26.2 Miles...baaaaarely

I did it!!!! I ran my very first marathon. It was quite the experience, that's for sure! Firstly, I do not recommend camping out before a marathon. Not only was I freezing and uncomfortable, but I was so nervous that I kept having to get up and go pee, I had the weirdest dreams, and I slept maybe a total of 2 hours...in the car because I was afraid Reid would keep me up. Yea, right. This was the first year that Bear Lake held this marathon, and let me tell you it was not well organized. There were NO bathrooms at the start, not good. Also, toward the end of the marathon it got really hot and so the volunteers just left cups of water out on the side of the road for us. Speaking of which, the run isn't exactly around the lake either, it was along the highway with cars flying by at 50 MPH, so when big trucks went by I had to close my eyes and hold my breath or I would get a mouth full of dust. Yucky. I am glad that I did it though. I will definitely do another one sometime, I decided I want to be a marathon runner instead of someone who has run A marathon. So, with that I have decided to do the Provo half marathon in August. I am really excited because I loved the half I did in SLC. I have pretty bad tendenitis from training for the full marathon, so this will be a good run for me. I am super excited!


I ran past our camp site, so Nate, Ben and Jess and the kids came out to support me. Look how excited I am to see them. This was about mile 18 when I was still feeling pretty good.

This was at the finish line. Kind of anti-climactic. I was VERY tired by the time this photo was taken. The last six miles were the hardest. I only walked about a mile total in the whole marathon, and it was all during those last six miles. It really ruined my time (which I am not going to post..it was bad) but my goals were to 1) finish and 2) not be last, and I did those so all is well.

These are some of the pictures Jess took. Isn't it beautiful?

Nate and I at the campsite

Reid and the Jack-attack playing peek-a-boo

Also, the Holman's happened to be there at the same time, so they stopped by with their adorable little girl, Blaine so we all got to play in the water. Of course I forgot my camera in the tent so I have no evidence of the cuteness. Anyway, it was so great to see some old Bellingham friends, and the water at Bear Lake is so shallow, so the kid-os had a good time splashing around. Side note: For more info on Blaine's cuteness, check out my link to Trevor and Kaitlyn. =)


As a final note, we had so much fun camping! It was really cold at night, so the kids ended up in our sleeping bags, but it was fun to snuggle! I just have to say that I am so grateful for everyone who helped me run this. Jess was the first one to get me back into running when I moved here, and she patiently waited for me while I tagged along on our little two mile loop. Also, Ben and Jess brought ALL of the camping gear, watched Reid, made the fire, made the tin foil dinners and put up with us for a whole weekend of chaos! They are such wonderful friends and I am so grateful for them being so generous and helpful...oh and soooo hilarious (poop stories around the camp fire, Jess?!). Secondly, Nate is the most amazing husband EVER! He always watched Reid on my long runs and encouraged me the whole way. This marathon was during finals, so I drug him along and he studied as much as he could during the trip. He is so wonderful and I love him so much for supporting me in my crazy ambitions! So, sorry this is so wordy, but I just wanted to make sure that the wonderful people in my life know that they are truly appreciated. Thanks guys!

Science Nerds...

Apparently those science/math smarty farties aren't as smart as they think they are...especially when it comes to vocabulary. Case in Point: Nate was telling me about his physics class today. I guess they were learning about a thing called, "impedance" and one of Nate's brilliant friends was like; "how do you pronounce that? Is it impee-dince or impotence. Of course, Nate started laughing, and his friend didn't understand what was so funny. So Nate asked him if he knew what impotence meant and his friend was like; "Is it the opposite of competence?" And Nate started laughing even harder and was like; "I guess in a way..." Good guess fella, but not quite right. These are the future leaders of our country. Anyway, I thought it was a really funny story. Nate has such a killer time in his physics class =).

This Kind of Got Out of Hand....

So this started out as Nate and I innocently watering the garden. Then Reid wanted to play with the hose....

He thought spraying himself was HILARIOUS, so we let him play even though he was fully clothed.

The Nate busted out the sprinkler. Reid wasn't so sure at first

He eventually warmed up to the idea.

Then he just stood there with his tongue hanging out. What a funny little bloke.

Sick?!

So Reid got a bit sick when my dad was here. He started acting really grumpy, drooling a lot, and he had a bit of a fever. No big deal. Then he got these red marks on his face. I thought that was a little unusual, so I called the nurse and she said it was a strain of the herpes virus that kids get in the spring. HERPES??!!! Apparently it's just a severe case of cold sores, and when kids get it for the first time they get really sick. When I took this picture I thought this was as bad as it would get. Not so. Reid got at least fifteen red marks on his face that turned into pus-filled cold sores. Gross. I didn't want to take a picture because it was so disgusting! We then noticed that he had countless sores in his mouth. The poor kid was completely miserable. Of course, it's super contagious so we had to keep him quarantined for three weeks! He as a trooper though, and now he is back to his cheery self eating his full weight in food each day!

Fun Times

So May has flown by for us. We had both of my parents come for a visit, Nate's summer school has been crazy, and Reid and I have both been sick. I gotta say though, I have been blessed with wonderful parents! I am so glad that I got a chance to see them both. I have missed them so much being down here! There are both so loving and helpful, and I don't know where I would be in life without their support. I think Reid feels pretty lucky too!

Papa Comes to Visit!

As soon as my mom left, my dad flew in for a visit as well. We are just so popular! We had a really good time, but unfortunately Reid and I both got sick, and because Nate is so busy with school my dad had to take care of us. What a good guy, and what a lame way to spend your vacation! We still had plenty of fun though. Apparently too much fun.

Reid and my dad and I went on a hike to test out the hiking backpack my mom got us. I have always wanted one of these, and was so excited to give it a test run. It was wonderful! I plan on doing a lot of hiking this summer!

At the top of the trail having a snack.

I love this picture. I think Reid looks so much like Nate here!

On the way down my dad carried him, and he must have some kind of soothing power because Reid totally zonked!

I didn't take any pictures on our sick day, but we went to the park just before my dad had to leave, and Reid just loved swinging with Papa!

Higher Papa!

We were so sad to see my dad go. He is always so helpful and thoughtful. He mowed our lawn, cleaned up our yard, and took us out to eat several times. He is such a great dad and Grandpa! We love him so much!

Nana Comes to Visit!

Horray, horray Nana came to visit. We had a such a great time! We did so many fun things, and she totally spoiled us ( as Nanas are prone to do!). Before she got here she went to California with a friend, and brought us all back some goodies. My personal favorite? She went to build-a-bear and made Reid his own personalized dog named Pesca (after a fictional dog I used to write stories about as a kid). Reid loves it, and so do I!

Nana got Reid a summer wardrobe, and here he is modeling my new favorite shirt.

We went up to Sundance and had a blast. This place is totally up my mom's alley. I think she wants to live here now in hopes of catching a glimpse of none other than Mr. Robert Redford himself.

The restaurant food was delicious as you can see.

"Nana, will you pleeease get me some baby uggs? All of my friends have them." And so she did. More on those later.

Yay for water.

We were sad to see her go. Nana sure knows how to show us a good time!