Hey Dad! I'm ready to workout!

Wish I looked as cute when I worked out!

BFL Day Ten- Home Gym Reveal

Here she is! Complete with mirrors :)

(a free find from a ward friend)

One Part Home Gym

One Part Home Office/Media Center

One Part Craft Room

So where am I doing my crafts you might ask?

The dining room is loving it. So is Ben :)

BFL Day Eight- Making Progress

So... I am actually REALLY enjoying this lifestyle change! It feels so good to get up early and exercise and have an hour or so to myself until the kiddos wake up. I already have more energy and my clothes fit better! It's bitter-sweet when you finally get small enough to fit back into your fat pants. At least it's progress!!

Ben- down 9 pounds

Dena- down 5 pounds

Hooray!

B4L Day Three- Ouch....

Yeah, my body hates me.... it's saying "WHY?!?!?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?!??!?!

Yet we press on! 545 am came and we were in the gym! Booyah! Then 8 am came and I was asleep in my bed next to Ellie.... don't tell Ben- he had to go to work! Poor guy!

Trip to NY!

Okay, so Emily was kind enough to bring to my attention that I made no announcement in any way to why we are going to NY! Sorry about that guys! We are headed there to pick up Ben's little brother, Harry, from his mission! We are SO looking forward to it! Good news: We're leaving the kids home!!! Bad news: We're leaving the kids home..... :(. I am mostly excited, but I know I will miss them SO much! My mom will take great care of them though, so that makes it okay.

But it will be horrible... yet wonderful.... any of you with a 2 1/2 yr old and an 8 month old will understand this.

B4L Day One- Success!!

So we made it through day one in one piece! We even stuck to our game plan! Except after we got up early and worked out, we went back to bed! We'll have to work on that part....

Oh, and Ben has refused to post before pictures.... for now. Maybe when we post the afters :)

Mom.... I Love Ice Cream Steaks...

Can'tcha tell?

Enter the ice cream steak coma....

The Before Pictures

Should I post these when we start or when we post the afters?

Body-for-LIFE

Have you heard of these books? Well up until a week ago, I hadn't. I found the Body-for-LIFE for Women book at my mom's house and picked it up to flip through while on my lunch break the other day. I was hooked! I came home, got Ben a copy of the original and together we decided to change our lives! We start the challenge June 21st, 2010. I will probably be documenting some of my experiences here on my blog. The main goal I intend to reach by the end of the 12 weeks is a different perspective on living- living with the intent to be active and healthy! I think that's when we can find real joy- when we are out experiencing our own lives and caring for the blessing that is our body!

Expect changes soon! My craft room is about to become the gym....

Saturdays...

I just love my Saturdays this year. Ben and I pack up the kiddos in the 4Runner and hit the yard sales! I am so lucky to have a man who loves the next garage sale just as much as I do! Of course we are always looking for different things, but then we don't have to fight over who gets to buy it :).

Some things we've bought so far:
Treadmill- $10
Left Handed Driver- $35 (kinda spendy, but Ben assures me TOTALLY worth it)
Clothes for the girls- 25 to 50 cents here and there
Endless Books! We Love Books!- Free to 25 cents
Bike Chair for Brook on Ben's bike- $5
Specialized Helmet for me- $4
Skinny Flexible Air Compressor Hose (with attachments that fit our compressor!)- $3
Several yards of lace- 75 cents

It's funny to me how I'll spend all day trying to put the stuff away when we finally get home and 15 minutes later, I've forgotten what we even got! We've definitely had to put a price cap on our shopping sprees!

But can you really put a pricetag on good times together?

Sisters

So Happy Together

Memorial Day 2010

So I wish I had thought to take my camera yesterday, but I didn't. Oh well, it was raining off and on all day and I probably wouldn't have gotten it out anyway. We went for a Smith Family Bike Ride & Picnic at Ann Morrison Park. This is the second year in a row we've gone and I think it'll be tradition from here on out- it was so fun! We went for a 7.67 mile bike ride on the green belt, going over bridges, stopping at parks and lakes. It was seriously a blast! Props go out to Rach for making the whole trip at 9 months pregnant and Camry, Berkli, and Little Stan for making the whole trip on their own bikes! Well, Berkli did, until John ran her over with his motorized bicycle.... seriously- she had tire tracks on her back! She was very fortunate though- no scrapes or anything!

After the bike ride and picnic, we came home, cleaned up, and got ready for a BBQ at our house with some of the fam. It was good times. We had ribs, steak, hamburgers, and hot dogs- that's probably the largest variety of meat we've cooked at one time ever!! We also deep fat fried some french fries.... oh sweet deliciousness! Anyway, it was a wonderful holiday. Thanks to all for being with us! Ben and I agree it was one of the most enjoyable days we've had in a long time!