Full Time Dad

Scott and I have joked throughout our marriage that I should be the breadwinner and pursue my career and Scott could be a stay at home dad. It's always been a joke, but when life recently gave us a push in that direction, we decided to give it a try...for a few months, anyway. So I went full time at work and Scott became a full time stay at home dad. It was a shock to our entire family in the beginning, but thanks to our amazing Daddy-o and his great attitude, I can honestly say life has never been better in the Murray household. Scott has completely shown me up with his cooking, cleaning, organizing, and overall ability of running a household. He has even managed grocery shopping with all three kids in tow. While I have never, ever, claimed to be a stellar homemaker, I have always considered myself to be a decent Mom, but he has even outdone me in that department. Scott has fully embraced his role as Dad and my activities now pale in comparison with the fun things he and the kiddos have been doing. Fortunately, my night shift schedule allows us to spend a lot of our days together as a family. This has allowed us to have the most amazing spring and summer, filled with many family adventures. These last few months could have been, and probably should have been challenging for our family, but because of Scott, and all of his hard work, they have turned out to be some of the best times our little family has ever had. I think I can speak for both Scott and I in saying we are looking forward to getting back to our usual roles come August when he will start BYU's MBA program. However, a lot of good has come from this temporary shake up. So Happy Father's Day to our full time Daddy! We love you!!

Moab

Last weekend we took a quick trip to Moab so Scott and I, along with his brother, Steve, could compete as a relay team in the Moab Xterra triathlon. An Xterra triathlon differs from the traditional kind in that the bike and run are off-road. We opted to do a relay since Scott and Steve didn't feel comfortable doing an open water swim, I don't mountain bike, and I don't think Steve enjoys running. So it worked out perfectly for me to do the mile swim in Ken's Lake, Steve to mountain bike 15 miles on the world-famous Steelbender trail (this was one seriously tough and technical course!), and Scott to run the 6.8 mile trail run to Faux Falls, through the red rocks, and around Ken's lake.

This is only the second year of this race and they still have some organizational kinks to work out like parking and making it more spectator friendly, but the race itself was really fun. This was my first time swimming a full mile in open water. I felt really great in the water, even when the wind picked up making the water kind of choppy. I was happy with my time of 36:23. 

Next up was Steve, who took off on what would end up being a 3 hour bike ride. Everyone was talking about how insane this bike course was...and we were in MOAB...people live on their bikes down there.

 Last, Scott took off up into the mountain for his trail run.  Scott, with his fresh legs, was flying past everyone. The other racers were commenting in awe of how fast he was running until he explained he was part of a relay and hadn't done the bike or swim. He finished in a great time of 1:02:19. 

During all of this we were juggling our 3 kiddos which was especially tricky since there was no shade and nowhere to sit, just gravel and dirt. We did take the kids back to our condo during Steve's bike, but even with that it was a long morning for them and they were all troopers.

The race was the main purpose of the trip, but we were able to squeeze in some fun before and after. We shared a condo with Steve, Jenna, Isla, and Weston which was the perfect set up. We asked both of the kids what their favorite part of the trip was and neither one hesitated a second before answering, Weston. They had so much fun running around and playing with him. They probably just drove him crazy the whole time, but he was sure a good sport. Miles and Isla enjoyed each others company and loved sitting across from each other in their bumbos and stealing each others toys. Spending time with Steve, Jenna, and Isla was definitely the highlight of our trip. We just love these guys. We were able to go out to dinner, go swimming at the local pool, have a BBQ, and I got in some good chatting time with Jenna while Scott and Steve made their late night grocery runs. The actual Moab things we did included seeing Indian petroglyphs, dinosaur tracks, and a last minute trip through Arches on our way home. It was a short but sweet trip.

Hiking the Y

One day we decided to take the kiddos to hike the Y.  The hike is only 2.4 miles round trip, but add in the 1100 ft gain in elevation and it provides a pretty good workout.

The kids were very ambitious and took off running from the beginning.  That lasted for about the first two switchbacks out of twelve.  Mason's excitement to see the Y motivated him all the way to the top, but Brynn required a little cheerleading and at the very end a ride in Daddy's arms. Miles just kicked in excitement the whole way up. 

 

 We all loved the view of utah valley and had fun spotting landmarks like the temple, BYU football stadium, and 7 peaks along the way.

                                     Our little Wild Kratts enjoyed identifying all the creatures we crossed paths with.

                                                                                     At last we made it!

