Stockton's Wipeout Birthday

Little Ballerinas

Cute Kids at Wheeler Farm

 

 

Halloween

I dropped the ball on taking pictures on Halloween. Thank goodness my dad snapped a picture on his iphone. This is the best I've got. :)

 

 

 

Cornbelly's 2012

 

 

 

 

Mary and Tess Turn 3!

The girls didn't get much of a birthday party this year because it fell on the same day as the St. George Marathon. But, we tried our best to make the day special, even though I was exhausted. We went swimming and then had ice cream cake and presents.

 

Utah Grand Slam: Marathon #4, St. George

Pre-race.  Mood:  Excited.  Still on my high from Park City.  Looking for vindication for my "not-so-good" marathons.  I felt my calf injury from time to time during the Colorado Ragnar so I decided to baby my joints some more and only train on the elliptical again.  I really pushed my speed in my training--even got to 7:30 on the elliptical for my daily workouts--but didn't do any long runs between the Park City Marathon and St. George, with the exception of the Colorado Ragnar.  

 

 During the race.  Mood:  Awesome to miserable.  I kicked some serious booty the first 10 miles.  I felt really strong and was pain-free.  I slowed down for the uphill miles from 9-12.  My feet started hurting a little and by halfway I was done!  My energy level was good.  My injuries were fine.  But my feet hurt. So. BAD.  It wasn't from blisters.  It was because my semi-minimalist shoes had no cushion and I hadn't run more than six miles in them.  It felt like I was backpacking for three days and hiking over rocks.  I have never been so miserable on a race.  I thought of quitting.  I thought of ways I could swap shoes.  I even thought of cheating.  That is how miserable I was.       

 Post-race.  Mood:  So glad to be finished!  Surprisingly, I kind of got a second wind the last three miles.  At least, I didn't want to cut my feet off at the ankles anymore.  I finished relatively strong and more importantly, I finished the Utah Grand Slam!!!

 The aftermath.  Mood:  Somewhat disappointed.  I didn't get the vindication I was seeking nor do I have a race that I feel brag-worthy of.  I know I ran four marathons this year but for some reason the accomplishment didn't give me as much satisfaction as a really great time would have.  Oh well, there will always be more marathons. :)
My feet are just starting to feel better (five days later).  The evening of the marathon I noticed that I had bruises on my feet.  I guess that goes to show that the pain wasn't in my head:

Lagoon

We had the opportunity to go to Lagoon a couple weeks ago with my dad's work.  It had been about five years since we'd been--I think Stockton was almost two--and we didn't have the most positive experience then.  At the time, they didn't have a lot of rides kids could ride with their parents and Stockton was nervous about riding by himself.  It made for a long day with few fond memories. 

 

When my dad invited us to go this year, we figured Stockton's tall enough to ride any ride now, and he could still do the kiddie rides with the girls, so we thought the kids would have fun this time.  I'm so glad we went because "fun" was an understatement.  I have never seen my kids so happy in their lives!  There was not one negative moment to the day.  All three kids had the best time they've ever had!

 

My dad was there, of course, to capture all the fun memories:    

 Tess was a little unsure about "Puff" on the first lap:

 But by the last lap she loved it:

 This is one of my favorite pictures.  I'm so glad my Grandma Howe is nearby now and my kids are getting to know her better:

 Stockton's favorite ride was the Turn of the Century.  The girls probably liked the kiddie swings the best, too: