Ragnar Relay 2011

We ran Ragnar relay again this year. It was a blast. We had van 2 this year so we got a lot less sleep, a lot harder runs, and probably double the laughs. As always I forgot to break out the camera till half way through the race..

Shay getting ready to go run her night long run. I think it was like 10 miles and she didn't start her run till like 1:00 am. We had the worst running times ever. It made it that much more challenging.

Dave Austin. He is not only a AWESOME RUNNER, he is a great good. He had to put up with a lot. All of our van was family. He was clearly out numbered. Bennett girls get major gas when we run. Needless to say or van always stunk!! This is Randy and I at about 2:30 am after drinking 2 rock stars, Waiting for my 9 mile night run. Lets just say I'm not use to Caffeine so it really did a number on me. Since Randy drinks rock stars like they are water he had no effect on him. He was just being a clown with me.

Like I said no effect on him.. Or was it cause someone stinks??? Yeah that's probably what it was. Sorry guys, I couldn't help it. :)

Dana getting ready for her night run. Sucks to be the person in the hot seat.. Right Tesch? Notice our awesome van driver? Jon you were awesome. Thanks!

REALLY?? WE have to run again? This is so stupid, why did we do this? I'm tired and want to sleep. Yeah that was most of the conversations going on in our motor home as we woke up at 8:30 am. After going to sleep at 6:30 am.. Van 2 Sucks!!

My last and final Run. It was 4 miles and it gained 1900 feet in elevation. It was the hardest 4 miles of my life. I started in the dead heat, and ran up to snow. Yes snow in the middle of June. It was refreshing but very hard. My Awesome team members out waiting for me at the exchange.

Ashtyns 6th bday..

Ash is getting so big. I can't believe my baby is 6 years old. She is definitely the princess in our house. She has her daddy still wrapped around her little finger. She loves to be girlie but at the same time she loves to wrestle and fight with her brothers. She is not afraid to tell you what she thinks. She is a little mother hen. If I tell the boys to do something she is nagging them to do it until its done. She loves to help me cook and clean. She loves to surprise me and clean the dishes or make my bed. She is very helpful. She also loves to play salon with Randy. She will sit and comb his hair for hours. She is very friendly and easy to get along with. We are so thankful for her in our family. She is our PRINCESS!!

Didn't know at age 6 girls start asking for clothes and jewelry for their b-days. I didn't think that started till the teenage years. She was very happy with her clothes, jewelry, perfume, sunglasses, and of course I had to get her a baby. She can't grow up too fast!!

This was the cutest thing ever. Bennett wrote Ash this little note and tapped $1.50 to it. The note reads, " You are the best sister ever. Love Bennett. I love you so so much." They are the best of buddies. They are so cute together.

Our little DIVA.. WE love you sis, hope you had a great day.

Ogden Half Marathon 2011

I talked Randy into running the Ogden half marathon with me this year. It wasn't the best thing he ever agreed too, but with no training He did great. Maybe next year he will go on all those long runs with us..

It was also my Brother Brett and Jake and Erin Loves first half marathon. They all did so good and I can't wait for next year so we can beat our time , or maybe even go for the full marathon.

My family.. Shay and Dana did the full marathon together, Brett and I did the half. So glad we got to share this together. It was a great experience. It was fun to have my family and friends along the way. Maybe next year we will have the entire family running!

Ash Our Soccer Player . Spring 2011

Ash played soccer again this last spring. She did AWESOME!! She was a goal scorer. She would score at least 3-4 goals a game. She was so fun to watch, both mom and dad were very proud . She would dribble the ball all the way up the field and score. She was our top offense and probably the best defender. Way to go Ash, can't wait for next season..

Bennetts Field trip to hoogle Zoo May 2011

Bennett's 1st grade class went on a field trip to the Hoogle Zoo. We had a great time. He loved his first grade teacher. Miss Patten. She was a great teacher and we loved her to death.


Bennett's best little first grade buddy Aiden. These two were inseperable all year long.

This was the cutest thing ever to watch Bennett try and navigate Tayiah around the Zoo. One day these two will be getting married. They have been friends since they were babies.

Of course we had to ride the train.. After we were done Bennett said to me, " Well that was really lame mom. We didn't even go very far." He's so funny.. Glad I had the chance to go with him and spend time with my little buddy! It was a great time.

