Happy Birthday Spencer B.!!!

Here's a birthday trip down memory lane...

I cannot believe my little boy is 3!! Seriously, where did the time go? Spencer has been such a joy in our family, I can't imagine life without him. Happy birthday little man!

Thankful.

Yesterday I finally got to go running. Things have been so crazy this last week that it's been really hard to fit it in. I was starting to feel pretty stressed out about a few things so Kyle kicked me out the door and around the neighborhood I went.

As I was running, an epiphany struck me, I have finally, after a year and a half, gotten to the point that I don't hate running. I actually like it! I no longer dwell on how hard it is with every single step I take but actually take the time to reflect on things. It is SO NICE! It's one of the best changes in my life I could have made.

So yesterday during my running trek I was reflecting on all the things that I was grateful for. It definitely put me in the Thanksgiving spirit. So tonight, here are a few things I am thankful for:
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I am especially grateful for my husband. Every day he does everything in his power to make me happy, even if I don't deserve it. :) He's an amazing husband, an amazing daddy, a hard worker, a genius, the best cook, and my best friend.

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Yesterday morning I was also grateful that he makes us waffles in very large batches so that we can freeze them and eat them whenever we want! We have the best Saturday breakfasts!

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I am thankful for straight painted edges in my kitchen. We painted our kitchen this color red like two years ago and I didn't get around to finishing the edges until just yesterday. Every day for two years I would look up here and think, "I need to finish that darn edging!" So yesterday I did, and I LOVE that it's done!

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I am SO SO thankful for Janelle. She is the sweetest little girl. Yesterday while I was painting, Kyle was finishing a project up in the playroom and Spencer was getting underfoot. I told Janelle that if she would "babysit" Spencer for the next hour and a half that I would pay her $3. So she took him into her room and kept him entertained until Kyle and I were done with our projects. I couldn't believe it! She's getting so grown up!

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Because Kyle and I were so busy yesterday, we accidentally let Spencer sleep a little too long during nap time. He was definitely not ready to go to bed at 7 like usual. After listening to him sing and play in the dark for half an hour, I decided to go in and read him one more book. He was so happy to see me and especially happy to have that extra book read, it made me especially thankful for my sweet little boy.

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I'm thankful I was able to take that run yesterday. I'm thankful that I have a body that lets me run, I'm thankful for my husband who pushed me out the door, I'm thankful it was so cold outside yesterday morning I had to wait until noon to go out, I'm thankful that a new road opened that I could check out, I'm thankful for my run that put me in the Thanksgiving spirit!

Happy 12 days until Thanksgiving!

What I Learned from my First Triathlon:

1. After 7 weeks of training, your body starts to get VERY tired.
   
2. When you're training for the bike and run part of the triathlon beware of the gazillion gnats that like to chill before the sun comes up, you will either very likely be eating them as protein for breakfast or they will blind you as one flies right in your eyes.
3. The next time I attempt swim training with flip turns, I am buying a nose plug. I may have been able to do them as a teenager, but those days are over.
   
4. I love race swimming. It's super fun!
5. Wearing a sports bra underneath your swimsuit is totally worth it, even if it doesn't match.
6. A road bike is totally worth the investment if you're going to keep it up. Mountain bikes are pretty heavy and can slow you down quite a bit.
   
7. When the volunteers at the water stations offer to throw water on you, take them up on it, it feels fabulous in 100 degree weather!
8. When you can't use your iPod, singing really does keep you going!
9. By the end of the race, you're so tired you swear you can hear an angel chorus singing at the finish line.
10. Sunglasses are a must have - especially on the bike.
11. Even though you love your kids they have no concept of what waking up at 4:20 in the morning and then running, swimming, and biking over 15 miles can do to your body and will probably drive you crazy the whole rest of the day after your race.
    

