David goes to Kindergarten

It happened. The day every mommy looks forward to the day her little bundle of joy is placed in her arms. She pictures her little boy (a genius of course) entering the gate of some awesome school. Crying because he can't leave his mommy. She's crying too...how can she do this to him? He'll fall apart without mom! Oh, wait. That's not how it happened at all! Nope. On David 's first day of school he was up and brushing his teeth by 6:30 am! We were so excited! (And I say 'we' because I was up at 5 due to excitement.) He go dressed and finished his chore chart all by 6:45am. Too bad school didn't start 'till 9:23am! (I also have to mention that he said his morning prayer all by himself. I could hear him from the office asking Heavenly Father to bless him to have a great day. I'm so amazed and pleased with the young thoughtful, kind young man he has become.) When we dropped him off at school, we could tell he was SOOO ready. No tears were shed, no whining, no complaining of any kind. Just a "See ya mom" and that was it. I didn't cry either. Well, not until I went to pick him up and saw him walking out of his class in a line with all of his fellow classmates. He seemed so confident, so in his element...such a kid. Then my tears started. More so because I knew he was okay. It was almost a reassurance that I'm doing okay as a mom. He was ready, and I, in some way, had some part in that. Tears of relief almost.

Night before the first day of school it's tradition for the Fletcher's to lay out their clothes on the floor.

My kindergartner

Parker and David. For the record, Parker picked out his socks. Sometimes you gotta choose your battles.

Hello, my name is procrastination.

Three months?! Has it really been 3 months since I my last post?! I guess it's true, procrastination runs ramped in my blood. I make no excuses. Instead I'll try to play catch up. So much has happened in the last 3 months...so much to tell. But I will start with the one that is the most significant in my eyes.

SLC

Since the race was in Salt Lake City and it was Dino's first time there (my second) we decided to see the sites. Well, the Mormon sites at least. First up was the Convention Center. We walked around inside and looked at the art exhibit there were having then we got a guided tour.

David was in awe of the size of the inside. Gotta say, although I've been in there before, it does seem a whole lot bigger when it's empty. I explained to David that this was the building we see on TV during conference. He paused for a moment then asked, "then why isn't the prophet sitting up there?"

Dino & David.

Checking out the other side of water. hehe.

My little family on top of the conference center.

David & me on top of the conference center

Parker & Dave with the beautiful SLC Temple in the background.

The 2 cutest boys in the whole world posing in front of the SLC Temple.

Not sure if it was 'allowed' but Dave & the boys had a nice game of tag on the lawn of the tabernacle.

They needed it. A boy can stay quiet and keep his hands to himself for only a short period of time!

The next day was the race so we went 'home' early to get some sleep. But since it was Dino's birthday weekend also, we decided to celebrate it the next day. We headed out to The Mayan. Dave had always talked about The Mayan. He liked the atmosphere. He often says he would like to open a restaurant like it in Cali. I gotta agree, the vibe was fun. But the food...not so much.

Dino really likes water.

After The Mayan we went to the Down East Basics store. ('Cause that's where you go if you're a Mormon Woman who lives in California and visiting Utah.) On the side of the shopping center was this cute little walk way with a bridge and a small river. We had to stop for some photo ops, it was just too cute!

My 3 main men.

Pretty cool (& somewhat creepy) tree.

Never a dull moment

Daddy always knows the way.

That's the end of the road, and this post!

The Bailey's

Hi, my name is Cindy. And I'm a blog-not-updater-a-holic. I'm long winded when it comes to writing in my blog so it takes me forever to update it because I know it will take a while and I can't seem to find the time. Or more like I choose to do other less productive things. But the end of my procrastination has arrived. Today I will finally update you on another part of our trip to SLC that we took back in APRIL! I told you, I procrastinate.

On our way there and on our way back we stopped and visited our friends the Bailey's in Logandale NV. Not sure where it is? Don't worry, neither did we! But let me tell you, it is such a cute small community! It makes us want to move there. The fact that the Bailey's live there helps that desire grow. Jono Bailey served with Dave in his mission in Mexico. He was Dave's favorite companion. I can totally see why, he's a riot. And Becca is his beautiful, totally cool wife. They have 5 kids, 3 boys & twin girls...who are SO DANG CUTE! We had so much fun visiting with them, so much so that David & Parker STILL talk about it over 2 months later!

