My Crazy Life

Snow Day!

2012-01-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

We had lots and lots of snow within a matter of about 6 hours. The girls could hardly wait to get outside to play in it and build a snowman. Kai lasted about an hour, but Tyler is still outside and its been almost 3 hours.... I have really got to get that girls on the slopes learning to ski!

It is just so beautiful outside and when it snows like this it really reminds me of my childhood. I had fun pulling the girls on the sled and helping build a snowman. Austin is at work and I am really hoping he can make it home tonight... the roads are not good, but at least he has a truck now!

The snow is not supposed to last long, but it sure is fun for the time being!

Kai, Kai turnes 5!!!

2011-12-28T11:52:00.000-08:00

CAN'T believe my baby turned 5. She is just getting way to big, way too fast! I will be a complete mess when she starts school next fall. I love this little girl so much! Kai is so full of life and personality, she is tough, very loud, talks all the time, and is incredibly loving and caring.

We celebrated her 5th birthday at a local equestrian club where she and her sister and a few friends rode horses, played games, and did a craft. The weather was very cold, but the girls really loved it and had a great time. Here are some pic's of everyone having a great time!

Annual Cutting Down a Christmas Tree!

2011-12-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

Every year we go to a tree farm and cut down our own Christmas tree together as a family. It is something I look forward to and is so much fun for everyone! It was a beautiful sunny, yet cold day in Washington, but perfect for Christmas tree shopping and for seeing Santa Clause!

Both girls just loved seeing Santa and sitting on his lap, great age for this stuff!

Here is "the one". It speaks to me every year.. I just know the tree when I see it.

Austin doing his part... cutting it down.

Yea, our tree!

Now it goes in this big machine that ropes it up tight to travel a little better.

All wrapped up!

Pictures of the finished tree soon! Me and my adorable little helpers are working on the tree to make it Christmas perfect~

Halloween Fun!

2011-10-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

Just a few pic's of the fun we have been having to celebrate Halloween. First, we went to Kai's preschool Halloween party where the girls carved a pumpkin, did a cake walk, and art projects. We made fun cupcakes for the cake walk of spiders and mummy's (sorry, forgot to take pic's, but they were SO cute).

A couple weeks ago we made the haunted ginger bread house and that is always fun, but now that Tyler is getting older, I love to see her creativity and she can really do so much of it on her own now. She designed exactly how she wanted the house to look and of course Kai was a big help too! It turned out so cute. I may need to venture out this year and make/design our own ginger bread house for Christmas.

Then we made the adorable glass jar lanterns that are pictured near the bottom, and they just loved doing this fun project and the lanterns are so adorable. They have lights in them and glow at night when the lights are off.

And last, but not least we did our annual pumpkin carving yesterday. This is always so anticipated by the girls and this year did not disappoint! Austin's pumpkin was amazing as usual. He did a haunted house and the pic's don't do this jack o lantern justice, the details are amazing. Kai helped Austin do the haunted house and Tyler and I did the owl sitting on the fence, which turned out cute too. We are excited to go trick or treating next week when "Nazi trick or treating Mom" comes out in full force... trick or treat until you drop is my motto (It's hereditary, all Gregory's are the same way), but the girls love it.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

I took Kai to the Pumpkin Patch for a field trip with her preschool class. This is our favorite field trip of the year, we love the pumpkin patch! We get to go on a hay ride, go through a hay maze, pet some animals, and pick our own pumpkin from the patch, that is Kai's favorite part! Here are a few pic's from our day.

Kai LOVED this baby cow. She loved letting the cow suck on her fingers like it was getting milk.

This is Kai and her cousin Blaze.

This was her perfect pumpkin, although a little too heavy for her to pick up! She was so proud of her pumpkin and couldn't wait to how her sister and Dad.

Tyler is Student of the Month!

2011-10-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

Tyler was determined by her teacher as being student of the month for the 1st grade class for the character trait of attentiveness!

This is what Tyler's teacher wrote about her:

"Tyler has been chosen as our student of the month for the character trait of attentiveness! Tyler consistently demonstrates attentiveness by looking at the teacher, following directions and always listening to her teachers. Tyler is a respectful child and model for others to follow."

She was presented with a medal and certificate at school Friday, and the pictures are below. She was SO happy and excited to get this award, and we are proud parents of such an amazing 1st grader and daughter! Tyler is such a good girl and is always trying to please other people and do her very best at everything she does. We just love her to pieces!

Our BEST Amiga!

2011-09-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Amiga passed away on Friday September 9, 2011. She was diagnosed with cancer only 3 weeks before she died. The cancer was in her lungs and was very advanced. The type of cancer could never be determined and we tried some treatment options on her, but nothing helped and the cancer progressed rapidly. Amiga had a hard time breathing and every breath was labored with her worst time being at night. Her appetite continued to decrease until she had no appetite and she started vomiting with nausea. I feel like we did everything thing we could to help her and we had her on medication to help her be more comfortable, but it came to the point where we had no other choice and she did not have good quality of life, so it was not fair to have her endure what she was going through any longer. The reality of all of this was so difficult and our decision was not easy, but I truly had a connection with Amiga and I feel that she just communicated with me that it was her time to go and she was ready.

I have never before in my life loved an animal like I loved Amiga, and had a connection and bond that I feel can ever be replaced. She was an amazing dog with so much love for everyone and anyone the met her just fell in love, she was just a sweetheart.

Amiga was born in Las Vegas and Austin's Mom and brother, Garrett, picked her out. Austin got her from his Mom while Amiga was still very young and he claimed her his own shortly afterward because of how much he grew to love her. There always seemed to be a friendly banter between Karen and Austin as to who's dog she really was, but Austin and Amiga really had an emotional connection and in fact, Amiga saved Austin as he went through one of the hardest times in his life. Then Austin met me, we got married and we were one happy little family. I never have been a "dog person" and was hesitant at first to have an indoor animal, a pit bull none less, but it didn't take long at all for Amiga to win my heart. While Austin was away at basic training in the Army, we were best friends and she was always there to comfort me while Austin was away. When it came time for us to move to Texas, we loaded our belongings up and just Amiga and I drove from California to Texas. She really was a great travel dog and loved riding in the car. I always felt so glad she was with me when I was alone because of the fact that she was a pit bull and other people were intimidated by that, so I felt safe with her.

Amiga had such a connection with me that when I was pregnant with Tyler, she was just different, she just knew what was happening and was so tender with me, although it was an adjustment after Tyler was born for her to understand that she was no longer #1 and this baby took up lots of our time. The first day after bringing Tyler home form the hospital, we put her in a bassinet in our bedroom, and Amiga went over to it and peed on the floor right on front of the bassinet. She also had to get used to a crying baby, and she did not like that. Sad, crying people make Amiga nervous and sad, so she could not settle down when Tyler would cry. It was all an adjustment for her, but she was so good to the little baby and would softly lick her and be very gentle, although she still demanded her attention and would try to cuddle with us and Tyler at the same time.

As time went by and we had Kai, Amiga was pretty used to a noisy house and could really care less if Tyler was banging her toys on her, pulling her tails, poking her eyes etc.. she loved Tyler and Kai just as she loved me and Austin and was protective of all of us. When Tyler went to Kindergarten and it was just Kai here with me at the house, Kai became very attached to Amiga and they were like best friends. When Kai woke up in the morning, she would go get in Amiga's bed and cuddle with her under blankets and love her. She played dress-up with her during the day and would try different outfits and accessories on her, I think Amiga got annoyed at times, but also loved it at the same time.

We have had so many wonderful memories of Amiga and she was a huge part of our family that we will dearly miss. After she passed away, I sat down with Tyler and Kai so we could think about our favorite things about Amiga and I wrote them down so we would never forget and we can always remember what we love most about her. Here are some of the things we came up with

Kai said:

- I loved to cuddle Amiga and get in bed with her int he morning

- I loved that she would get in bed with me and lay by me

- She loved her belly rubbed

- She loved treats

Tyler said:

- I loved how Amiga would cuddle with me in bed

- I loved that she would jump up and spin when I would give her treats

My additional memories:

- Amiga loved blankets and being covered with blankets at night. We always had to "tuck her in bed" and cover her, but make sure her head was still out, so she could see our every move and make sure we weren't leaving the room

- Amiga was my buddy and shadow...she followed me everywhere all day: when I was upstairs, downstairs, outside, in my office... etc. she hated to be alone and stayed by my side all day.

- She protected me. When Austin was gone, it was as if her senses her heightened and she turned into "guard dog" mode. And when Austin was home, if he ever pretended to hurt me, and wrestle me or the girls she would start licking Austin and jump on him to get him to stop. (this was a fun game we played sometime, just to see her reaction.)

-She would nudge her nose into me and lick me if I were every crying or sad

-She hated guns. Even if she just saw a gun, she would start to shake and was scared to death

-She hated loud noises or when someone would raise their voice in anger, she would shake if anyone was fighting, arguing, or yelling.

Enjoy some pic's of Amiga through her years.

We love you Amiga... have fun in Doggy Heaven, chase as many kitty's as you want. You will be greatly missed, you were such a good girl to us, thank you for your friendship!

First Day of 1st Grade!!

2011-09-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

Oh my, can the time please just stop and make this little girl stop growing!

Today was Tyler's first day of 1st grade and boy she was one happy, and excited little 1st grader! Although, Momma still can't get a hold of herself to not cry when I take her to school. I just miss her during the day and I worry about her and if she will be okay without me. I know, I know... it's time for me to grow up! I can't image what next year will be like when I have to take my baby to Kindergarten and Tyler will be a 2nd grader, but we just can't think of that at all right now!

Anyway, she was adorable and excited to go to school this morning! Here are a few pic's of her before school.

Sand in the City

2011-08-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

I took the girls to an event in Olympia today called Sand in the City. It's put on by the Hands-On Children's museum and is a fun/free sand castle building event for families to enjoy. The sand sculptures are done by teams, then the public can view and vote for their favorite. They were amazing to say the least, and so fun to see and appreciate the hard work that was put into making them.

