5K with Eagle Bay

The girls have seen me run (no, wait, jog) and train for events like the triathlon, 5k, 10k and half that I've done, so when their elementary school, Eagle Bay, was doing a 5k they were stoked to participate. I thought a 5k would be a bit too much for them, so we entered the 1 mile race instead! They were so proud of themselves for running a race "just like mom". 

 Towards the end, Hailey wanted to give up and walk, I told her it was just a bit further and to push through it. With some encouragement from me, she was able to keep up a good jogging pace.

 Aubrey ran ahead of Hailey and I so she could run with a friend, but she was there and cheered us on when Hailey and I crossed the finish line.

What a surprise when Hailey placed in her age division!!! Good thing she listened to her mom, never gave up, and kept pushing through!!

Hailey Turns 9 -- Aiyah!

I can't believe my sweet little girl is 9 years old already. We've both come a long way baby! I was scared to death to bring home my little 4 lb. 6 oz. premie. I had never been a mom and had no idea what I was doing. Together my little Hailey and I have overcome many challenges, had many adventures and learned valuable lessons from each other along the way. I am so thankful for Hailey's tender spirit, her closenss to her Father in Heaven and her strong will that kept her alive in utero and keeps me on my toes today. Here's to many more years together living, learning and loving!

 Hailey's birthday breakfast before school.

Hailey received this personalized belt rack for her karate belts.

 For her birthday party, Hailey was able to have her friend come to a private party at the dojo. She was excited to have her friends come and see just what this karate stuff is that she does all the time.

 It was special to have all her friends see her in her element.

At the end, after presents, Hailey got to wear a kimono and cut her cake with a real Samurai sword! It was pretty cool!

Sum-sum-sum-summer time!

Here are just a few random pictures from our awesome summer. All of these pictures I took with my phone. I love, love LOVE having a camera on my phone because I am able to capture all these moments!

Station Park Fountain Opening

Station Park opened officially this summer. It is a really neat shopping center/entertainment complex in Farmington. It is the cool place to hang out now. I can just see the girls going there with their friend in jr. high and stuff. It is only one mile from our house and the girls and I like to walk there. I LOVE the fountain!!! It plays music and does a "show" every thirty minutes. This is us there when it opened.

Swimming at the Bountiful Rec Center

My nephew Skyler worked as a lifeguard at the Rec center this summer. We went to see him and he was off work. He spent the entire day swimming and on waterslides with the girls. All Sky's lifeguard friends were there too and he introduced the girls to them. The girls thought they were in heaven hanging out with these older kids. Skyler is a wonderful cousin! The girls adore him!

I actually have no idea when I took this picture, but my little Ashley looks so adorable!

Tracy Aviary and International Peace Gardens

When Angela and Jeff came to visit, we went on little field trips. Above is the Tracy Aviary.

We also went to the International Peace Gardens in SLC. This is Salt Lake's best kept secret. I didn't even know it was here. It is so beautiful and well kept. It is a huge garden/park place with little areas dedicated to different countries. It was so fun to explore all the countries. And it had the BEST climbing trees! A really neat field trip!!!

Jeff's daughter Caroline in a tree.

Above: Aubrey and Caroline in the trees.

Hailey, my treehugger.

Davis County Fair

Every year we head off to the Davis County Fair. We kind of have to go because it is only one mile from our house and the girls see it going on. It is also free, so I really have no excuse not to go. It is a fun way to spend the day! The girls love the hands on exhibits. They are hold real, life scorpions. Yuck.

City Creek

A new mall opened in SLC. City Creek. It is the new big, fancy thing to bring people to the downtown area. It is pretty swanky. It was under construction for a million years and finally opened this summer. It's huge. I took the girls to get a look at it. Aubrey has never had her ears pierced and has always chickened out when we've gone to do it. I think the ambiance of City Creek got the best of her and she actually got her ears pierced there!

Nervous before the deed.

Very happy after!

Kristy's Bucket List

I have been composing a Bucket List in my mind since I was about 10 years old. Of course, when I was ten I didn't call it a "Bucket List", but it was the same thing. I've decided I need to actually write down my list so that a) people know I'm serious about this, and b) I can feel more accomplished by actually crossing things off. I'm fairly proud of myself that at 33 years old, I've completed many of my life goals. Here is the list in no particular order.

Kristy Powell's Official Bucket List (or things I want to do before I die)

• Set foot on six continents (N. America, S. America, Europe, Asia, Australasia, Africa)
• Volunteer for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
• Zip line in a jungle
• Go on a cruise with Ben
• Run a Ragnar race
• Be PTA President
• Fly in a plane with my kids
• See Washington D.C.
• Read the Book of Mormon in one month 
• Live to be 85

Bucket List Items I've Accomplished

• Dance on toe shoes (ballet) (1990)
• Earn Young Woman in Excellence Award (1997)
• Ride in a Limo (1997)
• Go on a cruise (1997)
• Marry in the temple (1999)
• Have a baby (2003, 2005, 2010)
• Climb the Great Wall of China (2007)
• Attend a taping of my favorite show, The Price Is Right (2008)
• Graduate College (2001)
• Volunteer for the Festival of Trees (2006)
• Ride an elephant (2007)
• Volunteer for the Olympic Games (2002)
• Ride in a helicopter (2009)
• Eat Sushi (2009, been addicted ever since!)
• Swim with wild dolphins (2009)
• See a taping of The Early Show with Katie Couric in NYC (2005)
• Complete a Triathlon (2007, 2008)
• Run a 1/2 Marathon (2011--it was more of a hobble, but I completed it)
• Drive a motorcycle (2012)

I reserve the right to add to the list at any time, but never remove anything. 

