I made it!

I ran the Salt Lake Marathon this past Saturday and I am so glad it is done with. I really don't like that marathon, it is full of hills (at least I thought so). I ran it 3 years ago and I really didn't like it then and I thought I would give it another try and I liked it a little better, but not too much. It did help that I wasn't running in 80 degrees weather this time. I guess after you run the St. George you kind of get spoiled. I loved the St. George! The course was great and the training went great. The training for this one was pretty ridiculous. When we were running it was FREEZING cold or raining, sometimes snowing. We got a lot of our long runs in, but the shorter runs during the week were pretty much not happening. But I did it, and I actually am very glad I did do it.

( My friend Rach brought this by to me the night before. She is amazing and so thoughtful. This cookie was delicious! I saved it so I could devour it right when I got home. That I did. I got so many calls of "good luck" I really appreciate everyone that supported me.)

Collin took us to the starting line that morning. Holly and Charlie had our kids so we didn't have to worry about them. Thank you so much, it was so great not having them with us. We really appreciate it. The race started at the Legacy Bridge up at the U of U and right by Primary Children's. It was a perfect day. The temperature was awesome and there wasn't too much wind until mile 18 and then it kicked in and it was pretty strong.

Collin, Kelly & Mat (Collin's sister & husband) & Justin (Lou lou's husband) were there at mile 8 (about 2000 east and 3300 south) cheering me on. It was so good to know that at mile 8 I would see them. It just kind of pushes you a little bit. Kelly and Mat were so great to be there, it was so much fun to see them.

They then met up with me at mile 15 (about 5500 S and VanWinkle). I was still feeling pretty good at that point. I was tired, and didn't feel the strongest, but I was doing okay.

At mile 18 I started crashing. Not with endurance but my leg started acting up. It got to the point that each time I would lift my leg I would get this shooting pain up my leg to my hip flexors (I think that may be the correct term???) it killed. I then started to slow down a lot. I had to walk about every 1/2 mile just to stop the pain. Anyway, it wasn't fun but I had to finish or find someone with a cell phone and call Collin to come pick me up:)

I made it! And I am so happy I did. I was pretty happy with my time, I did better than my first Salt Lake and that is what I wanted, just to do better. And the best part is that I had so many friends and family there at the end cheering me on. It really means so much to me to have people there to support me. I am really so blessed to have such great family and friends. I love you all. Thanks for taking the time out of your Saturday to be there and thanks Holly and Charlie for taking your Friday night and Saturday to watch the kids. It means SO much to us. They had a blast. Thank you, thank you!

Easter Getaway

This past Thursday we took off to Sunny St. George (well it was sunny most of the time). This is the 3rd year of going and staying at Green Valley with the whole Richard's clan. We always have such a blast and this year was no exception.

We are usually really lucky with the weather too. This year it was about 70 everyday except Saturday where is just rained and was a high of about 55. We took advantage of the sun and warmer weather on Friday and enjoyed ourselves at the pool (well Kelly and I and all the kids did, the boys went golfing all day and the others went hiking). Bode didn't want to touch the water he stood on the side of the pool and got a thrill of people doing flips and all tricks in the pool. It kept him well entertained. Peiton didn't really want much to do with the water either, she just kind of walked around and made herself busy. As for Cooper he couldn't get enough of the water, he is a little fish and could swim all day long.

We spent a lot of the time at the park, it was such great weather we couldn't resist.

On Saturday when it was yucky weather it was the girls turn to get out without the kids. We took advantage and went to lunch and then went and got fabulous massages, they were great:) We topped it off by going to 25 Main and getting yumma-licious cupcakes (I think I bought 5 and ate all of them but the one I bought for Collin).




That night we all went to dinner at the Gun Barrel, it is a yummy steakhouse that we tried last year and liked it so much we gave it another try.

The next day it was Easter Sunday. The kids enjoyed their Easter baskets and I enjoyed all the candy inside them:) We got ready for church and headed to sacrament meeting. I thought all the kids looked so great in their Easter get ups.

That afternoon after a HUGE breakfast (crepes, omelets & waffles), we had an Easter egg hunt. It was fun to watch the kids run around looking for their color of egg. They scored some more candy and lots of money thanks to Grandma Holly.

