50K = How many miles? Are you kidding me?!!

Today was Chris' first ultra marathon. We packed the kids (and the unbelievable amount of gear needed to go anywhere with children) into the car and headed out this morning at 5:45 AM for Hagg Lake, about an hour South of us in Oregon. The drive and then the lake was incredibly beautiful and reminded us of why we love it so much here in the Northwest. (You should all move here!) Chris started the run at 8 AM and finished at about 1:30 PM. That's right, he ran for 5.5 hours straight! Sound fun to anyone else? Not me! As crazy as I think he is for doing it, I do totally respect him for being disciplined enough to train and then go through with the full 31 miles (that's a 50K, by the way!). Oh, and don't forget that I envy him for having 5.5 hours to himself! (Just a selfish side note there! =)) I'm pretty sure I would have started hitch-hiking as soon as the first hill made its appearance though. Or 2 miles... Whichever came first! So what is the madness behind it all, you ask? He's training for a 50 miler with his brother in Madison, WI in May. Crazy, I know! Anyway, he did awesome and was totally exhausted but happy with his run when he was finished. The kids and I actually missed him crossing the finish line because he finished about 30 minutes faster than we thought. His official time was 5 hours and 41 minutes. Cool! Oh, so a little side note... During the race the kids and I drove back about 45 minutes to a children's play place where we had a great hour. Then Cole decided to have the largest public tantrum that I have experienced as a parent. To make things more fun, Brody was screaming because Cole was screaming (can you believe that some girl pointed out to me that Brody was crying??? "Your baby is crying" she says. REALLY????!!!!!) and Payton decided to play Houdini in the jungle for about 10 minutes during it all. When she finally came out she couldn't find me since I was dealing with the terrors and the worker bees ended up paging "Emily, Payton's mom, to the lost children booth". Ahhh!!! That play time wasn't embarrassing or infuriating AT ALL!

Some cute pics from the week...

Well, not a lot has happened this week. I am going back to work on Monday, so Emily is gearing up to be alone with the kids for 24 hours. I have been home just shy of a month now and it has been an experience. I appreciate Emily so much more for all of the things that she is able to accomplish along with doing a great job with the kids. I have been happy when everyone was fed, clean, and not trying to kill each other. We are starting to settle into being a family of 5. We have realized one of the main things that keeps kids happy is structure. When they have activities planned during the day and dinner at exactly 5, the days are great. It's kind of late news but, Payton lost her first tooth on Superbowl Sunday. Amazing, and she is only 4! Any guesses how it happened? Now I know why trampolines raise your home owner's insurance. We were at a friends house and about 10 minutes into the first quarter, BAM! She went down on her own and cracked her tooth diagonally completely through. She was pretty tough, and the next day we went to the dentist and had to have it pulled. She had a lisp for the next few days, but that passed. Now she has a toothless smile for the next few years! The tiara came from the dentist.

One of Cole's favorite games.

Helping fold laundry.

OK, let's give it a try.

So we have held out for a while now. After looking at everyone's blogs for so long, it is time for us to get with it. It has been so great to keep up with every body's lives. So here is a summary. We have lived in Vancouver, WA for almost 4 1/2 years now. We moved here from Utah so I could take a job with the Portland Fire Bureau. Since we have been here, our family has grown from 2 to 5. It's crazy. Chris, Emily, Payton, Cole, Brody. While living here, we have bought and remodeled almost our entire house. Emily has been working part-time from home and I have become a paramedic. Payton is 4 and has been in preschool for about a month now and she talks about it all of the time. According to her, we haven't taught her anything, she learns everything at Primary or school. Oh well, one day we will get some credit. Cole is 21 months old and trying as hard as he can to be like his big sister. It is funny the difference between boys and girls. Cole really loves to destroy things more than Payton ever did. She builds things up and he sneaks in and brings it down. Then the crying starts. Brody was born on January 21st. Life will never be the same again. People have told us that having 3 is a big change, but you really don't know until it happens. AZ McKenzies and WA Wolfleys, you are crazy. Playing zone gets very tiring. I have been home from work since he was born and it has been wild with the 2 of us at home. That's the short version. We will do our best to keep this up to date.