Summer running

Well, in the last month, I ran two more marathons.  Park City Marathon in August, then last week I did Mid Mountain Marathon.

Park City was an AWESOME one, done mostly on paved trails and some dirt road.  I ran the whole thing with my friend Marci.  We just took it nice and easy and talked and talked and enjoyed the beautiful places we were running through.  I think this was my favorite marathon of the summer.

Mid Mountain was a trail marathon, done on dirt trails through the mountains.  I knew it was going to be challenging and to plan on it taking a lot longer than any other race, but I didn't expect it to be so brutal.  I think what made it so difficult was the terrain.  The trail was a narrow single track dirt trail with lots of rocks and roots sticking out just waiting to trip someone up.  This meant that you couldn't let your mind wander for even a second or you'd end up doing a face plant.  I tripped many times, and even ended up sprawled out on the trail.  I banged up my knees pretty good with a couple of huge bruises and road rash.  I had a lot of emotional ups and downs during this one because of it's difficulty.  Marci and I started together, but split up at about mile 8.  In the end, it was a challenge, but I still enjoyed being out there running.

Tomorrow I go in for my surgery, which marks then end of a super awesome summer of running all over Utah.  I'm grateful for all I was able to do this summer, and hopefully in a few months, I'll be back at it, stronger than ever.  I'm definitely sad that I'll be laid up for several months, but I hope in the end it will be worth it.  Plus, I've managed to beat my body up pretty good doing all these races.  I think my legs deserve a bit of a break from logging miles, and hopefully all these little nagging injuries will have time to heal and I'll start back fresh.

Kindergarten

Abby started kindergarten on Tuesday.  Talk about excited!  She was so disappointed to be in the afternoon class because her friend across the street was in the morning class, AND she had to wait so long for her time to go to school.

Her "Brave" backpack

It seems like as a parent when you send a kid to kindergarten, you're either sad to see them go, or eager for the potential for a few hours alone.  I was definitely the later...until a few minutes before we left the house.  She started to show some nerves.  She was making several trips the bathroom, asking me if she had a fever, I could just tell she was nervous, and not really sure what to do with those emotions.  That was the first time I got a little emotional, mostly because I hate to see her struggling with that awful emotion.  But as we walked to school, the excitement returned.

I am so excited to be back into a regular schedule.  It will help get the little kids on a steady nap schedule (take Abby to school, then the two little ones go down for a nap until it's time to pick Abby up) and with Abby at school, and Lexi and Colton napping, I will be able to get so much done!

Abby's 5th birthday

Abby had her birthday!  I know I say it all the time, but I can't believe how old these kids are getting.

Abby's been obsessed with the movie "Brave" ever since she saw it, so we surprised her with a "Brave" themed party.  She thought it was going to be Hello Kitty, but I had Cam take her out for a little while so I could decorate the house in a "Brave" theme.

Lexi wanted to be in the spot light too

Cam's family came over for the party, we also celebrated Ethan's birthday which was just a week before.

The kids played my "Brave" version of pin the tail on the donkey, then we had a Nerf gun that they could shoot at a bullseye.  That was fun.

I love how this one captures Abby saying "OHHH!" when Lexi nailed the bulls eye 

Singing Happy Birthday.  Abby is thrilled. Ethan, not so much.

Nearly every present was a "Brave" something or other.  Toys, backpack, blanket, she is totally set.

What is Abby up to now that she's one year older?

• Obviously, the most exciting thing is she is starting kindergarten!
• She's going to start up dance classes again.  This year she is doing a ballet class
• She's a little social bee.  She wants to play with her friends everyday.
• She's very particular about the clothes, shoes and how her hair is done.  Usually she wears a dress, flip flops, and her hair down.
• Her all time favorite thing to do is draw/color.  She spends so much time at her little art table making pictures.
• She loves playing outside.  Outback, the park, where ever.
• She is very curious about everything.  Always asking a million questions about everything.  I feel like she has an in depth understanding of astronomy, weather systems, and so much more.

Colton, 15 months

Colton is now 15 months old.  He is growing up so fast!  It seems like that in the last couple of months he has learned SO much.  He is saying lots of words now, gets around pretty well, and is into everything.

• He LOVES firetrucks.  If he see's a firetruck he makes a siren or honking noise that Cam has taught him.  When we go to visit Cam at work, he loves walking around and seeing the firetruck, sitting inside and "driving" the truck.  
• He says - mama, dada, baba (which is for his sippy cup), ball, balloon, nana (banana), choo choo (train), shoes, car and many, many more!
• He climbs everything
• He's 23 lbs 3 oz - 28%
• He's 31 inches tall - 43%
• I finally got him off the bottle, just about a week ago.
• He still sleeps with his blanket
• He is transitioning between 1 and 2 naps
• He's getting so many teeth.  It's funny though cause they are kind of all over the place.  He has had a couple molars come in, and a couple canines come in.

Playing outside

On Saturday, my friend Marci and I went and did a trail run up Battle Creek canyon in Pleasant Grove.  We ended up going to the top of Mt Baldy, 5 miles nearly straight up, then 5 miles down.  It was SO much fun!  I took some pictures of the amazing view we had going up.

At the top.  I wish I had one of those panoramic cameras to show the view all around us. 

Also, we took the training wheels off Abby's bike a week or so ago and have slowly been trying to teach her to ride her bike.  She's not very confident, and get's discourage easily, so it's been only about 5 minutes of practice a day.  But today, we hit the street to try again, and she did pretty well, there were times where I could let go of the bike completely (for a few seconds), so she's slowly making progress.

Lexi also learned to ride her tricycle earlier this summer.  She loves to ride her bike.  

Cam's birthday

Last Saturday was Cam's birthday, he had to work, so we celebrated it on Sunday.  I invited his family over for dinner and cake.

I made a chocolate cake, that ended up taking two tries, and two batches of frosting.  It seemed like everything just kept going wrong.

Happy birthday, babe!!!

Painting project

I have yet to decorate Colton's bedroom, and a couple of months ago I mentioned to Cam's mom that soon we would need to buy a dresser for his bedroom because it would be time to get rid of the changing table.  Then she mentioned that she had this upright dresser that we could paint and put in his room.  Last week she came over for two days (they ended up spending the night cause they didn't have water at their place cause a pipe had broke and it was still in the process of being fixed) and we worked on painting it.  I love the way it turned out.

I chose a navy blue color