I had a great day, it was so nice to just enjoy the sun, and spend the day with my girls doing something so fun with no time schedule, just enjoying being together. I posted a lot of pictures of the sand sculptures, but try to notice the detail on some of these, they were just really neat.

Although we had a great time, I often thought about my dear husband who is studying SO HARD for the NCLEX test he will be taking next week. We missed him today, but we know his sacrifices are for us and we love, love, love him.

It was fun to actually watch them working on this one. I helped the girls notice all their very cool and unique tools they were using. It was like a construction workers belt full of paint brushes and many other tools they use to create the scene.

The guy on the right was working on the boys hair, very tedious work that takes patience, especially in the very hot, bright sun!

This was a favorite of the day... Angry Birds!

More of the Angry Bird Scene.

Oh oh.. an unhappy pig that an angry bird needs to kill.

Yup, Kung Fu Panda.

This one was done by REI. It's hard to get the entire scene in my camera picture, but it was a whale, octopus, canoe, and people in the water.

The girls also really liked this Winnie the Pooh one. Roo is on the end pulling Eor, Kanga, Christopher Robin, then Pooh Bear. On the other side of the hole was Rabbit. So, so cute.

Notice how they really made the sand look like spilled milk.

It was a very hot and bright day, so Kai had to take turns using my sun glasses. You see, these kids aren't used to the bright sun in their eyes too often out here in the NW.

Face Painting is always a favorite and they made themselves kitty's.

Playing in the giant sand boxes. Making their own sand sculptures was lots of fun!

There was a rock climbing wall for kids to do and the girls really wanted to try it, so we stood in line. We watched many other kids try and enjoy their rock climbing attempts, and I observed that the kids about Tyler's age and even older would make it a few feet up, then the instructor would pull their foot or leg back down if they weren't heavy enough for their own body weight to bring them back down (it was a weight bearing type of rope/belay that would allow you to come back down and take the slack as you climbed up). When it was Tylers turn, she got in her harness and started to climb the wall. She climbed, and climbed all the way to the top in a matter of a minute with no problem at all, she was a total natural climber and pretty strong for a small little girl (her uncles would be SO proud), BUT when she was at the top, she didn't weight enough to pull herself down, she just dangled at the top. The instructor tried to climb the wall a little to see if he could reach her, but he wasn't even close. Tyler just waited at the top patiently, and I think she just enjoyed being up so high and hanging out. The crowd was very impressed that she made it to the top. She was eventually rescued.

This was Tyler's "rescue mission attempt" from one of the employees, but he couldn't reach her and ended up putting a harness on and going up on the rope next to her in order to pull her down. As he was pulling her to safety, the crowd all cheered, Tyler thought it was all great fun and I was very impressed with her climbing skills! Sister, on the other hand, could use a little practice.. cute little Kai, Kai.

After the fun with the sand, we decided to cool off at the plash park in Olympia. It was a hot day here in WA, so the water was great!

This was our view from the slpash park, with the state capital building in the background... such a beautiful place we live! See Kai wrapped in the blanket on the ground?

We had a wonderful day and enjoyed seeing the sand, playing in the water, and just hanging out together. We really, really missed Austin, but sent him lots of pictures and we know he is doing what is best for our family. Good luck my dear, we love, and appreciate your determination and hard work. We believe in you!

Disneyland!!!

2011-06-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

The day after graduation, we were OFF on a much needed family vacation and we went to Disneyland! The girls talked and talked about it for months. Of course, the main talk was about seeing the princess castle and meeting the princesses. Kai really loves Ariel and was just so excited to see her. They really had no idea what to expect and Austin and I were so excited to take them. Grosi, Vati, Jesse, Tara, Bella, and JJ drove from Utah and we all met up at the Hotel.

It was a faced paced, busy 3 days and we all had an amazing time! The kids were so happy and just had the time of their little lives. I post A LOT of pictures (hope your happy, Mom), along with descriptions of where we were and what we were doing.

This is the group! We loved being with all of them and it was fun to have Bella, Tyler and Kai together.

This was the rafting ride in Disneyland. I especially liked this ride because we could all go, even JJ! This ride was all powered by us... no motor, no track.. just our own rowing speed, and we had a lot of children in our canoe. It was a nice arm workout, that is for sure!

The roller coaster in Toon Town. Tyler really wanted to go on a roller coaster, so this made her especially happy. Kai was pretty excited, but during the ride she was scared and nervous, so she didn't want to go again, but Tyler went a second time with Austin.

Second time around with Dad!

The Dumbo ride in Fantasy Land!

Grosi brought all these fun Disney books, so the girls could read lots of Disney stories to go along with their Disney fun!

This was our first evening at Disneyland, shortly after we got there. We went to Goofy's Kitchen Restaurant for dinner. The dinner was so much fun because we saw so many Disney characters during dinner. They come right up to your table and dance, blow kisses, give hugs... the girls just LOVED this dinner.

It's a small world after all! The three girls enjoying it's a small world ride. I think they look so cute holding on and watching all the dancing figures.

Waiting in line for it's a small world ride.

Austin got this special treat for having just graduated!

Tyler really loves Mini Mouse, and she was the very first Disney Character we saw. She held Tyler's hand and skipped her to our table where we were going to sit for dinner, it was so adorable.

Do you notice Austin?

Tyler with her Grosi and Grosvati.

Mary Poppins was one of Grosi's favorite characters we saw, so she wanted a picture too.

This is Kai coloring a picture for Sleeping Beauty. She was very serious about the picture and worked hard on it during the meal, then Sleeping Beauty came back to our table to get it from Kai.

And the Princess visiting/pictures begin... al their favorites.

Snow White

Belle

And Kai's favorite moment of Disneyland... meeting Ariel. Just notice how tall and proud Kai is standing next to her... SO stinknin cute!!

Lunch at Ariel's Grotto.

At the ropes course at Disney Adventure. A place that the kids played for a very long time and really enjoyed.

Mickey Mouse!

For anyone that really knows Franklin and/or Austin, this picture says it all.

The next few pictures are from Cali Adventure in Bug's Life world.

THE princess castle!

Love for the Grosi!

This was our bed in the hotel. The headboard lit up and sang a song. It was very fun and the girls really loved it. They feel asleep to the "nightlight" of the lights.

Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse.

Austin's Graduation!

2011-06-10T23:44:00.001-07:00

I am SO proud of Austin and his accomplishment! He graduated with honors from Pierce College with his degree in Nursing today. He has worked hard and been so dedicated to this education. It's not easy for a Dad with a family to just go back to school full time and put everything else on hold, especially for Austin who has a hard time learning in traditional ways with his ADHD and major stress/anxiety with test taking. BUT, he did it and he should be proud!

It was so fun for us to go watch him walk in his cap and gown, what an example to his little girls! Some of our great friends came to support him as well, that means so much to us, that they took the time and effort to come. Austin's brother, David, also came from Utah to represent his family and it's been so much fun to have him here with us for his first time in WA.

We had a celebration BBQ at our house after the graduation with more friends and family and we all had a great time. We are so blessed with the BEST neighborhood of such amazing friends and to have some family so close by to spend time with. I made Austin a cake for graduation, which since I am still learning this cake business, it took me A LOT of time, practice, and research to try and pull it off. But I can officially say that I have made more than just a princess castle came now!

Thank you to everyone that has supported and helped Austin and our family out while he has been in school. This is a great accomplishment and I know he will be amazing at whatever nursing he does.

Austin has one more graduation ceremony tomorrow which his his pinning ceremony and that is a big deal for a Nurse, so I will be posting more pictures tomorrow after that event.

Oh, these girls are too adorable! Just LOVE them!

Our family with Austin's brother, David.

THE cake!

These two pictures are just adorable of Uncle David and Kai. He is so good with the girls and they just adore him!

Some of these graduation pictures aren't the greatest because we were sitting so far away, but you get the idea.

Tyler's Kinder Graduation!

2011-06-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

I still remember her first day of Kindergarten and even though she has been going all year, I still sometimes choke up when I drop her off at school. It's been a hard transition for me to "let her go". I miss her every day and it seems like she is gone forever, but she LOVES it and she has learned so much this year. To be honest, I had all these horrible ideas and thoughts about public school and the bad rep public school gets, but I have been blown away at how much Tyler has learned this year and how fast she is learning. I love her school, the teachers, secretaries, and principal. I have been very impressed and happy with her education experience so far.

She had her graduation celebration tonight and it was just adorable! They kinders put on a performance for us. They sang a lot of songs about that they have learned this year, and then we watched a video of pictures from throughout the year. It was just adorable to watch these little kinders and, sorry, but especially Tyler! That little girl was so happy to perform and has been talking about it for days! She had a very important part of signing and singing her ABC's, and she did a terrific job! She was just so darn cute up on stage and we are so proud of our little kindergartner, but now she is moving on, and I can no longer say that I have a kinder (as the tears start). I have a feeling that the first few weeks of 1st grade will be hard for me when dropping her off again. I just can't believe how fast she is growing and learning. We love and adore her to pieces and we could not be any prouder parents of our little girl!

Down & Dirty 5K Mud Run!

2011-05-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

I was able to guilt 4 friends into doing the Down & Dirty 5K mud run on Ft Lewis with me this year. We were officially the "Zipfizz" team, with out team tops provided from Zipfizz. I have wanted to do this race for a couple years, but for one reason or another, I have not been able to, but I did this year! The day stared out rainy and cold and I was a little depressed about that, Austin did remind me that it was a MUD run after all! But after the race stared, I didn't seem to notice. I had so much fun and I was certainly covered in mud at the end. We had a great time getting down at dirty! Thanks girls for being team Zipfizz with me!

The Zipfizz team was me, Dinah, Sally, and Alex

This is Dinah going through the last obstacle, the low mud crawl.

After the race... all muddy!

This was our showers to clean up before we go back in the car!

My little Student of the Month!

2011-05-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

I am a proud Mamma of my Tyler. She was Student of the Month at her elementary school for the category of dependability. This is what her teacher wrote about her:

"Tyler has been chosen as student of the month for the character trait of dependability. Tyler can always be counted on to do anything she is asked to do. She comes to school ready to learn every day. She is very attentive and is able to answer questions correctly. I can always depend on Tyler."

