Yesterday my sister Jessica and I ran the Halloween Half Marathon in Provo. We started up at Sundance and ended at the Riverwoods. I'm so glad that we did it, even though I'm still sore today. :) We don't know our times yet, but we paced at about 5 mph. We didn't end at exactly the same time, but were close enough that our timing is about the same.
My sister Jess, her friend, and me before the race hanging out in the tent.
Me running... I don't know what mile this was. Probably early on... I LOVED the first five miles. I look funny because it was through her phone running case.
Micah and Lila met me at the end of the race. It was so good to see them and hear them cheer for me. It made it that much more worth it. Thanks for coming, Micah!
(They brought me flowers and attempted to get a picture of me at the end. There were a lot of people standing around and in the way, and he was trying to hold onto Lila at the same time.)
Jess and me after the race. We got medals that we are both so proud to have.
Overall, it was a really great experience. The worst part? For me personally, it was standing around for THREE hours before the race. My feet started hurting then. We were bussed up to Sundance and packed into a heated tent. It was nice and warm, but because there were so many people they wouldn't let us sit. If you sat down someone came around and said that you needed to stand. Three hours standing on asphalt wasn't the most comfortable, but hey, I survived and I was still able to complete my goal.
My favorite costume of the day... Yzma and Kuzco
When I began my training at the beginning of August, I thought that I would never be interested in doing a full marathon. I even told people that, but now that I have successfully completed a half I do have a new goal. It will not be any time soon though. I'm happy with this accomplishment for now. My next race is actually going to be the Santa Fun Run 5k in Provo on December 1st. I'm really excited. You pay $35 to do it, but they give you a Santa suit that you HAVE to run in. It sounds fun. Anyone who wants to join me is more than welcome! The website is RunSanta.com. Take a look.
Last weekend was Fall Break in Alpine School District. It was wonderful to have a break from work and I did some fun things and some necessary things. Overall I think I was pretty productive.
We went to Gardner Village to see the witches and Lila had so much fun. I know that she is not smiling in any of the pictures, but that is because she was "talking" to the witches or the pumpkins. She especially loved the petting zoo and feeding the goats and sheep. In the second picture I was trying to keep her head forward, because she wanted to look at the witch on the bike behind us. I guess I was somewhat successful.
Lot's of people from my family came as well. Sydney didn't want to smile. Ha.
I deep cleaned and organized my kitchen, bedroom, and family room. I labelled the remainder of my canisters that are on my kitchen counter. I had already done the flour and sugar ones. Now I just need one for my whole wheat flour.
I "created" several things starting with Lila's Halloween costume. It was supposed to be a Tinkerbell dress but she was not having it. Now it is just a skirt, but it looks super cute on her. I tried a new chocolate chip cookie recipe and now it is our favorite. I made whole-wheat rolls that I LOVE and an apple pie that is always a hit. We also carved a pumpkin for our front porch. I know it's a little early, but it was the best time for us to do it.
Finally, we went hiking up Battlecreek Falls. It was beautiful and fun and Lila was very excited to go at first, but it seems like she became immediately tired right at the beginning of the hike. :) She was even too tired to chew her string cheese. These pictures are not in order as you can tell from Lila's face.
I have been crazy busy over the past few weeks. I have literally had something going on every single weeknight and every Saturday morning for the past 4 weeks. The weekends have been my only somewhat free time and I've become pretty lazy concerning blogging. I have loved keeping up with other people' blogs, but have not kept up with my own. It's really been reserved for me to spend time with Micah and the babe. I'm sure you all understand.
Even though I have been so busy I don't know that I have a lot to report. I'm really starting to enjoy my calling in YW even though I initially felt somewhat out of place. This past week we went to the BYU Women's soccer team for our Laurel activity and it was a LOT of fun. We won! It was good to be on campus for a sporting event again, even though I am grateful I live in Pleasant Grove and not Provo. (It's nice to be in a quieter, calmer area. :))
Lila's progress has been incredible over the past few months. That is the only thing that I really wish I would've kept up with blogging about. Good thing I record things in her baby book. I just want to put on here a few things that I love that she has been doing. A lot of these she has been doing before she turned 1 or at least for the past couple of months, but the amount that she does them now is so fun!
