IT'S SO FLUFFY!!!!!!!

Oh my hell....I laughed so hard when I saw this picture!!!

I don't think that the kitten is feeling the love that Reese is trying to give!!

FYI.....1 more week and you can have your pick of cute little kittens!!! There are 5 so there is plenty to go around!!

Utah Valley Marathon!!!!26.2!!!!

I can't believe I did it!!! After 6 months of training, and running and running and running.......we finished the marathon.....all 26.2 miles!!!!!!

I am still surprised by how much fun I had....the race was a blast!!! The training was a little different story, but the marathon really was a blast!!! My cousin Tiffany and I decided we were going to do this... and I can't tell you how many times I cursed our determination, because there were more than 1 day that I thought "what in the hell have we done???" But we stuck with it, and drove back and forth from Ogden to Lehi to do our long runs together, and gave each other the pep talks we needed to get through another week....and we did it!!!

There are so many neat people that do these things....all shape, and sizes, and everyone that is there, is really rooting for you. The race seemed to go by so fast, we were having so much fun. I was so excited to see our family, all decked out in their pink "Team True Grit" t-shirts, with cow bells and signs....it is so powerful to see all those faces that you love,cheering you on

They were waiting at mile 19ish...and when I got there....there was Taylor...suited up in his running gear....I was so happily surprised, because he ran the rest of the way with me...pumping me up and telling me how cool it was!!!! It made all the difference in the world!!!

We came to the finish line and sprinted the last 1/8 of a mile in like were running from the law!!! My BFF Cally and her family were there cheering us on....It was INCREDIBLE!!!! I finished in 4:44... and happy as a clam!!

There are so many people I want to thank, because this is not something you do without help and encouragement from others.....

Tif..... I am so glad that you did this with me, I would have never stuck it out had I not had someone to help push me along.... All of those long runs are priceless to me, as hard as they were they were awesome to have done them together!!! You got Grit Girl!!! I love Ya!!

Taylor...... Holy cow....I am tearing up trying to write this....thank you for supporting me in whatever it is that I want to do!!! You have watched the kids, sacrificed a few ropings so I could go run, and even ran with me!!!! I love you, your the best!!!

My parents, they are amazing.....thank you for always helping, and for being there to cheer me on, in whatever I do. I am so proud that you guys are mine.... And so lucky to have such amazing grandparents for my kids!!!! We are the lucky ones!!! I love you!!

Lauri, Buck and T.J!!! I have the best family ever!!!! Laur, you have the most encouraging smile, and go get em attitude!!!! Just what we needed at the right times!!! Love you&Thank you!!!

And to my Big Girls!!!!! Jessica....you know how amazing I think you are!!! Thank you so much for thinking of me all week. For all of your GREAT tips, and helping me improve my running, by leaps and bounds!!!!!!! I am SO GLAD that I met you!!!!!! I love ya girl!!

Okay one more sappy thing. I know this is a long one, but hey, it might not ever happen again!!

This is for my kids, when they are older and looking back on these scrapbooks!!!

Tate, Whit & Reese.....You can do hard things!!!! So many times during these last 6 months I doubted myself, and wondered what I was doing. Half way though I wanted to quit, I had had it. But I didn't, I knew that it was hard, but in the end I was going to be so happy with myself for sticking it out, and not giving up!!! When you want to do something, YOU CAN DO IT!!!! No matter how hard, no matter how many cards are stacked against you..... You are stronger than you even know, and you just keep telling yourselves that!!!

FINISH WHAT YOU START!!!!

And you can do anything!!!!!

The day before the race..I came home and this was on the front window of my house!!!!

Thanks Jess!!!!

Oh and toenails are for sissies...I am down 2!!!

At the start waiting for the gun to go off!!( Freezing!!!)

The best sight ever...my family!!!!



Team True Grit!!

Tif and T.J.....run like the wind!

We did it!!!

Taylor ran me in....his knees were killing him 2 miles in but he didn't dare say a word!!!! He is the best!!

Oh man was I ever glad to see this face!!!! Thanks Pot Pie!!!

Only the best parents in America!!!

Tif and her amazing family!!

Tate!!

Last night Tate had his first Karate Tournament! This is all new territory for us Taylor's. We had no clue what was going to happen or what was going on. And neither did Tate..... I mean he has practiced all this stuff at his little Karate class, which is awesome and really low key, but he didn't realize that there were going to be all those people and you had to get up in front of everyone!!!