She is just the cutest little kindergartner!

Tyler was so proud and loved her medal and certificate.

Congratulations Tyler, we love you SO SO much and we are so proud of you!

The Boston Marathon

2011-04-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

An AMAZING experience that I will never forget!

I prepared so hard for this marathon and not only for this marathon, but for the previous qualifying marathon and I finally received the benefits from the hard work!

We loved everything about Boston (first time to the East Coast). The city is just amazing in their support for the Boston Marathon. The entire city just shuts down in preparation for the event. There were runners and supporters everywhere with such positive energy. People were happy and friendly. It was just so nice to walk around and see all the people preparing for this race.

We stayed in a condo in "Little Italy" which is the North end of Boston with so much charm and original brick buildings. We ate at an amazing Italian restaurant and got pastries from little pastry shops, which were all around. Austin and Jesse would venture out after dinner and visit a new pastry shop almost every night, they were delicious!

The days leading up to the marathon and especially the day of, my nerves were out of control. I started second guessing everything I had done in training and worried if I was even ready. I was concerned for the feared "Newton Hills" with big concerns for heartbreak hill, but being with Lynn and Tara who were feeling the same things, made it manageable and we talked through our fears together. And we had our AMAZING support of spouses that have been with us every step of the way and deserve so much recognition for their love and support with us crazy ladies.

We all started the marathon in different corrals and decided we would all run separate and do our own race (marathon running is very much a mental game). The weather conditions were perfect for running and I was excited and ready to go!

The gun went off and I forced myself to GO SLOW at the beginning and save my lactic acid and energy stores for the end of the race and the Newton Hills, which start at mile 17. My first mile was an 8:30 and I was happy because I was on track with my goal of starting very slow. Second mile was 8:12, still on track. 3rd mile was 7:54, and I told myself to slow it down a little and stay on this pace from here until after mile 21, then if I had legs and energy left, I would allow myself to GO.

I had to keep my emotions in check because if I allowed myself to think about the fact that I was currently running the Boston Marathon, I got all excited and had like butterflies in my stomach and I knew that would be wasting energy, so I had to tell myself to remain calm, keep is slow and steady and stay focused!

Staying focused was not an easy task though as there were spectators everywhere! I could not believe the crows of people lined up on the side of the road for every single mile of the marathon! Everyone screaming, cheering, noise makers, bands playing, a group of people jumping on trampolines, sitting on top of their houses, everyone having their own little parties and BBQ's as they watched the runners. I saw just about one of everything! Although, as a Mom, one of my favorite things was the kids on the sidelines. Some had posters supporting their Mom or Dad and I could not help but think of my own two kids at home cheering for me. So many little kids were handing out water, bananas, orange slices, and wanting high fives, they were just adorable!

I was anticipating mile 10 as that was were my husband and other support crew was going to be hanging out. As I approached mile 10, again I had to keep my excitement in check because I was so excited to see Austin. I was looking for him through all the crowds of people and when I spotted him, I was so happy, although it was short and sweet and a yell of "I love you, I am doing great", it went by way too so fast!

My next anticipated mile was 13, as that is when I allow myself to turn my music on and really get into the mental state of getting through the last half. So far, I was keeping well hydrated, not sweating too much, taking my GU with no trouble, and my pace was pretty steady.

mile 4: 7:49

mile 5: 7:54

mile 6: 7:53

mile 7: 7:56

mile 8: 7:51

mile 9: 7:59

mile 10: 8:00

Another very cool part of the race was going past Wellesly College. There is a line of all girls just screaming and cheering. It's called the screaming tunnel of girls, and it lived up to the expectation and was just so fun to run through.

mile 11 8:05

mile 12 7:58

mile 13 8:02

mile 14 7:58

mile 15 8:02

mile 16 7:50

Now I was gearing up for the beginning of the hills at mile 17, but I was not tired, I felt really, really good and kept telling myself to keep it slow, stay in check, stay focused... Oh the things you tell yourself while running a marathon.. just me and my crazy thoughts for 26.2 miles.

I loved crossing all the checkpoints and thinking about who might be watching my progress on line. I knew my mother was, and it was 2 am for her in Malaysia. I though about my amazing family and their love and support, and I knew they were cheering me on.

Mile 17 was a good hill, but I was managing very well and recovered just fine.. then mile 18-21 I could not really tell where the other 2 hills were. I wondered if I had gone over heartbreak hill and tried to keep energy in case I had not gone over it yet. The I saw this big blow up sign that said "You Made it Past Heartbreak Hill". That is when I realized I had made it past the hills and I was still feeling great, so now was the time to step on the gas! I had to go all out and try to make up some of my time.

mile 17 8:14

mile 18 8:14

mile 19 8:02

mile 20 7:59

mile 21 8:12

The crowds were now just crazy and as I starting running into Boston, it was amazing the see the amount of people and supporters. I knew that I could finish and I was feeling so great. My stomach was handling eh GU okay and I was good to the finish now, if only I could weave my way around all thee runners. That was getting difficult as now I was getting faster and others were getting slower, I had to do a lot of weaving. I picked up my pace and went for it until the end. I pictured seeing my husband and supports and I was getting excited to finish!

mile 22 7:32

mile 23 7:25

mile 24 7:43

mile 25 7:19

mile 26.2 7:24

I finished the marathon so strong and had hoped there were a few more miles for me to make up my time a little more. I felt like I had a lot of energy left and I should have started my faster miles sooner, although I was so happy to have finished and to be feeling so great. I had just finished the Boston Marathon and I couldn't be happier!

After getting through the crazy crows and gathering my bag, I found my wonderful husband waiting for me. It was so glad to see him and I was anticipating seeing Tara and Lynn after they finished.

We had a wonderful dinner that evening with everyone and a couple that we met up with (Tara's neighbor from Utah, that also ran the marathon). It was a great meal, great company, and atmosphere. The next morning we had to get up at 3:30 am to get out and catch our early flight back to Seattle.

Overall, I had a great time, and experience. None of it would have been possible without Richard and Lynn who helped with a lot of the trip and planning etc.. Austin's Mom, who flew from Cali to watch our kids, and my very favorite supporters, my husband and kids, who really put up with a lot form me during training.

Thank you to EVERYONE that supported my dream I have amazing friends and family!

Boston Marathon Information

2011-04-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

Here is the information you need if you are interested in following me while I run Boston next Monday, April 18th. I start in the second wave, which is a WHITE BIB color, and my wave starts at 10:20 (Boston time). My bib number is 10136.

Thanks!

-Liz, Buffy, Elizabeth.. whoever I am to you

THE COURSE

The historic course starts on Main Street in the rural New England town of Hopkinton and follows Route 135 through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, and Wellesley to where Route 135 joins Route 16. It continues along Route 16 through Newton Lower Falls, turning right at the fire station onto Commonwealth Avenue, which is Route 30. It follows Commonwealth through the Newton Hills, bearing right at the reservoir onto Chestnut Hill Avenue to Cleveland Circle. The route then turns left onto Beacon Street continu ing through Kenmore Square, and under Massachusetts Avenue. The course turns right onto Hereford Street (NOTE: against normal traffic flow) then left onto Boylston Street, finishing near the John Hancock Tower in Copley Square. To download the course map, click here.

AT&T ATHLETE ALERT

Register for the marathon’s AT&T Athlete Alert by simply texting RUNNER to 345678. On race day, you will receive an alert when the runner passes the 10K, half-marathon and 30K marks and then when he or she hits the finish line. To sign up, or for more information, visit the AT&T Athlete Alert Sign-Up page at www.baa.org

RACE DAY MEDIA COVERAGE

Live local coverage on WBZ-TV, or www.boston.cbslocal.com. Live national coverage on Universal Sports Television Network
Live online streaming on www.universalsports.com
Live web coverage on www.baa.org

The Boston Dream Team!!!

2011-01-05T13:08:00.000-08:00

ATTENTION: runners, family and friends of runners, runner supporters, runner spectators,

& athletes of all kind...

PLEASE read the following letter regarding The Boston Dream Team, and support our dream!

ANY donation is very much appreciated and goes to not only support our dream, but support a wonderful cause!

Dear Family and Friends,

I have a little story to share with you.

There once were three women who liked to run. They didn’t just like to run a mile or two, they liked to run a loonnnggg way. These three women enjoyed running together whenever they could (which wasn’t very often, because one lived in Utah, one lived in Washington, and one lived in California) and one day, they got the idea to run a looonnnggg way in Boston, Massachusetts. They made a pact to train hard, so that each of them would run fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon (26.2 miles), and then they would meet there and enjoy the “biggest of distance running events” together.

Well, it all went as planned. The three women trained and trained and trained…and there were a few “bumps” along the road (a gallbladder had to be removed, a bout of pancreatitis had to be endured, several toes suffered fractures, a knee needed rehab, and a baby was born!) but the women were determined. So determined that each one made their dream a reality and succeeded in qualifying on her own to run in Boston! They had done it!

The three women rejoiced. They thanked their husbands and children for supporting them throughout the sweaty miles and the hours on the trails, roads and treadmills. And they began to look forward to registering for the Boston Marathon in October, and start the training again, but this time the three of them would be running the same race and their dream would come true.

Little did these three women know that thousands and thousands of other determined runners were also looking forward to registering for Boston. Thousands and thousands and thousands sat at their computers that Monday morning in mid-October, and as soon as the registration opened, they were ready to sign up! The marathon reached capacity in 8 hours! A record! Never had the organizers anticipated that the marathon would fill up in less than a day…so this meant that all of the runners who waited until they got home from work that day to go online and register, were out of luck.

Just like one of the three women in our story.

I told you these women were determined, correct? Even though two of them were entered in the Boston Marathon, it was not enough. Well, they have now formed a team – The Boston Dream Team –and they are all committed to raising funds for The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which in return, has granted the last one of them an entry to Boston! Their dream is going to come true after all… all three are going to Boston! AND, they are raising money for an important, life-saving charity along the way!

Please help them with their journey by donating to this very worthy cause. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is moving forward toward a world free of MS. Eighty-five (85) percent of the money raised funds vital MS education, support, advocacy, and research. More than 400,000 Americans live with MS, and your support can and will help them move forward in their lives.

