Cousin Matt's Wedding and the Pink Series Half Marathon

 My cousin Matt Carlson got married at the beginning of October. He and his family are from California but his wife is from Bountiful, so they decided to get married in the Salt Lake Temple. Many people from my Dad's family came in from California for the wedding. It was such a treat to see them all. It was such a treat that I forgot to take pictures of most of them...

Since they were staying at my parents house Kevin, the girls, and I stayed with my Grandma and Grandpa Forbes in Bountiful. I have many, many happy memories of staying the night at my grandparents home as a child. My brothers and I would stay there often when we were growing up. We got to sleep in the 'brass bed' that my grandpa was born in and my grandma had special pajamas that we would borrow. On the wall in the brass bed room was a picture of a woman, walking down the stairs, holding her baby. The reason I mention it is that the woman looks very ghostly and the picture is very haunting. As an adult I can appreciate the beauty of the picture, but as a child it frightened my brothers and I so much we would fight over who had to sleep by the 'ghost' picture. My grandma had to have a chart recording who slept where so we could switch off. Before bed we would eat Golden Grahams for a treat. She would let us stay up to watch old movies like: Rear Window, An Affair to Remember, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Anne of Green Gables, and on and on. She would read us the best children's book stories: Nattie Parsons, Just Plain Fancy, When the Relatives Came, The Napping House, No Peas for Nellie, and Blueberries for Sal.  She would make us Eggo waffles with either raspberry yogurt or applesauce. To this day my brothers and I can't eat an Eggo waffle with syrup; it has to be either yogurt or applesauce.

We slept over often but it was such a treat and my Grandma made it so special for us. It was like walking back into my childhood sleeping over at my grandparents house, but this time I had my husband and my own children and it was lovely and so much fun.

My grandparents are as patient and kind to my children, their great-grandchildren, as they were to me and my brothers. They are best people I know and I love them dearly.

At Matt's reception Isabelle got a hold my the camera and went crazy. At least someone remembered to take pictures right?

The pictures are a little should we say 'candid'? or 'unexpected'?

The day after the wedding and reception my friend Courtney and I ran the Pink Series Half Marathon in Park City. It was an all-woman race. It was snowing when the race began and continued to be stormy throughout the race until the end. It was a very beautiful route, a lot of it was on trails, which we loved.

And the best part? Besides, finishing, was the treats at the end. Since it was an all woman race, they knew how to feed us! Chocolate, baked goods, and chips and salsa; yum!

Top of Utah Marathon 2011

After being diagnosed with thyroid cancer last summer I was told I wouldn't be able to have a baby for at least a year. We were disappointed but thought, OK, we'll just put those plans on hold and it will be fine. I also thought since I couldn't have a baby, maybe I should run a marathon. I mean, why not right? Cancer one year, marathon the next, baby the next after that. Bring it.

I set out to convince my friends to run one with me because I knew I didn't want to train for a marathon by myself. It turns out a marathon is a hard sell, who knew? Thankfully my good friend Courtney thought a marathon sounded at least interesting so she started training with me and she was with me through it all.

We decided to do the Top of Utah Marathon because it's in Cache Valley, which is convenient and it is in September, so we had all summer to train for it. September in Cache Valley is beautiful and pleasant, it is just perfect. But look at those clouds on the day of our race, not so pleasant...Just before the race started the rain started to pour on us! Thankfully they had a tent for us to hide under. The rain let up just as the race was starting but don't worry it came back, and then back again, and then back again, and again!

The race starts and Hardware Ranch and winds down Blacksmith Fork Canyon and into Logan. I loved the start of the marathon. It was so relaxed and happy; people were like we have 26.2 miles, we don't need to sprint to the finish! At mile 14, right when we come out of the canyon, both of our families were there waiting to cheer us on!

They were there again at mile 20! They were so nice to cheer us on, even in the rain! While we were running Isabelle said, "What in the heck are they doing in the rain?!" We were running like crazy people, that's what.

Do you see how soaked we were? There was rain, hail, thunder and lightening; it was quite the day! We were dripping, sopping wet. We would not have been more wet if we had gone for a swim in the river! We were soaked through. It made things interesting and we kept saying, at least we aren't hot!

