The Dressen Family

Running for the fun? of it.

2011-08-14T16:13:00.004-06:00

As you may or may not be aware I started running about a year and a half ago. I started running simply to get back in shape after having our fourth child in just under five years. Yes, you read that correctly. 4 babies 5 years.

I fully expected to try to shed my extra baby weight. What I did not expect was to fall in love with running!!

But, I have. It seems odd to even utter that phrase but, it is true. I really do enjoy it. So, this year, I decided I wanted to attempt to run a 1/2 marathon. I also wanted to run the Ragnar relay but, I knew that wasn't really a possibility. I would need a team and apparently the race books up nearly a year in advance. So, I found a training program for my half. I was really concerned that I would not be able to complete 13.1 miles so, I began my training really early.

As luck would have it, a spot opened up on The Ragnar Relay team in my neighborhood. And even luckier, they asked ME to join them! The only catch was that the race was a mere month away. I had already been training for a while by this time so, I knew I was ready but, I was SO nervous. I didn't know this group very well and I was so afraid to let them down. I did know the girl I was replacing is an amazing runner. So, no pressure right? haha

For those who may not know, Ragnar is basically a 12 person race spanning almost 200 miles. Each runner takes 3 legs which are spaced through a nearly 2 day period. It is truly insane. And I was stoked.

I had so much fun! I fell in love with that race. Even with a grand total of 3 hours of sleep. It is nearly impossible to explain how that can possibly be enjoyable so, I won't even try. But do know this...I have recruited my hubby to do it with me next year!

Let's fast forward 2 months to last Friday night. My 1/2 marathon. This 1/2 is really cool. Really low key and at night! Which is totally my thing. The idea behind this particular race is to finish as close to midnight as possible. You start whenever you want. They do not allow timing devices so, its all a guess. I was lucky enough to get to run this race with friends. I must say, this was so hard!! My goal was to run the entire thing...and I did. It was so cool. I honestly could not believe I did it. It was such a surreal moment. I even hugged my sweaty friend whilst covered in sweat myself! Another first for me but, I was so happy I actually did it!!

So, what's next? I am thinking... triathlon? Just maybe.

Childs Play

2011-02-23T22:15:00.005-07:00

My children are so much fun!! I love all the funny things they do to entertain themselves. I thought I better blog a few so, I will not forget them.

I have no idea where they come up with this stuff but, whenever we drive down a hill in our car, one of them yells out, "Hold your breath!" Then everyone, including Mom and Dad hold their breath until we have made it down the hill.

Another game they love to play in the car is this. They will pick an object, for instance Christmas lights or construction zones, each time someone spots one of these objects, they say, "Yeah!" or if there are no such item they say "Awwww" this will continue basically nonstop for the duration of our drive.

My little Eden LOVES to pretend she is the mom. She will tell me, "I am the mom and you are the sweetie."

The kids newest pastime is picking out a character in whichever show they are watching and claiming to be them. For instance, Aidan will say, "I am Tyrone." Ember will yell, "I am Paoblo." Eden says "I am Uniqua." And someone says, "Mom you are Tasha." Then for the length of the show they will claim to do whatever their character is doing. "I am wearing a green hat." or 'I just made you shrink."

I am certain I am not doing their little games justice but, they sure do crack me up!

Valentines Day

2011-02-14T20:10:00.006-07:00

Valentines Day is an extra special day at our house being that is is also our anniversary.

This year was especially fun for me because it was my kids who really got me in the swing of it. I had no real intentions of doing much (especially since Tony and I had celebrated our anniversary a little early) but, as I about to put out the cereal this morning, the kids insisted that we HAD to have heart shaped breakfast. So, I relented. I made pink heart shaped pancakes.

By lunch time, I was getting into it. We had heart shaped grilled cheese sandwiches, veggies with heart shaped ranch drizzle and pink milk. I really should have taken pictures of everything but, somehow that just wasn't a priority. I did, however, manage to have Tony take a couple pictures of dinner. Even the decor was a HUGE hit with my kids.

Love that smile!

Lights out. Its candle time!

Ems loved the heart shaped Jello!

What a sweet kid.

Eden really was happy. I promise. Here is a pic of the kids heart shaped pizza.

Asha...ready for dinner.

Our veggie pizza. One of our favorites. For the adults.

