A pressing matter...

Once upon a time in a faraway land, Jon and I had no children. Weird... 

We went on a looooooong road trip from Orem, UT to Chicago, IL with stops on the way including attending my roommate's wedding in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, visiting my old mission in Nauvoo, and seeing what appeared to be a Wal-Mart growing out of a corn field. 

Upon arrival in Chicago, we enjoyed the hospitality of Ben and Sarah (who were also kid-less at the time) and enjoyed the many sights of the city with Sarah's expert guidance. 

That was a great trip and I could fill many posts just about that... but the origins of this post come from the very tail end of that trip.  Jon and I were newly wedded for six months and still putting our house together.  Sarah had (for some reason) two garlic presses in her kitchen and asked if we wanted one.  I did not yet have a handy dandy garlic press, so I accepted the offer.  That garlic press rode with us back to Orem, slept in storage while we lived in Fremont, and moved with us into our Newark home.  It has served us well for the better part of our ten years of marriage... 

But unfortunately, our dear garlic press met its untimely demise the other day.  It pressed its last clove... straight through the bottom... as pictured... 

It's a sad thing to see a garlic press die, but it lived a full and vivacious life.

Now that we are done mourning...  does anybody have a great garlic press that they love? I need a very sturdy one apparently... one that can handle high traffic loads of garlic and take the pressure of life with the Kobersteins...

I'm on the hunt... This is a very pressing matter...

Random Reunion

 It all started when Joe H. had a conference in San Francisco.  Cheryl H. emailed us and asked if she and the kids could hang around for a couple weeks.  Naturally, we said of course anytime and every time you're here!!

So they were coming to visit! Yay!

And then Lynn and Weston, the local boys, said they weren't going to miss out on the fun... they wanted to come play with Cheryl and Joe and the kids...

So they were coming, too! Yay!

And then Dan and Karla had this cute baby boy to introduce to his many aunts, uncles, and cousins... and the Bay Area is at least a little closer than Oklahoma... They got tickets to fly!

So they were coming, too! Yay!

And so we were all here in Newark/Antioch having a grand old time...
When the phone rang...

And then Louis had some work testing to do in Milpitas; just for a day and a half... and wondered if he could stay at our place... Bring It On!!!

So he was coming too! YAY!

And somehow, for two days, six of the seven original Koberstein Kids were all together in one humble home! Oh the fun! The Games, the Music, the Museums, the Laughter, and the food we all shared! It was an awesome impromptu family reunion!

BUT WAIT!!!

Where is Gwen?

Apparently she didn't get the memo... So sad... We would have loved to complete the picture...

Can't wait to see all of the Kobersteins--including two RETURNED MISSIONARIES-- next summer at the actual Organized and Planned reunion...

Wonders of Technology...

People used to think you needed a big screen to entertain... 

Nope...

Here's the proof: Six children being entertained by a six-inch tablet... and making a very neat horse-shoe formation at the same time :)

Healthy Food... PPFFFTTT!

Dawna took it upon herself to plan, prepare, and serve a healthy meal for the family.  In the planning stage, she got a paper plate and drew a picture of her meal on the plate (and in typical Dawna style, the foods have walls around them... no touching!)

She created a meal from her knowledge of food groups as follows:
For protein, she cooked quinoa.
For a vegetable, she cooked artichokes.
For fruit, she served apple and pear slices (and tossed in baby carrots for color...)
For grains, she made whole wheat rolls (she even ground the wheat in the Blend Tec).

Here's the amazing part... all the kids ate EVERYTHING! It was a very successful meal for the whole family!  Dawna realized how much work it was to create such a meal, however, and is not terribly excited about doing it again... (drat). Besides, you can only pass off ONE Faith in God requirement this way... I wish all of the requirements were projects geared to help mom around the house, but I suppose studying scriptures and memorizing Articles of Faith are important, too ;)

Well done, Dawna! Thank you for a great meal!

Dive.

Excitement is...
The smell of neoprene in the morning...

Awesome is...
Sinking to 42 feet under water... and taking deep cleansing breaths.

Refreshing is...
A trickle of cold ocean water down your back after carrying 40 pounds of gear across the sand.

Giddy is...
Fulfilling the "I'm a mermaid" fantasy (you know you wanted to be Ariel, too!)

Beauty is...
Found underwater. Everywhere.

Serenity is...
The weightlessness achieved with neutral buoyancy.

Fame is...
Starring in your own nature documentary!

Freedom is...
The chance to explore the other two-thirds of the planet!

----------------------------
Why, yes, I am [now officially] a scuba diver... how did you know???

How Leopards Walk

Dawna and Larry's first major event at their new school... 

The Annual Walk-a-Thon! Complete with sponsor sheets and everything... hooray...

 The kids walked a 0.2 mile loop around the blacktop.  Canopies were scattered around the course with water stops, snack bar, face painting, and misters.  Each time they passed this particular canopy, they got a mark on their punch card to keep track of the number of laps.

