Day 2

It is Sunday.....a day of rest. :) I stayed up too late to watch the Dallas Cowboys football game and so arrived at church a bit bleary-eyed. I stuck to my breakfast plan of Special K, milk, and half a banana. Had 3 pieces of chocolate on my way home! oops! Ate a reasonable lunch and dinner. However, I did "stress-eat" a large cookie when I woke up from a too-short nap and had only 30 minutes to get dinner ready for the missionaries. My best accomplishment for today was that I DID NOT EAT any dessert or snacks after dinner and I didn't have 2nds at dinner either.

Mikayla and I are going to try running together right after school tomorrow with Jared in a jogging stroller.

16 Weeks to a Half-Marathon

In 16 Weeks and 1 day I will be running a half-marathon. It will be 4 days before my 40th birthday. This week I have been gearing up and setting my goals and making plans on how I can reach the incredible goal of finishing a half marathon. I work part-time. I am a mom with 5 kids at home and one in college. I have 2 church callings and my husband is a counselor in the bishopric. Sounds like the perfect time to run a half-marathon.


Every couple of days I'm going to write my progress (or lack thereof) on my blog. I plan to lose 13 pounds by May 2nd. (That is the big half-marathon day.)

This week I started exercising again. I was just aiming for 20 minutes a day for 4 days, because I needed a goal that I felt I could reach. This gearing up worked. I know because last night I dreamed of running again!

Wed-Jan 6th- 10 minutes of upper body weights
Thurs-Jan 7th- 3 Fast Miles walking DVD & 45 min. shoveling snow
Fri-Jan 8th- 4 Fast Miles walking DVD & 45 min. shoveling snow

Saturday-Jan 9th. Today Shane took the kids to the Primary activity. I started the dishwasher, ate my Special K cereal breakfast (that is important because I really hate breakfast cereal, but this one tastes good and is part of my diet goals), straightened up the kitchen, started the laundry, popped in my walking DVD, and then got ready to exercise.


I was lacing up my shoes and watching the DVD intro when suddenly I realized I was ALONE! I could actually leave the house for a run if I wanted. I couldn't believe my luck! That NEVER happens. I quickly switched to cold weather running clothes, grabbed my cell phone, and RAN OUT THE DOOR!

I am so proud of myself. I haven't run outside since early December. I ran 2.8 miles in 32 minutes. I had to walk about a fourth of the time, but that is not too bad since I've not been exercising and I've been eating junk food!


I handled the cold pretty well. I need to remember to put on Chapstick, wear heavier gloves, and switch to a hat that covers my ears. Other than that, it was PERFECT!


So, wish me luck. I am heading to one of the biggest acheivements I have ever set my heart on.

Fat Shirts

I just threw away 3 of my old "fat" shirts. It's hard to get rid of them because I still am still so far away from my ultimate goal. I've been stuck at approximately the same weight for 9 months and I'm a bit discouraged. However, I have slowly been getting some smaller size shirts and it's so exciting to fit into clothes that are more flattering. I don't want to hang onto those shirts because they are a reminder of myself 20 pounds heavier and I don't want to ever go back there. So today, I let them go.

Pink Princess Racing's Fall Racing Schedule

Mikayla needs to get back to running in time to compete with the cross country team at the high school. So, this morning we headed back to Winton Woods to run 2 laps. I knew I wouldn't be able to run the whole way, but I was disappointed in how hard it was. I ended up running a 10th of a mile then walking a 10th of a mile. I haven't run much since May. So, I guess it is no surpise that my running has suffered. But, I have made a commitment to take Mikayla running the next two mornings and then take her to run a 5K this Saturday. For the next 3 weeks we plan on going out 4-5 times a week. We've got to get going because I LOVE RACING IN THE FALL!

This is a list of our Fall Races:

The Black Squirrel 5K: Sept 26th $10 fee
The Run for the Nuns 5K: Oct 3rd $20
The Turkey Trot 5K: Nov 19th $15
The Thanksgiving Day Race 10K: Nov 26th $45

These prices are the "pre-registration" prices. I have info/websites for these races if anyone would like to join Pink Princess Racing at any of these events.

Each of these races has both running and walking divisions. If you need a goal to help keep you motivated to exercise, pick a race and come do it with us. I love Pink Princess Racing. It is our informal racing group. We encourage each other, compete with each other, cheer for each other, and love each other!

If you have never participated in a 5K and you are nervous, talk to one of us and we will tell you everything you need to know. People of all sizes do these races. You don't have to be a skinny minnie to come hang out with us! (But, we accept Skinny Minnies too!)

A 5K is 3.2 miles.
A 10K is 6.4 miles.

My favorite race is the Thanksgiving Day Race. You get up early on Thanksgiving Day and head downtown. It is a HUGE race with tons of people. When you are done you have burned a bunch of calories and can enjoy your turkey and gravy GUILT-FREE!

See you at the FINISH LINE!

(That's me in the pink finishing the Flying Pig 10K. See, not skinny....still running)

Jared's Trip to the Hospital

In April, Jared fell down the deck steps at Shane's parents' house. The next day, I decided I better take him to the pediatrician to see if his collarbone was broken. On the way there, he started breathing really funny. Dr. Manfroy looked him over and said his collarbone was definitely broken, but the bigger problem was his breathing, either Jared was having an asthma attack or his lung was punctured from the fall the previous day. Dr. Manfroy told me to take him straight to the hospital!