Monday morning it was time to say goodbye, I did not want to come home. Of course the day we left it was the nicest day that we were there. Thanks so much Holly and Charlie for a great weekend. We had a great time!

"Snow Bunny party"

To start off the Easter celebrations my mom had been having a Easter party the last couple of years. She usually does it the weekend of Easter, but this year she did it a week before which was great for us because we are usually out of town for Easter. It wasn't very surprising that we had snow that day so the Easter egg hunt was done in the garage and in the house, I don't think the kids minded so much. It all turned out great and we had a fun time eating and just talking. I kind of spaced taking pictures so I don't have too many. Thanks for the great party mom!

Do I need a little of this......?

For the last 3 months I have felt like I needed a little of this drug or something like it to get me going, but then I think that I am back in my groove that I always get in during this part of the year, EVERY year! Does anyone else do this? Is it normal? I am starting to feel a little crazy....

All I really want to do is this.....

Okay, not really. I do have some motivation until about 11:00 a.m. and then it dies..and I just want to sleep.

I have not wanted to do any of this....

As you can tell, I think it has been over 2 weeks that I have made a post, which isn't really like me. This has been kind of a hobby that I have really enjoyed doing, but lately it seems a little more unappealing than fun:(

Doing this.....

5 times a day is getting a little exhausting. So now I leave it until the end of the day so I can track all the crud that collects on the floor all through my house all day long. Then the mess is probably even bigger to clean up by the end of the day.


What cleaning????

I have forgot what deep cleaning is, because by the time I get done just picking things up around the house, the time is 11:00 a.m. and that is when I loose about all my motivation.

Now this....

is piled up to the top of the basket, or I get the clothes sorted in baskets getting ready to do them and the kids come and un sort them for me and I give up. The thought of sorting them again, doesn't sound to great and I leave it until the next day. So now we have a bedroom and a laundry room full of dirty clothes, that yes will sit there until the next day.

I think we have had enough of this....

to last us until next spring. Come on already, if I hear someone else say "we could really use the moisture" I am going to scream! I think by now we could really use some of this....

Which has happened today, but I have a poor sick boy upstairs so we really can't go outside to enjoy it. But then it will be nice tomorrow but soak it in because it is going into hiding for the rest of the week. Which we are going to St. George to enjoy the sun and the warmth and basically it is going to be the same temp it is here:(

All I really want to do is eat a little (or a lot) of this...

and this....

But I can't because I am doing a little of this....
Which has been pretty good and motivating, but don't you just wish you could have some crap whenever you want it? Or if you do have it, you can have it and not feel guilty. I usually have it and then feel the guilt come on. But I have to stick with it, I know I have to get off the extra lbs that came on during the long winter.

All I can think about (not really, I do think about other things) is this....

doesn't that just look so great. Yum, yum. yum!

Now that my first post in 2 weeks has been pretty much a pity post (sorry if you bared through it). I decided this morning that the sun isn't going to be shining for a while now(I also declared spring one of my least favorite seasons because we really don't get it and when we do, it is like 2 weeks) and I just need to toughen up and enjoy life in my house, get out of the rut, and just make the best of it. I am one pretty lucky girl and I could have it pretty bad and I don't have it bad, not one little bit. So it is time to stop feeling sorry for myself (you heard me, make sure I stop it) and enjoy the things I have, like this....

I have one stinkin cute family that make me so happy, but they could even make me more happy if I just soak them up and enjoy them. My kids are at such cute stages (hard stages) but cute stages and I can learn so much from them. I have a husband that deals with all my mood swings (believe me, there are plenty) and just continues to love me and try to make me happy.

So we will say "see ya" pit of despair and say "hello" happy Nat!


P.S. I promise the next post will be a little more cheerful:)

Randy and Paula!

On Friday night, one of my fabulous, creative friends hosted a Herriman Idol. It was a blast. Collin and I were two of the judges, I came as Paula Abdul and Collin came as Randy Jackson. I think Collin looked great!

