This too shall pass.....

As most know, I used to be quite good at keeping this blog chock full of info and pictures about the Mitchell household. Not so much now.....We've had a few rough months here, but alas, we are all alive and doing just fine. I, in no way, intend to whine or complain....simply to start over. We've had the opportunity to reflect on what is real and important in our lives, and the bottom line is:

#1: We have each other, our children, and our extended family and friends who love us dearly.

#2: We will get through this awful mess.

#3: In 6 months we will have a whole new set of problems, so why whine??!!!

#4: We can rest our heads at night knowing we did the right thing. We have our integrity intact, and heaven help us, our children will remember that their daddy stood up for what was right, no matter the consequence.

For those who don't know....Brandon started noticing some financial improprieties at the company he was working for about 18 months ago. He brought it to their attention on 4 separate occasions. The last time it was brought to their attention, chaos hit the fan.....and needeless to say.....they did all they could to shut him up and prevent him from calling the clients that it had affected. Long story short, he lost his job over the situation, but we did what we had to do to rectify Brandon's role in the whole darn mess!

So, we are embarking on a new chapter in our lives and looking for work. We will let you all know what the outcome is when we know! Most likely, we will be heading back up to Seattle where we have the support of family and more work opportunity.

JULIE'S BirthDay

As most of you know, today is Julie's birthday. She is 34 years old and looks more beautiful now than the first time I saw her. Each year she asks for two things for her birthday. In fact, she asks for the same two things for her birthday, Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. One, for me to shave. Two, for me to write her a note. To my shame, I have not always delivered. So I am going to step out of my comfort zone and let everyone know what this woman means to me. Here I go... (I better score points for this)

It was the first Sunday in January of 2001, this was the first time I had ever seen Julie Welch. I couldn't have pictured anyone more beautiful. In the singles ward we belonged to, my brother was the ward mission leader and Julie was a ward missionary. Because we had Elders instead of Sisters for missionaries, Julie was blessed with the task of rounding up guys to go on splits with the missionaries, something no one wanted to do. As ward mission leader, my brother stood up and announced that who ever went on the most splits with the missionaries for the rest of the month would win a date with Julie Welch. I signed up for every split for the whole month.

I couldn't wait to cash in my date with Julie so I called her to let her know I would be taking her out for my prize date the next day. This was the first time we had ever spoken to one another. I took her to Dairy Queen the very next night and nine days later I asked her to marry me.

We would leave for college, have three kids, move A LOT and eventually settle down in a small community outside of Phoenix, Arizona. We are coming up on nine years of marriage this May.

Julie and I have very little in common. She likes romance and drama movies, I like kung fu and action movies. She likes pop music, I like country. She likes to read and I think books are for nerds. But for some reason or another we can always talk and always hold hands when we are walking together.

Julie always wants more romance in our lives. She likes to ask the question, what makes her different from the girl next door, or, why do you love me? (death questions to a man)
My response is most always the same...silence. (the death response for a man)

Julie, I don't know why I love you. I know all the reasons I fell in love with you, from your smile to the way you correct all my grammar mistakes. But what happens when you care for someone and LOVE doesn't mean what you truly feel. Why hasn't anyone invented the feelings that come AFTER love. This is how I feel about you. I see you as a mother with our children. I see you as a helpless romantic and as someone who has dreams and desires for her life. I loved you when I married you and my feelings are far past how I felt that day.

You are a wonderful person and have such a way with others, I could never have. You are truly the best thing in my life and I threw on some of my favorite pictures of you and of us. I also tried to add a song for you as well. Happy birthday and I hope this buys me another 9 years... I love you. (I was unable to post the song on the blog so I will do it on Julie's face book page)

