Let the Races Begin!

The Salt Lake Running Company put on a FREE 5K and thank goodness for facebook or I wouldn't have known about it!  I am doing a weight loss blog thing so I posted about it and a bunch of people signed up.  I love that when we got there Allie called me and said "Um there is snow on the ground, is this thing still happening?" HA! love her!

Because it was so cold, everyone went into the store to wait for the race to start - WOW there were a lot of people there.  I don't mind being in a crowd, but it was actually a little much for even me.

Here are all the girls from the blog that signed up.  Yes Lyn is part of the group, but they only gave shirts to the first 1,000 people that signed up - oops Lyn!  get on it faster next time! (she was actually really nervous and didn't sign up because she didn't know if she wanted to do it.  I was really proud of her!)

Here is me and Allie at the starting line.  She thought I didn't have enough clothing on to stay warm, but I LOVE running in cold weather.  I do so much better in that environment - in fact I was deciding (probably in this picture) that this was the race I was going to break the 30 minute mark!

Here is a group of us after the race (again no pictures of me running, I hate that!) I finished in 30:20 (ahhhh so close!!) but it was a good run and I love that it was a first 5K for everyone in this picture (except me) Way to go friends!

A week later I signed up to do the Susan Koman 5K with Liz.  I have never done it before and when I told Liz that she made big eyes and said "well don't try to break any records or anything" I wasn't really sure what she meant.

Here we are at the beginning of the race.  Geez we are so stinkin cute I can't even stand it :)

OK so this looks like a funny picture of me and Liz, but I took it to show the street lined with people behind us - WOW this was a huge event and I finally understood what Liz meant because you really couldn't run, there were just too many people!

Here is the Gateway at the end of the race - AMAZING to see it this way and I loved being a part of the event.  Like the 24th of July race, I think I would like to do this every year from now on :)

Easter Tradition

Hip Hip Horay for the 3rd Annual HenHarm egg hunt :)  I really love this so much and am amazing and impressed each year at the organization and time spent by the hostesses

Early morning hiding eggs.  Did you know that no matter what is happening, no matter what time it is, if you point a camera at Lisa she will stop and smile?  I so love that about her.

I really do love that these ladies continue to let me be apart of this each year.  I look forward to it (even though I stress about the hiding places.........) and I hope it never stops happening :)  Also, as a funny side note, I was looking back through old pictures and Lisa and I have worn these same hoodies at every egg hunt!  Lets keep the tradition going!

I know there are more people each year, but am still amazed by the amount of kids!  there really is no way to fully capture it in a picture, but I love when the whistle blow and the kids run off - so great!

You may not recognize this man, but it is my husband Mike.  Early morning, cold weather, lots of kids and a holiday - not his favorite things.  (every party has a pooper thats why we invite him........) Seriously though I was really glad he came and even though he won't admit it, he is glad too!

Pretty sure it helped that these guys were there too!

I was also glad that Keith and Allie braved the cold weather and were able to come again this year.  Here are the kids showing off their loot.
SO FUN!  Thanks HenHarm for keeping this thing going, you're the best!!

Pretend Parents

Mike and I got to watch Keith and Allies kids while they went on a cruise.  Always an adventure and I love it :)  Here are some highlights from our time as "parents."

Here is Mike teaching everyone a new game before we went over to his parents house for a Valentines Day party.

Oh and playing around with Jack (who loved Mike!) Pretty sure they did this for awhile and Mike said it made him feel like an old man :)

LOTS OF KIDS!  Made me laugh to see the Hendrickon Nigbur kids combined at this table, but everyone got along really well and they made some fabulous cookies.

See what I mean? Nick wants everyone to see how good his cookie turned out!

This totally cracked me up.  Nick is playing an app on Aprils phone where you make cookies by stirring with your fingers, etc. rather then frosting real cookies with the other kids.  I love technology :)
April was such a huge help to me during this time!  She was entertaining Nick and see that drink and cookie in her hands?  Those were Jacks, he would walk up to her, get what he needed and walk off.  too funny, but really I wouldn't have made it through the party without her!

