There's a first time for everything...

Today was the first time I've ever made homemade jam.  I know.  Shocking.  Here's what I was most surprised by.
1- How EASY it is!  Seriously-just freezer jam-and it was so simple.
2- How much SUGAR goes into it.  No wonder it's so dang good.

It was a family affair-for sure.  Landon and Presley helped me pit all of the apricots.  Presley especially liked this job and was really a trooper!!

They liked to watch it blend-but never liked the end result...."ewww, that looks REALLY GROSS" they would say after each batch was blended.

Add some sugar, some pectin and lemon juice and wait for about 10 minutes....

The end result?  30 pints of freezer jam.  How do you like my hodge podge of jars and lids?  I'm telling ya, I'm a rookie. But thanks to my Grandma, I had many jars to spare.

So-here's to my year's supply of jam.  And here's to hoping my kids like apricot jam, because it's what they'll be eating for a while.

Summer Rewind: Rexburg Rapids

One of the fun things we did this summer was to take the kids to the new Rexburg Rapids water park.  We had my cousin's two darling girls with us-and they had a blast.  It was a pretty windy day-so when you were out of the water, it was a little chilly until you dried off.  Other than that-a great day.

Landon and Audrey

Alexia floating the lazy river

Pacie getting ready to go down the slide.  The kids really surprised me with the slide.  There was no hesitation-they just flew up and then flew down.  All of the older kids went down several times. And the younger ones were all sad that they weren't tall enough.

Guess who else started school?

Our little Presley officially started preschool yesterday.  She came last year for about half the year and did pretty well.  But this year-she is actually the right age and will be coming to my class twice a week.  She was very proud and is very excited to make some new friends and to be a part of the group.

Here she is modeling her first day of school outfit.  Not sure where she learned the head tilt...but apparently it's how you pose.

And again? (She's pretty darn cute though.)

Not to be outdone-Piper jumps into the picture.

With her teacher on the first day of school.

It really is a blessing for me to be able to interact with my kids in this way. It was wonderful to have Landon for two years and not to be able to teach Presley for another year before I have to send her off to school will be wonderful.  

Love you little Presley!! Hope your preschool experience is amazing!

Summer rewind-T-Ball

This was Landon's second summer playing t-ball. I'm hoping next year he moves onto pitching machine!  It was really fun to watch him and he loved playing with his friends.  He likes to be where the action is-and mostly liked to play pitcher or "rover" which is basically another version of pitcher.  He was a good sport-always cheering for the other team and chatting up the other players as they came to his base.  Here are a few shots from his last game.  It was an 8:00am game and it was chilly-hence the jacket.
It's so fun having a son doing sports and I can't wait to continue watching him excel and figure out what sports he favors.

A swing and a miss-but look at that form!

CONTACT! 

Running to 3rd base.

A quick smile for mom.

another great hit!

LOVE my handsome boy!!

Running for HOME!

Ever thought you couldn't do something?

I ran a half marathon.  There, I can say it.  Something I never thought I could ever do, I did!  And I actually even enjoyed (most of) it!

I started training in June for this race-running short distances twice a week and a longer one on the weekends.  Each weekend I would add on a mile until eventually I was running 7,8,9 10....you get the picture....miles on the weekend.  The farthest I ran before the race was 12 miles, so I knew going into the race that I only had to run one more mile past what I had already accomplished.

It was a beautiful day.  We started the morning at about 4:30.  Rachel, Ashley and I were all at Rachel's house.  We got ready-ate a little breakfast and headed over to the finish area to catch a bus up to the starting line.  It was amazing to see how many people were there-and to see the different kinds of people too!  We met up with my friend Jenny and boarded the bus.

They took us up into a canyon-seven miles up.  We got off the busses and got in line for the bathrooms-let's just say the lines were ridiculous.  We waited for about 25 minutes for our turns...(we were all nervous I guess!) and then headed up to the start line.  Once the gun went off-we all spaced out and ran on our own, at our own paces.
My first seven miles down the canyon were incredible.  The view was amazing-shaded-a slight breeze-ideal running conditions.  I was thrilled to feel so good!!  My back had been really bad just the Sunday before and I was so nervous that it was going to hinder my progress.

