Geoffrey the Giraffe

Lynnlee had a gift card from Geoffrey the Giraffe at Toys R Us from her birthday. We stopped by there Friday night. My kids had fun playing on/with all the toys. Here are a few pictures.

Curious George

We have not been on a family vacation in so long that its kind of embarrassing to admit. Thank goodness we were finally able to get away last weekend. After we told James we were going to St. George he kept calling it Curious George. While we were there he said, "I know why Daddy doesn't have to work, because there isn't a Lowry Doors here." He said all sorts of funny things while we were there and at Zion National Park. He thought it looked like Radiator Springs. We had a really good time and I hope to go on a family vacation regularly from here on out.


We left early Friday morning. The kids were still asleep and we put them in the car in their pajamas. We let Kaden get out during the potty stop. He was very entertained by the steering wheel.

Lynnlee rocking her sunglasses.

James using his binoculars to see out the window a long the way. All the kids were so good in the car on the way there.

We got there early Friday so we had all day to play. We started off climbing around the Red Cliffs. Kaden took this first picture of us. Ok so not really...Kaden rode in the back pack and happened to be exactly behind Marshall for this picture so you can't see him.

Lynnlee did really well hiking around, much better than I expected. She got scared a few times though and said, "I don't know about this!" in her cutest little voice.

We spent a couple of hours here. It was so much fun! After, we went swimming at the new rec center in Washington. It is a lot like the one in Lehi. My kids couldn't get enough of the water. After a few hours I finally talked them into leaving to get some dinner.

 We spent Saturday at Zion National Park. It was an adventure. We brought Camel Backs so the kids wouldn't get dehydrated. They drank so much water before starting the hike that it took 3 bathroom trips from the trail head to the lodge before we actually started. They definitely did not get dehydrated.

James took a few pictures while we were on the grass in front of the lodge:

James even took this one too. I think he has potential.

We hiked to Emerald Pools.

Kaden's not amused face.

We took a break at the upper pools and let the kids play in the water.

Marshall caught this frog. The kids loved watching it! They squealed every time it moved.

We drove through the tunnel after we got done hiking. This was on the way up. 

We saw this along the way.

That night we drove by the temple. We came home Sunday. It was definitely not a long enough trip but it was packed full of fun. Can't wait to go again!

Just Keep Running

It felt so good to scratch off the last week of training. When I made the decision in December to run the Salt Lake Marathon I thought the weeks would fly by. It was much harder than anticipated. There was crazy weather each week to work around, food poisoning hit during one of my long runs, I started getting horrible migraines after some of my long runs and I broke my tooth the night before the race. I started wondering if I should even be running the race. All of the events in Boston weren't reassuring either. Thank goodness I found out the migraines were caused by electrolyte imbalance so drinking more Gatorade took care of that. My tooth didn't hurt so it wasn't a problem for the race. Lastly, I felt relief when the events in Boston wrapped up Friday night.

Then I was so excited to wear my bib. I only slept a few hours Friday night because I was so anxious. It didn't help that I could hear the wind and rain and wondered how bad the weather would be for the race.

Thank goodness they had big tents set up for us to stay dry under until the race started.

This was the view from the starting line. There were so many people and you can feel all of the energy. We had a moment of silence for Boston. Then we started off listening to Sweet Caroline which is played at the Boston Marathon.

It amazed me how many people were out along the race course cheering for all the runners. The rain was coming down and it was cold but that didn't stop people. Ali's family cheered me on at various places along the race course. I appreciated it so much and it was fun to see familiar faces! Katelyn and Drew were so cute and awesome cheer leaders!

I loved running around Sugar House Park during the first few miles. It's a beautiful park.

It's fun running in the rain when its a few miles but it rained the first 16 miles and was so cold. Running in the rain gets a little old after 16 miles. I was soaking wet. I was so happy the rain stopped after that. My clothes dried out a lot with the wind. My hands were cold the whole time. Betsy ran the last few miles with me. She was wearing gloves and I asked her if I could wear them. She's the best and let me wear them the rest of the race. My legs cramped a lot the last 2 miles and I think it must have been from the cold because I had been drinking lots of Gatorade the whole race and ate a banana (which totally helped at my last marathon). It was so fun running with Betsy and she helped push me to the finish.

I had the biggest smile on my face coming into the finish line. You couldn't wipe it off for anything. I finished in 3 hours 53 minutes. I beat my last time by 10 minutes.

I had the best fan club through the race. My Mom, Betsy, Ali's family, Marshall, Lynnlee and Kaden were there along the way. It made me feel so good to have all of their support.

Marathons are addicting! I can't wait to run the next one.

Packed!

What a week! Some weeks you pack it all in and that is how the last 7 days have been for us.

Kaden is now 9 months.

Playing at cousins while I was at work and Marshall was at Priesthood meeting. Thanks Ali and Betsy for your help!

Watching conference, which is very hard to do after you have worked all night.

Playing inside most days since the weather has been so cold and wet.

Finally used our Warren Miller ski passes with only a few days before Canyons closes. We had so much fun together! Thanks Mom and Dad for watching our kids so we could go skiing and feel like kids again.

Yesterday I volunteered at a fair for Donate Life month. It was held at Primary Children's Medical Center. 5 kids die everyday waiting for an organ transplant. I'm glad I could take sometime to spread awareness.

1 Week

This was the view from my long run last week. I have loved training even though its been way harder training in the spring vs. summer. Most of my long runs are in the dark which gets really old but when you have a view like this it makes it worth it. One week to go until my race. I can't wait!

Brothers

James got some good laughs out of Kaden when I put Kaden on his shoulders tonight. Love my boys!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

Really?

Papa Murphey's cookie dough instructions: Read #3.

Really? I had no idea oven mitts were required for removing something out of a burning hot oven. I can't believe they really have to put that.




I borrowed this from my friend. This is the caption, "It's always exciting to find a package has been delivered. But it's even better when you have to look real hard for it."

Good thing it's hidden under the door mat. No one will ever be able to steal it.