Genetics

I have had a run with my genetics the past few days! I did a body fat and VO2 max test. The results were ok but not great.(We were told that the results were affected by genes. So I can blame my results on that!) Then I went to the Dr. for my ITB pain. He told me that my hips were the problem due to genetics. So I started physical therapy today. Hopefully to correct some of the problem so I can do the marathon that I signed up for. Kris.... How are your genes working for you?

Shane has not been working for the past month or so. It has been a adjustment for him. We drove to Logan last night for some dinner and some errands. There was a man standing on the side of the rode with the sign "Will Work For Food". Shane thought that he might give that a try. As soon as they can get cement in we can start work!

Car update. We have decided on getting another Honda Accord. There are many reasons for this decision. The kids are not very happy about it, but since they are not paying for the new car they have no say! I keep watching KSL classifieds everyday trying to find the right one at a good deal!

We are starting to get ready for our annual trip to Moab. The kids are so excited to go! It is always a blast when we go!

Stunning

This is a picture of my new swim cap and goggles. I have been using hand me downs. I just signed up for a Masters swim class. It is a bit interesting because I have worked on my swimming and I can now swim 80 laps no big deal. But in this new class you start all over at the beginning. The teacher tells you not to go back and swim how you used to. You can only practice the drills you are assigned. I think it will be much better for me in the long run. (I'll understand if no one wants to be seen with me!)

Today was Arie's Cardiology appointment. She had a echo and EKG. Everything looks about the same as last years echo which is good. So we are good to go until her next appointment. It sure is nicer to go to these appointments now that she is older. This appointment was over 2 hours long. Shane took her to Walmart after to get her own Wii controller and numchuck (sp)? Shane took me to Al's and bought my new cap and goggles along with the new lightweight tent to go with all of the backpacking gear he bought me the other day. I guess I am now committed to go backpacking. I think that it will be fun. Plus I have a new really cute sleeping bag.

Tomorrow is the long run day. Kris can correct me if I am off schedule again. I will be doing my 18 miler. This will mean I get to watch a couple of movies. Shane has given me the Transporter movies.

I don't think that I mentioned in the last post that Shane said I could definitely get a new car or whatever I pick. But the more $$'s it is the longer I may have to wait. I have looked at a few Honda Accords but I really would like to drive a few other cars, especially the Nissan Murano. I asked Shane that he would promise me that if I got another Honda Accord that I would not have to drive it as long as this one! It has been a trusty steed!

Roadshow

Our stake did roadshows for the youth. Our ward did one like Hee-Haw. It was great. JT and Jace were both in it. Our ward won first place last week so they got to perform it this week. Some of the kids (OK most) had no idea what Hee-Haw was.

Here is a picture of the boys and one of "Cletus".

He was awesome!

We have a very exciting week! Shane has been home all week. He has helped various people do some odd jobs like; tiling a shower and welding on a manger. I call him farm boy right now because he has to stand in a foot of cow crap to do the welding. It is very strange to have him around all the time.

We had a little car trouble this week (shocker)! I am cruising down the highway with the kids. (in the fast lane) The car makes a funny sound like the door is open going 70. I pull off to the emergency lane. The boys pile out of the car to check it out. As it turns out the plastic inside the wheel well has partially come off and was rubbing on the tire. So I pull on it to try and rip it off, well it was still screwed on. So I opted to drive the back roads home. It made very loud sounds and flipped gravel and rocks all over the place as it dragged on the ground. We passed a man who was out walking who turned around to stare at us as we went down the road. I turned a corner to a dirt road. I did not see a pothole in the road so we hit it going pretty fast. Hitting the hole was just what the plastic needed to be ripped off. I stopped and all the kids jumped out to run back and get the plastic. They were cheering and laughing the whole way. Arie told me after they got back in the car that she would not ride in the car anymore! (Extra Parts that the car really doesn't need--better gas mileage.)

Today Shane and I got our taxes prepared and filed. It was nice to have done! We stopped for lunch and then went to Staples to pick up a few supplies. I really needed to use the restroom so I headed to the back of the store. There was a note on the door saying something to the effect that the lock on the door was kind of broke. That if you chose to use the restroom you might get locked in, Sorry for the inconvenience. I REALLY had to go. I checked out the lock. Seemed to work, so I went in. After washing my hands I tried the door. LOCKED! I tried a little bit more- LOCKED! I thought what now.... The restroom is at the back of the store, do I bang and yell until a employee hears me? Ah ha..... I have my cell phone. 911? No, I just call Shane who is shopping on the store. Please, off all the times answer the phone! He did. It went something like this:

Shane: Hello

Kara: Hey, I 'm locked in the bathroom.

Shane: In the store?

Kara: Ya. Could you help me?

Shane: Do you want me to find an employee and tell them my wife is locked in the bathroom?

Kara: (Kind of laughing) Ya,.... No wait! I got it!

Lucky for me I kept working it and jiggling it till it opened. Saving me a big embarrassment! What if Shane hadn't been shopping with me? Call 911 really?

Is it almost spring?

It seems like it is taking me longer to do new posts. Maybe because I am too busy??? Or maybe things are pretty routine??? Today was my Grandma Bergesons funeral. It was a really nice funeral. All of my cousins were there. My brother Zach was able to come from Pittsburgh. Although I will miss Grandma I am glad that she was able to go peacefully. She would have really loved her funeral. It was good to visit with old neighbors and friends. My cousin Addi was there with her 2 little boys. Because I read her blog I was not surprised at how big her boys were getting.