 Hiking down the steep trail proved to be almost as difficult as hiking up. But Mason taught us all to walk like this to keep our balance.

I love living where we are just minutes away from endless nature adventures.

Mr. Graduate

It's official.  Mason is a preschool graduate.  As we watched his preschool graduation program I had so many memories from the last two years running through my mind.  It is fun to see how far he has come.  As Mrs. Young hands out the diplomas, she shares what each child wants to be when they grow up.  This year Mason said he wants to be an Ocean Explorer, which is definitely true.  The thought of Mason not returning to Mrs. Young's classroom next year is sad to me, but he is ready and excited for kindergarten. Way to go Mr. Graduate. We are so proud of you, Mason.

 Saying thank you feels so inadequate for the amount of gratitude I have for Mrs. Young.  I don't know how I would have said goodbye to her if I didn't know Brynn would be taking Mason's place and joing Mrs. Young's class this fall.

Mason and his preschool buddies Cy Berge and Sam Adams. Unfortunately we weren't able to get Brandon Johnson in the picture.  These boys have all been great friends for Mason. He always looked forward to going to preschool and playing with his friends. 

                                                                                                    The Fam

Watch out preschool.  Here she comes!!

Sneak Swim

My bestie, Stacie, is one of those amazing friends who always seems to show up exactly when you need them the most.  With that being said, her invitation to sneak into Scera Pool (with permission, of course) a couple days before it was open to the public couldn't have come at a better time for me.  I despirately needed some quality time surrounded by my kiddos and friends and that is just what I got.  Taking three kids to the pool was a breeze when there were only 11 of us there. Miles enjoyed splashing in the water with Josie briefly, but then zonked out for his nap in the shade while the rest of us enjoyed going down the slide. Brynn was fearless and was the first down the slide on her own.  Mason couldn't let  his little sis show him up so he gathered up all his courage and went down on his own, too.  It was all too perfect. Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face.

                                 Brynn, Sunnie, Stacie, Josie, Rachel, Miles, and Mason.  Oh how I wish we could live
                                                 closer to these guys.  Brynn and Sunnie would be besties for sure!

            Rachel, Sarah, and Stacie with the babes Miles, Blake, and Josie (Thanks for cropping out the legs Lissy:)

This was all thanks to our awesome friend Lissy, who thought she was being sneaky playing photographer for us so she wouldn't be in any of the pictures, but I got her.  Thanks everyone.

P.S. Stacie, does the title ring a bell?   Sneak Sleep?  Ahhh the memories.

Summer Errands

When the weather is beautiful the last thing I want to do is get in the car and run errands. I prefer to use alternative transportation and turn it into a fun outing.  We used to just throw the kids in the bike trailer to go anywhere within a couple miles, but with three kiddos that doesn't work anymore.  So today when we needed to run to the bank we had to get a little more creative.  Now that Miles can sit on his own we were able to put him in the wagon for the first time.  Mason wanted to ride his bike and Scott opted to ride a razor so he could keep up with him.  It worked out perfectly.

 All the excitement proved to be too much for Miles and Brynn.  I laughed harder than a mom probably should as I watched them both fight a losing battle to stay awake on our way home.

   I wish summer would just last forever.

Mason and Scott went on their first Father and Sons campout last weekend.  Mason was so excited for his first real camping trip in the mountains and it seems to have lived up to his expectations. Like any five year old boy he loved throwing rocks in the river, roasting marshmallows on the fire, burning sticks in the fire, and running around with his latern. But all of that was topped when the owners of the campground came around and informed everyone that a bear had come down through the campground the past few nights.  Mason listened to everything "the two hikers" (the campground owners) said about the 6 bears that live up that Canyon. They said a black bear had been coming down to some bee hives that were kept a little further south on the property.  From that point on Mason talked about nothing other than the bear, and from what Scott tells me he had a lot to ask and say about it. As a sidenote, Scott's biggest...and I mean biggest phobia is Bears. He probably should have thought twice about going to a place called Bear Canyon.  Being the amazing dad he is, he fought his inner desire to pack up and leave, or at least sleep in the car, and spent the night in the tent with Mason. Mason couldn't sleep because he was so excited about the bear and Scott couldn't sleep because he was running through scenarios of being attacked in his head.  They made it through the night without any bear encounters. The next morning they were told the bear had come down, but stayed about 100 yards south of the campground. Mason has since been enthralled with American Black Bears (he informs me that is the kind of bear it was).  Unfortunately the camera was left home and no pictures were taken, but I know Mason's memories of this great adventure will last a long time.