Marathon Rookie: A Beginner's Story

So, the idea of posting my thoughts about this experience has been on my mind quite a bit in the last few months. At many a pivotal point in my life I've sat down to write my "bucket list" as they are called these days. I recall writing one in high school, college, after my mission, and even one after I got married. Who knows where all of those are placed today. They're probably stuffed in a random box in the garage, or long since gone to a landfill or recycling site of some sort. I've made my fair share of unfulfilled goals, many of which I simply cannot remember. One had stuck in my mind for years......the MARATHON..... Who in their right mind says they are going to tackle such a physical feat?? CRAZY PEOPLE!! That's who. Hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20, and I realize this is something I could have tackled YEARS AGO, especially when I was single, in college, and HAD TIME TO SPARE!! Alas, my social duties called, and that was my priority. Silly girl.....
Last May I was sitting on the COUCH watching my favorite show, "The Biggest Loser," and saw the final contestants complete a marathon. As I sat there, eating a snack no less, I said to myself, "Self, I can do this!" So, the next day I joined the Arizona Road Racers and signed up for my first 5k in over 10 years. It was time to get my bootie running again. I consulted with my marathon hero, my cousin Sam, and received some wise council on how to start. I laced up my shoes and hit the road. Those first few miles were brutal. What had I done to myself? How did I get so out of shape??!! What on earth am I doing out here?! Those contestants on The Biggest Loser work out for HOURS on end each day....they lift weights.....I'm just a nobody who got off the couch and said I was capable..... I had much work to do. Unfortunately, I had no Mr. Miyagi to train me. I just had a desire. To make matters worse, I had posted said goal ALL OVER FACEBOOK so now I was committed! There was no turning back!
I consider myself fortunate to have met a great gal at our daughter's dance studio. Her name was Becky, and she too had just made the same goal. She was in FAR BETTER shape than I was - and still is for that matter - She took me under her wings and encouraged me to show up at the gym day after day......we ran all summer and built up our mileage. As the months passed by, I had the guts to run in several races, including a half marathon in 100 degree weather....a feat I will never do again..... Alas, the running got easier and the time slipped by. Brandon was a huge support as dinner was constantly prepared late, I was gone many a Saturday morning in the wee small hours to run for HOURS ON END, and lots of whining over sore muscles and black toenails! He caught the bug himself and hit the lakes and pools around here to start working towards a triathlon. He even competed in a 2000 meter open water swim. His birthday present was a schnazzy road bike, that he plans to put many a mile on this year.

January came, and the BIG DAY came..... I was so nervous I wasn't thinking straight. What a cool experience is was to be there with THOUSANDS of people! Even John McCain himself was standing atop a platform waving at us crazy people starting a race through the boring city streets of Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe. The race began, and I took off. At first I was filled with emotion as I looked around and saw the amazing amount of NORMAL people out there running right beside me. You don't have to be an elite athlete to do this. It just takes staying power. The miles began to tick by, and I was doing great. I hit mile 20 and HIT THE WALL. We've all heard of it....that place where you feel like your body needs to stop, and it's up to your MIND to keep going. All those weight training sessions that I skipped came back to haunt me. In all my months of running, I got cocky and thought that if I just focused on the long distance running part, who gave a hoot about strength training. So, let's make that Lesson #1 learned: LIFT WEIGHTS!!! I had followed a training guide for beginners, mainly focused on completion of the race, which I was totally fine with. What I hadn't anticipated was the desire that crept inside of me on race morning to just run the hardest I could, for the longest amount of time! DUH!! I think they call that lack of pacing..... So, Lesson #2: If you want to run LONG and HARD, then one must TRAIN long and hard!! This next go around, you bet you'll see me lifting those weights and doing my core workouts like I was SUPPOSED to do the first time. Isn't that what we tell our children? "Can't you just do it right the first time?!" If only we all listened......
Alas, sore muscles and all, I made it to the finish in 5 hours and 32 minutes. Not exactly Olympic timing, but MY timing. That is what mattered, that I had MADE it there! I was balling as I crossed that finish line. All I could think about was the fact that I had done it. I had set a goal and I had achieved it. Sure, I made a truckload of mistakes along the way, but when one stumbles, one picks themselves up and tries again. So, here I go again.....this time I have my sights set on the Tucson marathon in December, and who knows what else. All I know is that I'm not stopping. The running bug has caught me and is here to stay.

2010 Fiesta Bowl!

One of the perks of Brandon's job is an occasional set of tickets to one of the many fantastic sporting events that comes to the grand city of Phoenix. This year we were MORE than blessed to receive tickets to the Fiesta Bowl. As you all most know, Brandon is an AVID Boise State fan. Needless to say - he was TOTALLY EXCITED for the game! Here's some of our good times watching our favorite team WIN!!!


Boise State played Texas Christian University......whose mascot is some sort of frog.....LAME!


The men in action!


Awwwweee, don't we look good in orange and blue?!


Check out the sea of orange behind us. Boise State fans are in a class of their own; loyal as ever!

