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Sunday, April 06, 2008

Annie Kate Looking for Anne

Cherry Blossoms, Rain, Conference and yard art!


This morning we got up early to head downtown to see Anne run in the Cherry Blossom 10 miler.
The kids were still sick but after what Anne did for our family last weekend when Jeff ran the marathon we were not going to miss a chance to cheer her on.

we were so lucky and got the most perfect parking spot right next to the Washington Monument, which is where the race started and finished. It was raining a cold sideways type rain. There were so many runners so all of us had our eye out for Anne.

and then she came zooming around the corner and gave us a nice wave! Even in the freezing ran and soaking wet she looks darling in her running skirt! I am getting one of those!

I was incredibly proud of her for getting up and the freezing cold and running it - the weather would have turned most away.

Anne was pretty nice to sit and take photos with us after she was done even though I am sure she wanted to get somewhere warm and get some food. She even offered her bran muffin to my kids, but it was a little too healthy for them.
Way to go Anne! You can see how freezing I am I can't even take my hood off for the photo and you just ran 10 miles in a skirt! It was great to have a chance to cheer you on. (and i must remember to get my hands out of my jean pockets when taking photos because it stretches out my pants and makes my bottom look much bigger than it is, at least I hope it is not that big)

We then came home to watch General Conference. This is how we watched it this weekend. On the laptop with BYU TV on. It is Jeff's military computer so it locks up every few minutes and you have to put his ID in it once it locks up. Jeff's job was to keep tapping it with his foot so it would not lock up. Sally Jane sat on us with a high fever, Annie Kate coughing up a storm and Caroline jumping around (she was obviously feeling much better)

In between conference we took a walk to the lake to look for mini turtles. Annie Kate had found some on Saturday. I wondered what people think when they are church empty on this Sunday and wonder if they think we just take a day off each year.
I saw a note on the door and ran to see what it was. I thought this was kind of cool. A message inviting any of the neighbors to come and watch General Conference. There is a ward in the building who speaks Chinese so I love having every flyer written in both languages.
Caroline brought her purse for the walk to pick flowers for a current potion she is making.
she was willing to do anything to get the perfect flower, even take down our neighbors tree.
the color of Spring Green is ever where here and i love it!

Spring is definitely trying to push out Winter who at this point in our neighborhood is an uninvited guest.
i love these trees in our neighborhood all getting ready to bloom with their velvet wrapped bud.

Annie Kate found a pulled tulip in someones yard that had been tossed aside. she was obviously pretty upset about it.
The lake was fun and any chance the kids can get to just explore is always a good thing.


we forgot bread for geese so Caroline just chased them instead.

Sally Jane and Dad looking for turtles. We didn't find any.

Caroline took the risk on the tire swing. Even though the ground below was filled with muddy water she was not missing a chance to swing at the park by the lake.
i had never noticed that the trees around the lake are all dedicated to different people. I thought this was touching and quite a piece of history.


Caroline pulled this out of the lake and i am not sure what it is, some kind of acorn ball.
I had told the girls that we were going to take photos in their Easter dresses today in the daffodil field. But with being Sick and rainy it didn't happen. Annie Kate said, "here mom take a photo. Good now we can say we did it and we don't have to come back" oh wishful thinking my daughter, wishful thinking.

As we walked in our neighborhood I became more intrigued with yard art and statues. There seems to be a lot of that here with little doo dads on people's door step. It is a mystery to me really. When I lived in North Dakota everyone had yard art. The most common was a wooden woman bent over gardening and you could see her bottom - it was weird.

here it is more of garden statues and such.

There are a few in the neighborhood that get changed for each season. This penguin gets a new tie for each holiday. there are a set of frogs down the road who also get holiday decor.
these next two pictures are from a ladies yard which is actually quite cool - not really my taste but she has a whole theme going on. It is a English garden feel. But she has lots of statues.
these one gets really pretty when the ivy grows up in the summer. But still I wonder what makes someone pick these items to put on their front doorstep - Pigs welcoming your friends... hmmm. Interesting.

Do you have yard art?
Are you going to do a 10 miler this year, so you can be as cool as Anne?
Are things blooming where you are?
Do you have congregations at your church building who speak a different language?
Have you ever found a mini turtle?

20 comments:

Kristi said...

there is nothing even remotely green here yet. sadly. hopefully soon. love those daffodils. you have to take the girls back there in their dresses. so beautiful. no 10K in my future. If only I could be that cool. as for lawn ornaments-I don't have any, and don't know that I ever will have any! but to each their own!

Melissa said...

Be careful with the turtles! I would not let my daughters take one home or even pick them up. They naturally carry salmanella which can cause sickness or death in young kids. They are cute to look at though!

Charity said...

We managed to be blessed with 8 inches of snow over conference weekend and it's coming down once more...(we're supposed to get another foot...) So much for spring green!

When we lived in ND I did notice the amount of yard art..including the bent over bum-crack showing ladies...ewwww...I think it turned me off forever on yard art!

