This is how the Cougar Run went down.

When Weston and I moved our family back to Utah 3 years ago, we decided to participate in BYU's Homecoming by doing the Cougar Run 5K. Before the race, we noticed they were also holding races for children: 200M, 400M, and 800M.  We thought it might be fun to involve our children in those races someday.

Now it is BYU Homecoming 2012 and we have signed everyone up for the races appropriate to their age, including ourselves.  In preparation, we took our family to the track at the high school a couple of times in order to get them accustomed to the respective distances they would be running.  I was actually quite impressed with Annelise's stamina.  Her racing distance was the 200M, which meant half-way around the track.  She ran her 1/8 mile and kept going.  A full lap. Sometimes two laps without stopping.  I would look over at her plugging away and think, "Dang, girl.  Maybe you could be good at this running thing."  But, what do I know?  Overall, I thought we would, at minimum, give the kids an opportunity for a good athletic experience because we did, after all, make a bit of an effort to train them.

Ha!

I will spare you the unnecessary details of how we tried to psych up our kids by assuring them that it's not about crossing the finish-line first. (As long as they didn't stop to walk they would be winners, right?)....and lead you straight to the bit where Annelise decided she hated her bib as soon as we pinned it on her.  She cried from that moment, to the starting line, through the race course holding her daddy's hand as she walked, and across the finish line, with perhaps one or two 2-year-old competitors behind her. 

Next up was Adam running the 400M (Quarter-mile).  I think it would be safe to say his heart just wasn't in it.  I don't think it helped that he was wearing 3 layers of clothing on both top and bottom (see above photo for reference).  I'm pleased that he wasn't shy about showing off his runner's card declaring his time to the BYU Cheerleaders we ran into later on, even though he came in dead last. 

Now it was time for Peter to run the 800M, a distance he ran several times during training.  I escorted him to the starting line and by the time we got there it was already packed 2 or 3 lines deep with eager, energetic, (and I will mention lanky, which he is not) boys ready to kill it.  Prior to the gunshot he stayed back a step or two from the rest of the boys. I gestured, trying to usher him up into the throng. This is what he said to me:

"But I want you to be able to see me!"

I may or may not have had to fight back a tear at that point.  After all, what more was there for me to care about, really?  My little mama's boy ran the whole two laps without stopping, with a smile on his face, though lagging substantially behind the crowd.  Before his final push to the finish line, he became aware of a boy behind him who was tired and clearly not enjoying himself. This video shows him giving encouraging gestures to that boy.  

Again, I had to fight back proud mama tears. For my boy who ran a slow and steady, cheerful, sympathetic race, finishing 3rd-to-last.

So....I guess "training" is all relative, right?  Did we expect our kids to finish first? No. Did we expect them to finish last? No. Did we expect that other kids parents....you know....REALLY train them? No.  Should we have expected other kids parents to REALLY train them? Probably.  Was it still a good athletic experience for them?  I hope so. 

Work Like A Dog

When I was 8 years old, my family got a puppy and named her Claire. She was a cute little Shelte/Golden Lab mix. A miniature version of Old Yeller.

 Fast-forward about ten years....

Now I am 18-ish. That makes Claire, I guess, 70-ish.

One Saturday morning I decided to take Claire with me on a "run." You should know that I am not, nor have I ever been, a very avid or motivated runner.  We ran from my parents' house in the tree streets up and around the Provo Temple and back.  So, maybe a mile or two.  When we arrived back at the house, I thought we were both feeling great.  That is, until we entered the side door and started to climb the five small steps into the kitchen.  I noticed Claire was not at my feet.  I turned around and watched her slowly, painfully, desperately placing one paw in front of the other, trying to pull herself up the stairs.  For the first time, ever, it occurred to me that Claire had grown old.  I felt a twinge of guilt for taking her on such a demanding expedition and making her work like a ......well,....dog.  That image of her trying to muster up the strength to take one more step was seared into my memory.  Lately, I have found myself recalling the image quite often.

