"my first 5K!!!"

About a month ago........I get a text from my sister Donna.... "Do you want to do a 5k on May 7th?". I respond back "SURE! Sign me up! ". And then I figured I should ask some details. Paid my fees and told her to make sure we ordered shirts! Was held at Cheadle Lake outside of Lebanon on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 9:00 am............... So a couple of days later my sister texts me again and says "I signed up the kids to do the 5k with us.". Great! The more the merrier!!

Of coarse I was rainy and cold on race day! We didn't mind. We made sure to get lots of pics. And of coarse the kids were whining.............."Why are you taking so many pictures?!". Our response was "because we are your mothers and that's what we do!!!" We got there around 8:15 am to pick up our race packets, shirts and numbers...........We felt so cool and official having a race number. hahaa! And had lots of time before the race so we took more pictures....hahaha

My sister is getting so skinny!!!! And she looks GREAT! Keep up the good work sista!

There were 217 racers and my sis and I came in about the middle of the pack.

And if you notice I have never said we RAN the 5k!!! We walked.....................someday we will be runners! The kids all ran it and did great! Was so much fun and we plan on doing it again next year. Just started a new tradition with the kids!

Gunner started off with us but decided we were too slow, so he took off running. Nicole and Drake took off from the start line.

Drake placed 52 nd......with a time of 31.02 (with a pace of 10.00 min. mile)

Nicole placed 56 th.......with a time of 31.17 (with a pace of 10.05 min. mile)

Gunner placed 72 nd....with a time of 34.30 (with a pace of 11.06 min. mile)

Donna and I placed 125 & 126 with times of 48.21 & 48.22 (with a pace of 15.34 min. mile) and we walked, so that's decent times!

(Drake and Nicole)

Once we rounded the corner and could see the finish line.....We stepped it up and took off running! (and I decided that we really needed to finish before the lady with the baby stroller in front of us........so we passed her!) And for some odd reason my sister told me later that she just didn't want to finish last place. Come on sista..........we would never let that happen! And we did great!

Yay!!!!!!!!!! We did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a great time. I'm so proud of the kids too! For participating with us and for getting great finish times!

And my darling daughter WON 1st PLACE in her age division! Good job Nicole. (she beat her 5k time from a run last year by over a minute!)

The rain held off when we first got there but by halfway thru it was pouring buckets!!!! But we didn't mind. We had some awesome family bonding that no amount of rain could put a damper on............

Good job Gunner, Nicole and Drake......(Tyler wasn't interested so we left him home in bed! lol).

We finished and got our ribbons. And they announced our names and times as we crossed the finish line. That was kind of cool.

Nicole with all the WINNERS! So proud of my girl............

So we head back to my sisters and the kids had other things to do. They were headed to a baseball tourney to do concessions. So all 3 of them piled into Nicole's car and took off.........Really???? When did that happen? So Mark and Donna took me home. All 3 of us adults were in one car and all 3 of our kids were in another car.........without us.............still so strange to me! Donna and Mark were kind of shell shocked too. How/when did OUR kids get that old? They all made it home safely so I guess that's all we can ask for.........

Well sista..............I had a great morning! Thanks for the fun and the memories (and the buttocks workout!). Maybe we will train for the next one and actually RUN IT!

My adorable (runner) friend Erin sent me a text about 1/2 hour after we finished and said "you look cute even after walking 3.1 miles in the rain." I texted her back and said "how would you know???? we just got done and I haven't posted any pics yet?" My sister had already posted a pic on facebook :) And since everyone knows I don't do facebook...........but I'm glad she posted our accomplishment.

And my adorable friend Erin is RUNNING a Half Marathon today (you go girl), so good luck to you! And when we talked Friday I told her we were only doing a 5k, she was sweet and said "you've got to start somewhere!" I see how it could become addictive. And for some reason most of the new people I have met recently are RUNNERs. I mean full on marathon runners. Crap..........am I going to have to start running? hahahaha...

Good job sister. I love ya and had a great time and can't wait to do it again!

"it's all fun and games until someone gets a black eye!"

