Salt Lake City Marathon

I ran the Salt Lake City Marathon for my second time. It was a new course and I was super excited. It started at the U of U and ran along the avenues past the cemetery where I have relatives buried. Then we went down into Memory Grove which is a beautiful ravine north of downtown Salt Lake. After it headed south and went past my grandparent's old house. Then around sugar house park and all the way to Holiday. It headed north after that and ended at the city county building.

I hurt my popliteus two weeks before the race. I was freaking out but the physical therapist reassured me I would be able to run. Thankfully I didn't have any problems with it during the race. The huge problem in my race ended up being leg cramps. All of this time I thought that I needed more electrolytes. I took electrolyte goo at mile 5 and by mile 8 my legs were so cramped up I could barely run. I prayed and prayed and was able to make it through the rest of the race. Now looking back I think the problem is too much electrolytes. I actually just need a lot more water. So we'll test that theory on the next race.

At mile 12 I knew I needed to keep a good attitude so I could finish. So I decided I would just look for the positive. That helped a lot. Marshall and the kids were at mile 17 and it was just fun to give them all high fives and enjoy having them there.

The last six miles are so hard so I dedicated those miles to each person in my family. I started with Sienna first and thought about her that whole mile. Then Taggart and so on. Marshall called me when I was at mile 23 and I told him to come run the end with me. Thanks to Betsy for watching my kids at the finish line! So by the time I got to the mile dedicated for Marshall, I actually got to run it with him and thank him and enjoy it with him. I finished in 3:26. It wasn't my fastest but I'm just happy I finished.

My friend Anna ran it too. We were together for the first 8 miles but I couldn't keep up with her after the cramping started.

The home stretch!

Color Run

Our PTA had a Color Fun Run. The weather ended up being really cold and really windy. We hoped they would reschedule it but too much had been planned. Marshall stayed home with the minis and I ran with the big kids. It was a one mile run from North Lake Park to Dry Creek Elementary. There were color stations along the way where teachers threw color at the runners. It was so windy that the color blew off the runners. You wouldn't believe how colored the teachers were though.

When we got to the school our shirts were pretty white and clean. There were cups of color and the kids had a color war at the finish line. James and Lynnlee were doused in color and attacked me a few times. Kaden stayed away and came home clean. James, Lynnlee and I needed a nice hot shower when we got home. 

Jordan River Temple

We went to the Jordan River Temple open house in April. It's fun living by lots of temples because my kids have been able to go inside a lot of temples in their short lives so far. Then when Marshall and I go to the temple they can picture where we are going and it's not such a big mystery.

They loved the baptistry, sealing rooms and celestial room. James loves the eternity mirrors too. We are so blessed to have temples....a little piece of heaven on earth.

Spring Break '18

We stuck around for spring break. Lynnlee was baptized at the end of the week so it was best to be home to get ready. It was a fun week of playing with friends, going swimming, playing at a park, and meeting up with cousins at Kangaroo Zoo.

Easter '18

Easter weekend is the best when it lines up with general conference! It was such a great weekend and spiritual feast. The conference messages were inspiring and comforting.  We loved spending time with our families.

The Easter Bunny came on Saturday morning. Since the minis don't remember the year before it's like they are doing it for the first time. They were a little confused at first and then really got into it.

We had a family Easter egg hunt that afternoon.

It gets a little extreme for the older nephews...Jack and Taylor. Kasey hides their eggs in really fun places :) It's amazing that there have been no broken bones with all of the crazy egg hiding places.

Rose's Basketball

It's been another fun year of basketball with my stake. Such a great group of women!

Lynnlee's 8th Birthday

Lynnlee's 8th birthday was a fun few days of partying! We had March birthdays the day before her birthday and she celebrated with Ali and Angeline. It was fun having Charlie and Angeline in town for their spring break!

Then we celebrated as a family on her birthday. She requested a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.

She opened her presents when she woke up and got a donut for breakfast.

A neighbor and I switch off who goes to the bus stop in the mornings. It was my neighbor's morning but Lynnlee wanted me to be there for her birthday.

She requested a dinner similar to Cupid's Crazy Cafe. We called it the Bizarre Birthday Banquet. Marshall made custom menus.

What you get is a dinner of chaos. You might get dessert first. You may or may not have a utensil for each course. Those of us who would have loved having a utensil each course didn't get one. Then Lynnlee who wanted to not have a utensil so she could get messy ended up getting a utensil for each course. She chose to eat with her hands anyways.

Lynnlee made birthday hats out of construction paper for everyone.

Marshall took Lynnlee to see Paddington 2 after the little people went to bed.

They had the theater to themselves.

No friend party this year for Lynnlee but we did go to Boondocks as a family. It was a nice sunny day so the outdoor stuff was open too.

Long story but Taggart peed his pants while we were there. I found a Savors near by and bought him some jeans. When I put them on I realized the elastic waste was broken and so we couldn't get his pants to stay up. He walked around the mini golf like a frog to try and keep his pants up. Marshall and I couldn't stop laughing because he looked so funny!

It was pretty cold after the sun went down but the kids insisted on doing the water boats before the end of the night. We all got sprayed and were freezing after. Brrr!

Lynnlee's Baptism

Lynnlee was baptized on April 7th. She was so excited and counting down for the last year. It was a special day and filled with the spirit. Thank goodness for days like these!

She got to be baptized in a special dress that some of her cousins wore when they were baptized.

We are so grateful to all those who supported her!