Her spoken vocabulary consists of just a few words still, but what she understands is amazing. Her favorite word is "hi". She also says "daddy" (not mommy anymore :(... I've heard of a lot of babies doing this, but it still kind of makes me sad), "mama" (she started again today),"what's that" (my favorite thing that she says), "who's that", "wow", "oh", and "ow". I think that's it. She also loves to blow kisses, walk back and forth between Micah and me giving us a kisses, being held by pretty much anyone (she is super friendly), waving good night, climbing on everything, building things with her blocks, going on walks where she actually gets to walk, being outside in general, and spinning in circles to make herself dizzy. It is hilarious to watch, because she always starts by walking backwards and I just feel like that is harder, but she loves it. There are many other little things that she loves to do, but either I can't explain them or it would better if I showed you a video. There is one thing that she started to do today that I hope I can catch on camera sometime. It is SOOO funny. She did it for about 5 minutes and was laughing hysterically because she thought that she was so funny.
Well she will be 16 months this coming week. I can't believe how big she is getting. She is GORGEOUS and she continues to be such a wonderful reminder to Micah and me about our loving Heavenly Father. We're so grateful to have her in our lives and count ourselves truly blessed.
This was a few weeks ago.
These last two were today.
She really wanted to hold the camera. :)
A few random pictures of her latest hairstyles... and one of her crying, but I love her eyelashes in it.
I have been called to be in the Young Women's presidency. I'm excited, but would love to hear ideas from any of you that have ever served in this organization. I look forward to this opportunity. We have great girls in our ward. I'm a little nervous as I haven't been in YW since I was one, but that wasn't too long ago I guess. ;) Wish me luck!
Twenty years ago my parents bravely, and perhaps half-crazily, moved our family from the Land Down Under to America. We went from the big and beautiful Sydney, Australia to teeny tiny, but wonderful, LaPoint, Utah, and our lives were changed. While it was sad to leave all of our family behind, (we still really miss you all) it was the beginning of one crazy but unforgettable adventure.
A picture of a picture of us flying here. :)
On Sunday my family got together and celebrated our 20 years of living in America with food, festivities, and fun. We wore matching shirts, ate great food, and sat around and talked. Once my family starts talking it generally turns to reminiscing. Oh the stories you could hear if you sat around our table for even just one evening. Most of you would probably think we were exaggerating or making up stories, but trust me, these are things that no one would make up. Ask Micah. :)
Our family reminiscing while taking a quiz.
It may seem overboard that we made shirts, threw an entire party, had really cool Australian flag soaps made (thanks Em), and had cakes carved in the shape of Oz and the U.S (great job Eliza), but we McSweeney's don't do things half way. Instead we chose to take a quiz to see what we could remember about the past 20 years, compare what we looked like then to how we look now, eat American and Australian cuisine, play Minute-to-Win-It games, and sing "I still call Australia home" as well as the American National Anthem. It was a great night and one not soon to be forgotten. (I'm thinking "pass the boomerang" here.)
The food.
The soap.
My adorable family!
The cakes.
Me, when I was four... I told you I used to be blonde!
Minute-to-win-it. Intense!
Other fun photos.
(Before and After Photos)
Honestly our lives have been crazy and at times different than we may have expected, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Whether it would be a new car rather than one we had to push start/use a fire extinguisher on, or a house where goats couldn't unlock the doors, or even a place where Jared didn't have to live in the "dungeon" or the sunroom, they are our stories and they made us who we are. I can honestly say it's why we can laugh so easily at ourselves.
I'll never regret the choice that my parents made moving us here. I will ALWAYS and FOREVER have a place in my heart for Australia, but our lives would never have been the same had we stayed there. We wouldn't have had the opportunity to add such great in-laws to our families and who knows what that would've meant for children/grandchildren. They could've been full Aussie! Now that's a scary thought. :) We maybe never would have lived in as many houses as we have or even have a combined total of 32 years in marching band (yes we are proud band geeks). We certainly never would have had 14 Russians sleeping at our house all at once and we most likely would have never had 20 round trips from LAX to Sydney.
The cousins.
Just Lila and P.
While many people have relatives close by or best friends they've had since they were 5, we simply had each other. It was not always harmonious in the house of 8 girls and 2 boys, but it was NEVER dull. We had a great time, and so while I think I have awesome friends, I LOVE my family. They are my teachers, my best friends, and MY forever family!
The whole gang!
*This song won't mean much to many of you, but I LOVE this song!*
(The first part is in the Kala Lagaw Ya language.)
