August Catch Up Part Two

 Aren't these two cute?  I love how fiery their hair gets in the sunshine.  We had a busy end of the month trying to squeeze in every bit of sunshine and summer fun we could.  Mommy started feeling some denial that Lily was actually going to start kindergarten.  It was hard to face the facts.

For a distraction we went to Rexburg one afternoon.  Our credit union opened a new branch in town.  They were giving away balloons and free frozen hot chocolate.  Tommy was a big fan of the frozen chocolate.  He finished Mommy's cup and Annie's cup.

Nights of jumping on the trampoline will soon be over.  It is getting really chilly at night already.

 We have another lemon lover.  I made a few batches of lemon zucchini bread to give away and Tommy was waiting right at my feet to suck the lemons.  Silly boy.

We've been having problems with sharing and taking turns lately.  Daddy planned a fun Family Home Evening trip to the snow shack for snow cones and a lesson on loving others.  Unfortunately it got really windy and cold so we had to squeeze into the car for our lesson - and to avoid freezing.  Is summer gone already?

Tommy has figured out the ladder on the bunk beds.  He will climb all the way to the top if we don't catch him first.  Now we have to put up the ladder during the day to keep him safe.

To help Lily adjust to school, I started taking the kids to the playground on her school grounds every day.  We've all enjoyed getting to play there together.  Annie loves to dress up - even just to go to the park.

We met Brady and Madison in Rexburg for a free Celebrate Youth carnival.  The Madison County school district puts on the carnival before the first day of school.  It was huge.  There were dozens of free games to play, bouncy houses, free sack lunches and other free foods, and the kids each got a story book plus lots of other little prizes.  It was an amazing community event.

One highlight for the kids was face painting.  Tommy watched his sisters do it and decided he wanted to try.  He bravely climbed up in the chair and sat still while they put a smiling sunshine on his cheek.  All of them were sad when the paints washed off in the bath tub that night.

I'm so glad Brady and Madison could come and play with us.  It would have been too hard to keep track of all three kids by myself in all that commotion.  This will be a new annual tradition for us.  It was such an amazing family event.

And that catches us up for August.  So much has happened already in September.  Much more to come soon!

Top of Utah Half Marathon

I ran my first half marathon!  Actually, my knee got so inflamed after six miles I could hardly walk and finished the race hobbling across the finish line 45 minutes later than I had planned to finish.  It was a discouraging race experience.  But I finished, and that's more than a lot of people ever do.  I'm still not sure if I'll try another half marathon, but I'm glad I finished the course and pushed myself to try something hard. 

Here I am before the race....nervous out of my mind.  Seriously.....I was crazy with anxiety for days leading up to the race.  I was up before 5:00 a.m. to board the buses that took us to the starting line.  It was a cold, wet morning.  I felt so alone waiting at the starting line.  It was a relief to finally hear the starting gun and get moving.  The first four miles felt great.  I was keeping a good pace and enjoying the course.  But close to six miles my knee started having shooting pains with every stride.  When I slowed to a walk it felt much better.  I started walking, hoping it would go away, and decided to stop for a potty break.  The potty line was a 15 minute wait and the next potty was three miles away.  So I just waited.  While I stood there, my leg stiffened up and was painful.  I was happy to finally get moving again and tried to run.  The sharp shooting pain came back.  I started walking and started feeling sorry for myself.

Here's my cheering section.  I was ready to give up around mile 8, but I knew they were waiting for me and it kept me going to the end.  I wanted my children to see me finish what I had started - what they had seen me train for over the past four months.  The aid and medic cars kept asking me if I wanted to quit and ride to the finish.  I must have looked pathetic hobbling along through miles 9...10...11...12......  I'm not going to lie.  I felt pathetic.  I felt angry.  I felt embarrassed.  During all my training, I had a vision in my mind of crossing the finish line victoriously.  I dreamed about running across the finish into Jeremy's arms knowing I had given my all to the race. 

Lily and Annie were so excited to see me approach the finish and complete the race with me.  Lily loved hearing the cheers from the crowd as we approached the finish line.  I was just trying to hide my disappointment and pain and put on a smile for her.  Once again, this was not how it was supposed to be.