Well...............we had a lovely Easter............until Tyler got hit in the eye with a baseball!! Went to my Aunt Michelle's for dinner. Was great to see all my aunts/uncles and cousins/kids etc. Food was great and my family puts on a great spread. Thanks for having us....I would have liked to have stayed longer! After dinner the boys (Tyler, Gunner, Drake and Uncle Mark) decided to go out back and play some baseball. Was pouring down rain! Obviously...........Tyler missed a ball.....
I could see in the backyard and Tyler was laying in the grass...........in the pouring rain. With Uncle Mark and his cousins standing over him. I figured he got hit in the eye but didn't think too much about it. But..... for Uncle Mark to be standing over him I thought it "could" be bad. Usually he would say "you're ok............get up and let's play some ball".......
Well it was obviously worse then we thought........
It's a shiner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (disclaimer...............graphic material to follow........especially the last pic).
We iced it and gave him Tylenol to keep the swelling down. And by the time we got home I called Urgent Care.........and of coarse they were closed................
Who gets hurt during office hours? Always a weekend, holiday or night time.!

So to reassure myself I was doing all I could do.........I texted my cousin Angela (who is a baby nurse), my sister Donna (who is a mom of 2 boys who always seem to be getting hurt), and texted my mom. (who raised 65 kids in her life...she did in-home daycare for 30 years!) So I just kept and eye on him. Didn't sleep. And worried about him all night. (but I kept it cool around him and catered to his every whim!)

Things like vision impairment make me a little nervous. This is what he looked like this morning. Lots of broken blood vessels in his eyeball. We decided to see if we could get him into the doctor today. (Clem, thanks for suggesting the EYE Dr. over our medical doctor!). Better to be safe than sorry. He has an appt today at 2:45.........

Probably gonna be black and blue for awhile. The chicks will dig it. He will have to go to school tomorrow and explain the shiner! Poor kid...............like I said.............."it's all fun and games until someone gets a black eye!"

"PROM..........2011"

Oh.........the BIG event of the school year. PROM........... JR/SR prom......... The hair, the dress, the nails, the jewelry, the makeup, the flowers, dinner, pictures...............(alot of time, money and effort for MOM!) I did 4 girls hair for prom today. Started at 11:00 am. And had to get back to the house to get my daughters hair done! I'm so tired...........was a very long day..................but everyone turned out gorgeous!

And Nicole was so gorgeous beyond words............hair was perfect.............and she was excited!

And she HATES to admit how much we look alike!

She gets tired of me taking pictures...........until "the boy" gets here.....hahaaaaa.....then she is happy. (but still doesn't want me to take pictures)

So happy the weather was nice for some outside pictures.........(she looks so beautiful)

This shot scares me a little............slightly resembles a wedding photo!

And I love that she wore hot pink flip flops! Wanted to be comfortable! That's my girl......

Cutest couple ever............

Her and her friend Raelynn (my future daughter-in-law) got ready together all day at the house (while I was at work doing prom hair!) Had a great day and they look amazing.

My girl Rae...................(hair by Missy Mary)

Things are different since I was in high school. Now all the kids go to someones house (thanks goodness it wasn't mine) to take group pics and all go to dinner and prom together. So I got to see alot of the kids before they left. Was really cute and glad I went out and took some pictures with her and her friends. Jason's mom rode with me and I can't wait to see the pics from her camera. She is an amazing photographer......

All the kids.............

(I always take a pic of her corsage).....

And they are off......................Nicole was done with me taking pics so she got in the car quickly.....

(Jason had a clever way of asking her to the prom. But Nicole didn't take any pics for me! He wrote on her car windows with window marker asking her to Prom and filled the entire inside of her car with helium ballons at school). The part I DON'T like is that the prom is out of town. So they all drive to Salem for dinner and then the prom is at the Grand Ballroom in Salem.............After I got everyone beautiful and on their way...........I told LeRoy we were going out to dinner! I needed a glass of wine ASAP....and now I sit here.................

And hope they are all having fun..............and that they all make good choices...........and that they all make it home safely............

'walk it out..........."

I do weird things sometimes.......... I DROVE to Lebanon...........................to go on a walk.............hahahaha But I got to visit with my sister and my nephew...........so it was all good!!!! We walked 3 1/2 miles and somehow avoided the rain! yay! Good walk...........felt good................nice to visit with my sis............(and Gunner!). He was making fun of us and HE is the one that tripped and almost fell down!!!! hahahaaa

(cell phone pics are not the most flattering.......................I need some touch up work!!!!!! And it was cold and I should have taken a pic BEFORE we walked while we were still all fresh!)

