A little T-Swift!!

Alright, I can't help it, I really do love her!  Does that mean I'm still a teenager at heart?  I don't think so..... I just think I still remember teenage thoughts and feelings, and boy does she nail them on the head with her songs!!  I mean, who doesn't fall madly in love with someone who likes someone else and doesn't see you for the perfect girl for him that you are! ha!  Teenage angst - she spells it out so beautifully!

Kayla and I went to Taylor Swift 18 months ago.  Savannah had an absolute cow about how unfair it was that we were going and she didn't get to go.  I promised her the next time she came, I would take her.  I certainly didn't think she would be coming around again only 18 months later!! Geez!

True to my word, I got tix for us, and for my sister Kaelyn for her 40th birthday.  Then, the day before the concert, we found a ticket for her daughter Rachel, bought it for half of what I paid for ours, and had her just squeeze in with us at the concert. 

We had such a great time!!!

The girls before the show

Cute cousins!

Mothers of the year! :)

T-Swift RED concert

So, thank you Taylor Swift for telling stories and writing songs that take me back to the glorious teenage years that I would never want to live again, but wish I could so I could know then what I know now, you know???

A Wedding Fairy Tale ...

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Garrett Smith, who fell in love with a girl named Briana McClosky.  Somehow, some way, he got her to fall in love with him back, and they made the decision to get married for time and all eternity!.

But FIRST!  They had to have the family dinner at the beach the night before.  

The family had to brave the cold, and Briana had to brave:

The AUNTS and MOTHER IN LAW!!

The dreaded Uncle Lane and cousin Kayla!

   

The wedding day dawned bright and beautiful and actually quite perfect!  Everyone made it to the temple in time.... even early enough to snap a picture before we went in!

Then, after a long and somewhat, um..... boring and long.... sermon about ladders and who knows what, Garrett and Briana were able to say YES and get married for all eternity!

Then, after an eternity of waiting .... here came the happy and beautiful couple!!  (Quite frankly I think it is disgusting how beautiful these two are!!! ha!)
So, the princess and the prince will live happily ever after! 

The guests were asked to please wear black and white.  I was happy to oblige and go to Black House/White Market and get me something to wear! :)



Later that evening, we made the trek through the hills of Encinitas, CA to the top of a small mountian, where we found the most amazing and beautiful home with an amazing and beautiful backyard which overlooked the whole valley.  Oh boy Garrett - is this what you are marrying?  No, the house was simply owned by some friends of the family.  Yikes!! (One of whom happened to have the last name of Marriott if that rings a bell for anyone!)

I made Kayla pose for a picture with the beautiful backdrop behind!  Wow - what a place!

Beautiful back of the house

A full sit-down dinner, a fun program with some very sweet toasts and tributes, and then a fun night of dancing to finish the night!  We had a great time, and I hope they have a very happy and perfect life together with not a single trouble or problem!  ha!!!  Ahhh... young love ... so full of promise and hope.  May it never die for them.

Dance party!

Disney Princess dreams fulfilled!

 "Mommy am I a princess?  Mommy can I be a real princess?  Mommy, is she a real princess?"

Yes, it is the magical age of Disney Princesses for our sweet Addi.  What better time to take her to Disneyland then now? 

After quizzing me 100 times, and me subsequently lying to her 100 times, Addi was assured that these are the REAL princesses and they live there and talked to her!  (I will be forgiven later, right?)

Cinderella

Sleeping Beauty

Ariel

Yes, we finally took Addi to Disneyland for her first time!  I love experiencing it all through our children's eyes!  It is such a magical time and feeling for them.  Why do we have to grow up????

Getting ready for It's a Small World!

A fun trip with our cousins!!!!

Conner showing his boy power among all the Princesses!

We had a great and magical day - hitting all the rides we wanted to, some of them twice - spending wayyyy too much money on food and snacks - and pretending like we don't have a care in the world!

Graduations Galore!!

Wow, wow, wow. 

From the moment you give birth to your first precious child, you know some day they will grow up, graduate and move on to create their own wonderful life.  That's if you've done your job right and they've made good choices! :)

Well, this last week it was my turn to say, "Where did the time go?  Is this really my little girl?  How can it be that she is all grown up?"  Even as I type this, tears are starting down my face!!

I couldn't be prouder of her though.  Wednesday night we attended her Seminary Graduation where 2 of her favorite Seminary teachers were there, and then they all sang her favorite song ever - the EFY medley of As Sisters in Zion and Army of Helaman.   Kayla's good friend Abby was one of the speakers that night.  She spoke about how Seminary has helped her in her life and through her trials.

The spirit there was so great!  What a great group of kids!