Place Family Reunion (the one and only) Bear Lake 2012!

So, we've never had a Place family reunion, officially. My grandma and grandpa Place (Arthur and Virginia  have both passed away. They only had two children, my dad and my Aunt Star. We have get togethers frequently  but someone is always missing and of course Jeff and Angela live in Kansas, so we are never really ALL together at the same time. 

Truth be told, my family is wonderful but sometimes there are some personality clashes. I think my parents live in fear of getting the entire family together. Well, Jeff and Angela were planning on coming to Utah and going to Bear Lake. We all wanted to go too; so viola, a family reunion. Mom and dad said we could only be there for 24 hours, because all these people was just too much for mom. We divided the responsibilities  games, food, crafts, etc. Ben and I were in charge of all the food for the 24 hour reunion. We packed A LOT of fun, bonding and good memories into our 24 hour get-together!!! 

These were our family t-shirts Heather designed. Whats a family reunion without matching t-shirts right?

We had crafts on the lawn. The kids (and some adults) painted rocks.

Lizzy had just gotten an iPad. She and Aubrey spent all their free time together on the iPad.

We had wheelbarrow races. . . .

Mom and Dad hanging out watching all the fun.

Potato sack races . . . .

I forgot to mention this was the same weekend as the opening ceremonies for the Summer Olympics in London. So all our games were "Place Family Olympics." My mother-in-law had made with awesome Olympic ring thing, so I borrowed it and put it up for our family Olympics. Jeff promptly informed me that I could be arrested because the Olympic rings are a registered trade mark and closely guarded. I decided to take my chances and left the rings up.

Loren and Kali making the "U" for the U of U. (they do this in most pictures.)

We swam. Aubrey showing off her skills with Becca.

The sisters hanging out at the kiddie pool.

Most of the girl cousins swimming together. Left to right: Aubrey, Hannah, Lizzie, Becca, Caroline, Hailey. We are missing Kali, Melia and Ashley.

The rocks we painted. (mine is the pig)

The whole family. This is the posterity of Aurthur and Virginia Place.

The original Fab Five (with our mom and dad). Heather, me, Mom, Dad, Jeff, Kim, Stephanie

Aunt Star and her two daughters. Brittney and Natalie.

Aurthur and Virginia Place's kids. Mike (my dad) and Star

Even the adults got in on the fun. Racing.

Ryan and Spencer's celebratory dance when they won the wheelbarrow race.

The girls painted nails.

We played lots and lots of volleyball.

We played Minute to Win It games . . . this is a good look for Mike Mercer!

Ashley hanging out.

Our volleyball game turned to water balloon volleyball, when eventually turned into a huge water fight. We all had a great time. I love my family so much and had a ball. We are so blessed to be able to get together and have so much fun. Family is really what it is all about!!

The Army of Helaman

Alma 56:47-48 " . . . yea, they had been taught by their ^cmothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their ^amothers, saying: We ^bdo not doubt our mothers knew it."

Two of my favorite things in the whole world converged this summer. 1) The Army of Helaman and 2) The 24th of July Parade.

I love the story of the Army of Helaman in the Book of Mormon. Growing up, I always envisioned myself raising strapping young men. Alas, I have been blessed with three wonderful daughters whom I love with all my heart. When the opportunity to see a reenactment of the Army of Helaman came, I knew I wanted my daughters to be there to see it. I planned some special family home evening centered on the story. 

A stake president in Bountiful wanted to gather 2,000 young men to march as the army. Mike Mercer's stake was invited so he was able to march as one of the warriors. We heard that young men from Idaho were also coming. Stephanie and I knew that the crowd would be HUGE and we wanted a good spot. The parade was Saturday at 6pm. On Friday around noon Stephanie noticed people sitting out waiting. You officially couldn't put chair out until 7am on Saturday. Ugh. If we wanted a good spot we would need to sit with our chairs for 19 hours!!!! Oh we were not deterred!!! We scouted out our spot and sat . . . and sat . . . and sat . . . and sat. For hours upon hours we sat. At one point, the man who has an office in the building by us came out. He offered us the key to the building to use the bathroom in the night if we would put out his chairs too. Deal! So we sat some more. We played games, talked and hung out. Around midnight Ben insisted I come home. I went home for a few hours to appease Ben then came back around 5am. Stephanie and her boys slept there all night. Finally 7am rolled around and we were able to put out the chairs. 

The girls waiting for the parade.

Finally the moment came at the end of the parade. It was so awesome to see them coming. I teared up. They had big sticks that they banged, it was really loud! At one point they all stopped and shouted "We did not doubt" it was awesome. You could see the boys as far as the eye could see. When about half of them passed ALL you could see in both directions were the boys. It was really a great experience and I'm glad my girls were there (on the front row) to see it!