a real post about real life

I have been reading a lot of my older blog posts from when I first started blogging.  Dang I was entertaining!!  Oh come on, you know I was.  I did notice that I have gotten more impersonal and less funny over time.  I would like to remedy that.  Not that when we write blogs we should be really personal, but I think I gave more of a sense of who I am in my older posts.
Today is my birthday.  It is the wee hours of the morning and I am staying up too late.  I can't believe that I am turning 28 in a couple of hours.  I think I am going to look in the mirror and watch myself age.  I can't believe I am 28 with 5 kids!  My mom didn't even do that.  I think she had like 3 at my age.
This summer I have been spending so much time with my kids.  Just about every morning I load the 3 youngest into the double stroller(I promise this totally works safely, I will post a picture later) and the older two ride their bikes and we walk/ride to the park a little over a mile from our home.  It is a great path that goes along the Spanish Fork river.  It smells really bad, but it reminds me of my dearly missed Colorado with all the trees everywhere.  I let them play for a while and eat snacks, then we make the trek back home in time for lunch.  I have some wicked tan lines that I will have to take pictures of to show you all.  I will look so awesome in a swimsuit!  Did I mention that I walk wearing capris(only for this walking situation, this is not the type of attire I go out shopping in, except once) and running shoes?  Well, I do.  So my knees are white and my feet are white but my calves and shins are totally tan.  Cute right?
The first week we went I made sure we went everyday.  The forecast was supposed to be pretty good.  One day we went and there was only supposed to be a 20% chance of precipitation, which means pretty much no rain.  WRONG!!  Apparently that is secret weatherman lingo for massive thunderstorm and hail with your poor children in summer clothes shivering away.  Yeah, it totally started raining hard core on our way home!  Duncan was the first one to start whining and crying.  He's the oldest, isn't he supposed to be all tough and strong for the other kids?  Liam acted like it was a fun adventure(which was totally where I was trying to go with it).  I told the kids we have to go as fast as we could and that we couldn't shelter ourselves under the trees with the lighting.  Then it started hailing.  SERIOUSLY.  I wish I was joking, but I'm not.  I knew the hail was coming, being a Colorado girl and all(summer rain always came with hail) so I told the kids to get off of their bikes ASAP and get under a tree with me.  We huddled together and I had the boys stick their heads under the shades of the stroller and I hovered over them.  I was totally pelted with awesome hail stones, but it was for a good cause.  At that point Duncan was still crying and whining, Rozzy was whining and crying(being in the front of the stroller with me running in the rain is not fun), Liam no longer thought this was an adventure and was now crying and shivering and Aly was soaked and screaming his little baby head off.
I suggested we all stop and say a prayer together and ask that the rain will stop and that we would be able to get home quickly and safely.  Within about 3 minutes the rain completely stopped and the clouds started moving away revealing the glorious sun!  The kids were so happy and said that Heavenly Father and Jesus helped us.  Which they TOTALLY did!!  I think kids prayers work better than adult ones because they have such strong faith and belief.  We were so happy and thankful for the sun as we approached the last leg of our journey home.
I was concerned about my friend who left the park early and went home a different way because she was pregnant, had a dog with her, a broken bike, a double stroller with only one shade and two young kids.  I just kept thinking about her on my way home.  We were getting closer to home when I hear an SUV on the path behind us and then honking.  My kids shout, "It's Howie!"  Howie is the son of my friend who was at the park with us.  Kristen(Howie's mom) had called her husband to pick them up and then came to find us and give us a ride home!!  It was so sweet of her.  We were completely soaked and shivering so she was a welcomed sight.  Duncan said, "She is the BEST neighbor EVER!!"  I agree!  It was totally awesome of her.  I hope you all read this far and I hope you like my story!!