Country Music 1/2 Marathon

I went to Tennessee about 2 weeks ago to run the Country Music 1/2 Marathon for the 2nd time. This year it was my brother Nathan, his wife Charity, and me. The race went well! It went better than I could have planned for. The weather for the race was calling for thunderstorms and rain. I was praying so hard that we had neither. When we woke up it was drizzling a bit but when the race started it was so nice. There was no rain and the sun was out for a little bit. We lucked out during the race. The weather was nice and overcast and that was it. IT didn't start raining or storming till after we got into our car. Although it worked out for us, others were not so fortunate. I know a lot of marathoners were directed to do the 1/2 due to the weather.

I can say I felt 100% better than last year running than this year. The weather was not nearly as hot and dreadful as last year and I did a little better preparing for the race this year. I felt a ton better when I crossed that finish line. I even knocked 15 minutes off my time from last year! YEA!! AND no hospital visits this year:) I really enjoyed the race this year. I will have to thank Nathan and Charity for running it with me this year. I don't think I would be able to do it if y'all didn't do it with me! It wouldn't nearly have been as much fun. Thanks Charity for running with me the whole time! Can't wait till next year!
On a sad note, It has been so crazy to see that Nashville has been flooded so badly. I look at all those pictures and think I was just there running on those exact streets! Hope it gets better soon!!

Charity and I riding to the starting line. (not sure what I am doing with my arm? maybe pinning

on my number?)

Before raceIn front of the Parthenon.

Crazy amount of people running. It usually averages out to be about 30,000 plus. In line waiting to start.
Excited to have finished and feeling great! After the race! Way to go!!My Mom had these cups for us when we got home. Thanks Mom!!
Silly pose

Letter Factory

This is Gabe’s favorite movie to watch. It is the only show that I have seen him sit all the way through. It is so nice because if I am busy and trying to get things done like making dinner, I can usually just stick in Letter Factory and Gabe will sit and watch allowing me to finish. He also lets me know when he wants to watch it by bringing me the case. It’s one movie that I don’t really feel bad about letting him watch 2-3 times a day because it is educational. He has already learned some of the letter sounds. His favorite is “w.” Here are some pictures of Gabe watching Letter Factory that I thought were cute.

What's Happening?

Well what has happened since I last time I blogged? Joe did not win his competition but he really enjoyed doing it and learned a lot. He was so glad to get home and get some good sleep. At the beginning of March Gabe came down with the croup. It was a bit scary to go through and it was even worse seeing him so miserable. We were able to get a steroid shot from the doctor and Gabe finally was able to get some sleep. Luckily it didn't' last too long and he was able to get back to normal.

Joe has been busy like always, especially since the semester is coming to a close. I don't think I could say or express enough of how proud I am of him. He has worked so hard! Looking over the semester, Joe ended up with about 30 credits. I don't know how he did it! He is awesome and We sure love him! We found out that Joe was offered and internship with a company called Kiewit. He accepted the offer and we just found out that we will be able to stay here in Utah. YEAH!! He is excited but nervous at the same time. I know he will do well. He graduates on the 30th and starts the internship May 3rd.

Before I forget, last night I was going through some of our mail and I found a letter from Utah Valley University. I figured it was a bill because usually that's always what it is. I was a little worried we hadn't paid it. When I opened it up it was a letter to Joe telling him that he was receiving an award from the Construction Management school for most outstanding student in the program. I called Joe to ask him if he knew (The letter was dated the end of March) and he had no idea. Way to go Joe! They are having a banquet on the April 22. I am so sad because I will be in TN. His mom is going to go with him and take pictures for me:)

I am staying at home taking care of my sweet little boy. He is so funny and always brings a smile to my face. He is talking like crazy and he has started eating on his own. (with silverware) He loves to do it. He does get frustrated at times when he can't get the food on his fork or spoon but we help him and then it is ok:) I can't believe how big he is getting!! He goes in to nursery (at church) in 2 weeks.

I have been running like crazy to train for my 1/2 marathon. It is next Saturday. I leave for Tennessee next Wednesday. It will be nice to visit with family. I hope the race goes well and that it is not too hot! If this race goes ok I plan on doing the Utah Valley 1/2 marathon as well.

Here are some cute pictures I found on my camera from over the past few months.

Big boy

Look at the cute little chunk!

Wow!

Loves to sit on Daddy's lap and play XBOX

LOL

Grandma Dean brought home some beads from New Orleans.

Oh no! What has Joe done?

Eating ice cream with cousins.

Valentines & Easter

I really wish that I was a better blogger but I just am not… So here are some pictures from Valentines and Easter. Joe was in Reno doing a competition for school and got back on Valentine’s Day (Sunday). We went out before he left to a movie and dinner. A week before Easter our neighborhood did an Easter egg hunt. A few of Gabe’s cousins came with him. I think he enjoyed it even though he didn’t know what was going on. We had a good Easter with the three of us. We got to spend time together all weekend and watch conference. I was excited to do an Easter basket for Gabe this year. He really liked it. In my family the Easter Bunny hid our Easter baskets. I did that for Joe and Gabe. It was fun to watch Gabe find his. If I can I will post the video. ( I tried but it didn't work)

Joe made me lunch and he came back with this. In case you can't tell its a bunny sandwich.

Gabe with his Easter basket.

Gabe and Joe's baskets

Waiting in line for water. For some reason he loved the water and the jug where it came from.

After the hunt, all the kids got donuts.

After the hunt.

Found an egg.

Looking

Cousins

Gabe's Valentine to Joe


Gabe's Valentine from Mommy

Made this for Joe and left it out so he could see it when he got home.

