The Reese Gang

Dam To Dam Run-5 miler

2010-02-21T13:34:00.009-07:00

Cory sported his bad day hat to make it a good day. It worked for him today!

My friend, Braydon was there to share the cold weather with.

This was the group of friends that turned out for the Dam to Dam run. I didn't appreciate the wind blowing against me the whole run. I still averaged a 10:30 pace & finished in 52:33, a PR for me!

Painter's Half Marathon Jan. 23, 2010

2010-01-26T14:19:00.005-07:00

This was what it looked like outside our front door the morning of the race. Foggy & wet! Fortunately we didn't get rained on.
Cory promised to run this race with me, even before we both had injuries. It was nice to have him by my side.

We met a group of friends before the start of the race. It's nice to have friends to cheer you on at the finish line. Thanks everyone!

St. George Marathon 2009

2009-10-05T20:16:00.009-06:00

This is Cory on the morning of the St. George Marathon with friends that he has trained with all year long. I am so proud of Cory for accomplishing his goal of finishing a marathon. I also think he is crazy that he is going to do it again. Why not just stick with 13.1? It's not so hard on your body. Props to everyone who ran. You guys are my inspiration!

Cory's Mom & sister came down from Salt Lake to support him. They came prepared with some funny signs. We were all so glad they were able to make it. Cory's grandparents also cheered him on at about mile 18. All of the support was greatly appreciated.

I made these shirts for the kids to wear that said "My Dad ran 26.2". Nobody else had shirts like these. If you are wondering where Kylee is, she was asleep in the stroller.

The Golden Ticket or Medal if you will. Cory did awesome finishing in 4 hours 25 min. He is already planning for next year to beat his time. Anyone want to join him?

Read his whole marathon story at fastcory.blogspot.com

New Piano CD - Road of Hope

2009-09-02T22:41:00.002-06:00

Drum roll please......introducing the cover of the new piano CD "Road of Hope" available October 3rd 2009! I've been listening to the music from this album over and over again. The songs here are simply amazing.

Check out this track list:
1. Our Love - Paul Cardall
2. Autumn Road - David Tolk
3. My Little Girl - Jon Schmidt
4. You Will Soar - Cory Reese
5. Heavenly Hands - Marshall McDonald
6. Muir Woods - Michael R. Hicks
7. Return To Eden - Paul Cardall
8. Cherished Moments - Jon Schmidt
9. Believe - Cory Reese
10. Last Jerusalem Sunset - Michael R. Hicks
11. For Lisa - David Tolk
12. Morning Light - Marshall McDonald
13. The Release - Paul Cardall

You'd be hard-pressed to find a finer collection of piano music. The best part is that you can receive one of these CDs by donating to a cool charity! Click HERE to order.

Donate Life!!!

2009-08-27T12:02:00.002-06:00

My friend Paul Cardall is sick. This excellent husband, father, and musician is in desperate need of a heart transplant. Paul has been my biggest mentor since becoming a musician and I had to do something to help him and others like him.

I wanted to let you know about a charity team I’ve set up for the St. George Marathon with a fantastic group of people at Intermountain Donor Services. They coordinate all the organ transplants in the state and provide education at schools and fairs about the importance of organ donation. This is definitely a life-changing organization.

I’d like to challenge you to run a “virtual race” with me called the DOME (Dixie Organ Marathon Event). Your race fee (charity donation) could be:

$10 ~ Shadow Runner: I don’t want to run but would like to contribute.

$26.20 or more ~ DOME Virtual Runner

For contributions of $26.20 or more you receive an EXCLUSIVE PIANO CD featuring Paul Cardall, Jon Schmidt, David Tolk, me, Marshall McDonald, and Michael R. Hicks. This will be sweet!

For more info and to donate, visit http://www.yesutah.org/content/dome or email me at cory@coryreese.com .

Pioneer Trek - Walk As A Witness

2009-07-16T14:03:00.006-06:00

So a few months ago Cory & I were called as the Youth Conference leaders, which was to be a pioneer trek. This past weekend the trek took place. It was such an awesome experience. I am so amazed by the strength of the Hurricane 8th ward youth. I want to thank all of the leaders & Ma's & Pa's that helped make the trek possible. We couldn't have done it without you. Also, I want to thank Cory for all the time he put into coordinating everything & doing all the speaking (public speaking is not one of my strong attributes). I'm so glad Cory was there with me to share a great experience.

This is another picture from the women's pull. They were so strong!!!

