Baja California Cruise, Part 1

This last week, my sister Michelle, my Mom and I all went on a cruise.  It was so much fun!  We all had a blast and really enjoyed spending time together.  It was also a great chance to unplug (no TV, and very little cell service) for a week.  There are tons of pictures and tons to talk about, so I'll probably break it up into a couple of posts.

Monday:
This was the first day, which was mostly traveling.  I flew to LA and met Mom and Michelle there cause they flew in earlier from Denver.  Then we boarded the shuttle and headed to the ship.

We ate some lunch once we were aboard, and did some exploring till our room was ready.

The view from our balcony.

Our balcony/room is right behind the orange life boat.  At least we felt secure in knowing we'd have first dibs on a life boat in case of an emergency :)

Michelle didn't waste any time getting comfortable

This is our suite.  We stayed in a suite and it wasn't all that big, so I'd hate to see the size of a regular room :)

Each night there would be a different towel animal left on the bed

That night after dinner we wandered around some more till we stumbled upon some karaoke.  Although none of us had any intention of singing, it was pretty entertaining just to watch.

Michelle and Mom on the deck of the ship

Me and Mom

Tuesday:
Our first stop was Catalina Island just off California.  First thing in the morning, Michelle and I hit up the gym, which was packed.  After a little time in there, I went up to do a few laps on the jogging track.

The view from the track

Then we ate breakfast and got on the boat that took us from the ship to the island.

Me, Michelle
On the little boat headed to the island

The view of the ship from the boat

The view of the island from the boat

 On the island, we just looked around, checked out the beach, and did some shopping.

We saw this Armstrong restaurant and had to get a picture of Mom in front of it because her maiden name is Armstrong

Me, Michelle
The beach.  Michelle and I got to be really good at posing for the camera ;)  We took some tips from Abby and her awesome abilities.

Mom, Michelle

The city was so cool and pretty

Me
Shopping.  Doesn't this hat look so good on me ;) I decided against that purchase though.

There was a lady who would paint a name using animals or whatever you wanted so I got one for Colton's room.  I think it is super cute.

We had to be back on the ship by 4:30 that afternoon, so we just did some more relaxing and reading back on the ship.  In the middle of our relaxing we saw a huge group of dolphins swim right by the ship.  It was really cool.

The dolphins

That night we saw a comedy act, then caught a Latin dance show.  The comedy act was hilarious, but the dance show was a little long and repetitive, but we still had fun.

Michelle gets married

pictures stolen from Michelle :)

Easter weekend, Michelle married Ryan Davis.  He has 4 kids, and so together they now have 5.  We are so glad to have them join the family.

Easter weekend

Last weekend my sister Michelle and her daughter Kenna came to visit.  When they came over on Thursday we decorated some sugar cookies.

Kenna, Abby, Lexi (Michelle's new step-daughter), and Lexi

Lexi didn't see much need for the cookie.  The frosting usually went straight from the bowl to her mouth.

Doesn't that cookie look delicious ;)

It looks like Kenna is already on a bit of a sugar rush

Saturday night Kenna spent the night and then went to church with us on Sunday.  I tried to get a picture of the girls in their Easter dresses.  Colton was sick so he didn't get dressed up to go to church, Cam stayed home with him.

Goofing around with the camera

The other day, I was trying to get some pictures of the kids, and they decided to be silly.

Jump!

Lexi trying to jump

Shamrock 1/2 Marathon

Saturday was the Shamrock 1/2 Marathon that I have been training for.  I have been training hard for this race, luckily the cortisone kicked in, and I was able to kick it up a notch these last several weeks.  This was an awesome opportunity because the course was literally right in my backyard, and when you live where I do, not a whole lot happens out here, so I had to take advantage.

All week long I had been nervously watching the weather, because they had been predicting rain and high winds for Saturday.  And sure enough, they had issued a high wind warning that was to take effect 10am Saturday morning.  But if everything went "according to plan", I'd finish right around 10am.  My goal was to finish in less than 2 hours, which would have shaved 10 minutes off my old 1/2 marathon time.  The course was extremely hilly, with the majority being uphill, with little bits of down sprinkled throughout.  I was fairly confident I could get in under 2 hours, even with the hills, but if I had to fight the wind too, I was nervous it would zap all my energy, but unfortunately I can't control the weather.

