Running the HALF!

Wow.  Have you ever done anything really hard??  I mean, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HARD?  This summer my friends and I decided to take on a Half Marathon.  Several times we asked ourselves..."What are we thinking? Have we truly lost it this time?"  But then we'd push on, and continue to train, secretely hoping the day of the race would never come, but of course it did. 

July 30, 2011,

a day I'll never forget. Three of my friends ran this same half marathon on June 25th, and we cheered them on to victory.  We thought, "well, they didn't die, maybe we can do it too..."

Peer pressure is a terrible thing!! 

 No I didn't die, but I think I may have come close...that "light" we're told we walk towards when we die, seemed awfully close on mile 12...:)   Truly I had to dig deep for this, glad I did it, but am grateful it's over. 

The best part was turning the corner to the High School and seeing my family and friends all cheering us on.  My kids made this cute sign. Karl was an unbelievable support to me.  He'd text me after every long run while training, and ask how it went, always telling me how proud he is of me.  Definitely my biggest fan!!

This is a pic of my friends completing the Half in June.  We've all been running together for several years, but just a few miles a few days a week, nothing big until this summer.  I love these women, they are truly my sisters!

Our turn.  We may be wearing smiles, but really we just want to find the softest space of grass, and die. Would you believe we have 32 children between all of us?  Amazing moms!

The 4th Celebrations

Our summer is going super fast, how about for you?  We always look forward to lots of family fun at the 4th of July.  Here are some of our highlights:

We had our annual family sleepover at our house, and enjoyed a yummy breakfast.

We set up some games in our back yard, and we adults just watched and relaxed as the kids played.

We rented some huge slip n slides from a home near this park with big hills.  It was a total blast, until...Taylor's toe was ripped and we ended up at the Insta Care...never a dull moment!

Ashlyn saved up her money, literally all year, to pay for her ticket to the Stadium of Fire again this year.  It's kind of our Mom-daughter annual date night.  We liked Carrie Underwood better last year, but Brad Paisley and David Archuleta were awesome too.

Monday morning, my boys, Aaron and I ran in the Freedom run 10K.  It was super fun to run with my boys, I couldn't be prouder! 

The Provo parade is always tons of fun with cousins.  Aaron and his family are moving to Oregon this month, so this will be the last summer we're all together.

After the parade we enjoyed a KFC picnic at the park.  All my favorite people in one spot...so fun!!

I love, love, love these little girls! My home has replaced little ones with teenagers, and sometimes I just miss the sweet personalites of little babies and toddlers, so I get my fill in when I can!!