Happy Father's Day!

Travis' second Father's Day. Wuv You dadada...

Utah Valley Marathon- 10K Race

Here I am at the starting line of the Utah Valley Marathon 10K!! This was my very first race. I ran it with two of my good friends, Becca Rowe, and Mindy Starley but she ran the 1/2 marathon portion of the race. The marathon started up Provo Canyon passed Deer Creek Reservoir and ended at Provo Center Street. My portion of the race started at the Riverwoods and also ended at Provo Center Street. I trained for about 2 months with the longest run in my training program being 8 miles. I assumed that I would run about a 10 minute mile.

I was so excited that morning, can you tell? :D The race started at 7am. I ran with my iphone because I wanted to get pace updates from the MapMyRun app. I decided not to run with music which worked out just fine. It was awesome taking in all of the race surroundings. Seeing the other exhausted 1/2 marathoners, running by the water and food stations, seeing people cheering for us along the way, giving high-fives to little kids, seeing the traffic all stopped for us... It was awesome. I thought I might be bored running down a street I drove so many times while living in Provo during college, but it was quite the opposite. I loved it!

I finished the race in 55:46, running an 8.9 minute mile! I was shocked to find out that my pace was a whole minute less than I thought it would be. I felt great afterwards too! I grabbed a water around the 4 mile mark and drank as I ran. At about 5 miles I realized I wasn't all that tired, so I sped up and passed tons of people for the last mile of the race. It felt awesome. There were TONS of people cheering and ringing cow bells at the finish line so I gave it a good sprint to the finish while Travis barely got it on video. In the end it felt like running a 10K was so easy. But I do remember thinking in the beginning that a 10K race could be exhausting and unpleasant because I wasn't a fan of running. But I think this race has changed my mind, and I will definitely be running another race in the future. :)

Guess who turned 1!

Our little guy turned 1 years old on June 7th. And just as all parents say, I can't believe it! He's grown so much and so quickly. We love every new stage and had a fun day with Dallen playing with him and his new toys. 

His very own car from Mom and Dad.

First ATV from Grandparents David and Linda

Dashboard Car from Grandparents Jeanette and Joe

And just for comparison- Dallen, the day he was born

Bowler Wedding

One of my good friends from Denver FINALLY found the girl of his dreams and was sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. So happy for Dustin and Ashley Bowler! I got to meet her at the pre-wedding BBQ and catch up with Dustin after 4+ years of him living in NYC for Dental School. They plan to live there for another 4+ years for his Oral Surgeon program and then will head back west (she's from Bountiful, UT). She is exactly what I pictured for him- super cute and beautiful, intelligent, fun, real, happy and will put him in his place-ha! Anyways, the sealing was beautiful and Dustin could not stop grinning the entire time. I'm so glad I was able to be there. Congrats to the happy couple! Happy Honeymooning! :D

Our First Garden

One day my neighbor Ashley and I were talking about wanting to do a garden. We'd had this conversation a couple times before and finally decided to just do it. We didn't waste any time getting things going since it was already mid May. One Saturday we got all the plants, seeds, and materials, convinced our hubbies to help and got to work. Ashley's Grandpa also helped that day showing us the ropes in the nursery and how and where to plant things. It took us 7 hours to get the job done and we ended up planting the entire plot behind our house. We were all exhausted but excited and hopeful so see how it'll do. After 2 weeks we have some healthy tomato and pepper plants that have been preserved in the walls of water and a bunch of seeds have started to sprout! Exciting stuff. :) Wish us luck!

Before

 After

Phoenix Truck Trip

We have been looking for a new truck for awhile and finally found the perfect one- a 2010 Toyota Tundra, Double Cab. And we found it in Phoenix. At first I was not a fan of having to make an 8 hour trip just to buy a truck, but when you plan on buying something nice and are going to keep it for a good long while, it turns out that a road trip is totally worth it, especially when you get to catch up with old friends.

Dallen and Daddy playing in the Burger King Play Area during one of our breaks.

Dallen and I waiting at the dealership while Daddy was negotiating. We ended up leaving after 2 hours and he stayed for another 2.5. 

 

Margaret, Theresa, and I! It was so nice spending time with them! We were just missing Mary and it would've been freshman and sophomore year of college all over again. :) We all went out to dinner with our spouses one evening and had a great time laughing and eating yummy Italian food. Going out with just adults is just such a treat now that Dallen is such a handful during meal time. ;)

On the way back Travis and I were obviously in separate vehicles. We decided to drive back through Vegas since the drive from Beaver to Page was really bumpy, curvy and just not our favorite. So I decided to stay the night at my in-laws so Dallen could get out and move around in the evening and so we could spend a little bit of time with the family. It was so nice to see them, even if it was for less than 24 hours. Overall, definitely worth a road trip to get a nice truck and be with old friends. Miss you guys!