Our first week of Summer!

I'm a bit behind....  

It seems like the past few weeks have gone by so very fast.  As I fear this Summer will too.  

I am loving where I am in life right now.  

My children are all here.  I am walking and trying to stay fit.  

I have this amazing little family. 

And we do a lot of fun stuff together :)

This post includes:

The last week of school

and Memorial Day weekend.

Let the fun begin!

    So they always have a field day during the last week of school.  The kids wear an outfit they can get wet in, and they play outside for a couple of hours.  Bree's was in the morning, and Elle's was near the end of the day, because she has afternoon Kindergarten.  So I pretty much spent most of my day back and forth at the school.  There are parent helpers.  I usually can't because I have Ruby, but I snuck over to the school, and took pictures of the girls.  I wanted some pics of their friends too.  They had a blast!  And it was fun to watch. 

This picture was taken on the very last day of school.  I like to pick the girls up from school, instead of them riding the bus.  I get to watch as the whole school says the "Pledge" while taking down the flag for the last time.  And then we go get an Ice Cream Cone to celebrate school being OUT for the Summer!  :)

I think I took this pic the day before school was out.  Bree wasn't with us.  I LOVE the Smiths that is close to my house!  They have the BEST Deli, Artisan Breads, etc... 

And now they have these cute little carts too!

Ruby, Elle, and I also made a trip to the Nursery, for some tomato plants.  Took them home, and got them planted.  They are much bigger now, and already have flowers on them!  Yay for garden tomatoes!!!

Now on to Memorial Day weekend!  

We made the most of our 3 day weekend, and did a lot of fun things as a family.

I can't forget Aleigha's amazing Birthday Party.  Games, dinner, and an Outdoor movie in the Evans Backyard.  Fun for all!!

Including this trip to the Ogden River Parkway, for a picnic, playtime, and I wanted to show Chris and the girls some of the places I had been walking with Weber in Motion to train for the Ogden Half Marathon.

We got out the Fire Pit, and roasted some Hot Dogs, and made Smores out in the backyard.

I think it was a hit with the girls :)  We were just a bit excited for our first Camping trip to East Canyon, that I will blog about in my next post.

We also took a drive up the Mirror Lake Hwy, in the Uinta Mts. to see the Provo River Falls.  

The Falls were going like crazy, with all of the spring run off.  I couldn't believe how many other people had the same idea also.  It was a bit crowded at one point.  There was still quite a bit of snow around, as you can see in some of the pictures.  We also found a cute little camp ground to eat our picnic lunch.  I love the mountains and the smell of the Pines :)

I've been making lists of things I want to do with the girls this summer.  

I want to make regular trips to the Library, crafts, swimming, trips to the park, hikes, picnic lunches, homemade clay, etc..etc.. 

I want them to have fun, stay busy, and read this summer.

I went and bought Ruby this cute little water table.  I figured that it would keep her cool in the backyard, while her sisters were swimming in their pool.  

I think her sisters like it just as much, or maybe even more than she does.  

I'm sure it will be a great addition, to our summer of FUN!

And finally, Memorial Day came....

My Mom is amazing.  She took the whole family to IHOP for breakfast.

Then we headed over to Ogden Cemetery, where she had printed off books for each of us, with maps of each plot where our ancestors and family have been buried.  Pictures, stories, etc... 

A treasure for sure!  We stopped at each site, and told stories, shared memories, and tried to stay cool, because it was a very HOT day!  

This is a picture of the whole gang at my Grandpa Bob and Grandma Helen Belnap's grave.

I love my family heritage.  I love and miss all those who have gone before me.  

It was truly a wonderful day!!

And then home, to cool off :)

What a fantastic way to start our Summer!

My Half Marathon

Oh my, what have I gotten myself into?

5 months ago, when my sister Jen emailed my mom and I and asked if we wanted to join a group of Women at WSU, (Weber in Motion), to train for and walk the Ogden Half Marathon, I didn't even reply.  Both my mom and I ignored the email for about a week.  Until Jen finally asked us, what was up.  Are you kidding.  I hadn't done any sort of exercising since I got pregnant with Ruby.  Hmmm, about 2&1/2 years.  I was seriously out of shape in a bad way!  I really needed this, but a Half Marathon, are you crazy!  Long story short, my mom and I reluctantly said yes.

It's been a journey that I'll never forget.  We met twice a week.  Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings, to learn about nutrition, health, exercise, etc..etc... 

We met a lot of amazing people.  Whom are now my friends.  And even a week before the Marathon I said that this would be a one time gig.  But, I think I've already changed my mind :)  After accomplishing something this amazing, it's an emotional journey, that's hard to explain.  Something that I am in LOVE with!  

I keep looking at the pictures.  Remembering the workouts, the classes, the R A C E!! 

I am missing it already....

Here is a picture of the group.  

Our race shirts, the Wednesday before the Half Marathon.  Our last class.