Please help by making a donation - large or small - to create a world free of MS. Whatever you can give will help! As you have guessed, I am one of these three determined women and would greatly appreciate your support.

Visit our team page, where you can make a secure, online donation:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/bostondreamteam2011

Or, mail a check to

National MS Society

P.O. Box 845945

Boston, MA 02284-5945 (Be sure to include “Donation for The Boston Dream Team” on the memo line.)

Thank you so much!

Kai's Birthday Party!

2010-12-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

Kai had her birthday party today at the local gymnastics center. She LOVED it and all the kids had a great time playing at the gym. I did make another princess castle cake like I did for Tyler, although I learned a lot last time and I felt that I did a lot of improvements, but unfortunately this cake had to travel, so it's not perfect, but still a princess castle cake success. I can't believe she will be 4 tomorrow! She is my baby and she is just getting so big, but believe me I still hold, squeeze, and kiss her all the time like she is my baby, I just love her so much! I am so happy she had a great birthday party and I love to see her so happy.

Gingerbread House Making at Kai's Preschool Party

2010-12-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

The girls made gingerbread houses at Kai's preschool Christmas party. They had a lot of fun and I can't believe how talented and creative Tyler is! She was decorating away.. I did not help her at all, she designed and decorated all by herself with her own creativity and she has some very neat ideas. Their houses turned out adorable and they we adorable in their matching Christmas dresses from Grosi, thank you!

Tyler's gingerbread house

Concentrating so hard!

Choosing the Perfect Christmas Tree

2010-12-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

One of my FAVORITE Christmas family traditions is choosing and cutting down our own christmas tree. We went with our friends to the tree farm today and picked out our christmas tree. The girls also got to see Santa Clause and sit on his lap, which they LOVED, drink apple cider, and get a candy cane. This was such a fun family event and on the way home, Kai said, "That was so much fun, Daddy". Now its time to put the tree in the house and decorate it!

Thanksgiving!!!

2010-11-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

Turkey

Mashed Potatoes

Gravy

Stuffing

Green Bean Casserole

Sweet Potatoes

Stuffed Mushrooms

Artichoke Dip

Jello Salad

Wheat Rolls

White Rolls

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Juice

2 Pumpkin Pies

Apple Pie

Key Lime Pie

Family and friends gathered together to celebrate what we are thankful for over a wonderful meal! We have SO MUCH we are thankful for, the list is endless, as we are incredibly blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Snow Day!

2010-11-23T21:03:00.000-08:00

These kids LOVE the snow. They were outside for hours today sledding down our driveway, then the neighbors driveway with all the neighbors. It was a beautiful, clear-sky, sunny day with cancelled school for the kids and a day to play, even Amiga played in the snow and loved every minute of it. It was so fun to spend time with the family playing in the snow and fun to watch the girls enjoy themselves so much. Enjoy the pic's of our adventures in the snow!

snow, Snow, SNOW!!!

2010-11-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

Here is Wa, we typically don't get much snow, but... this is what we woke up to this morning! School is cancelled and we are keeping warm inside. We will, however, be going out this afternoon to play is this wonderful white, cold stuff! It's just beautiful out there and I LOVE it!

Halloween!!!

2010-10-31T21:20:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT halloween this year! The kids are just so much fun and they were so darn adorable in their costumes. We had a beautiful day without any rain and everyone had a lot of fun trick or treating.

This month was full of Halloween festivities including: halloween art projects, reading lots of halloween books and a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. Unfortunately, Tyler was very sick when her school went on their first field trip to the pumpkin patch and we were both so sad that she could not go, but Daddy stayed home with her while I took Kai with her class to the pumpkin patch.

We had a really good holiday month and I love to see my little girls so delighted to get involved in the fun festivities. I try to savor these fun times with them in this adorable age as I know it wont last forever, but it really is so much fun for Austin and I to share in their excitement and see them so happy.

These are the pumpkins we carved about a week before halloween. Like my 26.2 pumpkin?

The trick or treating group.

We all piled in the back of our friends truck and drove around the neighborhood.

The cutest trick or treaters around!!

I LOVE this little bug!

Even baby Blaze was went to the Halloween party and trick or treating with us. He loved it and was a good trooper. Especially since he got to eat his first sucker!

Tyler did a good job, look at all that candy!

Kai at the pumpkin Patch for her preschool Field Trip, picking out her favorite pumpkin.

Carving pumpkins!

Daddy always does such a great job carving pumpkins and helping the girls. This year Kai said, "Daddy, I want a princess castle with a door the opens and closes." Tyler just wanted a ghost.

We just laughed, and next thing I knew, Austin had carved his daughter a princess castle jack O lantern.

The scary witch fingers (breadsticks) that I made for the neighborhood halloween party. They were actually really yummy!

Fall Pictures

2010-10-05T20:19:00.000-07:00

My sister took the girls pictures today in the mountains with all the beautiful fall colors and leaves. I think she is a great photographer and did an amazing job taking these photos today. I really love them. It was totally painless, she was fast, great with making the girls have a good time, and there were no crying sessions by either of them.

Thanks Sister!

And Now She Is 6!!!

2010-09-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

How did my first born child go from this adorable 1 year old....

To this adorable 6 year old??!?!

My tiny Tyler turned 6 years old today! I love this little child to pieces and its hard to see her get older. Tyler is such a good girl and is a child full of light, laughter, and love. I enjoy being with her and watching her learn and discover new ideas about life as she grows older.

Tyler had a great day filled with surprises from me, her Mommy, and a fun filled princess birthday bash with her friends.

I made a princess castle cake as a surprise for Tyler for her birthday cake. I worked on in for the last two nights after Tyler went to bed, then all day today and had the help of Austin's mad decorating skills to polish it off! It was not perfect and I learned a lot in the process, but regardless Tyler was so delighted when she saw her cake and she loved it, which is ALL that matters to me. I love to see my kids happy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!!!

My Baby is no longer a Baby..

2010-09-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

Today was Tyler's FIRST day of Kindergarten! Yes, I said Kindergarten... she is no longer by my side every day, close enough for me to hug and kiss anytime I want during the day. I don't know her every move, who she is playing with, what she is hearing, saying, seeing. It is up to her to make her own friends, choose what she is eating for lunch, get herself through the day.

Besides the fact that it was a difficult day for me, as her mother, to "let her go" she was beyond excited for school. She has been waiting for this day all summer.

I thought about her ALL day today and wondered what she was doing, if she was having fun, if she missed me, if she was sad or happy, nervous, or scared.

She was so adorable standing in her class line to go into school with her backpack and all.. it was all I could do to hold in my emotions as I did not want her to know I was about to lose it!

This look that she is giving above, is what she does when she is nervous. She was looking around, taking it all in, then got this nervous expression, then I almost lost it again.

I really wanted to go in with her, just for today, just to make sue she was okay and comfortable and got her lunch okay. I really just wanted to go with her, just one day to school just to make sure...

I didn't go with her, I let her go to school. And when I picked her up she was so happy, and in one piece, she had made it through her first day all by herself, even without me holding her hand.

I asked her about every detail of her day in the car, in the parking lot, before I even turned the car on. I gave her a millions hugs and kisses.

I missed her so much today, but I was not the only one that missed her. Another little baby, who is home by herself had an adjustment too. She missed her sister and asked about her frequently today.

I love my little kindergartner more than anything. This is a milestone in her life and I am so proud of her and happy that she loves school so much. I know she will be a great student and I look forward to talking to her about the day she had every day.

She might be a big girl going to school now, but Tyler is still my first baby and we will go through these milestones in life together for the first time.

Tomorrow is another day...

My Family Visits!

2010-08-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

This has been a very busy month for us! And even though I had surgery, I was still able to enjoy a much anticipated visit from my family!

It was a difficult planning process to get everyone to Wa and Or for a planned deep sea fishing trip in Astoria, OR and a visit to my house, but mission was accomplished! With some driving, some flying, some going to Wa first, some going to Portland first, then some leaving from Wa, some leaving from Portland... see what I mean by difficult?

The trip started with my Mom changing her flight to come out early when I went to the ER and was admitted to the hospital for my gallbladder issues. The plan was then changed a little, since Devan and Ginny were supposed to be here next and we were going to go to Seattle and do some fun things etc.. BUT unfortunately I was not healthy enough for that, so they came out 1 day later than expected and just relaxed around my house and played with the girls. Then Danna Lee and Adam were next to arrive via airplane to Seattle. They were here 1 night and the next day we ALL drove to Astoria, OR to Ginny's parents house where there was Lance & Jena (drove from UT), CL, Jeff, and Kirrah, my Dad (flew into Portland), Katie, Doug and girls (drove from UT). Can anyone even understand that?

The next day was the deep sea fishing day for those that were going. (some of us stayed behind), BUT the captain of the boat called at 11:30 that evening and cancelled on us! Poor Steve (Ginny's Dad), was up bright and early searching for another charter to take all 11 people that were supposed to go fishing.. after a lot of searching, cursing, and yelling, another boat was found and they were now schedule to leave the next morning. Since there was no fishing that day, we all went to the beach and had a great time! We played in the tide pools and touched the sea anemanie, starfish and played in the sand. It was absolutely beautiful and fun for us all to be together. That evening Ginny's family hosted a bonfire on the beach. The kids loved sliding down a hill of sand and to this day, I am still finding and cleaning up sand.

The crew went fishing the next day and even though it wasn't a very good fishing day, the weather was beautiful and they all had a good time. Austin was sea sick, but still managed to catch the biggest salmon, and I can't wait to eat some of it for dinner this week!

Now it was back to our house in Yelm with Katie and her family, Mom & Dad, CL, Kirrah, and Jeff (who left the next morning via airplane out of Portland). Everyone else drove back to Ut.

The next week we had a great time going to Mt Rainier, the lake in my community, the pool in my community, and a night in Seattle.

I loved spending time with everyone and Tyler and Kai loved having their cousins here. Thanks to everyone for helping out when I couldn't lift anything or hardly do anything myself because of surgery, but I had a lot of fun and I loved spending this time with my family!

