Graveside visit

With our recent trip to Utah we decided to stop in LaVerikin Ut on our way home. Darrin's Grandparents are buried there and it had been awhile since we last visited. While Darrin was showing the girls the town and talking about his summer visits he used to take there growing up, Baylie was very intrigued about when she would get to see them again. I love that we have the knowledge of the Restored Gospel which teaches us that we can be eternal families, and that we will get to see our loved ones again. One other cute "spiritual" thing that happened while visiting was, as I mentioned before it had been awhile since we had last visited so it took us a little bit to find the headstone. The weather was cold, and Jaya didn't have a coat, she finally asked if she could go back to the van. I said sure, and she headed back. Just as we found the headstone, Jaya came running up with pure excitement and said "Mom! I said a prayer that the wind would stop blowing, and it did!" I love the FAITH of little children.

The finish line

Darrin, Darcy & Kendra (my BEST training partner)

The start of the race I felt there were lots of odds stacked against me. We got into St George very late, and stayed up even later visiting with our awesome friends The Poultons, then stayed up even later listening to our girls play. I prayed fervently that night that regardless of the hour we were going to bed, that I would have the energy and strength to run a good race. I woke up completely refreshed, no sick stomach, no stiff neck, I felt great!

The weather was beautiful, a little chilly, but you want that when you are going to run. We met up with Kendra, got our numbers and took the only pics for the day (I didn't have someone to take pics at the finish). Then loaded on the bus. Being bussed to the top is a little discouraging, I could swear that we had driven at least 30 miles by the time the bus stopped, I seriously tried hard not to think about the fact that we had to run all the way back. After about an hour of waiting the race began.

I kept thinking about my friend Debbie and how on her last run she loved every minute of it and so I was trying my best to be enjoying it, and for the most part I did. Darrin was AMAZING, he pushed and motivated me through the entire 3 miles of uphill that I thought was going to kill me. He was giving high-fives, counting people we passed, and of course making jokes along the way. At that point all I could do was look down and focus (if I looked up, I saw how far and high the hill was).

The rest of the course was either up hill or down hill, I don't think there was one flat section. Now, where we have been running it's pretty flat, so this was a definite difference. We persevered regardless, I felt pushed the entire way. It definitely felt like a race day, not a leisure run at all. I think that really helped though, because it made it more real that this is what I had worked for.

As we entered the stadium for the last stretch, I saw the clock. My time goal had been to finish under 2 hours, the clock read 1:59:20. We sprinted to the end, and finished at 1:59:38.

I just want to thank Kendra and Darrin for allowing themselves to be sucked into my dream, and making it there own, while pushing and motivating me along the way.

WE DID IT!!!!!

Making history, and what I've learned along the way.

I have been training for a half marathon (13 miles), which I will be running on Nov 8th. The other day as I was running 8 miles on the treadmill (yes you read that right) I had A LOT of time to think. Some days I will zone out to smut on the gym tv (please don't ask what smut...Annie) but most of the time I just turn off the tv and run. Other then my marriage vows and the daily mothering I do, this has been the BIGGEST commitment I have made. You don't really think that the training for something like this could be that big of a deal (and for some it's not) but for my training partner and I it's been 12 weeks of daily training (minus Sundays). I am blogging about this so most of you will know what has been happening in my life, because for 12 weeks now running has pretty much been my life.

Little did I know when I started running, that I was entering a WHOLE NEW WORLD, which includes some of these little insights: wearing cotton is a definite no, no. chaffing occurs anywhere that fabric repeatedly rubs on your body. bloody nipples are normal (I am NOT talking to the ladies here). waking up at 6am or even 5am is NORMAL. running for longer then a hour is a given and often times 2 hours is normal. after awhile your legs just go numb. certain songs can REALLY motivate you and it's not always the ones you think will (I had a really good run to church music one day). Saturdays are no longer a sleep in day. gatorade really does help (the commercials are true!). stomach cramps are normal, and no you don't stop, you just keep running. there is a whole new group of friends, waiting for you. my body has ran further then I ever imagined. power gels are amazing. gps watches are your new best friend, or worst enemy (if your routes not as long as you thought). body glide will save your skin. I would rather talk, then listen to music (this really shouldn't surprise me). the first 2 miles are my hardest. I get nervous before ANY long run. shoes make a world of a difference. you cannot look at a person's body type and judge their endurance. I prefer running in the cold.

My sister in law asked me the other day why I am participating in this self induced torture, and my one response was, when my body does something I never thought possible, it's empowering! I am making history, it may not be history for the marathoner down the street, but the first day I ran 10 miles I made history for myself.

So watch out world Nov 8th, I'm making history again!

Joy school ghouls

My friends (there are 5 of us in the group) have started doing Joy school for our 3 year olds. We got the curriculum from online www.valuesparenting.com and we teach one week, then we rotate who teaches. So far it has been great. The kids LOVE it, and I am loving it, I learn the weeks that I am teaching, I have made some really great friendships with the other moms, and I have 5 weeks off after I teach. I just can't say enough good stuff. So these are two pics from the Halloween program they had for the parents. They did a little parade in their costumes and then they sang some songs, so cute!

8th annual halloween party...minus two years

Okay, Darrin and I love Halloween. Candy, costumes, food, what else is there? Since our early years of marriage we have vowed to have an annual adult (adult was only added after the kids started coming) Halloween party.
Unfortunately with a few moves here and there we missed the last two years, but now were back! This is a pretty big deal for us, I even rescheduled my wisdom teeth extraction, so that it wouldn't be too close to the party.
This year, was a GREAT group! We had a blast, costumes are always required and this is what showed up at our front step...

Waldo & Wenda

Rocker & Witch
Hunter and Deer

Mouse & The Trap

Scary monster & Construction worker

Sarah Palin & John McCain

The Hippies

For reputation sake I won't mention any names...but I will say that Gary's red pants were the highlight of the night (oops, sorry Gary).

So fun...can't wait to see who will show up next year.

The Husband Babysitter

Have you ever noticed when your husband is watching your kids people always say, "So is your husband babysitting?" why is it called babysitting when it's the husband but, parenting when it's the mom? Well after a couple of "babysitting" days of Darrin watching the girls, I found some great pics on the camera. I realized that it is more of babysitting when dad watches them, they play, wear messy pajamas, and there are usually dirty dishes still in the sink!

Against my will

I was so happy for the day when Eden's hair got long enough to put in piggies, barrettes, anything other then a bow headband. Don't get me wrong I love the headbands but it's just fun when they have enough hair to actually do something with. With that said let me show you a picture of what Eden's hair looked like when we went to music class yesterday...

So are you wondering where her cute barrette or ponytail went? Yea, me too. This has now become my big battle, keeping hair things in Eden's hair. She is notorious for ripping them out the minute I set her on the floor after doing her hair. If I'm nearby I of course put it right back in, which leads to about 10 re-dos, but what about the times when we are rushing around for, let's say, music class and as I pull her out of the car I notice her looking like the above photo. Or the times when she rips it out during church on dad's watch and I pick her up from her nursery class, looking like the above photo. It's beyond me at this point.

Why can't I just have the sweet little ponies?