our adventure to

S T. G E O R G E,  U T A H

{part two}

Brock's quick trip was a lengthy 44 hours total.

He was such a trooper, and even had to study a little while trying to juggling his time to see and visit with everyone.

He is one loved man!

The boys were so excited to see him and missed him SO so much when he was away, especially the second week after we saw him for a coulple days. 

We had steak and potatoes with his family and all slept over at Papa and Nana's for the weekend. It was wonderful!

Co playing Papa's drums is one of his highlights and we couldn't get Brendon off the stairs at either grandparent's house.

Uncle Jade and Aunt Tiffy got a new DARLING little dog, Lily. Brendon malled the poor thing to death. He loved her, and Co surprisingly did good with her too. He actually came home to TX saying he wanted to be a white dog like Lily for Halloween. We'll see how that works out...

The weekend Brock was in town it was Santa Clara Swiss Days! I was SO happy, I love Swiss Days {I have many good memories from it} and haven't been able to go for years, and who knows when I will be there next. All the tough, amazing, impressive women in Brock's family ran the Swiss Days 5K. {just trying to rub it in the boys faces a little} It was so much fun! It was Tiffy's first race which was so fun, and we all did great!

Sheryl and I placed in our age divisions thanks to her setting and keeping a dang fast pace of 7:49 minute miles.

I took 3rd in my division and she took 2ND!

We got Cow Bells. :)  

Relaxing, played games at Swiss Days and rode a few rides...

Pizza and played at the Spin Park.

Both our families including Papa Dee and Grammy, went to Uncle Matt's football game. He's a stud of a player! The game was extra hot so the kiddos played behind the bleachers in the shade. Aunt Jenna's phone was very useful. Thanks J!

The night before Brock left Josh and Brock made Russian Borche.

D E L C I O U S.

Three boys in a tub!

I LOOOOOVE this silly pic of Tiffy and Co.
That is Cohen's signature funny face and I've never captured it.

Sheryl and I in our matching 5K shirts, a perfect Sunday comfy shirt/running shirt, and two cute brothers wrestling.

our adventure to 

S T. G E O R G E,  U T A H

{Sept 22 - Oct 5}

Remember when I surprised Brock with a trip to Utah for his birthday? Well, this is the trip. The boys and I were able to go for two weeks, sweet Brock only came for a week in the middle.
I feel most myself, most content and most happy when I am in St. George with the people I love oh so much.
We made so many new memories together and I FINALLY was able to meet my darling sweet nephew Parley James. Cohen and Brendon had so much fun with their cousins, they played nonstop and got along really well. I think now that Co is a little older they all have more in common.
The weather was beautiful and the mountains were BREATHTAKING.
I have taken them for granted my whole life really. Now that I live in one the most flat and NOT attractive places I miss them more than ever. It was so good to be surrounded by LOVE in every way possible for two straight weeks. Very refreshing. I didn't realize how much I needed it until I was there for a few days.   

Playing out back in my parents yard. Both swings were being used at all times.

Snuggles from Papa and Nana...

  Making big messes, dance parties to the keyboard demo song OVER AND OVER AND OVER again, sandbox time...

Brendon warmed up fairly quick to most people. In my opinion it wasn't the NEW people that he was slow to be himself around, but it was all the crazy change. His life pretty much flipped upside down in every way in a flash for two weeks. All he knows is our life in TX, his bed and carseat in TX and our routine in TX. So he was still super happy of course, but I didn't see his true self come out until the beginning of week two.

**Note: Bottom right pic is my dad and Co watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Co LOVED it and asked for it many times, and still talks about Oompa Loopas I would have guessed it would have scared the kids. I found that humorous.

Fun play day at Great-Grandma Sheryl's...

We of course had to feed the bird crackers, dig in the dirt and put beanie babies on the fan and turn it on to make them fly off {Co's favorite thing}.

Grandma bought lunchables for all the kids, even Brend. He thought he was very very cool.

Playing at Cort and Em's...

Em teaching Cohen had to hula hoop. She's the best :)

Naomi :: Cohen :: Brett {cute neighbor boy} :: Corbin

Walked and played at the park by Cort's up by Coral Canyon...

We had to be very patient waiting ALL DAY while grandparents worked all day, then it was party time every evening.

Lots of snuggles and tramp time at Nana's...

Gorgeous Aunt Tiffy...

So glad she's doing an internship in St. George while we were there, so we were able to see her and Jade lots. :)

Morning swings and backyard BBQ's...

Lunch/play date with Aunt Loni and the babies and our mamas and Aunt Jenna. Such a nice, relaxing fun time. I love being with my best friend and seeing our babies play. They will be best buds forever, I just know it. :)

So much enjoyable outside time!

