Beyond Hope

Our friends and next-cabin neighbors invited us to 'Beyond Hope' this weekend, a cute little lakeside restaurant in Hope, Idaho.

Alea greeted Maisie with a BFF squeeze

After dinner the girls were dying to swim at the adjoining beach. I was kicking myself for forgetting to bring swimsuits....but then, that's the beauty of being four. Who needs a swimsuit when you've got bright green underwear???

So, we all took a cue from Maisie and went swimming...some of us with swimsuits but most of us fully clothed! Maybe some folks looked at us a little funny...but we didn't care. We were too busy unleashing the inner four year old in us!

Happy Memories...Happy Summer! :)

Horse Camp

Kayla spent this week at Western Pleasure Horse Ranch for horsemanship camp. She was able to coordinate with some of her friends from last year and reunite for camp this week.

She rode Peaches again this year and was awarded the "Best Pair" award for the camper and horse that look best and work best together. I have to admit, they are pretty darn cute together. Kayla loved taking care of Peaches and spending the week at one of the prettiest ranches we've ever seen.

Kayla and Peaches loping

Kayla and I planned for some special Mother/Daughter time on the last day of camp. We stayed an extra night and had a wonderful time talking, eating great food and sleeping in a beautiful place. We went for a two hour trail ride the next morning. It was some of the best girl time I've had in awhile...a great gift for both of us!


Kayla rode Peaches and I rode Taga, a beautiful Paint Quarterhorse Mare. I loved Taga...but I think she's still making up her mind about me. She pretty much knew what she wanted to do and it wasn't always what I was aiming for...but I miss her already. We're already hoping for more Mother/Daughter/Peaches/Taga time next summer.

The 4th of July

We celebrated Fourth of July at the cabin. The Smith family visited for the weekend and all the kids had a great time playing together. We enjoyed great weather, good company and the annual Camp Bay barbeque where all the neighbors get together and visit, old time style. Aaaah, I love summer!

Yipee...school's out for summer!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew! What a school year.....

Kayla's 6th grade graduation.
Without a question Kayla learned a lot this year... probably more life lessons than we've encountered in previous years. She WOWed us (and her teacher) with her creative writing, good decisions and stellar grades. She earned the President's Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence and is looking forward to the challenges of middle school. We are so proud of her effort, but are most proud of her sweet, beautiful heart.

Zac had a great year as well and will leave middle school with a spot on the honor roll, strong friendships and more independence than his mother is comfortable with. ;) I can't wait for him to drive and am terrified of him driving all at the same time. Zac is a great kid. His love of baseball continues as he plays American Legion ball this summer, works on perfecting his swing even at the lake, and irritates me with all the spendy equipment he wants. Anyone want to hire a 15 year old? :)

Maisie finished her first year of preschool and is ready to spend every possible minute at the lake. Here she is with her BFF and cabin neighbor Alea, getting ready for a fishing expedition with Alea's daddy. The girls run around from dawn to dusk, sing princess songs, play silly games, and speak a language only the two of them understand. Aaaah, to be four again.
So...the Rose family is ready for summer. SO ready :)

Maisie's Preschool Graduation

This post is about Maisie and her preschool graduation...and about her mother needing to get her act together. We almost missed this. I've been suffering from a severe case of lake-brain. Last week I told one of the other preschool moms that we would be skipping school on Friday to spend some extra time at the lake, and might not come back in time for school on Monday. Well, long story short we did come back in time but you can imagine my surprise to learn it was both the last day of school...AND it was the preschool graduation ceremony! NOW I remember having a question about when the last day was for preschool...and remember having made the assumption that it was the same as public school. It really never is good to assume things...

I'm so glad we didn't miss it. The years fly by so fast. Soon Zac will be graduating from middle school and Kayla will have her 6th grade graduation. Sweet milestones.
I LOVE these programs... All those wide-eyed kids are so cute, and I'm so proud of mine.

