Happy Birthday Alex

This is what I found him doing this morning with Brinlee... he is such a good big brother! They both love movies. We really enjoy having him live with us. It is fun to have him here with us on his birthday!!

Santa

Brinlee with Santa at our ward Christmas party. She would not talk to him and was being so shy.
I just loved this picture with her sweet face and beautiful ringlet's
Brinlee likes to pose and have me take her picture...I am not sure what she was doing with her mouth, but she did it with every picture that day.
Yes it does Snow in Texas!

Fall Leaves

Here is a fun picture of Brinlee enjoying the fun fall leaves.

Halloween Spooktacular

They were all dressed so cute!
Train Ride
Cutest Minnie Mouse Ever!

Yesterday our association hosted a Halloween Spooktacular event for the kids. Brinlee and I went with our good friends Staci, Ryan and Sydney. It was a perfect night and the kids had so much fun. They got to trick or treat, so in the petting zoo, jump in the bounce houses and ride the train. This year is so much fun with because Brinlee gets so excited about everything. I just love to be with her and watch her learn and grow!

St. George Marathon Completed!!!!

My awesome husband Ryan, Brinlee and I after the race. He was the best support!!
Brinlee, Me and Grandpa Arden!!!
Me, Brinlee and Grammy Carolyn after the race
Amy, Jennifer, and Me after we all completed the Marathon!! Way to go everyone!!

We just got back from a whirlwind of a weekend literally!! After all of my training the BIG day finally came, and I might say went very quickly. Ryan, Brinlee and I went to Las Vegas on Thursday and got to spend the weekend with his parents. They were so excited to have us come and to share this great experience with me. They did such a great job of making it so special and very memorable for me. If I ever chose to do another marathon it would be hard to beat!!

We arrived in St. George Friday afternoon and went to check in. After check in we went to actually drive the course to see just what I had gotten myself into. It was a definite reality to check to see just how long 26.2 miles is. At this point I started to get a little anxiety, but knew that I had trained my body for this and was ready. When I signed up for the race I put my finish time at 5 hours, because I knew that I could handle that. Then about 3 weeks ago I started to look at the marathon mommies blog and found that that was actually slow and moved my time to 4:15, but secretly wanted 4 hours. I started to pump my partner up for the better time, and hoped for the best. We were bussed to the top of a mountain to the starting line. I got up at 4:00 am and was on the bus at 4:30. It took about 1/2 hour to get to the starting line and the race started at 6:45 am. The marathon was very well put on with fires at the top to keep us warm until we started and lots of Gatorade, water and ben gay stations along the way. I was inpressed by the beauty of the mountains and the people in the small towns along the way who got up bright and early to cheer us on as we passed by. I ran with my race buddy Amy until about mile 14 when she said go ahead and get the time you want. I ran and ran and kept running. I was so excited to see Ryan, Brinlee and his mom and dad at mile 25.5. It was a definite moral booster. 25 had to be the longest mile ever because people kept saying just 1 more mile. After I saw them I turned the corner to the finish line and was overwhelmed with gratitude for my healthy body. I sprinted to the finish line and finished with a 4:09 time!!!!!! I was so grateful and happy to have beat my time by 6 minutes. I averaged 9:27 miles, and feel really blessed to have been a part of this great event. It was very challenging and very rewarding at the same time. Thank you to everyone for all of your support!!!

BYU Football Game

Alex, Ryan and Austyn

This is what happens when you go to early. Ryan wanted to make sure he missed the traffic :-)

On Saturday Ryan took Alex and Austyn to see the BYU football game in the new stadium. They had fun and enjoyed being in the new Cowboy's stadium.

Dinosaur World

"I'm so scared"

Oh know it is going to get me!

Maybe if I stand here and scream it will go away! There was lots of fun screaming along the way. She was making other people laugh at how funny she was about seeing the dinosaurs! It was very entertaining, and comical!!

We had so much fun the first time through we had to go a second time. Daddy did a good job of keeping us all cool in the summer heat with his cool wet towel!! I had to buy her the pink dinosaur shirt it says I love dinosaurs!

Brinlee never falls asleep in the car, but today was an exception. She crashed a few minutes after we left and got a nice nap in the car.

Today we decided to take a ride to a place called Glen Rose, Texas to visit Dinosaur World. It was fun to have a day all about Brinlee and her love for Dinosaurs. It was also fun to have daddy with us to share this fun experience. Brinlee was so animated and loved everything. We took lots of pictures to make a fun photo album of her and the dinosaurs.

What have we been up to????

Look at her crazy hair and sweet smile!! I just LOVE it!

Daddy and Ninlee watching dinosuar's while Mommy is running 13 miles. Which would you prefer??????

Ninlee and Damon at the Heard Museum watching what else.... Dinosaurs! Ninlee could have stayed there all day. She was scared, but he big brother is alway's there to protect her :-)

Running thru the tunnel "scared"


It has been a while since I last posted. We have pretty much been hibernating in the house or at the swimming pool to try and escape the summer time heat. I am still going strong training for my marathon in October. It is a lot of running, but will be worth it in the end. I run 4 days a week and cross train 1 day. Saturday's are my long runs. Ryan has been great giving up playing basketball Saturday mornings so I can train. I am also thankful for my training partner who makes it easier to get up and go run for 2+ hours every Saturday morning. Alex and Austyn are training hard for Football. It is definitely "Friday Night Lights in Texas" the schools are crazy out here and work the boy's hard. They are having fun and look forward to starting to play soon. It has been fun to watch them grow and develop their talent of football. Damon has been Brinlee's little buddy this summer. They hang out everyday and love playing together. He is growing up and will be in the 5th grade this year!

