My Rock Stars

Kinlee got this new guitar for her birthday. They both love it. I love the tongues.

Zion Canyon Centennial

We were lucky to get in to a 10K run in Zion Canyon for the Centennial. My brother-in-law Jon alerted us to this once in a century run. They assured us that we would all be able to run in the next centennial run for free, if we are around. It was another beautiful venue for a run and a good excuse to head south for a mini-vacation. We stayed in St. George at a hotel so we could swim and went to our favorite park in Utah with our cousins. I would love to build this park in my neighborhood. It was a great time. It is the only run that Kenny and I have run together, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for playing with our children while we ran.

Moab Half Marathon

I ran/jogged the Moab half marathon in March and it was a blast. Our wonderful neighbors made spaghetti dinner down at the campground. It was fun to have all of us down there. We stayed at the Red Cliffs Lodge with our friends the Pattericks and the Earls. We got there late at night and went out onto the deck of our cabin. It took a few minutes for our eyes to adjust to the darkness when we realized that there was a monstrous red cliff right across the river. It was gorgeous. We left early the next morning for the run, so we definitely want to go back and stay because it was amazing. Or we could stay at the "OK Campground" where Donnarae, Jon, and Chelsie stayed because like it says, its "okay". We rode down to Moab with them and it was fun. Back in the good old days when they were close.
I loved the run. As I was running, I saw an elderly couple sitting outside their trailer in one of the campgrounds. Their adult son sat a few feet away in his wheelchair. As I ran along, I couldn't complain about my knees or feet anymore, or about the 7 miles I had in front of me, because I could run. I thought about the great effort these parents made to take their child camping even though most people their age are empty nesters. How they all must have wished for the ability to run.

My next epiphany was when I realized how lucky we are to run in this beautiful world that has been created for us. The cliffs are so majestic, it just turns your thoughts heavenward. Or maybe it is the pain that makes you wonder if you are going to survive. I kept running the whole way and was proud I finished, even if I took my own sweet time.

We hiked a little after the race. Daxton came down with us and he did really good hiking. Now we just have to start training for next year.

Live..Laugh... oh yeah...blog

Some of you may wonder if we are still alive. We are alive and well. I would love to have any suggestions about how you make time to document your life. In the time that it took me to write those three sentences, I stopped six times to put on shoes, open doors, put on coats, and one trip to the bathroom. Now it is crunch time because they are all outside. I plan on posting on the few pictures that I have for the past year. These are just a couple of pictures from playing in the backyard. This is going to become like a journal for the next few posts to let me catch up. You might want to just look at the pictures.

Chewy, Chewy, Chewy Bubblegum

These are a couple of our favorite songs from Kinlee's Preschool graduation. If you try to sing the bubble gum song with her, she gets mad and yells "NO". I don't know if it is because we didn't teach her the song, but she has to sing it by herself. I love the pose at the end.





The alphabet song shows how much better she is doing with her sounds. Thanks preschool!

Kinlee Danced!!!

Last year's Dance Recital lacked a lot in the dance department for us. Daxton was the first to point out that "Mom might cry again." I assured him that I wouldn't and prepared myself for a repeat performance. We were all so happy she danced.

Sorry for the poor video quality and the guy in front of me that can't decide where to put his head.

Long Live October

My sister Donnarae and her husband Jon left us for Notre Dame last month. I promised them that I would update my blog periodically to keep them updated. If you have ever wondered if keeping your blog updated is a part time job, I'm here to testify that it is. Since I've started working again, I just can't keep it up. Here are a couple of things just for Donnarae and Jon, but it is not to make you homesick. We hope things are going well for you. We miss you the most on Sunday evenings when we want to play games. You guys are going to have some lucky friends that get to play games with you. We love you both.

A mesage from Makenna, Daxton, and Kinlee (Kinlee is saying you guys are the best, but she then breaks out in song about it.)