Marathon Madness!!!

Before the race:




We did it!!! Up until a few months ago, I had never even entertained the thought of doing a marathon. I would have thought it impossible for me, and I didn't even think I liked running. Well, all of that has changed, and I can now say that I am officially a marathoner! Crystal and I completed the Baltimore Marathon on saturday! It was both exhilerating and exhausing. I'm so glad that Crystal talked me into doing this, and it was amazing getting to run it with her (or at least the half that I could keep up with her).

Little did we know when we signed up for this marathon that it was one of the 5 biggest races in the country, with over 17,000 people participating in the various races that day (marathon, half marathon, 5k, etc)... and that it was actually a really challenging course, complete with long, steep hills at the beginning and unfortunately at the end. There were a few moments on those hills between miles 16-22 that I wanted to cry when I saw the next hill coming, but other than that, it actually wasn't as bad or hard as I expected. It just goes to show you that preparation really does pay off. When I started training, I was pretty tired after my first 2 mile run, and here we are 26.2 miles later, going strong!

I have to thank my sister for being one of those people in my life that encourages me to push myself and do things that seem impossible. I am pretty sure that I have the best sisters in the world. I also need to thank Bryson for being such a good sport about me ditching him and Davis for all of those long saturday runs. I am lucky to have a pretty amazing family. I love you guys!

So, these are not our most glamorous shots, but they are definitely blog worthy. Please notice the headbands. "I run so I can eat" It is our motto and our way of life. :-)

After the big finish!:

Looking for a good photographer?

We had some family pictures taken back in july, and I have been meaning to post some since we got them back. I really liked how they turned out, so I thought I'd give our photographer a little endorsement. In addition to taking great pictures, she is very nice and really easy to work with. So, if any of you Utah bloggers need a good photographer, I recommend Heather George. You can check out her website, www.heathergeorgephotography.com

Welcome Home Tiffany and a fun weekend

Hooray, hooray! Bryson's younger sister, Tiffany, is finally home! She served her mission in Londrina, Brazil. We are all so proud of her and very happy to have her home. She looks so cute and talks with an awesome accent now.
Here we are with her at the airport. The welcome party included "Called to Serve" being played by saxophone and kazoo's.




Some of the decorations we made included a balloon arch and giant banners, but we didn't anticipate the crazy wind and storms last week... it made decorating a bit trickier.




In addition to Tiff's homecoming (and birthday party), I also had my first race this weekend. Crystal and I are training for the Baltimore marathon next month, and I thought it might be a good idea to get some race expierience before the big one. So, when some girls in my ward called to ask if I wanted to do a relay marathon with them, I thought that would be a great opportunity to see how these things work. It was a smaller race, and there are 5 people per team, so I only had to run 5.2 miles. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun, especially because my sister in laws, Tiff and Summer, came along to cheer me on.

action shot


After the race on saturday morning, we went over to Bryson's aunt's house for the big game. BYU absolutely killed UCLA, which couldn't have made Bryson any happier. I got a few pictures of Davis walking, since I still don't know how to put videos up here.



Some cute pictures of Bry and Davis hanging out before the game

Cougar Time!

Well, folks, it's that time of year again! Rise and shout, the cougars are out! We had our first BYU football game on saturday, and we started with a win. Way to go cougars! I love BYU football season... not just for the football, which is very fun... but also because it reminds me of all the fun times I had at BYU. It brings back some great memories of going to games with friends(Tami, do you remember "the wrath of Cosmo"?), fun fall days with that beautiful, crisp weather, and of course meeting and dating my husband. It's also a fun time of year because we always get together with family to watch the games (and eat lots of yummy fattening food). I am going to mourn the end of summer this year, and I am dreading the long, cold winter that is coming, but at least I have something to look forward to in the meantime. I will have my BYU football to keep me company while I try to say goodbye to my sunny summer days. So, can I get a "Ra, ra, ra, ra, ra" anyone? Go Cougars!

The East Coast Blues

WARNING: If you are allergic to long posts, please do not proceed... this is the longest post EVER! If you are prone to seizures from staring at a computer screen for too long, proceed with caution.
Well, I definitely have a case of East Coast blues! I got a little taste of the East Coast for a few days, and then we had to leave... hence the blues. Bryson's dad runs a company out in Connecticut, and they were having their annual company picnic last weekend. The company was nice enough to fly us and most of the family out for the picnic, and while there, we got to do some sight seeing. Bryson's family lived in Connecticut for a few years when he was a kid, so I got to see his old house and beautiful little town as well as a bunch of his mission areas. He served his mission in New York, but that included parts of upstate New York and Connecticut as well... so we had a very busy, exhausting, and super fun time driving around to see all of it! Here are some pictures from the trip.

After an exhausting day of traveling with a few restless babies, we decided to make our first day a relaxing beach day. The East Coast beaches look so different than the West coast beaches, but it was beautiful and lots of fun.
Here Davis is looking oh so innocent right before sampling a little of the sand



No Waves!!


Here we are at Bryson's old house in Southbury, Connecticut... everything was so green and gorgeous here! Everywhere we went was just covered in huge, beautiful trees. I wish I could see it in the fall.


These are a few cute shots of Davis hanging out with his grandpa, or as the grandkids call him, "paca gary." These are at the park in Southbury.





A few more pictures from the park




Sleepy Hollow was one of the areas in Bryson's mission, so we stopped by the cemetary (the picture is by the Irving family plot, including Washington Irving's grave) and the mill/plantation that is depicted in the book.



I had to include this picture because it was right after a squirrel up in a tree peed on Bryson's head! So funny!


I'm posting these pics for Bryson's mom. A few more areas from Bryson's mission. Peeksgill and Westpoint.






Moving on to NYC! For most of his mission in NYC, Bry lived in the Bronx and Harlem. YIKES! I've been to New York before, but I've never seen it like this... it was a very interesting and different experience. Our first stop on the tour was at his favorite pizza place, Crossbronx pizza.... a lovely little place, but it was REALLY good pizza! As you can see, one slice was about twice the size of my head.



Here we are at the church in the Bronx that Bry went to... they called it Noah's Ark. We needed a little bathroom break when we got there and were lucky enough to find missionaries inside having zone conference, so they let us in for the potty and a tour. It had much nicer facilities than the surrounding buildings, as you can imagine.


This is Edgar Allen Poe's cottage, it is directly across the street from the church in a scary looking park.


The temple in the middle of the city... crazy!


Somehow I forgot to take pictures in Harlem... it might have had something to do with not wanting to stop walking long enough to get out my camera. This cathedral was in Bryson's mission, not too far from where he lived in Harlem. Beautiful church.


Of course we hit some of the typical tourist spots too... central park, columbus circle, china town, museum of natural history, the seinfield restaurant, ground zero, and Times Square. I am getting tired of posting pictures, so I'll just include the last stop.


Moving on... our last full day of the trip was the day of the company picnic. It was at a great park with tons of activities for the kids, including train rides, bumper boats, mini golf, etc. I finally got pictures of the whole group.



After the picnic, we went to the Butterfly conservatory. It was awesome! It's basically these beautiful, enclosed gardens with tons of gorgeous butterflies everywhere, and some of them even come land on you. Very fun.