Turkey for me, Turkey for You

My little Turkeys

The day full of Thanks began with our annual Thredgold tradition of having breakfast in the mountains. Rain, snow, or shine, this breakfast happens. This year's breakfast was pretty picture perfect. Not too hot, not too cold, with plenty of leaves to crunch through. The breakfast tasted great (thanks mom) and our little hiking expedition (complete with Uncle Jeffrey climbing through the pipe in the stream) was wonderful.



Joshy-boy

Josh's reflections picture was one of six winners from his school! The theme was "wow." When I asked Josh what he thought of when he heard "wow" he said "A soldier standing by an American flag with fireworks in the background." And that is just what he decided to draw.

Shera hosted our lovely meal this year. Josh was insistent that he eat the "leg" of the bird. The moment arrived, the leg on his plate, he took hold of the bone and took one massive bite of the bird. At first, smiles, then as he began to chew through all that dark meat, it gradually turned from smile, to frown, to dry heaving. Maybe next year, little buddy.

Here is a picture to demonstrate why you should get a pet. I was checking on the kids before I retired to bed. When I went to cover Josh up, I found the kitty laying by his side with his little kitty arm around him. How cute is that!? Danny (the cat) LOVES Josh.

Daxton

I cant' get enough of this little guy! His infectious laugh, his curly hair, those dimples. I love this boy. Daxton is patiently awaiting the arrival of some snow so he can go skiing with Josh, mom and dad. He wears his ski boots all over the house (watch your toes) and attempts the skis as well, but you can only get so far sliding on the floor (and stairs, forget about it.)

Ella

My princess Bella turned 2 a few days ago. My baby is TWO!! Hard to believe, but man am I loving the ages of my kids! You can understand them, you sleep through the night, you don't have to carry them around in those horrible back-breaking infant carriers......it's a good time.
Ella's new favorite thing is "Cinda-bella." She loves everything about this princess. Girls are fun.

Cam

Cam's Master's degree just came in the mail yesterday. I was hoping it would come with a $20,000 "job well done" check, or at least come complete with flashing lights or something. Nahh, just a piece of paper, but it signifies all the hard work and effort that my handsome hubbie accomplished. I am so proud of you Cam!!

Also, don't mention it around him, but Cam turned the big 30 this month as well. I'm married to a thirty year old! How hot is that?!

Me

I am enjoying this Holiday season, and LOVE LOVE LOVE being home with family to share it with. We are all healthy and happy, you can't ask for much more than that (but if you offer, I will take the "job well done" check.)

As a side note, I had really great pictures of Dax in his skis, Josh eating his massive piece of turkey.........but alas, my camera is no where to be found......there ya go, found it in Shera's Christmas tree in January. Those silly kids! A camera is not an ornament kiddos!

Maxfield Photography

My good friends, the Maxfields of "Maxfield Photography" photoed our family a couple weeks ago. The pictures turned out FABULOUS! Thank you thank you Drew and Wendy! To contact the photographer to do your photos and to ask about pricing, just click on the "Wendy and Drew" link below.

Utter Randomness

It always takes a bit of self discipline to sit down and write these things. It's not that I would rather be elsewhere, it's just sometimes my creative juices just aren't flowing. Generally they tend to flow during that delusional time between awake/unconsciousness, which is why I am lying in bed with the lap top on my legs in hopes of some flowing of juices. So far, nada. Maybe I'll just write down my thoughts as I think them.

Lately I've had lots of thoughts about homosapians. Why they act certain ways, how their kids turn out, can you really be that selfish? Do you not see those nose hairs curling out and around your nostrils? There are a lot of weirdos out there and generally if you are a weirdo, you have little weirdo offspring. That is why my children are doomed. Sorry kids, it's in your genes--when your mom dresses like this for Halloween, you know you are in trouble.

Does it somehow redeem my weirdness that I know I am weird? Or does that make it worse because I am acutely aware of my weirdisms but do nothing to alter them?

I just keep telling myself that it's a "good" kind of weird. A "you're a confident person" kind of weird. It's true that I enjoy being a kid more than my kids do, but that's not so bad. Is it?