JT is now done with school basketball. He will be starting competitive basketball and track soon. Jace and I are just finishing indoor soccer and will be starting outdoor soccer. Arie is now in achievement days. Shane has some down time for work right now. He plans to do some snowmobiling, I have some plans for some honey do's for him! We shall see! (Ha Ha Ha)

I am getting excited to start riding my (road) bike outside. You can only ride the trainer for so long. I am still working towards the marathon. I had a discouraging run yesterday. I hope that the next long run goes better.

I will be following Jill's (Up in Alaska Blog) progress in the Iditarod race. She is using a SPOT tracking system. I think that is a totally crazy race! I am such a boob when it comes to being cold. Her blog has some really cool pictures.

Winter update

I have been so busy lately that it has been hard to make time to blog! We had Arie's baptism and confirmation on Jan.31st. It was a really neat experience. Afterwards the family came over and ate, then we headed out to do some sleigh riding/tubing. I think that everyone had a good time. It was fun to have everyone over and stay and play for a while.

Today is JT's last basketball game of the school season. I am really proud of how well he has been playing. Shane and I have really enjoyed watching him play. Jace and Arie are a little tired of going to watch the games.

Last Sat. Jace went and moved chickens for the first time. They sent the forms to fill out for taxes for Jace, so I am assuming that they will ask him back again.

I have rode my mountain bike outside a few times in the last couple of weeks. I had a wreck on one of my rides. (Ice- got me.) In getting ready for the marathon I ran 17 miles. And then after I was done checked my e-mail and realized that I only needed to run 15-16 miles. Kris has to keep me on track because I seem to like to get ahead of the training schedule. It is time to also start planning the upcoming events for the year. It is hard to decide what to do.....so much to choose from. I heard that the LOTOJA is the 13th of Sept. I have not yet checked for myself.

On Monday night Shane took the family to the Rock Haus in Logan to do some rock climbing. We had a really good time. Arie really likes to climb!

I hope that everyone is doing well. Especially with the economy the way it is. We just signed another building. So we have work for a few more months.

Arie's 8th Birthday

Today we celebrate Arie's 8th Birthday! She is so excited about turning 8 and being baptized. Shane and I were talking about how time flies. Arie is turning 8, Jace passed the sacrament for the 1st time, JT is getting so big and is almost ready to start driving. Arie adds a spark of life to our family, everything is such a big deal. It seem just like yesterday that we were in the hospital fighting for her life. It is truly amazing how her health has improved year to year! Sat. will be such a special day for me to have Arie baptized, it is a day that I sometimes wondered if I would ever see happen. Happy Birthday Arie!!! We Love You!!!

Family Trip

I thought that I would share some of our activities in Hawaii and some of our photos. We left on Mon. Dec. 29th 2008. We had a direct flight to Hawaii. We stayed at a beach house in the town of Laia. Which is close to the North Shore where the famous pipeline is. Of course we checked out the pipeline and Sunset beach. There were lots of surfers and bodyboarders. The humidity was very high and it rained every day. But at least it was a warm rain. The boys and Shane took surf lessons with Cory and Jaden at Chun's Reef. Their lesson was taught by "Uncle Bryan". "Uncle Bryan" claimed to be the coach of alot of the pro surfers. All of our surfing students did get up and surf. While I was watching the surf lessons I saw a guy surfing with a bulldog on his board. I told Shane that we are turning Riley in for a new model.

We hiked to a waterfall that was about 700 feet tall. It was a waterfall that tourists don't go to, just the locals. We had to climb a rope up 2 sections of water. We ended up with a ton of bug bites. We had to hike up the river bed and in the river for about one mile. Only Bret and Chalisa's family and ours went to the top. The kids had the chance to jump into pools of water under some of the smaller falls on the way up and down. I slipped and fell into one of the pools, which was ok other than I had a bag on my back with beach towels and clothes in it. The bag quickly weighted me down as I tried to make it to the edge of the pool.

We did alot of body boarding at different beaches. We only ended up with one major injury. Bret totally got ate by a pounder. He injured his neck. He had a painful couple of last days and had to miss his surf lesson. When he got home he went to the Doctor, who told him that he had torn his ligaments in his neck.

We went to Pearl Harbor, the PCC, Hannama (sp) Bay (snorkeling), saw the blow hole, the most photographed beach, visited Tim and Elaine Hobbs (serving a mission at the PCC), ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, went to the Flea Market, ate fresh shrimp at the Shrimp trucks (yummmmmy!). I am leaving out many of the sites and beaches we went to. We did alot of beach walking and gathering shells. We enjoyed snorkeling at different beaches in our touring.

New Years Eve in Hawaii is a HUGE deal. They start letting off fireworks around 5pm and don't stop until sometime early in the morning. The smoke is so thick from all of the fireworks. The Hawaiins save their money to buy fireworks. They have firework wars and shoot them across the street at each other. If you wonder what the picture is with the smoke it is New Years Eve on the street where the temple is.

We drove up the West side of the island (north). This is really the ghetto of Hawaii!

(See the picture with the Holiday Inn Flag!)