Everyone loves Grandma's house.

These pictures were from the weekend I ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon. We had our first BBQ of the season, played on bikes and swings with the cousins, and rounded things out with piling into the car to get a Peach Rainbow from Pace's DairyAnn. I'm telling you, NOTHING is as good as a Peach Rainbow.

Annie has turned into a Grandpa's Girl. Alex is Grandpa's Boy, too.

All of the kids barely fit in Cami's car. I guess we all better be done having kids because we can't fit another body in there!

Lauren and Will with their BBQ faces on.

Lauren, Will, and Ty building a track for the toy jeeps to drive on.

I love going to my Mom's. They are always so happy to see the kids, and they let me crash when I come. They let me sleep in, my Mom cooks dinner, they get my kids treats.... Maybe I should just move in.

Sneaky Bunny

We did our best to turn lemons into lemonade this Easter. We were stuck home with the stomach flu (again!), so we kept it simple. We colored every egg we had in our house, and the sneaky Easter Bunny left some eggs and little toys in our Grandma's backyard for us to find. All in all, it wasn't too bad. We missed our extended family, but it is always nice to be together just the four of us.

Annie only wanted to dye one Easter egg, and of course she wanted it pink! She was very careful with the hard boiled egg, that is, until it was time to put them back in the fridge. She threw a tantrum and of course it broke. Good thing it was hard boiled!

Will was the master egg-dye-er. He had his own system and was careful not to put the pink spoon in with the blue dye. He loved his Dad's "motorcycle" egg the best.

Now all we need is for spring to show up for real. We miss you Mr. Sun!

Salt Lake Half Marathon

1:41.45

7:46/mile average

I can't believe I just wrote that number down.

This was my time for the Salt Lake Half Marathon this last weekend! I'm still squealing about it inside. I had no idea that I was capable of a time like this for such a long run! My training runs were consistently at an 8:45-8:25 pace. I kept looking down at my watch and shaking my head in disbelief. I'm certain that the volunteers and police officers all thought I was nuts because I couldn't wipe this goofy smile off my face.

This race was awesome because:

1- I have a new PR- and it's one that I know will be tough to beat. Plus, now I'm super tempted to race again and break into the 1:30's. (I beat my last half marathon PR by 9 minutes!)

2- I achieved my goal of not walking during the half! I only walked to drink at 3 water stops. This wasn't without trial- Mile 11-12 up State Street was a beast and I wanted to stop desperately; thanks to P!nk, ADELE, and Natasha Beddingfield on the iPod, I was able to push through. I just kept thinking "You can't walk during this song! This is a good song! Make it to the next one." Luckily the good songs just kept coming.

3- Remember how worried I was about the port-a-potty situation? There was no need!

4- I didn't pee my pants. This was a huge accomplishment. If you are a woman and have had a baby (or two), then this is a pretty big deal.
I got even more stoked when I looked at the results yesterday- I was 16/501 in my age division, 88/2715 women, and 383/4444 overall (men and women). That means I was in the top 3% for women and the top 8% overall. Who knew?!

I had some awesome cheerleaders. My Mom came and brought my kids, and then my dear friend Kalie brought me some white tulips (my fave!) to the finish line. I saw them as I was rounding my last corner and it gave me the final boost I needed to finish strong (and pass two men on the way). My Mom had my camera and took pictures, unfortunately she took my camera home with her! I'll post them when I get it back next week. (Although, I don't know why- pictures of me running tend to be... scary. To say the least. That's a topic for another time).
It was a great race! BIG HUG AND THANK YOU TO ERIN PULLEY for letting me pretend I was her for the morning. Now I just need to cross my fingers that this knee pain I'm having is temporary. I guess I'll find out tonight on my 3 mile recovery run.

***Here are the pictures that my Mom took of me. The first one she took as I was rounding the corner for the home stretch. I tend to get in the zone, so I was so happy that I was able to see them!

And in case you couldn't see how excited I was, here is a closer look-

Here I am with my biggest fans. The top picture is my dear friend Kalie Chamberlain, me, Will and Annie. The bottom picture is with my Mom. I have the best fans in the world.

Fine Artist

Will really started to get in to coloring and drawing this last year when he started preschool. Since then we have gone through reams of paper and a handful of notebooks with his pieces. Just to give you an idea, here is what he created in one day:This does not include the 17 pictures that he made on colored paper on the same day. He creates letters and pictures for his friend Grace constantly. Pictured below are the cats that he drew for her:
I love that all of the animals he creates have families. Also, that is his penmanship at the top. he's getting so good at writing his letters! It must be because of all of that practice. (Plus he has a really awesome teacher who may or may not be reading this blog:)).
He drew these motorcycles all by himself! I thought Dallas helped him with the one he drew at the bottom, but he didn't- it's all Will.
He loves to color motorcycles, race trucks, race cars, monster trucks, animals, and his friends and family. He has some pretty good skills and we are proud of how diligent he is as he is working. He never wants me to throw any of his pictures away, but I simply can't keep them all! I pick out my favorites and sometimes we make a book, or I put them in his special keepsake folder. Maybe he has that artistic gene that my two older brothers have. Only time will tell!

Applesauce Disaster of 2011

Is it possible that Annie's taste buds are actually located in her hair?

I just wonder because ever since she started eating solid food, that is where she prefers to put it- in her hair.

One day she'll grow out of it, and the shampoo bottle will thank her.

A Little Tenderness

Annie has started to call Will, Willy- all on her own accord. (She definitely didn't get it from me.) It's exceptionally cute because she can't really say her L's. She will stand on the porch and yell, "Willy!" at the top of her lungs as he plays on the swing set. She misses him so much when he is gone at a friend's or at school, and she'll sit at my ankles crying "Willy all gone" until he comes back home. She loves him dearly.
Will prays for Annie every night in his prayers. He usually prays that she "won't cry" or that she'll "sleep good." The other night he said, "Bless me that I will be a good example for Annie and that I will teach her to do good things and not bad things." He is always making sure that she is happy and getting her things if she needs help. He has always been so tender with his baby sister- from day one. He's such a good big brother.

I'm sure I can look forward to fights, tattle-telling, and wrecked lego towers in my future, but for now I'm just going to enjoy how much these kids already love each other at such a young age.

He's on to us.

Last night in his prayer, Will prayed that his "toys wouldn't get lost."

I think he might be noticing how I clean up the McDonald's toys in our house.....