The finish line was a beautiful sight, can I just tell you. I was so grateful and thankful to see it!

My girls came out and ran the last little bit to the finish line with us.

Kevin and the girls have been so supportive through all of my marathon training. Kevin's gone to work late more than he would've liked so I could get in a long run. He knew how important this goal was to me and he helped me achieve it. I couldn't have done it without his love, support, and encouragement.

I couldn't have done it without Courtney! We have been with each other through it all; blisters, sore knees and feet, worn out muscles, even the infamous runner's gut! She was awesome and I'm so thankful I was able to run it with such an amazing friend.

Now I am officially a marathoner! And it feels really good.

Labor Day Weekend 2011 Island Park/San Diego

Our family doesn't usually take separate vacations, but this Labor Day weekend, we did. I went down to San Diego with my parents to surprise my Grandma on her 75th birthday. While I was gone Kevin was awesome and took the girls to visit his parents in Island Park.

I don't know but I think one of the highlights was getting ice cream at Old Faithful.

The girls adore Grandma Mary!

As an added bonus Todd and Mick and the boys were visiting at the same time. The kids are all around the same age so it works out great!

Isabelle, Lillian, Briggs, Jaygen, and Pace at the Falls.

While they were in Yellowstone I was in sunny Southern California. I was so grateful I was able to go, we had a lot of fun!

My uncle Don and I went running on the beach and we saw dolphins swimming and jumping in the waves. It was AMAZING. There was a huge pod of dolphins and they were surfing the waves. It was way better than Sea World. Then we had breakfast at a little cafe on the beach. It was such a good start to the day!

Here is my Dad with my Grandma and Grandpa, and my Uncle Don. My Grandma is an amazing cook, I mean amazing. We ate and ate and ate the best food.

We went to Sea Port Village, we ran on the beach twice, went to see 'The Help,' ate yummy Mexican Food, played games, and laughed our heads off. Oh my it was fun.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

TOU Half Marathon 2011

Courtney and I have been training to run a full marathon all summer long. After the whole cancer thing I thought, how cool would it be if the next year I ran a marathon? Cool that's what! Oh and by the way training for a marathon is super hard! Courtney has been awesome to train with! I couldn't have done it without her!

Courtney, Katie, and I ran the Top of Utah half marathon together. Running is way more fun when you run with friends.

We wanted to run the 1/2 in under 2 hours.

We ran it in 1 hr 59 mins, super close!

At the race we ran into one of our young women, Kylee. She and the SV soccer team ran one of the water stations at mile 6. She said she loved it because she felt like she was saving lives; she is hilarious. Katie, Me, and our friend Stacey. Stacey ran the race on her birthday! What a good birthday gift to yourself, plus you can go and eat whatever the heck you want.

The girls wouldn't come and stand by me, apparently I smelled a little smelly. I just ran a 1/2 marathon what do you expect ladies?! This is as close as Lillian would come and Isabelle was like, 'no way Mom.' It was so fun to have my family there at the finish line, cheering me on!

First Day of School 2011

There is my 1st grader. 1st grader! Where has the time gone? Seriously! We have a 1st grader.

An adorable 1st grader at that. She was so excited to go to school. But someone wasn't so happy to see her go...Isabelle and me! Isabelle has been a little lost without her BFF.

She was so excited to eat lunch, and have 3 recess, go to music, art, and PE. She is a 'grader' now. It is a big deal to be a 'grader'. On the second day of school Lillian rode her bike for the first time; another perk of being a grader.

Not only did Lillian have her first day but a week later Isabelle had her first day of preschool. She picked out this Hello Kitty shirt to wear. She is in LOVE with her Hello Kitty shirt. We don't do the character thing on clothing at our house, normally, but sometimes you have to give a little. I can't get in the way of true love can I?

She was so excited to go to her school after Lillian had been going to her school for over a week; so excited. I can't believe they are both so old! It's kind of nice but it's also kind of sad! It's fun to see them growing up I just can't get over how fast it has gone. I guess you have to squeeze and enjoy them while you can, because the time flies!