26.2.

Check one off my bucket list.

Before my 34th birthday (July 20th),

I wanted to run a marathon.

So on a beautiful, (HOT) Saturday in July, (92 degrees)

I ran my marathon.

My alarm went off at 4:30 am.

Here is how it went:

I started out strong (I tried!), physically and (most importantly) mentally.

I had 2 water bottles and two gel packets..and my ipod with all my fav songs!

I took a drink every 10 min to stay hydrated.

and took a gel packet at mile 12,

All is well...(under 2 hr @13 M)

but by mile 18:

the wall hits.

but.

continue on by sheer will.

I made it tooooo far to stop.

so I continued,

and the pain set in (lungs fine..it's those leg muscles!)

at mile 23.

But by then, determined to finish and

proud

to make it this far.

You just keep putting

one. foot. in. front. of. the. other.

and.....finally....mile 26.2.

A feeling like no other.

One that makes me feel that

I can do just about anything.

And when tough times come,

you can get through it...

tenacity. strength. strong will

(when there is a desire)

Happy 34th bday. :)

Time 4 hrs 13 min.

Birthday Girl: Ashlyn 12 years. Birthday Party Bliss.

Happy Birthday Ashlyn and Austin.

Ashlyn wanted a party with her 3 best CO friends.

Mary, Madi and Clarissa

Madi moved back the day before, we were so excited!

Ashlyn's agenda:

(her choice) Unlimited Boondocks Fun, Red Mango,

smores by the fire. (under the stars :)

and end it with a sleepover.

decorate~decorate~decorate~

I decorated the house for under $10.

Love to make the house festive for the kids.

I like to keep it up their entire birthday week.

Austin is having a party in Utah with his 4 pack cousins. (in June!)

Plus he went to Utah with me last week to see his buddies :)

He came along with us gals to Boondocks with Ry and Jake.

They had a blast together.

My hubby is one of the kids when it comes to this stuff.

Ry loves hanging with his boys.

The girls came over right after school on Friday.

We ate pizza and breadsticks and headed straight to Boondocks!

The girls were so excited to go play.

The agenda:

2 rounds of Laser Tag, water boat rides, slick track, Race car track (twice),

18 holes of miniature golf, and then use all their tokens!

The girls l o v e d the water ride.

They got soaking wet!

It was such a pretty night! warm, blue skies :)

(notice Delicate Arch in the pic above! Love it. Utah fun)

The girls just floated around and sprayed eachother!

oh so cold.

But that did stop them! (to be a kid again:)

Look at this pic! They are WET! soaking wet.

The boys especially liked the golf course. It was a fab-u-lous!

Jake running over the waterfall.

Mace has a great left hand swing and almost beat everyone :)

18 holes of fun.

There were many water attractions and fun things to make the golfing tricky.

The boys did the slick track and race track over and over.

They all loved the Laser Tag too.

Then they used their tokens and got over 500 tickets.

Jackpot.

The girls bought Ashlyn more gift w all the tickets. cute.

what a fun night.

We stayed from 6:00 to almost 11:00 at night!

Good thing Red Mango didn't close till midnight.

We were off for the best yogurt ever!

We LOVE Red Mango.

ohhhhh so delicious! (and healthy!)

The girls came back to the house and put their jammies on and then they started laughing and laughing. I don't think they ever stopped.

We could hear them downstairs laughing and playing around.

Their bedtime: 5:30 a.m. (!)

Good thing Ry and I were so exhausted from the big day that we hit the

pillow around 1:00 a.m. and slept the whole night.

I woke up at 6:45, ran my 10 miles and then Ry and I took

Jake to his last soccer game.

They won! wahoo!

Then I came home (the girls STILL sleeping...at 10:30)

woke them up for nutella whip cream waffles!

the best ever.

Austin and Jake had football at 11:00 and 12:00 (won semi's!) so we had

to hurry so we could to their games.

I fed the girls and off we went.

(ash opening her gifts)

Ashlyn gave each girl a "party favor"

A silver heart shaped necklace.

She loves these gals. And I, as a mother, am so grateful

Ashlyn has such cute friends.

Good good friends. They are always so kind to eachother.

They share the same moral and values and they

just enjoy to be together.

That night we had a huge welcome home party

for Mary and her family!
family bbq and games.
It rained us out! No fun. So we hit a movie instead and planned the big party for the following weekend.
What a great birthday week we had.

I sure hope the twins felt loved.

Ry and I gave Ashlyn a Kindle and gave Austin an ipod touch.

We took them to Cafe Rio for their favorite lunch.

We did our own cake and icecream and game night too.

12 is such a big year! goodness.