Here are the other judges too, Cara and the beloved Simon:)

T.J and Rach looked great too. We had a ball critiquing every one's karaoke performance's.
It was an awesome night! So much talent:)

Green, green, green

I think St. Patricks day is such a fun holiday. There is so much you can do and the kids really get into it. Cooper has been asking "when is it St. Patrick's day" for about 2 weeks now. Finally it came and now it is gone. Here are some of the things we did...

A "green breakfast" We had green pancakes (don't look the yummiest), green grapes and green milk.

Cooper enjoying his green food.

I had to make Bode plain pancakes, he wouldn't touch the green ones. Am I surprised??? No.


Peiton thought they were pretty fun at first, then I found 3/4 of them on the floor when she was done:)

When Cooper came home from school this is what he found. BIG daddy leprachaun came to visit. The footprints led him to this...

Cooper loves EL fudge cookies and I think they kind of look like Leprechauns. And all of the kids love Starbursts. The leprechaun also left some Blarney dust (pistachio pudding)...he is so magical:)

Cooper immediately wanted to follow the directions and make the "blarney dust."

He wasn't so fond of the taste...it is kind of a unique taste, but I told him Leprechauns love it!

It was so great to see that I had my own little Leprechaun right in my house. Isn't he a cutie???

UNLOCK the DOOR!

Today we had another Bode experience, bless his heart:) We were getting ready for the bus to come pick him up for school. We were outside just hanging out enjoying this awesome weather. I had put my purse and the car keys in the car because I was leaving right away to do some errands. I noticed Bode getting into the car and didn't really think anything of it. The next thing I hear is the cars horn honking (which means the door has been locked). My heart sunk...Bode had locked himself in the car with the car keys and a couple weeks before Collin lost the spare:( I was dying. Bode was having a blast. I ran over and tried to get him to unlock the door and of course he has no idea what I am talking about and he is just having a hay day steering the steering wheel and messing with anything possible. The next thing I see is Bode putting the keys into the ignition and starting to turn...I have never heard me scream so loud at him, I think I scared him pretty bad (that is hard to do) because he instantly dropped the keys.

In the meantime while I was trying to negotiate with him to unlock the door his school bus had come and gone, I had cancelled an appointment that I was headed to and I had called Collin in a panic. Collin made it home and he tried to get him to unlock the door and he wouldn't budge. By this point we were kind of laughing our heads off, it was pretty funny to see. He would pull down the mirror in and look at himself, pat his cheeks, put the seat belt on, try to shove Cd's in the player, he was having a blast. We finally got him to get the keys again (this was the only way we could think of to get him to unlock the door, since he locked it this way) he stuck them in the ignition AGAIN, at this point we were getting worried. I called the police dispatch and right when I was on the phone with the police...he unlocked it! Thank goodness! Time to get a new spare key and time to show Bode how to unlock the door:) We are just lucky he didn't turn the car on and put the car into gear and ran into our house or put it in reverse and run it into our neighbor's house. We love the experiences that Bode brings into our life...silly little guy.

New York!

I am back! This trip was awesome, I couldn't have asked for it to go better. Seven girls, New York City, food galore, laughs, shopping (a little too much for some...) and a lot more, makes for a perfect trip!

.....Warning....there are a lot of pictures, there were too many fun ones to not post, and if you are anything like me, the pictures are the funniest to see:)

On Wednesday night we caught the red eye and we were off...Goodbye husbands and goodbye kids. We landed in New York about 5:30 am and we were ready to have some fun!

We were able to go to our hotel and leave our bags with them and freshen up a little so we could go to the Today Show. We loved the Today Show! It was so much fun. It was Lou lou's 30th birthday and we made T-shirts to celebrate and to maybe get us on TV...it worked! It was so fun to see Ann, Meredith, Al and Matt...they all were so nice, I mean really nice. We actually had a conversation with Meredith and Ann. I was very impressed! It was the perfect thing to start our trip out right:)

Next we headed to "The top of the Rock." The view was incredible! We had a clear day and were able to see all of New York City.

