Birthday wishes!!!!!

Happy Birthday Brian.

I am so lucky to have spent the last 16 birthdays with you.

What a great 4th of July weekend we had. Friday, the 3rd , Brian and I took our kids to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. There was so many people there. It took us 2 ½ hours to do the whole tour. There was lots of waiting, but it was worth it. The temple is beautiful and even with all the people that were going through it, there was a peaceful and special feeling there. I am so glad we got to take our kids to see it. I hope the temple will always be a place they want to go to.

Friday night we met Brian’s brother and his wife, Larry and Rachel, for dinner. The kids stayed at their house and we ate at Texas Road house which is one of our favorite restaurants. (There is one being built five minutes from our house and we can’t wait.) We went back to their house and set off fireworks. That night we stayed over.

In the morning we headed up to Timp Cave for a great hike. I had never been although I have hiked the back of Timp all the way to the top. Loved the cave hike. Although it was steep, the distance was perfect for the kids. The temp was great and the cave was so awesome.

(Aubrey was a bit worn out from all the hiking and couldn't make it to the very end.)
We headed back to their house for lunch and had a relaxing afternoon visiting while the kids played. They were headed to the Stadium of Fire so about 4:00 we headed home all exhausted, but happy. The Logan fireworks are on the 3rd, so we didn’t get to see any this year. Doesn’t’ matter though, we had a great weekend.

SISTER'S RETREAT

One of the weekends I look forward to the most all year long is my sister’s retreat weekend. This year we headed to Park city and stayed in a condo June25-27th. There was nine of us total. I have 6 sisters, two sister-in-laws, and my mother that all try and come. This year we were all there except for my sister-in-law, Sherri (We missed you Sherri). What a blast we had and I marvel every year that we all get along and like to be with each other. I count it as one of my greatest blessings in life.

We always start out the retreat with planning meals and grocery shopping. This is always quite the event and of course we always buy way too much food. We eat good and feel sick by the end, but we love it.

We love to play silly games and laugh our heads off.

I brought a stack of movies to watch but the one and only movie we watched we ended up renting.

Of course we shopped the outlet stores.

We went walking several times.

We followed a steep road with beautiful houses and lots of nature. And when nature called, there was even an outhouse to accommodate us.

We enjoyed a great dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. The crab cake was delicious even though Maria found a piece of paper in hers.

Ruth shared her talents with us and mom got her hair done.

Sarah also shared one of her many talents and painted our toenails. They looked beautiful and summery.

My favorite thing we did the whole weekend was to talk. We had some great conversations and my mom shared experiences she had growing up that I had never heard before. We ended it all by attending the Barney reunion which is my mother’s siblings and their families. It was great to catch up with aunts, uncles, and cousins.
It was a great weekend and I felt renewed and very grateful for my amazing sisters, mother, and even my wonderful family at home. Can’t wait until next year.

LOGAN'S 7TH BIRTHDAY

June 20th was Logan’s 7th birthday. He had been looking forward to this day for a long time. Brian and I were asked to help with Youth Conference that was on his birthday so we planned his birthday party for a couple days before. He didn’t care when his party was as long as he had one.
One of the things he wanted to do most for his birthday party was to play wii. So he and his friends did that right at first. We then went out side and played some water games. We had cake and ice cream and then opened presents. It was a simple party, but Logan loved it.

For his birthday he wanted some Playmobil little people which he got. We had cake and ice cream again the night of his birthday after Brian and I got home. Logan loved his birthday and mentioned several times that it was the best day of his life. I think he was happy.

Logan is such a great kid. He loves his family so much, especially his big brothers. He is happy and loves to share. He truly has a kind heart. Logan is a joy to have in our home. We love you so much Logan.

MY FIRST 1/2 MARATHON

I know it has been a couple of weeks but I wanted to post about a historic day for me. June 13th I ran my first ½ marathon. I trained for 9 weeks. Brian was my rock and trained with me as much as he could. He gave me lots of encouragement and support. My sister, Frances ran it with me and my sister Janice ran the full marathon. They were a huge support and inspiration as well.