We did lots of fun activities like making butter, pioneer stories, a blind walk, stick pulls, etc... This is me getting creamed by Liz Dansie. She is one tough cookie!

The women's pull was by far one of the most spiritual experiences I have had. It was so hard to watch those girls push & pull the handcarts up the steep rocky hill. The boys were not able to touch the handcarts & we were all put on a "silence". The boys figured out that they could help by picking up the rocks & throwing them to the sides so it was easier to move the handcarts. I related this experience to my own kids. As parents we can't go fight our children's battles, but there will be angels to help them along the way. And the sense of accomplishment that you have when you have overcome a trial is amazing! You girls ROCK!

Why Mel Is Awesome

2009-07-02T06:44:00.003-06:00

Of the many reasons she is awesome, one particular reason is that she is running the BRYCE CANYON HALF MARATHON in two weeks!

I'm impressed with the time and effort that she has dedicated. She wakes up at an inhumane hour to go running with me, and even goes out in the evenings which are miserably hot. I'm proud of her.

Currently I'm trying to talk her into wearing this outfit for the half marathon:

Win Cory's Music!!

2009-05-23T21:26:00.006-06:00

Cory is having a contest that lasts one week until May 30th to win a signed copy of each of his 7 CDs. Click the picture for more info. Good luck!

It's Time To Relay For Life!!!!

2009-04-27T10:44:00.002-06:00

I have put together "Team Scentsy" for the Hurricane Relay for Life, which will take place May 8th & 9th at the Hurricane High School track. Any one interested in donating can go to this link http://main.acsevents.org/goto/melreese. Also, we still have about 10 slots open on our team if you are interested in joining. As a Scentsy Consultant I will be donating my FULL commission on products purchased in the next 2 weeks to the American Cancer Society. I will also have a Scentsy booth set up at the relay so you can purchase items. Remeber Mother's day is in less than 2 weeks!

Concert for Paul Cardall

2009-03-21T22:45:00.001-06:00

If you're in the Salt Lake area, check out this amazing concert coming up April 6th to benefit Paul Cardall who is preparing for a heart transplant. This promises to be an inspiring evening. Visit www.livingforeden.com for more info.

Pinching Pennies

2009-02-14T17:30:00.004-07:00

This is before his haircut. I know, he is way cuter with hair, but he was so matted we had to shave him down to nothing.

So the other day I went & bought a do-it-yourself grooming kit for our dogs Rupert & Dwight to save some money. For those of you who don't know, Rupert is named after Rupert on Letterman (Rupert G's Deli), & Dwight is named after Dwight K Shrute from The Office. Dwighty boy was so excited after his hair cut he ran upstairs & jumped in the bath with Jackson & Kylee. This was awkward in two ways. First Dwight has never jumped in the bath before, & second, Jackson doesn't take baths with the girls anymore(or at least we thought).

Fiesta Fun Center

2009-02-14T16:56:00.005-07:00

Mel & Cory having a grand time at Fiesta!

Mom, kicking Jackson's trash at air hockey

Cory striking a pose at mini golf

Dani & Ky playing in the soft play area

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T16:50:00.002-07:00

This morning Dad & the kids had made a scavenger hunt for me for Valentine's Day. I was showered with gifts from the Dollar Store. Here is a list of the items-nail files, a callus scrubber, scissors, a cutting board & knife, a bread knife, chip clips, & pot scrubbers. It was a lot of fun! I love Cory and all of his sweet ideas. He is a wonderful husband & Father! I couldn't have asked for any better person to share my life with. I love you Cor.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

2009-02-13T20:40:00.003-07:00

Today is My Dad's 56th. I wanted to let him know how much I love him. He has gone through a lot the last couple of years with severe medical problems. We almost lost him twice in one year. And believe it or not his arteries and heart are in perfect working condition. Dad, I am so glad that you are still with us on earth. We all know your trial on earth is not over. You still have much work to do. We love you so much!!!

Jackson loves his Papa Linge!

Dani, Kylee & Jackson with Grandpa Linge. Summer 2008

Moument Valley & Grand Canyon

2009-01-30T15:49:00.002-07:00

Cory took Jackson to Monument Valley & the Grand Canyon a couple weekends ago. My sister Renee & brother-in-law Matt & his brother Treavor also went on the trip. They had a great time, although they said it was cold! I know Treavor looks like a hippie, but he does have a job & is attending SUU. If anyone is interested, he is available.

Cory & Jackson

Another Great Photo!

