Mesa Falls Half Marathon Aug '12

     At the end of August I finished the Mesa Falls Half Marathon with a time of 3:35. Ashley ran me across the finish line (she was adorable!!) This half was my 1st last summer, so it was fun to do it for the 2nd time. And considering I did no.none.absolutely.nothing as far as training since the half marathon I'd done the month before this one, I'd say that was pretty good.  I actually felt really good after this race, and felt much better than I had the year before.
     It was fun to do the race with Derek's mom, his aunt, & their friend (whom all did the FULL marathon! Whowza!) again. They are an inspiration to me.
     And we went camping again with Grandma & Grandpa Anglin. We had fun enjoying time with them & borrowing their 4-wheelers. The kids would beg to go on another ride even before the current ride was over. We're all 4-wheeler junkies! It's in our blood.

It's Raining CATS & DOGS!

     Well....we have 2 cats and 2 dogs around our place now. We've discovered that cats are a must-have living in the country, and dogs, well..... we are just dog people.
     When we got our kittens earlier this year, the kids named them "Creamy" & "Olive." Olive is a bit shy, but Creamy is a sweet friendly little thing. And Ashley just loves her!! She is always packing & walking her around, just like a rag doll.
     Then, surprising us one evening this summer, daddy brought home a Basset Hound, whose owners had had enough of her barking. We affectionately named her "Shortie" compared with our big black Great Dane, Daisy. Shortie is a sweet, active little thing. She is a petite Basset Hound and is very in shape. We had to keep her locked up a lot at first, but now she is getting better at sticking around. And coincidentally, our shy cat Olive, LOVES Shortie -- always rubbing on her, and even cuddled up sleeping with her at night --- so funny!
     Carson has been a great help with taking care of Shortie. It's nice to have someone old enough to help now.

Summer Activities

     Summers are always a blast with so many fun activities to do! Summer 2012 included: Riding the lawnmower with daddy, Carson boating with Grandma Anglin, Chuckars baseball game, dunking tanks, and a trip to W Yellowstone while daddy did business. So glad we have such beautiful summers here in Idaho!!

Summer Fun with Friends

     The kids had so much fun this summer playing with friends and staying cool in the water!

The 1st pic is Ashley brave girl holding crawdad

Pics 2-4 are a water party at our friends The Lewis's

5-7 bouncy toy fun with cousins

8- backyard sprinkler fun with buddy Gabe

     We love having such great friends & family!!

Baby Shower "Cupcakes"

     My cousin's baby shower is tonight. She is expecting her 1st baby, is having a girl, and doesn't like pink. :) So I decided for our gift to her, I'd try making these cute little baby "cupcakes" that I'd seen on Pinterest. Super simple to make and so adorable! I just put a baby sockie in the middle of a onesie and rolled it up, put it inside a cupcake wrapper and plopped it into a cute container. (I was happy to find some polka-dot onesies so they looked like sprinkles on the cupcake when I rolled them up.)  That's it! Then I attached a polka-dot bow and tag on that says, "For your cupcake."

     This might just become my go-to signature gift for baby showers now. I kinda really like the way they turned out!!

Pioneer Day

     Pioneer Day Celebration with our Ward is always great. The kids ride their bike around the church to start it off. And this year we even decorated our little wagon to look like covered wagon for Dylan to ride in. Following was a short presentation and dinner.
     We love our Ward here, and are also so grateful for the many people that have gone before us, sacrificing so much so that we can be where we are today.

Idaho Falls Half Marathon

     This was the 1st year for the Idaho Falls Half Marathon & I was glad to be a part of it! We started up in the foothills above Idaho Falls and went downhill for about 6-7 miles, then finished the other 6-7 miles on level ground and ended up at Tauphaus Park. I really liked the course and finished with a PR of 3:19 (beating my previous best time of 3:32.) Faster, but oh how I was sore for days after this one! That downhill was a killer on my muscles, but I loved flying down. Well. Flying in the sense of speedwalking flying. Haha
     Derek and the kids were there to greet me towards the end and provide some much needed Gatorade and smiles. I always love to see them at the end!
     This was my 2nd half marathon this summer. 1 more to go :)