*Revised with Janelle's Reaction

Beloved Church President, Gordon B. Hinckley Dies at 97

What an amazing man and inspiration to the world. While I am saddened at the death of our prophet, I can't help but feel happy for him that he is again with his wife and other loved ones that have passed. Today is a sad day on earth, but I'm pretty sure it's a joyous reunion in heaven.

This morning I sat Janelle down at the breakfast table to tell her about President Hinckley's death. I really wasn't sure how she would react since this is really her first experience with death. I sat down next to her and gently asked her if she remembered who President Hinckley was. She looked at me like I was crazy to ask her such a question, and quickly responded, "He's our prophet!" I then told her that we was really really old and when people get really old like that that it's time for them to go heaven to be with Jesus and Heavenly Father again. I then told her that President Hinckley had died last night. Immediately tears filled her eyes and I pulled her over to my lap to give her a hug. It was one of the sweetest moments in my whole life. You could just feel the love she had for our prophet even though she is only five and hadn't even ever met him. What a sweetheart I have! I assured her that President Hinckley was so happy this morning to be in heaven and see his wife and other friends and family who had died before him, and that someday we could see him again too. That seemed to console her a little bit and she was finally able to stop crying. I also assured her that a new prophet would be called to lead our church.

I was surprised to see how much she seemed to be impacted by the sad news. It broke my heart to see her tears, but at the same time I couldn't have been more proud to call her my daughter.

In response to Emily's blog here's Kyle's and my story of how we met. Check out her blog to view other fellow bloggers' stories on Sunday, May 6th. I had to do this early because we're headed to San Antonio tomorrow and won't be back 'til late Sunday afternoon and I didn't want to be late! Here it is, how I met Kyle P. Mammen:

I loved living at Regency Apartments in Provo, Utah. I had the best roommates and lived in a fun ward. Near Halloween in 2000 my FHE group planned a night to tell spooky stories. (I know, SUCH a BYU thing to do!) One of the guys in my FHE group happened to be Taylor Mammen. Taylor was a nice guy and lived with some fun roommates. He freaked us all out by telling us about his brother who had worked in an old mine as a tour guide when he was in high school who apparently had heard miner ghosts walking behind him once.

I distinctly remember thinking, “Hmmm…Taylor has a brother.”

I later found out his brother was in China teaching English. After that, I didn’t think anything about it. And by November of that same year, I was tired of guys, and just swore them off for awhile.

One January night, I decided to accompany my roommate, Andrea, to her institute class. I’d forgotten that my home teachers were supposed to show up that night. Andrea and I had a fun time and were surprised to find two guys sitting in our living room when we got home. One of the guys sparked my interest seeing as he was attractive, tall, and intelligent-looking (must have been the glasses). My roommates reminded me of the visit, so I sat down with them to finish their lesson. Apparently the one I thought was cute happened to be Kyle Mammen.

“Too bad, I’ve sworn off guys,” I thought.

A couple of months later our paths started crossing more and more - at church, home teaching visits, volleyball games, a friend's birthday party. About a week before we started dating he took one of my roommates to a work dinner. Knowing about my crush she asked him how he felt about Texans at that dinner. Since there were two of us from Texas, his response was, "Well, it depends on the Texan."

By this point the crush was mutual, and despite my embarrassment at my roommates big mouth (which I'll always be thankful for G!) I found out he liked me too and we started seeing more of each other. We actually had our first kiss before we’d actually been on a real date! The rest is history!

So there ya have it - a classic BYU fairy tale, but it worked for us!

Good Times Reminiscing

One of my friends (Becca) entitled one of her blog posts "Blast to the past" so I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of my old friends (and family) who I have blog links to. I'm including the name of the person's blog you can visit from my links under each picture, although some of them are private blogs, sorry! Hope you all don't mind the pictures I posted!

This is me and my cousin Sarah...yup, the one that is getting married in July.
Hey Sarah, remember playing in Grandma's sandbox? And don't you love our groovy matching outfits? We look SO much alike!