Jackson & Uncle Matt playing in the pool.

Renee said this took the boys about 10 takes to get this picture right. It is pretty cool eh?

Happy New Year! (13 Days Late)

2009-01-13T14:13:00.002-07:00

Okay, so it's been a while since I last posted any type of journaling. My goal this year is to post a little more often than I did last year. I've been thinking of what other things I do with my time than post on my blog. Here are a few of my answers:

1. Take care of my children's many needs/wants, which may include but not limited to,
*Hunger-This is an all day battle. I kid you not, 20 minutes after eating breakfast the baby birds are saying "I'm hungry". "Can I have some chocolate milk?" "I want some lenomade". Do children have endless intestines? A couple days ago Dani had 2 Eggo waffles at 7:30AM and two hours later ate 2 more waffles. Should I be concerned?

*Playtime-This includes playing with Pet Shop Pets, babies, putting pony tails in the dolls hair, battleship battles with Jackson, playing Cranium's Hullabaloo (Great game if you don't have it), Game Cube tournaments (Jackson likes to watch Cory & I play. Actually he likes to see Dad cream Mom & then giggle about it), going to the park or on a hike, and lots of walks.

*Homework-This includes making sure Jackson & Dani read their take home library book each night, which is never a problem because they love to read. Reminding Jackson to do his daily homework, and actually getting it back in his backback. Kylee actually brings homework home from preschool. The homework has been really good for her & she loves doing it.

*Hygiene-Of course as parents we are responsible for our children's cleanliness. I just wish it wasn't such a huge ordeal. The girls can't get in the bath without making the bathroom look like it was hit by a tidal wave. Jackson is great at obeying my wish when I ask him to get in the shower, but washing with soap, forget about it. The other night his Aunt Rach asked if he washed his hair. He said, "No, but I rinsed it out really good".

2. Mounds & I mean mounds of laundry. I absolutely HATE laundry. If I had it my way I would just buy new. No, I wouldn't because I am fruggle or what my family likes to call me, cheap.

3. Cooking/Cleaning. I think that's all I need to say about that.

4. Volunteering at the school. Cory & I try for one of us to volunteer at the school once a week in either Dani or Jackson's class. It is very rewarding to see the results in the kids after spending so little time with them.

5. Selling Scentsy- Busy season is over. I do have a lot of fun selling this product. I love it!

6. Keeping up with Activity Days-Okay so I will admit, I have been a slacker. I am so busy during the day it is hard to find time for our twice monthly activities. Another goal is to be a better leader for my girls.

7. Work-I still work one night a week at Dixie Regional, which really takes out 2 days. The night I work I try to lay down for a nap about 1:00PM and if I'm lucky sleep till 3:00PM. Then I am off to work at 5:00PM. I get home from work about 7:30AM and go to sleep. I wake up between noon & 2PM. I love working at the hospital. The team I work with is awesome!

8. Family-We do a lot of activities with our families. A lot of times we just hang out or have dinner together. We like to go on hikes, drives, movie night outside on the projector, playing pranks on one another. Here's a few ideas: Place a person in a huge box & then set in on the doorstep, then when the door gets answered you jump out and scare them to death. Drive to Kolob and fill your truck with snow, go to your sister's house and make cubes of snow to block your front door. Yes, this one happened to us. Buy your mom chicks for Easter. Rach & Cody did this to see what Mom's reaction would be. We have plotted to buy her a baby goat, or pig. None of us have had the guts to do it yet. If you are curious as to what happened to the chicks, my mom raised them for a couple years until a rabid dog got them.

Okay, so the list could go on & on. Needless to say the last thing on my mind is keeping my blog updated, yet I still love to do it. There is some sort of emotional release by writing your feelings down. Already, I know I will have a better day.

Okay, so I can't find the picture of when Cory & I got snowed in, but my sister just did some scrapbook pages of when they snowed in my Aunt Kaye, so I will post that.

Double Hostess Rewards in January

2008-11-15T08:47:00.016-07:00

Hello all you Scentsy fans. During the month of January Scentsy is offering double 1/2 off hostess rewards. For example if you did a party of $150 you would normally receive $15 of Free product and one 1/2 price item. This month you will receive two 1/2 price items. Let me know if you or anyone else you know is interested in hosting a home or catalog party. My phone number is 229-6339.

Grocery Smarts Baby!!!!

