Cole's It!

Cole was tagged by his second cousin Ryder. I think I needed this so I could take a few moments to brag about my buddy Cole. Here are ten fun things that I love about Cole Jones Baird.
1. Cole is my best eater. He is typically willing to try anything once. And even though he my scrawniest kid, he out eats the other two.
2. Cole is a mama's boy. I will admit, sometimes it drives me NUTS. But I can always count on Cole to just sit and hang out with me when the rest of the family is busy or playing.
3. Cole loves the water. He is a fish in the water. I love that he isn't afraid to put his head under the water and loves to take baths.
4. He is feisty! This kid will NOT let up when he wants something. I don't always love the way he acts, but hopefully this feisty trait of his will turn into a positive in his life and always guide him to get what he wants out of life.
5. Cole loves animals. I love this about him. He is just like me in always wanting to go to the zoo and play farm. This kid can tell you EVERY animal and the sounds they make. I'm not just talking about cats and dogs, he can tell you about platypuses, meerkats, aardvarks and any other strange animal you can think of.
6. He is not a big sweets fan. Cole can pass on the frosting, syrup, ice cream. How would it be? I wish I was more like that.
7. I love that he is POTTY TRAINED! Way to go Cole.
8. Cole loves Diego and I love to watch it with him. He is so funny to watch it with. He follows along with the show doing the actions, making the sounds and even pretends that he is either Diego or one of the Bobo brothers. It's so cute.
9. I love that Cole is a good brother to his sister and twin. I love to hear and watch him play and share with his siblings.
10. What I love most about my Cole is the sweet spirit he brings into our family. He makes our family complete. He is fun, cute, silly, smart, talkative, and lovable.
I LOVE YOU COLE!

Congratulations Matt!

I must say, Matt is pretty awesome. He completed his 2nd Boston marathon with a time of 3 hours 48 minutes. We had a blast going from spot to spot cheering on our runners. What a fun crowd and environment to be in. Matt, just want you to know that I love you, and I think you are THE BOMB!Congratulations to all our running friends, Matt, Heather (Matt's sister), Carter, Amy, Heather, and Blake. You guys ROCK. Thanks for putting on a great show.If you have never been to a marathon, may I suggest you go. It is a fun and inspirational environment. There are people running with prosthetic legs, blind people, cancer survivors, wheel chair bound people, 80 years and older people and so many other amazing people with amazing stories. I will NEVER say I CAN'T run a marathon. If I chose not to run, it is not because I can't, but because I won't. I hope so bad to get into St. George in October. Below is a picture of a man and his son Dick and Rick Hoyt. Dick is 65 years old and has pushed and pulled his son across the country and over hundreds of finish lines. They do both marathons and full length Iron Mans. When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick. I was able to see this amazing father son team run at the Boston Marathon. Talk about inspiration.

Greetings From Boston!

Can I just say, "I LOVE BOSTON". Everything about this place is fun, charming, historical, and exciting. We have had a great time thus far. We are here with a great group of friends, parents, and family enjoying, restaurants, shopping and site seeing. One of the little Restaurant we ate at was called Stephanie's on Newbury. Newbury is a fun street with boutiques, cafe's, and shops.









Yesterday we went to the Boston Red Socks game. We aren't necessarily big Red Sock's fans, but how often do you get to go hang out in Fenway Park and watch world class baseball players.? The Red Socks beat the Texas Rangers 5 to 3. And, Matthew McConaughey and Lance Armstrong were there.







Then this morning we planned on attending church. We decided to go to the 11 am ward so we could sleep in. As we walked into the chapel, Matt's cousin, Elder Tyler Standing was their.
How exciting. We knew he was on a mission in Boston, but Boston is HUGE. What are the odds of going to his ward, in his building in that city. Very cool. Tyler told us if e would have gone to the 9 am ward, we would have seen Danny Ainge, who is now the bishop of that ward. But we are glad to picked the 11 am ward to see Tyler.After church we decided to go see the Boston temple. Which is a beautiful temple and also has that New England charm.There is this Mormon church on the same property, so I decided I needed to go to the bathroom. We started to walk down to this church, and low and behold, it's Mitt Romney and his lovely wife, who were kind enough let us snap a quick photo and have a brief conversation. I'm still so bummed he is not going to be president!
Finally we ended up in Concord, Ma., which is a charming town just outside of Boston. This is the place where the Battle of Lexington and Concord happened, which is considered the initial conflict in the Revolutionary War, April 19, 1775.
Also known as the place where "the shot that was heard around the world" took place.
We have had a great time so far. Tomorrow is the big race. The reason we came. Good luck to all our runner friends, Heather, and my hubby Matt. I love you Matt and KICK BUTT!

Boston Bound

Tomorrow night at this time, Matt and I will hanging in Boston. If you remember, Matt qualified for the Boston Marathon in the St. George marathon with a time of 3 hours 5 minutes. There are about 7 couples meeting us there with at least one of the spouses running, including Matt's sister, Heather from Cali. I am sure most of our time will be spent at the EXPO, driving the course, and doing running stuff, but I love it, and can't wait. These are the trips that really motivate me to get running. If all goes right, and we get in, I'll be running in the St. George marathon in October. And to add to the trip, we are going KIDLESS! Thanks you Mimi and Papa. I'll post some pictures of Matt running fast when we get back!

Allegany State Park

Over the weekend, we went to Allegany State Park. This is a great mountainy area about an our east of our house in New York. Spring has finally started showing her face, and we are trying to enjoy the outdoors a bit. The kids had a fun time climbing, throwing rocks and exploring in this state park. Matt and I found a trail run race there, which is in May that we are going to sign up for. This will be my first trail run race and I am excited. Here are a bunch of fun pictures of Lily, Cole and Jack enjoying Allegany State Park.

Just A Quick Post

Not too exciting around here. We are anxiously awaiting spring and it just does not seem to want to come. Today the wind blew like no other. Getting in and out of the car with 3 small ones in the wind is BRUTAL. I'm yelling at the kids telling them if they don't hurry and get in, we will blow away like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Mean while, the heavy car door is slamming me in the back. Lily is standing there, "can't we just play in the wind for a minute?" "No! HURRY, we're going to be swept up in this gust of wind in a minute!"
We had a fun Saturday. The sun was shining (even though it was still 35 degrees). First we went to the Erie Zoo, then the Erie beach (actually it is pretty good...we've heard, in the summer) to throw rocks on the ice (yes, that is Lake Erie..solid ice), and then we went to Chuck E. Cheese. We lasted 30 minutes or less. It was chaos! Too many stinky sweaty crazy kids on Saturday evening. On the way home, the Crispy Creme light was flashing. What does that mean? FREE donuts! Dinner! Pizza at Chuck E. Cheese didn't happen, so why not a donut dinner? The kids thought they had died and gone to heaven.That seriously was our dinner. It was fun, until I looked at my butt in the mirror!
By the way, the St. George marathon registration started today. ANYONE....Tresure...Katie?
Click on the picture to enlarge.