Joshua Cameron Eggertz
My senior stud muffin. We went "bouldering" as a family on Saturday. Bouldering is climbing big rocks, without a harness. No, I'm not making that up. You find a big rock and you climb it. Anyways, he did great-my little monkey man, and as we were hiking out I was at the tail end of the group with Ella (little legs=little steps.) We were a few minutes from the car when I see Josh running back to join Ella and I. "I just thought I would wait for you guys," he says. He's such a sweet and thoughtful little guy. He is always doing little acts like this. His personal prayers especially personify how aware he is of others, and of being the best he can be. Great kid, but he's weird. (Again, not his fault.)
Daxton Lee Eggertz
Daxton has been practicing his "trick or treat" line all month long. He was So excited to do the real thing. Cam and I are the kind of parents who let their kids eat themselves sick once all the loot has been claimed. "Dump out your bag and go crazy!" That's my motto. Dax would open the wrapper of a sucker, take a lick, set it down, and go for another. We had suckers stuck everywhere! Suckers stuck to costumes, carpet, Dax even sat up and had one stuck to his rear-end. Such fun!

Ella Marie Eggertz
Ella loves babies. I didn't think her little voice could get any higher, but whenever she sees a baby it immediately hits another octave "ooooh, mamma a baby! Hello baby!" She loves it when we babysit cousin Kenny (even though he's gi-normous and truthfully grew out of his "baby" stage faster than you can say formaldehyde). She will stroke the baby's head, give him his bottle or binki, cover him with his blanky. It's really too cute. Guess what Ella is getting for Christmas?!! No, not a really baby you crazies, but a $20 doll from Sam's Club. It's cute too and comes sans the vomit, crying and poop.


Glen Cameron Eggertz
We dated 6 months before I found out his first name was Glen, and not Cameron. Cam's at my parent's house right now watching the Jazz game (they have cable). We are still in the stone age and have rabbit ears for our t.v.--one of which is shorter than the other and wrapped in tin foil. Classy.
Cam is doing great and is anxiously awaiting ski season. He is doing a couple local ski swaps to earn some flex moola. Every little bit helps. We are hoping he finds some good skis for Josh at the Park City Swap this weekend, so we can take both Josh AND Daxton skiing this year. It's going to be great!
Check out that beauty! (and the pumpkin's not bad either....har har har.)

Cynthia Lee Thredgold Eggertz
Wow, that's a mouthful. I went from "Thredgold" to "Eggertz." I often call it a "double wammy" but truthfully I am glad I have always had a last name I have to spell. There is only one Cynthia Lee Eggertz out there, but imagine all the John Smiths (there were over 500 on facebook-and that was just in my network!) I was 'tagged' not too long ago to list 5 things that make me quirky. "Only five?" was my first thought.
1-I love beef jerky.
2-I often dream as if I am the narrator of my dream---so I am reading what is happening in my dream as I see it. The genre and writing style is dependent upon what book I am reading at the time.
3-To this day E.T. scares the crap out of me.
4-I like to have my head rubbed. It kinda puts me in a coma. A good coma. Please rub my head.
5-Large bodies of water frighten me.

I hosted my annual Thredgold Halloween Bash again this year. It was seasonally sensational, festively fun and ghoulishly gay! (whatever the heck that means, it's late and I'm tired.)
But Check out my cool family!

Check it, I found my pumpkin!

Never say Never

I think one of the best things in the world is going outside and taking a deep breath of cool, autumn air. Lovely.

Fall is paramount. Cool temperatures, fruity-pebble leaves, and clean, crisp air. Mmmmmmmm.....fruity pebbles.

This month hell froze over and we bought a cat. Cam and I have been talking for a while about getting a pet for the kids, but I just wasn't ever ready to make that commitment, especially after going through 2 fish in 2 weeks with Josh (killing 2 fish so quickly kinda' traumatized him--plus, we killed 2 fish in such a short span of time I was kinda worried what would happen to a real pet.)

Cam called me on a Saturday saying he saw a sign that read "free kittens." He stopped to take a look, and the rest is history. We figured Dax's birthday was coming up soon, so there ya go, Happy Birthday Dax with a new little kitty!

So far I am VERY happy with our pet decision. The kids LOVE the cat, the neighbor's kids love the cat, and all in all the kitten has only scratched a few times (even when being held by his neck, or a handful of fur about 80% of the time.) I figure it's all about the kids anyways, and if they are happy, I'm okay with cleaning out poop from a litter box. Oh yeah, Josh named the kitten Danny Rocky Eggertz (yes, as in Rocky Balboa. We still don't know how he came up with "Danny".)


