My sister Shellie and her husband Joshua were in town visiting this weekend from Wyoming. It was also my other brother-in-law's birthday (Bryce) so as a family we decided to get together at another park in the mountains by our home and have a BBQ. It was the perfect day for a picnic and we all had a great time together. Here is Sam and Emma with their cousin Karlie.
Grampa, Emma, and Karlie taking a little break.....
Here is Samantha sitting and having a little rest
For some reason the guys thought they needed to eat lunch together - away from the wives and away from the children. Gee.... wish us girls would have thought of that.
All the cousins together. Ashlynne and Myah are alot older than the other cousins so they are really good sports about playing with the younger kiddos.
Some of the kids and grownups went on a little hike together. When they came back Gramma had sliced up a watermelon so everyone could have a refreshing and cool treat.
We had a water balloon throwing contest so here are a couple of shots of Emma and Sam hitting the target!

It sure was a great way to spend the day!

Pretty Girls

I was trying to take a nice picture of the girls in front of our lilac bush. The sun was in Emma's eyes and Sam felt the need to stick her tongue out with every shot.....We finally were able to get a good picture of them. Oh, how we love our sweet girls!

Memorial Day Picnic

On Saturday my parents drove to La Grande to see us and to spend the afternoon having a picnic with us. We met at one of the State Parks close to town and had a really fun time together. The girls love being with Gramma and Grampa! The weather was perfect and the company was even better! Grampa helped Sam on her bike. This year she has a bike with training wheels and she is doing so well on it!

The State Park has the Grande Ronde River which runs throught it. It's really high this time of year so we couldn't let the girls too close. By late summer the river will be down low enough that the kids can swim. We'll need to wait a couple more months for that.

Cookie Frenzy

For a few weeks now Emma has been asking me if she could hold a "Cookie Frenzy" with her friends. She wanted to be able to invite a few friends over and then spend some time making different kinds of cookies. Last Friday there was no school so we thought it would be a good time to have her friends get together. They had a wonderful time baking and playing outside. They helped to make three different kinds of cookies so they were sufficiently loaded up with sugar by the time I took them all home.....I'm sure the parents were thrilled. I think we'll have to make it an annual event for us.

Famous Idaho Potato Half-Marathon

Today finally arrived for the half marathon which I have been training for the last three months. Yesterday afternoon we drove to Boise to pick up our registration packets and to get settled into the hotel ahead of time. Then we met up with all the girls who were participating to get some dinner and make plans to meet up early this morning. We caught the shuttle to our starting point at 6:45 and drove the 13 miles to a reservoir outside of town. The drive seemed to take forever and I was getting more and more nervous. But when the race started it was really exciting to be a part of something like this. There were over 800 people who ran in the race and everyone was very happy to be there.

Because Mark and the girls were going to have to wait for a few hours when they dropped me off at the shuttle, they played around the park where the race was being held and also went to the zoo which the girls loved!

The day was warm and sunny and ended up being fairly ideal for a race. All of the volunteers were awesome and were great cheerleaders. Every two miles there was an aid station with water or gatorade and power bars if needed. Our route started out on the outskirts of the city and followed the river and then through the city and finally into Ann Morrison Park for the finish. For me it was miles 10-13 that were the toughest. It was hard to stay positive knowing you still had three miles, then two miles, then one mile when you've already gone so far. But when we turned the corner into the park there was a huge crowd that had gathered to cheer on the competitors so we sprinted as fast as we could the last half mile until we crossed the finish line. I was soooo glad to be done, but also soooo glad I had stuck to my goal to complete this race. The best part was seeing my husband and kids at the finish and then receiving lots of hugs and kisses from them. I wouldn't have wanted to do this if they couldn't be a part of it. Unfortunately we don't have the greatest camera and the kids were not behaving very well so the pictures are kind of limited that Mark was able to get. But here we are at the end, very happy to have accomplished our goal.

You can't see my number, but I was #697. Hooray for myself, Karen, CarrieAnn, Jeannette, Haley, and Elise! You gals are awesome! 'Til next year!!!

Special Visit

This past week Mark's brother, Matt, was in the Tri-Cities for a business trip. We live two hours away from the Tri-Cities but we rarely get to see anyone from Mark's family because of distance, so we drove over on Thursday night to spend some time with Uncle Matt. It was a really nice visit, even though it was a short one. We had some yummy ice cream and had a lot of good laughs. The girls were just tickled to be able to see their uncle. Hopefully it won't be another two years before we see him again.

Week Ten Marathon Update

Today was an easier day in the training schedule. It only asked for five miles. Considering how last week was twelve miles, today was so much better. I didn't have many opportunities to get out and train during the week because Mark was out of town on a business trip, so this morning I just took it slow and enjoyed being out in the cool morning. It's hard to believe that next Saturday is the big day!

Girls Night Out

Last night the Ballroom Dance Company from Southern Utah University was in La Grande doing a performance at the high school. Thanks to my friend Olivia, we were able to snag a few tickets and have a Girls Night Out. It was so fun to spend the evening with my special little girls. The costumes were beautiful and the dancing was so neat to watch! What an amazing talent to have! The girls were completely intrigued the whole night and were quite disappointed when it was finished. Mark was on a business trip all week so it was a really wonderful experience to cap off our week together before Daddy came home. Emma keeps asking when she'll be able to see them again.

Week Nine Marathon Update

Today was the big day in the training program. We went TWELVE MILES! Our route was between two little towns outside of La Grande. I was a little nervous this morning when I woke up and realized that it was raining. I just decided to go ahead with plans and keep my fingers crosssed that the rain would stop. It was a 15 mile drive out to Cove where we began but the rain was still coming down by the time I started. It was actually very beautiful. The rain wasn't coming down hard - just a light shower - and it was a perfect temperature. Plus, there was no wind at all which I was very grateful for. I'd much rather work out in the rain than in the wind. The first six miles or so went great - I stayed right with the pace that I had set for myself. I was actually pretty warm. Plus, Mark and the girls showed up around that time to cheer me on so I was very happy about that. But at about mile eight the wind came up more and the rain was coming at me sideways. Also, cars and trucks kept passing me and spraying me with water. I was thoroughly soaked. Having the wind come at me just made me have to work that much harder and my pace slowed down a bit. The other thing that was hard was that the last five miles were a straight stretch on a country road that seemed to last forever. I kept looking ahead for the turn in the road to take me into Union but it just never came! Thank goodness that Mark was there giving me gatorade and a power bar to keep my energy up. He could tell that I was having a hard time and he and the girls would roll down their windows yelling, "GO MOM, GO MOM!" It was a huge help! Finally I made the turn into Union and I knew I only had two more miles to go through town. (Coincidentally, just as I was making the turn, the song on my IPOD was the theme to "Chariots of Fire." Isn't that great?) My pace picked up a bit as I could see the stopping point ahead and my wonderful husband standing outside the car waiting for me. At this point I didn't care about my time, I just wanted to finish! I ran into his arms and I just wanted to collapse. My two little girls got out of the car and gave me big hugs. I had made it!

By the time we got home to our house, I was freezing and soaked to the bone. I have never been so thankful for a hot shower. My cute friend Alisa brought me over some muscle rub gel because my legs are pretty sore. I can't believe I actually did 12 miles - I'm really proud of my accomplishment. Hopefully the actual marathon in Boise in two weeks will be a breeze now that I've survived today! One of the great things about this morning was having our husbands and kids coming along with us and cheering us on along the way. It's so nice to have that kind of support. I'm so grateful to have this circle of friends to conquer this goal with.