The main reason is the 'Bailey Compound'. They have a backyard that every little boy who's looking for adventure would call their dream! It comes complete with a mysterious toppled over building/shack, cool climbing trees, 'poison water' river and HUGE hills to scale and deserted rail road tracks to follow. Our boys had a blast! And Zach showed us how to descend from a tree using only a vine! Way cool.

This is Maddy & Abby. When I was there I could tell them apart, slightly, but not so much in the picture. Aren't they so stinking adorable!?

These trees were so cool, even I had to climb them!

Dino, giving me a sad 'puppy' face because he wanted me to let him take that dog home.

David & Zach up a tree.
Tarzan (AKA Zach) descending from the tree.
Throwing rocks into the poison water and watching them disintegrate. Okay, so maybe the last part was just our imagination.

Waiting for the train.
Taking the road less traveled.

Joey, Parker & Dave on top of the world!

This is as close as I got to getting all 5 boys in one pic at the same time. (L-R: David, Danny, Parker, Zach & Joey)

I took this pic for Dino so he can remember Taysha. hehe.

We LOVED visiting the Bailey's! Now we're ready to have them come visit us!! The beach is calling your name!!

Runnin2Bseen

A post on the half-marathon could not be done without the follow-up post to thank all my sponsors. You people rock. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I thought of you during my run. Thought of you and all the Invisible Children that are still waiting to be rescued. Both thoughts almost made me cry during the race. (What can I say, running makes me emotional.) I e-mailed my BIL, Tony Boenzi, to tell him how much YOU raised...$207!! Tony is the person who introduced me to Invisible Children. My life will never be the same. I thought I'd share his response with you since YOU are the ones who made that total possible. He it is:

WOWSERS!!!! $207 is friggen awesome Cindy...just to give you an idea of what that money can do depending on where you look...for $20-$25 a month you pay for one student's tuition, school uniform, books and school supplies, food, and medical expenses...the money can also be used to build/rebuild classrooms, water wells, computers, bathrooms/... Read More latrines, libraries, hire teachers/aides/mentors, rehabilitation from war trauma...I hope you feel a sense of pride in what you have accomplished in such a short time...incredible!!! Runnin2Bseen just changed the world and indeed helped the Invisible Children become a little more visible...thank you!

A sincere heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who is named on the back of that shirt. It may have been a small donation for you, but to one of those children it's a bit closer to freedom. You all ran with me that day. And I'm so grateful for that.

13.1

I ran a half marathon. Can you believe it? Honestly, had I not had the stiffening pain of post-half-marathon for the couple of days after it, I wouldn't believe it either. That and the pictures...those help too. Who would have guessed that the fat girl in elementary who was always dead last in EVERY race (that includes racing to the classroom, lunch line, playground & bus with her friends) would grow up to LOVE running!? But I do, I love it. It settles me, it calms me, it lets me release all kinds of frustration built up by just being a mommy of 2 boys, aunt to one 19 year old nephew and wife of Dave. To be frank, I always dreamed I would run one. But it was one of those dreams you think will never happen, like becoming a famous singer, super model, or gourmet chief. Stop laughing. I know, I'm NO WHERE close to any of those. Good thing those were never MY dreams! To be an athlete (or looking like one, at least) has been my 'dream'. So, I may never look like one, but I AM one now!!! Now some of you may be thinking, 'Cindy, running a marathon doesn't make you an athlete.' Really? Let me know how you feel when you're done with your 13.1 miles...we'll talk then.


Where was it you ask? Utah, of course! Seems to be the only place that offers Saturday races. We headed out for that great state on a Wednesday morning. We stopped at our good friends the Bailey's just outside of Vegas that night. (More on that visit at a later post) The next day we headed out to Salt Lake City. Now, if you follow my blog you know we are...um...cheap. So we opted to take our trailer with us and make it a camping trip too! Save money and fun for the boys! Great idea, huh?! Sure, until it started snowing on the way up there. Luckily it all melted by the time we actually got there, but the COLD sure was still there. Friday we spent the day seeing all the sights: Temple Square, Conference Center, Tabernacle, Cafe Rio, The Mayan, the Down East Basics Store. What? Down East Basics is a sight for me!! Friday also happened to be Dino's b-day so he went out with his friend Troy that night. We went 'home' so I could get a good nights sleep. Have you ever tried to sleep knowing you're going to run the furthest you have ever run in your whole life the next day. It's not easy. But it was needed. We had to be at the train by 6am.