They are going to Young Women and Young Men's this week!

wow.

I love it.

Happy Birthday you two!

Sure love you!

xo!

Happy Birthday Natalie!

Happy Birthday cute girl!

It's Nat's birthday today.

Had to tell this girl I love her and wish her the best day.

Things I love about Nat:

~She is hilarious and can tell a story like no other. She is always the center of GNO.

~She is sincere, kind, and will do anything for you.

~She is a fabulous mama to 4 beautiful children! She is a great example to me of what a mama should be. She is dedicated and always puts her kids first....her kiddos are super smart and soooo talented (in dance!).

~She was former Primary President and now she is Camp Director and plans the entire girls camp menu. Oh and she teaches Relief Society to all the ladies in her ward. (who love her!)

~She is a great friend and we met almost 10 years ago in the Riverbottom ward. I have a great group of girlfriends that I cherish and Nat is right in the middle of it.

A few things I really love about Nat:

She is such a good friend who will give me advice when I need it, meet me at the mall for a quick hello (and diet coke girly chat,) who will answer my text at 7:00 a.m. or 9:00p.m, and will talk about life, kids, working out, being a mama, or a life lesson anyday.

Love ya girl and hope you have a fabulous day!~

Happy Birthday Robyn

March 22nd....Happy Birthday Robyn! Today is a special day because it is my twin sister's birthday!! Let me tell you a few things about this girl:



1. Loves her life....she is passionate and determined to live each day to make it her best day.



2. A fabulous momma to 4 b e a u t i f u l children inside and out. Her children play every sport, get good grades, and are soooo well-mannered...AND it's not fair, they are knock-outs....they should really model for Gap, I tell her that all the time. I always look to her as such a good example of what a mother is.



3. She works hard, challenges herself, is determined, and always focused. Can I just say Marathon in 2 months?? Primary president to over 100+ kids, and plays on a hoops team 3 times a week...
(Her sister, Dawn, me, and Rob. running at the SL half marathon 2008!)


4. Loves to laugh and smile. She attracts people to her like a magnet and I think she has like 10,940 friends. People looove to be around her. She is one of those people you want to be around because she is so happy and positive.



5. She is kind and caring and always wanting to help those around her. About 5 years ago, around Thanksgiving time, her son, Alec and her started a fundraiser called For the Warmth of the Children. They gather 100's and 100's of gloves, hats, and socks to give to all the children living in the shelters around the valley. Amaaaaazing. It has grown each year and they have blessed so many children. you can check it out here. and her own blog here.



6. This list could go on and on but lastly I will end with that I love her and she is one of my dearest, bestest friends. I look to her for advice and encouragement. I am so grateful for that fateful day when we met 9 years ago in our ward over at the River bottoms. The second I met, I knew we would be friends forever...



Oh and btw, she is N O T my twin sister...she just looks like it and people say it all the time so we just go with it....(I have a twin brother but he wouldn't mind if he had another sis like Rob!)



Love ya girl! Happy Birthday.

Jakers the Birthday Boy!

Happy 7th Birthday Jakers! We love you. I don't want to get all cheesy on you but last night I got my "bonus" for being a mom. Ry always reminds me that moms don't get "monetary" bonuses but we get our rewards(which are much greater) in loves and kisses....(true isn't?) So last night when I tucked Jake into bed he looked at me with his big, tootsie eyes and wrapped his arms around my neck and said," I L O V E Y O U S O M U C H, thanks for getting me at school today and taking me to lunch." He said, "I miss the good ole' days when it was just you and me hanging out every day. Love ya mom"...Ahhh my heart! , sweet huh?! Yesterday, I picked Jake up early and took him to lunch because he fell in the classroom and bumped his head so hard and the office called me to come pick him up from school. His goose egg was ginormous! He had to wait a long time in the office because I was coming from the Mountain House and when I finally rushed in, my heart had so much love for that little guy! I saw him sitting so patiently in his chair with his head down and when I hugged him, all his tears came flooding out and I could tell he was just waiting for a hug from his momma! My life doesn't get any better than that. As mom's we would do anything for our children and the love we have for each one of our children can't be measured. Love you Jake, Happy Birthday!

Today I am bringing donuts to all of his class at lunch time and then off to ChuckE. Cheese with 13 kids! All of his best friends are his cousins. This year we invited all of the cousins to come to his party. He is so excited and loves Chuck E. Cheese. For me, I would pass and do a home birthday party but Jake got to pick out anything he wanted. So off to my day, so much to do! BTW, Grandma and Grandpa's Stott and Brown, Jake especially misses you on his birthday and wishes you could all be here to help celebrate! Loves to you all~!