Cam dropped me off at the starting line just a few minutes before the start, and he and the kids planned to come back and see me finish.  It was a little windy when I got there, but not bad at all, so I had hopes that it would be calmer than the weather people were predicting.

When the race started, I was near the back of the pack, which meant it was a crowded for a little while, but I eventually weaved my way through the crowd and found my groove.  My goals were to 1) stay at or slightly under 9 min/miles, and pick up the pace as much as I could on the downhills and 2) try to pass people as many people as I could (sounds cruel, but it was more of way to keep myself motivated than a need to "beat" people).

So I just kept an eye on my pace, and would focus on the person in front of me, and slowly reel them in.

I had so much fun!  I was holding a challenging yet sustainable pace, but managed to have fun too.  I was focused the whole time on staying on pace and just enjoying myself, I barely even noticed the wind.  I kept telling myself to just get to mile 10, then it was nearly downhill from there to the finish and I could really pick up the pace.  I was eating Swedish Fish every couple of miles for fuel, which worked, but man, when your running hard, the last thing you want to do is chew and chew.  So although it worked, I think I need to experiment with something less chewy from now on.  Around mile 9 my legs were really starting to get tired, but those Swedish Fish must have kicked in not long after that because I just kept going, no problem.  Just as I came over the last hill at mile 10, I saw my friend Marcy (who is an amazing runner, she could run circles around me, that is training for a 50 mile ultra marathon in May) who I have been doing some of my training with, she surprised me and came out to cheer.  It was so awesome, I was yelling to her and she was yelling and cheering for me, so awesome!  It was such a pick me up, and loved seeing a familiar face out on the course.

I cruised into the finish, passing a few last people, and was able to finish faster than I thought I could.  I'm not sure what my official time is but it's about 1 hour 55 minutes.  I ended up averaging an 8:45min/mile, and my last one was even sub 8min/mile.  Cam and the kids were there right at the finish, and it was so awesome that they came out and fought the wind!

Waving to Cam and the kids, coming into the finish (running pictures are never very flattering)

With the girls after I finished.  Notice the hair in the girls face, a testament to how windy it was  :)
Also, like my arm warmers?  They are actually a pair of tube socks I cut up to keep my arms warm.  I just had to wear green for the holiday, and this tank top was the only cheap, green shirt I could find.  So I had to improvise to keep myself warm, yet festive :)

After I finished, and got a chance to talk to Cam and Marcy, they both told me it was pretty windy the whole time, somehow I must have zoned out enough to not really notice how strong the winds were. :)

This was the funnest I've had at a race, and I'm glad I was able to enjoy myself, and cut 15 minutes off my half marathon time :)

Now I gotta rest my legs for a few days, then get back to running, because I've signed up for the Utah Valley Marathon in June!  I've wanted to do a marathon for years, but this darn hip has held me back.  So I'm hoping and praying that I'll be able to finish this training cycle, and finally get a full marathon under my belt.

Colton learned to crawl

Devin's Wedding

On Thursday, Cameron's brother Devin got married to Cherie.

Coming out of the temple

Bryce and Jasmin

Cam's parents

The day started really early and we didn't get home till late Thursday night.  I had forgotten how exhausting a wedding can be :)

They got married in the Bountiful Temple.  And by some coincidence, the sealer was Cam's mission president.  Small world :)  It was a beautiful sealing and it was great to be reminded of the covenants and blessing that we receive when we are sealed together.

After the sealing we quickly ate some lunch, picked up the kids and headed to Cam's parents to get the kids dressed and ready for the reception.  Then it was off to the reception to help set up, get some more pictures taken, then hanging out at the reception.  I had been looking forward to wedding cake all week, but they didn't have any cake!?  Talk about disappointment, that's the best part about a wedding ;)

(These pictures of the kids are all taken with Cameron's 

phone, so they aren't the best quality)

It was a long day, made even longer by the fact that the day before the wedding, Colton and Lexi got a fever.  At first I thought it was just that Colton had gotten another ear infection because he didn't have any symptoms except for the fever.  Then Lexi got a fever.  Thursday morning when Lexi woke up, she seemed all better, but Colton was obviously sick.  Will's sister was nice enough to watch Piper and my kids, but I felt terrible leaving Colton when he was pretty miserable.  Luckily he ended up sleeping most of the time.

The girls had a blast, playing with their cousins and getting all sorts of compliments on how pretty they were.  Every time the photographer would come around, Abby immediately went into a cute pose.  She is such a natural :)