A Full Summer

WOW! Has it really been that long since I last posted? Sheesh, this summer flew by in a flash. It always makes me so sad to watch the days get shorter and the temperatures slowly drop. It always seems like summer ends so suddenly, we will be in hot august and before you know it, it is october and it is cold and all the leaves are falling. sigh. But at least we had a great summer this year.  So I had better post something about it. Let start with my favorite thing...running! So Ben ran his first 5k in June at the Lehi round-up days. I don't remember his exact time, but it was about 25 min. I thought that was really good for his first race. Then a week after that we both ran the Provo Freedom Run 10k on the 4th of July. We ran with all of my family and it was so much fun!!! I came in at 52:10 and ben came in at 59:00. Then the very next morning I hosted a Family 5k for my families Family Reunion. That was really fun I made a finishing chute and everything. Our kids all sat by the finish line with Gma and Gpa and cheered us on. It was so cute. And then we had kids races and all the kids raced and they loved it! They were so excited about all running and finishing the race. It was great. Then the rest of July was filled with training runs for the Half Marathon we were all doing in August. We ran the provo river trail every weekend with other members of our family and it was so great. I seriously loved going on those long runs with my family. I mostly ran with my sister in-law Emily from Georgia.  It was great running with her. Then the day of the Provo River Half Marathon came. That was two weeks ago. We had a pasta party the night before and we went and drove the route of the race. Several of my family members ran the race......Emily (my sister in-law), My brothers jeremy and jay. My sisters Amy and Rebecca and Then of course Ben and I. It was the funnest race ever! I loved running with so many members of my family. I loved seeing them at different points of the course and running with them for a while here and there. I mostly ran with Ben though and that was super fun. Anyways, we all finished, it was awesome, went and got breakfast and then lazed around the rest of the day. It was a good day. I was so proud of all of my family for training and running the race! I was really proud of Ben because he actually doesn't like running so much but he knew I wanted him to run with me so he did. Nice husband. Then today I ran the Hobble Creek Half Marathon. It wasn't near as much fun. No one was there, I ran by myself, crossed the finish, got in my car and went home. boring. But at least I did it. 

Okay so now to our biggest summer news..we are expecting baby #3! I am currently 10 weeks along and have been nauseated 24/7. Yeah it is getting really old. I am always sick and always tired, but I know that it usually ends after the 3rd month so only a couple more weeks (cross your fingers) of being sick. But I have to say that I am REALLY REALLY excited for this baby. It is so real to me. Much more than with my other pregnancies. Maybe it just gets that way the more kids you have, I don't know. But instead of just being like, oh yeah I am pregnant there is a baby in there. I know that it is our little baby that is growing inside me, and I can totally sense its sweet spirit, and that it was 100% meant to come to our family. I feel very connected to this baby. Even when I run, I know this may sound a little weird but here it is. I often worry that I am pushing myself to far or causing harm to the baby when I run. My Dr told me to keep my heart rate down and I can just keep on running, so I have been.  But I still pay very close attention to what my body is telling me when I run and take breaks more often than I usually do. But one thing I have noticed is that when I am running I am much more aware of the baby and I tihnk in my head "Baby you in there??" And seriously I can totally feel its presence and I feel like it likes the running and that running these races with me is a special thing. And I feel like the baby is strong with me while I run. Now I know that all sounds a little crazy because my baby currently looks like a gummy bear, but that is how I feel when I run.  I always feel really good when I run, it is good. James is very very excited for this baby to come. He tells everyone he is getting a little sister (no we don't know what we are having yet), but he thinks it is a girl. Harrison has no clue what is coming and will probably not enjoy the baby quite as much as James will. That should be exciting. 

Okay, now to our vacations over the summer. We went camping in June and that was great great great!!!  And then in July we went to California to Disneyland! It was my first time and it was so much fun. James loved it way tons, and Harrison.....well he really liked the Mickey Mouse balloon we bought him. James and Ben had the greatest time ever though. WE also took my little brother Jay with us. So those 3 went on a lot of rides together. James' favorite was Space Mountain, they went on that several times and then he loved the Matterhorn and of course splash mountain.  He did not like the Haunted Mansion though and still tells us that it was too scary.  we watched the firework show both nights and I loved it both times. Seriously, I swear Disneyland really is like a little magical land. I can't wait to go back. WE spent 2 very full days in Disneyland and spent 1 day at the beach. I forgot how much i like the beach. james loved it as well, and once again Harrison was not sure about it. ben and Jay played in the waves most of the time and got totally sun burned. Crazy boys. James and I played in the sand the whole and looked for sea shells. It was fun.  And the last vacation we went on, well it was just me. But it was with all of my sisters and sister in laws. We went up to an amazing cabin near aspen grove and spent last weekend there. I loved it. I told Ben we really need to buy a cabin now. Anyways, we had fun scrapbooking together, playing pranks on each  other, and Amy, Em, and I ran to stewart falls and back one evening. That was probably one of the funnest runs I have ever ever done. First off, we kicked serious butt. We were flying! Not really flying, but I felt like it sometimes. I loved how fast we were able to go and how easy it was for me. It made me feel super strong. I think I am going to have to go run that again before the summer really ends.  

Anyways, the rest of our summer has been full of playing with cousins, going on bike rides (harrison and I went on a 21 mile bike ride the other day and we loved it!) Going on hikes, swimming, playing quietly while mom tries to lay down and not die. ha ha.  Oh, yesterday was Ben's birthday. James was the most excited for the birthday than any of us. It was so funny. He came with me to buy the presents last week and I told him he could not tell Daddy what we got him for his birthday. He promised he wouldn't. But said that he was going to trick daddy and tell him we got him tay-toe heads and  other things that we actually did not get him. So as soon as Ben got home James says "daddy, we got you a tay-toe head for your birthday" and then he would laugh and ben and I laughed even harder. He did this until Bens b-day. And then he got me up at 7 am and said "mom let's go decorate". So we did, he helped me blow up balloons and curl ribbons, he even wrapped some of the presents. Then we went and got Ben up. This is what he actually got for his b-day. Indiana Jones legos (James picked those out for him and Ben to play with together, which they did all night)  candy and a Telescope. Ben tried the telescope last night and it wasn't working right. So we traded it today for a different one and it works great. We saw jupiter and its moons, that was really cool. we are going to go up the canyon next week and look at the stars from there, that should be fun. Ben loves it though, so I think I did a good job for his bday. Anyways, so now I am tired, my legs are sore, I want to puke but my blog is caught up, the house is ...... 75% clean, good enough these days, And I think it is time to go watch a movie with Ben. So, good night all. Sorry this blog is so long.