Cohen shooting Corby's bow that Grandpa made him and more digging a hole to China...

A BUNCH OF FACES THAT I LOVE!

{Josh made it on there twice cause he's most goofy looking} ;)

More Tiffy Time...

Cohen & Adyn

Both 15 months old

Aunt Jenna is the best. Brendon is always happy and content with her, but every baby is! She's magic.

More Nana snuggles, and two little cousins Kai and Co probably doing something sneaky/naughty in the background.

A PUZZLE as big as Cohen! He was in heaven. Brendon couldn't stop checking out Grandpa's mustache. And we were all exhausted every night cause we played so so hard. Had to make the most of every minute.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Grand Prairie  Half Marathon

{Saturday, September 22}

 I finally feel like I got myself back into shape after baby #2.

I have REALLY enjoyed running lately, and I am so glad my friend D.P. Davidson invited me to sign up for this half with her.

The race was in Grand Prairie around Joe Pool Lake, which is about 35 mins from Fort Worth. The course was pretty, but SO MANY BUGS when we were close to the water. I had to hold my hands out to cover my eyes, mouth and nose to block them. Two other things that I didn't expect were the heat {I train EARLY EARLY morning almost ever run when the sun was still down} and also the almost completely FLAT course. The neighborhood we trained in had ups and downs which I like and was used to. But with that said, it was still a good race. I was pleased with my finish.

 Best support group EVER!! I held back tears when I first saw my honey and my boys, and I still had one more little loop left {about 0.3 or a mile}
This is the wonderful D.P. Davidson. She's the author of Push, a wonderful novel that all of you should read, she's my friend and fellow counselor in Young Women's with me and I call her MY COACH. She pushed me and motivated me to get up ONE TOO MANY TIMES at 5 am to train. And sadly enough, she was unable to run the race! Broke my heart. She was having trouble with her hip not long before the race, and the week of the race the DOC said stay off or you'll be sorry. She still drove me to the race at 6:30 AM and cheered me on. What a woman! She's wonderful. Everyone needs a Diana in their life.

 A little about the actual race...
I was feeling great until about the 7th mile {BUG/HEAT HEAVEN} I could tell I was starting to struggle a little. I passed an aide station not far after and the workers yelled "You're third female!" There was only two other females ahead of me! Talk about a BOOST I needed. I did NOT expect even coming close to that in this race. I thought to myself "I can do this! I've never been this close to placing in a race!" So I kicked my pace up a notch. At mile 9 I hit a wall. BAD. But then a runner not far behind me was cheering on every person he passed and being SO funny, blasting his Michael Jackson music. As he came up to my side and tuned to him and said "I need your motivation!" I asked what his pace was and it was what I wanted to keep up. I told him I just HAD to stay at third female. He was the ONLY reason I finished when I did! Every minute it seemed he would turn to me and ask how I was breathing. We talked about our kids and mostly he kept me laughing and pushing me. He played a game that he would "reel runners in". We slowly but surely reeled in female #2. He reminded me a lot of my dad, same age and same humor. It was great. He finished just a few seconds in front of me.

Finishing time:
1:55:31
1st place in my age division
2nd overall female


{being awarded my silly plaque}
 
I achieved my goal of finishing under two hours, barely.
It felt great.
Mostly, it feels good to feel healthy and back into shape again.
More races to come in the future!
Next half marathon will be with D.P. :)

a TRAIN RIDE downtown
{Friday, September 21}

 Brock wanted to do something extra fun or out of the ordinary on the day before the boys and I flew to Utah. He came up with such a fun idea - The Mini Train Ride downtown. Well worth the $10 for us all and the 40 mins of our time.

We frantically tried to find it and thought we may not make it before the last ride had already started, but we made it long before the last train even came in to start.

One of the fabulous thing about having two little boys is all they need is to throw rocks in a huge river, or climb a tree or even just kick some dirt. And that's just what we did to try and make the 35 mins we had to wait pass by quicker.

 Mr. ROCK boy. He would not stop throwing rocks. Brendon insisted on holding on to two rocks the whole train ride and also the 30 min ride home afterwards. He would not put them down for anything. He held them even while he held his sippy cup to drink.

 FIRST TREE CLIMB by Cohen!

{with a LITTLE help from Dad}

 The train whistle blew right as I took this picture, Brock smiling and the boys heads FLY over to spot the train coming.

The Trinity River was beautiful!

 The train made a pit stop at the half way mark where there was a small concession booth. The boys were hungry and the popcorn was screamin' out our names.

 We will be back, cute little Mini Train downtown!