Makenna, Dawna, and Savannah (also her first year at this school): three lovely ladies from Bayside ward who are also all leopards :) 

Larry walked 9 laps (nearly 2 miles) Dawna walked 25 laps (5 miles, wow!) I was proud of them both! I was impressed at the organization of the event and was once again so happy we got into this school... finally... 

Part three of the Birthday weekend of fun!

Sunday, October 5, my 30th Birthday, I awoke to my sister and brother in law and nephews decorating my living room while my sister in law and brother in law made waffles... what pleasant things to wake up to!!  

 After breakfast, we listened/watched conference and in between sessions, Lynn favored us with some ballroom dance lessons! Cierra and Kobin were both excellent students!  Watch out, Choctaw! The Howells are coming home with some awesome moves!!

 Then I got to open a couple presents, including a set of little plates from my missionary in-laws in Japan!  We of course had to immediately use them and had a pickle party!

THIS is a Deeb birthday treat :)

You know, all Koberstein relations love pickles... in a week together, we went through more than a gallon of pickles! 

After the second sessions, Paul & Becca came over and Joe and Cheryl favored us with a delightful BBQ dinner... tri tip, chicken, nopales, glazed pineapple, and potatoes... so YUM!

Thanks all for a wonderful and memorable birthday weekend! I am ready to dive into my thirties... (yikes...)

13.1 Going on 30!!!

Saturday, October 4... A day to remember forever...

The Goal...
For my 30th birthday, I wanted to train for and run a half marathon

 I followed Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half Marathon training program, beginning the first week in July. The program lasted 12 weeks with moderate runs and training during the week and long runs on the weekends, increasing by one mile each week..

 I got two crazies... I mean... friends... to run the half marathon with me:

Rebecca Severson! Mother of three, beautiful, brilliant... and very fast... 

Jenny: sister of my sister in law...
(sorry I don't actually know your last name...)
Mother of two beautiful blondies, hailing from Merced, CA!
She jumped in the game only six weeks before race day, and ran an impressive race!!

Here we are at the start... looking anxious and chipper in the morning sun...

And then, the race began... 

The Pain...

A Half Marathon is a long, Long,LONG way to run! (At least for me it is) My training took me up to 12 miles on the longest run and I felt perfectly confident that I could at least finish with no walking. For time, my goal was to finish in 2:20 or less and hopefully get a 10 min mile pace. 

I was really lucky to have great help all along the way...

 Here'a a recipe for an excellent race crew:

1 Supportive Husband

2 Affable Brothers-in-law

1 Adorable Nephew

1 Big Sister

Mix well in a mini van and sprinkle generously across the race course. Then the pain of the half marathon dissipates into camera clicks, whoops and hollers from the road, water bottle deliveries, and an entire entourage of runners helping you keep moving when you hit that mile 12 wall...  

A great crew like I had would help anyone be able to do a cartwheel at mile 11.5 :)

 The Glory!

Most of me is a grown up mom who pays bills, changes diapers, packs lunches, does laundry, and makes dinner... but deep inside there is a little part of me that is still an egocentric kid... who loves the attention you get when you cross a finish line and have a medal handed to you while you name is announced over a loud speaker! Makes you feel like you accomplished something great! (If there were medals and announcers for laundry... more might get done...) 

 This is the "That was fun; glad it's done" face...

 Looking a little haggard, but happy with my medal and car magnet! I worked hard for those, dang it!
I ended up finishing in 2:13 (making my time goal) but didn't quite make my pace goal... Will there be a next time to try again? We're not sure yet...

I finished 80th out of 193 female runners; 23rd out of 51 in my age category.  I know those aren't super impressive numbers to brag about, but I feel good knowing I'm just about average :)

 PS: Here is ZS demonstrating that there is nothing more delicious than Nesquik ice cold chocolate milk at the end of a half marathon! Heavenly!

Many thanks to Joe and Cheryl for watching our kids that morning; many thanks to my crew boys: Lynn, Weston, and Kobin for keeping it fun; special thanks to Heather for coming 800 miles to see me complete my 13.1; and warmest loving thanks to Jon for encouraging me through training, knowing what to do when the long runs got me down, and for loving me into doing more than I ever thought I was capable of...

I RAN A HALF MARATHON!!!
Now... what will I do with my next 30 years?

Party Hardy Hardy!!!

It's my birthday weekend. So life is awesome! 

On Friday afternoon, my sister flew in from Utah to celebrate with me. She came straight from volunteering at Reality Town and flew off to fantasy vacation land in California :) Then we went straight to the happiest place on earth: the Oakland temple! Heather had some family names for us to do and it was such a peaceful afternoon there... perfect way to begin!

Mom hosted a dinner that night with the local fam (Paulecca, Joe & Cami, and special guest visitors Jeff and Jenny from Merced!) We had delicious pizza Italia and cheesecake with raspberries for dessert! Just what Becca and Jenny and I needed to fuel up for our race day of fun the next day...

(Doesn't this look like a heavenly dessert???)

Tune in to the next post to find out what happens next in my birthday weekend of fun!