More fun-filled family adventures!!

Brent and I took a trip to California. It was so fun! We went for Brent's 20 yr reunion. It was a quick trip but we enjoyed every minute. We enjoyed time with Brent's parents and loved the coast. Also, Brent saw some of his really good buddies that he hadn't seen for a really long time. Thanks to Brent's parents for entertaining us and to my parents for surviving the children while we were gone!!


Brent's parents home. Such beautiful flowers. I decided flowers make me happy!!

The beach in Carmel.
Anna, Brent and Heather walking around Carmel. Wow my in-laws are in crazy shape!


Kids went back to school, even my baby Mckay started. This is the first time that I have a couple of hours without any kids at home!! It's kind of weird but I am not complaining! :)





Then we decided last minute to go to Lake Powell over Labor Day with some awesome families in our ward. I was determined to go and show Brent how amazing Lake Powell is. He has heard me talk about this place for many years. It was so beautiful and the whole trip was full of some crazy fun adventures. We had such a great time with all these families, they are all great friends......... now back to life and the many projects that have been waiting patiently for me.

Run down of last couple of weeks...

Pictures in random order, but you can tell which one was taken after the surgery, poor little guy.



Sparklers in the back yard.
Girls camp, it's always so much work preparing but so worth the experiences when we are up there.

Stadium of fire.... these girls just loved the Jonas Brothers.


McKay loves to copy Tyler and now does this peace sign in almost every picture!!
The parade, Uncle Brady always is a trooper... the kids love this guy. He is single and available! :)


The balloons, carrying on the Duncan tradition...the rest of the family had to move away, such sell outs!

The theme....... GO GO then GO some more!!!

The fourth of July fun.

Girls camp memories.... still trying to catch up on the lack of sleep.

McKay finally had a much needed surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids and to top of the madness Ty's baseball state tournament is all this week. I know poor planning on my part.

Needless to say I need a down week to get caught up!

Wasatch Back 2009.......

So this last weekend a big group of friends in our ward ran the Wasatch Back (including Brent)!! They did awesome, but I have to say it was kind of bitter sweet being a spectator. I couldn't help it, I had to jump in and run a little at the end of Brent's last leg. I don't think he really loved me running with him, although he would never tell me that, but it was so very theruaputic for me. The mountains are so beautiful!! It is hard to beat the scenery of the Wasatch Back in the month of June, it is so green and lush. Although I didn't get to run with them this year it was a lot of fun to watch and cheer and remember last years adventure! I was pretty proud of Brent for running this. He is not your typical runner, he usually tells me, "there is no reason to run unless you are playing soccer!" I think he must have had a good time because for not being a runner he wants to do it again next year. Love this group of people, way to go guys, I had lots of fun during the little time I was with them. The rest of the weekend we my mom and I spent in Zermatt playing with the kids! Thanks mom for your help, she is such a trooper.


The group waiting to run in together and finish!! I think they finished in like 28 hours?

Tyler and McKay ran at the end with Brent. The kids loved it, I think Brent was too tired to care.


Tyler and I running. This was in Charleston by Midway.



PS We are now recovering and our van is back and running after telling Brent that I knew it would break down.. It's just never a good idea to take an old van with 170,000 miles trekking through the mountains. Why is it that men have a hard time listening to their wives??? They literally broke down during the race. The guys keep saying it just all added to the adventure! :) I was proud of myself for not saying, "I told you so!!"

So overwhelmed by the love and kindness of everone....

Meals, flowers, notes, phone calls, blog comments, ice cream, brownies (yes, I think I have gained major weight this week :) ) taking my kids all weekend, pedicures, lunches, just talking or listening.... it's all so sweet and thoughtful. I have to be honest, I don't ever remember feeling so loved and cared for, I almost feel guilty!!

There have been so many family members and ward members and friends that have shown their love and support in so many ways. I am so grateful to feel of their warmth and kindness!! With out a doubt, I know this is partly how we get through these trials. We hopefully learn from them and are made stronger by watching the examples of so many amazing people, which I am sure also have burdens in their own lives, but are trying to lighten the load of mine at this moment.

All I can so is thank you to each and every one of you, you have all helped to lighten this particular trial in some way. I hope that I can repay you all back in some way.

I can't look at these beautiful flowers and not smile, and of course these crazy kids are back from cousins to help me laugh and keep me happy along the way!! :)

PS. I have to admit I am a little bitter right now that Brent is running the Wasatch Back right now with all of our friends and he doesn't even like to run. That was a poor me moment. :) Another year, another time.

Going private

I decided I am going to make my blog private soon, maybe is it all these left over hormones that are making me feel a little vulnerable and wacky!!! Or maybe I think if I go private I might be more apt to journal more and talk more feelings etc., or maybe just actually blog more regularly. Who really knows why?? Whatever the reason for the day make sure you send my your email address if you so desire! :)

Email address: heatherduncanadams@gmail.com and brentadams@gmail.com because I think it is actually set up under his email, even though he never looks at it. Does someone know how to change that, if so, let me know. Thanks!

A New Day

Yesterday as I woke up and went for a jog/walk I couldn't have been happier as I thought how blessed I have been lately! Last week I had the opportunity to go to Heber Valley Camp with our YW for youth conference and the spirit was so strong. I love being uplifted and feeling the spirit so strong with these amazing youth. We were able to stay in the Marjorie Hinkley camp that President Hinkley had dedicated. You could just feel the spirit the minute we drove up. Then on Wednesday, this week, I had the chance to do baptisms for the dead with the youth and then attend a temple session with Brent. Once again I was feeling very touched by the overwhelming love and the spirit I felt. As I ponder on this last week I feel as though my loving Heavenly Father was trying to prepare me for something, I guess I just didn't know what I was preparing for......

