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!

I have a Wicked Incredible Husband

(This is the weather we left in Oregon...)

It is amazing to me that Jeff knows me as well as he does. It is almost spooky. I had the most wonderful weekend, all thanks to the amount of thought and love that my husband put into this trip. There are so many details that he went to great lengths to make sure were perfect!

It started out a little crazy with us missing our flight (basically Bryce woke up early, and there was an accident on the freeway), and Jeff just looked so depressed as he thought about all his plans going out the window, but once we knew we were going to actually make it to our destination, we relaxed and enjoyed reading our books for the extra couple of hours on the plane! So, the destination was...

Orange County, CA! My sister lives in Huntington Beach and Jeff had arranged all of the trip with her and my mom. I didn't think I had talked to Jeff about it much, but he had figured out what I needed. He knew that I needed to be with my family. I have been having such a hard time being away from them since the funeral. What a wonderful surprise to get to spend precious time with them without my cute kiddos hanging on my legs!

He had told me to bring something fancy to wear, but I didn't know what it was for. I figured it was probably a show of some type, but I just waited patiently (kind of!) to find out what he had planned. (Please don't mind the Happy Birthday tiara that my sister made me wear!)

I was so excited when we saw the billboard for Wicked!! I had mentioned once or twice that I wanted to see this. I grew up watching local productions of musicals and I LOVE them. The show was phenomenal and I was grinning and giddy through the whole show. My mom bought me the CD and I have been listening to it on my IPOD ever since! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it! It was also cool that we went with my sister Crystal and her boyfriend, Tony, and it was in the awesome Pantageous Theater in Hollywood! I felt like a Rock Star, ha ha!
Next up: (Yep, our night was just beginning, it was only 11pm after all!) the Magic Castle. Crystal had some friends hook us up at this really cool place! Basically there are rooms with different magicians doing cool magic tricks. It was a lot of fun and apparently a hip, Hollywood spot. We saw Steve Valentine from Crossing Jordan, if anyone cares about that sort of stuff! We got home about 1:30 and hung out chatting with my mom until about 2:30am. What party animals we are!

Friday morning, we slept in and then woke up and went for a run on the beach, my favorite kind of run!! Jeff had been working hard at the gym to get ready for this run with me. I thought that was so sweet, and it meant more to me than he could know. So, we ran 5 1/2 miles together and it was gorgeous and so much fun. (Although I don't know if it was as fun for him with me talking his ear off!) I wish we could run together more often, but that won't be for a little while. :-) We spent the rest of the day hanging out with the family. We also biked to the beach later on to catch the sunset.



My aunt Marlynn came over with a couple of her kids and we had a nice visit with them. About midnight, we decided to start a game of Cities and Knights, I know, again we are the crazy party animals. I won the game to end a perfect getaway! We had to wake up at 5am to catch the flight home. It was quick, but just what I needed. I love you, Jeff and I am so grateful for all you did!
(These pictures are Jeff's ideas of relaxation (snoozing while listening to the NCAA tournament on TV) and mine (reading my Book Club book at the pool!)

We came home to happy kids who were well taken care of by grandma. They also surprised me with a cake! Thanks, Diane for your part in all of this! How blessed I feel and how lucky I am!

Just a quick note...

...to say I'm here, but actually, I'm outta here!
Thanks to this wonderful woman ...

I get to spend the next 3 days with the cute one on the right in this picture!

My sweet hubby flew his mom in as a surprise to watch the kiddos and I still don't know where we are going, I just know we are leaving on a plane in the morning! All he told me is it is someplace warm and to bring my running shoes. I am so excited I definitely can't sleep! Jeff is amazing and I can't wait to see what he has planned.

I know it will be a great 30th birthday. Happy Birthday to me!

Some teaser pictures until I get back with a REAL update. ( I have been a little busy training for this marathon, hoping to qualify for this marathon next year. Visit this blog for more info on what I have been doing...)

Any guesses as to where he is taking me?

Happy Anniversary!

37 years ago today my parents were married. They were just 16 and 19 (my mom is not gonna be happy that I shared this fact) and I am amazed at their commitment to marriage at such a young age.

Even more unbelievable is the fact that they broke the cycle of marriage and divorce that they both came from. I admire them for their determination to make it work. They started out by living in Turkey where my dad was stationed in the air force. My dad always said he thought this was why their marriage was so strong-it forced them to work things out on their own. No crying to mom when things were tough. They also met a great group of friends while they were in Turkey. They are still close in heart to those couples.

