Family Pics

Here are some of the family pics we took of our family when we did family pictures with my very large family. Enjoy!

Christmas and New Year's

I should have taken more pictures, but I get so busy trying to take care of everything and everybody that this is what we get. We had a fun New Year's Eve party with our good friends, the Hardings. They brought over their 4 girls and their awesome bounce house (which fit perfectly in our family room) and the kids had a ball. We had some yummy Mexican food and a wonderful ice cream cake and enjoyed hanging out and watching the kids have fun.

The boys loved their New Year's hats and their noise makers that I soon after confiscated.

Again, sorry for the lack of pictures from Christmas. We had to open our presents at home and then get over to Brandon's parent's house for breakfast and then hurry over to my parent's house for their turn with our family. SO much going on this day!

Carter and his new lego set

Carter and his stocking stuffers along with his new bike.

Lincoln with his new Thomas train set. He LOVES this and plays with it everyday and carries the train around with him. He even brought it to bed with him the other night. He cracks me up.

Christmas Happenings!

We've had so much going on the past few weeks. Here are just a few of the things we've done:


We made our first snowman. I have actually NEVER made a snowman. Brandon made me come out and help.

Brandon and the boys making the base...the largest one I've ever seen

Carter on Santa's lap (Linc refused to sit on his lap. He cried so hard and would not let go of me).

Riverboat Christmas cruise on the Provo River-the boys LOVED this

All of the beautiful Christmas lights and scenes along the banks of the Provo River

This was a fun experience and one we will probably do again. We waited for a night when it wouldn't be too cold (it was 45 degrees which is pretty warm for Dec at night on the Provo River). I was surprised my kids didn't end up in the water. They were so good and enjoyed all of the lights and Santa even showed up along side our boat in a canoe.

Carter & Linc's 1st race!

On Thanksgiving there are many "Turkey Trots" held in our area (a 5K run). I was going to run one but after some last minute changes I decided to do a longer 8 mile run (so I could eat more Thanksgiving dinner later) and my boys would make it in time to do their 1st race (100 meter fun run). Carter had been talking about doing this for weeks and was even "practicing" and stretching in our house constantly. He asked me if I could hand him water as he ran by me & he asked Brandon if he would hold up a sign that said, "Go Carter, Go!". That kid cracks me up. They braved the 12 degree temperatures and had a lot of fun doing this (well, Carter did at least).

Carter pre-race giving Linc some advice on running
Carter running the race

About 1/2 way through the 0-2yr old dash Linc gave up from being cold and started crying so I picked him up and carried him to the finish. Some crazy mothers were literally dragging their 2 yr olds to the finish line. I couldn't believe how crazy the were!


Linc and I after his race (he refused to wear his hat which I think would've helped keep him a little warmer).

Carter trying to calm Lincoln down after the race. He was SO upset by the cold, but he loved getting his medal for doing the race

Lincoln's "little" mess

My sweet little Lincoln decided to climb up on the counter and get into my spice cupboard while I was showering yesterday. Here is a pic of the result. Gotta love having a 2 year old! He just got himself locked back into his booster seat while I shower from now on. I miss my sweet baby!

He even dumped spices into my toaster. Gotta love that smell in my kitchen everytime we make toast! (yes, I did clean out the toaster, but I can still smell cinnamon & cumin & they are NOT a good combination).

This is what my wood floor looked like after. I'm still finding peppercorns and baking soda everywhere even though I swept and vacuumed. I had to wait a whole day before posting this because I was so mad at him. I can laugh today though. I just got back from the grocery store and replacing all the spices he completely dumped out was pretty pricey.

View Photos from Provo Halloween Half Marathon

Here is a link to some of the professional photos that were taken at the 1/2 marathon. Enjoy!

View Photos from Provo Halloween Half Marathon

My 1st 1/2 Marathon

Last Saturday, Oct 30, I ran my 1st 1/2 marathon, the Provo Halloween Half. It was SO much fun and I enjoyed every minute of it. I spent about 3 months training for it and it was definitely worth it. This is one of the more fun ones to do in my opinion because you get to dress up and see others dress up in some pretty crazy costumes. It was a pretty hard course starting at the top of a mountain up Provo Canyon at the Aspen Grove Resort and dropping 2000 ft into the Provo Canyon and ending at the Riverwoods Mall (my legs are killing me by the way from the 2000 ft downhill run). I felt like I was more prepared for this event than any other that I have ever run. I ran the whole 13.1 miles and even came in under the goal I had set for myself. I wanted to finish about 2 hrs and 15 minutes and I ended up finishing in 2 hrs even. I didn't feel like I could wear an actual costume, so I just ended up wearing cat ears and a tail. I was very lucky to have some AMAZING friends to train with and run with and feel so blessed to have their support and encouragement. It makes all the difference in the world to have that support when you are doing something that takes a lot out of you.

Post-race photo. Brandon wasn't thrilled about going to this so he missed my finish completely and couldn't get any pics until after the race.
Pre-race photo. My awesome running pals L to R: me, Tina, Michele, Ashlee, and Christy