Deer Valley

In the last year Mark has started doing the Health and Fitness portion of the "Leadership Training Week" for Franklin Covey. It takes place about every month or so at different resorts here in Utah (i.e. Homestead, Sundance). But just recently they changed the location to The Lodges up at Deer Valley Resort. With the new changes Mark needed to be there 2 days so rather than drive up and back they graciously put us up in an AMAZING room-- all expenses paid! Wow!!!!
The room was not just a room, but consisted of a master bedroom and bath, another bathroom off the hallway a full blown kitchen with all the amenities a bar and dinner table, a nice living room with a fireplace and a large deck extending from the bedroom and living room. When we walked in we were stunned, to say the very least. It was beautiful and far beyond anything we would have stayed in on our own.

Also, one day my parents and brother Pierson came up and dad, Pierson and I skied (I love Deer Valley, it's the only place I like to ski anymore because local passes are such a great deal and the lifts are NEVER busy), while my mom graciously watch baby Meg. I haven't had the opportunity to ski in a few years and it was so fun, even though the snow wasn't that great being so early in the season. When you ski at Deer Valley it's the whole experience that's great, now just the slopes.

We had a wonderful time! Thank you Mark and Mom for making this all possible-- oh yeah and thanks Covey!

So Many Important things

Time flies by all too quickly and I don't get (or should I say make), the opportunity to write things down. Megan has hit some major milestones this last month and I think it's time I jot those down:

Monday, November 26, 2007-- Sat alone for the first time (about 20-30 seconds)
Said first word "dada", although I'm not so sure she knows what it means

Tuesday, November 27, 2007-- Got her first tooth on her lower right side

Thursday, November 28, 2007-- Learned to "army crawl"

Since that very busy week in Megan's life she's been busily practicing up on her mobility skills and is a much more content baby. Before she always wanted to be held up to where she could see everything that was going on and now she prefers to be able to move out on her own (although she still likes me close by). Then yesterday, Sunday, December 16, 2007, she popped up on her knees all by herself. She doesn't get that she can move better in that position, but it's only a matter of time until she does. Also, today she started to imitate my noises. I was making a popping sound with my lips that she thought was so funny and interesting and suddenly she started to click her tongue on her lips. Every time I would then click my tongue, she would do it back. It was so cute. It's so fascinating how fast they grow and learn. We are truly blessed to have such a fun little girl in our family!

More from Mexico

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to Mexico. Most of them are from the zipline tour we went on (monkey in the cage, hanging out by the river, and if you look really close up in the sky you can see little dots of people flying through the air over the canyon).
Also, Meg "Muffin" (as my dad calls her) and her grandpa in the pool.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Four days after Pierson returned home we all left for a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. It was fun to be back as a family, with all my siblings together again. We had a marvelous time, playing at the beach, hanging out at the pool, and seeing some sights. Megan was not so sure she cared for the beach (I think the waves kind of freaked her out). So Mark, Meg and I spent our time mostly at the pool.
We stayed at a resort right on the beach so we could head up and put Megan down for her much needed naps, which was nice because she isn't so great at sleeping on the go (except she does sleep really good on the plane).
Travel days down and back were long because we had some lengthy layovers in Guadalajara, but we still had fun eating and talking. The plane ride down from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta was pretty intense. We were in a little "puddle jumper" type plane and we hit a little turbulence. It felt like we were on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride at Disneyland.
One day we all headed up in the mountains and did a Jungle Zip-Line tour. First the rest of my family went up and we stayed at the bottom looking at the monkey's and snakes and sitting by the river. Then, when the boys and my parents were done, they took Megan and Mark and I went up. It was very fun. The zip lines were long and some were VERY high, but we really had fun. Although, I'm not so sure my mom had fun since Megan was pretty upset that I left her. She decided that week that she wanted mom,and only mom. She didn't like anyone else to hold her. Part of that attitude was quite endearing, but I felt bad for everyone else, and it would have been nice to eat a meal in peace, but I love her dearly anyway.
We also spent one evening wandering around down town. It was neat to see where and how the people live down there. The taxi ride down there was pretty crazy since driving laws don't really exist. We just had to hold on for the ride. Mark also had a good time bringing back his old Spanish skills from the mission. It was nice to have a translator on hand. And I even got to do a little para sailing!