Remeber me?

My last post was February 10 of this year?  That makes me sick - more then 8 months ago? LAME!  I leave for Ragnar in 2 days but (hand over my heart) promise to get this sucka updated when I return.

(yes I feel better now that I have posted this.)

Our Adventures with Hannah

For Hannahs birthday activity she picked a sleepover. Allie informed us that it was her first REAL sleepover......whoa I was feeling the pressure but took a deep breath and prepared! Besides I knew just what to do, go to the store and let her pick out her own treats - right? She picked Mt Dew for her drink and this is how that went
me: "ummm do your parents let you drink that?"
hannah: "yeah my dad let us when my mom was in St George"
it was good enough for me so it went into the cart. she was happy. score one for Mike and Keri

She wanted to make pizza for dinner. Lucky for us Mike used to work at the pizza stop so we were ready for this one too! Mike was the best teacher ever.

Step one: Sauce (stick your tongue out for concentration if you choose)
Step two was toppings, cheese and a few more toppings, but I was having too much fun to take a picture :)

Step three: Pose by your "ready to bake" pizzas
Step four: check for bubbles in dough and general yumminess
Step five: Pose by your final product - looks good guys!!
Step six: ENJOY and for me, just compliment my amazing chefs!
Hannah said it was the best pizza she ever ate. She picked her toppings at the store - pepperoni, green pepper, mushroom and pineapple.
We made our beds in the front room and prepared to watch the princess and the frog, but something was wrong with ours (awww man - minus one point) but we quickly rebounded and started Enchanted instead. Movie snacks were picked out at the store (I am telling you that was the magic choice) and the bedtime story was "Silverlicious" (yeah we got that at the store too!)

Remi made a new friend. Lincoln did not. Lincoln was crazy and out of control as usual so Remi got Hannah all to himself and she loved it! He kept getting on her bed, but she didn't seem to mind (once she realized he was the old calm one) She bought this unicorn with her very own money so "Pinky" got to come sleepover too. Hannah really wanted to show her to Remi, but was nervous about him getting to close. This was her solution. And to answer Keiths question - yes, pinky still has her innocence.


We had so much fun Hannah! Thank you for coming and I hope your first real sleepover is a happy memory!

Mikes Birthday

Mike turned 33 on January 13th - Old Man! I am actually completely kidding about that, but he thinks he is crazy old so it is funny. I got him a Baskin Robins ice cream cake which doesn't actually have any cake (like a hay ride without hay....) but was still great. Look at his cute birthday picture

I told him to get closer to the cake - awesome picture! He makes me smile everyday. So glad this fantastic guy is my husband!
Here he is with the neighbors
Lyn, Mike and Brandi all have birthdays in January so we decided to go to Wendover and celebrate

Look at the earlier picture - see how Andrew has on a shirt and tie? During the night he started taking his shirt off (whoa! we all thought) and he revealed this special happy birthday shirt he had made - so great! We had a blast :)

Here we go Again

A few weeks ago Mike and noticed a small circle bump thing on Remi's leg - we thought maybe Lincoln had been playing a little too hard, but it never healed. I took Remi to the vet to get it checked out and the doctor said "it's a tumor. We can remove it and he should be fine." Of course this all made me think of his eye and I said "you need to remove his leg???" I realize now that the doctor was trying to hold in a laugh, but replied "no, I think we will just remove the tumor" and I felt like an idiot.

His surgery was yesterday and he did great. We will have the pathology results in about a week and will know more at that point. Lincoln won't leave him alone (as usual) and he is pretty slow and groggy from his medicine, but still good ol Remi.

I didn't grow up with pets and everyone knows that Remi came to me through Mike. I wasn't sure I wanted him and was terrified of his size and destructiveness. Over the years (as many people know) he has more then grown on me and I am a full on "dog person" now. I appreciate that Remi has made me realize just how much dogs become a part of your family.

Thank you everyone for checking on him and yes Mike is happy that his bandage is blue!