So back to yesterday. I woke up and was feeling great. I had my 16 wk check up and decided that I would take my kids with me, which I never do, because they wanted to hear the heart beat. So I thought no big deal. This is where my day went for a turn. The nurse comes in to check the heartbeat and can't find it. Yes I was nervous but at my 12 week check up it took them awhile to find it as well. So the nurse says we will just do an ultrasound. Of course my kids were so excited to see pictures and to see if they could tell what it was. The doctor comes in and starts the ultrasound. Immediately I feel that something is wrong. It was silent for what seemed like forever. I could tell the doctor was trying to do anything to find signs of a heartbeat. I felt the tears start coming and the doctor says in a soft voice to me, "This is the baby and this is where we are looking for the heartbeat." There was nothing. I had seen heartbeats on ultrasounds before. There was nothing. I knew right then there was no heartbeat but I was somewhat trying to keep it together for my kids. The doctor figures the baby's heart stopped beating about week 14 because of it's measurements. They also think it was due to some sort of chromosome abnormality. Needless to say, we are very heart broken and to watch my little Sydney's sadness was almost too much to bare. She kept asking questions and I could tell it just didn't make sense to her. They say it is called a missed miscarriage. It happens when there are no signs and the baby's heart stops and the mother's body just continues to think it is pregnant. We all feel very sad but know that if this baby had some kind of chromosome defect we are grateful that it didn't have to come to this earth and that it can be healed.

Today I go in for a D and C and once again I woke up crying. I had no idea I had so many tears in me. I do know that I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that allowed me to be somewhat prepared spiritually. I really believe that he knew I would need some very specific spiritual experiences to get me through this trial. I am so thankful for loving family and friends that will help me through this and for 3 beautiful healthy children and a very supportive husband. Thanks again for all your love and prayers. I know with time we will all heal.

Top 10 Reasons for not Blogging.......things I should've been blogging about!

Okay lame, I know, but these last few months have really taken a toll!!

Here it goes
Top 10 (which I know is a pretty standard list for most moms out there!:) )

1. The yard.....planting 60 shrubs and trees and we still have so much to do on this blasted yard. Lots of work. I have decided that I like to maintain yards, not put them in.

2. Kids school programs, Sydney's kindergarten graduation was so darn cute!!

3. Dance recitals etc.

4. Soccer tournaments. Ty's team took second again. They did great but I think they were kind of sad that they didn't win first this time.

5. Baseball games

6. Tee-ball games

7. Did I mention the yard. Wow it has about killed me, can you tell?

8. Swim lessons. Watching Mckay jump off the diving board was absolutely hilarious!! It was also fun watching Sydney, who used to be deathly afraid of the water, swim like a fish.

9. Young women, which I love love love, but boy planning for youth conference/ camp can also be quite exhausting! :)

10. The final and the biggest reason for my lack of blogging.....it's official I am PREGNANT!! I am finally feeling like I have a little energy back in this body of mine. It's crazy how tired and sick I was at the beginning, it's a good thing we forget. I think I might be getting to old for this but needless to say we are all very excited!! I had signed up to run the Wasatch Back and 2 weeks later found out I was pregnant. When it's the right time it's time right!! I am almost 16 weeks and Sydney has been praying for a girl, I guess we will soon find out.

Today is the first official day of summer and I have to admit I am very excited to not have so many schedules. Love the summer!



Oh I forgot, another two events to add to the list:

My first niece, Britney, graduated from high school. She is such a beautiful girl both inside and out and we are all so proud of her. It made me feel old!

Also my amazing mother retired after teaching school for 19 years. She has touched so many people's lives with music and I am sure she will be very missed but we are so excited to have Grandma around more. We love you grandma!!!

Our creative juices are running low.....sooo ready for spring!!!

The kids are hard up for inside activities these days!! At first I was a little annoyed that they were re-arranging my little mini linen closet but then I got over it as I noticed at least they were entertained for a moment!! :) We are counting down the days for soccer, baseball and all those outside activities. We are all feeling vitamin D deficient these days.:)



We did get the chance to take the kids through the Draper Temple open house a couple of weeks ago. It was so beautiful and the kids each loved different rooms. I think Sydney and Tyler will always remember that experience and hopefully now every time we go to the temple Sydney will understand that it is not just a place where Mom and Dad kiss. Kids are too funny! These pictures were taken after at a nearby church where they handed out cookies and water, I think my kids took more than their fair share, I am hoping they will remember the actual temple experience versus the cookies that they had a million of.

1/2 marathon worth the amazing sunshine!!.

Hello blogging world, wow I have been so out of it. The month of December was such a blur but we had so many fun adventures to write about. I lost our charger to our camera so I have been waiting to write until I can get my pics off. We will see if that happens so until I get them I will write about our last weekend and use pics from my moms camera that I stole. I am sure she is wondering when I will give it back!

This last weekend we went down to enjoy some sunshine with cousins. My sis and I ran a 1/2 marathon in St. George and then enjoyed the Saturday with mom. It was very relaxing, we enjoyed sunshine, lunch and a little shopping. I guess if it takes running a 1/2 marathon to escape the kids and husbands for a day, I will keep running!! :) Here are some pictures of the fun, it was so warm on Sat. we decided to take the kids and hike around on Mon. It is so good to be out in the fresh air.















We got home Monday night and the next day we were back in the snow cross country skiing with Tyler's school class! I was in my happy place. We left the yucky smog in the valley and went up to Soldier Hollow in the beautiful sunshine and mountains.
















I took this bottom picture myself and I obviously did not do a very good job, sorry Diana, I really did not mean to cut you out. She was the nicest mom that went by far!! She should get an award for helping all those kids that struggled that day and instead she gets cut out of the picture! :)