Joshua

Josh has had a good month. I have started volunteering in his class once a week, and I love to see how he acts in school, how he's doing academically, and how his teacher likes to yell a lot (okay, I don't like that part.) It's great to see how well he's doing, even if I did catch him and 3 other boys sitting in a circle, punching each other in the "tenders." (what is with boys?)

Josh also started his first year of soccer. I keep telling myself (and telling Cam) that it is a learning experience and that at least he's having fun. I keep repeating that thought every time Josh runs away from the ball or stands around talking to his teammates or the other team. So he's not aggressive! So what! There's more important things in life than taking a ball away from someone or scoring a goal. Right? When we ask Josh why he's not in the action, or why he doesn't steal the ball away, he replies "because it's mean." So, at least he's a sweet heart. We'll just keep working on it.

Daxton

3 years old!!
Isn't he the cutest little pirate you've ever seen?!

It seems odd that Dax is already 3, and yet seems odd that he is only 3. So much has happened since Dax was born. He was born in St. George, then we moved to Farmington (in Shera's home), then moved to Kaysville, then had Ella, then moved to Belgium, then moved back to Utah in Nana's house, and finally back into our Kaysville home. This poor kid has been on quite the roller coaster since he arrived, but now we are taking it easy and enjoying the ride.

I recently started a music class in my home once a week. I invite the neighborhood kids and their moms to sing some songs with us. It is a lot of fun. My motivation in starting it was the excitement and smiles that emit from Dax and Ella whenever we sing songs for family home evening.....however Dax has yet to utter a single word during our singing class. Go figure. Hopefully he'll warm up soon.

I threw Dax a "Pirate Party" for his birthday, complete with treasure hunt, pin the patch on the pirate, and a pirate cake (it's supposed to be pirate hat. At least it tasted good.)

Ella

The sas is emerging. Plus she's getting kinda emotional. Can you say girl? Today at lunch I was braiding my hair and Ella was mesmerized. She kept asking for me to turn around and to show her my hair. I love girls!

Ella LOVES the kitten, and is always chasing it around the house, up the stairs, down the stairs, and under the bed.

This month Ella got her "big girl bed." As soon as we painted it and set it all up, she was all smiles. It is so cute to see her climb in, lay down with her bunny, and pull the covers up. Such fun!

Also this month, Ella fell down our front steps--nose first. Ouch.

Cameron

Cam wasn't able to summit Gannet Peak last month, due to bad weather. I am just glad he made it back safe and sound. He said it was the most miserable experience of his life. Bad weather, treacherous terrain, and they had to sleep a night in a cave without their gear because they couldn't make it back to camp before it got too dark. Doesn't cuddling in a cave with 2 strangers sound fun? Not strangers anymore! They barely got any sleep because they were so cold, someone had to keep a fire going while others would take a rock from the fire and put it in the cave to try and stay warm.

However, Cam did have a great time biking "Wasatch Crest" with my sister Shera, and bro-in-law Jeffrey. It ended up raining on them, which made the path all muddy, which made the 3 of them muddy. Why is it that mud always seems to make things funner!? (as long as a hot shower is involved afterwards.)

Me

It wasn't fun,
It wasn't free,
I got a colonoscopy.
The doc was nice
And rather lean,
He said my G.I.'s squeaky clean.

So apparently all by bowel issues have nothing to do with my gastro-intestinal tract. (did I really have to spend $450 out of pocket to be told that?!) Look at that!! I almost made it through a blog post without mentioning #2!

On a more pleasant note, I have pulled out my "domestic" ticket and am riding the train baby! This month I canned for the first time in my life. My good friend Wendy a.k.a. "Susie Homemaker" and I canned peaches together, then the next day I did tomatoes from my garden. It's great!

I have also made lots of zucchini bread, and have grated and frozen several bags of zucchini so I can make more this winter (what else am I supposed to do when our plant is crankin' out zucchini like it's nobody's business?!) I also made the boys matching bedspreads. Look out Martha!

Team Thredgold's Triathlon

I "tri'd" and didn't die!

