Our Yard

I just wanted to post these pictures of our yard because for the last week I have worked my butt off weeding all the flower beds!!
Last year after we put in the curbing Rich got tons of bushes and trees and some flowers from the nursery where he helps out. I didn't take a picture of the yard last year after it was all planted and looking pretty so I wanted to make sure and get a spring shot and then I am going to try to remember to take some pictures in the summer when the flowers are in bloom and looking pretty!!! The trees have already grown quite a bit since they were planted and I love watching the progress!

I don't love yard work but it is very rewarding to see all the beautiful new life that appears in the springtime!!!

Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon

It was a good thing that we got a hotel room in Lehi because 7am comes too early!! We quietly got ready and left the kids asleep in the room. We jogged over to the starting line and waited for the race to begin!

The sun was shining and I knew it was going to be a beautiful day for a run!! Rich used my earphones and didn't put them back in the van so I was without music, that's OK I think it helped me keep a better pace!

The course was awesome, we ran through the gardens at Thanksgiving Point and along the Golf course and the Jordan River. There were some uphills and downhills and the aid stations were spaced well and always had plenty of re-fueling!! I averaged 10 minute miles and that is a good pace for me. I hope to get faster and maybe one of these days I will finish in under 2 hours!!!

Rich of course was the first one to finish so he was in charge of going back to the room to get the kids and bring them back. I thought they would be there by the time I crossed the finish line but I didn't see them! I was a little disappointed, it is always good to see friendly faces when you are done running 13.1 miles!!
Alexa took this shot of Rich and I while Monica was...
getting a relaxing massage!! She finished 2nd and got in line, by the time I was done I didn't want to wait in the line, and I was feeling pretty good!!! They had tons of food and drinks at the finish line (which is a good thing because I have done races that have run out of water and that is terrible)!! I think I drank like 4 or 5 cartons of chocolate milk!!!
Max was mad that we "left him" because he wanted to race with us. He had to wear my medal because he thought it was so cool!
Alexa was getting pretty bored waiting for the awards and raffle, she would have been happier back at the hotel watching TV.

Here are the official results for the three of us:

Rich finished 8th overall in 1 hour and 28 minutes
Monica was 229th overall in 2 hours and 3 minutes
Angela was 366th overall in 2 hours 14 minutes (PR)

There were a total of 583 finishers in the 1st annual Thanksgiving Point Half Marathon!
Rich was 1st in his age group and got a little trophy and a Road ID gift certificate! We had a great morning and I will for sure want to run this race again next year!!!

EXPO

Janean and Carrie both had booth's at the Women's Expo this year. I helped Carrie in hers and Alexa and Paige were "models" for Janean. They missed school for this event and truly acted like "diva's" all day!!!
The first fashion show was at 2pm and they were both excited to go up on stage and strut their stuff!! They actually pretty much just stood there, but they looked fantastic!!!

I took them to lunch after the first show, guess what they picked?? McDonald's, not very "model like" but that is OK by me!!!

The last show was at 6pm and this time they knew what to expect! They had a good time being models for the day and I had fun watching them and walking around the expo!!

Photo Shoot, 2 Beautiful Girls

Ok so this post is obviously about the photos!!! My sister Melanie has been taking some photography classes and she had some homework so after we ate she took the girls out for a photo op. The weather wasn't the best, really windy and then too bright (McKenzie had a hard time opening her eyes)!! I LOVE the way these turned out, I am sure Mel is a great photographer but with beauties like these two...how can you not get good results???
ENJOY!!

Plastic Bag KITES!!!

Someone came up with a great idea...tying yarn to old Wal Mart bags and flying them like kites!!! Well it WORKED and I think it was even better than real kites!! The kids had SO MUCH FUN!!!
It started out with Alex and Brooklyn and Brinlie and when all the other kids saw them having all that fun, they all needed one too!! It was fun to watch them outside running around in the wind and not having a care in the world!! At least the wind is good for something!!!

Harper's Blessing

Today we went to the blessing of Harper Reed Summers. Steve gave her a wonderful blessing and the meeting was really good. We all headed to their home for lunch after. It was a FULL house!!! We ate and ate and it was all SO yummy!!

All these pictures were taken by Melanie, she is getting really good and I am quite jealous!! Harper was really happy to have all her family there to celebrate her day but she was getting pretty mad at all the pictures being taken of her!!!
We stayed all day and so lots of people ended up taking naps. Alexa was great at putting all the babies to sleep. Korver snuggled right up and was out!!
Max and Owen and Lilly and Haley had a great time in Harper's room reading her books and putting together puzzles!!!

It was a great day and we are so glad to have Harper in the family!!

Its Egg Time!!

The following are photos of the great time the kids had coloring the eggs!!! Max and Owen were loving it and Max couldn't get enough, as soon as he put his egg in a color he was asking for another one!!







I think my mom boiled something like 8 dozen eggs...WOW!! She always wants to make sure everyone gets a turn making as many as they want!!





Halfway through the eggs we got a surprise knock on the door...it was cousin Jeremy and his wife Shannon from Washington!! They stopped on their way through to Arizona and Vegas. I haven't seen him since Grandpa's funeral so it was a great surprise!!!
They are going to spend a couple nights here and then get back on the road!!

Monica pretty much frosted all the sugar cookies by herself and so it was time for the marshmellow eggs!
All the kids wanted to help and there were alot of fingers in the pan. I should have taken a picture of the finished product...once they were covered in chocolate, oops. They were SO DELICIOUS!!!

Cougar Cub Choir

Alex has been going to Cougar Cub Choir every Wednesday after school for the past few months. He has had a really fun time learning new songs and making new friends!
They put on a performance yesterday for a nursing home and then today they did an assembly for the whole school and then they had a show tonight for the families.
They did a terrific job and Alex had a little part in the program that was really cute! Here is Alex with his certificate of completion and his new friend Sydney.