Legal for the stake dances...

Ash turned 14. We were not going to do a big party this year. We decided on breakfast at our house for a few friends...turned out there were 36 of them! When I asked Ashlynn to make her list and put everyone on it that she would like to invite, I thought she would have... ohhh, maybe 15...nope 35! Where could we cut? I gave in and all 35 got the invite! And all but 2 came! It makes me happy to know she has so many good friends. I love having them in my home. I feel like I can get to know them and see them and feel good about who she is hanging out with! Very cute group of girls - They all came in jammies. We had a guessing game for the gather ing and then halloween colors of nail polish - which kept them busy for a long time! I had put conversation starters and Halloween jokes and riddles on each table - and Ash had done the place cards for seating. It seems like it was a success because the party was to be over at 10 and there were girls at our house tim noon...

I totally underestimated how much girls can eat! We had barely enough food, and they would have kept going if I had kept bringing it! We served breakfast casserole, cinnamon bubble bread, fruit, bacon, bran muffins and juice! All of Ash's favorites! She got some really cute gifts, lots of money, and fun cards! (She wants the fancy jeans - and she has the $ now!) The whole family pitched in and helped!

Fall break Fun!

We stayed home for most of the Fall break this year...just hung around home for the first part of the week! Then we met some of my family in Lake Powell for a quick camping trip!

The water was a bit cool - 68 degrees, but we all did get in...eventually! We had so much fun, we hope to make it a tradition. (Carly came with us at 4 weeks old!)

Marathon #2 - St. George!

I did it...another marathon! This is number 2 (and hopefully my last - unless I get talked into another) They are tough! The training is the hard part! All the mornings starting our long runs at 3:15 to beat the heat...Then still trying to function as a mom and wife without being totally exhausted and grumpy!

Race day is the fun part...All the people, new scenery, seeing what your body can do, the cheering crowds, and running with friends!

Overall, I was happy with the day. At the beginning of training I was thinking I would try to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I would need a 3:45. That is quick for me. My Memphis time was 3:58. I would have to cut 13 minutes...Ouch! Training started off good. We started doing some speed work at the track and everyone started getting injured, so we backed off on the speed training, but tried to keep up on the tempo runs. Then once the long runs set in, I had a recurrence of an old injury. The IT band...a very common running injury! I did not run more that 8 miles for the 5 weeks leading up to the race. I had done a few 20's so I knew my mileage was there to get me to the finish - just not enough speed for the qualifying time! Oh well...it is pretty sad when you live in a neighborhood where we had close to 25 runners at the race and I was the 3rd to last...Who would have ever thought that a 4 hour marathon would be slow???

(4:00:37 to be exact) Most people would be thrilled with that - and I was happy with a finish!

My mom and dad were there at the finish and that it made it the best! Those last few miles went a little faster for me because I was focusing on watching for them! And there they were - just when I needed to see them! I was so glad they were there!

All in all...a good race day! Recovery for a few months to let the injuries heal and on to Oceanside 70.3 in March! (Love that race!)

Who doesn't love FREE stuff???

I love free stuff...so we headed up to the mountains last weekend because we heard that kids 12 and under get a free season pass to Sunrise Ski Resort! Okay - we have only skied there once, but maybe with the free passes it will get us there more. We try to get to the Utah mountains for Spring Break each March, but now we make make a quick trip here and there if there is a good storm coming our way!

We had a great time! I love the mountains and the Fall colors...something we do not get to see very often her in the valley...Greg tries to tell me that the trees do still change (Even if it is in January.) It was BEAUTIFUL! The kids even noticed - when looking up from their ipods...(I need to ban those things on our shorter trips!)

We took the ski lift up to the top and after a little bribing and begging, we talked the kids into walking back down! It took about an hour - and after my marathon a week ago, it was not nice

on the legs. I definitely slowed the group down! We had fun spending the day as a family - even got a smile out of Ash a time or two...she had protested the walk down!

Ash had the camera most of the time. She is in a photo class at school and had an assignment over the Break! She got some great shots..

Race Weekend

There was always one dream I had as a mom...It was to have all my kids skiing with me. I could not wait for the day when my whole family could be on the mountain at the same time. And we made that when Callie turned 4.

Well, a few years ago, I added another dream. Not anything I would have ever thought of before that...but I wanted all my kids to do a triathlon together. I only asked that they do it once and if they hated it, that was fine. Well it turned out they love it and cannot wait for another! Here a re a few pics of what our race weekend was like!

We started a training program about 6 weeks before. Starting at 7am, we would either run, bike or swim. We started slow and short and then gradually built up to the race distance!

They all did awesome! I am so proud of them! It was tough and there were tears but they all dug deep and finished strong