Thanks again to Dan for our tickets!!!

Happy New Year 2010!!!

We're happy to report that we rang in the new year happy and healthy......with an end of the year trip just days after Christmas to the ER.....yep, that's right.....I said it........THE EMERGENCY ROOM....... I'll start with a little back-up......Like MOST MOTHERS in America, I've put off buying Legos for a multiplicity of reasons, all of them rooting in safety. I'm paranoid that someone will swallow one, step on one, or worse.......stick one in one of the many orifices of the body......but, our oldest, Porter, is 7 1/2 now, and we felt we owed him huge. So, along with Santa, he was granted a long-standing wish of achieving such gloriously, over-priced items. He hit the jackpot this Christmas. His ever-amazing father, spent the majority of Christmas day putting said Legos together for the child in awe. As most curious sisters are, Tess lingered for days, eyeing such wonderful items that she was to stay clear from. A few days after Christmas, Brandon was out cycling, Owen was watching a movie, Porter was at the dining room table with his Legos, and Tess was playing quietly in her room with her new dollhouse and princess dolls. I had a thought....."Wow, all the kids are playing so nice....I think I might go take a nice bubble bath." Brandon walked into the bathroom a few minutes later to inform me that he had returned from his ride, and was leaving for a jog. He told me the kids were still all doing well, and leaving each other alone. Not 2 minutes after I heard the front door shut, Tess came running into the bathroom screaming, "I'm so SORRY.....It's STUCK, MA......HELP ME!!!!" To which I replied, "What is stuck??!!" "A LEGO," she exclaimed! I jumped out of the bath, grabbed a towel and the tweezers, and laid her on her back. I could not get to the darn, baby-blue sucker. Needless to say, she wasn't exactly the most cooperative of patients.......So, panic sets in and I immediately see visions in my head of her face swelling and dire infection setting in. I dressed in a fury, got everyone in the car, and raced to the Urgent Care. After much prodding, and a whole lot of screaming......we were on our way to the hospital.....the darn thing would not budge. Several hours later, the ER doctors and nurses were unsuccessful as well. They tried their hardest, but patient compliance was most likely their hardest obstacle. We left with the Lego still firmly holding on to the inside of her left nostril. Long story short, we got lucky the next day, and were able to retrieve our little friend......and lo and behold......IT'S NOT EVEN A LEGO!! Who knows what the darn thing is. Porter said it was from a Kinex set, who knows! So, you may ask, "What is the moral of this story?......." Moms NEVER get to take a break without some sort of dire consequence!


If anyone can identify this object, please call the Mitchell household.....


On New Year's Eve we took the kids to a fun restaurant here in town where we ate outside and made some s'mores!


Tess' marshmallow caught on fire!


This is going in the BLACKMAIL archives.....Owen loves Tess' new princess barbie dolls! He's been known to take them to bed at night!


PROOF!! Tess and Porter made it to MIDNIGHT!


Our New Year's Eve festivities were filled with games!!


Tess got a Build-a-Bear gift card from Papa and Grandma for Christmas. Here she is giving her new Hello Kitty a bath at the store! What a fun experience.


On New Year's Day we took the family to the movies with some good friends of ours. The boys saw Alvin and the Chipmunks and the girls saw The Princess and the Frog!

We hope everyone is having fun starting on their new goals for the year! We love you all!!

xoxoxo

Happy Holidays from the Mitchell Family!

Once again, we are going GREEN with our holiday letter!! I love being able to fill everyone in on our year through a TON of pictures!! I am going to put these on in NO PARTICULAR ORDER....to place them all in order, would require way too much thinking on my part, and blogger doesn't allow all the pictures at once! We hope this holiday season finds everyone doing well and happy. I love this time of year and the focus on giving to others, and remembering what's important in our lives. We are so grateful for all that we have, especially our healthy, happy children, and a loving environment to raise them in. So, here goes........2009 for the Mitchells.......


This was taken on a sunny, summer day in front of the Mesa Temple. All three are getting so big!


In February we took a long road-trip to Seattle. My youngest brother, Adam, returned from his mission in Portugal, so we went to welcome him home! Of course, Dad took us adults out for some FINE seafood to celebrate! This is at Salty's.


Just outside of Salty's. Every winter Brandon grows a beard.......


While in Seattle, we were able to see my grandma. It was sure nice to visit her!


