Half marathon

Here is my recap of the race

Mile 1- longer than expected.
Mile 2- hey, I can do this
Mile 3- first chance to stop and we pass it by. Feeling great
Mile 4- wow, we actually finished this mile, that was the hardest for us last time.
Mile 6- I think I want a drink. We walk for a minute, but are still ahead of the 2:10 pacer
Mile 8- I'm not singing anymore(I sing to myself) I eat some skittles and I'm back to singing
Mile 9- can barely drink at the station because I'm out of breath, but a break is great for me.
Mile 10- we reach the highway and se all the families. I start to cry. Every time I think about seeing my family I cry. I love all the support here. I run faster.
Mile 11- I'm just trying to reach your aid station. I'm running out of steam
Mile 12- my leg cramps. I know I'm almost there, but I'm hurting. I saw my family and it was the greatest moment ever. I walk/ run despite knowing I'm almost done
Mile 13- I'd like to die. I contemplate not finishing even though I can see the finish line. 4 blocks from the finish line, maybe I'll quit. Nahh, keep running....sort of.

Finish line, I search for 5 boys in matching clothes and I feel like I've made it to Heaven when I finally found them.

I just wanted to get home, I was hurting. The weather was gorgeous, I loved the first 10.5 miles. I finished the race in about 2:16 or 2:17. I far exceeded my expectations. I feel like taught my children a lesson on hard work and accomplishing hard things as they watched me train for months. And I feel proud of myself for running despite the fact that I have asthma and have always really struggled with running. I believe that anyone without injured/bad joints, or other health issues can do it if I can, even if you are slow and asthmatic.

Thank you to my sister in law Brooke for training with me and being my race buddy. She is one of my best friends in the world, and she has helped me do much with running!

First day of school!!!!

Well, I let Dawson go to school. Can you believe it? He is so ready, and so happy, and so cute. These brothers are excited to go on the bus together. We ate lunch at the school with Isaac yesterday, and it was fabulous. I love being their mom!!!

Back to school night

I just love Isaac and Dawson's teachers! I am so excited about this year. Their classrooms are next door to each other! I can't stop using exclamation points!!!!!! Seriously though, I'm so excited that they have each other so close this year. And I'm excited to get to know their teachers. Isaac has Mrs. Fluckiger and dawson has Mrs. Searle. As per our tradition, they brought their teachers the biggest apple they could find at maceys. And we got a picture. Can't wait for tomorrow. I love my boys!

Henry is down to 2 wheels

Just like that on Monday he decided to go without training wheels. I remain the latest one in the family to ditch my training wheels. I think I was 6.

This is what it's all about

Last night we were outside. Our ward mission leader was trying to talk to me when Dawson went cruising down the middle of the road on his bike. I paused my conversation to tell Dawson he needed to put the bike away for the night. He interrupted my conversation so many times after that so I told him he was grounded. He kept going on, do I told him he was grounded for 2 days. He went crying to his older brother who waited until the man left, and then politely asked,

"Mom, can I take one of Dawson's days for him?"

Seriously? That child is amazing, and their bond as brothers is unbreakable. They are positively best friends, and I am thrilled with who they are becoming. (I still have a lot of work on my 3 year old, but I hope to get there someday with him)

Back to School Night

Tonight is back to school night.  I'm really excited, and so are the kids.  As much as I love the freedom of summer, the freedom of summer kills me.  I never can get on top of my life when I have 5 kids at home all day long, and the days go so late in the summer.  I love it when it starts to get dark earlier, and I can get the kids in bed and clean up my house.  I love the structure.  I will, however, miss the ability to just leave the house and go to the pool, or the park, or grandma's house.  It's been a wonderful summer, my best yet I think.

I am really looking forward to THIS school year though, and I'll tell you why.  I think this will go down in history as my best school year ever.  That is tough to do, because last year was so incredibly awesome.  But this year I feel like my children are divided to have their own designated time with me each day.  Isaac is in 3rd grade, and will be gone all day.  He will come home at 3:45 and we will have our time together to do homework, reading, talk about the day.  Dawson is in Kindergarten and will come home at 12:30 to do homework, reading, and lunch with me.  Henry and G. are going to preschool on alternating days, so on their day off, they will have the morning with just Walker and I.  Henry is going to Sports Academy with some of his best friends, and G. is going to joy school with his neighborhood friends.  And of course since Walker is a baby, he gets my attention whenever he wants it.....little stinker.