(Blog link: Sarah)

This is me and my other cousin Kristen. Remember when people used to ask us if we were sisters, Kristen? I can now see why! We actually DO look alike. Look at that matching hair color and I think we have the same nose - must be a Platt nose.
(Blog link: Humpherys)

Any guesses on who is sitting next to me at my 3rd birthday party? That would be Heather! Do you remember that birthday party Heather? Don't worry, I don't either!
(Blog link: Grundeis)

The McMurry kids and I all grew up across the street from one another - we have a great past! That little blonde cutie in the front is my good friend Sarah. Hey Sarah- remember when we all went to Six Flags together? What a fun day! (Also pictured: Ben, Sam, and my sister, Rachel.)

(Blog link: Ebberts - she also has links to Ben and Sam's blogs)

Here's me and my sister, Rachel. As little kids we pretty much looked nothing alike. Can you tell? Let's see, the things I remember the most about Rachel growing up: finding roly polys, climbing trees, playing dress-ups, and swimming at Grandma's house.
(Blog link: Rachel)

I wasn't sure I had pictures with Jen and Mindy because they graduated a year before me and we hung out with different groups of people. But then I came across THIS picture. It cracked me up when I found it. It's a picture of a mutual night we had as Beehives modeling our mom's wedding dresses. How funny is this picture???
(From left to right: Me, Mindy, Marcia, Jen, & Heather)(Blog links: Craikers, Petersons)

Behind the glasses are Marcia Seable and I. We were best buds through middle school and high school. Seriously, we were hardly ever apart! Do you remember when we took these pictures, Marcia? We were in 8th grade on Spring Break. We decided to get dressed up and take all these "glamor shots" of each other. (We also played basketball with some boys that day and I got very burned.)

(Blog link: Seables)

This picture was taken my senior year of high school at our choir banquet. We had to have the banquet at a church because the last two weeks of school were canceled due to all those bomb threats.
Back Row: Amanda, Heather, Melissa, Marcia
Front Row: Sarah, Me

Hope you don't mind that I added you to my links list Amanda and Melissa!
(Blog links: Amanda and Katsu, Whiteheads)

A glamorous Girl's Camp picture taken with Jessica! Jessica and I were good buds in high school. Behind those beautiful smiles are mosquitoes galore and 95+ degree humid weather - what good sports we were!

(Blog link: Bjorns)

Onto my favorite BYU buds...
E, Shay, Ginger, Ally, & Becca

thinkamerican.com baby!
...we found these shirts at DI,
when we actually went to the website, it was some Asian site. How random.

Remember our water fight, G? Why are you soaked and I'm not?
Guess I won.

(Blog link: Bloomfields)

There's our high tech phone Shay! Shay and I were next-door-neighbors at DT our freshman year. We tore apart Shay's laundry basket and made a "phone" out it. "Why?" you ask. Ummm...because it was fun, and that's what silly freshman do.

(Blog link: Mike and Shay)

There's pretty Ally. She's a classy businesswoman these days, but I still have the picture of all of us dancing in sports bras and 2 piece swim suits...I ALMOST included that one!

(Blog link: Roberts)

Hey, E, remember when you helped me make good stuff for dinner? Look at that, all the food groups - how very nutritious! You inspired me to learn how to cook. Kyle thanks you!
Chef Andrea is now the head of "E's Recipe Corner" blog (which you can also access in my links).

(Blog link: McClellands)

Remember graham crackers with frosting and whip cream Becca??? Mmmm...our favorite freshman treat! And remember that one time we hid out in our room to skip FHE - turning off the lights so our FHE group thought we were gone? Why did we do that anyway? Becca was my roommate our freshman year at DT - we had good times together!

(Blog link: Reedys)

Thanks for humoring me guys and letting me use your pictures! If you REALLY have a problem with your picture you can email me at lamammen@yahoo.com and I'll take it off. Otherwise, thanks for being good sports, and GREAT friends!