He was SOOOOO NERVOUS.....he was about in tears the whole time before it even started. With his little personality he likes to know what is going down, and have a dry run at things. And with Taylor and I having no clue about how things worked, we could only tell him that it is going to be great, don't worry!!

So he did his sword thing very well.....VERY NERVOUS, but they all were. Next was the sparing.....where they suit up and fight til the end!!!LOL!! I am not sure that I have ever felt more helpless, and wanted to give him a hug more than this. He got his gear on..still really not knowing what was up, and faced his opponent, and then the tears came.....oh it was terrible.....he was just so nervous.... then I started to tear up,because I was sad he was!!!! One of the awesome instructors, got down on his level and told him that he could totally do this, and to just pretend like it was class. The next thing you know they said fight, and Tate came uncorked!!!! He let that kid HAVE IT!!! All those butterflies went to good use, and he actually won the match!!

Seriously I don't know that I have ever been prouder of him for sticking it out...After that he had a pretty good idea of the game plan and fought 3 more times, ending up 2nd in the overall tournament!!!!! He got a trophy and a medal, and thought he had won the world. I am SOSOSOSOSO PROUD..... so proud that he stuck it out and got past the nerves!!! It was just the confidence boost that he needed...not only for Karate, but life!!!

WAY TO GO TATE!!!!!!

This is the very relieved smile after the 1st match!!

He is the one with the green strip...no mercy! I told him to give'r the onions, and pretend it was Whit!!! He smiled and went to town!!

He and Skylee also got awards at the Jr. Rodeo Banquet!!!!!

Twin Tales!!!

I don't even know where to start with these two little monsters!!!! All I have to say is that there are some days, that it is a dang good thing that they are so cute!!! Because they are WILD little buggers!!!

It is fun to see them play together and interact with each other now. They can fight like cats and dogs, but then the next minute they are best buddies!! Poor Whit is never going to get to talk much...Reese says everything for him....She is extremely fluent, can and will say anything....

The other night it was late and we were sitting on the coach and she looks up at Taylor.....raises her arm and says " smell my pit Dad"!!!! Dainty she might be in size, but she is as Tom Boy as they come. In fact I asked her if she was a princess the other day, and she looked right at me and says ''' I not no stinkin princess!!!" I keep waiting for her to overhear someone talking in another language and start laying Spanish on us or something!!!

Whit....Mr. Whit.....has the cutest smile you have ever seen. The one problem with this cute grin is that is usually is biggest when he knows he has done something he shouldn't!!! He loves nothing more than to pester Tate, and when Tate has had enough we have said, well give it back to him. The only problem with this is that when Tate starts to rough Whit up he thinks it is hilarious, and comes back for more!! He is so innocently funny.... last week while they were at my mom's they were bathing, and GG gave Reese some soap and said " Okay wash your business"......Reese looks at her and says " GG, I don't got business!!!!" Just then Whit stands up in the tub, raises his eyebrows, and says " I got business!!!!!!" My mom laughed so hard she had to call me at work and tell me!!!

Needless to say they are a hoot..... some days they are an exhausting hoot, but I wouldn't change a thing. Twins are an experience I thought would NEVER happen to me......I just got damn lucky!!!

What up!!!! Reese will only wear her hat backwards now, she says it is her "Dude hat"!!

Whit just does whatever she does!!

Yep....he is going to be a farmer I think...he is trying to fix the jeep with bailing twine!!!

We Rocked The Red Rock!

Warning....Picture Overload!!!!

( This was a historical event...I had to make sure everyone had their fame)!!! LOL!

Such a fun weekend!! Taylor and I, Heath and Steph, and Jen and Josh...loaded up and headed to Moab this weekend for the 70 mile 6 man team, Red Rock Relay!! It was Heath's idea clear back last year, and I had my reservations about it.... but it was SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!!

Spending 12 hours in the car with 5 people has never been such a riot!! We ran, we laughed...ALOT....and cheered each other on, and the friends that we made along the way!!!

No matter what the cost....having that much fun with 5 great people is PRICELESS!!! Thanks you guys I love ya all!!