Coeur d'Alene Half Marathon

It was Thanksgiving weekend but I remember it like it was yesterday. It was when I made the decision to run a half marathon for the first time...and do it this spring. A big goal for someone who's never run a race, has less than a year of running experience (without much consistency) and has never run further than three miles. Ohhh, baby, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I'm so thankful I had friends to give me some direction and encouragement because this girl didn't have a clue.
I chose a Hal Higdon training plan because he looked like a friendly, grandfatherly type that wouldn't steer me wrong AND more importantly, his goal for me was the same as my goal for me..."To finish and want to do it again." So I bought some new gear, including some rubber attachments for my shoes so I could run on snow and ice. Yes. Snow and ice. I subscribed to Runner's World, bought some books, googled, asked a lot of questions.....and ran.
The weekend of the race was a busy one. On Friday I met my friend, Gretchen, for dinner. She's run a fair share of half marathons and I was thrilled when she sent me a text message the next day saying she was going to run it with me in place of her long run. Then the day before the race we had a big BBQ at our house, celebrating Zac's birthday. I wasn't really thinking about what I was eating and how it might affect my run the next morning...or my sleep that night. Yes, you guessed it. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't believe it as I lay there watching the hours pass. I slept about three hours before my alarm went off and I was devastated at how tired I felt. Suck it up, baby, it's race day!



My amazing family gets up without complaining and drives me to Coeur d'Alene at 6a.m. Traffic was a little slow so Christian stops the car to let me walk to the starting point. Amazingly, as I am getting out of my car I hear my sister call my name. Victoria is there, armed with her camera and video camera, and I'm pretty sure she's more excited about this than I am. Everyone needs a sister like her, just to keep life fun :) We find Gretchen and her parents, talk as we stretch, pose for pictures... It must be adrenalaine, or maybe the Aleve, I'm starting to feel pretty good.


The race begins. I'm focused. Gwen Stefani is singing 'escape' on my ipod and I'm reminding myself to go slow which really is not a problem for me. The first few miles were a cake walk...I felt great and we started passing some of the quick starters. Gretchen and I laughed a lot and that made the miles pass faster. I can't really give a mile by mile account of the race, but I can say some highlights were that my Dad and Ann met us on the course at five different points to cheer us on and having them there made a huge difference in how I felt. Around mile six we see a woman sitting in a lawn chair in her front yard, smoking a cigarette and spraying the runners with a garden hose. This was seriously so funny to me I almost peed my pants. I fell into a cadence for awhile and felt the urge to run faster, but I kept at my same pace thinking I should save my strength for the long haul. Maybe that was a mistake, I don't know. Gretchen was an amazing cheerleader to have by my side throughout the run.
All was well until somewhere on mile 8 when I got a nasty sideache. I decided that at the next aid station I would walk with my water cup and let it ease out. From that point, I was strugging. I don't think I'm the type of runner that benefits from taking walk breaks. It's just too hard to keep myself going after I feel that relief and all I want to do is stop.
From mile 12 on I seriously hated everything, did not feel a sense of community with the other runners, the songs on my ipod were annoying, I didn't want the spectators to cheer for me, Gretchen was pulling everything she could to inspire me to keep going...I hated it. The last half mile we could hear the names being announced as runners crossed the finish line. Gretchen was excited about this and I didn't get it. A half mile might as well have been five miles as tired as I was.
Finally, I can SEE the finish line. I know that soon I will have accomplished my goal and finally, I am inspired. As we cross the finish line and they announce my name... Now I get it! That is such an amazing feeling. I hug Gretchen as she goes to find her parents and I'm sure apologize for making them wait so much longer than usual.

My family was there to celebrate the finish with me and with the exception of a few nasty blisters, the pain is over.
I didn't make a specific time goal, but thought I'd come in about 10 minutes before I did. That's ok, because I met my other goal...I want to do it again! And now that I know what it's like, I think I'll be able to sleep the night before.
On a final note, thank you SO much to my family, for helping out so I could have the time to go running. Thanks to everyone who came and supported me on race day, that was a huge encouragement. And thanks to my friends who gave great advice. You all have been instrumental in turning a 37 year old mother into...well, a half-marathoner!

Happy Birthday Zac!

We celebrated Zac's 15th birthday with a family BBQ at the house. It's hard to believe he's turning 15... The years really have flown by. We love you Zac!!! Happy, happy birthday :)