I have to admit, My kids really helped kick me into gear for valentines this year. I LOVE that they LOVE it.

Little E

2010-12-12T13:10:00.002-07:00

Following in my sisters footsteps.

All dressed up and ready for church!

Doppelganger

2010-12-06T23:05:00.002-07:00

I am in love! I found this adorable little pez dispenser that looks just like my husband! Awesome right?

Aidan is 6

2010-12-04T12:18:00.003-07:00

I can not believe my little boy is SIX. When am I going to stop being so surprised he continues to grow up? Who knows. Probably never.

Blowing out the candles.

A few of his friends.

He requested a Thomas the train cake. We opted to use his exhisting toys and use the cake as the foundation. Nice and simple. He liked it enough that he made a detailed drawing of the changes he would like to see for his cake next year. So cute.

Look who is one!

2010-11-17T11:49:00.001-07:00

Wow. I can not believe it has already been a year since our sweet little Asha entered this world. It is amazing how quickly time flies. I honestly can not imagine our family without her. She really seems to bring the family together somehow.

Sure do love this sweet little girl!

Future fashion designer

2010-10-27T22:11:00.003-06:00

I realize this picture really doesn't do justice for the amazing fashion sense Ember has but, I had to post it anyway. She LOVES to dress herself and has no trust in my clothing picks. She truly amazes me most days. She really has a way with putting an outfit together, however, I really struggled letting her go to preschool in this beauty. I insisted on the sweater, in part because of the cold, in part because of the tiny T-shirt (which she swore was not too small) and in part because it is covered in flowers!

Man, I lover her!

School Carnival

2010-10-26T22:26:00.010-06:00

This year we attended our first Elementary school Halloween Carnival since Aidan is now in Kindergarten! The kids had a blast. There were a ton of games and lots of food. Ember (4) even ordered herself a Dr. Pepper at one of the drink stations. What can I say? The girls got good taste.

I got a picture of every ones costumes before we left. Except Tony. He got home from work a little late so we met him there. I certainly wish I had a picture of him. He decided to go as a warlock (to go with my witch costume). He wore a long black wig, sprayed his beard and eyebrows black and had a long black cape. A bit too scary for a school carnival but, a great throw together costume if you ask me. And basically unrecognizable even to himself.

The Witch

(I had to hurry and snap a pic before we ran out the door. I wasn't able to get a full shot of the costume but, you get the idea. I mean, I am a witch for heavens sake.)

My little flower

Butterfly/Fairy princess

The beautiful bride

My superman

Just when I thought we had nothing to blog about.

2010-10-09T21:52:00.003-06:00

I have been wondering if i would really be able to jump in and start blogging again. Our life is fun and a little crazy but, blog worthy? I wasn't sure. Until yesterday.

Aidan had his little friend over and all the kids were running around having a great time playing together when suddenly, I heard a big crash followed but a frantic little, "Oh no! Oh no!" Experienced enough in motherhood enough to know that that is never a good sign, I ran in the kitchen to see for myself what the problem might be.
To my dismay I found our new drinking fountain laying on the ground with water spraying out!!

Once I was somewhat able to regain my cool, I summoned the kids to find out what had happened. Aidan responded, "It is all my fault. I was walking on top of the counter and I thought it would be a good idea to stand on the drinking fountain. I don't think it was a good idea anymore."
WHAT!!
I lost it again. My smart little neighbor decided he wanted to go home at this point. Very wise I thought.

Long story short, with the wisdom of my father, the moral support of my handy neighbor and my husband's mad plumbing skills, it appears to be up and running again. YEAH! Crisis averted.

So, its been a while...

2010-10-07T22:55:00.007-06:00

It has been well over a year since I have posted anything. So, much has happen and life is really good. I know people say that all the time but, I really mean it. Let me try to bring you up to speed.

Our sweet little miracle baby, Asha, will be 1 next month! Oh, how the time has flown by. It is amazing how quickly the time goes when you have so much going on.

We are fully settled into our home now and we love our new ward. I truly feel like we fit in here. we are surrounded by some awesome people. LOVE them.

Eden, now 2, is such a delightful little girl. She is so sweet. She simply lights up a room with her huge grin. I adore her shy, mostly quiet, yet stubborn little ways.

