Half Marathon(s)

A little over a year ago, my sister in law had me run the Ogden Marathon 5K.  I never really ran just to run before that.  I had always played sports growing up but never really did much long distance running.  After I ran the 5K I was asked to run the Wasatch Back Ragnar.  I was not in great shape for that Ragnar and was a little embarrassed at how slow I was.  Just a little while after that my sister in law asked if I wanted to do the Las Vegas Ragnar.  I said yes and it all started there.  I actually had some time to get ready for that Ragnar and I ended up having tons of fun running it.  After that, my sister in law asked if I wanted to take her friend's spot in the Ogden Half Marathon.  I of course said yes and we started training.  We did a really good job getting ready and then the two weeks before the race I got pretty sick.  I ended up making the decision to run the race even though I hadn't been able to run and still didn't feel great. I didn't do as good as I hoped to but with how I had been feeling, I was glad I finished it.  About a month later, my sister in law asked if I wanted to do the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon with her.  I was so excited to get another chance to do better.  We didn't have much time to get ready but we still ended up doing pretty good.  I ended up taking a little over 20 minutes off of my first time.  It was a fun run and I was so happy to do better.  My sister in law, Sierra, is so nice to invite me to do all of these races with her.  We are going to be running the Vegas Ragnar again and I am so excited for it.  Thanks Sierra for pushing me and I hope we do lots more races together!  Love ya!

Just coming out of the canyon.

Almost to the finish line!

We made it!  

Breckyn likes to put these headbands on and she says, "I wanna run" because these are the headbands I use when I run.. . She is such a funny girl! 

I don't have any pictures of the Bryce Canyon race because we didn't take our camera.  I will have to steal some pictures from Sierra and post them later.

California Adventure

Brady and I had a fun trip that we were going to be going on with my bff and her husband, Brady and Laurel.  Unfortunately, the day we were supposed to leave Brady was supposed to take his boards for medical school.  He ended up not being able to take it that day and wasn't sure when he would be able to take the test again and therefore they were not able to go with us.  Brady and I contemplated what we should do and we just decided that instead of cancelling our trip all together, we would just take Breckyn and head to California.  We actually ended up finding really cheap tickets and invited our families to come too.  My mom, dad, and sister came along with Brady's mom.  It was such a fun trip and I am so glad we got to do that with Breckyn.  Although Brady and I were looking forward to a fun vacation with our friends, it all turned out good for us (we missed you Brady and Laurel) and Breckyn had the time of her life.  She was only 18 months at the time and we didn't know if she would really like Disneyland.  She ended up loving it.  After we went the first day, all she could say was "I wanna ride".  It was so funny.  She had so much fun on all of the rides and after our family got there with us we were all able to go on some fun rides ourselves.  While we were in California we were also able to go down to the San Diego Zoo, Six Flags (which I don't recommend), and also to the beach.  It was so fun and now we just want to take Breckyn back again.  The only crappy part of our trip was the flight home.  We ended up having to wait in the airport for like 4-5 hours.  It ended up being okay but we didn't get home until after midnight.  Breckyn is now starting to watch more of the Disney movies so I am sure next time we go there she is going to love it even more.  Just to watch Breckyn's face made it so magical.  It is so fun to be able to start making fun family memories with that sweet girl.

Our first day at Disneyland.

She was SO happy after her first day at Disneyland.

Our second day at Disneyland with the rest of our family there this time. 

Breckyn on the tea cups.

Its A Small World with Grandma Patti.

We all went on A Bugs Life coaster with B Loo.

Breckyn loves her Aunt "Da-ee".

Our family at California Adventures.

Grandma Patti with us at California Adventure Park.

My family at California Adventure Park.

This is as close as we got to getting a picture in front of the castle. 

Our family that came with us on the trip.  We love you guys!  

Another attempt at getting a picture in front of the castle. The camera wouldn't cooperate. :)

Breckyn at the Zoo running away from Taz.

Mom, Breckyn, Karlee at the Zoo.

My favorite animal.

Breckyn and Aunt Karlee played on the playground.

Breckyn LOVES to go down slides. 

Petting zoo.

Beautiful San Diego temple.

Breckyn was all ready to go swimming.

Such a cute dad.  

Grandma Brenda loves to collect sea shells.

Breckyn and mom in the freezing water.

She loves the sand.

We started to walk on the pier but got a little worried with Breckyn because she is a maniac and RUNS everywhere!  We ended up turning around and letting everyone else go on the pier.

Saying goodbye to her grandmas.

Such a good kisser.

Breckyn loves her grandpa.

Our latest project

We have had a huge project we have been doing the last month.  Brady's brother Justin and his new wife decided they wanted to move in to our basement.  Brady and I had already been thinking about finishing our basement but when they talked to us about moving down there we couldn't turn them down. :) So, pretty much every single evening this past month we have been down there hard at work.  We are almost done (thankfully) and I think it turned out great.  We are really excited about it.  I will post more pictures when it is all done.

Christmas 2010

So I am just a LITTLE late with this post but I thought I would do a quick one anyways.  Christmas was so fun this year.  Breckyn was so cute. She still wasn't totally interested in all of her presents but I think it just gets better each year.  On Christmas Eve we all got some sweet pajamas.  (Brady is going to kill me for putting this on the blog, haha)

On Christmas morning we all got up and opened our presents.  Breckyn got lots of fun stuff from Santa this year.  After we finished at our house we headed to my parent's house.  Later that day we went to Brady's parent's house.  We all got lots of fun stuff from all of our family members.  We were all so blessed this year and got some awesome stuff.  We have such a wonderful family and feel so blessed to have them in our lives. Christmas really is my favorite holiday.  It is not just one day for me, I feel like it is its own season.  I just love the feeling I get with the decorations and smells and everything.  This year I was able to go to a church in Pleasant View that had TONS of nativities set up for people to walk through and see.  They were all so beautiful.  It was a beautiful reminder to me of my savior and his sacrifice and how grateful I am for his birth.  I am grateful for Him, for my family, and for the knowledge I have of the gospel.  I think these three things together with the sights, smells, and other festivities make Christmas such a wonderful "season".  

Grandma M got Breckyn a cute Christmas tree for her bedroom. 

Breckyn LOVED playing with her cousin Bristol on Christmas.

Breckyn going through her stocking at Grandma and Grandpa Mitton's house.

She loved to play with Bristol's hair.

Our family on Christmas.

Breckyn's new toys.

Her new jammies.

Brady took Breckyn to pick our her Christmas dress this year.  It is the cutest little tradition for them.  I think he did a great job picking it out.  She looked so adorable in it.

Mom and Breckyn on "Christmas Sunday"

Breckyn in her Christmas dress.