Saint George Marathon

This summer I spent many hours a week running and training and resting and stretching. I even spent some time taking funny random photos with my great running pals during long weekend runs. All of this time and energy was a lead up to this weekend... my first full marathon.

 We got out of bed at 4am to get ready and head to the bus for our ride to the top of the race course. It was a very cold and windy 25 degrees. This is the first time that I ever used a bag drop so that I could bundle up until the race start. It was truly freezing and we spent our hour and 10 minute wait bundled in mylar blankets and trying to find a closer spot by the campfires.

 My wonderful friends Caryn and Shelby were and inspiration to me in signing up for this race in the first place, and they gave me great advice and great company all through the training. They have each run multiple marathons and in some very fast and impressive times, so I enjoyed my time with them at the start line. Once the race started, I stayed with them for the first mile and then got into my pace and saw them again after the race was over.

 The course that this race runs was so beautiful and so typical of Southern Utah. It was a course with a lot of ups and downs and was so well organized and supported. There were many signs that people had placed on the mileposts through the race. My favorites were-

Mile 2.5- "You've got this. Love- Your Family"

Mile 17 (right before a large hill)- "Run, You Fools! -Gandolf"

Mile 20- "I am so proud of you, You Random Stranger."

The best surprise of the whole race was in the last mile, as the crowds were thick and cheering, I was running down the middle and searching the sides of the road for Caleb and my boys, very ready to spot a familiar face to send me to the finish line. My glance settled on my little neice, Sara, the platinum blonde, who was sitting on shoulders next to Wyatt. Since I did not expect to see her it took me a moment to register that she was really there, just as I saw Caleb and my boys, I recognized Mark my brother in-law. Then I heard a loud booming voice yell "Go Marci!" And saw Alan and Schatzy and all of my wonderful hoard of nieces and nephews and my own boys cheering and yelling. I definetely teared up at the sight of all of my wonderful family, and finished with whatever I had left. 

So grateful for the love and support of all of my family and friends, and for these wonderful sisters for dragging their families such a long ways to watch me finish this race. Even though I didn't get a picture with Caleb and the boys, they have done so much all year to make this race possible and I love them for it.

 During my training I injured my knees from overuse, and hip problems and had a lot of help getting through the remainder of my training and being able to know I could go the distance. I struggled with my knee pain from mile 10 until the finish, but was able to fall back on all of the great advice and strength to know I could reach my goal. Despite the pain, I enjoyed this course and that was my biggest goal for that day. I finished in 4 hours and 28 minutes, and I can honestly say that aside from the first miles from 10-12 when I had to decide how I was going to deal with the pain in my knees, I didn't have any moments when I felt like I wouldn't reach the finish. It was both a painful and a positive experience. And I was so happy to finish and see these two wonderful girls and find out that they too had a great race day. I ended my day feeling exhausted and so blessed.

Saint George Weekend

Souther Utah in the fall is the greatest. The weather is always perfect, and the views of the red rock are amazing. We spent a long weekend in St George with some great friends and had the best time. We found a nice big condo and were able to stay with two other families. The first day we did some exploring and climbing around on rocks in Snow Canyon State Park with the Willardsens. There is nothing that a big group of kids love more than climbing around on endless rock formations.

 I had to convince Caryn to let me take this picture, but she looks amazing.

 It was hard to slow these boys down, and they all came back with pockets stuffed full of rocks.

 Josh and Henry- great friends since birth. They both loved getting to spend this long weekend together.

 Amazing view and my wonderful men- little and big. Love it.

 I had to climb over and try and help some kids down from those crazy rocks.

 Finn always loves being outside, but hasn't quite mastered walking well enough to become a pro hiker.  You can see in his eyes how much he wants to.

 It wasn't super warm, but we still got to do a little swimming.

And the kids all got to run a 1-mile fun run. It turned out to be very crowded, so it may not have been the race they all imagined, but still a good time.

 Wyatt and Nash were the only ones that ran the 200 meters, and they thought that was super great too.

 Finn enjoying a little walk back from the playground.

 Looking forward to doing this again sometime. Such a great adventure and great company.

We Love the Loos

Our amazing friends, Brandt and Rena headed back to a life in Hawaii after 7 great years of hanging with us in Utah. We were so sad to see them go, and we spent the last two weeks before their move having some great fun.

Back when Gavin was our only child we would convince Brandt to play with him and our boys have been holding Brandt prisoner ever since. They love wrestling and playing legos, or Wii, or anything they can think of with Brandt. We did get them all to pose for an all boy photo the morning before they left town. Wyatt isn't showing his love in the photo, but he is one of the biggest fans of Brandt and Rena.

We also had a little goodbye party at the Willardsen's house. It was great to spend time and reminisce with all of our old pals that still reside in Utah... even though now there is one less.

Rena and I have worked together for over 5 years. Our original working crew has moved on, but some great girls have joined the team and we have always loved sharing our experiences with Anne. We had a great lunch to send her back to paradise, and there were a few tears shed after our great pose in this picture.

I have loved every minute of getting to spend time with this little guy who blessed Rena to become the amazing and beautiful Mom that she is. Missing those chubby cheeks already, and already looking for an excuse to head to Hawaii to see them.

Gavin also got to fulfill his childhood dream of having a lemonade stand, in conjunction with the Loo's yard sale at our house. It was short lived, but a great time, and Brandt was their most thirsty and generous customer.

We don't need too many physical things to help keep our memories alive, but there is one thing that the boys are obsessed with that Brandt left behind... The big comfy recliner. You can almost always find at least one boy in my house sitting in this things and loving it. 

Aunt Bridgett at the Zoo

We had a great 10 day visit from Aunt Bridgett. We tried to keep her busy and I think we succeeded. 

During her visit we took a fun trip to the zoo after school one day. It was a perfect day and the zoo was almost empty. We thoroughly enjoyed it, and we had a few good laughs posing with all of the zoo props.

It is possible that someone did something kind of gross right before this picture was taken and you can tell from Bridgett's face who it was.

Just the Little Brothers at Home

With the older boys gone all day, I get a lot more time to spend with my two little sillies. They keep things exciting for sure. The trouble these two can cause is pretty impressive, most of the time they have a lot of fun together. Just a few shots of some of their crazy antics lately.

Finn eating goldfish crackers with a fork.

I love when they sit and chat with each other, even though it is usually Wyatt trying to talk Finn into something.

Enjoying a nice day in the backyard.

Wyatt is definetely in a costume phase. Nothing like a batman sighting at the park.

Found some of his Dad's tools and was playing very quietly alone with them, until he was discovered.

Finn has also discovered how to open the front door and has been discovered in the act of escaping several times. He is always so proud of himself.

Wyatt is also learning to dress himself... and undress. This has resulted in several random moments of him without a shirt... like at Gavin's soccer game when it was only 70 degrees, but he said he was just too hot and sweaty. He was still wearing his jogging pants though.

Just a cute dressed up little man.

And these two can often be found just like these, being hauled around in the stroller. They do a good job of keeping each other company.