I think this will be a magical year, despite the fact that I'm not ready to "lose" another child to every day school.  I keep telling Dawson that I am keeping him home, that I'll call the school and tell them that he's dead, and then he can stay with me all day.  His dimples pop out and he tells me no way.  But in reality he is SO ready for school, his brain is desperate for progression, and I am not qualified at all to give it to him.  So off he goes to Kindergarten.

9 months.... Sort of

Walker had his nine month appointment yesterday. He is actually almost 10 months now. He is a munchkin. He was very cute and social with the doctor, and didn't cry once I picked him up from his shot. Phew.

At 9 months Walker got his first tooth, followed by the second a week later. He crawls into the kitchen and pulls himself up to stand against the barstools. He hasn't fallen down the stairs yet, but was once found on the third step down. He sleeps 12 hours and through the night most nights. He loves all food and loves nursing too although he is quite distracted. He is completely obsessed with me, and arches his back when anyone else tries to hold him. I can never walk past Walker if he is playing because he will start screaming for me.

8/15

Yesterday was Trisha's wedding in Salt Lake. It was a beautiful day, but Walker thought it was miserable, so he made sure we knew how he felt. He is officially in that stage where he needs a crib to roll over onto his tummy and sleep. He finally crashed in his Daddy's arms while we walked around. But he is cute enough that we still love him. :)

Brigham city temple open house

The tour was amazing. It was given by Elder William Walker who is the general authority over temples. It was amazing. He told us about all the special paintings, and how the peach blossom is used throughout the temple. Even on the lights, carpet, windows, it's beautiful. I fell in love with the temple and can't wait to go as a patron. Elder Walker was so sweet and invited the kids to sit by him and ride the elevator with him. What a wonderful man, and an inspirational day.

Dodged the bullet (sappy post)

This post just wraps up what has been on my heart......pretty much always. 

I don't usually watch tv.  We only have an antennae to get channels, let's be honest, we have 5 kids and no time to watch tv anyway, but really it isn't our thing.  But I watched the Olympics a bit with my little family.  It was awesome.  Did you see the commercial about dodging the bullet? 

Anyway, I don't have any funny stories like that, but some recent conversations with people and experiences have made me realize how blessed I am to be married to the great Dave Low.  I can't help it if I chose well in my spouse, can you blame me?  He is just so fantastic, and I am so lucky with how incredibly he treats me.  We have so much fun together, and getting along comes so naturally to us.  While I didn't have any crazy exes like the commercial, I can see that I definitely dodged a bullet in not marrying any of them.  I sit on our bed, in our beautiful house that we love, with 5 children that I'm crazy about, and my loving husband calling me from his dream job to plan that we will leave at 3:00 to go tour the Brigham City temple, and I can't help but feel like my life is perfect.  It isn't perfect, we have plenty of things that aren't perfect, but all the important stuff is just perfect.  I'm really happy, and really blessed.  I wish I could explain this better, but I know God has helped my life to be right where I would be happiest.

Example- Yesterday my husband had meetings for his church calling (YM president) almost all the day long.  Seriously.almost.all.day.  We only saw him for a few hours.  In those few hours, I made him take care of all the kids so I could have a break and he did it!  He dressed 5 boys for church and got them there on time while I was at my church meeting, and he put 4 of them to bed.  Putting them to bed means brushing teeth, reading scriptures, praying, and getting out the cattle prod to chase them to their beds (j/k on the last part).

Another Example- I mentioned that I wanted to buy a bunkbed for Henry and G. to put downstairs.  This was at 9:30 at night.  He immediately started researching and told me to buy the bunk bed on Monday.  He is so supportive of me, I love it.

Another Example- He arranged the temple tour for today to be with a General Authority so that we could get the VIP tour (with help from his sister who has the connections) and has been researching our options for a fun dinner afterward in Brigham City.  Can you see why this guy is so loveable.

A funny story- We were at a training for work recently and we sat by some women that knew Dave long before I knew him.  They were teasing saying that I had been really good for him.  I replied that he is the BEST husband.  Their eyes went wide and they were so surprised that I would say that of my own accord.  I guess not everyone has such things to say about their spouse.  :)  But it's so true.

This is 6 years old, but the main thing that changed is my hair color.  :)

I just can't get enough of this guy!

In addition to all these wonderful things, this guy has dimples, black hair, and the most incredible blue eyes ever.  He is gentle and kind, generous, and full of the Spirit of the Lord.  I LOVE YOU DAVE!