Zoo with Perdues

Brittany was in town again for a family reunion, so I was lucky enough to get to spend a couple of days with her and her cutie Callen. We met at the Hogle Zoo, and I was so excited to go because we hadn't been there since they completed the Safari exhibit. We loved the little train that went around it, and especially loved the four different lions they have there. We got there before the crowds came and it got to hot. We took a few rides on the carousel to complete our perfect morning at the zoo. We love the Perdue's. I sure wish they didn't live far away, and wish they had more reasons to visit Utah, but we're excited to go visit them in San Diego some time soon!

Life-Long Friends

We have been so blessed and feel right at home in our new neighborhood. We are surrounded by such wonderful people, we are so lucky to have made such good friends so quickly. Erin, in particular, has become such a great friend so quickly. We are a lot alike, in a way where we both love to go and do things. We love to eat good food, and we love to go out with our kids. We frequent Thanksgiving Point (the Farm, Museum, Cafe), go on many picnics in the park, and go out on lots of double dates on the weekends. We love the Poulsen's, with all of their older kids it makes Livy feel like she has older siblings and she loves it. We are so thankful for them in our lives. 

Boating Bums

All the family left town, except for Jen. The Jackson's had just gotten their boat, and so we were super anxious to take it out on the lake. We took it out the first time, but the battery was dead, so we spent most of our time just trying to get it started. But then we went out again and Jen was able to tag-a-long this time. It was a such a blast. Livy yelled, "This is the best day ever!" and "This is Wonderful!". Jen and I both wakeboarded a bit, and Ryan and Bob both skied. The water was a bit chilly, but we still had a great time. So grateful I was able to steal Jen and have her to myself for a few hours. 

Utah Valley Half Marathon

I made a goal this summer to run 3 different half marathons. I ran the Tulip Festival Half in April, and I couldn't decide whether to do the Utah Valley Half or the AF Canyon Half. Ryan signed up for the UV Half and I was worried about our kids since we would have to be there so early. But we were able to sleep at the Jackson's house, woke up at 2:45 am, fed Penny, left for the race, ran, and were done only a few hours after the girls had been awake. 

This was by far my favorite and best run of my life. We have been training pretty well. I would do a few 3 or 4 mile runs through the week, and try and do 5 or 6 miles on Wednesday. Then the other days I would do body combat or zumba classes at the gym, and then body pump once or twice a week. Then on Saturday we ran 6, 8, or 10 miles. I felt very prepared and ready to do well. 

My goal was to beat my PR of 1:55 that I did two years ago in the Halloween Half. My second goal was to get in the 1:40's. Well I annihilated my goal and did it in 1:47:58. We averaged about an 8:15 minute mile. 

Ryan got 5th in his division, and I got 6th in my division. 

The temperature was perfect, it was a bit chilly when we started, but there were some fires and we had taken some blankets with us, so we were just fine until the start. Going down the canyon there was actually a pretty strong headwind, which is unusual going down the canyon. But I was feeling great. We took advantage of the big downhills and had a few miles under 8 minutes. 

I knew when I got out of the canyon that my family was going to be there to cheer me on at mile 10.5. So that gave me an extra little push. They were all there, with all of their signs they had made us, and gave me a huge push to the end. When I got to the mile 11 marker I realized that it had been 90 minutes, and so I was definitely going to finish under 1:50 if I just kept my pace of about 8 minutes! I was so excited! It was the best feeling of accomplishment passing that finish line knowing I had set a goal and had reached it!! It was such a fun and beautiful race and I was so grateful that I did well. I was also grateful I could run with Ryan and have him to help push me to the end.  

My mom and dad had come down to the finish line to see us finish. So after my 10 minute free massage they took us back to our car so that we could go pick up our girls. We picked them up, and went back down to the 23 mile marker to cheer on Jen, Dave and Ryan with the rest of my family. I decided that I was feeling pretty good, and I knew those last few miles were going to be the hardest for them. So when David came I ran a mile with him, and then walked back until Jen came and ended up finishing the race with her. I was so proud of them for completing such a great accomplishment and they all did really well to with their times! I love my family so much, and I'm so glad we all caught this running bug. It's so fun to encourage each other and cheer each other on. It was such a good day. 

Best 60th Birthday Surprise

Before Christmas had even come I mentioned to my mom how fun it would be to have everyone come in and surprise dad for his 60th birthday. Then emails began to circulate about whether we come here, or go to Vegas, or Mexico, or go on a cruise. But once we realized that it would be just a week or so after my parents' big trip to Europe, and how hard it would be to pull off a vacation as a surprise we decided just to surprise him here. It was a very difficult few months to never mention anything about anyone coming. 

On Monday morning, the day before my dad's birthday Melissa and her family drove in and surprised my dad. We went to dinner and had cake and ice cream and celebrated his birthday just like normal, except that the Grow's were there! He was surprised, and a lot of conversations were beginning to make sense to him because we were planning this surprise. 

Then Wednesday, on his birthday, both Jen & Trey, and Ryan & Jace flew in. We picked them up at the airport and came to my house for a birthday party for David. We were trying to decided how to pull off this huge surprise. So Tim's idea was to dress Trey in some of Penny's clothes (since they look so much alike) and then when my dad got there I was holding Trey and asked dad to take the baby from me for a minute. He just sat there and stared for a few seconds, then said, "well why is he wearing a bow?". We all laughed, and then Jen came out, and he was once again completely surprised that she was there. 

Then about 5 minutes later when all the excitement had kind of calmed down, Jace came tip-toeing out of the other room. He was able to sneak all the way to grandpa and then just stood there. Dad started to get teary-eyed, picked him up and in came Ryan. We were able to pull it off, all of these months of planning and the whole family was together (except for Kenna, Shanna and Tim). 

 

We went swimming at the outdoor Lehi pool one day and the Provo Rec another, and all of the kids loved it. On Friday we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity and while we were there, Jen went to get Tim from the airport, another surprise! We grabbed some lunch and Tim was just in time to join them for an afternoon of golfing. We had a big spaghetti dinner since Jen, Dave, and Ryan Grow were running the full marathon, and Ryan and I were doing the half marathon the next morning.  

 

 

It was so much fun to have everyone in town, to hang out, to play games, to do fun things and just be together. It makes me so sad that they all don't live closer, maybe some day, but I doubt it. So I'll enjoy ever minute I can with this awesome family of mine. I love my siblings so much, and love seeing them with their kids and what great parents they are. I can't wait for us to be together again.