And last but not least...my parents.....once again.... they took the kiddo's!!! It has been since I got pregnant with the twins that we have went somewhere for a weekend.....It is so nice to be able to just miss your kids and not have to worry about them. I know that they had just as much fun as we did!!! Thank you mom and dad!!! SOOOO MUCH!!!!

The start of the race!!

Heath named us the "Intrepid Runners"!!! It took me till this weekend to figure out that Intrepid meant fearless!!!!

Six of the funniest people you've even been with!!!




Steph started us out, and she KILLED it. I am so proud of her....she knocked out 6 miles her 1st leg like it was nothin.....and had the worst 2nd leg in America..straight up the mountain....I am not even kidding our car had a hard time climbing it!!! Steph..YOU ROCK!!

This is what pure victory looks like!!!

Her other half!!

Next was Taylor....still hadn't ran once since the 1/2 marathon, and made it look easy!!! His nickname was green...that is what all the other teams called him!!! This was such a fun thing to do together....He has been such and awesome guy to support me though all this running craziness, and to even jump on the wagon and do it with me!!! I love this guy!!

Look at him pass that big burley dude!!!! TNT!!!

Look at that hand off......Next was Jen....the animal....!!!

This girl has a stride like you have never seen!!!! She is funny, tough, and beautiful to boot!!! So much fun to be around!!! And runs like she stole it!! The worst part of her 1st run wasn't the nasty kills...it was that she had to run right past the Castle Creek Winery!!!! Torture!!!

HAHAHAH!! I told ya we were fun!!

Heath took the 4th leg...5 miles of total up hill.....he had sheer determination on this one, because it was not easy!!! He even ran so fast he past Batman, and left him in the dust!!!LOL!!

Look at these calves!!!!! After each leg you finish you earn your Red Rock Relay stripe!!! They wear them well!!!

Heath handed off to me.....2.37 miles not far, but it was uphill, and the elevation hit me hard at first!!!! But having my team driving by and blowing a blow horn at me, sent me right up the hill!!!

I stepped on a dead snake on this leg too...Almost peed my pants!!!

And this is Josh "the Gazelle" Cowdell!!! Never ran once before the race....and climbed some of the steepest nastiest hill like a mountain goat!!! Tough.....pure tough!!! He took the last legs and bought us to the finish!!

One of the cutest couples ever!!!!!

We actually finished the whole thing faster than we thought!!!

It really was so much fun!!!! Thanks again Intrepid Runners!!!! We rock!!

Mother's Day!

Mother's Day was great! It was a great weekend!!! We did The Race for the Cure again this year on Saturday, and it was amazing as always!!! Then I woke up around 6;15 this morning, went in the bathroom, brushed my teeth, opened the door, and Tate and Whit jumped out from the other side of our bed with tulips cut from our front yard, a homemade card, and two of the biggest, most cheesy proud smiles, yelling Happy Mother's Day!!!! ( Reese was still asleep of course, because she was awake until 11:00)!! My eyes were barely opened, and when I gave them hugs, Whit says.." Mom, you need coffee???" What can you say to that kind of wake up call!!! I love it!!

Then we headed out for our annual Mother's Day trip to the zoo. Tate was sooooo excited!!! And the twins were really fun this year, they were totally into it!!! GG, and Grandpa went with us too, which made it even better!! It was just a good day! I am one lucky MOM!!

My Kiddo's

Taylor and Reese making friends with the Prairie Dogs!

As long as he is riding something!!!

I love these guys!!!

Tate was so excited!! He took pictures of EVERYTHING with GG's camera. I told him that we could print some off and go to the Dollar Store and get a little book to put them in...you would have thought I had given him a million bucks!!!

Here is Whit's YEEE-HAAAW on the carousel!!

The BEST grandparents in the world!!!

TA- DAH!!!!

What is the big deal about these cookies??????????

Only that they were baked fresh in my .................

NEW KITCHEN!!!!!!!!!!

HOLY CRAP!!!....It was a long time coming, but it is finally done! Well...all but the screw up on the granite....they forgot to put the overhang at the end of the bar....soooo. in 7-10 working days..LOL!!!( which really means 3 weeks)!!! We will have a new counter top that is the right length!!!!! It is almost like we are living in a different world..it still doesn't seem real.....but I am so happy when I wake up in the morning and it is still here!!!!! SWEEET!!!!!