Ember, 4, has just started preschool and is eating it up. She is determined to read and learn everything she can. There is no stopping my little girl from whatever she sets her mind to.

Aidan, is 5, he started Kindergarten this year. I can't believe it. Where has the time gone? I am so excited for him. He loves school and has a fantastic teacher! I swear, the patience of that woman. I should probably take notes.

Tony was able to have his dream calling of Nursery until just recently. He is still at his same job. We are SO grateful that he still has one but, are praying for something better. Anyone with leads....?

I am serving in the YW which I love. The girls are so much fun. Its strange how I can feel so young and yet so old all at the same time. I have also found a new hobby. Running. It is so strange to admit but, I really like it.

Well, that is enough for now. Hopefully, I have not put yo to sleep with this long post. Who knows, maybe I will pick this up again.

Mums the word

2009-07-05T14:59:00.003-06:00

The word is officially out. (Notice my belly is complete with a tiny baby) This is the picture that Aidan drew in primary today. His teacher did not know that we were expecting....Now she does. Gotta love kids. They are just precious.

Its a...

2009-07-01T22:22:00.002-06:00

Most of you are already aware that we are expecting our 4th child. Holy cow I can't believe it! Well, we just found out that we are having a little girl. The kids are so excited. Aidan is very interesting in the entire process. We even got online and looked a pictures of babies in utero. He and Ember we both quite fascinated. So fun.

M.I.A.

2009-06-26T20:41:00.002-06:00

I know it has been forever...and ever since I posted last. Our life has been super crazy but, things should be settling down soon. Here is the quick update.

We decided to move in with our parents while we sold and bought a new house. I am so grateful for my parents generosity in sharing their home with us for the past several months. It has made this transition so much easier...Thanks Mom and Dad.

We bought a bank owned home in Herriman. It needed a little love and so Tony and I have been working every spare minute to replace the flooring, paint, replace baseboards and everything else that needed us. We were also blessed to have a ton of help from my Mom and Dad. My Dad seems to know quite a bit about well, everything. My mom has babysat more then, I even dare think about...Thanks!!!

We finally moved in on Saturday and so we have began the wonderful task of unpacking. What a chore. And that has been our life for the past 3 months, in a nutshell.

I am also hopeful that we will get a little time to sit back and smell the roses very soon.

Happy Birthday Eden!

2009-05-12T20:39:00.003-06:00

I cant believe my baby girl is one. What a little sweet heart she is. She is every mothers dream kid. So sweet and mellow and loving. We are so glad that she is part of our family.

(Did I mention she absolutely LOVES icecream.)

Happy Birthday little E!

Be careful what you say.......

2009-04-20T09:49:00.003-06:00

In our preparations to move we crossed paths with our neighbor a few times and discussed the fact that one of our trees in our backyard was shading their garden and probably causing less than desired results in their harvest.

He had mentioned he'd like to trim it up to help free the way for the sun to reach their garden to which we responded "Do whatever you want" not thinking how serious that phrase can be.

Upon returning home a couple weeks later (after the fact that our house now is currently under contract) we saw our tree lying on its side in our backyard. We were a little shocked to say the least.

We must mention here that our neighbors are super nice and we've never had any problems from them in the past. We really don't care one bit that it was cut down, we're just worried that it would affect the sale of our house that was put under contract with the tree in back. So far it hasn't been an issue....... hopefully it won't be.

Big News

2009-04-09T08:14:00.004-06:00

"After much thought and prayer we have decided to put our house on the market. This is such an exciting crazy time for us. Our house should officially be on the market today! Wow. We are very hopeful that things will continue to move quickly and that we will find something we love. There have been a flurry of emotions lately and we will be sad to move away from our great neighbors but, such is life I guess......."

Heidi wrote the above paragraph on Thursday, April 9th and our house had an offer on Saturday. After some brief countering, we reached a deal and are currently under contract. Yippee!!!

Out of the mouth of babes

2009-03-29T15:50:00.005-06:00

I woke up in the night to both of the girls crying. I came in and starting searching for Eden's binky. (I swear her crib is the black hole for those things) as I am searching, Ember is crying.She keeps saying "I throat." "I throat." As I am frantically searching I am trying to calmly ask her if her throat hurts. She gets a little closer to me and I try console her by putting my arm around her. Then I suddenly realize what she was actually trying to say. "I throw up." She was covered as was her bed. At this point I yelled, "Tony please come help me." since I still had not found the binky and Ember was just about to do it once more. I hurried her into the bathroom. Where she did it again. After a few minutes of cleaning her up and holding her in my arms she said, "Tell Tony." She wanted to make sure that daddy knew she wasn't feeling well. Poor sweet little thing!

