10K

I ran the 10K last Friday. I was so excited that I finally made it to my goal. I started running at the beginning of the year, and in January just running .5 miles made me tired! I started out slowly, but I kept adding on miles each month until I reached 6.2. I'm not going to lie, it was a lot of hard work. I did want to give up at times, I could have come up with many excuses, but with the help of Neil watching the kids and his support, I dedicated about an hour 3 times a week to running. I wish I could say that I love running, but unfortunately I still don't. I do like it, however. I have found that running has been a huge stress reliever for me. It gives me time by myself, with time to think about everything, or nothing. I can just listen to the music and enjoy, or get my frustrations out so that I can be a better mom. Every time that I ran from January till July, I wrote on the calendar how many miles I ran, to keep me on track. I added up all of my miles and I calculated that I ran a total of 181 miles. I better start talking to Neil about getting me some new shoes!! Thanks to everyone for their support, I really couldn't have done it without you! Anyone up for running next year???


My Brother-in-law Ben ran with me. He was so great to stay with me. It was a lot of fun to have some one to run with and talk to along the way! Thanks Ben! And thanks to Jodie for taking these great running pictures! We ended up with a time of 1 hour 1 minute and 1 second! A time I probably won't be able to forget. I ran 9:50 minute miles, and that is about what I wanted to be at, so I was happy. Maybe next year, if I still do it, I can cut off some time.

Here is me, Ben, Marianne and Chris.

We had a ton of fun at the Parade afterwards. Neil's sister Erica and him saved a great spot in the shade at 12:00 noon, the day before! Thanks! It was so nice to enjoy the parade and not be so hot!

Volleyball skills!

Jeff and Neil played in a Volleyball tournament, and here are some of the cool picutures! They didn't win, but they played hard and ended up in pool play.


It was a very hot day! Luckily there were trees and we escaped some of the heat.

Dang! Now that's hops!

Is his head really over the net?

Kissing! Don't think it will last long!

Here is Carter and EmmaLee kissing! I had to get it on video, before they stop doing it, and think it's gross! Especially because Carter likes to kiss with his mouth open! They are at such a fun stage right now.

Cute Kids!

Issak, EmmaLee, McKay, Carter, Skyler, Lydia and Ben! What can I say, so cute! These are some of our cute neighbor friends out on a warm, sunny day running through the sprinklers. We have such great neighbors, we are super lucky!


Here is Carter's twin, Skyler! They are about six weeks apart, and when they are both outside playing, it's hard to tell who's who! The outfits weren't even planned, it was fate!

We'll definitely go again...

It was my Brother-in-law Jeff's birthday last week, so his sweet wife Jill planned a fun, surprise outing at the new Cowabunga Bay in Draper. We were able to go with them, and it was a ton of fun. If you haven't been, the best part about it is that you can have your kids sit on your lap and ride with you! Seriously, who does that? It made it so worth it, because otherwise we would have all had to take turns watching the kids while we went down the slides, or just hung out in the kiddie pool. We even took Carter with us! (Well, not on the big slides, but you know what I mean!) Anyway, we had a great time and would definitely go back again, because of how kid friendly it was.

The cute couple . . . Jeff and Jill. (poor Jill, being pregnant and all, wasn't able to go down any of the slides.)

Carter was loving the water! Even though it was a little windy and cold at times, he didn't seem to mind at all.

At the bottom of the slides they have a bunch of water to help slow you down. Neil had to pick up EmmaLee really fast at the end, because she is not a huge fan of getting water in her face! But watch out, if you are going super fast down some other slides, you might get a big wedgie! (is that how it's spelled?) In other words, your pants up your bum... Not so fun when the life guard is watching you get out of the slide and you walk away trying to fix yourself!

And, the car ride home... we wore them out again! Such beautiful, sleeping children!

Independence Day!!

I love Independence Day! It's such a great holiday, BBQ's, family, fun, fireworks... What more can you ask for? This year Neil and I headed over to my sister Judy's house to go to the Magna Parade. However, we ran into a little rain. Luckily, it didn't last too long, but we did get a little wet. Other than that, it was a perfect day.




They match so perfectly! Cameron, Alex, Carter and EmmaLee. (Cousins)




Playing in the rain! Just waiting for it to stop, so we can go to the parade.

My sister Judy!

All ready to get lots of candy!

My cute niece, Val, and her husband Bryan!

Neil had his volleyball net in our trunk, so we thought it would be fun to play at the park.

Shannon, Jodie, Joe and Neil all are practicing their mad volleyball skills!

EmmaLee LOVES corn on the cob.. To let you know how much she loves it, she ate three full pieces by herself. Now if that's not love, I don't know what is!

The best part of the night. . . Two beautifully sleeping children!

Birthday and "news"

Neil and I both have a big family and so we get to celebrate a lot of Bithdays! Which we LOVE! My brother (and some of us do call him Brother, because he's the only one we've got!) came down to Utah with his wife Shannon and it was her Birthday. We had a fun BBQ at my sister Jennifer's house. It was a ton of fun! Happy Birthday Shannon! We also watched the news! (if you know what I'm talking about, then you'll know what I'm talking about) I'll sum it up in one word. Craziness! Here are some pictures!

A wedding over the weekend..

EmmaLee was a flower girl for our friends wedding over the weekend, and Carter was just a cute little man who accompanied another cute little girl down the aisle for the couples' ring ceremony. Unfortunately, our camera died while we were taking pictures before the ceremony, so we didn't get actual pictures of walking down the aisle, and of the super cute couple. Well, Carter made it down the aisle fine, but EmmaLee cried right as she got up to it, and didn't make it down. Luckily, there were other flower girls, who made it down fine! It was a really fun wedding, and here are some of the pictures that we did get.

Some of the boys in Neil's family.

Aunt Heidi (who was one of the brides maids)

EmmaLee with her Uncle Ben. We learned that EmmaLee LOVES to dance. She danced with who ever would give her the chance! It was really cute, I'm not going to lie. I just wish I had more pictures.

Our handsome little guy, with his cute, pink, bow tie!

EmmaLee in her new flower girl dress.

Hanging out at Grandma's the next day. She always has a doll to play with.

And Carter, having a ride in the Barbie car! At least it's a car, not a Barbie, right?