2008-11-11T08:30:00.004-07:00

So I have discovered this way of shopping called Grocery Smarts. It is the coolest concept ever. I bought all of this for $40.32 by using thier free computer program & using coupons. This trip included: 13 boxes of cereal, 5 bottles of Dial liquid soap, 10 jars of Skippy peanut butter, 10 packages of tic tacs, 10 deodorant, 6 Lipton rice sides,8 bottles of Dove shampoo, & 5 bottles of Lotion. What a steal!!! If you want to check it out, you can log on to www.grocerysmarts.com and enter the passport g84cdp. Also if you want more info or want to do a class, call Denise Parker at 435-705-8501. If you don't live in my area she can find someone to help you.

2008-11-11T08:28:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

2008-11-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

2008-07-25T12:04:00.000-06:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Going Digital!!!

2008-07-25T10:43:00.002-06:00

So I have recently dicovered digital scrapbooking. I am completely in love with it! I have already started selling my scrapbook supplies. Digital is so easy and actually cheaper than buying all of the paper, embellishments, stamps, & accessories. You can actually have the pages printed into a hardbound book or just print them and put them in a 12x12 album. There are so many options. I love it!!!

Birthday Bash 2008

2008-07-24T19:40:00.000-06:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Emma's Favorite Aunt!

2008-06-10T10:02:00.002-06:00

Me & Emma

2008-06-10T09:31:00.001-06:00

Mom, Renee, Rach & Mel

Thompson Family

2008-06-10T09:02:00.009-06:00

Baby Emma Has Arrived!!!!!

2008-06-10T08:42:00.003-06:00

Emma Bell Thompson decided to grace us with her presence about 9:05 PM last night. She came in at 7lbs. 14oz. & 20 inches long. She has red curly hair. Yes, I said red, and it is soooo cute!Being there to witness her birth was such an amazing experience. Rach did a great job and is happy & a little scared to be a mother. Cody nearly passed out from anxiety or the blood, I don't know which he thought was worse. Despite him wanting to cut the cord in fear of cutting off the Doc's finger, he did a great job also. Mom & Renee were also in attendence. What a great experience to share with my mom and sisters. I love you guys!

Tag, Your It!

2008-05-21T12:47:00.002-06:00

How to play this game of tag. Post these rules on your blog. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

JOYS:
#1 My husband- Everything about him makes me so happy. I love what a hard worker he is! He helps me around the house (his chores are moping the floors & cleaning the bathtubs). He does most of the yard work and helps out where ever I need him to. I love to hear him play the piano so I can whistle along to the melody. He is a wonderful father to our kids. I love his tender, service giving heart. He makes me laugh, laugh really hard! I love you Cor.

#2 My Kids-I love everything about being a mother. Well, almost everything. I think I will leave cleaning up diarrhea and vomit out of the carpet out of that. Jackson, Dani, & Kylee mean the world to me. I love Jackson's curious soul. He always has a question for me & sometimes I don't have the answer. Dani is our little princess. She even runs like a princess with her left hand up like she is carrying her dress that she doesn't have on. Kylee is our peacemaker. She will give up just about anything to make her brother or sister happy. I love motherhood.

#3 My Family-I am so blessed to live in the same town as 3 of my sisters, my mom, grandparents, aunts & cousins. I count on my family for everything. Sometimes I think too much. I appreciate all the help they give, weather it be watching our kids or helping out with a project. To Angie, Nat, & Dad who don't live nearby; I love our phone calls & e-mails. I am so happy that I am able to have strong family bonds. To Cory's family-you guys have always treated me like I was part of the family from day one. I love keeping in touch with you.

FEARS:
#1 Mandy's fear is also one of mine. Having Cory's or one of the kids lives get cut short.
#2 Public Speaking. I absolutely hate it!! Testimony meeting? I'll bare it in my heart.
#3 Another one of Mandy's-harming a patient. Wait till you have to call a doc in the middle of the night when you know something is going on with your patient and the doc doesn't want to listen. Then you end up calling him over and over. That happened to me a couple weeks ago. The doc finally came in and transferred the pt. to ICU.

GOALS:
#1 To do a lot of fun activities with my kids this summer.
#2 To work on my patience with my children. It is so hard when they whine, whine, whine!
#3 To attend the temple 6 times this year. Sad to say I have only made it once. We like to use our resources of babysitting when we really need it. I guess you could call attending the temple a need. That's what it should be. Obviously I need to work on this.

OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS:
#1 I am obsessed with the TV show Prison Break and can't wait for next season to start!
#2 Diet Dr. Pepper as most of you know.
#3 I hate to read, but I did read the vampire books and I loved them. I can't wait for the movie!

