Steven,

All I need is you....

.......Happy Valentine's Day!

We always have fun when Grandma comes to visit....

My mom was not able to make it up for Emma's birthday due to the snow storm, so she came this weekend instead! She brought Emma's birthday present with her and to quote Emma..."Mom, I know this isn't nice, because I like what everyone got me for my birthday, but this is the best birthday present ever!" Grandma Burns got her a pair of Roller Skates. Emma is a very active girl. She loves to run ( a 10 minute mile), swim, bike, scooter, jump on the trampoline....so she is now learning to use a pogo stick a

nd roller skate. This weekend, that is all she did! Good thing the weather was nice because we were outside all day yesterday and today learning how to skate! Needless to say, she picked up pretty quick. She still needs practice, but she is very brave. We couldn't even get them off of her inside the house. She would say, "just because I am taking them off (only to take a bath) does not mean that I am done with them". Watching her brings back memories of when I was younger. I loved to skate and would go to the local skating rink all the time! I think I might have to invest in a pair so I can join her in the fun.

Happy 6th Birthday Emma!

February 5

For Emma's birthday, we took a drive to Albuquerque to paint and fire pottery, eat lunch at Tomato Cafe, and have cupcakes at Cake Fetish. The kids had fun painting their pottery but the cupcake store was not what I was expecting, quite the let down. As we drove back into Socorro we decided to go sledding. We were not prepared for it, but the kids had a blast despite how cold it was. Monique and Levi stayed the night and stayed up quite late playing Just Dance with the adults!

Emma, you are growing up so fast. You tie your own shoes and are soon to be without your first baby tooth! You are an amazing big sister and such a neat little person. We love you so much...have fun being young, wish you could stay that way forever!

Snow day! As 75% of the US is currently under a blanket of snow, Socorro joined the rest of the country and was hit with a winter storm that brought plenty of snow and freezing temperatures. As all Socorro does when it snows, we headed to the golf course to go sledding. We had fun but the temperature was in the low single digits and it didn't take long before Emma wanted to leave.

We have had a nice mid week break from school as it has been canceled for the past 2 days. I wonder how many snow days they plan into the calendar? I hope we go back to school tomorrow as I don't want to be making up days in June! The kids here don't need much of an excuse not to come to school so if there were school I doubt we'd be able to get much accomplished... sad. It would be a wasted day but it beats coming in after Memorial Day.

The winter weather however has not dampened my training in the least. I am now glad that we bought a treadmill last year as I have been able to keep up with the base training despite the weather. Unfortunately the University has been closed so that means that the pool has been closed too. And I need to get my bike trainer back from a friend I lent it to. But the running has been great and I feel it's the best bang for your time. Plus it goes with my early season training plan as I have 3 running races coming up in the next 3 months.

Thanks for checking in!