5am came rather quick. I ate my pre-run breakfast (bagel with peanut butter & gatorade, Yum. ) and woke the boys up. They were all bright eyed and bushy tailed! NOT! But they were very good. We got to the train station and it seriously looked like it may have been the last train out of a war zone. There were SO many people there! We all piled into the train. Now, when I say 'piled', I'm not kidding. We luckily got seats, but most everyone else had standing room only. And everytime it stopped, MORE people got in! I doubted the trains ability to reach the top of the hill. I was pleasently surprised it did. The boys LOVED the ride. Good thing too, it took them 2 hours to get back to the finish line. They kept getting on the wrong train.

When we got to the University of Utah (GO UTES! That's for you Pugmires. All you BYU fans, ignore that) where the starting line was, we followed the heard of people. We had no idea where we were going but figured they all did and so many people couldn't possibly be wrong. Not in Utah at least. hehe. They weren't. After a brief photo opp Dino and I (oh yeah, Dino ran the race too) headed to the 'little runners line' Seriously the longest line for a bathroom I've ever seen. Luckily the race provided these cool electronic chips that you put on your shoe. They track the actually time of your race. It starts when you cross the start line and ends when you cross the finish line. So no need to be at the starting line right when the gun goes off. Good thing too, we were in line for 20 minutes!!! It was needed. Ever try running with a full bladder? No bueno.

See this is the line for the bathroom. Yikes! The starting line that we were NOT in. hehe.

We finally headed for the starting line and took off. Dino left me because...well, because his hips are as tall as my shoulder, so he runs faster then me. Alot faster. But no worries, I took my good ol' pal Ipod. We, along with Pink, Beyonce, Flo Rida, the Black Eyed Peas, Pit Bull and many others, started our voyage of a slight downhill run of 13.1 miles. There are pro's and con's to not being familar with the route you are running. Pro, it's not boring, new sites at every corner. Con, you keep wondering where in the world the finish line is...not around THAT corner! But before you know it you hit the 12 mile marker and you're in the home stretch. Now here's the funny part. Dave and I didn't agree where to meet after the race or where he & the boys would stand to watch me. So I had no idea where to look out for them. At mile marker 12 I started scanning the side lines thinking they would spot me before I spot them. Not so. I seriously start running past the oblivious 3 and had to YELL at them.."HELLO!!" David & Parker see me and start yelling "Mommy, GO!" Which totally pumped me up. After a few confused looks into the street of dispersed runners, Dave spots me and sprints to get in front of me to get a picture. I had to mentally tell myself to slow down so he could get the shot. Not that he couldn't have out run me, I'm sure he could have easily at that point, but my mind wanted to race him too. But I fought it until it looked like he got it.

Once I turned the last corner, I was ready for the yelling of all the supporters to carry me in. But there was none. No one was cheering for anyone unless they knew them! That sucked. So in my head, I cheered myself. Wow, my crowd is LOUD! (no surprise, I'm sure) I sprinted to the finish line to end up with a time of 2:18. Two minutes faster then my goal. Wahoo!!! Once I crossed, I saw Dino, who gave me a hug and caused me to cry. I don't know why I cried, but I knew I would even before I signed up for the race. It happened again when I saw Dave & my boys. Tears of joy I guess. One far fetched goal checked off. Two to go. Yup, two. There is a 26.2 miler in October with my name on it and a 50 miler somewhere A LOT further then that. Hey, every little fat girl has a dream.

Easter Sunday

Every year we head out to Dave's mom's house for Easter Sunday. The boys hunt for their eggs there and we have dinner with the whole family. This year was no exception. We inform the boys that Mommy left the Easter bunny a note to please hide our eggs at Grandma Fletcher's house because that is where we will be. During church and after they kept asking when are we going over there so they can find their eggs. So impatient! I wonder where they get that from? hehe. When we got there, Grandma Fletcher informed everyone that the backyard was for the little kids and the front yard for the bid kids. (As in Dino & Andrew, both 18 and Adam, 14!) The little kids got to go first. Grandma told them that there was a "Golden Egg" that contained $2.00 in it! That's a fortune when your 2, 3 & 5!

Parker showing off his first find. Nope not golden...rats!

David, inspecting his egg. you can never be too careful these days.

Kathryn & Parker making their mommies proud and sharing.

David found the Golden Egg!! He's rich!!

Parker was not happy he didn't find it! What a sad, yet cute, face!

Inspecting the golden egg. Safety first.

David, being the kind, warm hearted big brother that he is, re-hid the egg so Parker could find it. How sweet.

Me and Talia. Isn't she cute?!