Who LOVES Dinosaurs...Brinlee

My sweet little Brinlee is in LOVE with Dinosaurs! She is so fascinated by them and scared of them at the same time. It all started with her watching Little Einsteins Instrument Dinosaurs and hiding behind me while she watched, but asking to watch over and over again. I would also often find her hiding behind the couch as well. Then she started watching the Land Before Time movies and NOW she LOVES Ice Age which she calls "the elephant movie". I took her last week to go see Ice Age Dinosaurs at the theater and she was so good. She LOVES movies and as soon as we got in the car she wanted to go again. All I heard all the way home was let's go again, let's go back, I don't want to take a nap I want to go back, turn around mom let' go back. It was very funny and made us all laugh. She is so much fun and has quite the personality! I just adore her and I am so grateful to be her mommy!

Daddy and Brinlee. We have been doing a lot of swimming lately to try and survive the crazy Texas heat. This weekend Daddy actually went with us, and we all had a great time!

Alex is the BEST big brother! Brinlee just loves him. I actually recorded him reading this Elmo book to her is his "Elmo" voice it really fun to watch him interact with her.

Washington DC Trip

Ryan needed to take some time off from work and we decided to head to Virginia to visit Ryan's brother Greg and his family. We had a great time visiting and site seeing. Brinlee enjoyed her cousin's and had so much fun jumping on the trampoline. Here are a few highlights from are trip.

On our way... Brinlee was so good!

Waiting in line Saturday morning to see Night at the Smithsonian on the Imax where it was filmed! We all had a great time.

Ryan and Greg at Gettysburg

Ryan and I at Gettysburg. It was a neat place to visit and gave me a greater appreciation of the freedom that we enjoy.

Ryan and I at Mt Vernon

Let the training begin.....

The results are in and YES my team won the lottery to run the St.George Marathon in October!! I have alway's wanted to run a marathon as one of my things to do before I was 30 and let's just say that did not happen, but hey it is never too late! Since running the half marathon in February running has got into my blood and I am actually enjoying it. I loved the adreneline rush I got from finishing the race and had plenty of extra energy afterwards that I did not give it a second thought to register for the St. George marathon. The St. George marathon is supposed to be one of the best and out of 10510 people that registered to run they only allow 7200, so I feel pretty lucky to be running in it. I am excited to start training and look forward to accomplishing my personal goal of finishing a marathon!! Wish me luck!

Brinlee

She thinks it is so fun to play car's in Mommy's tub, and I love that she is staying out of trouble!

Showing off her pig tails

Smile Brinlee "do I have to"?

Ok Cheese!!

I had no idea Brinlee's hair was long enough for pig tails because her hair is so curly. I don't do it very often because I love her sweet riglet curls. She is so grown up and is so much fun to have in our home. She talks all the time and says the funniest things. She is now into feelings and I love to watch her express them. She is "scared" of dinosaur's and the "giant" that Damon told her about. It is funny to hear her talk about them. She has to whisper, so they don't hear her and find her. We go on a dinosaur hunt almost everyday. Today at play group she loved the park, because it had a dinosaur that she could ride on. She was not scared of it which was funny to me. I guess she is just afraid of the ones she can't see. I am so in love with being a mommy and I am so thankful to have Brinlee in my life!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

We love you very much!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Back of the Fire Truck

Captain of the Fire Truck

Brinlee and the Easter Bunny

I got the eggs!!!

Today Brinlee and I went to the city's annual Easter Egg Hunt. We had so much fun! This year she actually liked it. They had a petting zoo, Fire truck, train, coloring and lots of other fun activites for the kids. Brinlee is so excited for the Easter bunny to come and it is so much fun!

Our Dog Bella

Ok so I am sure many of you are shocked I even own a dog. In fact I have had just a few dogs since I have been with Ryan. Bella is the only dog we have now. The other two dogs we had did not do well adjusting to having the kids around. They were male dominant and are doing so good now they have homes where they are the only dog. Bella is such a sweet dog and is definitely "my" dog. Of course the story goes that Ryan wanted a big dog for Alex, but everyone knows she is my dog. I had been looking on craigslist for a labradoodle, and found Bella. The guy took her from the breeder because she did not get sold. She was headed for the pound. He was just looking for a good home and only wanted help with the food he had bought for her. We gave him $30 and she was ours, and we are so happy to have her. Bella is the best dog ever! She has the sweetest personality and is very calm. She is going to turn 1 on April 28 th.

Our Weekend....Alex's Baptism

Ryan's parents came to celebrate with us. This is Sunday when Alex was confirmed and received the holy ghost.

Elder Logan, Alex and Elder Young these are two great missionaries who taught Alex.

Ryan and Alex

Ryan's brother's Greg and Brad also came to celebrate with us. He was baptized by Ryan and Grandpa gave a great talk on the holy ghost. He was dressed in white to show how pure and clean Alex was after he was baptized.

This past weekend was Alex's big day... he was baptized. For those of you who don't know. Alex is Ryan's 16 year old son who had been living with his mother is Northern California until August of last year. He decided to come to live with us in Texas and is doing very well. He loves school and is on the football team. About two weeks ago he got his driver's lisense and is very excited about that, and to top it all he committed to be baptized. This is something Ryan alway's dreamed of and we prayed one day would happen. We are both very proud of him and the good choices he is making. He is a very good kid and brings a great spirit in our home.