It was a great trip and a great big thank you to Mom and Dad Willhite for that one. Mostly it was just nice to be away from "it all" for a while. No cell phones, clients, no work. Just lots of time to spend together. We miss Mark with his crazy schedule so it was a great opportunity for us to be together as a family and for Megan to have a little more one on one with her daddy. It was a great way to spend Thanksgiving week!

Welcome Home Elder Pierson Willhite

On November 14 my brother Pierson returned from the Birmingham, England Mission. He spent most his days in middle England and Wales (hence the very cool hat). Unfortunately, in the chaos of the moment I was unable to get any real good photos. Megan has warmed up quickly to her easy going and very caring uncle. We are so grateful for his service and are happy to have him home.

Blogging

Okay, I know, to everyone who reads this (because I know there are sooo many of you who have been anxiously awaiting my return to the bloggin world, haha), I apologize! I officially get an "F" in blogging. I have never been good at record keeping of ANY kind. My journal is full of "I'm sorry I haven't written for so long"'s and many other sayings like that. I don't like to scrapbook, so that's out of the question, so I thought this blog would help keep my on track. In all honesty, writing something down just once a month before would have been really GOOD. So, without further adieu, here are a few things that we have been up to this last month.

5 MONTHS

Well 5 months with little Megan have come and gone. I know these pictures aren't fabulous, but they are the best I could get because this little girls just doesn't stop moving! So the blurs are just personality. She is a goer and a mover and a doer. We love her to death and are so blessed to have her in our lives!

Sleeping Tiger, Hidden Baby

The other night Megan wet through her pajamas and the closest thing on hand was her little Tigger halloween costume-- so that's what I put on her. Good thing she doesn't know the difference. Poor girl!

The Hair

BEFORE...



AFTER...




After the pregnancy I needed a change, and it was either shorter (which didn't sit too well with Mark) or longer. So this is what we got. Lindsay, with 3 kids in 3 years I'm surprised you're hair is not purple by now. Maybe you're better than me. A little vain, I suppose, but certainly lots of fun.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had a fun little Halloween night. Megan was Tigger (who knew when we got the costume that it would be so befitting her "Bouncy Trouncy, Fun" personality), and my brothers, Jordan and Skyler, were Thing 1 and Thing 2. It was fun to get together, roast hot dogs and pass out (and eat) candy. We didn't dress up this year, I know, how boreing, so watch out next year!

Blogging.... finally!

So sorry all, I've kind of fallen off the blogging wagon. For some reason I've really gotten into surfing around YouTube and have spent all my time I have on the internet there, and not here. Things are good, so here is a real quick rundown of the last month.

We spent a few days in California. Mark went to a conference and Megan and I got to hang out with Mark's parents. It was very fun. I have the greatest mother-in-law. We get along really well and it's always just a big party when we get to see her.

This is a picture of Megan and her uncle John. He is so good with babies!

Also this month I spent a considerable amount of time organizing the back part of my living room. Because the office had to become a baby room, the office moved out into the living room, and so did the hurricane of Mark's papers (mostly excerise and nutrition type articles). He kept telling me he was going to take care of them, and I kept encouraging him (because I did not want one more job to do). And so it went for months, and months, and over a YEAR!!! Finally I had had enough and took the job upon myself to organize this mess.

Here one angle of the "Before".

Even Megan chipped in a bit!

And here it is all finished!!!!! Look how surprised Mark is. Who knew we could get it done! I certainly wasn't a believer-- if you saw Mark's dad's garage you'd know what I mean. I feel so relieved to finally have that done and out of my living room.

Oh, and yes, I do have new hair, but I'll have to post pictures of that later.

SO SO LATE!!!

I totally forgot that I didn't post Mark's Birthday. How awful! He is greatly loved and appreciated, although this is sooooo belated. He is such a great dad and I don't know what I would do without him in my life.

We love you!!!

Ode to Megan

4 MONTHS

CHATS
GIGGLES
LOOKS
WATCHES
OPINIONATED
SLEEPS
WIGGLES
PROPS
STANDS
SUCKS
SLOBBERS
GRABS
EATS

& MAKES OUR LIVES GREAT EACH AND EVERY DAY!!!!

Inspiration

Like many women in the world I am at that time in life where I'm trying to loose the baby weight. Who knew it could be so vicious. I have seen many of you shortly after you had had baby's and you all looked fabulous; most of you where even able to wear their pre-baby clothes very shortly after birth. Because of that fact, I've been rather hesitant to write anything about my weight and ex cerise goals. At times I've been absolutely mortified to see many of you, not because I don't like you, or because you make me feel this way, but because my weight is a little embarrassing to me. Stupid, I know.

