I'm no Kenyan....

But I still had a blast running my 2nd full marathon! On October 25th, 2009 I participated in the Marine Corp Marathon, in Washington D.C. where I ran as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team-In-Training.

Due to a heavily over committed fall, I wasn't as well prepared for this race as the last one. I'd like to think that I made up for my lack of training by slowing my pace down and savoring the moments. I might have to do that every time because the event was absolutely fantastic! We had sunny 63 degree weather, a highly scenic course where we ran through all of the major sites, and the crowd support rocked!

Here are a few of my favorite motivational signs from the day:

- Pain is weakness leaving the body

- Release your inner Kenyan

- Never given, always earned

- Pain in temporary, pride is forever

But my favorite one, the one that made me laugh outloud at mile 23 was...

- Your feet hurt because you are kicking so much a**

How awesome is that?

I truly loved every minute and am looking forward to the next race. Speaking of....my brother, CJ and I are running the Thanksgiving Day 1/2 Marathon in 2 days. As long as the weather is good, we should have a fun time. Our goal is to finish it under 2 hours. My PR is 2:02 so I am pretty sure I can reach it. Wish us luck! If things go really well, he may even consider doing a full with me next time. (Now I just have to keep up!)

Grateful...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints put out this timely message and I feel that it is too awesome to keep to myself. They sure hit the nail on the head! (as usual ) :)
If you haven't seen it, I hope that you feel as much thankfulness as I did after watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuwid8_O8dk

Thanks Heidi!

Wow. A dear friend, Heidi Jamieson, did an amazing photo shoot for us last July. You may remember that we met Heidi and her family when both of our families were on the same Make-a-Wish cruise in February. As Jake (the Jamieson's son) pointed out, both he and Kate have the same type of leukemia, are both 7 years old, both have ports and are both terribly silly. What else does a friendship need? I'm pretty sure that they are kindred souls because they became instantaneous friends from the first moment they met. Kate is still asking us when we can see Jake again. Jamieson's, are you free in March?
I am just getting around to making prints from the photo shoot and thought I'd share the cuteness with you. These are seriously only a few of the great shots. I am holding off on posting my favorite so you'll be surprised when you get the Christmas card thought.
If you live in Utah and you need a photographer, look Heidi up!

I knew I could do it...

Was Ava's reply when she took off on a 2 wheeler today! This afternoon she asked me to help her ride her bike and within 15 minutes she was balanced and only falling occasssionally. Those who know Ava well can appreciate how cute it is when she falls and then pops up exclaiming, "I'm OK, I'm OK!" That girl has some serious determination that I can only imagine will serve her well in life.

Gramma and Grampa Visit

As usual, we ran Gramma and Grampa into the ground with our crazy schedule this weekend. As usual, they didn't complain one bit. And as usual, we want them to come back quickly! I don't have very many pictures because Grampa takes them all and I hope sends me some copies (hint,hint). For posterity sake, Friday we picked them up from the airport, ran to swim practices and then out for a yummy Mexican meal at Monterrey. Ava had her class stuffed animal, Flipper, so he came to.

Saturday - Jackson, Jason, Emmett and G&G went to Jackson's soccer game while the girls and I went to the church for the Primary program practice. We met up at home after lunch and spent an hour tackling the leaves in the front yard. Next, we were off to some friend's home to watch the BYU game. She'd made some delicious food and were had a wonderful time visiting. Gratefully BYU creamed Wyoming and the rest of the day was spent with happy husbands! To make the day just a big more jam packed I did a 10 mile run with a friend and then Gramma and I ran to Target for a few short hours. Soooo glad we did that because we were very productive and seriously whittled down our holiday shopping lists.

Then Sunday, we went to church. The kids all participated in the Primary Program and it was wonderful. I got teary at several points during the program but was especially touched when the children sang, "The Family is of God" with all of their hearts. There was no way that you couldn't feel the spirit in those moments. We had a wonderful Sunday dinner with friends and then Gramma and I packed up the Christmas presents for her to take back to Utah. Phew, I am tired all over again thinking about it. :)

We are so grateful to have such a wonderful Gramma, Grampa, Grandma and Papa! Our children are very blessed to be surrounded by loving grandparents. Hurry Back Y'all!!!!!!!!!

Littlest Ballerina

Ava began taking a weekly ballet class in October. She is having such fun and can show me all 5 positions. When asked what her favorite part of ballet is she replies, "the kitty part". Not really sure what that means but gratefully she seems to know.

When Ava began taking off her ballet attire the other day I had to snap these pictures. This is such a fleeting stage...