Enjoy the pictures from our adventures below!

The Seattle Aquarium gift shop

Seattle Aquarium

The jelly fish were Kai's favorite.

Kaite, Mya & Ellie

Grandpa helping Kai touch the sea anemone's

On the dock at the lake

Doug jumping

CL jumping

Afton and Kai loved to whisper secrets to each other

Steve (Ginny's Dad) was amazing the way he filleted the salmon that was caught on the fishing trip.

These were the salmon caught

This was the salmon Austin caught

The sea lions on the barge in Astoria, Or

Tyler loves doing hand stands everywhere. She looks pretty good, huh

Yummy a completely sand covered smore

Everyone together

The beach bonfire in Astoria, OR

Just the girls!

Just one week ago...

2010-08-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

With a few very busy weeks ahead of me and a lot planned, I never anticipated my life to be completely turned around and have everything change so rapidly...

It all started last Saturday, I woke up in the middle of the night and did not feel well and started vomiting, I figured I either had a touch of food poisoning or some sort of stomach bug, so I took it rally easy on Sunday and ate small portions of mostly soup, but I still didn't feel very good. Then, when I woke up on Monday, I went downstairs and to my desk to work when I started to have some severe pain in my stomach and what felt like terrible heart burn or acid reflux. The pain rapidly got worse and I had to go get Austin out of bed to take care of the girls because I was is so much pain. After about 20 min, we called my neighbor to come help and see if she may have any idea as to what might be going as she is a retired RN, she gave me a couple pills for acid control and anti-nausea, which almost immediately came back up and I continued to vomit and the pain just kept getting more and more intense and I could not stand it anymore, I knew I had to go to the hospital and get help as I had never been in this amount of pain before. Austin had a very important Dr's appt that day, so we decided to have my neighbor take me to the hospital and Austin would find someone for the kids, got to his Dr's appt. The hour drive it takes from my house to the hospital must have been the worst hour of my life. The pain never once gave up, no matter what I did and I continued to vomit. All I could do was pray the entire way that I had the strength to make it to the hospital..

After getting to the ER, and put on IV pain medication, they did x-rays and an ultrasound and we found out that I had a gall stone that was lodged in my common bile duct and was blocking everything up. The only solution was surgery to remove the lodged stone, then surgery to remove my gallbladder.

Because of the lodged gall stone, I was also diagnosed with pancreatitis and put on IV antibiotics to try and help with that infection and inflammation, which had to improve before any surgical procedures could be done.

On Tuesday, I had a procedure called ERCP to remove the gall stone. I was out under anesthesia that supposably keeps me awake during the procedure, but I don't remember a thing All went as planned with that procedure and a 6 mm gall stone was successfully removed.

I didn't feel well after the ERCP and I could not keep my clear liquids down, but I was on heavy pain medication and I was just relieved that I was not in too much pain.

On Wednesday I went to surgery to remove my gallbladder as there were more gallstones and the only option was to remove my gallbladder to prevent this problem in the future. I was pretty nervous for this surgery as I had never been under general anesthesia before and I was not sure what to anticipate for recovery, lifestyle change etc..

The surgeon and OR staff was really incredible and they did an excellent job. My gallbladder was successfully removed by way of Laparoscopic surgery. The surgeon did say that things were worse off than he had thought and my gallbladder was very sick and definitely needed to come out. My pancreas was still very inflamed and 1 quart of fluid that was also removed. Which in turn, I got a good "talking to" from the surgeon before I was discharged the next day of how I had to take it very easy and let my body heal... which means no running at this time.. ugh.

I was released from the hospital late Thursday evening and now I am on my road to recovery.

I am so grateful to my amazing mom who came to my rescue to stay with my kids, so Austin could stay with me and to help me this next week as I am not allowed to due pretty much anything!

I am so grateful to my husband who stayed with me every minute he could, while taking care of the kids the first day, picking my mom up from the airport, still managing to get a 90% on his Biology test and go to class etc..

I am grateful for my great neighbors, and friends who helped out where they could and offered so much help, support and prayers..

I am grateful to eat food again! I went almost 1 week not eating anything and even though I have started out slowly, I am grateful to be able to eat again!

I am so grateful that this is a minor set back and I should make a full recovery with very little changes in my life..

So.. all of this happened just 1 week ago, amazing what can happen so fast and change everything around me so fast. I am blessed and grateful for all the wonderful people in my life and I am trying to take this time for a step back and a break from my busy life.

A new member to my family.....

2010-07-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

This is my incredibly beautiful sister-in-law, Massiel...

She is married to my brother Sam and they were expecting their first baby...

Ginny, my other incredibly beautiful sister-in-law, took this picture of Massiel just 24 hours before she gave birth.. she also took the rest of the pictures for which I am very grateful since I am not able to go see the Guatemala Baby for a couple more months and I love to see pictures, even though I look at these and cry because I want to hold this little baby so bad, I can at least see her thanks to Ginny and her camera/labor & delivery coach multi-tasking skills..

And this is the so, so adorable Guatemala Baby, as I call her, or her legal name is also:

SOPHIE ELIZABETH GREGORY

5 lb 14 oz 19 inches

I just can't wait to go see little Sophie and I know she can't wait to see me too, I am sure of it!

Sam and Massiel are going to be great parents and I welcome them to wonderful world of parenthood. Little Sophie is so blessed to have joined our family, she will be loved by so many aunts, uncles and cousins! And we are so blessed to have her healthy and as cute as can be.

I love you already Sophie and I can't wait to hold your little baby fingers and stroke your little baby toes!

THE Mom & Dad

2010-07-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

This is my Mom and Dad...

They are really amazing people and do really amazing things for others.

My Dad is THE hardest working man I have EVER known. While growing up, I watched my Dad's work ethic and he still amazes me and everyone else with how hard he works and does not complain about it. Through his example, I have learned to work hard myself and I will always be grateful to him for his example.

My Mom, who is a Mother of 8 has taught me, through her example, of how to be a good housewife, and mother. She is an amazing Mom and I am so grateful that I have been blessed to have watched her while growing up, so that I have the knowledge of how to be a good mom to my own children.

My parents are both recently retired, finally have no children or hobo's living in their basement and have made the decision to leave all us crazy, obnoxious and loud 8 children, daughter in laws, son in laws, grandchildren, Hobo's, Russians, and friends to serve an LDS mission. I will miss talking on the phone to my Mom every day, complaining about my problems to her. It will be very strange to have them gone and I don't even know what to expect. I will be sad, I will miss them like crazy, I might even go crazy as times.

BUT.. that being said, they are serving the Lord and this is not about ME! It's about a much higher being who has called them to serve and they WILL serve and they WILL be wonderful, amazing missionaries and might even bring more Russians home to live in their basement, maybe even one to marry the other one...

SO, they will be leaving October 18th, for 18 months to....

DONETSK, UKRAINE

I really don't know much about Ukraine and I don't think they do either, but I am sure they will learn quickly and any person who has the pleasure of working with my Mom and Dad in Ukraine sure will be lucky.

I love you Mom and Dad, and I will miss you so much! I am grateful for your amazing example and you will be amazing missionaries.

More Family Photos

2010-06-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

Just more family photos...

Family Pictures.

2010-06-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, I need everyone's opinion.. there are too many pic's to choose from and I wonder what others think is their favorite.

My mother in law took our family pictures and I just love them! I need to decide what one picture of my family I will get large for the frame on my wall, so many choices....

Grosi & Grosvati Come to Visit!

2010-06-19T17:18:00.001-07:00

This week we had visitors! Austin's parents came to visit from Utah and we enjoyed every minute with them. The time went by way too fast, but we did some very fun things together. The girls just love spending time with their Grosi and Grosvati and we all love them very much!

On the first day, Austin took his Dad to where he goes to school to pick his next text book up for Biology, while Grosi played with the girls for the day, then we all went to an amazing sushi dinner. Then on Wednesday, we all went on a small getaway to Great Wolf Lodge for the night and played in the water-park, which is always a good time and the girls just love that place. We stayed in the hotel and just played, played, played in the water until we were all exhausted! It as such a fun time by all!

To top everything off, we went to the opening day of Toy Story 3 with popcorn, candy and all! Tyler and Kai love the movies, so that was also such a fun thing to do, but before the movie I had asked Grosi to take our family picture on the trails by our house, I will de a separate post with those pictures. Thank you Grosi, we love the family pictures!

In between all this fun, we worked on the deck a little bit, colored lots of princess pictures, went for walks, watched the world cup and just spent a lot of time all together!

THANK YOU to our very special Grosi and Grosvati for visiting us and for all the fun things we did! We love you so very, very much and we will miss you!

Capital City Marathon

2010-05-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day for me. I completed one of my life goals that I had on "my list to do before I die" and that was to run a marathon. I ran the Capital City Marathon in Olympia, Wa. I have been training and preparing for this for a long time. My first goal was to just finish the marathon, to cross the finish line on two feet, BUT I also really wanted to not only finish, but qualify for the Boston Marathon. In order to qualify I had to run a 3.40.

Well, my official results, drum roll please....

3.26:29

7:53 pace

1st overall in my age division

5 overall for women

39th overall

(keep in mind this is a pretty small marathon and my placement is because of this. It's not a very popular marathon because it has crazy, difficult hills!)

So, I did finish the marathon, on two feet, and I did qualify for Boston!!
It felt so good to run this marathon and I just felt strong and great the entire time. My training paid off and I came as prepared as I could and I felt that I delivered.
ALTHOUGH, this could not have happened without the support of my Husband and the help on a great running parter/coach.
If you care to read on about all the details see the pictures below and descriptions.

This is at the finish line! I was in a full sprint to cross the finish line. I wanted to finish strong!

The night before the marathon. I laid everything out because I have to get up at 4:00 am the morning of the race. See my super cool shorts with all the pockets? That way I could take my GU's with me and it was so convenient. I love these shorts, raceready.com

My ADORABLE daughter with her sign she made me. She painted the sign all by herself a couple nights before the race and it was all a surprise for me, I had no idea they made posters

Al the kids waiting in their chairs for me to come to the finish line. I had no idea, but a couple of my neighbors and best friends showed up to support me as a surprise. They are amazing friends and I am so lucky to have such great people surround me and supporting me. They mean so much to me and words can't express how appreciate I am for their love and support. My friend Esther actually ran the last little bit with me to the finish line cheering me on the entire time. What a great friend, right?