The fun weekend started Friday, June 12th. Franny and Janice brought their kids up to Logan to stay at my house while we went and stayed at a condo next to the lake. Sammy and my niece Cammie helped watch the kids and my sister Ruth stayed over night to help. Thanks Ruth. But before we left we had to go out for some yummy pasta at the Olive Garden.

The race started late because they had problems busing everyone to the starting line. While we were waiting, it started to rain pretty hard. I was a little nervous to be running my first ½ in the rain, but it actually turned out to be perfect weather. It rained just a bit during the race but the temp was perfect.

The first part of the race was great. I felt great and everything was so beautiful. The second part of the race felt like it was constant up hill. With 6 miles left I felt my legs tighten, 5 miles left I hit the wall and I wondered how I was going to finish. I was running with my sister Frances and she was having a great race. She was so positive and up beat which was a huge help to me. I couldn’t keep up with her, but she waited for me at the aid stations and kept me going. With 4 miles left my IT band (side of my knee) was bothering me. I kept pushing it and worked hard to stay up with Frances. Any way, it was more challenging than I thought it was going to be. As we came to the finish, Franny grabbed my hand and said, “Let’s do this.” I wasn’t emotional at all until she said that and then when she said that I started crying. On the other side of the finish line a man was taking pictures so I tried hard to put a smile on my face. We crossed the finish line, they handed us our medals, and then I had to walk away and cry. I had done it. I had trained and did everything I possibly could to be ready. I finished the race and I did it with my amazing sister.

Part of the emotion was because of all the help that everyone had given me. Brian, Frances, and Janice were my cheerleaders and knew that I could do this. Not only them, but my whole family and friends. It felt wonderful to have so much encouragement.

I was hoping for 2:15 and because of Frances, we finished in 2:09. I was really excited about the time. Brian finished in 1:46. He didn’t beat the time he wanted, but he came in 20th overall and first in his age group. Janice did awesome to in the full marathon. She finished in 4:11.

Even though I was hurting, it was worth it. We headed back to Logan shortly after the race. Saturday night, more family came to visit. My brother Glen and his wife Sarah brought their two cut girls to play Saturday night and stay over. My brother, John, and his wife, Sherri, brought their boys for dinner and visit. My awesome parents drove through a terrible storm to come visit a couple of hours and then head back home. It was a great night. We had so much fun BBQing, playing volleyball (I just watched. I was a little too tired.), and staying up way to late talking. I loved it and I went through family withdrawls when they all left. I have an awesome family and love that we all get along and support each other.

WELCOME SUMMER!!!!

Schools out and I love to celebrate the beginning of summer. I told the kids that if they invited the friends I would have some water activities set up in the back yard for them on their last day of school. I thought they may invite four friends or so. Sammy invited 12 girls. I was a little surprised but I thought why not. Sammy has great friends. Steven had three friends come and we had a couple younger kids from the neighborhood come over as well.

I thought it turned out really fun. I had lunch for them and then they played and had a blast. You can’t have a party without music so I set up my stereo speakers and put them in the window. Hopefully it wasn’t too loud for our neighbors. The kids played water balloon volleyball, red rover-red rover, slip and slide, played in a kiddie pool I had set up, and invented their own games when we turned on the sprinkler. We topped it off with a movie. We are now officially ready for summer.

What has God done for me today?

A friend of mine had this video on her facebook. I have been thinking about the talk that this video was made from a lot this weekend. A coincidence or ment to be that I got on facebook this morning and she shared it I don't know, but I thought I would share it with all of you. The talk was given October 2007 conference. I know this because I was going through a really hard time when it was given and it was something that really helped me. This talk means a lot to me. Hopefully it will be helpful to some one who reads this blog. Have a great day.

Hopefully we will see God's hand in our life today in many ways.