Nice Job Anne in your 10 miler! Maybe we can get the name of the skirt company? I wouldn't mind one myself...anything to avoid running shorts!

Charity said...

Oh yeah, we've got Hmong, Spanish, Samoan and Tongan in our building as well as us English speakers! I love the diversity!

crystal said...

I DO have a running skirt and they are the BEST! You have to get one. No more shorts riding up your inner thighs. Well, I'm sure you do not have that problem....but I do. *sigh*

Not currently wearing mine, due to advanced pregnancy. Ugh--what a thought!

What a great race venue--the Wash. Monument. Wow.

Natasha said...

Griffin had 2 pet mini turtles, Lucky and Turtlina. The tank had to be cleaned out at least twice a week and Kim and I always wore latex gloves when we did it. Trust me, turtle poop stinks big time, even from little turtles. They were a pain but we were all sad when they escaped (long story). As long as your kids wash their hands extremely well they should be find - have Jeff bring home medical grade soap, that's what I did!

Rebecca said...

Your girls always look so cute!

Holly said...

I probably could never be as cool as Anne, but I'd love to run that Cherry Blossom 10 Miler someday---except hold that freezing rain please. Glad y'all went out to cheer her along. Brrr and Drip.

Love how you found so many signs of Spring pushing its way out--so pretty. The accesorized yard figures are so fun.

Holly said...

Oh, I forgot...girl, get yourself a running skirt! You CAN SO pull it off and I think you would like the girly-yet-sporty-ness of them.

michelle said...

The only thing blooming here is crocuses. But our plum trees have little buds on them! I'm so excited for the flowers to come out.

I like the idea of the running skirt, but sadly I will never be as cool as Anne. I can't even dream of running 10 miles! But if I did, I would love to do it with a cherry blossom backdrop. Love how you and Anne are supporting each other.

Eva came up and wondered who the girls were in the photos. I told her their names and she wanted to know if they were her friends and if they liked to play dress-up.

charlotte said...

Your girls are so cute! And you live in a beautiful neighborhood!

Just K said...

I planted sunflowers and hollyhocks in various locations in my yard. Almost as soon as they came up, the wild rabbits ate them all up. They ate half of my garden too, so I just covered the whole thing in chicken wire. I used to think all of the little bunnies hopping around were cute, now I know they are yard enemy #1. The girls and I were sad to see our flowers go, so we went to familyfun.com and typed in tissue paper flowers. We made these enormous paper flowers and put them on stakes in our yard. Now we have flowers, albeit artificial.
Conference was amazing! I always feel that the speakers say exactly what I need to hear at that time. Wonderful! Our last stake had Spanish speaking wards and a Tongan ward. The Tongans would sing at most of the stake functions. I wish that I was in the Tongan ward just so I could hear them sing each week. They are incredible.

j said...

anne is totally converting people to the running skirt. i love it- i need to find one. how fun that she was able to come see jeff run and that you all showed up while she ran. that is so great!
your girls are so cute!

Anne said...

A billion thank yous to you and your family for coming to cheer me on in the ridiculous weather. You have absolutely no idea what that meant to me.

Anyone and everyone can rock the running skirt. It is hands down my favorite part of my running gear. I have three skirts and they're all Asics (sp) brand and they have hot shorts underneath which, let's be honest, if I had sexy legs, I'd just wear those. Anyway, that is neither here nor there. There are a few different types of skirts (at least the shorts underneath them) so really it's a matter of finding what you feel most comfortable in. For more coverage there are some skirts with biker shorts, and then ones like mine. I'd recommend checking the sports store outlets, you can usually find some for a pretty decent price there. I also saw some girl wearing a New Balance one that was super cute.

Chelsea said...

I haven't visited your blog in a long time--I love the pictures of spring in this post. The last time I visited your blog you had written about your experiences in your DC ward--I should find the post and comment there, but I totally bawled through the whole read. It was a really thoughtfully written post--I loved it! I'll make sure to come visit again soon, you always seem to have cool stuff happening.

Missy said...

Those pics brought back memories for me. I grew up in Northern VA. That is my stomping ground! I always loved the cherry trees.

I'm so glad to see you running again. That inspires me to keep on going! I'm going to shoot for a 5k in July. Exciting!

Amber said...

Hi Krisit,

I am one of the pink Christmas gals/lurkers and had to tell you that I finally made the pretzels on Sunday between sessions. I dumped all into the bread machine on the dough setting and lets just say THE BEST!

Elizabeth said...

We have a Tongan ward here in town.
Those daffodils are pretty!

Bren's Life said...

You take such amazing pictures. Every single one of your pictures looks sharp & focused & perfect. How do you do that???
I love your blog!

Jill said...

I'm so jealous of the real spring you guys are having, hopefully ours will start soon because everyone has had ENOUGH of winter around here. We need blossoms and tulips and happy sights like these.

Your photos are so beautiful, I especially love the one of the church.

I'm impressed you guys went to cheer Anne on in the freezing weather, way to go Cutlers and way to go Anne in her cute skirt!

That's so funny that Jeff had to keep tapping the laptop so it wouldn't log you guys out.