Trek and Dinosaurs

We had to get Brett packed up for the youth trek Tuesday night. We were working on everything for him until after 10. He had to be at the church the next morning to leave at 3 am.

Brett was gone with the youth of our ward for 4 days walking the same steps the pioneers did, and walking in remembrance of one of their ancestors. They walked many miles and had some wonderful experiences.

One day while he was there I took S to the dinosaur museum. She loved it and everything she got to touch.

This one has to be my favorite. She would go up to see the shark with me but if I tried to put her next to it by herself she would turn and run. 

Trying to excavate dinosaur bones.

I was able to drive up to meet them on Friday. We drove through some pretty intense rain storms on our way up there. We got a hole in our tent that night, and repaired it how we could with duck tape. Thankfully it worked well because it rained that night as well. I didn't feel good about leaving S for the whole trek since Brett has been out of town so much. A good friend offered to take S for the night, so I spent 5+ hours in the car to visit Brett and our youth. I'm so glad he was able to go and build those relationships with each of them!

Week in Pictures

After writing that other post, I just thought I'd do photos of the family that we've snapped this week.

This kid slept for over 2 hours (a rarity). She was SO happy after (not that that is unusual).

She brought the bucket of crayons to me saying "thank you!"

Uncle Ben hanging out the night before the half marathon and reading to S. She LOVES him!

Crappy phone pic before sunrise for the half with my family who ran too :) 

Check out that blister.

Don't judge the unpainted toes.

Someone LOVED playing with mom's finishers medal!

Half Marathon

I'm not going to lie, this was likely one of the hardest things I have chosen to do. There was more than one occasion leading up to it that I was tempted to just throw in the towel, BUT I was doing this for a cause.

Cancer.

I hate cancer. We had 3 family members battle cancer last year. Two of the three are now in remission. The third was given 6 months to live in January. I love him deeply and know it will be a very sad day when that day comes. All money from the registration went to benefit cancer patients in Utah County. They were able to raise $240K. We also had a friend pass away from brain cancer a few weeks ago.

All along the run there were motivational quotes from cancer patients. While preparing for this run I did 95% of my runs pushing S in a stroller. It was hard, and I fought respiratory problems along the way (thus wanting to throw in the towel). There was one quote that said something like, "Mom, you are stong...but you already knew that." When I read that one I nearly started crying while running and instantly missed my running buddy. She would always say "go" to me as we ran together.

I got an incredible pain in my hip around mile 8. It hurt just to move it. I wanted to quit so badly. Then I thought of my poor grandfather who has been an active person all his life. After undergoing chemo last year he experienced neuropathy. He can no longer walk without a walker, and has to have special aids on his utensils to be able to hold them to feed himself. I thought if he could learn how to walk again I could keep going for him. He was the one thought and person that kept me going.

Around mile 9 my feet really hurt. I wanted to give in. I wanted to just sit down and cry. I kept going. I didn't have an amazing time or anything, but I had an amazing experience doing this for myself. It took me around 3:13 to complete it...walking at least the last three miles. I found when I got home why my feet hurt. I had major blisters on two toes that had rubbed each other the whole time.

My mom asked if this meant I was ready to do a 10K in Brigham City this fall. My first response was "I am never running again." It was hard. I was exhausted and could barely move (thankfully today is getting better). I have contemplated running again today. Not until the blisters heal, but it may happen. I guess time will tell.

Huge thanks to Brett for supporting me. He surprised me by meeting me along the way with S. I sure love that kid! I have  few photos to prove it happened.

The first time I saw Brett. This was after mile 7.

That smile...just for Brett. I wasn't super happy to be running at that point.

This photo warmed my heart. Thanks to Brett for getting one of Ivan (my brother in law) and his son holding his hand as he ran to the finish :)

My mom met me about 1/2 mile from the finish. It was good to have someone to talk to as I finished.

My first Half Marathon finish. Not a great time...but hopefully with a different work schedule for my husband my results could be better if I choose to again.

Swimming

We put S in private swimming lessons this past week. She was not a fan to begin with, but warmed up to the idea. She had always loved the water, but hated leaning back in the tub or going underwater in the pool. I was really happy with the work that they did with her. She blows bubbles when she goes in the water, goes under and comes up without sputtering, and floats on her back without any freak outs :) I'm so glad we went with these guys!

 She got her first pair of flip flops this week. To say she LOVES them might be an understatement. She loves her toes, so seeing them is pretty exciting! She repeatedly asks for her shoes, or will also bring ours to us if she feels we need to put the on (pretty much an everyday occurrence).

Her other love this week has been sunglasses. She has been obsessed with Brett's glasses ever since she learned they come off. She has loved that we found sunglasses her size :)

Lastly, yesterday we went to see a steam engine (train) with my (Jenny's side) extended family then to shoot off model rockets afterward. My brother has twin 4 year old boys who love rockets, and were kind enough to share with everyone. S got to push the launch button once always watched as they launched. However, after she got to push the button herself she would point and make a ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh sound as it took off. I didn't snap any pictures, but can hopefully get some from a sibling.

Ginnie pig

This kid LOVES animals! Our neighbor brought her new ginnie pig over yesterday to show her. She squeaked, laughed, said hello, waved, and very softly pet. 

Curiosity Museum

Thanksgiving Point opened this awesome museum on May 15. They call it the Museum of Natural Curiosity. They have over 400 activities for kids to do. They also have a pretty amazing ropes course as part of it. We went back for the first time this week. There were some parts that she absolutely loved and were a complete hit. We'll be back there a lot!

This water table is AMAZING! It has 8 seats built into it. In case you can't tell she LOVES it! I'd say it was likely her favorite thing there.

She could easily move this wheelbarrow by herself. It was in an area for kids 0-3 only. There was a super cool part where she could "feed rabbits" root vegetables. One rabbit would say the veggie name, one would tell you the color, and the other said the shape. Highly eduational :)

Her new way of going down the slide.

She has been doing lots of gardening with me. She LOVES "helping" with anything related to the dirt :)

Our run on Friday we went farther than usual, but I made one big mistake. I put socks on her, but no shoes. She continually took socks off and handed them to me. Needless to say we stopped multiple times to fix things.