Oh to be a Kid

Caleb was playing in the toy bin and from the look on his face, having a good time.


Owen wanted in on some of the fun, so he decided to join Caleb.


What could be more fun that two babies in a toy bin, is if one baby was riding the other baby.


I think Caleb had more fun than Owen did.

Happy Halloween

Our family would like to say, "Live Long and Prosper" this Halloween.

Ride 'em Cowboy

The boys got this little zebra, they can ride on, for their birthday (a post on their birthday coming soon). Mike was out playing with Owen and got this picture. Looks like we have a little cowboy in the family. He stayed on for 8 seconds. :-)

Rub a Dub Dub

The boys love bath time. They enjoy splashing around in the tub and I enjoy clean babies. :-)

Biking

As I said in my previous post, Mike thought it would be fun to get us bikes this summer and I'm so glad he did. I have loved riding around Herriman. We bought a bike trailer too, so that we could go with the babies. They are getting to be big boys and it is a great work out riding around with them in tow.
It was such a beautiful day on Saturday that I decided to go once more before it gets too cold. I usually ride about 10 miles.

Just getting back from our ride.

Owen and Caleb in the trailer.

Black Ridge Triathlon 8/14/2010

Michelle and I at the finish line.

That is right, I participated in a triathlon. It was totally awesome and so much fun. It all started on a walk about a month ago when my friend Michelle told me she was going to participate in the Herriman triathlon and would I like to join her. It was a sprint triathlon, so none of the distances were too long. 1/4 (500 meter) mile swim, 14 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. Sure I could do this. I used to swim back in high school, 13 years ago, it couldn't be that hard to pick it up again. Mike had just purchased us some bikes the beginning of July so that we could get in shape, so I figured I had the biking thing down too. Now running, that is something I really don't like to do. I could walk your socks off, but running, no thanks, but I figured if I nothing else I could walk the 3 miles. So yes, Michelle had me convinced that I could do it. Since the course was right in our back yard, Michelle and I decided we would ride the bike course. I'm so glad we did, because it seemed flat but really it wasn't and on race day it was nice to know when the end was in sight. Again since I don't like running I didn't even "practice" that. I figured I would just wing it race day. We decided to try swimming the Wednesday before the race. Not sure in hind sight if that was a good idea or not. That night the water was freezing and it kind of psyched me out. I was worried the whole rest of the week about how cold it was going to be. One friday I really started freaking out and thinking I couldn't do it without a wet suit. Luckily, my great friend, Michelle, pulled through for me and found me a wet suit, so we were all ready to go Saturday morning. We were up bright and early at 5:00 AM. We went and checked in, placed our running gear that the second check point and like I said, since the course is right in our back yard, we drove to Michelle's house, parked the car and walked over to the lake, which was the first check in point. We set our bikes up and waited around with nervous anticipation for the race to start.
Finally around 7:45 things got under way. We waited our turn for the two groups of men to go before us. When it was time for the first ladies group (which we were in) to start we were ready and waiting on the beach. The signal went off and we headed toward the water. I thought I would stay back when it was time to go, but I was so excited I just got right in and went for it. Side note: Back in high school I was able to swim the 500 yard freestyle (which is about 450 meters) in about 6-7 minutes. It took me a little longer this time, about 15, but really let's not get hung up on numbers. :-) I was just glad I finished. I got out of the water and couldn't get my wet suit off. Good thing Mike and the boys had come up to watch. I ran over to him and he helped me get it off. I hurried and put on my shoes, hoped on my bike and away I went. The two time I had ridden the bike course before it had taken me an hour and a half. I really pushed it the day of the race, and it was nice that Mariah let me use her bike, it was a real street bike and a lot lighter than my cruiser, but I was able to finish the bike portion in just over an hour. I had told everyone that I thought it would take me about three hours to finish the race, so when I was done with the swim and bike in about an hour and fifteen minutes, I knew I had to let Mike know I would be done earlier, or he wasn't going to be at the finish line when I got there, so before I started my run, I sent him a quick text. Bike Done. He said it was a good thing too, or else he wouldn't have come. He thought I was going to take a lot longer. Now onto the run, fun stuff. I would run for as long as I could and then would give myself a minute or two break of walking. When the race first started I had meant to turn on my watch so that I could know how I was doing when I was out on the course, I had forgotten until about half way through the swim, so I knew I had to give myself an extra 5 minutes or so on time. When I was about a mile from being done, I looked down and the time was about 1:41. I could totally do this and come in under two hours I told myself, you just have to get your butt in gear. I kept going and it paid off. I finished the run in about 38 minutes, giving myself a time of 1:57.13. Holy Cow, you do not know how happy I was. It felt so great to be done and to have accomplished my first triathlon. Mike, the boys and Michelle, were all at the finish line cheering me on. Here's hoping that there are more triathlons to come.


