Run Through the Night

This post has been in draft mode for a while so it's been a long time since I've seen these pictures and the one above just makes me smile sooooo much! What great friends I have been blessed with and these 2 are amazing! I've taken a break from running a little bit since I did these 2 races and looking at that picture makes me want to go run again....wait...what am I thinking....we can have girl talk without having to run! ;)

Actually, I have really enjoyed running lately. It's not something I ever loved growing up...I dreaded the 8 minute mile in volleyball and conditioning practices for basketball were killer! But now I really really do love to run! I love to go by myself with just my thoughts or music, and I love running and visiting with friends.

My friend Meggen tried to get a bunch of us to run the Utah Valley Half Marathon on June 11th, and some how Steph and I were the only silly ones to say yes! We had a blast though! It was my first time ever doing a half so I was glad to have these girls around to train with and to be with on race day! My official time was 2:06:10. I was 98th in my age group and 781 out of 1949. My original goal was to do it under 2:15 and I did NOT want the first marathoner to pass me! ;) I accomplished both goals, plus I just had a great time with great friends that I love soooo much! ...I'm just saying! ;)

I had less than a week to recover before my next adventure and within that week I had a 4th year hike and overnighter with Meggen, Steph, other leaders and a group of teenage girls. I got back from that hike (which will be blogged later) and then drove to Heber to meet up with some new amazing friends! I tried everything I could to get a good group picture from someone else's camera. The picture below was all that I was sent. I know someone out there somewhere has a better picture of all of us, but for now...well, I guess you get our best side!



My sister-in-law had signed up with her friends to do the Ragnar Wasatch Back! A 191 mile, 12 man...or WOMAN...relay race from Logan, UT to Park City, UT. Well, when she realized she couldn't do it she asked me to go in her place. I kinda knew 1 or 2 of the girls, I had always wanted the sticker in my window ;) and I was already training for my half so I thought why not?! But yikes! A week or two before the race I started to panic! What did I get myself into?! I even thought about calling these people that I'd never met and backing out...besides...they didn't know me so I wouldn't feel too guilty. I was just so scared of the unknown BUT I am SOOOO thankful I didn't back out! This was one of the coolest experiences ever!

We were the Foxes in Soxes! We got together the night before and decorated our vans and got everything ready to go. Our team captain was the best and everyone was just fun and clicked right away!




Everyone LOVED the fox tails complete with fox ears! We LOVED everyone else! Van 1 teams are the best! We stuck together and cheered each other on! We had a blast meeting up with other vans along the trail!

I did ok! I was soooo nervous! I was runner number 6. My first run was 7 miles down hill at "knee-jarring descent". Those 3 words from the Ragnar website haunted me for soooo long! My right knee isn't the greatest and my right foot has had issues too. Thankfully I felt healthy though and nothing was hurting. One of the girls in the van told me I should absolutely tape my knees. I was scared to do anything I had never done before, but I did it and I'm sure that taped saved me. I was good about icing and another girl really rolled my legs good afterwards and I felt so good! Nothing hurt at all after this entire thing. I was sore yes! But not hurting!



My cousin posted some pictures of his team on our family website. He is a runner...he looks like a runner...he looks so relaxed while running. At first I LOVED this picture below just because I thought I looked relaxed and I loved the scenery. I thought hey I can post this with Spencer's picture. HOWEVER...I zoomed in on it, and well, I guess I really do look like I'm in soooo much pain when I run! ;) Or maybe it was just bad timing. :)





My 2nd leg was 8 miles all uphill in the middle of the night (12:30 am - 2:00 am). This was a pretty tough one. Being the last one in my van worked against me big time here. It was late and we were all ready to sleep, but I still had my run. The girls were so good to cheer me on along the way. It was dark and I did feel pretty alone for some of it, but it was also so relaxing and quiet. The moon was huge and there was a little stream to the left of me that I just kept watching. I was pretty emotional when I reached our other van of girls! It was amazing to see them cheering me on too (this was a HUGE benefit of being the last in my van...It was great to see van 2 at each of my exchanges!)

