st. geezy

let me start out with my birthday/graduation shout out to my funniest and youngest brother. i still can't believe matthew is moving to provo THIS WEEK. read it and weep, ladies. is he a stud or what?

 this past weekend we met up in st. george for a fun filled weekend with family. we missed the usual (mark's crew and beb on her mission), but still managed to have a good time :)

i am not complaining about this pool time. colby and i both took a long nap in the shade. perfection.

we went on a short little hike...

and then stayed up late watching heavyweights. could life get any better??

church the next day was a struggle to stay awake for some....

these pictures are classic :)

i like these people. thanks for a fun weekend, guys!!

does two "halfs" equal a "full"??

if that's the case, then i've completed a marathon. remember that one time a ran a half marathon? i think that was the same time i said i would never do it again.

as just bieber said...never say never.

cindy and i signed up months ago, with intentions of training. the road to you know where is paved with good intentions. we were still optimistic about the race...can you tell??

packet pick up

we stayed the night at cousin lindseys house, and about 9pm we got a call from a friend that had a free entry to the race. we convinced lindsey to join us...since we hadn't trained either. so early early morning we woke up and headed to the shuttles. this is nervous beth, have you ever met her?

we met up with some other friends in the canyon who were running the race too. obviously all of us were running on little sleep....

and off we went. the route really is beautiful. the weather was perfect. if only they'd had port-o potties every two miles like they'd promised :)

whitney and crew came to cheer us on at two different places on our route. what a welcome sight!! whitney is one that understands what a little cheering on can do for the soul. it was so fun to see them. (i know it's not the easiest or funnest thing in the world to load up your kids several times and then wait on the side of the road for two girls who haven't trained wobble on past. thanks again whit for your support!!!)

 we finished!! it was the best feeling of all time. my hips didn't hurt as much this time around, but i kept getting this weird foot cramp in my right foot that was making my toes curl under like a charlie horse everytime i'd lift my foot off the ground. how do you stretch that out? luckily that happened about the last mile and a half, and only would happen when i was running. 

we hugged. we cried. and then i saw this crew (dfc peeps!!!) what a pleasant surprise!!

nathan and caitie were waiting at the finish line with a cup of ice. i almost wept. so nice of them to come and support, especially since caitie had just finished a 12 hour shift at PCMC. thanks for coming guys!!!

 and here we are. crossed the finish line. with our medals. it really is a sense of accomplishment that i can't really describe. as much as i hated parts of that race, i have to say i'm glad i did it. cindy was a great partner in crime (as usual). she forced me to think of the race as a whole, not pushing myself too hard in the beginning--reminding me that there were still so many miles to go. we talked about boys and jammed to great tunes. needless to say, it was a raging success. 

this time i'm smart enough that i won't say i'll NEVER do this race again. hopefully next time i'll train? just an idea.....

ps. sorry i look so good in all of these pictures (please pick up on this sarcasm). i would normally not post pictures of me looking soooo good, but i decided i don't really care. 

pps. lindsey was a rockstar and made it to mile NINE (long before cindy and i did btw) but was having issues with her ankles from a previous injury. i told her not to push herself and talked her into letting whitney come pick her up. i'm so proud of her!!!!

dfc

campout this year was a success as always. it's interesting how it continues to change, but so many things will be the same...forever. we were sad that mark and megan and sophie weren't there....oh yeah, and melissa. she's usually my partner in crime and tent-mate/secret keeper/arm tickler. basically i slept in the tent with my parents--and maybe cried myself to sleep the first night that i didn't have melissa cuddled up next to me. 

(boo hoo)

okay, i had a really bad headache and had matthew crack my back and then i was trying to stretch. in true matthew fashion (he is my funniest brother) he had to make fun of me. i'm so lucky.

sorry about the quality of this picture, but this is the only group shot we got of my family before people started leaving. and it was dusk. whoops. and we all look so cute cause we've been camping for 3 days. 

big whoop.

the dance was a success (of course with DJBeth and ADJMatthew). the food was delish. church was a scorcher. and as usual, the company stellar. 

DFC 2014 will the be 50th campout. unreal, right? i feel cool being a part of such an awesome family!!

roommates

have you met my roommates? 

i like them. 

and not just like they're nice, sort of like.

like we're actually friends, like.

like they come climb in my bed at the end of a long day and talk and laugh and take stupid pictures.

it's been a long time coming.

we've also been working on the yard and trying to make our house cool. 

introducing sexy porch. 

first roommate to get a smooch under those lights gets a prize.

we don't know what the prize is, but it will be good.

mothers day

We started out mothers day by going to music and the spoken word. it was a great program, and Mitt Romney was there, so we figured it was the cool place to be. it was the perfect day -- we were welcoming the sun after the loooong winter and then rain we had for a few weeks.

the roommates

 i'm a pretty lucky girl to have such great girlfriends :)

and in case you forgot what happens on mothers day in a family with a missionary:

it was so good to talk to Beb--to see her and hear her at the same time. maybe that sounds silly, but it was just good to see her smile and hear her laugh, especially when she feels so far away. we got to talk as a WHOLE FAMILY on google chat. can you see everyone at the bottom?? (beth, mom and dad and math, mark and sophie, beb, nathan, ryan and crew, and whit and crew). it was so fun, and so hard at the same time. i cried like baby when i had to say bye (whoops). sometimes i think about what she's doing everyday and i can't believe it. i'm so proud of her and her efforts in Thailand. 

so basically, this mothers day rocked. 

ps. i did talk to my mom on mothers day, and in case you guys didn't already know....i think she's the greatest thing in the world....my world, at least. 

his fathers son

I love when I facetime with this dude and he shows me tricks. Such a show-off ...like someone else i know :)