Campin'

A few weeks ago we met my whole family for a camping trip in Rifle Gap park in Colorado. When we were younger we used to go camping all the time. We didn't even have a tent. My parents would lay down tarps and we would sleep under the stars. I loved it. And we haven't been camping as a family for YEARS. It was so much fun and I am so glad we have started it up again. Rifle Gap was HOT. But it was right by a reservoir that had a nice swimming beach so we could cool off in the water.

Graham is kind of a wimp when it comes to water temperature and this water was so. so. cold. So I didn't think we would even want to touch it but he loved playing in it! (And eating the sand of course. It's like a magnet, the kid can't keep anything out of his mouth.)

Graham and Sophie.
They were too fascinated by the water we couldn't get them to look up.

AND THEN... We took a 5 minute drive up the canyon to Rifle Falls. Took a 2 minute hike and arrived at this...

It was BEAUTIFUL. We took a hike up to the top of the mountain where the waterfalls started and saw some cool caves on the way. It was a perfect family hike. Cool and refreshing from the mist of the falls and hello, gorgeous!

The fantastic five :)

Graham with Uncle Rob

We forgot Graham's hat and unfortunately he takes after his mother with a huge head and his father with the baldness so head coverage is a must.

We had fun just hanging out together as a family and eating lots of good food. Especially all the dutch oven meals made by my mom. YUM.
We also had a birthday party for Melinda. The baby of the family turned 18!! Can you believe it??? I can't.

I can't wait for next year!

Pearly Whites

Graham is up to SEVEN teeth now. Until a few weeks ago we had just been cleaning his teeth and gums with a washcloth but now we are on to the real deal. I just had to post these pictures, I mean, look at that face! Melts my heart :)

For my birthday...

I don't often set New Year's resolutions and when I do, I don't usually follow through. But this year I made a goal to run a half marathon. Now this is pretty amazing for me because my whole life I have HATED running and have avoided it at all costs. ( I don't know what came over me.)

I started training in January and after a while decided what better day to run a half marathon than my birthday? So that's what I did! I ran the Utah Valley half marathon. It started at 5:30 in the morning so I had to wake up around 3:30. It was freezing and raining at first but I was glad it was cool outside and the sun was hidden.
My whole goal was to run the whole thing without stopping or walking at all and I did it! My time was pretty terrible but I have to keep reminding myself I wasn't worried about time.
It was hard. Oh so hard.
I had done a few 10 mile runs that went well so I thought there would be no problem. But let me tell you, there is a BIG difference between 10 miles and 13.1 miles. The last few miles were so so hard. While I was running I was thinking to myself, "What was I thinking? This is not fun. I will never do this again. This is NOT fun." But now looking back on it I am so glad I did it and I think I will definitely do another one. (I really want to redeem myself and make better time!)

I look really silly in this picture. It looks like I am just strolling across, but I really was running!

Zach, Graham, my parents, Robert and Melinda all woke up super early and drove out to be at the finish line. Thanks for coming! And I'm sorry you had to wait so long for me in the cold!

After the race we met Zach's family for breakfast at Magleby's. Then my family took Graham home and Zach and I got a great uninterrupted nap for the first time in a LONG time! I went and got my haircut (which I always love doing) and then Zach and I went and saw Iron Man 2. Then we finished off the day with a BBQ and my family's house. My mom made the best hamburgers I have ever had. LITERALLY!! All the food was amazing! Thanks mom.
It was an awesome birthday!!

Memorial Day weekend

We had a GREAT memorial day weekend! At first we were bummed because I was scheduled to work Saturday AND Sunday night so that meant we wouldn't be able to do much and I would be sleeping during the day. BUT I got called off on Saturday night and then on Sunday night I floated to the oncology floor. They didn't have enough patients for all the nurses and since I was the 'visitor' I got sent home at midnight. So... this will make for a pretty small paycheck but at least I was able to have an awesome weekend with my family :)

We decided we need to start getting out more. And now that Graham is getting older he gets to come along. We kicked off the long weekend by going bowling. We thought Graham would love watching us, but he whined the whole time! This is probably one of the very few pictures I have of Graham where he is not happy. Both Zach and I did bowl pretty superb games despite our long absence from the sport. However, my game was MORE superb :)

The next night we went to the park and went to a fun little place by our house were there are tons of birds to feed. Graham is becoming fascinated with watching animals lately.

On Memorial Day we woke up and went to Wheeler Farm. I didn't realize what an awesome place that is. It is beautiful, there are huge open spaces, lots of ponds and picnic tables, cool old buildings, and lots of farm animals to look at. And the best part is, IT'S FREE! ( Do I sound like an advertisement? Well I'll happily advertise cause that place is great. I highly recommend it! )

After Wheeler Farm we drove to Provo and had a BBQ with Zach's family. ( I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of that! ) It was delicious! Especially the dutch oven pineapple upside down cake. YUM. ( Thanks Kali and Mona! ) Perfect end to a perfect weekend.

Random Extras

Best Mother's Day Present!

Me

+

= LOVE

I got these new running shoes for mother's day. I love them. I went and got professionally fit at Wasatch Runners. I was skeptical about doing all of that and spending lots of money on shoes because I didn't think it would make THAT much of a difference. BUT I cannot tell you how much better my feet and legs and knees feel in them while I run. (And I felt great about spending the money cause they were 50% off!!)
Just in time too. Race day is only 1 month away! AH!

Also, this picture just makes me happy so I thought I would share it with you. Graham always does cheesy grins and I finally got one on camera :)

As of Late

First of all....

ZACH GRADUATED!!!! Hooray! Hallelujah! Yipee!! Yahoo!!!
We are so so excited and already loving the extra time together. He also got his first REAL job:) He is working for a company called Quomation (they sell software to insurance companies) and he is doing splendidly.

To celebrate I made Zach a cake. I do not profess to be a cake artist like my talented family members and friends, in fact, this is the first cake I have ever made that I didn't just frost in the pan. Well, I thought I would be festive and dye the cake batter purple (for Weber State's colors) and it didn't turn out so swell. Not to mention I didn't have round pans I just tried to carve it myself and on top of that I made the frosting too runny and ran out powdered sugar to thicken it back up. Oh well, at least we had a good laugh. (And I did have fun, I think this is something I would like to learn.)

Don't judge.

The other man in my life is hitting mile stones as well. Graham is now 9 months old, I can't believe it. At his nine month appointment he was just over 30 inches long - the 97th percentile and weighed in just over 21 pounds - the 76th percentile. He is such a busy body these days. He isn't crawling but LOVES to hold our hands and walk all around the house and stand by the furniture. His favorite toys right now are his dresser drawers, the vacuum, the box fan, and the TV stand.

A few weeks ago we spent the day with Zach's family and watched his brother Micah do some biking. He competes in professional competitions and it is fun to see his tricks. Or as the cool kids say... it was sick. (Am I using it correctly Zach? :)

Now rewind to Easter. It was a blast. My sister Marie and her family were here and our entire family stayed at my mom and dad's for the weekend. It was perfect.
Graham seemed to enjoy his first Easter.