Leg 3 was awesome! 3 miles through the neighborhoods of Heber AND my family could be there watching and cheering me on. My legs were like jello! :) But I tried to run hard for my awesome family that supported me so much for this race and the half. Both races were hard, but I am thankful for friends and family that push me to do things that are completely out of my comfort zone. I'm thankful to be able to show my kids that I always want to have new goals and new things to work for. I am so thankful for family! June was a month all about me. I had these 2 races, the 4th year hike and then a week at girls camp! The next post will show that too and there I will have to elaborate more on the kids' awesome cousins and Grandma that took good care of them this month. Matt is amazing as well! He is always so patient and supportive and does so much around the house and for the kids when I have these things that I want to do for myself. He and my 5 cute kiddos are by far the best cheering section ever! Thanks for being so awesome and supportive....now could someone get my lazy self up away from this computer and running again! ;)

Go Astros!

Here I am still trying to catch up on posts. Back in May and June Kaylee played softball for the Astros! Last summer Kaylee had played one year of machine pitch (boys and girls) and then this summer went right into her first year of fast-pitch softball with all girls. Her team did pretty well. Each at bat took quite a while at the beginning of the season, but they seemed to get the hang of it. It makes me want to pull out all of my old videos from the Prairie Homes/Dairy Queen/Kiwanis days! I have a new respect for my parents (and siblings) that sat through many a long game in the sun, rain, wind, SNOW and cold! :) We sure had fun watching Kaylee though. Hopefully she'll do it again next summer!

Kaylee started out playing mostly shortstop, but ended up catching quite a bit too! I wish she would try pitching...we worked with her a little bit, so maybe someday.






Hitting took a while to get...mostly because the pitching took a while. These girls are ALL just learning.



All in all it was a good experience. Most of the girls will be on the same team next year which we are excited about! They had a ton of fun together! (Taylor could also be on the team next year...we'll see)


For now, she'll just keep practicing in the backyard while her biggest fans play and cheer her on!









Keep up the good work Kaylee! We LOVED watching you! And now Grandma and Grandpa can FINALLY see your first hit!! (well...a girl did get out at the plate...so I, being the retired Kiwanis scorekeeper that I am, understand what that means, but we are still calling this Kaylee's first hit!) ;) 2 of her best friends were even there to cheer her on that day! It was awesome!! :)

Happy Father's Day!

Here is our Happy Father's Day shoutout to the best daddy in the world! I LOVE the way the girls call him daddy and hope they call him that forever! I LOVE the way they all get excited when he gets home...especially Thomas right now! He LOVES his daddy! The picture above is of them getting ready to go to their first father and sons campout on June 10th. It had been postponed because of snow in May and so the bummer was that it was rescheduled the weekend of my race so they couldn't stay the night. :( Thanks for sacrificing boys. That is what Matt has done for me a lot lately. Matt takes time to be with each of his kids and does so much for me in helping to take care of things around here. I have had many a conversation with people that notice how spoiled I am with how much Matt helps out changing diapers, or in the kitchen or whatever. He is the patient, calm one. He has 4 girlies that think they are the one and only daddy's girl! His little man looks just like him and loves every second he gets with him! He really is the best daddy ever.

While the boys were on their trip the girls and I were out grocery shopping. I had told them, this needs to be a fast trip...so don't ask for anything! They were so nervous to come ask me if they could get this shirt that they saw for Daddy. They were so excited to do it! We had fun getting it done while the boys were gone and then later in the week the girls helped me with Thomas' part.

Another time...a couple of weeks before Father's Day, Taylor, Emily and I were in the dollar store and saw this back scratcher! They squeeled when they saw it and said ohhhh we have to get this for daddy! Literally 3 hours after buying it we were sitting at the dinner table and Matt said, "I need a back scratcher!" (which is always followed by the girls fighting over who gets to give daddy a back rub) Oh wow! The look on Emily's face was priceless! Her eyes got big and huge and Taylor kinda started to giggle! They kept the secret though! They were so excited this Father's Day to have gotten things that they knew their daddy needed! They LOVE him sooooo much!

We had a fun photo session, complete with fake sleeping to show how much we all love to cuddle daddy!

And every Father's Day photo session (with little girlies) must have tons of kisses!

And this little man...well...he stole daddy's new tic-tac-toe board and kept to himself during the photo shoot!

Happy Father's Day Matt! Thank you for all you do! We sure miss you this week, but those young men are sure lucky to have you! I love you!! We all love you!