Pat's Run

Here we are...We did it! Damon and I ran Pat's Run together. We ran 4.2 miles in 47 minutes and 15 seconds. (Well, Damon ran it in 14 seconds and I finished in 16 seconds but who's keeping track :)

This was a really fun race, especially because I haven't ran a race in two years when I was prego with Lucy and I pretty much walked it AND up until recently Damon said he would never run with me. I was so proud of him for running the entire race.

I finally feel like I am back on track. Four years ago in June I started running and ran my first half marathon in September. I have never been into sports or exercising, so to go from nothing to training for and running a half marathon in just two months was huge for me. I felt awesome about myself. After the half marathon in September I did a triathlon in November and then another half marathon in January. I planned a 10 mile for December but got pregnant in October and had to give up training, running just took everything out of me. Since then I have been struggling to get back into running.

The night before Pat's Run I took my kids to stay with my sister Rebecca and had a long drive home by myself. I started thinking about my "running career" and why I just couldn't get back into it. I had a break through and realized I had some major fears I had been suppressing. My first fear is that I will hurt my knees. I have always had knee problems. My knees were fine during my first half marathon but I was in major pain during my second. Every time I run since then my knees have hurt after only a few miles.

My second fear is more emotional. Only days before my second half marathon my brother passed away. I ran my second half marathon on the day of his viewing. That was horribly emotional. Shortly after Damon and I took a triathlon training class. We had also signed up for two triathlons. We were only weeks away from the first when we found out Damon's brother, Geoff, had cancer. We cancelled the triathlons and exercise kind of went out the window. Damon spent so much time with Geoff and worrying about him that exercise for him was impossible. I still tried to keep up running and then got pregnant and had to stop. So running for me has become a very emotional thing. I think about my brothers and I wonder what is going to happen next. Why should I really work hard when I'm just going to have to stop again? I finally feel like I have recognized my fears and can now work through them.

Having said that...

During Pat's Run we could hear sirens and wondered what was going on. Soon we passed a clump of people surrounding a man on the ground. He was being given CPR. Damon and I got separated in the chaos. I passed the man first and instantly broke into tears. I turned to find Damon, he saw my face and grabbed my hand and held me tight. What's going to happen next I always wonder. We later found out that man died.
Running. Exercise. Living. is hard. But what's worth doing that isn't hard?

Easter Time

Happy Easter kiddos!

The kids had so much fun searching the house for their baskets and treats that the Easter Bunny left for them.

Box Jellyfish

This is Harrison's first school project. He had to choose a fish and make a replica of it. He chose the box jellyfish. The box jellyfish is the only jellyfish that has a brain and that sleeps. He was so excited to display it at school for all the parents to see.

Happy. Birthday. Harrison.

My Harrison turned 6 on March 16th!

He had such a good birthday... or should I say birthweek?

It all started on March 15th when Damon took him for his birthday breakfast. The next day on his actual birthday he had a dentist appointment, which he loved because his dentist is amazing but also because he got to wear his birthday sticker and hat and got even more attention. In the afternoon we took Dylan and Victoria, who were visiting for spring break, home to Mesa. While there we surprised Aunt Becca at work by bringing her a birthday gift because her birthday is on March 18th. Back at home we had a birthday dinner with just our family. Jackson and Lucy had gifts for Harrison and we had cake pops for dessert. (cake pop= ball of cake on a stick dipped in chocolate)

Since Harrison's birthday was during spring break he got to celebrate in school on Monday March 21st (which happens to be my birthday).

Harrison had a robot birthday party on Friday March 25th.

Harrison had an R2D2 robot cake. Damon and I made it. I baked and stacked the cakes and Damon frosted and decorated it. It's not perfect but Harrison loved it.

What's a birthday party without a pinata?

Harrison and some of his friends eating pizza. Temiko, Hank, Jackson and Hannah.

Harrison had a great birthday party and birthweek!

I have fought a good fight

Happy Birthday Geoffrey Dean!

Today would have been Geoff's 26th birthday. Geoff was always a strong, tough guy. His cancer made his body very weak but he didn't lose. When Geoff died he was stronger than ever, he fought a good fight, and he won. I pray that I can teach my children to be strong like Geoff.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

2 Timothy 4:7

I love and miss you Geoff.

9 Years and Counting

March 1, 2002

Damon and I were married in the Mesa Arizona LDS Temple

We celebrated our 9 year anniversary by sending the kids to Nonna and Papa's house. Then we went shopping. Damon and I both bought new shoes. Then we hiked to the waterfall at the White Tank Mountains. It's only a two mile hike (one up and one down) so we ran it.

After going home and getting ready Damon took me to The Melting Pot. That was an amazing meal. Because the kids spent the night with Damon's parents we got to go to church by ourselves and actually listen to the talks. It was an awesome weekend.

Here are some pictures. You can see my awesome new shoes. Damon wasn't very willing to let me take pictures of him but I was able to snap a few.

Sister Weekend

Here we are. All of us together for the first time in several years.
To get 7 sisters who live in Litchfield Park, Mesa, Yuma, Colorado, Idaho, Virginia, and New York to leave their work, families, and crazy lives even for a short weekend is almost impossible, almost but not entirely. The moon and stars must have been in alignment for this small miracle to happen. And I am so grateful. I love my sisters like nothing else and a few days together was practically theraputic. So how did this miracle happen? Rebecca (long dark hair in the bright green) who lives in Mesa decided to run the Del Sol Ragnar race. Her team was in need of a few more members so Tera (short, short hair in the orange skirt) from Virginia decided to seize the opportunity and bring her two girls out for a long visit before they start school next year and run the race with Rebecca. Well, Leslie (shoulder length hair in green sweater) who lives in NYC is also a runner and couldn't pass up the opportunity to run with two of her sisters. Since LaNae (short red hair) would obviously be coming up from Yuma that left Stacy (blue shirt) from Colorado and Amy (short blond hair) from Idaho. Of course they didn't want to be left out so they did what they needed to do and made it to Arizona also. That's how the sister trip came together and we were all together over President's day weekend.


We took the opportunity of being all together to take some family photos!


And this is us and the cousins having fun. One of my favorite parts was Damon and Amy's dance competition.