RagnarDelSol 2010

I have to say, this Ragnar was a lot of fun. Ragnars are guaranteed fun and this one lived up to its expectations. Courtney and Brett did a great job putting together and organizing an all girls team and all guys team

And I lucked out with an AWESOME van...

All 5 of the girls in Van 2 were just such a delight to be with! I only knew 2 of them before the race and grew to love all of them by the end.

There was plenty of this going on...
And there was maybe some occasional laughing...
And of course plenty of this...whatever this is... :)
This was meeting up with Van 1 at a major exchange...

Paige from van 2..
was handing off to Aryn from van 1
There were a few of us who's husbands were on the guys teams and it was so much fun to meet up with them! One husband had the great idea to run with his wife on her last leg and the others agreed to it...SUCH A GREAT IDEA! Sweet husbands. It ended up being a life saver for me...
The fearless leaders..

nicest couple..

Chris & I handing off to Richard & Becky...

Post-hardest run of my life...thank you Chris for dealing with my emotional break down and rewarding me with a diet coke...:)

And a video for your viewing pleasure done by the lovely Reachel Bagley.

CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE....

London's Run

My friend Adell drove out with us so Logan and Roan could come later and not wait so long at the finish line. This was Adell's first half marathon...she of course, rocked it :)Yes, this picture should be embarrassing and I shouldn't post it. But I want to remember how I felt at the end...to remind me that a full marathon just might not be possible...sad. Try not to look at my face and notice how pretty those mountains are in the background! It was a beautiful morning to be out running for such a great cause.

Logan had Roan attached like so, and was riding his bike along the course to see Adell. It had to be the cutest thing I've ever seen(sorry Logan..it was cute) Roan loved it!

Chris and I at the finish line :)

All and all, a fun morning!

Oh and pops drove out with us. I guess this is some of what he did to entertain himself while we ran :) Next year pops...you WILL run!

Madison's Concert

So last week Karie invited me to Madison's concert. Madison is my cute 12yr old niece. It was at Highland Highschool and is held to get all the 6th graders excited about going into Junior High and continuing with orchestra. 6th graders from 3 different elementary schools gathered at the highschool that day to learn their songs. And they order pizza for dinner. It's a fun long day for those 6th graders! They did such a good job! That's Maddy in the center with the yellow sweater. She was first chair that night and first chair gets to make sure everyone is in tune. We ended the night with Ocean Blue. Good job Maddy!

Running buddies

So the other weekend, I convinced Hillary to ride along side while I ran. With Hills, came cute little Tag, Carson, Mykee & Sage! I always enjoy good company on a long run. Mykee and Sage thought they were going to die by mile 4. I think I need to toughen them up!!

Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve is usually spent at the Hornes. Which is always fun. This year, we drove around in the back of our truck with Q.T. hot chocolate & looked at Christmas lights. Christmas morning, Annie Chris and I woke up at the butt crack of dawn to make it out to the Stabler's in Buckeye to see the kiddos open presents. It was well worth it! Little kids are just the cutest xmas morning.

Sweet Breckyn and Tatum

Hank, Tatum, Jack, Breckyn
Annie & I bundling up with whatever we could find for the truck ride
Literally...it was whatever we could find!! HAHA, love you Natty & Austy

Christmas morning at the Stablers...Isn't Rex the cutest!

Hope everyone had the bestest Christmas and hopefully you'll have the bestest New Year!!

And they're off.....

My Parents entered the MTC Monday morning. Nerves and all! I'm so excited for them. They'll be at the MTC for just a short week and then they drive to Lethbridge, Canada this weekend. The area they'll be living in consists of 5 single adult wards. I'm almost positive they're going to love it!

Christmas Eve. The Keg. Chris & me with my Mom & Dad.

MoTab Concert & Temple Square

Chris & I visited UT to go to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas concert. For all of you who haven't been, it is quite the popular event. This year's guest singer was Natalie Cole. She had the most beautiful voice. This was our 3rd time attending and I hope to make it a yearly tradition. Hopefully one of these years, they'll bring back Sissel...she was the Guest Singer the first year we went and no one has lived up to her standards, in my opinion. We stayed with Natty & Austin in Provo and were able to visit all our favorite spots. It's always a fun time with those two!

Red Iguana.

Temple Square.

Temple Square after the concert.

Thanksgiving 2009

Started the day off w/ the Mesa Turkey Trot. I love this tradition. I always run into friends, it's like a reunion! As you can see, this is a Pre-Race picture...notice Austin's enthusiasm. He was pumped to run with me. A little nervous after hearing horror stories of me as a running buddy from Annie and Pops, but nonetheless, EXCITED! Skull cap and all!

Post-Race w/ the Turkey! Natty and Pops ran the 2miler. I let Austin walk a few times(which he was very appreciative of) but somehow, he was still dry-heaving at the finish line. I couldn't help but laugh. hahaha! Good job Austy! And of course, Chris did a good job too :)

We rushed home to finish my rolls...they weren't beauties but were definitely edible!! This was stressful for me...I don't bake much. I was seriously debating just doing the frozen Rhodes Rolls up until the night before. But this was fun!

After we ate, my sister n-law Alisha(Here in Green) organized a game for all of us. The Amazing Race. So much fun Alisha! She had our family split into 3 teams. Chris was the captain of the Skull Team.

Ryan was the Captain of the Orange Team. (If you couldn't come to this conclusion, Taggert was riding his scooter and Ryan knew better then to rip him away from it for a picture. So he just grabbed him on the scooter! Tag was obviously fine with that)
*And I didn't get a picture of the 3rd team.

crossing Brown....uh, scary! We were pulling the babies in wagons!

Every team member had to participate, so here's Ryan helping Tag in the sack relay

Marley competing against her brothers, Cash & Brogan

Good job Marley!

The second event was pushing these little pumpkins across the field w/ sticks.

And then it was back to my parents for a balloon popping contest.
This activity kept everyone entertained! Even the babies enjoyed watching!

We ended Thanksgiving w/ a trip to Chandler Fashion Center just to witness the madness!

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

a bitter/sweet day...

A week and a half ago I did invitro with 2 of my frozen embryos. Yes, frozen. Isn't that so neat that they can thaw embryos and that the little microscopic embryos actually survive the thawing process!? Amazing! So for the past couple of weeks, we've been praying A LOT. And I believe my sweet family & friends have also been praying...at least I have felt their prayers...

So this morning I went in for blood work. A regular pregnancy test wouldn't work. The reason it wouldn't work is because I've been taking way too many drugs/hormones that it would definitely give me a false positive. Anyway, I waited...and waited...and waited. Until finally they called at 3:30. I didn't want them calling my work and telling me and then the next minute me having to help a patient! So they left a message on my cell phone. So as I was walking out to my car, getting ready to listen to the message, nerves and all! I hear the dreaded words...'I'm sorry to tell you....' I actually listened to the message a couple more times, not sure why?! Then I shedded a few tears. No sobbing this time, which is improvement! Then called Chris. He was sad. We were somber. Then I told him, "You know what? We have so much to be grateful for!" Of course I was still disappointed, but I truly believed what I had just said.

I then sent the mass text to family & some friends that I knew were anxiously awaiting...prob just as anxiously as I was... and I was uplifted. I am so grateful for our wonderful family & friends and their sweet words. THANK YOU. It helped.

So, you know the Bitter. Here's the Sweet. My prayers were answered. I was truly comforted. My testimony has grown.

My brother and sister-n-law heart attacked us tonight w/ yummy Bosa Donuts. How cute is that?! Thank you Spencer & Alisha :)