Much Needed Post

I have been reminded by several friends and family members that it is time I update my blog. I do agree, but it is just finding the time to do it. We had a great time over the holidays. We were able to go visit my family in Tennessee for two weeks. It was so nice to have that vacation and not worry about anything. All but one of my siblings was able to make the trip. It was so nice seeing all of them especially since I do not get a chance to see most of them often. We had a house full of people. After counting everyone there were 50 people and we were still missing three. Over half of them were kids so you could imagine the craziness that was going on. I still loved every minute of it. I can’t tell you how much I love having a big family.
Some of the festivities included several late nights playing games, bowling, going to see the lights at Opryland Hotel (which have totally gone downhill since I was a kid but still worth the trip), building gingerbread houses with kids, making shrinkie dinks with kids and several others. There was one night when all the adults got together. We had a white elephant gift exchange and played a version of the Newlywed Game. It was a lot of fun. I wish I had all the pictures of all the white elephant gifts but they are all on my parent’s camera as are some of the other festivities. Instead of having a long post of pictures I will attach a slide show here at the end for those of you who want to see them.
Every one left around the 29th of December, so Joe and I had a few days just to spend with my parents. We spent New Year’s Eve watching the Chik-a-fil-a Bowl. I must say it was VERY disappointing to watch because Tennessee lost but it was fun to spend the time together. New Year’s Day we headed back to Utah. We made it in time to visit with Joe’s sister before she left.
Our days now consist of Joe staying very busy with school. We get to spend a couple days with him here and there. He is taking 23 + credits and is planning on graduating in April. Yea Joe!! Not only has he been busy with school but he has been very busy working on preparations for his Construction Management competition in Reno. That makes his days and nights longer and less time we get to see him. Gabe and I are so proud of him and are grateful for all of his hard work he does.
I am staying home with Gabe and love every minute of it. I love my little guy so much!! He is a lot of fun to be around. He keeps a smile on my face and makes me laugh quite often. He is getting so big! I took him to the doctor the other day and he told me that Gabe was built like a linebacker and he sure would hate to get in a fight with him in the alley. Gabe is doing perfect the doctor says:)
Just over the past few weeks Gabe has started talking a lot. Some of his new words include: football, touchdown, apple, cheese, Paul, and cookie. I guess I shouldn’t forget that he learned how to say “Opa” on Christmas Day. What a good gift for my dad. (He calls my parents Opa and Oma) A few weeks later he was able to say “Oma.” He also learned to say “ Joe” while we were in TN. He is mocking us a lot more. The other day he was trying to do something he wasn’t supposed to and Joe said to him “don’t do it” and all of a sudden “don’t do it” came out of Gabe’s mouth. Joe and I just laughed. If Gabe can’t say what he wants he sure is good at letting you know what he wants. He will come find you and grab your finger and take you to what he wants. Sometimes he squeezes my finger so hard it kind of hurts. He sure is a strong little guy.
Gabe loves to get into everything. He loves ALL balls, especially his football, and he likes to go outside! Unfortunately his mommy does not like being outside in the cold therefore he doesn’t get to go too often. Gabe is getting more attached to his daddy now these days. He gets very sad and cries when he has to leave for school. We wave “bye” to him at the front window every morning. He sure does get excited to see Joe when he gets home. It is very cute.
Another big milestone for Gabe is that he will FINALLY drink milk. I have tried since his first birthday to give it to him but he just spits it out. I even put chocolate syrup and chocolate Quick in the milk which still didn’t make a difference. Well last week I bought some strawberry Quick and mixed in with the milk and to my surprise he drank it. He really liked it! YEA Gabe!
Lastly, Joe and I decided it is time we get into better shape so we started P90X. We have been doing it for three weeks. It is intense. I will tell you that now we both HATE yoga! I dread it every Thursday. I also just started this week training for the Music City Half –Marathon, which I will run on April 24. I sure hope I got everything. Sorry for the long post. I will try to be better at updating.

Gabe's birthday, Halloween, and more...

Well I will just say right now there will be quite a few pictures on this post due to it being Gabe's first birthday and Halloween. They are out of order... Sorry! Gabe's birthday went well. We had a lot of family come to support his big day. He had a great birthday. We had spaghetti for dinner and then cake and ice cream. I think the cake turned out great!! Unfortunately I can't say that I did it by myself. Brad and Laura convinced me to do this cake. ( I really wanted to do but thought it would be too hard) They assured me that with their help it wouldn't take too long. So thanks to Brad and Laura for all your help with the cake. It looked so pretty and tasted sooooo YUMMY. Gabe loved all his presents. So thank you to every one!! I can't believe my little guy is already one. He is getting so big and definitely developing a personality. He brings so many smiles and a lot of laughter. We sure do love him and look forward to many more years with this cute boy.

Halloween was interesting. I don't know if Gabe really like it. It partially could be because we kept him up past his bed time to go trick or treating. We dressed him up as a pumpkin. I wanted to do a cowboy but we found this cheap costume for 5 bucks. Gabe loved the candy but didn't like going up to the houses to get it. I think he was scared of the people so we had to hold him then he would put out his bucket. He ended up having a fun night and was excited to get to bed!

The rest of these pictures are random taken over the past couple of days... enjoy!

Laughing at everyone else around him.


This picture is hilarious to me. It happened yesterday.. I will start by saying that Gabe loves to play in the cabinets. So this bowl was out already. Well yesterday morning when I was trying to eat breakfast this little guy started reaching for it and fell backwards in to the bowl. This is how he ended up. I laughed so hard.

End of Halloween night.

After eating cake. He had it everywhere.

Joe making Gabe sad. Pitiful sad face huh??

Likes to play with pots and a wooden spoon.

We got the table for him and his PJ's he got from Gram and Papa Stan.

We had cake batter left over so we decided to make Gabe his own cake.

Love this face!

Birthday Balloons. He loved them!!