First Game.

We took our friends , Jake and Erin Love to their first professional soccer game ever. It was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect for spring soccer, cold and raining. We had awesome seats , great eye candy , and it was a great game. I love this time of year! Its nice to finally be able to be outside and be active! Can't Wait for SUMMER!!

Here's some of the great eye candy.. Nothing better than cute guys wearing soccer shorts running around in the rain. :)

He's pretty fun to look at , even though he was on the opposing team. Erin kept reminding him how beautiful he was all game long.

Chris Wingert, He's pretty cute too. Fun to watch. :) If you haven't ever gone to a game I would highly recommend it. They are so much fun. It's a great atmosphere.. GO REAL!!

Checking on the kids..

The other night I went in to check on my kids before going to bed and this is how I found Bennett sleeping. He had all his stuffed animals tucked into his bed all nice and neat, and then he was laying next to them in this tiny little space on top of his blankets. The next morning I asked him why he did that and he says, " Mom my little guys need a place to sleep too, I can't hog my bed every night." So cute. He is very caring and thoughtful.



This is how Ash and Kobe were sleeping. Don't know how they can both sleep comfortably in a twin bed together. Every night Ash sneaks into bed with one of her brothers..

Christmas 2010

Christmas was crazy at our house. We had a lot of parties throughout the month of Dec. We stayed busy all month long. Come Christmas Eve Randy and I had nothing wrapped and had to stay up all night wrapping presents. I think we finally went to bed around 3:30 am. Luckily our kids didn't wake up till 8:00. Thanks to Grandma Carlson for calling us and waking us up.


Sad to say this is the only picture I took before the chaos happened. At least I took this one right?? We had a great day filled with taking a nap, playing games, eating good food, and lounging most of the day in our pj's.. What more could you ask for??

Oct- Dec catching up.

I need to finish blogging about all the fun things we did in 2010. After my marathon my family ( some of us) went to Disneyland! My family, and Shay's family left on Sat morning Oct 29th at like 3:00 am. My parents and my other sister and her family flew. We got there Sat afternoon around 3:00. It was a blast. We had so much fun. I absolutely love Disneyland. Randy on the other hand not so much.

The famous Disneyland picture spot. I think everyone gets their picture taken by this..

Our family.. So excited to go in .

All the characters were dressed up so cute. Shay and I wanted to get our pics with all of them but our kids were getting so mad..

Kobe and Colton waiting in line for a ride. They thought they were so cool and so grown up. It was good for them to have buddies their own age to hang out with.

Bennett was in heaven riding all the rides and hanging out with everyone all day. Life is a party for him . A day with no chores or homework is the perfect day for him.

This was Ash before the ride started. So excited, didn't know what to expect. Boy did she have a thing or two coming her way...

This was her reaction after the ride was over. She did not like the rides at all.. I think that was her first and only ride. After that we could not get her to go on anything else. I pretty much paid Disneyland for her to sit in the stroller and get treats with grandpa..

Bennett called these the golden plates and insisted I take his picture with them..

I have so many fun pictures it would take me forever to post them all..

Disneyland was a blast.. We loved it.We would get back to the hotel and be wiped out, but somehow the kids always managed to have enough energy to swim. It was a great vacation. Such a fun place to go and take the kids. Oct is a great time to go. Its not very busy and it is decorated so cute..

We also spent a few days at Sea World and we also went to the beach in San Diego..

It was so hot the day we went to San Diego. The shows were almost unbearable it was so hot.. We were able to get the front row (right in front of the platform ) in the Shamu show. It was really cool to be that close.. I thought for sure we would get soaked but we all came out pretty dry.

My kids loved the beach day. After the trip we asked them what their favorite part of the trip was , and of course it was the days we went to the beach and the times we swam at the hotel!! How does that happen? You spend all this money getting into Disneyland and then the best part ends up being swimming at the pool and going to the ocean??
We had so much fun. I can't wait for our next big family vacation. Wonder where our next adventure will be.. Maybe WALLY WORLD!!

St George Marathon.