Excited and nervous for the race to start.

And we're off.

Out of the water and ready to ride the bike course.

Me on my bike. (Thanks to Zazoosh for the photos).

Me walking. Man running is a lot of work.

So Happy, I'm done. I crossed the finish line about 5 seconds later. Yahoo!!

Hacking Cousins Party

Last Saturday, I hosted a Grant Hacking Cousins party at my dad's house. We had swimming, good food and great company. It was a lot of fun to see everyone. 55 cousin, aunts, uncles, etc... came. I'm grateful for my family and especially to my Grandma and Grandpa Hacking. Hope we can continue the tradition and do it again next year.

Swimming in the Pool

Relaxing by the pool talking to Family.

Eating some good food.

The Grant Hacking Family.

Caleb and Owen in their bouncers

This video is long, but I love it. The boys were being so funny together I had to get it on film.

The Family

Owen

Nicknames: Owey, the bear.
He is getting so good at sitting. He can sit for a few mins or more by himself and any day we expect him to start crawling. He is getting up on his hands and knees and moving back and forth.
He got his bottom two teeth in just a week ago. They are coming in slower than Caleb's did.
He got his first ear infection in June. No fun. :-( He is on antibiotics and is making a good recovery.
The boys can hold their own bottles now and that makes it nice when I'm in a hurry and need to feed them. They can still eat and I can still get things done around the house.
We are experimenting more with solid foods. It is so fun to see their faces. So far everything we have given them (that isn't mushed up baby food) they have made a funny face at, but I guess it is a lot to take in, when all you are used to is formula.
We have been playing the Baby Signing Time videos for the boys and they love them.

Trip to St. George

Mike called me Thursday afternoon and asked if I would like to go to St. George for the weekend. Yes, Please! Since it is almost the middle of June and still not hot enough from me, plus I love anything and everything about St. George, I started packing. I've heard stories about how bad it is vacation with kids and how much stuff they need, but I didn't think it was that bad. Yes for our family of four we used all the space available in our Pilot, but we need that much stuff at home, so what's the difference!?!
The boys traveled pretty well about 30 mins out of St. George Owen started to have a melt down, but Caleb slept right through it. We took lots of naps (well the babies did) went swimming and shopping, ate at our favorite restaurant (The Pizza Factory) and watched movies together.
Every time we went to the pool I forgot our camera. I got these smiling faces instead while we were at dinner. This about sums it up, we had a good time.

Caleb

Nicknames: Bug, KK.
He just got two bottom teeth and he slobbers a TON.
Can roll over on his tummy, but after a while will start to cry. He knows how to roll back over onto his back, but he doesn't. Most of the time he just cries until Mike or I flip him back over.
Loves to jump and stand up in his exersaucer.
He is close to being able to sit on his own. He can sit for a few seconds on his own, but then he topples over.
The boys are sleeping in separate cribs now. They are sleeping through the night from about 7:30pm to 6:30am. Mike is a great husband and gets up with them in the morning.
One thing that I love that Caleb does, is if he is sad and has been crying and I pick him up, the first thing he does is he puts his mouth on my shoulder blade and cries into it for a few seconds.

