from our home to yours....

(another post below)

a day of gratitude...

I am grateful today for so many things.

I am grateful for...

Paul, he is my best friend and I am so lucky to be his wife.
my 2 beautiful kids, I couldn't ask for more.

my home.

all of our family.

our newest addition on the way.

prayer.

my friends and buddies.

the sun that is shining outside today.

my religious beliefs.

email, facebook, blogs, cellphones, cars and airplanes to keep in touch with family and friends.

freedom in this country.

the privilege to vote

moments that make you let go and laugh.

hard times that help me grow.

and most of all today I am so very grateful for Paul's job.

A Nice Big Piece of Paradise....

Last week we got to Get Away and go to Hawaii with my parents and brother, Alan!

It was absolute HEAVEN! We all had such a great time and were not ready to go home at the end of the week, I have been home for 3 days now and can't stop thinking about it. The kids figured out real quick that playing in the sun on the beach is the life and couldn't get enough of it. At the end of the week we told Raegan it was time to go home and she matter of factly told us, "Nope, I want to live in Hawaii!"

She's got the right idea

This Is The Life
Dad, Mom, Brig & Raegan
(I loved seeing their cute, tiny footprints all over the sand)

Raegan LOVED playing in the ocean

This is in front of a Shark Pool at a hotel next to ours. Brig loved this place, it had real hammerhead and blacktip sharks and sting rays. That's Brig's kind of place!

The kids adore my brother, Alan, and he was such a great sport to play with them ALL week long

My Mom and Dad at the beach! They LOVE laying by the pool in the shade, but they were so great to come hang out with us on the beach everyday even in the sun.

Nana and Raegan all snuggled up

There are so many more pictures...which means more posts to come

Hanauma Bay

We went to Hanauma Bay on Monday...that place is so beautiful! It is this bay on Oahu that is known for snorkeling, so we geared up and headed in. We saw lots of fish and had a great time enjoying the sun.

Raegan with my brother, Alan or her "Uncle Bud" as she calls him. He was her pal on our trip.

Alan and my Mom & Dad

Raegan all geared up

Brig with Pa getting ready to go check out the fish

13.1 Miles...

I DID IT...

I ran my first 1/2 marathon race this weekend!

It was great, so great.

A few months ago a gal in my ward, Lisa, told me that she was going to train for a 1/2 marathon and was trying to recruit other girls to train with her.

I literally laughed at her and told her I was NOT a runner and there was no way. I had never run more than about 3 miles at a time and hated running! Then later that night I got to thinking, and I decided I would start the training program with them but was not convinced I would be able to do the race in only about 3 months.

And here I am now and I DID IT...and I have actually learned to LOVE running.

Who woulda guessed??

Saturday Morning BEFORE the race

Julie, Lisa, Yours Truly, and Jenny

Our running group, we wish Mandy could have been there too, but she was too far along pregnant to make it.

The Start/Finish Line...the race was in Irvine, Ca and there were 5,000-6,000 people running it...it was crazy!

I didn't get a picture RIGHT after the race, but it was amazing to cross the line...in fact, a bit overwhelming. I was exhausted and my knees were throbbing and my legs felt like they were going to fall off...but I didn't even care, all I wanted was lots and lots to drink and to call Paul to tell him I did it. It took a minute to realize that I had really accomplished it, my goal was to RUN the entire thing and I did.
(This pic was maybe 20 minutes after the race, just taking a breather)

Julie & I
(we ran together most of the race)

This says it all...whaoo, yippee, I DID IT, i did it, I DID IT!
Jenny Celebrating

Lisa Celebrating!

We were so lucky to be able to stay at Lisa's mother-in-law's beautiful beach house in Huntington Beach. So once we got back, SHOWERED and took a little break we headed out for some yummy lunch (we were STARVING) and to check out the beach.

Lisa and Me

Jenny and Me

That night we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner...this dessert was my REWARD.....mmmm, delicious!

After dinner we headed to the grocery store for some Tylenol and Ice and then back to the beachhouse to catch up on our sleep! :)

It was such a great trip, and I am so lucky to have had that group of girls to run with, we pushed eachother and the only thing that got me out of bed when my alarm went off at 4:50 am all those mornings to run was knowing that they were waiting, and ready to run.

We said we should make this yearly tradition...so we'll see!

(Thanks Paul for letting me "get away" for the weekend to do this, I appreciate you taking care of the kiddos)

Bringin' In The New Year!

This New Years we went over to our friends, Dallas and Laura's house and had a great time playing "American Idol Karaoke"

Paul was awesome at it, and as you can see got vErY into it.

Me and Laura
(I forgot to take pics of the kids before they went to bed)

Laura & Dallas
Happy New Year!

New Year's morning we decided to start the year off going on a hike up Sombrero Peak by our house.
We had so much fun being outside together, it was such a beautiful morning!

Hope you all had a great New Years Celebration, I hope this year brings lots of great things to us all!

A lAdYbUg BiRtHdAy!

I cannot believe that my little lady turned 3 YEARS OLD yesterday!

She is such a sweet girl and we love her so much.

For her birthday I took her and Brig to see a movie in the morning (thanks to free kids movies at the theatre). That night she got Birthday Pancakes, yep thats what she asked for. And then she got to have her cousins over for some cake.

lAdYbUg CaKe

Happy Birthday our Lil' Smooch!

We Love You So Much!

Our Christmas...

We got to spend Christmas Eve with Paul's brother, Matt and his family.

We had a delicious dinner and the kids got to act out the Nativity, which they love doing.

Really I am not sure which they were more excited about...

Santa coming

or

going to their cousins house and getting to be

"Joseph & The Angel"

Christmas Eve we asked Brig if Santa was coming that night and he said

"Maybe, we'll see...."

haha, I guess he wasn't super confident if he made the

nAuGhTy or NiCe List

I guess he made the NICE list because Santa came to town and brought...

bikes

My favorite gift was the Santa Plate Brig made us at preschool...I love it!

My cute sister, "Aunt Stac" made my kids the cutest gifts.

She made Raegan this darling purse with a "R" on it and all day long Raegan carried it around with her toy cell phone, iPod, camera and car keys! :)

She made Brig this sHaRk BoOk that you can take all the sharks and fish out of and play with!

Gotta love Arizona weather...
the kids got to try out their new bikes ASAP

It must have been a fun Christmas because Raegan was exhausted and ready for a nap nice and early (notice the Raggity Anne doll my mom got her, so cute)!

I am so sad that Christmas is over, what a great time to be able to remember and honor our Savior, Jesus Christ and the exemplary life that he lived.

Although Christmas is "officially" over, I hope we can all keep the Spirit of Christ with us throughout this year!