My other ADORABLE daughter with her sign for me. She painted those super cute hearts for me all by herself and she was able to keep it all a secret for like 2 days.

Waiting for my Mommy

Oh, here I come..

Run, Liz, Run!

Sorry for the next few photos where I am a cry fest. I was so overcome with emotion and not really thinking very clearly, but all I knew was that Austin was there immediately after I crossed the finish line just hugging me and telling me how proud he was and he told me that I had qualified for Boston etc, etc... it was all so much to take in!

Look at Austin's face and how genuinely happy he is for me. He has been the most amazing husband throughout my training by supporting me, keeping me positive, arranging his crazy schedule to watch the girls so I could do my long runs, and especially being there for me through taper week, when I was an emotional roller-coaster. He never got frustrated with me or told me I was overreacting (which I totally was), he would just give me a hug and listen to me and tell me positive things. He is the most amazing person, father and husband and I love him so, so much! Thanks Bud!

This is Shannon, my training partner and running coach. He wrote my training schedule, ran every long run with me and listened to me ramble on for hours while we ran. He really made me push myself and get me to the level I needed to be at and gave me the confidence that I needed. He is an amazing athlete and I am so grateful for his help in my preparation for the race.

This is my award I got for placing 1st in my division.

What a happy marathon running family!

Thank you to everyone else who has supported me, loved me, and listened to me while I was training. I spent countless hours on the phone with my Sister, Mother, mother-in-law, & sister-in-law expressing to them my thoughts, fears and emotions. And thank you to Opie, Auntie K, and baby Blaze who drove from Cali to watch and support me as well.

I am so blessed with amazing family and friends who love me and I really love them. Thank you for helping me accomplish a dream!

See you all in Boston!!!

What we have been up to....

2010-05-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

First.. we cashed in our Christmas present (gift card) from my parents, thank you!! and went to Great Wolf Lodge for one night. The girls had a blast and we were all sleep deprived because we were having too much fun at the water park, arcade, ice cream parlor etc...

Then,

last weekend we went to friends farm for a birthday party and got to play with their goats, bunnies, ride horses and target practice with guns.

You might ask what is next for my life????

A full marathon in Olympia this Sunday.. Aghhhh what have I gotten myself into???

Woodland Park Zoo

2010-04-12T08:55:00.000-07:00

I have so many pictures on here because we love the zoo and had so much fun, I just could not pick a few pictures, so I am sharing a lot.

Tyler, Kai and I went to the Zoo on Friday in Seattle. I was not sure what the weather was going to be like, but it ended up being beautiful and the zoo was not packed with people, so it was just a great day! All the animals were out, nothing was hiding in a cave or behind bushes etc.. so it was very cool to see all the animals. WE spent all day there, just the three of us, and just had a really great time. I have explained the pictures below...

The gorillas were very cool and there were like 5 or 6 of them all up next to the glass eating and this little gorilla came down from the tress and cuddled up to his Mamma, the girls loved that.

They had these gorilla statues that the girls loved to climb and play on.. look at Kai, she is a little monkey herself!

This snake was just having lunch as we got to him. He caught this live fish out of the water in his tank. It was fascinating that he could eat it as it's bigger than his own head....
But, slowly he started to swallow it....
Until that poor little fish was no more.... it was fun for the girls to witness this.

We got sticks with food on them to feed these birds and they loved that the birds were right on their stick and so close.

Oh the Lions...

These are my favorite at the zoo. The giraffes are so beautiful and we just stayed and watched them for quit a while.
And this is the type of picture you get when you ask someone else to take your picture.... ugh so frustrating that people can't work a camera!

The hippo opened his big, huge mouth for us. Tyler and Kai loved that.

There was an African Village that you could see how the people live and go in a typical house, school etc.. they loved this little hut and asked if Daddy could make them one at home.

These were Kai's favorite, the flamingos.

This was our last stop at teh zoo and Kai was feeling pretty tired by now...

So tired, that she would not even look at the camera.. oh well.

We loved the zoo and just had a great time!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T09:40:00.001-07:00

We didn't have any big easter egg hunt this year because the weather was not great and both girls have a terrible cough, so I did not want them in the rain. Although, we did have an Easter Brunch with our friends where we had waffles with berries and whipped cream, delicious bacon, home-made cinnamon rolls, orange juice... the works! It was fun to have everyone over and celebrate this special holiday. Unfortunately, I was the cook and didn't do a good job of taking pictures, so they are limited. We had a very enjoyable afternoon, the food was delicious and the company was great.

These pic's of the garden's are Tyler's special preschool project. She planted wild flowers and grass, then all those small plants are bean sprouts and more wild flowers. I thought they decorated the house for Easter so nicely and she did such a great job, we are so proud of her!

After brunch, I went on a nice, long run while my friend rode the bike and did 14 miles... my longest run yet, and it went really good. I am very sore today and my body hurts, but it's a great feeling of accomplishment that I am sticking to my training schedule and getting these long runs in.

I hope everyone had just as great of an Easter as we did and we have to much to be grateful for.

I did it!

2010-03-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

I officially signed up for the half-marathon in Olympia for May 16th! I also have a great new running coach/friend who has written up a training schedule for me and is doing all my long runs with me. These next 7 weeks will be hard training, but I am ready! I already completed my longest run yet, 13 miles, last weekend and I did speed work yesterday. I have always hated speed work and I have always hated training schedules, but something in me has changed and I want to go as prepared as possible to this half-marathon, so I can get a good idea of how I might do for the full marathon that I hope to do in October.

The October marathon is in St George, Utah and my hopes, dreams, and goals are to qualify for Boston at that marathon. I am officially inviting all who want to sign up in my group for St George marathon to let me know as sign-ups are April 1st! I am so excited that my mother-in-law, Lynn, is going to sign up with me and my friend here in WA, Sally, is going to sign up as well. So, wish me luck with my training, and pray that my feet will cooperate with me!!

Beautiful View

2010-03-09T19:42:00.000-08:00

I really did not have a great day today, actually my life has been turned upside down for the last almost two weeks and I am not really sure what "normal" will feel like anymore. I recently had an event in my life that will change me forever and I am not sure if it's a good change or not. I feel the need to just write and express some of my thoughts and emotions right now. Some of this may not make sense to anyone else, but the thoughts in my head aren't exactly normal for me right now either, so this blog is really just for me to let some of this out and express my fears and emotions.

I have had so many emotions since this event; fear, sadness, empathy, love, anxiousness, anger.. which have made me ponder so many aspects of life. If anything good came out of this, it is that I love my own family including my husband, children, parents, brothers, sisters, and in-laws more than ever and I know I am the luckiest person alive with the family that I was blessed with. Even though this event did not directly happen to me, it impacted my life so much that everyone has really come together for this person that I truly care about and for me, yes believe it or not, for me. I am scared and tired and just trying to keep up with life right now and I can't imagine how much worse it would be if I didn't have so many people praying for me and listening to me every day pour out my crazy thoughts and fears. Life is so precious and there are many things to be grateful for, but life can sometimes be dark with people that can suck the beauty away by evil and the devils promptings. As far as my not-so-great of a day today, I was just running on very little sleep, with my two small children who were also running on little sleep and I took a dear friend of mine around town today to accomplish some important errands that needed to be ran.. which meant sitting in a DMV for 3 hours going to the county courthouse, the bank, Costco, gas, about 10 bathroom breaks... etc, etc, etc... then on my drive home I looked out the window and saw the most beautiful site... Mt Rainier. It was an amazing view. The clouds were rolling in and the sky was getting dark, but the cloud cover had not yet reached the volcano and it was glowing with light when everything else was shadowed in dark clouds. I had to stop and take a picture because it was juts so incredible. And I have to say that I thought about the beauty of life and even thought there was dark clouds and it was dark and gray outside, I could still see the most beautiful light shining on this magnificent volcano and I know that there is still beauty to be found in ugliness, we just have to see it and look at it and dwell upon the beauty and not the grey, darkness that can sometimes surround it.

I have a beautiful family and I am blessed with so many amazing things in my life and I want to look at the beauty, my own children who have no idea what happened and are just as happy and loving as ever. I am still cautious and I am still scared, but I know that I will be ok and I will focus on the good and the light.

I do just want to say thank you to everyone who has been there for me and my family and to anyone who actually reads this and endures my aimless writing that makes no sense, but makes me feel a little relieved. BUT, just look at this beautiful picture below and think about the beauty around you that may be surrounded by dark clouds, but does still exist and focus on that when you are having a bad day.

Check out what we did in 2009...

2010-03-01T09:19:00.001-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Want to win....

2010-02-22T07:25:00.001-08:00

This:
http://lilatuellerdesigns.blogspot.com/

More Fun in Utah!

2010-02-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

This past week has been very busy, and full of fun! Here is what he have been up to....

For Valentine's Day we an adult couples dinner at my parent's house, unfortunately my valentine was not with me and I missed him very, very much, BUT Ginny was so kind as to be my date for the evening and Devan came by himself! Everyone in my family had a different food assignment and the dinner was so yummy.

Katie made these adorable and delicious heart cream puffs.

Here is my date looking fabulous as Ginny always does.

The beautiful table setting done by Jena.

On Monday we went to the dinosaur museum with the Lewis family. This is a favorite for Tyler and Kai and it's a very fascinating museum with a lot to see and do.

They loved this huge shark and Kai was very curious to know if the red on him was blood.

This was a large hands-on wet play area with sand and play dinosaurs and trees. They spent a lot of time playing here with cousin Bella.

Katie is the best Auntie and the nieces just LOVE her! Katie put music on in her room and they had a major jump-on-the-bed/pile-on-Katie party!

There was so much giggling, singing, jumping and playing!

Tea time with Auntie Katie using bananas and hot chocolate.

Can't forget the zip line with uncle Sam. Tyler has moved from the baby swing to a harness and she loves it because she can go upside down!