RANDOM SURPRISING FACTS:
#1 I like to play racquetball
#2 I actually like to go to work. I love the people I work with. We have a great team.
#3 Being a nurse you wouldn't think this is true, but I actually gag while cleaning up my kid's vomit. I should say any vomit. I have had to leave a patients room before because of the smell. YUCK!!!

Wow, this is harder than it looks! I tag Vanessa, Jimie, Elizabeth, Rhiannon, anyone else who wants to play.

Birthday Present From Dad

2008-05-15T16:28:00.003-06:00

My Dad came down the weekend of my B-day for a visit. While he was here we put him to work. We had him cut an access door under our stairs so we can have a little bit of storage room. Dad was sweating so bad his T-shirt was soaked. He told me this was my birthday present. I was definately okay with that. He had to rewire the electrical outlet which he said wasn't too hard. We are going to have a guy in our ward make us a vented cabinet door for the opening. I'm so glad I've got a handy Dad. He can build a mean deck too!!! We love you, Dad!

Let's Wrestle!

2008-05-15T08:29:00.003-06:00

Here is Jackson arm wrestling with Grandpa Linge. Jackson sure loves his grandpa. Grandpa always has a song, story or joke to make you laugh. We love you!

2008-05-14T23:58:00.004-06:00

Cory, Matt & Darin doing "The Men's Lap".

Relay For Life A Success!!!

2008-05-14T23:15:00.004-06:00

On May 9th we participated in the first Relay For Life here in good ol' Hurricane. The event was actually organized by an 11 year old boy who was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 2 or 3. He is of course cancer free. It was amazing to me to see that such a young person could put such a huge event together. The event brought the whole community together. I believe the event raised over $27,000. We started at 6PM & stayed until about 11PM. It was a blustery night but the kids still had fun. Jackson suprisingly didn't want to quite walking around the track. My Dad & Dottie were able to come down too. It was great to be able to spend the weekend with them. We joined a team with our good friends Darin & Shelly Thomas. They are serious runners.

Serious Blackmail!!!!

2008-05-05T20:37:00.007-06:00

Okay, so I will probably be in a lot of trouble after posting these pictures of my sisters, but I figure if I'm in them they can't be that upset with me. In March we had a dance competition that Jackson put together because we missed his yearly Dance Festival that the Elementary puts on. Jackson had the family room all set up with a place for everyone to sit marked with their very own blanket. He had a judges table set up with the names of the people performing listed on a scoring sheet. Uncle Matt & Uncle Cody were the judges. We danced to the "Chicken Dance" song, the Macaraina (can anyone tell me if I spelled that right?), and a bunch of Alvin & the Chipmunk songs. After the competition we went out for ice cream at DQ.

Diva Dance

2008-05-05T14:52:00.000-06:00

The past 12 weeks Dani & Kylee have been taking dance. They absolutely love it! The instuctor doesn't let the parents watch because it interferes with her teaching. At the end of the three months they had a dance recital which was so cute, although we almost didn't make it. Everyone in our family had been sick (What's new?) and at the time Dani was still pretty sick. She didn't end up making it to her recital and Kylee didn't want to go without Dani. Through some bribery we got Kylee to go. The girls can't wait till dance starts again.

Dogs are destuctive! End of story!

2008-05-05T14:23:00.000-06:00

For all of you Office fans you'll appreciate that we named our Welsh Terrier, Dwight. We got Dwight in November after having to put our blind Shih-tzu down due to medical problems. He is the cutest dog ever, BUT he destroys everything he comes in contact with. He has chewed on my table and chairs, 3 new rugs not even a day old, his $50 training collar-only a week old, a brand new dog bed. Do I need to keep going? He will get anything and everything off of the counter that he can reach and destroy it. A few weeks ago, Cory and I found him asleep on the kitchen table. This is insanity! He is like taking care of an child in all the difficult stages all at the same time. Although he is a punk 90% of the time, it is the other 10% that melts our hearts. We love you Dwighty!

I love Diet Dr. Pepper!!!!

2008-05-05T14:00:00.000-06:00

So I'm sitting here at the computer drinking my favorite drink, Diet Dr. Pepper. I am going to try to figure out this blogging thing. I just got a glimce of my friend, Mandys site. She inspired me to get my butt in gear. So, I have a crazy picture of me with a can of Dr. Pepper, but I can't find it. Maybe next time.