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A cast! Really?!?!

Well, our little angel was getting a tissue for me so I could wipe the little mans nose and she slipped on her slippers and slammed down on her elbow. We headed to the ER around 10:00. It looked like it was fractured so they put her in a temporary cast and told us to go to an orthopedic. Well, they think it is fractured. She will be in a cast for 2 weeks and then they will check her again and hopefully 2 weeks will be it. We were concerned about her arm getting wet for her baptism on Saturday.

The first picture was Saturday night. We were so tired and she wasn't so happy about things. Well, today she has a real cast and it is cute, so she is feeling a little more positive about things. Plus it is a waterproof cast so she will have no problems with the baptism or swimming.

Our Garden

Well, we feel pretty successful with our garden this year. It is coming along well. Hubby had a guy at work that also works on a cattle farm, bring these buckets to us. Wood has gotten so expensive that free feed buckets sounded great. They are not the most aesthetic thing in the world, but free outweighed the pretty factor. Too bad we will not be here to enjoy the fruits of our labors.

Weight loss never promised peace: Why I exercise without expectations

I love this article. It is written by a girl I went to school with. I am going to try to make this more of my focus. I need to be more accepting, but also honor my body by doing what it needs. Love, love, love her mind set on this. 

C. Jane Kendrick: Weight loss never promised peace: Why I exercise without expectations

Every morning I do the same thing. I wake up, put on my walking shoes and head toward the mountains behind my house. There are paths with views that could inspire the most skeptical mind. Some people have rolling oceans or busy cityscapes as the backdrop to their lives; I have Utah's mountains. Daily I converse with their whispering canyons and traverse their trails.

Last week I tried a new path that reached from the belly of Rock Canyon across the foothills to the base of Y Mountain. Inexplicably, as I hiked up and down the rocky terrain I continually ran into neighbors of mine.

"Good for you," one of them said enthusiastically to me.

"I haven't seen you here before. It's really great you're out here doing this," another said.

"Are you getting a good workout?" said another when we met atop a steep incline.

What is going on? I thought to myself. It's like they're surprised to see me. It was as though they felt obligated to encourage me or cheer me on in some new rigorous endeavor.

And then it occurred to me: They think I am out hiking to lose weight. Their enthusiasm for me carried a hopeful tone with it. There was a "You Can Do It!" sort of supposition. My panting and charging to ascend the inclines translated — in their minds — as effort to change the shape and size of my body, because my body doesn't conform to the standards of fitness of my community.

But that's not why I exercise. I exercise to thank my body, not change it. Daily I remove it from the sounds and sights of stress, up toward the quiet, assuring pockets of nature, and I walk it along at a pace that stretches it and honors it.

I suppose if I were in the business of changing my body I might be in a gym with a trainer, distracted by dozens of blaring TVs, bodies to compare mine with and sounds of whirring machinery.

But I don't want to change my body. I want that "weight loss is everything" attitude to change. I have come to a hard truth in my life that if I were to focus my time and energy toward weight loss management, I actually wouldn't have much energy for much else. Losing weight asks for me to work against my genetics, my predisposition for a body of curves and bounce. And I don't want my children to have a childhood packed with a mother who denied her body food and peace at the risk of ... well, everything.

In our home, "health" has a very simple definition: It means to love your body. It means to love it enough to take care of it, exercise it, feed it good food, nurse it when it's sick, rest it, move it, dance when it wants to dance and clean it when it needs cleaning. "Health" means you will love it as it changes and forgive it when it hurts. It means you will accept it in all of its history — including the DNA code swimming around the in cells of your bloodstream and the marrow of your bones.

In the other definition, weight loss trumps health. Weight loss never promised peace; in fact, for a lot of people it introduces an added measure of pressure. Exercise becomes a goal-oriented conquest, diet becomes an art of denial, and weight management turns into a crippling addiction. But a healthy body acceptance promotes peace and an increase of joy — it may actually be the best defense we have against obesity.

The only thing I hope to lose in this life is my fear of being me, body and spirit. The mountains taught me that.

C. Jane Kendrick is creator of the award-winning blog cjanerkendrick.com. She lives in Provo with her husband and three children. 

Kearney Heritage Days

We had a lot of fun with our friends the Mullins at Kearney Heritage Days. Too bad Daddy was on a youth temple trip. That was a good thing though, he needed time in the temple. The band was SO loud. We were so ready for them to be done. We really enjoyed the fireworks at the end. However, we are all zombies today. Very tired, especially with 9 am church.

Camping Hammocks

Hubby made this nifty hammock for camping. I admit, I was a little skeptical, but it turned out pretty awesome! Now to make at least 3 more.

Baptism Shoot!

Our beautiful little V is getting baptized in June. We had a friend from church take pictures yesterday. I think they turned out great! I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that she is going to be 8 and be baptized! She is growing up so fast! I love this little princess!

Had to share!

I was cleaning the pictures off V's camera and found this little gem of a video!

Farm Eggs!

I finally found a place I could get some fresh farm eggs! Look at the size of that big one! I am so excited to have some really yummy eggs again!

Cuteness at the Children's Museum

These are some of the cutest pictures of V & P at the museum with their friends. I love them!