to pass her down a hill, only to be passed again uphill. Alittle while later another runner passed me, and when I had .3 miles to go another middle aged lady tried to pass me. I gave her a glance and took off as fast as I could. I wasn't going to let another lady pass me. I crossed the finish line completely drained. It was one of the best experiences I have ever been part of. I loved the people in my van and am so glad I got to know them. I never liked running and never thought I'd be able to physically accomplish any type of race. I loved getting to know new people and making friendships along the way. What a fun, learning, and growing experience. I highly recommend doing this type of race. Now what type of NEW running shoes should I award myself with?

Walker Family Pictures

Ah finally family pictures! Maddie was historically naughty, we even tried stuffing her face with marshmellows and gummy bears in between takes. These are a few of my favorites, Grandma even tried briving Maddie with a ring. My Dad got a new camera for Fathers Day its pretty fantastic, that coupled with the Winterton's camera we are happy to have gotten a few pictures. Although with a group as big as ours there is not ONE picture with all of us looking. Thank goodness for photoshop.

Remember this

I made it last night and it was worth every gram of fat. The end. Oh yeah here's the recipe in case you want a taste of heaven-

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/03/chocolate-mousse-crunch-cake/

I boiled a small pan of water and used 2 Tbsp & remember to let the ganache cool to thicken, so don't be intimidated its soooo easy. Happy Anniversary to me, I can't stop eating it.

Favorite Pictures

These are some of my favorite pictures from this past month. Some from Grady's birthday party, some of our new view (yes we moved AGAIN), and some of Maddie's sweet vintage bike. I'm in love so I decided to share.

Zoo Trip

Here is a glimpse at our trip to the Woodland Zoo last month during spring break, the one that I needed to blog about for the last month. It was rainy and slightly cold, but we had a absolute blast. Maddie is an animal freak, she was very at home at the zoo.I love my camera, this picture of the lion was through foggy glass and super far away.I'm pretty sure Maddie would still have been smiling if there hadn't been glass seperating them and the jaguars.Maddie LOVED the peguins and the snakes, but I forgot to post a picture. I tried to get her to look at the emormous orangutan, but she was too interested in the python. Jon said she was weird for liking the creepy snakes.
We got growled/howled at by an alligator. That was interesting, everyone came running to see what was going on. I had just been pointing it out to Maddie when some stranger said he's telling you to throw your kid on over. I think I just gave that person a weird look. So fun and I can't wait to go back to Seattle.