Then, Thursday night we attended her High School Graduation.  She was 1 of over 600 graduates, 30% of whom graduated with Honors!  Kayla was one of them!!! :)

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Kayla and Chloe Richardson, her good friend, and future roommate up in Utah.  And of course, the awesome moms who raised them! :) 

After graduation, we drove through Arby's and grabbed her some dinner because it was 10:30 at night and nothing else was open!  She then took off with her friends to the all-night Grad party at the Bowling Alley.  There was food, dancing and raffle prizes.  They were just about to leave the party around 2 am, but they were doing the drawings for the "big" prizes, so they decided to stay and see who won those.  Good thing they did, because Kayla came home with a 32" flat screen TV!!!  Holy cow!!!  She will love having that at her apartment up at UVU!  I am so very excited for her future and what a beautiful young lady she has grown into.  She is talented, smart and really has her head on straight!  I love her so much!!

Speaking of loving so much, and graduations, we also celebrated my baby's graduation from Kindergarten on the same Thursday!!  Addi was so dang cute I could have eaten her up!  As they read each kid's name and had them come get their diploma, they told what the child wants to be when they grow up.  Addi said..... ROCK STAR!  Too funny!

Addi rocking the Laffy Taffy tassel!

So proud of our little Graduate! :)

Addi loved her teacher Mrs. Margerum

A very eventful few days.  So glad it is all over, but now the craziness of summer begins!  Heaven help me!!!

Our own personal Outstanding Student Service winner!!

In April, I got a letter congratulating me for Savannah being nominated for a Mesa Public Schools Outstanding Student Service Award.

What on earth was that??  Who nominated her?  What is going on??

I looked at the bottom of the letter and asked Savannah if she knew who this particular person was that nominated her.  She said the teacher helped the special needs kids at her school.  Then a light started to turn on in my head.  Oh yeah, my sweet 11-year old Savannah has been helping a kid who is very ADHD at school, and maybe that is why she was nominated!

Well, many are nominated, but few are chosen.  And after attending the award ceremony on Friday, May 10, we realized most of these awards are given to special needs kids who are happy, helpful and making great strides in their learning progress. 

There were only 2 awards given to non-special needs kids, and Savannah was one of them.

I am so proud of my girl.  In a nutshell, here's what happened:

Back in October, Savannah noticed a boy named Shane in her class was being bullied on the playground, and was having troubles in class.  Her teacher had stuck his desk in the corner and wouldn't let him get out of the square she taped around his desk. 

Savannah felt that if Shane had someone to help him and sit by him, he would feel more engaged in the classroom and would participate better.  She talked to Lane and I about what to do.  We decided she could write a letter to her teacher asking if maybe Shane could sit next to her at her table, and she would help him.  She was scared the teacher would be mad at her for "telling her what to do", but she did it anyway.

The next day, Shane's desk was next to Savannah's, and her help began.  She helped him do his schoolwork, pay attention, stay on task, and finish his assignments.  Then she would play with him at recess and invite him to play with her friends to keep him away from fights or bullies.

This made a world of difference for this boy.  He progressed so much in his school and social skills and was doing sooooo good.  He even was so thankful to Savannah that he brought her a Christmas present to school and told her she was his best friend.

Apparently the special needs teacher also noticed the change and found out what Savannah had been doing to help Shane .... and here she ended up getting an award! 

Seriously, the girl amazes me with her good heart and generosity.  Lane and I could not have been prouder!!

After showing a video clip of Savannah and reading her nomination letter, she was awarded with a trophy and certificate.

So proud of our good-hearted girl!

Mother's Day 2013

It started with the annual breakfast in bed. YUM!  It was at 7 in the morning due to 8:30 am church, but that still is sleeping in for me! :)

But this year was kinda different.  We had company!!!  Kaelyn and Scott bought a house, and it was being "remodeled" a bit, but they had to be out of their rental house, so they crashed with us for a week until it was done.  So, we both got breakfast in bed!  Fortunately, instead of eating our breakfasts alone in rooms across the hall from each other, she brought her tray over and we ate together!  She thanked me because she never gets that from her family!  Maybe they will start a tradition (hint hint Scott!!)

Breakfast in bed with my sister!

I am so easy to please - give me chocolate and I am happy!  :)

However, yet again Lane struck gold with another fantastic poem for me.  I sure love this guy and his wit and humor!

I put a picture of the poem on Facebook.  Last week I ran into Lane's employee who chewed me out for putting it on there because his wife saw it and showed it to him and started chastising him for never doing anything like that for her!  Oops!  Sorry!  I got the best poem writing husband ever!

The Phoenix Marathon

When I crossed the finish line of the Utah Valley Marathon last year,  I knew I had to run another one.  Why?  Because I wasn't totally cooked and dead.  I knew I held back and tried to run conservatively so I wouldn't hit "the wall" and die.  I ran it in 4:11, and I knew I could do under 4 hours.  That was my goal for this race - The Phoenix Marathon.

How can you not run a race when it is practically in your backyard?  Half the race was along roads we would run every Saturday, and one point of the race passed less than 1/2 mile from my house!  So, I set the goal to try to run this race sub-4 hours.

I trained with my running friends - Julie Boyer, Lisa Wallace and Lisa Tush.  Great ladies that were always fun to run and share stories with on Saturdays! :)

Before the madness - ready to go!!

