Stumbled across this....

While straightening out my bookshelves the other day I came across my little Wordsworth anthology with a poem sketched on the inside of the back cover. Written on July 13 2006 by Oliver Sr, Coleen, Jordan, myself and MP.

On the shores of Derwent water
By the shining shallow drink
I began to deeply think
As the source of life waved by
The magic splendour cast us
The smallest, newest, weakest link
But upon much deeper contemplation
An embryo challenges our despair
For strength within Char's belly lies
Eternities of mortality's prism.

I remember the poem making sense when we wrote it but the meaning in my mind has sadly grown fuzzy.... one for the blog anyways.

Half Marathon

So I decided that I was crazy enough to do a half marathon. I sort of trained starting about 3 weeks before but that was more just to make sure I could do it not so much to "train" for the event if you understand my meaning. I told Mom I would give a descriptive stride by stride or play by play of what happened. Sadly I do not have any pictures so you will have to rely on my weak descriptions of this event.

So I arrived with my friend who was running with me and we had about 2 minutes before the race started so we had to grab our timechips and then all of a sudden everybody just started running and we got pushed forward, it was kind of crazy. The first few kilometers were crazy because everybody was bunched up together up tight so it was hard. My friend is a rather outgoing type so he was hi-fiveing all the volunteers along the trail. Anyways, after the first two kilometres we finally got spaced out and then my stomach was making some strange noises, it made some gurgling sounds because my digestive system was undergoing repairs I think but anyways, it was hurting. The nice thing was that the entire race was through the river valley so it was really beautiful.

At first I thought I wasn't doing very well because a couple really old guys started to pass me. The thing about runners that I should mention is that they're all really nice and they always say "good job" or "keep it up" when they pass you, some of them anyways because I don't really do that. After these old guys started passing me I tried to keep up but I couldn't. After that around kilometer number 10 there was this old lady that passed me carrying around a water bottle and that's when I said OK something has got to change here because being passed by old man is one thing but being passed by old women that is a different matter entirely. Luckily after a couple more kilometers I was able to pass her which was fortunate for my ego and pride.

Finally towards the finish line about a kilometer away I heard somebody breathing very loudly behind me and slowly catching up to me. I was glancing over my shoulder but I couldn't see anybody finally when the breathing got super close and I was getting kind of scared like a deer being pursued by a wolf a little 16 year old girl ran past me and my ego took another shot to the groin. I tried to catch her at the finish line but she was too fast. Finally after 21.2 km of battling old men, women and teenage girls I finally crossed the finish line.

Lucky for me the young teenage girl I talked about got a 30 second head start so overall I actually beat her, thank goodness for that. The run was fun, my time was 1 hour and 45 minutes. I got 25th overall and third in my age group. That's the stride by stride report.

Beej

Meliss

I just have to make the comment that Meliss is handling bedrest with such flair! I've never seen someone take a hard situation and turn it into something positive in the way she has. She is reading, writing, organizing her home, watching movies, finishing longterm projects, and is delightful to see. I enjoy visiting her right now because she is thoughtful and curious about the world in a new way. She has fun insights from the books she's reading and ready and willing to converse about it. I am so impressed with her ability to submit to her situation with a positive attitude!

I just like this picture

I've been missing our boys a lot lately. They come back to our house on Saturday afternoon after being at the Hulewskys for three long weeks. They've had a lot of fun but we can't wait to see them!!!

Thank you Lindsay!

Lindsay graciously offered to come by on Monday and help me out! I was so thrilled for the extra help! We are getting a lot of great help from our ward, but there's nothing like having a sister come over. I asked her to do one last kitchen organization project for me. I had put the gravity-feed can rack organizers I got into some lower cupboards that were too narrow, so Lindsay put them in the right place for me and put the rest of the items into other cupboards. The result was instant love. Thanks Linds!
Before:
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjat4NitKNpqfl5pO_j2qgl44lnPqZOvfn20Fy4zkN1EPaewATYFZ7wA8Yc93V9p4JbaBc033Ahzgn5kJYNMuEUqmcoF7uanOeVCA4W-YoL7Upz4f2Sfw2MEg5YzGnFS922V6J3d4F2-Hg/s1600-h/DSC_0004.JPG">
After:

Mountains and Missionaries

Beej's blog post was so inspiring, and I've been thinking about mountains and how the temples here are often built on high ground so as to represent the way they lift our thoughts and help us to be better people.

This last week has been awesome. I've had some really great experiences with the people from my ward, and with the missionaries! I loved what Elder Schneider said in his letter that he appreciates how much we Schneidz/Puentes love the church. It's true. I can't say enough good things about it. I felt so uplifted when I left church yesterday, had a fun time at break the fast, was able to teach a lesson with the sisters... this evening Family Home Evening was so wonderful, and then there's the temple, of course... it's so inspiring and gorgeous to see it all the time. I love that building and what it represents. I love the knowledge I have that God loves me and he's blessed me with a wonderful family who care for me. I love you guys!

Happy 4th!

Happy fourth of July. I forget how big of a deal this holiday is, having grown up with the usual pancake breakfasts on Canada day, but not really celebrating the fourth. Well, I was happy to hear Rach got a whole bunch of fireworks, and happy to see these two really cool houses all decorated in our neighborhood. It put me in the spirit of the holiday!

One house has a huge flag on their garage door, made from a light with that pattern shining from a tree nearby.













Another house has a big flag all lit up in the window, chairs set out, and streamers and wind socks hanging from the trees!

I'm looking forward to the fireworks show! Happy fourth, in whatever way you choose to celebrate it!

HAPPY CANADA DAY

HAPPY CANADA DAY TO ALL OF YOU IN THE BLOGOSPHERE. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE WORLD'S GREATEST TWO YEAR OLDS - JULIAN AND CALEB. WE ALL WISH THEM A FABULOUS BIRTHDAY, AND MANY GREAT YEARS AHEAD.

OUR FAMILY IS VERY BLESSED TO HAVE ROOTS IN TWO GREAT NATIONS OF THE PROMISED LAND, AND ALSO WITH OTHER BLESSINGS TOO NUMEROUS TO COUNT.

I HOPE WE WILL ALL REMEMBER THE SOURCE OF THESE GREAT BLESSINGS, AND SHOW OUR GRATITUDE TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER BY DOING HIS WILL.

LOVE TO ALL,
DAD (POPS, JUICE, GRAMPS)

God's Mountains

Hey, I didn't go ahead and post my own mountain blog while ignoring Beej's inspiring mountain blog!!! Strangely enough, when I posted yesterday, the last blog was Lindsay's! Someone will have to explain that to me!!
So - to answer Beej's question - why are the mountains so awesome?? Karyn has the coolest poem about mountains that I will post as soon as she gets back from girls' camp. In the meantime, my own thoughts about awesome mountains.... They're about as close as you can get to heaven and still have your feet on the ground. Not only that - they give you the most amazing perspective of your world - one that you didn't know existed until you grunt and groan your way to the top - the mango of victory!!
I agree with Beej - God probably enjoyed making mountains the most.