SLC Halfie

So, I ran the Salt Lake City half marathon again this year. I really do like this race because there are so many people, but I kind of hate it too because there are SO. MANY. PEOPLE. (like 15,000). This year was a little bit more fun though because Sarah's sponsor Paid her entry fee, so I had a friend to come along! We left Friday night and spent the night at a friend of hers who lives in Salt Lake so we wouldn't have to get up so early.

We still got up around 4:15 though because the race started at 7. We took the trax (is that what they call it?) to the University of Utah (where the start line was). Sarah lined up at the front, and I decided it would be better to pee before the race started, so when the gun went off I was in the bathroom! There were so many people though that I still had to wait in line for a while to cross the start.

I started out pretty fast for me (7:30 min. mile) and then settled into a pace between 8 and 8:30. I have to admit, this time around wasn't as fun as the first because I was working hard to get under my goal time, and they changed the course so that there was a two mile hill RIGHT AT THE END. What the?! I was not prepared for it, so it slowed me down a little. Overall though, the race worked out well for both of us.

FINAL STATS:

Me: 1:47:40 / 8:13 min. mile average / 208th place out of 2,885 runners

Sarah: 1:29:53 / 6:51 min. mile average / 17th place out of 2,885 runners

We both came in under our goal times, and got a PR!

Do you like all of these tiny pictures of us? The photography company wanted me to pay $50 to download them, so I just swiped the thumbnails...kind of lame, but better than nothing! Also, if it looks like I am in a lot of pain in the first picture, it's because I am. That was taken on that two mile hill at the end. Great idea, right?

Sarah looking awesome!

Apparently I need sunglasses so I won't make any more stupid faces like this

And this.

After the race Sarah put on her "compression socks" to help with recovery, but I think she wears them just to look cool. I told her to give me a sexy pose, and this is what I got. Come on, Sarah those sock are HOT!

Also, the fact that she is standing next to my open car is significant too because when we got back to the car we realized that my key-less entry thing wasn't working, which is kind of disappointing when you are in downtown Salt Lake all stinky and sweaty and tired. We pushed the button about a zillion times from a zillion different angles, and finally when we heard the doors unlock we shouted "yaaay!" all loud and excited just as this lady walked by looking at us like we were crazy for getting THAT excited about the Key-less entry. It was hilarious. I guess you had to be there maybe....

Then we headed over to her sponsor's store and spent an HOUR AND A HALF at REI in VAIN. More on that in another post another day because it is a dramatic story with a very happy ending.

Thanks for keeping me company, Sarah. You did great (as usual), and I am really looking forward to seeing you blow the competition away this triathlon season!


P.S. Race day happened to be right in the middle of finals week for my poor husband who does such a great job of supporting me. He watched the kids the whole time I was gone. It was pretty stressful for him, and I so appreciate him working so hard for our family. Thanks Naters for being such a great hubby, and making so many sacrifices so I can do these races. I love you!

Post Race Fun

After the race Sarah and Jen and I took the kiddos up to Bridal Veil Falls . The weather has been so nice lately that we thought we would take advantage of the shorts and t-shirt weather. Reid had a blast in the wagon with Eric and Noah--he has had so much fun getting to know these two.

Rubie and Max, on the other hand, were so enthralled by all of the dogs we saw along the trail that they decided to join them. I'm so glad I captured this on film because they only did it for just a couple of minutes! These two crack me up!

At the falls!

Mostly for the Grandparents

Reid would only sing if I sang with him, so try to ignore my terrible voice...

Top Five Weekend

TOP FIVE REASONS WHY I DESERVED A GIRL'S NIGHT OUT ON FRIDAY:

1. That morning I opened the fridge to grab the soy milk, and as I shook it I discovered that whoever put it back last FORGOT to replace the cap, thus forcing me to change my clothes for the day.

2. I won't go into details, but let's just say I was up to my elbows in poop (of both the Reid and Link variety) thus forcing me to change my clothes yet again for the day.

3. Finals week is upon us, and I will have little to no help from Nate with the kiddos.

4. I can't remember the last time I have done this.

5. Apparently I needed more exposure to the "romantic comedy" genre, from which I usually avoid like the plague (this one wasn't too bad though, I'll admit).

P.S. That picture above is exactly how we looked. All of us dress JUST like that. And instead of martinis imagine frozen yogurt. So basically the only accurate part of this picture is the fact that we were three gals sitting around a table, and I'm pretty sure I had my hand on my butt the whole time like the one in pink.

P.P.S. Thanks Jen & Sarah. I needed that!

TOP FIVE REASONS WHY TWINS ARE THE CUTEST THING EVER:

1. Because they were both girls, it was kind of like a double date for Reid and Link

2. Feeding them isn't too bad because all I had to do was line them up on the table, grab three spoons and one bowl and just go down the line filling open mouths. It was one of the funniest things I have ever done!

3. At first I memorized who was wearing what, but after about a half an hour I caught on to the fact that they have TOTALLY different personalities and could tell them apart based on what they were doing.