This is how I feel at the end of every day. 

Happy Mother's Day!

I made this video with Annelise's playschool class. Hope you enjoy! Watch it on YouTube because I can't get
the full screen here.

That Doesn't How It Goes!

Check it out. I can't stop admiring this picture.

Annelise loves to sing. It is very cute. She makes up words and goes on and on...something akin to the way Frances sings in Russell Hoban's beloved children's series.

Her most recent composition goes like this:

"The sun is coming up,

The sun is coming up,

The sun is coming up,"

(then in a high baby voice)

"The sun is coming down

The sun is coming down

The sun is coming down

But, I don't care.

I don't know why, because."

She was trying to teach it to me today in the car.

Each time I tried my best to sing it, I would inevitably be interrupted by my teacher:

"That doesn't how it goes!"

Annelise uses this phrase whenever applicable. When she was learning her ABC's, I heard her rehearsing (while sitting on the potty, no less)

"ABCDEFG

HIKA....

Urghhh! That doesn't how it goes!!"

repeat.

Whenever I hear her say "That doesn't how it goes" I giggle to myself. Along with all the other cute little things that come out of her little 3-year-old brain.

It was only a few days ago that I realized something...

She is right.

When you ask someone how it goes, you say, "How does that song go?"

You don't say, "How is that song go?"

Why do we say, "How does it go?" in the question form and in answer we say, "That isn't how it goes."

She's right.

Photo Sampling of What We've Been Up To

I know we have been AWOL for quite a while now. In case anyone out there has missed us, these pics are for you. I just picked a few favorites, in no particular order, and by no means representative of everything we have done since....oh, July or whenever my last post was.

Annelise and her bike all prettied-up for the Independence Day breakfast at our church.

We enrolled the boys in Superhero Camp in July, where they received special top secret training which they take VERY seriously, along with their secret identities "Lightning" (above) and "Strongman" (below). But don't let anyone know I told you. They also brought home these costumes which they wore every day for the rest of the Summer.

Febrile Seizure, anyone? We had our first and freaked right out. (Why didn't anyone tell us?!?) We rushed Annelise to the ER where we spent a few hours watching Tangled and waiting for the Doc to tell us she was OK. This picture makes me laugh. The perfect capturing of the moment of trying to remain positive while coaxing a urine sample out of a two-year-old.

This is what happens when you tell little boys to help paint....and then leave.

On the road: Fancy-Schmancy hand dryers in Green River

Angelyn's First Birthday!! It has been quite a year but look at her now!

First haircut. Well, just a trim. I can't bear to say goodbye to these curls.

One of Weston's many Home-Improvement projects. Doesn't it look great? Can't wait to use it!

Hey, I'm already big enough for Annelise's 12-month hand-me-downs!

Annelise was very excited to coordinate her own accessories for our most recent outing. She's all decked out and ready to go!

OT: This morning as I was getting her dressed and noticed she had picked out a black shirt and black pants, I commented on her choice.

Me: Wow! You are wearing all black today. Are you a Ninja?

Annelise: No! I have pink panties on!!

Peter's most recent missive. I love them all. I was particularly pleased to note both his improved handwriting and spelling.

Annelise's precious little playschool class. These girls are all such priceless treasures.

Gruppman Class Reunion

Last night we had a blast visiting with dear friends, some of whom I haven't seen in over 10 years. We met for a reunion of the Gruppman violin class at BYU...and associated cellists. It seems so strange to think there has been so much water under the bridge since these people were my family and my life. Now we have our own families and the number of children on the RSVP list was 36! Igor and Vesna were not able to make it this year but we hope to catch them next time we have a gathering like this. We missed you!!!

L-R: Sterling, Amanda, Ingrid, Emily, Ellen, Sugar, Ramona, Tess, Heidi

Sadly, it did not occur to us to take a group photo until after several people had already left. But the good news is that they are all pictured below.

Ingrid, Ramona, Sugar

Rosalie, Melissa, Heidi

Heidi and KC Bezzant and cute, cute kids

Amy Benson and darling kids....Christopher we missed you!