Kai thinks she can go upside down too....

Until next week when we have more fun things to share with you....

Utah!

2010-02-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

Tyler, Kai and I came to Utah for a little vacation, unfortunately we had to leave Daddy behind since he is in the middle of a semester of school and coaching wrestling, but we do miss him!

We have had a great first few days here at my parents house and the girls have been very busy playing, although, poor little Kai Kai had had a battle with a stomach bug and was pretty sick on Saturday and still is not fully back to her normal, high-energy self.

Devan and Sam are their favorites of course (although Kai is pretty good buddies with Ginny) and Tyler just LOVES when Sam comes over so he can take her on the zip line! On Sunday everyone came over to my parents for a super bowl party and the cousins all played like crazy, Tyler and Afton are best friends! I ate way too much crappy food, but had a really good time doing it! I love to see my family and it's been so fun to hold baby Ellie and see Massiel's baby bump, and go running with my mom and sister. The weather has been beautiful and I have had a few great runs already, plus I got new running shoes, YEA!!
Overall, our vacation is going great and we still have so much more fun to be had (if Grosi could just get back into SLC from Baltimore on a flight that is not cancelled for snow!)

Kai just resting on Devan.

Kai helping Katie get baby Ellie's pajamas on.

The cousins playing duck, duck, goose.

Kai playing WOW with Devan, about the only thing he knows how to do with his spare time.

My mom, sister Danna, and I getting ready for a Saturday run. Support some local runners and check out www.sherunslikeagirl.blogspot.com and become a fan! If your interested in running with them then leave a comment with your interest, they always welcome new runners to their group, or offer great tips if your already a runner.

Christmas in Cali

2009-12-30T13:43:00.000-08:00

This Christmas we went to California to be with some family. We did the long drive, and thankfully we had a smooth drive there and back without any problems. First we stayed with Austin's Mom, Karen, or Opie as the grandkids call her. She just bought a new house and she had been busy trying to get it ready for visitors. It was fun, but very chaotic with a brand new baby just home form the hospital (Cody and Kendra's), a new puppy Garrett was getting for Christmas, our family of 4, plus a few days later Jesse, Tara, and Bella.. it was a full house! We all had a great time together and enjoyed the new little addition to the family, Baby Blaze. We spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning there, then we headed to Scotts Valley to Richard and Lynn's (Poppi and Noni) house. And we spent the next couple days with them playing games, watching movies and of course I got in a run with Lynn and Tara on some beautiful trails with Redwood Tree's.

Tyler is at a fun stage right now with Christmas and it was so fun for me to watch her excitement and anticipation for Santa Clause. And Kai was an amazing present opener and had no problems tearing the presents open as fast as she could!

It was so nice to have everyone together and spend time helping Kendra with her new baby, playing lost of games, running every day, and eating lots of food!

We had a wonderful Christmas and I am grateful for so many things this year and I know we are truly blessed with wonderful family and friends. I am grateful to be home safe from the long car trip and to have our warm house to come home to. After we got home, we opened a few more presents from other family and parents and the emotion was so strong that I couldn't help but cry because of how grateful I am for such loving parents and in-laws. Tyler asked why I was crying, so Austin and I had a long talk with her about how some children don't have as much as she has and that we need to always be grateful and give back. I told her that I was crying because of how happy I am and that is the truth, I am happy, healthy, and incredibly blessed. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoy the New Year!

This was taken at Karen's house in Oakley, CA

Bella and Kai... two peas in a pod. Kai likes to "mother" Bella, and treat her like a baby, but it's funny because they are almost the same size.

Who cares about presents, the boxes and bows are the Best part!

New baby Blaze with Richard and Lynn.

Decorating the Christmas tree at Opie's house. The boys went through some of their past ornaments that they made when they were kids.. it was fun to listen to their stories that went along with an ornament.

Uncle Garrett read, The Night Before Christmas, and the three little girls just adore their Uncle Garrett!

Playing a new game Tyler got from Popi and Noni.

Then, of course the Men have to turn a 3 year old's game into a heated competition.

Tyler and Kai in their new twirly skirts from Grandma and Grandpa Gregory. They have only taken them off to go to bed since they opened them 2 days ago.

Happy Birthday Kai Kai

2009-12-19T20:24:00.001-08:00

Kai Ann is now 3! I just can't believe how time flies! She is such a little blessing to have and we just love her so very much. Kai is the cutest little girl and we love having her around us all the time. She can be challenging at times because she has so much personality, but she is also very loving and says, "Mom, I love you" and "Mom your so nice" periodically out of the blue (sure glad she thinks that even after ALL the times I have to put her in time-out). She adores her Daddy and wants to talk to him on the phone all the time and can't wait to see him after he gets home from work and she looks up to her big sister, wanting to do everything she does, as she is her best friend. We love her and have loved these 3 years with her. Kai is definitely aware that it is her birthday and all she wants is a birthday cake and she has made that very clear! She is such a special little girl and we all adore her!

Kai Kai.. Happy Birthday! We love you!

I just LOVE these Girls!

2009-12-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

This post is a "just because", because I took these pictures of the girls the other day while they were so cute in their Christmas skirts and I thought they looked adorable! I love these two little girls more than anything in the world and I am blessed that they love me unconditionally back, even after I get upset with them for something, the second I go to hug them, they are all full of love.

Austin has been gone a lot lately with school and his wrestling coach job, that we don't see much of him during the week, so it has really been just the three of us (and Amiga) most the time and we have been doing fun things and spending a lot of time together. I have not had a car to get around (since I blew the tire in our Mini and Austin has not had time to fix it since he has finals right now), so we have just been home, coloring, reading books, etc.. I love to just spend time with them and being with them all day. So, anyway, my just because post is all just because I love my girls!!

It's Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas!!

2009-12-01T18:17:00.000-08:00

I just love this holiday season, it makes me so happy and feel so good inside! I love to just sit in my house and have all the reminders of Christmas all around me and listen to Christmas music. We decided to just get a small tree this year since we will be going to California, but even though it's small, I still love it! Tyler and Kai keep asking ever day if Santa comes today (this will be a long December), and they started their advent calendar to the countdown (thank you Grosi). This year we will spend Christmas in California with some family. It will be so fun to spend time with family this holiday season and meet our new baby nephew on the Schmidt side of the family. I can't help but be so thankful with how blessed we really are I am thankful for all our blessings and to be together as a family this Christmas, because that is what really matters. Here are some pic's of what makes me so very happy! Tis the Season!

Austin did a GREAT job on the Christmas lights on the house!

The stockings are hung just waiting for Santa!

And what Christmas is truly about, the nativity scene.

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a lot of fun this year with these little girls! (sorry the pictures are in backwards order..) Tyler was a witch and Kai was a monkey and the cutest monkey I have ever seen, every house we went to people had to comment how darn cute Kai was and she was so happy and exited to say trick-or-treat and then get candy! Then she would immediately say, "mommy, can we go to another house now?" And Tyler was a champ, she stayed running with the big kids and wanted to go to as many houses as possible. Before trick-or-treating we went to our neighbors for a halloween party that they have every year, we played games and had scary food to eat. I made "mummy pizza's" to take over, and they had other items there like bloody fingers (chicken trips), mummy toes, and lots of other scary things to eat. Then we started to walk through the neighborhood trick-or-treating with some friends, when Austin and our neighbor decided to go get our trailer and hook it up behind his Excursion. So we piled a lot of kids in the trailer and drove through the neighborhood trick-or-treating. They got so much candy and loved every minute of it. And thankfully, we had a dry evening! We had non-stop rain for 24 hours before the evening of halloween, then it stopped raining and was actually not very cold for the entire night.

This is the "candy sorting" party that we all love to do! We did this the morning after Halloween because we were too tired that night

The trailer filled with kids going trick-or-treating

Tyler doing good, filling her pillow case with candy!

She was making a drink out of witches brew!

My mummy pizza's we took to the party.

Aren't they so adorable! Or scary I guess I should say since Kai wanted to be a scary monkey and Tyler wanted to be a mean witch... what is with that?

Yes, I dressed as a witch too! But I was a nice witch.

This was the day before Halloween before Tyler went to preschool in their adorable skirts that Grosi made.

Carving Pumpkins/Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-27T11:13:00.001-07:00

We have had a fun past few days celebrating halloween. First we carved pumpkins this weekend and that is always fun at our house. Kai really loved to clean the "pumpkin guts" out and played in the guts for a long time, she loved the feel of it. Tyler has never been so fond of the feel, but she got through it by washing her hands every few minutes. And Austin did a very cool pumpkin as usual with the skull and flames of etc. I did the haunted house one and Austin and Tyler did the other skull head. Overall, it was a great family fun filled evening!

Then on Monday Tyler's preschool had a field trip to the pumpkin patch and I took the girls. That is always fun. They have a small petting animal area with a baby cow, baby goats, baby pigs, a bunny, and baby horses. Tyler and Kai loved touching the animals, but the pig's scared Kai a bit as they were very interested in her and wanted to sniff her a little too much for her liking. We went for a hay ride, went through a hay maze, then the kids got to pick their own pumpkin out of the patch to bring home. It was a fun day!

The Dentist!

2009-10-23T13:32:00.001-07:00

Tyler and Kai had a dentist appt this week and come to find out, Kai had a cavity! How could this be, she is only 2 years old and believe me my children hardly ever get candy or sweets and they brush there teeth every day. Joe can you help me out here?

Anyway, Kai was such a good girl! I could not believe it. She let the dentist drill, rinse, dry, put a fill in and everything while being so good and brave. Even after we got home she said, "Mom, can we go to the dentist tomorrow?" She surprised me and I was very proud of her. Pics are below.

Roller Skating

2009-10-09T10:59:00.001-07:00

Last weekend our neighbor had a birthday party roller skating. This was Tyler and Kai's first experience on roller skates. They both loved it and got the hang of it pretty fast, although we did have to hold on to their hands to entire time. Kai was funny, she would say, "I can do it myslef now" so we let go of her hands and immediately she would fall down, then should would want our help again. She so badly wanted to skate on her own, but just too little still. After a while she got tired, and we we pushed her in a stroller, as the skating place allowed strollers on the floor, then Kai really enjoyed that. Tyler had fun, but she really liked to watch everyone else skate and observe . She was really uneasy on the floor and wanted us to hold her hands, but she did really well.