Tess decided to give dance a try this year. This was just before her spring performance. She was so excited!


Our FAVORITE thing to do here is head south to Tucson to my grandparent's place and hit the pool! We call them Fafa and Punkin.....sweet nicknames given to them.... I had to get a picture of Fafa in the pool....rarely does he go in!


As most of you know, Brandon and I have hit the ground running this year with getting outdoors and getting in shape! Here is Brandon at a 2,000 meter swim that he did this fall. His goal for 2010 is to beat his time from this year! He's also working towards a triathlon.


This is Tess and her two besties from Dance. This fall they performed at a Daimondbacks game and had a ball! For the coming year, she wants to try sports. So, we're headed to the land of soccer and T-ball in 2010 for her! We'll see which one she likes most.


We had a way fun visit in October from Amy, Chris' wife. Amy and I have gotten quite close over the years, and it was fun to have her here to bond with. I coerced her into a race with me. We had a blast!


Here she is with the kids....don't mind Porter's sour face.....you can't make everyone happy!


Owen found the baby powder and went to town one day!


Owen turned 2 in March, and all he wanted to do was head to Agua Caliente in Tucson, and feed the ducks! We can't believe he's about to turn 3 now! He's in the midst of potty-training and catching on like a champ!


Porter turned 7 in June and had some friends over for a super fun sleepover. We hit the pool, a movie, and the off-road track over by our house. Needless to say, those boys were TIRED when the party finally ended!


Adam flew down here for some R&R after his mission, and we took him down to see Fafa and Punkin. This is at Agua Caliente, our favorite park. He was here for 2 weeks, and we enjoyed our time with him.


We also were blessed with a visit from Kevin in July. He had just returned from Iraq. We loved having him here, and I was more than thrilled that he had made it home safe. I cried like a baby when I saw him walk off that plane!


Adam and the fam at Fafa and Punkin's house! Adam just recently left for basic training in the Navy. We wish him luck and safety on this new adventure in his life!!


We took the kids for a hike at Lost Dutchman State Park near our home. We sure love being outside! We love it here in Arizona.


When Kevin was here we took a super cool drive along a string of lakes just north of our house. The kids had fun learning how to skip rocks with "Uncle Manny!" Owen deemed him Uncle Manny because Kevin bought him a Handy Manny toy....go figure.....but, hey - we LOVE nicknames in our family, so it will last!!


The best part of our block fence.....CHALK DRAWINGS!


Everything is more fun when Dad is helping!


Porter is in second grade this year. He's at a new charter school, and doing quite well! We're very happy with the switch in schools. He just won the spelling bee in his class and will be competing against the whole second grade on January 11th!


Tess is in a Montessori pre-school and is excelling there. She's already reading 3 and 4-letter words! We are so pleased with her teacher, and the progress she is making. Watch out kindergarten.....Tess will be there soon!


Tess broke her arm this spring. Honestly, we were completely surprised that it took this many years for someone to finally break a bone!


The kids have the BEST FATHER EVER. He improvised his own slip-n-slide out of painter's plastic, dish soap, and the hose! Even our neighbors were watching from their upstairs windows! Everyone had a blast!


Easter 2009.


My parent's moved back to Seattle this year from Georgia. They drove through Phoenix on their way home, and we got to spend a couple of days with them. It was so fun to have them here!


Porter has gotten all his "smarts" from Papa! Here they are putting together a science project!!


We sure enjoyed our time with my folks. The kids loved having Lucy, their dog, here too!


While in Seattle, the kids put on a play for everyone. Here they are with their cousins.


Miss Tess turned 4 in February, which means she's approaching 5 soon! We can't believe how fast time is flying by for us.


We had a fun visit from Nana in September. We always love having her here. She keeps us busy, and keeps us up late playing cards! We took her to our favorite country restaurant here in town for some good cookin' and some country dancing!!


Brandon and I ran in the Saguaro National Park Labor Day run in Tucson. It was so fun to finally do a race together. We look forward to doing many more together in the future. I am running in a marathon in January, but I can't quite get him to do that long of a race.....maybe in 2011!!

Well, it's been a fun-filled, adventurous year for us! We're looking ahead to a new year full of new goals, challenges, and change. May the Lord be with all of you in the coming year as you embark on your adventures. We love and miss everyone!

xoxoxo,
Brandon, Julie, Porter, Tess, and Owen