"Family Road Trip-Spring Break 2011"

6 states in 8 days!!!!!!!!! 2500 miles and 42 hours in the car! We covered ALOT of ground. Saw lot of scenery. Watched lots of movies in the car. Tyler and I watched our theme movie for the entire trip "Vacation!". Griswold style...................... We let Nicole drive thru Boise ID. I'm not sure what we were thinking because it was rush hour, tons of construction, semi-trucks everywhere. I just turned up my volume and didn't look out the window. I was hoping this wasn't the last time you would see me alive!!!! lol

15 hours to get to Salt Lake City.............(our entire trip we drove thru Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, California, Nevada). We had alot of time in the car.................I was prepared (like usual!) and when we stopped for gas I made everyone bagels with cream cheese, fruit, coffee and juice.

Back on the road! And my awesome sister Donna made me a fab new quilt and I begged her to finish it before our trip. Well.............she thought we were leaving Saturday............ummmm no.....Friday! So she was awesome and finished it late Thursday night and Nicole drove me over to Lebanon to get it for our roadtrip!(Nicole had to drive me cause I had already started vacation with a little wine and was in no shape to drive and needed to finish packing!) Nicole washed it for me and the morning we left it was really cold out so she put it in the drier and took it out warm for the car! Thanks awesome sister and awesome daughter!

So I decided since we had so much time in the car.............I would polish my toes (bright pink!). Who does that? Who brings nail polish in the car? I didnt do the best job, but better than no polish at all! It will eventually wear off my skin right? hahaaa.....I needed to organize my purse..........lots of time for that! And surprisingly enough.......the kids got along GREAT! in the backseat. Being nice to each other and sharing. Who are these kids are where are mine? At one time (lot of time to think too) I thought it would be funny if LeRoy and I got in the backseat and took a nap and let Nicole drive and Tyler sit up front. We would probably have ended up in Canada or something. Idaho was kinda smelly and icky. Are we there yet??

We finally arrived at our friends Mike and Angie! Thanks so much "Hotel Lindquist" for the hospitality! They were wonderful and so gracious to open up their home to us! And gave us a tour of their city. We went to the Mormon Temple. Downtown SLC on the TRAX, and awesome outdoor shopping mall. (Nicole and I could have spent lots more time and money there! I got a really cute pair of blingy jeans!) And Lady Gaga was having a concert at the Arena that night so we saw lot of crazy people walking around downtown. Guys in leather shorts and fishnet stockings. The weirdos were out! Very entertaining! (and then Lady Gaga followed us to Vegas cause we saw she was there the same time we were too!)

Mike, Angie, Devin and Dillion! Thanks for such a great visit!(and Mike...........thanks for putting hot pink tips in your hair just for me..........I loved it!)

We went up to Park City, UT. (looks much different with snow, than last summer when I was there and it was HOT!) Lots of snow. We walked thru all the shops and showed the kids the sites. When up to the ski area. So beautiful. Showed them where alot of the venues were for the 2002 Olympics were held.

We managed to find candy shops everywhere we went! Doesn't Tyler look sweet? hahahaaaa

Salt Lake City is surrounded by mountains. Such a beautiful place. Nicole loved the big city and wants to move there!

Tyler had so much fun playing with Devin and Dillon. We didn't see much of them for 3 days. (they have a game room with video games..................little boys dream.............) We had lots of snow in Park City.

And for anyone thinking that SLC is strictly made up of strict mormons??????? WRONG! hahahahahahahaaa...............have some hilarious stories but cannot post them on my blog. Not appropriate and definatley not family oriented. My friend Sheila from CO knows what I'm talking about. We were texting the entire time and I'm still laughing OUT LOUD at those texts.

And I also stalked my sister Donna the entire trip. (I can fill you in on the "conservative-little-mormon-town" if you want a good laugh!)

We were going to stop at Zion National Park on the way to Vegas. Well.....................when we got there it was snowing. Blizzard! No visibility so we couldn't see anything so we kept on going..................

Somewhere in Arizona!!!!!!!!!!!!! We saw sunshine!

Are we there yet?