thanks ladies, but he's taken...

so, ryan and i have been cleaning some things out at our apartment and i've come across some jewels. i know all you ladies out there are so jealous of me, but he's definitely taken...

there are so many reasons i love ryan:

1) he really IS a pirate! i always thought he just wanted to be a pirate...i never thought he was serious that he was one. (aye aye, alex...)
he was a dj, aka mix master ryan. i bet your husband was never a dj. AND when he dj'd he was hit on by middle school girls. beat that.
he wore chums.
he had school spirit in elementary school....goooooooo bobcats! (he's sporting his home-made bennion bobcat socks for 'sock day'.)
he also had school spirit in high school...and was very secure in his masculinity. double you - ay - double are - eye - oh - are - ess.
he has always had an eye for fashion...

shorts up to his elbows (but he's so darn cute!)...

leisure pants to impress the ladies on his first day of school...
braided belts, rolled shorts and the backpack on one shoulder (yes, still sporting the chums...)...i don't really have words for this one...he had one of the best butt crack hairdos i've ever seen (no worries, dan, you're still in the running). yes, still impressing the ladies...

he wasn't afraid to curl his hair and wear tights. okay, he was. his mom made him do it. but, if it makes you feel any better, ryan, i'm really jealous of how great your legs look in tights...and how skinny your ankles are.

*end note: this could very well be my last post. i'm quite sure i will be dead tonight. you can either expect an equally (if not more) embarassing post about me coming soon...or pictures of my funeral. we'll find out tonight...

dad's day

the great outdoors

last weekend, we went camping with some friends in the santa cruz mountains (the part that wasn't on fire, of course).

we had a great time with the whole group...eating, burning things (thanks for saving us from the dangers of lars and ryan, dyan), going on nice walks and just enjoying nature.

and, i'm proud to say we lived through it with 5 babies/toddlers.

i think it's safe to say leah and ty enjoyed themselves...hmm...good thing boys don't get cooties until kindergarten.

lions and tigers and bears!

we went to the sf zoo yesterday with a bunch of girls from our ward. SO MUCH FUN! it was a little bit windy, but so fun to get out and explore. leah didn't quite appreciate all the animals, but she was a champ in the stroller if i do say so myself. she loved watching the bears wrestle in the water and was completely entranced when this peacock came SO close to us and started honking. strangest sound i've ever heard. she also loved the penguins. (if you're wondering, leah is 30 inches tall and 20 lb. 12 oz...just a bit smaller than the gorilla).

we saw lions, tigers, bears, giraffes, zebras, monkeys, gorillas, koalas, ducks, peacocks, rhinos, hippos, penguins, ostriches and lots more that i can't remember or have no idea what they are! my favorite were the baby giraffes...

in usual leah fashion, she loved the water fountain and cried when we had to leave it...

all that excitement made for one TIRED girl. she NEVER sleeps in the car!

plus, the zoo is in prime real estate...as we drove home, this was our view...

see maren run

i ran in another half marathon, "see jane run," this past weekend. it's an all-woman race. i was trying to hit my 2 hour goal again...but, i didn't train well enough for that (and i knew that going into it). I think I still got a PR (2:09 if the timing was correct?) and i was really working on my running posture. my back didn't hurt until mile 12, which i consider a HUGE success. all in all, a fun race. congrats to whitney for getting in under 2 hours and to kristin for getting in under 2:10...both of their goals accomplished! i had a great time.

sounds of spring

i had my second layton studio piano recital last week. it went so well! each student prepared two songs and they did AWESOME. my littlest student, phillip, is 5 years old. he started off the entire recital with "hot cross buns" and, had it not been printed in the program, i'm not sure anyone would have actually known what the song was. BUT, he played with confidence...and his second song was perfect, so it all worked out. it's been a fun year trying to adjust my teaching style to mesh with the personalities of all of these VERY different kids, but i love it. and nights like this make all the hard work worth it!

leah was the "post-recital entertainment" - yes, she was on the program. all the kids love her and it was THEIR idea to have her perform.