We talked, we planned, we trained, we dreamed, and the day finally came.  Based on our training runs, I figured Julie would run it in about 3:35-40, Lisa T 3:40-45, then me under 4 then Lisa W. after me.

Saturday, March 2,  I set my alarm for 4:30.  I got up and really felt good.  I drank a protein shake, ate a banana, and got all my stuff together.  We drove over to Julie's house.  She lives 1 mile from the starting line, and her husband was just going to drop us there instead of riding the bus up.  When we got to the house, I realized I left my Garmin at home!!  NO NO NO!  I couldn't run without it!  Here's where the running gods were with me - Julie's Garmin wasn't working, so a friend let her borrow one, but then hers started working! Well, she still had the friend's Garmin - and it was exactly like mine!  And was charged!!!  What a relief!

Anyway, we got to the starting line and were pumped and ready to go.  I never had any intention during my training to try to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  However, I talked to my running friend Heather the day before, and she said I should try to go for it!  I needed to run in 3:45 to qualify.  I thought that would be impossible.  Cut 26 mins off my first marathon time?  That is 1 minute faster each mile!  

That morning, however, I saw the pacer for a 3:45 (an 8:30 pace) race.  Suddenly I thought, "Why not?  I'll try to stay with him and see if I can do it!"  We took off at the gun and ran 4 miles downhill.  I enjoyed kicking it down the hill and talking with the girls.  Around mile 6 we started a small climb.  Lisa T and Julie broke away ahead of me.  I let them, and kept my 8:30 pace.  I was chatting with different runners along the way and really enjoying the race.  At mile 15 we came upon the stretch of road that went right past my ward.  It was so fun to see so many people out there cheering and screaming for me!  My family had signs and Savannah ran 100 yards with me.  It was a real boost.  I was still feeling pretty good and the pacer was just about 30 yds ahead of me. 

At mile 16, I surprisingly came upon Julie B. walking!!  What?  I asked her what was wrong.  She said she didn't know, her body just wouldn't go!  I encouraged her to run with me saying she just was hitting a wall and could come through it.  She ran maybe 100 yds and then stopped and said go ahead.  I was so sad for her because she is fast and a great runner!

Next, at mile 18 or so I came upon Lisa T who was struggling a little too.  I encouraged her to run along with me.  She hung with me for a few then told me to go on.  By mile 20 I was getting tired and soooo ready to be done!  The pacer was still just ahead of me, but I was losing steam and will power.  Sadly, I let him go and just forced myself to keep going.  I dropped from a 8:30 mile the whole way to a 9:30 mile the last 5 miles.  I crossed the finish line so happy to be done.  Several friends who had run the 1/2 were there cheering me on at the end.  That was fun!  I then waited for my friends to cross.  The Lisas came in and we were so thrilled to be done!  We went over to the recovery area, and I kinda started not feeling so great.  I was a little nauseous and thought with a little food or drink in me I would be OK.  I layed in the tent for a little bit, and we all put our feet in the ice baths in the tent and talked about the race.  I still wasn't feeling so great. 

Actual time 3:50:33 Not too shabby!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, while we were in line for a massage and stretch, I decided if I could just go make myself throw up, I would feel better!  So, I headed over to the porta-potties, but my body wasn't going to make it.  Yup, I started puking up all that water, coke and gatorade right there in the garbage!!  But boy did I feel a little better!  So, I'm in line for the massage, and I hear this "Kathryn!"  I turn and look, and there is Brian Adams, a friend of mine from high school that I probably haven't seen since our 10 or maybe 20 year reunion.  We are FB friends, but I honestly don't remember having seen the guy since high school.

Anyway, I say "Brian!  Wow!  What are you doing here?"  They had flown over to do the race for his wife's 40th birthday.  They did the 1/2.  He asked how I was doing.  I said I did the full, and did great, then was feeling not so great, but now was OK.  He then said, "Honestly, I saw you over there feeling 'not so great'! "  AAAA!  How embarrassing!!  Why does the guy who hasn't seen me since high school 20 years ago have to recognize me, and recognizes me while I'm puking???  What the heck??

Oh well.  One more good puke in a garbage on the way out of the race to the parking lot, and we were on our way.  I didn't feel so great - obviously.  But, I went home, crashed in bed for a couple hours, and was good as new when I got up!  And of course, now I know I have to run another one - and qualify for Boston!!!!  It has never been on my bucket list, but it is now!

Ironically, the Boston Marathon bombs hit this race, and though I wouldn't have been there, it makes you think how sad the whole thing is, but also more determined than ever to run that race and not let stupid terrorists ruin our world and freedoms!

Me and Lisa - alive at the end!

As for Julie, she struggled all the rest of the way, and basically walked and was helped along by her sweet husband.  She finished in over 5 hours, which obviously was hugely disappointing to her!  She found out she had actually over-hydrated herself.  Her body had no salts or electrolytes left in it- so it literally was shutting down!  People have actually died from that very thing!  So scary, but she will run another one and kill it I'm sure!

Man I love running.  Races are truly addicting!