Walk to Cure Diabetes

I have so much catching up to do! Last month, we participated in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk to Cure Diabetes. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who contributed to such a worthy cause. Team Freeman was able to raise almost $500! I was overwhelmed at the generosity so many of you showed. Also, a big thanks to Abbi, Ryan and Freya for joining Team Freeman and doing the walk with us. We had a lot of fun!

Trippin' Utah Style

These cute little kiddies are "the cousins." They are so adorable! I had to make sure I got a photo of them all so I could go brag about them on my blog. First is Tyler (Sarah's little boy), then Jack and Abby (Ben's kiddies), and then Braden (Nat's little boy who is almost hidden by Simba the dog--I would have gotten a better shot of him except that he wouldn't sit still for more than half a second.) Abby is 4 years old, Tyler just turned 2, and Jack and Braden will both be 2 in just a couple of months. I'm jealous we live so far away from them all!


This was just after our tubing adventure down the Provo River. It was all great fun until I slammed into a concrete bridge support (also aptly known as "the Bridge of Doom") When I surfaced, I made the mistake of attempting to swim towards my runaway tube only to have been swept into shallow water where I kicked the rocks on the bottom a few times in a panic. No broken bones, but my bruises are still very sore. Sarah and Ben didn't even know I'd fallen off. Thanks, guys! Remind me not to hire you as river guides anytime soon! Don't you think Ben should use this shot to book some modeling jobs? :)


This was taken at Oktoberfest at Snowbird Ski Resort. Blonde is definitely Sarah's color! Ja! I would add something witty in German here, but no sprechen zie Deutsch.


Celebrating a late birthday with Tyler (look at his cute little face) and an early birthday for Sarah. We also made it up to Centerville for Chinese takeout with Dennis who was all alone because Anne was out of town. He introduced me to Neilsen's Frozen Custard. Why have I never been to this place before??? I feel like a traitor but I have to admit, it was the best ice-cream (or custard, I guess) I have ever had in my life. Twenty times better than Cold Stone hands down. It was so good I should have taken a photo of it!
Thanks so much to Sarah for requesting me as her birthday present. It was so fabulous to hang out without kids in tow for once and take a breather before heading back for a new school year.

Sunday Night Football

No matter how much I try to ignore it, football season is here. Though I can't stand to sit and watch college or professional ball on TV, there's something highly entertaining about my kids playing with their dad. It's adorable, it's funny, it's touching, but it's also extremely competitive! (I didn't teach the kids that, it's just a genetic thing I think . . . no one likes to lose, right?) It's a sign that fall is on its way and that's one of my favorite seasons to spend in Michigan. I can already smell the pumpkin doughnuts and apple cider. Let the games begin!

Upgrading

So, it turns out that my car accident was mostly a blessing after all. State Farm paid for this lovely upgrade to my poor old Honda. It's 3 years newer, has 60,000 less miles, leather seats, sunroof, and is an EX model (top of the line). My old car was an LX which is the middle model (say "middle model" ten times really fast!) Now if I can just get them to forget about the rate hike . . .

Bye Bye Poor Honda

It's with a heavy heart that I said goodbye to my faithful Honda Accord last month. We almost made it to 200,000 miles. What you see here is the result of me rear-ending a Pathfinder with a U-haul bar on it. I had just changed lanes only to look up and see brake lights. The girl in the Pathfinder decided to suddenly stop for a light that had just turned yellow which gave my car a broken nose, black eye and smooshed insides. Her car was completely unscathed (of course) and I was the lucky winner of a "failure to stop within an assured distance" ticket and higher insurance rates. Yay. Happy Birthday to me.

My Ashlee

I love having a daughter. It has given me the chance to take a peek into what I might have been like growing up. Ashlee has such a great little personality and there are so many things I love about her. She's very sensitive to other people's feelings (and animals, too). The other day, I came downstairs and found her in the laundry room with Frankie. She had decided that he was bored and quickly provided him with entertainment and toys.


In this picture, she has put out her VideoNow player (in case Frankie wanted to watch a movie) and a rubber chicken and a toy helicopter, in case he'd like some toys to play with. It's all neatly placed on top of his dog chow bag for added convenience.


Here she has provided the poor bored puppy (who is supposed to be spending his time eating breakfast) with a very chic silver ribbon around his neck, a bouncy ball, and a tupperware lid full of an assortment of toys. One of the toys in the lid is a tiny little plastic armchair. Ashlee explained that Frankie needed some furniture to sit on.


She was very pleased with herself. And Frankie enjoyed the pampering (I think.) I love this sweet, adorable, kind, loving, dimpled little girl.

Parents Say the Darndest Things

A couple of nights ago, Ashlee was running around the living room on all fours. By 'all fours' I mean on both hands and both feet (not knees). She'll do this kind of thing often, especially if she is pretending to be some sort of animal, usually a dog. Well, this particular evening, we were all watching a movie together. Ashlee took off at full speed in her little animal way and decided that she wanted the light off. We kept telling her to turn it back on, but then she would turn it off again and laugh like we were playing a game. I kept telling her that she was a naughty monkey (especially since she looked so much like one.) As she ran back and forth, I would say, "OK, cheeky monkey, that's enough. Leave the light on please." After many episodes of turning off the light, I was starting to lose my patience. So I said, "I'm going to count to three and then I'm going to have to spank the . . ." I realized what I was saying just before I said "monkey."