Never, ever give up...

That is the lesson I learned this weekend. Not exactly the lesson I was going for. I was hoping to learn the, "If you work really hard, you will reach your goals" lesson. Things don't always turn out as planned, even with all the good luck wishes from my sweet kiddos and friends. In case you couldn't tell I am talking about the Salt Lake Marathon. I was not able to qualify for Boston, but I was able to prove to myself that I can stick with something even when I want to quit. I also was able to cross the finish line with one of my best friends and beat my best marathon time by 3 minutes.

In spite of this little disappointment, we had a fantastic weekend with family and friends. What a special time to share with Jeff's parents as they are preparing to leave on a mission. It was wonderful to be with the whole family. My sister Shelly was kind enough to spend the day with me and then watch my kids so that Jeff and I could go to the temple with all of his brothers and sisters and their spouses and his parents. It was a very special experience. Thanks, Shelly.

Before the marathon, we had a pre-race party with the awesome women from our blog. How fun to finally meet many of them and hear their stories. So inspiring! One of my favorite teachers from high school flew into town to run the first few miles of the marathon with me. It was very cool! One of my great friends met me a few places along the course and that meant so much to me, especially when things were going tough. At the finish line, Shelly surprised me with bringing along one of my best friends from high school , Amy. (Shelly I need to get some of the pics from you!!)





I would like to update more, but it is TV turnoff week, and that means the computer. So, here are a few pics for now and I will see you in a week!!


What a beautiful, wonderful family I was lucky enough to marry into. I love all of them! We will miss you Grandma Di and Grandpa Mel!

Can I live at the mall?

Those of you who know me well know that this is not a question I would normally ask. I am not a big shopper and I only go a couple of times a year. But...
to see how happy Bryce is in their play area I would go every day!

He is such a sweet boy, but he has been my toughest baby so far. He is never far from me and cries when I set him down. There are few moments where he actually just "plays." The good news is that I have had lots and lots of cuddle time with him and I have just tried to enjoy it, knowing it won't last forever.

But today, I was in heaven. I had only planned on dropping in on this play area for a few minutes after a birthday party. I ended up staying an hour and a half, and Bryce was smiling and giggling the entire time. He crawled through the tunnels and played with his brother and sister. He never climbed on my leg once. It was pure joy.

(And isn't his first haircut so cute?)
Man, I love this kid!
"...recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments." M. Russell Ballard, this past conference April 2008

Righteous Traditions

As we have been listening to Conference, one of the talks that stood out to me was the one about righteous traditions. This is something I think about a lot, and now I am ready to act on it! I do feel we have some great traditions, but I feel that it is time for more. I love seeing and hearing about the traditions that other families have. I really feel traditions are the way to bind families together. So, I would love to hear some of your favorites and I will adopt the ones that will work for us! Here are some pictures from one of my favorite Easter traditions. When Dallin was 1 year old, we had an Easter brunch with 2 other families who each had one child. We had wonderful food, easter egg hunt, and good conversation. 5 years later the tradition is still going strong. All of us look forward to this part of Easter. I also love Easter because it is less commercial than Christmas. I feel we are really able to focus on the resurrection as the meaning of Easter. My kids love the Easter Egg hunt for the eggs with the scripture story in them.

This was not the picture I envisioned of the kiddos, but is it ever?! :-)

Here is the whole group now. My how we have grown!

Here is one of the pictures from the first brunch we had! So cute!

So, I have decided that I want my blog to take the place of my family scrapbook. So, I will be adding in dates and pictures from earlier this year, just because it is my blog and I want to! This also means that I am going to try to blog each Sunday. Hold me to this!

I'm Defying Gravity...

Yep, I am still on a "Wicked" kick. I know I still need to post my Easter pictures, but I just had to record my experience today. I had the most AMAZING run this morning. It has been 10 months since I started running after having Bryce, and this was the first run that felt "easy." Those of you who aren't runners, I promise there is a point you reach where running actually feels good! I started off with two good friends and then let them go ahead and do a faster run and it was just me and my music. The sky was clear, not a cloud in sight (rare for Oregon!) and it was a deep, beautiful blue. I could see Mt. Hood in the distance for much of the run and felt the peace that comes from knowing I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and created this beautiful place for His children.

Running has been the perfect escape for me and time to be by myself. I have needed this more than ever in these past 3 months. I thought running would fall by the wayside as I have struggled with my emotions, but it has been my release and my comfort. I hadn't planned on trying to qualify for Boston just yet, but everything has been coming together and I have decided to go for it. I have been working harder than I have ever worked before and I am so happy with the results. 3 days a week of speedwork has been tough, and I don't always want to be doing it, but I love how I feel when I am finished!

I am not a "natural" runner, in fact in high school I was the slowest one on the cross country team. But since I have had children I have found my passion is setting goals and accomplishing them. Running is a great place to do this because you are only competing with yourself. I have had an awesome network of running friends who have encouraged me and supported me, both in my running and in my life. (Sometimes those 2 things are one and the same!) I have a very supportive husband who has let me focus on this aspect of my life. I have loved proving to myself that I can stick with something so completely. No more giving up because I am not the best at it. This has translated to so many other areas of my life. So, here I am. In 2 1/2 weeks, I will get to possibly make a dream come true. Does this scare me? Of course. But, I am so excited about the prospect! As I hit mile 4 of my run today, this song came on. How can these words not inspire you?! (It helps that I just saw the amazing performance of this song and it was my favorite part of the play!)



Something has changed within me.
Something is not the same.
I'm through with playing by the rules of someone elses game.
Too late for second-guessing.
Too late to go back to sleep!
It's time to trust my instints.
Close my eyes, and leap!
It's time to try defying gravity.
I think I'll try defying gravity, and you can't pull me down!

'm through with accepting limits,
'Cuz someone says they're so!
Some things I cannot change,
but 'till I try, I'll never know!
Too long I've been afraid of
loosing love, I guess I've lost!
Well, if thats love, it comes at much to high a cost!
I'd sooner buy defying gravity
Kiss me goodby!
I'm defying gravity, and you can't pull me down!


So, on April 19th, please be thinking of me. The hardest part for me will be not being able to call my father, the first person I always called after a race, and my biggest cheerleader. However, there is no question in my mind that he will be there cheering me on. I hope to make him proud!