The race was last Saturday. What an experience. All in all it was pretty awesome.

The swim:

1000 Meters. 20 laps in an Olympic size pool (40 laps in most pools around here.)


We're smiling because we haven't started. This picture is before.
And this is after.

Cam said the expression on my face was a lot worse than this expression on Kelli's face. I believe it.

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to drown? If so, just participate in a triathlon to find out. Seriously, I have never swallowed so much water in all my life.

The swim was supposed to be my "kick butt" event. When I would practice in the pool I could front crawl 1000 meters in 20 minutes and still feel pretty great.

However, swimming in a pool and swimming with 150 women in a 60 degree lake is NOT, I repeat, NOT the same thing. Not even close.

Imagine a pile of uncooked pasta standing vertically on top of your counter. It is all huddled together, standing one beside the other. Now, what happens when you drop the noodles so they are horizontal onto the counter? They end up on top of each other because they now take up more space, right?

Same thing applies for an open wave swim. They did the big countdown "10, 9, 8, 7, 6," By count 6 I had already peed in the lake I was so nervous, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1". All the ladies fell horizontally into the lake and suddenly we were on top of each other, kicking, hitting, and the freezing lake completely took my breath away. (Note to self, next year get a full-body wet-suit.)

The first 30 seconds were freaky! I specifically remember a lady behind me saying "Joan, I can't do this!" to which her friend replies "Just raise your hand and the boat will come pick you up."

I was so close to doing the same thing. I just couldn't breathe!! And trying to swim? Forget about it! It was rough. I kept looking to Kelli the whole time--just seeing her there was my safety (until she passed me, thanks a lot Kell).

Truthfully, I maybe did the front crawl a total of 20 strokes. Not because I couldn't muscle it, but my body just would not allow me to exhale in that freezing cold water. Plus, whenever I would come up to take a breath, instantly I would inhale a mouth full of water (again, lots of splashing and small waves from fellow competitors.) So I mostly stuck to the side, breast, and back stroke.

I finally came out of the lake, and tried to run up the ramp to the transition station to take off the wet suit and change into my shoes and biking shorts. Cam was there helping me. I had tears in my eyes because the swim scared the crap out of me! Honestly, while I was swimming I kept thinking "So this is what it feels like to drown."

Anyways, I didn't die, and next came the bike.

The Bike:

15.1 miles

The bike was like Celestial Glory compared to the swim. My only regret is I wish I would have pushed harder, but I thought I should save some energy for the run ( note to self: do not save energy for the run next time. You suck at running anyway.)

Shera, Scotty and Lisa competed as a co-ed team relay. Shera did the swim (and kicked butt-even after having a baby less than 2 months ago),

Scotty biked, and Lisa ran.

So here I am on my bike, feeling like I am going pretty fast, and suddenly I hear "Good job Cindy" as Scotty totally wizzes past me like he was on a Sunday joy-ride. He was haulin'! You kick butt bro!

I wasn't hit by any cars (thanks for sharing the road) and next came the run.

The Run:

4 Miles

I hate running (see last month's post.) I actually felt pretty good until mile 1 and my heart began to "freak out." I have this heart problem, and have had it since Josh was born. Basically my heart will all of a sudden start beating at a rapid rate, and won't stop until I sit (or stand) completely still for about 30 seconds, then it will go back into its normal rhythm. Sometimes it does it a lot, sometimes not at all. It chose to do it 4 times during the run. I was pretty upset about it, but what do ya do? Truthfully, it was kind of nice to stop and take a breather while it got back into its normal rhythm, even if people were yelling at me "Keep going, come on! You can do it!"

No worries, I am getting tests done to try and solve the problem.

The icing on the cake was having my family there to cheer us all on. Eggertz came, as well as Dax, Ella, my mom, PaPa Scott, and of course all my siblings who participated (except little Cam who took Josh to his soccer game-Thank you so much, and you are so doing it next year!)

Kelli was her typical amazing self and danced across the finished line.
Isn't my little sis a fox?!

I gave my little Bells a high five and made it to the end,

and Lisa finished up for her relay team and did a great job.

My goal was to finish in under 2 1/2 hours, and my end time was 2:22:36. Saaaweeet!

It only took a day to get over the terror the swim gave, and now I want to do it all over again. Care to join me next year?