It was a fun birthday party and a fun family day of roller skating. Austin even did the

Hokey- Pokey and won a race in a game against other skaters. Enjoy these silly pictures...

Tyler's 5th Birthday!

2009-09-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

Tyler turned 5 yesterday. Yes, I said 5! She is growing so fast and I can't even believe it! She is such a good girl and we just love her to pieces!

She had a great polka dot birthday party with her friends and had so much fun. Then on Monday she had a birthday surprise at preschool with was her Grosi and Grosvati surprising her with their visit from Utah. She was so excited to see them and we have had a very good visit with them. We went to the fair, made a birthday cake, opened presents, went to a birthday dinner out, went for a walk, went to the park and much, much more! We have all had so much fun these last fews days and we love having Grosi and Grosvati here to visit. Thanks for coming and for the fun surprise for Tyler! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my 5 year old!

Here are pics from every year on Tyler's birthday.

Tyler was born in San Antonio, Texas

1 year old!

2 years old!

3 years old!

4 years old!

5 years old!

Sushi Night!

2009-09-18T07:15:00.000-07:00

Austin and I LOVE sushi and could eat it for every meal, except its very costly, so unfortunately we rarely get it. We have been wanting to make it ourselves for a while now and we finally scheduled a day for it and invited some neighbors over to enjoy with us! We were very apprehensive since we have never done this before and had no idea what to expect. Austin went to a few different places in Tacoma and found some great sushi grade fish. He purchased tuna, salmon, and tilapia. I got the "fixins", shrimp, avocados, carrots, cucumbers, etc.. and I attempted to make the rice, which by the way, is more difficult than I thought, with a few ingredients I have never used before! And Austin was the "Master Sushi Chef". He did such a great job and the sushi was the best I have EVER had! It was sooo delicious and everyone really loved it. It was so fresh and light. Austin really came into his role a master sushi chef and enjoyed making his creations. It was a huge success and we will absolutely be doing it again in the future. We would recommend it to any sushi lover, as the cost was WAY cheaper than a restaurant and fresh and better tasting!

Thanks Dear for making such great Sushi!

Tyler's First Day of Preschool

2009-09-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

Tyler is now in the 3 day a week preschool class and today was her first day. She goes to Strawberry Patch Preschool, which is a parent cooperative preschool and we both love it there! This year she has a new teacher, Miss Sally, although she is not new to us, as she has been a parent there for a couple years. The last teacher, as Miss Teresa, retired last year, and we will miss her, but Miss Sally is a great teacher and this will be a great year! This is a hard year at preschool for me because I know it's Tyler's last, then off to Kindergarten next year and I am not sure I can handle that!!! SO, I am very glad that this preschool is a parent co-operative and I can spend a lot of one-on-one time with her before she is off to school for good, without Mom at her side! Here are pic's from her first day, and I was a "parent helper" today.

The Puyallup Fair!

2009-09-14T07:19:00.001-07:00

We love the Puyallup fair and try to go every year. This time we went with some friends and if you go on the first day of the fair before noon, then you get in free, so that is what we did. We packed in a lunch and made a full day of it. The girls love to look at all the animals and it was a beautiful, sunny day in Washington. We all had a great time!

What a funky chicken!

Oh, we want one of these!

This is one patient Mamma!

Aren't they sooooo adorable

UFC 102!

2009-08-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

Austin is a huge fan of the UFC (and I enjoy it too), and we take turns with a group of friends hosting each fight at one of our houses, BUT UFC 102 came to Portland and we did not want to miss on this great opportunity to actually go to the UFC live, so a few months back I got Austin tickets as a surprise and our friends Jesse and Katy got tickets as well. This Friday Austin, Jesse and Katy headed to Portland to watch the weigh-in's, then on Saturday, after the baby sitter got here, I met up with them. We were able to stay with some of Katie's family and save on the hotel costs, so that was really nice, and we actually went to UFC 102!!

It was so, so cool and a lot of fun! Randy Couture vs. Nogueria was the main event fight and it went all 3 rounds, but unfortunately Couture lost to decision, but regardless, it was a great fight. There were a lot of other good fight and we all just really enjoyed it and had a great time.

Utah summer 2009

2009-08-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

Where do I begin?!?!

This summer in Utah was so much fun and we were so busy! Here is a list of some things we did:

Running the Provo canyon, mountain biking on South Mountain, Canyoneering the Subway Canyon in Zions National Park, wake boarding and tubing on Deer Creek, four-wheeling to Daniel Summit, swimming, riding the zip line, lots of great food and eating out, shopping, and time with family, friends, and more family!

What a great summer we had!!

This will be a summer we wont forget and it was great to see so much family and spend so much time together. Thank you especially to both our parents for helping out so much, watching the girls sometimes, planning fun events, and putting up with us! We love you and we are so grateful for you!

I tried to post some pic's below, but I have so many!

Tyler is getting so big (almost 5), isn't she so pretty!

Yup, that is me, repelling in Zions

Zions is so beautiful!

Silly Austin

The rock is so red and really cool how the sand and wind can shape the rock and make it have these grooves and lines in it.

The subway canyon in Zions, for good reason, looks just like a subway tunnel

Just the girls!

Mya, Tyler, Kai, and Afton

(and congrats to my sister for adding one more girl to this mix, born today!)

Tara with Bella, then Austin with Kai, and me with Tyler on the tube at Deer Creek

A giant inflated slide at my Aunt Karen's house for my cousin David's birthday.

This is Ginny, Devan, Sam, Massiel and Kai

Can't forget Tyler and Kai's favorite thing... the zip line! So much fun!

Since Devan and Ginny are living at my parents house, we got to spend a lot of time with them and the girls just adore Ginny!

Look what I caught them doing at Grosi's house.

The zip line again!

Kai LOVED getting her hair cut and wanted to do it again, right after she was done... so exciting, just like a girl!

Four wheeling to Daniel Summit with the Lewis family. We were all together for 3 whole days!

Lewis family pic!

Great Weekend!

2009-07-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

This 4th of July was great! It all started off with my 5K run in Tumwater which was the first running race I had ever entered. My goal is to run at least the half marathon (maybe full marathon) in Seattle in November, so I thought I would start at a 5K level and work my way up. Well, my goal was to just finish this race and not to come in dead last, but to my surprise, I did more than finish, I actually came in 1st place for Women! Now, don't get me wrong, this was no HUGE race with thousands of runners or anything, but regardless, I was pleasantly surprised and a little proud of myself! I actually got a nice plaque and ribbon. I guess this means I will keep training and move on up to a 10K. I do like running, but I don't want to get obsessive about it, so I will continue to run for enjoyment and stress release and I may enter a race here and there for fun.

NEXT we had a huge neighborhood BBQ in our court and it was a blast! We had so many people here and lots of food, fun and games! The kids played on the trampoline and in our new little blow up pool. We had pinatas, sparklers, basketball games, rodeo golf and we ended the night with an awesome firework show put on by Austin. It was a great 4th of July!

Tyler's Dance Recital

2009-06-20T19:42:00.001-07:00

Tyler had her first dance recital tonight and she did so great! I can't believe how fast she is growing! She looked adorable and and had no stage freight. She remembered her dance pretty good and it was just so sweet. We were so proud of her and she said it was a lot of fun, so that is what matters. I was a little mad though that she would not let me take very many pictures. I wanted to take some in front the my neighbors beautiful flower garden, but Tyler really does not like getting her pic taken and she would not have it and since we were late, I did not have time to argue with her, so I got a few at the recital and I did get a professional one that I will post after I get it. We love you Tyler, and great job on your first dance performance!

THE SUN!

2009-06-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

We have had the MOST beautiful weather! I tell you, it can rain in Washington, but when the sky is blue and its not raining.... it is the most beautiful place on earth! We have been outside every day just soaking up the sun and playing, playing, playing! We went to the pool last week and the girls had SO much fun and yesterday I had a great girls day on our lake. Just my two girlfriends and I left all the kids to their Dad's and went out on a little trolling boat to our lake. We were out there for 4 1/2 hours! and had not realized it when we got home... (thankfully we have wonderful husbands, and they were not mad, just happy we enjoyed ourselves). It was so peaceful, and beautiful and quiet and just wonderful! I had such a good day and a much needed girls time.

And also on another note, I was outside working on my computers on my deck because it was so beautiful and all the sudden, I heard this tiny baby kitty cry. I was looking around and saw this little kitty that came out of no where! She was hurt, with a tooth hanging out and her nose was scratched, but she was so adorable. I was not sure to what to with her since, Amiga is NOT kitty friendly. But he kitty was too small to survive on it's own and I wanted to find a good home for her, so I went to my neighbors house and she instantly fell in love with her and took her to the vet to keep cleaned up and is keeping her. Tyler and Kai love this kitty and Tyler named her "Bear". They go visit the kitty every day at the neighbors and it's Tyler's Kitty away from home.

SO... here are some pic's of last week swimming and Bear, the Kitty

Another Project

2009-05-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY got some yard work done. Our yard is so difficult because of the hill, the septic system, and a trillion rocks that its just so expensive to do anything! But this year we promised ourselves to do one part of it, then next year we will do another section and so on. BUT, since the girls got a trampoline this year for Christmas we needed to get an area ready for that. Here are the dramatic before and after pic's. We love it and have been out there every day this beautiful weekend just jumping on the trampoline, playing in a new sand box and soaking up the sun! The girls just love the trampoline and that is all they want to do. It's the first thing Kai asks to do when she wakes up in the morning and from a nap. We had such a fun weekend playing at home with each other and our friends, what a great holiday weekend!

BEFORE!

After the tractor got it ready for gravel.

AFTER!

Silly Girls.

Austin will build a retaining wall with bricks over on the right side where the side of the hill was dug out.... plus a few other things we are still doing with gravel for a swing set etc... It looks great, but still has a lot of work left to do, but a great start!