Happy 62nd Brithday Mom!

My mom would have been 62 this year. On her birthday, May 29th, we took the boys up to see her grave. This is the first time we have taken them to the cemetery since they were born. It was a nice afternoon and we took her some flowers. I wish she was here with us all the time. Oh how I miss her. I wonder how she would have reacted to the news of finding out her first grandchildren were going to be twins. I know she would have been so excited. Before she died she told me that being a grandma was going to be one of the things she missed most. She would have been wonderful at it.

I hosted a birthday party for her at my house that night with my family. We had cake, played her favorite card game, Shanghi, and reminisced.

Joke

Mike's mom found this joke on the back of a laffy taffy wrapper.
What do you call twin brothers?...

A Sunset. Ha. Corny.

Easter in May

We have a tradition of going out to Vernal for Easter, but since it is usually cold, raining or snowing in March and April, we decided that we would add a new twist to the tradition and start doing Easter in May, so that it might be a little warmer. Just our luck, it still rained, but it stopped enough, so that we could go have some fun.
This was the boys first Easter in Vernal, and I think they had a pretty good time.


When we arrived we headed for the gully for the Hot Dog Roast. Mike and Caleb roasting a hot dog.


Caleb, me and Ivy dying Easter Eggs. (Dad and Owen were taking a nap.)


Caleb and I. Yippy! We found his Easter basket. (Owen and Dad were still asleep.)


Up on Chocolate Rock. The boys were able to roll their Easter eggs down chocolate rock.


The Beesley Bunch


And the Hall Cousins

Mothers Day was Oh So Nice!

Sleeping in until I was served breakfast in Bed.
A sweet card from Mike and the Boys telling me what a good mother I am. :-)
A teeth whitening kit, which I've wanted for a while.
Dinner at my Dad's house.
And Mike taking care of the boys all day long so I could just relax.
It was an Oh So Nice Day!


Caleb, Me, Mike and Owen

I love me some chikin

We attended another Chick-fil-A Grand Opening and are now 104 combo meals richer. ( For those who don't know, Chick-fil-A gives away 52 free meals for the first 100 customer.) We took the babies with us for a couple of hours and they enjoyed all the fun. Mike's parents came and picked them up after they got off work. We spent the night sleeping out in the parking lot. Good Time. I checked in at 74 and Mike was 84. It was well worth it and I didn’t even mind the snow, except for the fact that it’s the end of April and we are still getting snow. There were 16 of us total who attended and we’re already ready for the next opening. Eat Mor Chikin!


Checking In.


Caleb can't wait to "Eat More Chikin".


We actually got 106 free combo meals, because they fed us dinner at the event.
(Will, Brian, Nick Mariah and Me.)


Playing Games. (My brother in law, Brian, is the best. He brought a tent and two space heaters, so it was great, we just staying in the tent until we went to bed, playing games and talking, so the cold wasn't too bad.)


All bundled up and staying warm in our tent.

Seattle

First of all I want to thank my sister, Rebecca, who invited us up for the weekend and who was an excellent tour guide. We saw all the major sites and had a great time doing it. Second, I want to thank my sister, Mariah and her husband, Nick, who watched the boys for us while we were gone. They did a great job and we hope because of this experience they will want to have kids sooner. :-)
My sister, Rebecca, goes to school in Seattle. She is studying fashion design and has lived up there for about a year and a half. She is graduating this July, so with a little prodding from her, we decided it was time to go up and visit. We left Thursday night and came home Sunday night. We were also able to visit family and friends and enjoyed a rainless weekend of site seeing.


Atop the Space Needle. It sure was windy.



At Alki Beach drinking our Starbucks Hot Chocolate. (We fit right in, just like a local.) :-)


Our "cool" picture.


We went to the Fremont Street Market on Sunday and Pike's Market Place on Saturday. Both had lots of good stuff to buy.



We went and ate lunch at Ivar's and after wards we fed the seagulls.



The Fish market at Pikes Place.


The Fremont Troll.