My parents have a beautiful marriage and I am grateful that I was able to witness such a strong love. My dad showed me how I should be expected to be treated by a man.
He was always so kind and loving toward my mom. The only time I heard him raise his voice is when we talked unkind to my mom. They put their marriage first and then their kids. They are also the most kind and generous people I have ever known. Once they meet people they are life long friends. That are great examples to me. I am so lucky! I love you, Mom and Dad!

I now have a 6 year old! (and other weekend happenings!)

This has been such a wonderful weekend, it will be difficult to capture it in words, but I will try. First of all, Dallin turned 6 on Friday. I think his birthday will always bring such strong emotions for me because he was my first baby. All I wanted for this day was to see his face light up. All it takes right now is: a packet or 2 of Pokemon cards! Some things I love about Dallin:

1. His kind heart.
2. His cute giggle.
3. The way he tries to make Bryce laugh.
4. His thirst for knowledge.
5. His ability to forgive.
6. His love of life.

I am so glad he is my child. I feel so lucky.

They celebrated his birthday on Thursday since there was no school on Friday. I brought in a book for his class library and read it to the class. He was so happy! On his actual birthday was his parent/teacher conference. It was nice to hear that he is an enjoyable student. His teacher is phenomenal and he really likes her. She told us that he is a hard worker, which I was very happy to hear.



Saturday was the big day. It was an all Pokemon party! Friday did not go so well for me with Bryce and trying to get ready for the birthday, so I didn't get everything done that I wanted. I did however, paper mache this Pikachu, and I am very proud of it. (I have no artisitic talent, so thank goodness Pikachu is not very complex to draw!)

The party was a lot of fun and Dallin was so happy to be with his friends.

One of our friends gave us tickets to the Stars on Ice. They ended up being seats on the second row, and the skaters were fantastic! Sasha Coen, Todd Eldredge and many others were there. The kids enjoyed the show, and even Bryce was entertained for the most part! It was a great spur of the moment family date. :-) Funny Emilyism- When Sasha Coen came out to skate, Emily asked, "Why does her not have a prince?" Besides the grammar issues with that question, it was very funny! Thanks Michelle for the tickets!!

In news on the other 2 kiddos, Emily and I are having fun going to story time both at the library and at the toy store. I really just want to enjoy being with her right now. I really feel it is our time to be together. (And I am trying to be patient with the potty training reversion-again!)

Bryce is getting big quickly. He is still pretty attached to me, but he is enjoying figuring things out by himself. He crawls everywhere, but really loves to stand up on anything he gets his hands on. Poor kid has many bruises to show for his bravery, but he is definitely happier! He also eats almost anything now!

Saturday morning, I had one of the best runs I have ever been on. I knew it was a little crazy to do the day of the party, but I still wanted and needed to get my run in. Especially with it being the dedication run to President Hinckley. We met at 6am and there were 17 of us all there to run together! Sarah was kind enough to make stickers for each of us to wear with some of the 9 Be's. Mine was "Be Grateful." It ended up just being Sarah and I for the entire run. We both plugged in our IPODs and listened to talks given by President Hinckley. It was very cold and wet, but the first few miles just flew by. It was pretty dark and as it lightened up it was beautiful. It began snowing around mile 9 and I couldn't believe I was still running. It became beautiful powder and I loved watching Sarah's footprints appear in front of me. It was surreal. Sarah and I talked every once in a while, mostly to gape at the beauty around us, but for the most part we were in our own worlds. I enjoyed thinking about the person that President Hinckley makes me want to be because of who he is. I also was able to contemplate my father and the person that he makes me want to be. We ran a total of 16 miles. I was tired by mile 15, and I think my body knew I originally planned to stop at that point so it was protesting. This actually made me want to run more. I wanted to run when it was tough. I don't know if that makes any sense. I decided the last few miles to come up with a few more Be's that represent my dad. Combined with President Hinckley's 9 B's, here are 7 more for my dad, one for every mile I ran: 10. Be Patient 11. Be nonjudgmental 12. Be forgiving 13. Be Flexible 14. Be Silly (Love this one- reminds me to enjoy life.) 15. Be Gentle 16. Be Yourself. I have some great examples to follow and I am grateful I had this run to think about it. What an amazing experience. It definitely reminded me why I run.
I am going to try to post more often. I have a few posts in my head that I would love to discuss! Til next time...