The Tables have turned...

...Jeff is being cheered on by me. (and my kiddos!) On Thursday Jeff was invited to run on a Hood to Coast team and surprised me a little by saying yes. He has been running since January and has been doing great, but he always told me he thought Hood to Coast was nuts. And, he is right! Running in the middle of the night, getting zero sleep, being in a van with 5 other stinky people, eating bagels and candy, and don't forget about the porta potties- it is not for the faint of heart. But, it is an experience that I recommend to everyone!

So, with one day to prepare for the race, I prepped him as well as I could. His first leg was not until 10pm, so I hauled the kids to go cheer him on. I am proud of him and hopes he has a great time.

(You might notice Dallin's arm is in a splint. He had a little too much fun on the trampoline and then followed it up with a fall at Safari Sam's and broke his arm. He is having a tough time with it. Especially on his right hand when school is starting. If you have any ideas of how to keep him busy besides Guitar Hero, let me know!)
While he is gone and I am a Hood to Coast widow, I have time to think about the last 10 years with Jeff. We celebrated our 10th anniversary on Thursday. Between Dallin breaking his wrist (another story!) and our internet not working, I haven't had a chance to post. So, here goes.
I don't have any of our early pics scanned, so I will need to do that someday! Anyway, we met the beginning of my sophomore year of college. His apartment had internet access in the front room, so there was always lots of people in there using it. (Smart move, boys!) Jeff had a sort of girlfriend, so we definitely started out as friends. I was writing a paper about General Conference and had to use "the computer" so a paper that should have taken me a couple of hours took me 3 days because Jeff kept distracting me. :-) We were super comfortable with each other right away. We had a long talk in the shared laundry room of the apartment complex and ended up talking for hours. I made a bet with him about details that won't be shared (Jeff would get too mad at me) but he lost the bet and took me out for a Zuka juice. I thought that was the end of it, but my roommate Becky said, "You like Jeff, don't you?" I honestly didn't realize I had been falling for him. He took me out on a date on November 21, 1997, and the rest is history! We were engaged in June and married on August 21, 1998.

We have shared many things over the last 10 years. The underlying theme for me is how supportive Jeff has been. We have been through some really tough times, especially the last 2 years, and things weren't always wonderful, but Jeff has always been there for me and done his best to figure out what I need, even when I don' t know myself.

We went through the first 2 years in school together and moving around for internships. We had a lot of fun.

Here are the numbers:

7 different places in 4 states (last move was 7 1/2 years ago- so that tells you how much moving we did in the first 2 1/2 years!), 6 apartments, 1 house
1 BYU Dance
Many Games of Settlers of Catan
10 years of great in law relationships (we are very lucky here on both sides!)
3 kids
2 fertility-med babies, 1 surprise!
3 degrees- 2 BS, 1 MS (Jeff)
1 boat- (One of the best decisions we have made! We talked about waterskiing in one of our first conversations. We both love it!)
3 snow ski trips(including Jeff learning to snowboard, and my pathetic attempt!)
1 cruise- went to Catalina and Ensadada for our 5 year anniversary and we are looking forward to another one in October (thanks mom for watching the kids!)
6 marathons (and many smaller races), now 4 Hood to Coasts!- Jeff is always supportive of my goals and dreams
1 race together (soon to be another one!)
3 pro football games(Rams/49ers in SF)2 Rams/Seattle games, 3 pro baseball games (Dodgers on our honeymoon, 2 Red Sox/Seattle games), 3 pro basketball games (2 Jazz, 1 Trailblazer)
Many, many BYU games
2 pairs of roller blades, 2 adult bikes, numerous kid bikes (still wanting to become a biking family)
1 ER visit
1 Adult ADD Diagnosis(Me, not him!)
4 grandparents passing away, 1 father- Definitely the toughest time of my life, I don't know what I would have done without Jeff
1 "wicked" birthday weekend!


Jeff, you have been such an amazing husband, friend and father. I have loved watching you with each of our children. Thanks for being patient with me as I figure myself out. Thanks for supporting my crazy goals and believing in me. Thanks for letting me stay at home with the kids, even though it is definitely not the easiest job for me. Thanks for trusting me to take care of our kids. I love it! The thing I have loved most about our marriage is how much fun we have. I am glad we enjoy doing so much of the same things, but I am also glad we have our own hobbies. Thanks for letting me spread my wings. I love you and look forward to many more years.