We did a little more sight seeing, shopping and then headed back to our hotel to check in. We then had to get ready for the David Letterman show! So exciting! We got VIP tickets and we were so excited because U2 was performing:)


The Late show was awesome! It was fun to see how everything is taped and having to laugh when really it isn't that funny at all and just seeing how they do everything. The best part of it was that we got to be 15 feet away from BONO!! Yes BONO, and the Edge and all of the group. It was amazing! They first played a song for the show, what I loved was that it was a song that I knew...not one of their new ones, but one that the whole audience knew (Beautiful day). Then after the show was over, they stayed on and sung "Vertigo"....it was unreal! So much fun!

We then went to find something to eat, and headed back to our hotel for a little shut eye...we were all a little tired and had to wake up early to get a start on the next day.

The next day we ventured out and enjoyed the subway. We rode it to the famous Canal Street and spent quite a bit of time there...maybe too much for some:) I thought it was pretty fun to bargain, I got sick of hearing "what you want??? Chanel, Prada...Tiffany?? We pretty much did the shopping and eating...what we love!

This night we went and saw "Shrek." It was really good...hilarious! We had a blast seeing it. The props, costumes & stage were amazing!

After Shrek we headed to Serendipity...yummm! We had a blast here! I think this is probably when we laughed the hardest on the trip. Maybe it was because we all had a sugar high from all of the dessert we were eating. It was delicious! It was so good we had to go back again the next night:)

Now, check out our waiter...this is the reason we had to go back the second night...wouldn't you??

Actually we were kind of embarrassed to go back knowing we would run into him again, but we couldn't resist the dessert and being out at 1:30 in the morning 2 nights in a row...that doesn't happen at home:)

The next day we went and did some more touring...went to Ground Zero, shopping and Century 21 and hop on hop off bus tour. We finished it off with a bike tour in Central Park. Central park is so awesome! People everywhere. I can't imagine it in the summer when everything is green, I bet it is packed. After Central park we headed back to get ready for dinner and The Little Mermaid.

Sunday was our last day:( We spent the day trying to eat everything that we didn't have a change too (there is so much to try in New York) and doing the rest of the bus tour. It was a great way to see New York.

It was time to say goodbye...so sad, but we were ready to see our families. It was a trip that had a perfect length. Everything worked out so well. Our hotel was great, it wasn't a 5 star hotel, but affordable and in a AWESOME location and it was huge! We got a suite to fit the 7 of us and that it did...we all fit. It kind of was a little crazy when we wanted to shower, but we managed.

Thanks for the awesome time friends...love you all! I am so glad we did it!

I can't wait to go back with Collin (he served his mission there) I would love for him to show me around....until next time:)

I'm leavin' today...

Start spreadin' the news...I'm leavin' today...
I'm going to be a part of it! NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

That's right I am off! Leaving tonight on the red eye and so excited (not too excited for the rain and snow, but o'well). I have never been and I am so excited to see it all and way excited to spend it with 6 other fun, crazy, darling females!! We are going to have a ball!

Thanks again Collin for letting me go...have fun with the kiddo's and I will see you when I get back! Love ya!

Tell me what you thought...

Yes, I am one of those ladies that watches "The Bachelor" I must say this season I wasn't too pumped to watch it, I even thought that I might not watch it. Jason didn't really do it for me, I thought the bachelor was suppose to be this "hunky" guy and he really wasn't that, he was cute, but not what I thought the bachelor should be. Anyhow I still watched it and I grew to really like him, I thought he was a way nice guy, he was cute, although he did have a goofy smile at times. And what I really liked was that when there were only like 7 to 5 girls left on the show, the girls became friends. You didn't see all of this cattiness that you usually see on the show, it looked like they really became friends and cared for each other. So, I guess you could say I really liked "The Bachelor" this season....until now!

I can't believe he did what he did...you know what he did. He tried so hard during the show to make sure he didn't hurt anyone, he didn't want to hurt someone like Deanna hurt him, then he turns around and does the same thing Deanna did to him, but worse! Poor Melissa (that picture doesn't do her justice, I think she is darling) I would be so steamed if I were her. What in the world??

Now if you were Molly would you take him back? I don't think I would take him back that easy. I guess they are in love and he made a "mistake" as she kept on telling him...I now think the whole Bachelor is staged...it isn't real:) And I think Jason is a big cry baby...all he does is cry, and I think Melissa should be the next "Bachelorette!" So long Jason Mesnick!!