We had a training schedule to follow.  We exercised 5 days a week.

We met on Wednesday's for class, and some Strength Training.  Julie Story kicked our butts with some killer workouts each Wednesday night.  And on Saturday mornings, we would all walk together.  Our walks worked up to 11 miles at one point, and then tapered off to 6 miles, the Saturday before the Half.  We walked in the cold, the sun, and the rain.  It was awesome! 

Then it was Friday night, before the race.  Time to pick up our Bibs and Bags for the race!

Some of the ladies in our group were volunteers.  It just so happened that we picked up our Bibs from our friends :)  Mom took Jen and I to lunch before we went to the Expo.  Mom bought us some cool Cel phone holders, Jen bought us matching headbands, I bought some race jewelry.  We had a great time at the Expo.  And we were ready for the big day.  

 I didn't sleep at all that night!  I seriously think I got maybe 2&1/2 hours of sleep.  I went to bed at 11:30pm, couldn't sleep, and woke up at 3:30am.  We had to be downtown on our bus by 5:20am.  

The race map!  

The Half, started at Eden Park and went down Ogden Canyon, and ended at 25th and Grant.

WSU doesn't mess around!  Look at the luxurious bus they took us to the starting line in.  

And we got to sleep in and extra 30min.  Everyone else doing the race, had to be downtown on the buses by 5am, and rode yellow school buses up the canyon.  

We're ready to do this!

Before the start...  

A sea of people at the starting line...

My Bib.  I thought it was awesome that they actually printed your first name on the Bib!!

And so, it was here!  The day we'd been training for, for 4&1/2 months!  The day we had been dreaming about.  I had pictured this day for a long time.  How it might go.  And every time I thought about coming across that finish line, I got tears in my eyes.  

We had to stop at the Bathrooms before the race started.  I've never seen so many Porta Potties in my life!  Not all in one place anyway.  Us, and half of the other racers were in line to use the bathrooms before the start.  Good thing they had as many as they did.  We were supposed to start with our group, but got caught in the back when the race started.  

Somehow, we were walking an unusually fast pace.  Partly because Jen was walking with us.  She really kept us going.  We eventually passed a bunch of different little groups within our big group.  And I took pictures of each of them as we passed them.  I have so many amazing pictures of the race, that there's no way there will even be half posted to the blog.  But I'm going to make one amazing scrap book to commemorate the occasion for sure!  

One side note...  Jen could have run this race in half the time it would take Mom and I to walk it, but she decided to walk with us, because it wasn't about how fast she could do it, it was about the three of us starting this, and finishing this together.  About the experience we would have together on Race Day!  I'm glad she stuck with us.  

Before I knew it, we were on mile 7!  What?  This day I've been waiting for is Half over already... It's going by way too fast.  I've got to savor every moment!!!!!!

About mile 9, I hit a wall.  My ankles and one foot were hurting.  Jen was encouraging us, all cheerful and such.  I told her I might have to punch her in the face.  

I had to stop and adjust a sock.  

Chris just happened to call to see where we were and it made me get weepy.  

My mom gave me some Tylenol and told me to put my music on.  And that's what I did.  I was back in the zone!  

Around mile 11ish, a blister on my Mom's foot popped!  We stopped to put on new bandaids.  My amazing mother walked the last 2&1/2 miles of the race with a broken blister.  She is so much tougher than I am :)

Yay!  The waterfall!  We were coming out of Ogden Canyon.  Amazing!!!

A sign left for us by our group, encouraging us even more....

Jen, Mom and I all knew a lot of people, neighbors and friends racing also.  

My friend Becky.  I've known her since Kindergarten.  Glad I saw her at the expo, because I couldn't find her on race day.

My neighbor and friend Jenny!  Amazing that we found each other at the start line!

My and my friend Patti!  Also amazing that we found each other at the start...

I know that both my Mom and I were pretty tired the last 2 miles of the race.  

My mom got really hot!  We had to pour water down her shirt and on her head.  She really fought to the end.  We all did.  

We had so much family waiting at the finish for us! 

Monica & Kayla.  Dad.  Doug and the kids.  Cord and his boys.  Chris and my girls!  

They all took some fantastic pictures of us finishing the race!!  

WE DID IT!!!  13.1

I'm a different person now.  I've done a Half Marathon!  I'm so proud of myself.  It's a good feeling.  I'm filled with pride for my accomplishment.  I still cry when I think about it.  I already miss it.  I already want to do it again!  I'm so sad that it's over.  At least for this year.  I think Chris wants to walk it with me next year!  I can't believe I almost said no.  

I almost said no, because it was HUGE and SCARY!  Because I still have a lot of weight to loose.  

When I started, I could barely walk around the block.  And I just walked 13.1 MILES!  

I'm grateful for this time that I've had to spend with Jen and my Mom.  Special time and experiences that we won't ever forget.  

I'm so Happy!!!

We'll see what happens next year :)