Moving on up

2009-03-22T13:31:00.003-06:00

This has been a momentous week in our house. Eden has finally moved into a big crib (this was looong over due, poor girl) and is roommates with Ember. Ember has moved to a big girl bed! (Well, we actually turned her day bed against the wall as sort of a make-shift crib and although she can sneak out, it has been quite successful.) She sometimes refers to it as her big girl crib. And finally, Aidan has his own bedroom downstairs! He has been so good going down there to bed by himself. I am so proud of all of them. I swear, I never thought this day would come.

St Paddys Day

2009-03-17T13:22:00.001-06:00

Today the kids woke up to green milk in our refrigerator. Those Leprechauns are pretty tricky.

We all got dressed in our green clothing. Aidan asked if someone would pinch his left foot if he only had a green sock on his right foot.

We also got to go on a really fun Scavenger hunt. The kids found a little green bucket with green toys and candy. It was so great! Sadly, our camera is broken so I do not have any pictures but, we are hoping to replace it soon.

So big!

2009-03-06T15:42:00.004-07:00

Our baby girl is getting so big. She just loves to pull herself up onto everything (including her younger cousin Chloe) so she can stand. The only problem is that once she is up she can't figure out what to do next. She usually ends up just crying. If you help her down, she just gets right back up! I know she will be so happy when she can walk. I think she prefers the view.

Aren't they clever

2009-02-28T09:33:00.003-07:00

The other day the kids were singing some church songs with their Dad. In the midst of this, Ember looks at her Dad and asks, "Daddy...will you teach me all that I must do, to live with him someday?"

Aidan was discussing the recent passing of his pet fish with Jyll and Reed. He told them that we flushed the fish down the toilet. "Because, that is where Jesus lives."

Family fun

2009-02-25T15:04:00.002-07:00

These guys decided to play house. So cute.

Eden is in a doll stroller. They love pretending to be Mommy and Daddy.

Hip Hip Hooray

2009-02-22T16:37:00.003-07:00

I am so excited to say that Tony's schedule is changing...for the better! I am almost afraid to jinx it but, he starts tomorrow and will be working 7-5 Monday thru Friday. Almost like normal people! This change will hopefully be permanent or at least semi-permanent. Either way, I am excited and just wanted to share the LOVE!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-02-14T22:45:00.001-07:00

As some of you may know, we are hopeless romantics and could only see ourselves getting married on the day of love: Valentines Day. This year marks our 5th year of being married and I couldn't be happier. Five years and three kids later, it seems like only yesterday she caught my eye with those purple tights and sweet bangs. I could only hope it was my mustache that attracted her to me as well (she really caught my eye at an 80's costume party).

She's such an amazing mother and the kids love her for it. Even when she leaves after having been with them from days on end, they miss her the second she walks out the door. They've experienced so much and love life because they have a mother that loves them.

For most mothers the laundry never seems to end, the kids never like what you make for dinner, the runny noses often get in the way of your kisses, and the husband is never there as much as you'd like. However daunting the task of motherhood is, they keep on keepin' on and Heidi is no different. She commissioned me for our anniversary to write a song for her and while in the future I will write more of a serious themed song, I couldn't help but write a song about all the poo mothers have to clean up and deal with (maybe we'll post it on here soon). Yes I said POO and all mothers know that poo is an all to frequent part of a relatively new family's life and will be for quite some time. Heidi has cleaned up the poo without hesitation or resentment (not without a gag or two in between).

As a wife, she yearns to cultivate a relationship that continues to grow and we still are learning about eachother. She patiently takes care of her husband that's a sensitive redhead that's too prideful and independent to ask for help, yet she fights through it and loves me.

Thank you Heidi for all you have done and keep doing as a mother and wife. While all may seem to go unnoticed and unrecognized, "to God each good work will be known" and we as a family will try to strive more to show you how much we appreciate all you do. THANK YOU AND I LOVE YOU!!!