I was so upset that my body did allow me to perform the way I had trained it to.  I had been excited to prove to myself and others that I could run this race.  Having to walk it - and walk it very slowly - was so discouraging.  I felt like a failure when I crossed the line.  All that training for nothing because of a sore knee.

 We made it to a restaurant for lunch.  And then we had to go back home.  I was so exhausted.  I slept almost the entire two hour drive home.  When we got back, a few neighbors stopped by to ask how it went.  One of Lily's friends saw my medal and asked me if I won the race.  I really didn't feel up to talking about it.  Lily piped up and said "My mommy did the best she could and went really far today.  Do you know how far 13 miles is?  It's really far.  She finished her race and that makes her a winner!"  I wanted to cry.  The race did not go at all how I had planned, but I did finish it and in the eyes of my little girl I was a winner.

So here's me in my race shirt and medal.  I didn't win the race.  I didn't run the entire course.  But I finished it.  And if my kids learn to finish what they start from my example, I will be a proud mom!

Hall Cabin Summer Trip

One tradition we look forward to is our annual family vacation to the Hall cabin.  This year we had three of the five Hall boys at the cabin with Grammy and Grampy.  We missed Josh and Justin, but we were glad to spend a little while with Jake and Jared and their families.

It feels like all we've done this summer is drive.  I'm amazed the kids are willing to get in the car anymore.  Our drive from Washington to the cabin was long, but the kids were good.  Tommy started getting grumpy near Riggins - he was carsick.  We made a stop to clean him up and pushed through to the cabin.

Lily loves seeing her cousin Sofie.  It is sweet to see them play together.  But Annie is still so young that she can't quite keep up and she get frustrated that she's left in the dust.  Hopefully when she is older she'll be able to tag-along with the big girls.

On Sunday night, Uncle Jared smoked ribs for dinner.  They were amazing!  Tommy ate as much as he could with his six little teeth.  He loved those ribs and tried his hardest to eat them.

We came home from church on Sunday and found two dead birds on the deck.  While we were gone they must have flown into the cabin windows and died.  Isaac propped them up so look alive and tired to play a trick on the younger cousins. Gross!

We did a fun family tree activity.  The girls liked making their own trees and learning what the names of their great-grandparents were.

Grammy had a super cool big book about bugs that Lily took an interest in.  After learning all about the bugs with Grammy, Lily sat down with Annie and shared her new knowledge.

On Monday everyone went river rafting.  Mommy is still nervous about our kids going on the river, so we opted to stay at the cabin and relax.  We had a fun picnic lunch and then swam and played on the beach most of the day.  Tommy couldn't get enough of the water.  Lily was so brave and swam farther out than she ever has before.  Annie was more interested in posing for the camera.

After a day of sunshine and swimming we were ready to cool off.  I took the kids to get ice cream at a local gas station.  Sweet summer treats....did any ice cream make it to their mouths?

 Annie and Tommy got to take short four-wheel rides with Daddy.  Annie loved it.  She has a need for speed.  Tommy prefers to do his own driving and had more fun scooting his little wiggle car around the cabin deck over....and over....and over......and over.....again!

Sofie gave the girls a fishing lesson.  But Lily wasn't really in the mood after falling down into some sharp rocks and scratching up her knee.

 I asked the kids what their favorite parts of the cabin trip were: Lily said playing with Sofie and Jasmine and riding in the paddle boat with Daddy, I'm pretty sure Tommy would say playing at the beach and swimming, Annie said playing with Sofie and picking flowers with Aunt Diana.

Jeremy had fun rafting and going shooting.  I was happy to have such a long vacation, get to read a good book, play games with our family, and enjoy the mountains.  Thank you for the memories Grammy and Grampy.

And back in the car we went for the long drive home.  We got hungry for dinner and stopped in Burley to pick up a pizza.  Just after ordering and paying for our food, a summer storm knocked out  the power.  We sat for a few minutes and ate our pizza, then we decided to get on the road and try to get ahead of the storm.  We saw some amazing lightning while driving.  And about a half hour after getting home, the storm arrived in Rigby.  We were thankful for a safe drive and to be home again.

And that ends our summer travels for 2014.  We're ready to stay home and get ready for school to begin!