Oct 2ND I was able to go to St. George and Run the 26.2 grueling marathon. It was so hot!! We started running at 6:45 am , at that time it was already mid 70's in the canyon. Once the sun came up it really heated things up. It was MISERABLE. This was the hottest year ever! Go figure, the year I draw out.. When we finished before noon the temp was 98 degrees. You could not get away from the heat. Runners were dropping like flies. The DNF Vans (Did Not Finish) were full every time they went bye. Out of 9000,00 Runners only 5640 finished and only 2600 were woman. I finished in 4:36:07. I was kinda disappointed about my time. I was really wanting to finish around 4 hours or slightly under. Because of the heat, I started cramping at mile 20 and couldn't maintain my pace to get me in at my goal time. I dropped back from my Awesome running partner ( Dave Astile) who kept me on track and busy with conversation to think of the pain I was in. My last 6 miles Was really hard. It took me over and hour to finish those last 6 miles. The finish line was AWESOME! There were people lined up everywhere to cheer you on. As soon as I seen the finish line I couldn't help but to cry. Its such an amazing feeling to push your body so hard, but at the same time your in so much pain that you can not wait to cross that line and be done. Its a love hate relationship.. I'm so glad I was able to push through all those doubts I had and finish. I won't be doing any Marathon's anytime soon. I will stick to half marathon's , they are much easier on the mind and the body. .

Dinner with my Sisters. We were all lucky to go down and enjoy some peace and quite a few days before the marathon.. It was nice. Might I add, we had been driving all day, yes we are aware that we look like CRAP!

The house we rented was So nice! This was the slide off the pool. Of course we all tried it, more than once, and yes we probably woke up the neighbors while playing! :)

You go first, No you go first.. I'll go after you. We had a blast. Not sure this was the best thing to do the day before the Marathon. Notice how nice and cloudy it was the day before? That would've been perfect running weather.

According to Dave this wasn't a smart choice either. Oh well, it's only 26.2 miles. The hot tub can't be that bad? Can it?

Thanks to Shane, we had a personal Chef. He cooked us the best meal the night before the Marathon. Your Awesome Shane. Thanks for putting up with 4 girls who thought they needed to be pampered.. You did a great job. :)

Finally done! Yeah, need to call my family and friends to tell them I'm alive. Notice the Ice on the knees? That's the first thing that happens when you cross the finish line. You get rubbed down with ice then Ice packs wrapped around your knees to try and help prevent you from being so sore. Doesn't really help. It took me a good 3-4 days before I was walking normal .

Such a great feeling!! We all finished. So glad I was able to go through this journey with my sisters. They are the best! I am so lucky to have them. Thanks girls, you ROCK!

My parents surprised us and came down with Randy the night before. It was a great surprise. It was neat to have them there, to watch us complete this. Specially my dad. He is so busy this time of year and was able to take time off from the harvest to be with us. Thanks Mom, Dad, and Randy. Your support was HUGE, for all of us.

The race crew. We are all sick and feeling near death but we can fake a smile for the camera cause WE DID IT! Dave, Alicia, Me, Shay and Dana. The Fab 5.

Nothing like a Kiss to say Way to go! Thanks for all your support, and for taking care of the everything while I did all those long runs each week. I'm lucky to have such a great and supportive husband.

Camping!

Over Labor day we went camping with some of our friends.. Maybe our only friends that will put up with us for so long.. Thanks Love family! We had a great time, the weather was great, the four wheeler rides were long and dusty, and the guys scouting trips got longer and longer as the days went on. Luckily I had great company that I didn't even notice my husband was gone!!

Ash and her daddy hanging out in the Love's trailer. They rented theirs so we might as well hang out in theirs inside of ours.. Not to mention, it was bigger than ours.

Ash and Erin having a beauty day in the trailer. Ash loves to be all pampered. Erin was so cute to do her nails and make her feel special. Thanks Erin, Ash really loves you and little Hal.

Ash and Hallie. They are so cute together. They tell everyone they are twins. They have such a fun time together. Ash bosses Hallie around, and little Hallie does whatever she says. Friends forever!

Bennett, Kobe,and Dawson going for our long truck ride into town to eat.. ARE WE THERE YET?? Then on the way home we had to go and scout for deer, as if they hadn't scouted enough..

The guys getting back late from one of their many scouting trips to eat what was left over from dinner.