Ellen VanDam with her youngest 2 of 7!

Rosalie and David MacMillan

Emma Patterson visiting from Germany

The Newlyweds: Yeagi and Jonathan

Rachael Spencer and 5 sweet, active boys

Wow! Who is that good looking family?!

Sterling and Amanda Oaks

Mike and Ingrid Roberts graced us with their presence while on their world tour.

Sweet little Ricks and Oaks girls. I love this photo.

Amanda, Ingrid, Tess

Weston manned the grill.....in a manly sort of way.

Handsome guys. They bonded. KC was off at the playground when we took this. Sorry, man.

I love this photo, too. Oaks, Roberts, and Ricks babies so interested in each other.

Ingrid and Julianna

Mike, you've got something on your head. It looks like a cookie.

Oaks and Bezzant Sweethearts

Ah, Sugar. It's a good thing you came. It wouldn't have been a party without you.

Love to you all! Thanks for the memories. Let's not wait another 10 years.

Mother's Day.....This one will be remembered

Have you seen this?

(you might want to watch it on youtube if the full screen is cropped here. Take the time to watch it. You won't regret it.)

And have you seen this?

Really. Follow that link to my famous brother's blog so you can see the coolest project ever.

Now, I know you've seen this:

And now that you've been over to Kirk's blog, you have seen this:

And now this is the part where I wish I had told you about these things a long time ago. So that you could have followed the project with me. Then you would have known that of all 14 beautiful paintings that Kirk made, there were only two for which he used photographs as references. (The other one was #11. Based on a photo of my sister Angie and her baby.)

If I had told you about these things a long time ago, you would already know what Kirk said about this painting when he posted it for me to see:

"Hey Em. I took an unexpected turn with this painting. I hope you like it, but if not, I completely understand. I was going to leave out the blue pacifier, but ended up painting it in late last night. I actually got goosebumps when I painted it in, thinking about everything you and your baby girl have gone through--the only time I got a shiver down my spine during this project:)"

And you would already know how sincerely I was contemplating trying to buy it. It has been my dream to own an original J Kirk Richards, and the subject matter of this particular painting seemed particularly appropriate to hang in our home.

So, you may imagine my disappointment when Weston and I arrived at the art show to discover that the painting had already sold. "Well," I thought, "At least that makes the decision easier for me." Though I struggled to understand who would have snatched it up so fast? Who in the world could possibly have attached that much meaning to this painting to buy it as soon as it was finished?

Who indeed?

When I pressured Kirk's wife, Amy, to tell me the identity of the buyer, she brilliantly evaded the question with a vague reference to someone who follows the blog. And together they succeeded at keeping it a secret from me for nearly three weeks.

Until last Friday, when after taking my in-laws to the Carl Bloch exhibit, we decided to make a"spontaneous" stop in at Kirk's house to show Weston's parents what remains of the art show. Little did I know, it had all been carefully orchestrated.

I was surprised to find that the buyer of the Blue Pacifier painting had still not claimed it. But was glad it remained there so I could show Rex and Margo. I remained completely oblivious to all conceivable clues up until the very last minute (including the fact that Kirk had the video camera rolling.) Amy mentioned that she thought she remembered the buyer of the painting being acquainted with the Ricks. To which I blindly replied, "Really???" She thought the name of the buyer was written on the back and tried to get me to take it off the wall to read the name. I declined....as I am intimidated by original art. She took it down for me and turned it around so I could see the note, which read:

Purchased by Weston Ricks

for his lovely wife

This was followed by complete shock and perhaps a tear or two. What do I love about the painting? I love the fact that, even though it was not Kirk's intention to create either one of us in a perfect likeness, the baby really is Angelyn. I also like that the thing that sets this painting apart from all the others in the series is that it contains modern baby accessories (including a famous hat by Liz Frost).

Best Mother's Day gift and most perfectly executed surprise, ever.

Thank you, Weston.

I love you.