My beautiful new neice

Last week we had a new addition to our family - little Ashleigh Susan Shirley Mays was born. We were able to visit her and her mummy & Daddy last week. She's such a tiny little poppet, what a wonderful little blessing. Rich and Chessy really are amazing, and have really taken well to parenthood, they are both doing a wonderful job. Being new parents definitely isn't easy, and I'm so proud of them. I can't wait to see this little girly grow, I'm so glad that Nathaniel is a similar age just 6 months apart, here's hoping they'll be great buddies!

Called into Young Womens

On Sunday I was officially called and set apart to work in Young Women's. I just can't express how excited I am about this call. I realise that I will always be a mother of sons, that's o.k., I really love my boys, but sometimes I crave alittle 'girl' time. This calling is such an answer to my prayers. Being called as a counsellor would be a little too heavy for me to handle, so I've been called as a YW advisor, with specific responsibility over personal progress. I love the young women's program so much, it meant everything to me when I was younger, I am so excited to be apart of it again. I even get to do personal progress again! This blog has become more of a journal for me, so every now and then I'll use it to record how I'm getting on with my own goals.

Super Grover

Tayler loves this Grover the waiter clip!

Bristol Downs Race for Life Saturday 13th June 2009

I actually sprinted to the finish line! This is us with our little finishing medals, the only time I got emotional was when I was handed my medal and I thought about my mummy. I thought about how the medal really belonged to her, for the strength she had and the battle she had fought. So after the race I went and took my medal to my mum's grave, I placed it on a beautiful flower arrangement my family had sent for mum, and just took a moment to be grateful.

What an amazing event. I must admit, there were times when I wondered whether I would actually go through with it. I remember thinking several months back whether this was absolute madness. I just don't run. I never have. After being diagnosed with asthma as a child, I just gave up on running, and never thought I could do it. I now realise it is mostly mental strength that makes you a runner. I am so grateful for Racheal's support and strength, what an amazing friend she is. I really couldn't have done this without her. I actually ran three miles! And not only that, I ran 3 miles earlier in the week, just to prove to myself that I could do it, so I ran 6 miles in total in one week! Now I've done it, I have to admit, I can't understand what all the fuss was about. It was hard, don't get me wrong, but not that hard. I keep thinking of my sister Katy, who is training for a half marathon, and Rachael, who is training for a full marathon on a challenging course and I think, what was I worrying about? So this years goal was to run the course, next years goal is to run with others. My newest little niece was born on Sunday - Ashleigh Susan Shirley Mays, I really want to run/walk with her and her mummy Chessy next year. All my family in fact. How about it? would you like to run too?

My supportive boys, wish I could run with them.

An invitation from Nathaniel and Emily

It's just a week away, and so it's time to ask for sponsorship money, after all that's a huge part of what this is all about. If you could just sponsor me £1, that would be wonderful. Simply click on the link to the right and it will take you straight to my official sponsorship page.

I've loved training and getting back to being active after having Nathaniel, but that was only part of the reason for doing the Race For Life. As many of you know, my mummy passed away a year ago from cancer. I miss her everyday and feel so sad when I think that others have to go through what we've been through as a family. If raising money can help at all, I feel it's important to get involved.

Thanks for your love and support, have a great day, Emily x

Getting into a routine

So we're finally getting into a routine that we're all happy with - bedtimes and naptimes. I can see that Nathaniel is so much happier when there's order, oh and it helps when he's not teething too. We've missed the boys now that they're back at school, but only 7 weeks until the end of term, and so much to fit in until then. Jarom has an overnight camp and a adventure farm outing, plus sports day - he actually came 3rd in some of the practice races, he can't wait for the real thing now. Tayler has football, Beavers, school trips and sports day. Life is full of great things to look forward to.

Jason and I are going to look at Kayaks today. It's quite a momentious occasion, he's been wanting to get one for years, and this summer is fast approaching, I don't want him to go another season without getting one, even though it will mean sacrificing our family holiday to do it. I think we'll go to the temple instead and then Legoland, that's a trip we all love!

Today's Sesame Street Post

I love Sesame Street, it was my absolute favourite when I was little, my boys really haven't experienced the joys of Groucho, the Count, Telly, and Elmo. So I'm going to post a cute little clip each week so my boys can enjoy it. Today's is the person in your neighbourhood, oh how I used to love singing along with this song (still do), and Ben Stiller is just hilarious! Hope you enjoy it too.

A great picture...

The light was right, he was happy and so I grabbed the camera. I love my boy!

Race for life

It's almost here, the Bristol Downs Race For Life - and that's my race number my wonderful boy is holding. I set myself the goal of running everyday up until the race, but I'm not feeling so good, so no running for me today. Maybe I'll feel better in the morning. I think it's going to be quite a challenge for me, I pictured myself sprinting across the finish line, umm, maybe I'll be lucky just to gently jog across. Why not sponsor me? That might give me an added boost! After all, it is for charity, and a very good one too, remember all the money raised goes to help people like my dear sweet mummy. It's almost a year now, how we miss her.