4. Watching three small children dance to primary songs is a must for everyone's bucket list.

5. Having two babies for the price of one pregnancy is kind of a bonus. (Ha! tell that to their mommy who spent three months in the NICU with them, but still...)

Thanks Maci for letting your little sweethearts come hang out at the Tulett's!

TOP FIVE REASONS WHY MATCHING OUTFITS ARE A MUST:

1. They will only let me do it for so long.

2. It's ridiculously cute.

3. Reid LOVES to be matchy with little brother.

4. Look at the pure joy found on Link's face. How could I deny him that?!

5. When asked what all of the pictures were on his pants Reid called the treasure chest a "box for wipes."

There you have it, my top five weekend!

Little Helpers

I love being their mommy

Just in case you hadn't heard...

...it was Easter last weekend, and I just wanted to make sure I added to the plethora of pictures on the blogosphere of little kids looking for eggs. America, you're welcome.

Anyway, Easter was fun this year! Some friends and I did a cute little Easter egg hunt in the park on Saturday. I love the above picture because the boys WERE looking for eggs, but as boys will do, they got distracted by the dirt pile and had to be reminded of what we were really there for! I love little boys, they crack me up!

I think this picture captures the essence of Noah. He was the fastest, and was not really excited to stop and pose for a picture. He ran around as fast as he could to find all of the eggs and turned to me to say "uh, you guys didn't do a very good job of hiding these..." ha! The other thing that cracked me up was the fact that Reid just followed Noah everywhere, but because he was FOLLOWING him Noah got all of the eggs. Ha. Reid didn't quite understand the concept of every man for himself. (because come on people, there was CANDY in there!)

Dylan is such a cutie because he is always willing to stop and give you a sweet smile!

We discovered that Dylan's little bro, Adam is much like Reid's little bro. Even though he WAS having a good time you have to work pretty hard to get a smile out of this one! He doesn't give them out to just anybody!

My Reidster! He had so much fun!

All the boys enjoying their loot!

Luckily the weather held out for us on Saturday, and ended up being pretty decent. It's a good thing we didn't wait until Sunday, because we woke up to this:

Happy Easter every one! I'm so glad that spring has finally sprung!

I did get Easter baskets ready for the boys this year, and I always love getting a new church outfit every year, and because this is the FIRST year I have had two boys I got them MATCHING church outfits. I am such a mean mommy! By the way, Link won't fit into those 12 month pants until next Easter. Sigh.

Mr. Linkers enjoying his basket (Read:bucket. I hate Easter baskets, and prefer getting them something they can play with all year!). He refused to smile, as he sometimes does, but he has been getting like 6 teeth, so he has been a little bit of an unhappy camper.




Lucky for us this weekend was also general conference (for my non-LDS friends and family "General Conference" is a semi-annual broadcast in which the leaders of our church give us uplifting messages, news, instruction etc...) and we got out the coloring books and crayons for Reid. However, Reid went outside and I walked in on this scene. Apparently Nate has a hard time sitting still as well!

We had a pretty simple Easter dinner. Katrina came over and I made ham, cheesey potatoes, asparagus with sun-dried tomatoes, and I attempted rolls with honey butter but I screwed them up so we had store-bought bread with honey butter. Sigh. Will I EVER be able to make bread?!

Hope you all had a happy Easter! We sure did!

Family Fun!

After my race last Saturday I came home for about 10 minutes and then we were off to Reid and Link's cute little friend, Adam's 2nd birthday party! They both had so much fun! There were about four or five little boys In Reid's age range and they all partied hard! I love watching him interact with other kids that he has a lot in common with (and by "a Lot in common" I mean they are boys between the ages of 2 and 4).

After the B-day party Nate's sister and her family came into town from Washington. Horray for family! I personally love hanging out with this particular branch of the fam. because they are always up for an adventure!

On Sunday we hiked up to the "Y" (that has been a theme with us lately...) and Jerry (my bro. in-law) insisted that Reid come along. Now, I had Link on my back, so I told him that Reid was HIS responsibility because I couldn't carry BOTH kiddos! I was shocked at how well Reid did! Jerry got him to hike about halfway up, and then he carried him the rest of the way. Reid suuure loves his uncle Jerry and auntie Denise!

They don't look like they were having fun, but they really loved it. Especially Link. He was talking and laughing the whole way up!

4 out of the 6 Johnson kiddos. These guys are my nieces and nephew, if you can believe that.

On Monday we went to the Hogle Zoo. I love the zoo in SLC. It's one of the best I've been to. They have awesome animals and the layout makes it really easy to see everything. The FIRST thing that we needed to do, however, was take a train ride!

Don't mind my pirate face here...

So cute!

Can you find the elephants in this picture?

Reid made sure that we did the carousel too. He was VERY anxious to ride the tiger, but when things got going he insisted that I ride with him. I won't be sharing pictures of that...

Note: Nate did not show up in any of these pictures because the amount of busy he has been lately is about a 9.8 on the Richter scale.