Now, let me clarify, I understand I'm not like 200 lbs or anything, but certainly bigger than many of you, and it botherd me. So as I've started off on my weight loss journey I've not written anything about it because I was way embarrassed. First, though, I have to thank Lyssa for inspiring me to actually write this down and put it out there to see. But I think it will help in my motivation.

But just as a general update on my weight loss. On June 23 (3 weeks after baby), I was 143. Today, September 29 (17 weeks out, 15 weeks later), I'm 130. That's a little less that a lb a week, but most of that has come in the last month or so since I've really gotten a hold of my nutrition. I still have a ways to go, but yeah for me. 13 lbs down, and I'm feeling awesome and mostly really proud of myself! Thanks Mark (my personal trainer husband) for all of your help and support. You're the one that's made this possible.

ICKY, YUCKY, STINKY!

Before we left for Texas I had noticed a peculiar smell down in the basement and attributed it to the toilet that is down there that was don't use often. So I cleaned it and we left.

Well, guess what... I was wrong.

When we returned the smell was worse (not too bad yet since the basement door was shut), but the hour was late and so we let it go.

Next day was Sunday, and we went downstairs to try and figure it out, but left it until after church because we just couldn't see anything. Mark was still in meetings (we have late church) and so I went down alone to try and find where the smell was. It wasn't the bathroom, it wasn't the living room, it wasn't the bedrooms.... what was it? Just as I thought that I might have a dead animal in the walls of my home I opened the door to the little closet/room with the heater/ac and water heater. The floor drain that was in that room had bubbled over with nothing but icky, yucky, stinky raw sewage!!! It was after 6 on a Sunday, so the only way to get a plumber out at that time would be to pay like an extra $200 bucks, and honestly, it wasn't more than a teeny, tiny bit. So we left it until the next morning. Mark took a shower (bad idea), and I immediately called the plumber. He was there by 8 had to take off our toilet and rooter all the way to the street. Still, I didn't know the problem was as bad as it was. Then by 9 the clean up guys where there and they tested showed me how far it had gotten in the carpet. Luckily we caught it early and it hadn't soaked up in the walls yet. So they spent the day in my basement, pulling out all the furniture, ripping out the carpet and 3 of the four rooms downstairs, scrubbing everything down, and setting up the little "sanitation area". They blocked off the whole part of the house that had sewage stuff in it and now there are all sort of fans and de-humidifiers (yes, those exist), down there. The insurance claim is in, and I guess we'll be getting new carpet in the basement. Not really what I wanted to spend my money on, but oh, well.

Oh, also that day, the heater broke so that guy had to come out and fix that too. All in all it was a very expensive day. Yikes!

Texas

Last Wednesday Mark, Megan and I flew down to Dallas/ Forth Worth area for one of Mark's conferences. We kind of have a fun little family tradition of going to the conferences with him. He goes to classes (which he loves) and I get to spend the time at the pool, wandering around where ever we are, and shopping. It usually is a really fun time. Unfortunately, this time the experience wasn't as great as I'd hoped.

Note to self: check out the location (we were 10 miles from the nearest restaurant)and the details of the room (it was literally the size of a dorm room, with a king size bed, hmmmm) and hotel (the pool was, let's say, interesting) BEFORE going.

Check out Megan's little "bed" we made her on the floor-- poor girl, there was only space enough as big as she is.

Lake Powell

Last Friday morning we headed down to Bullfrog and then came back Saturday night. It was a short trip, but it was a lot of fun. It was Megan's first time on the boat and she wasn't so sure about the bumpy ride(if you can see in the picture she had an iron grip on the boat), but she adjusted quickly and was a great little boater. She has really become a great little girl. I mean, she was always great, but she is starting to sleep so well and is so fun when she's awake. She giggles and smiles all the time, we can't get enough of her. She even got in the water a little bit. As you can see Mark and I also tried our hands at a little surfing (I spared you the pictures of me flashing my bright white legs) and just pretty much enjoyed a few days in the sun and water with my family. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad we got to go down.







P.S. Way to go Spencer (my sponsored wakeboarding brother) on his "slayer" wakeboarding skills! He is amazing and so fun to watch. We each took a turn riding backwards on the tube about 10 ft in front of him wakeboarding and got an awsome front row seat to the Spencer show.