It was a rough ride to the hospital. Jared kept choking on gunk in his throat and then dozing off. I wasn't sure if he was sleeping or losing consciousness due to lack of oxygen. I finally found Children's Hospital downtown and rushed him in.

The doctor had called ahead and so a trauma unit was waiting. All of a sudden, Jared was on an exam bed and about a dozen people were around him and me. They got an IV going and had a mask on him, giving him a breathing treatment. Jared kept screaming, "I wanna go home now!" I kept telling him I did too, but we had to help him get better. They needed to give him liquid steroids and asked me if I wanted to give it to him. You BET I did! I sat on the bed with him, held him, and gave him the steroids to open his breathing passages. The doctors brought in a portable X-ray machine and X-rayed his chest right on the bed.

They determined that his lung was not punctured, but he was having a severe asthma attack. We ended up spending the night at Children's Hospital. Jared had breathing treatments every hour at first and eventually it stretched to every four hours. When that happened, they let us go home.

Before we left the hospital, I asked if I could see his chest X-rays. It was so weird to me that he had a broken collarbone, but no one seemed to care about it. Their whole focus was his breathing problem. If fact, Jared was not put in a brace or anything. His collarbone just healed on its own over then next 4 weeks.


Our pediatrician put Jared on children's Claritin for the next month to help control his allergies and that has helped keep the asthma under control. For several weeks, I didn't have to give him a breathing treatment. While my parents were here 2 weeks ago, Jared was coughing up a storm and did have to take albuterol a few times. But, he is doing great. All in all, the whole experience left me even more grateful that our children have been so healthy. And I was thrilled with the staff at Children's Hospital. They took very good care of us.



Jared in the emergency room having a breathing treatment.

Me holding Jared between breathing treatments.


Jared didn't always like putting on the mask, so Shane took a turn!


Jared getting another chest X-ray.


Still in the emergency room. Jared was playing with his cars. Bobbye brought Mikayla down with an overnight bag for me and Jared's precious cars.

This is Jared in his little hospital gown in his hospital room. He wanted me to sleep with him part of the night in his bed. I got about 40 minutes sleep that night.

This is a stuffed fox that the emergency room staff brought to Jared to help him calm down. At first, he hated it. Later that night he had relaxed and came to love it. He named him Foxy!

Happy Easter

On Sunday, we had our very first Easter dinner in this house and it was wonderful.

Ron and Diane came to dinner. The kids were so excited when they rang the doorbell. Jared ran up to Diane and said, "I miss you!" over and over!

All the kids helped with the cooking and cleaning and we even had the table set before we left for church!

As we sat down for dinner, I looked at the table and realized how many people actually contributed to it. Ron and Diane brought the ham, veggie tray, and dessert. Bobbye gave us the dining room table and chairs, and the beautiful crystal pitcher holding the water. Three of the bowls on the table were inherited from my Aunt Mary a few years ago. Jessica gave me a gift card so I could buy this new tablecloth after Christmas. I bought the glass goblets and white cloth napkins on the recommendation of my friend Sherrill. One of the crystal bowls was a wedding gift. And best of all I pulled out some of my Grandma Schofield's silver to use to serve side dishes!!! It's amazing to me how many different people bless our lives day to day and sometimes we don't even realize it.

My testimony of the Savior continues to grow. This Easter Sunday I was again grateful for my Father in Heaven who sent his Son to earth so that my family can be together forever. Because, after everything else, that's all that really matters.

10 Reasons Why I Love My Dad

1) He loves his family more than anything in the world and shows it.

2) He is brave and adventurous. He travels in and out of the United States and doesn't seem to have any fear of doing it alone. I admire that quaility a lot!

3) He likes to read and introduced me to some great books in my youth. My favorites: the James Herriot books.

4) He made sure we went on nice family vacations. We went home to Colorado to see family, visited Branson Missouri, Natchez Mississippi, California, the Grand Canyon, etc. Dad likes to spend time with us. One of my favorite memories of my dad is when he was planning to take my brother, Theo, on the motorcycle up in the mountains for an overnight campout. I begged to be included and so we took the car and went. The next morning, Dad fried bacon and then cooked potatoes and eggs in the bacon grease. It was DELICIOUS. I can still remember how cool the mountain air was, the sunrise beaming through the trees and that amazing breakfast.... YUM!

5) Dad always made sure we had what we needed as kids. We didn't always get what we "wanted", but we got what we needed!

6) He took me out for Jack in the Box breakfasts on Saturday if I got out of bed early enough. Not always easy when I was a teenager.

7) I learned my love of flower gardening from my dad. He taught me how to compost at an early age. In Texas, he and I did the front flower beds together. I remember my sister Sheralyn volunteering to do the inside work on Saturdays, but I liked to be outside. (Okay, I didn't like to work outside when it was hot, which is a lot of the time in Texas. Dad may have had to drag me out of the house more than I remember.) We still talk about our flowers. He has a great rose garden!

8) Dad is a big train enthusiast. He knows all about steam trains and has passed that love on to several of my children.

9) He taught me how to swing a hammer. Dad had us kids help build the fence along our property in South Jordan, Utah. We didn't finish by the time we moved and I can't say we did the best job, but I know how to hammer and even helped Shane roof our last house.

10) Most of all I love my dad because he loves me. I wish I lived closer to him so I could goof off with him or work alongside him like the old days!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (yesterday) DAD!!! You are the best dad any girl could ever have!!!!