At seven miles the road branched off and we headed onto more main roads.  It was crazy to be running with so many different people.  At around mile 10, I could feel my back starting to tighten up.  A LOT.  It got really hot, really fast and I was slowing down quite a bit.  But I didn't want to stop.  At the rest station at mile 11, I started walking just to get a drink and take an energy pack.  I ended up walking about 3/4 of a mile.  I was really disappointed in myself for walking that far....and decided that no matter how much it hurt-I was going to run the rest.  And I did.

As I came over a little crest in the road I could see the finish line in the distance.  It looked really far away-but as I kept going it got closer and closer and I knew that I was almost there.  As I approached the final stretch, I could see Scott and Piper leaning over just past the finish line.  I literally started sobbing.  I cried my way across the finish line, right into Scott's arms.  It was way more emotional than I thought it was going to be, but it was SUCH an amazing feeling of accomplishment.  All of my hard work all summer had come to fruition right at that moment.  It was Amazing.

Ashley, Rachel and Jenny had all finished ahead of me.  But I didn't even care.  Yes, I would've like to have finished faster.  But I finished!  And I'm sure the next one I run, I will finish a little faster than this one.

As a side story-my dad trained with me all summer long.  He ran with me on my long runs-only missing my 7 miler and my 12 miler.  He was such an inspiration.  By the time he decided he wanted to run-the registration was closed.  But he was determined to run.  He started out on his own-ran 9 miles of his own course and then joined in with the other runners with 4 miles left.  He got his medal. I was so happy that he was able to run it too!
It really was one of the most satisfying experiences I've ever had.  So glad I did it-and like I said-YES, I would do it again.  I just have to get the feeling back in my feet first.....
Here are a few snapshots of the day.  I have more coming-but these are just a few of my favorites.....

Thirteen point one

In a little less than 48 hours I will be running the Top Of Utah Half marathon.  Thirteen point one miles.  I have been training since June.  (The last two weeks have been awful-bad back=hard running=not a lot of miles booked).  My longest run is 12 miles-so I am feeling sufficiently prepared.
However, I did not anticipate the nerves.  I am starting to get extremely anxious and nervous about it. Some of it is the unknown...I've never run in a "race" before.  (Trust me, the only person I am racing against is myself.  I'm not expecting much of a "race.") However, I do have a few goals....
1.  Finish the race in under 2.5 hrs.  Yes-many people finish in less than 2 hours-some even less than that!  But for me-anything less than 2.5 will be great!
2.  Keep my average under 12 mins/mile.  I know-I just told everyone how slow I am.  But the fact of the matter is-I have never been a runner.  I did not start running more than 2 or so miles until June...so the fact that I am now running long distances...is great.
3.  Have fun and not let my nerves overtake the experience.

I am grateful to be running "with" (I use that term loosely because they will all be ahead of me.....) Ashley, Rach, and Jenny.  It's been a great summer of training.  Now here's to the race!!

So-we had a couple birthdays....

My birthday is on the 4th, Scott's on the 5th.  It's always been fun-having 2 birthdays in a row to celebrate.  This year was a little more special.  Scott had a big one-the big 40. I really wanted to do something special for him-even though he kept insisting that he just wanted a quiet night with just family.  Oops.
My birthday ended with Ashley making me an amazing ice cream cake-so yummy!  Scott and I went to dinner at the Whitewater Grill/Wasabi restaurant down by the river.  It was fantastic!  A good surprise for sure!

Scott's surprise party was held at Infinity dance studio-and he truly was surprised.  I was a nervous wreck trying to pull it all off.  Lots of people had to be in on it to help me out-my family-his parents and Debbie-but somehow we managed it and I think he really was surprised to walk in and see family and friends waiting to with him a happy day.  It was a good surprise...and the start to a great weekend.  So thanks to everyone who helped to pull it off!  It was fun to see his face-and good to get it all over with!

I wish I would've taken more pics that night-but here is what I have.

 The cake!  The writing on the side was a last minute addition after joking with Scott about it.  Everyone always says-"You don't look that old"!  I joked with him and he said, "Is that what you're going to put on my cake?".  A call had to be made to Sams club and a little bit added to make it right.

 My favorite picture of the night.....

 Happy Birthday, Scott!  :)  You're looking better and better every year.  I love you!! Hope your birthday was amazing-just like you are.