London's Run

This morning was London's Run and it was so much fun! Becca, Brandis, Kasey and I all ran the 10K and Melanie kicked butt in the half marathon. It was completely flat and all on dirt. The scenery was gorgeous- but I could for sure do without the manure smell...nasty! I think we all did better than we had hoped and it was a really fun race! The official times haven't been posted online yet, but I THINK my time was 50:47. I'm super proud of all my friends, running has been such a great way for us all to hang out every morning and watch each other succeed at something so fun!

A few of us are running in a 10k this weekend in Queen Creek. It's called London's Run and I have been super excited about it because of my recent racing addiction. BUT...I haven't taken the time to sit down and learn about London. So, this morning, I did! Now I'm sitting here with tear streaked cheeks and I am more excited than ever to run on Saturday. If you want to read the story of this incredible little girl, click HERE and if you want to run, click HERE.
{clarification: you have to log on to the website to read about London. It's not a fancy membership or anything, I think they just want to know who's reading :)}

#4!

(the runners at the expo on saturday)

I ran my fourth half marathon on Sunday. I think it'd be safe to say that I'm addicted. I love everything about race day (well, almost everything, I'll have to exclude the nauseous feeling that comes about 15 minutes after you cross the finish line and the adrenaline wares off)! The excited butterflies you get in your stomach as soon as you wake up, getting ready in the dark, heading to the race (especially great when you're with a friend- thanks Lauren!!), the starting line, the finish line, and the way that everyone cheers for everyone! I LOVE IT!!! Anyway, I missed my goal time of under two hours by a minute and 59 seconds, which I was super bummed about. But I hope to take care of that on #5!

This race was extra fun because I got to watch Lauren start and finish her first marathon. It was awesome! You can read all about it HERE! Go Lauren!!!!! Kasey and Joel ran the half too, but since we started in different waves, I didn't get to see much of them. They did great!!
(me, joel & kasey...we all felt like we were going to fall over in this picture...so...yeah, not so flattering!)

The half marathon is a great race, but now I'm super excited to find another full marathon to run in the near-ish future. Hopefully Lauren will be as hooked as I am and we can run together!!(maddux's tattoo says "Rock N Roll Marathon")

such a boy

woodchips, sand & rocks....

makes for dirty little hands...

daddy's glasses.

Party!

Today was Maddux's First Birthday Party. It was Goldfish themed and we had so much fun throwing it! Thank you so much to everyone who made it! We are so happy to have so many awesome friends and amazing family that live so close!

the general setup...here is the food spread. we had all of maddux's favorite foods: turkey dogs, mac n cheese, yogurt, string cheese, applesauce, and fish shaped sandwiches...maddux got sooooo many toys and cool gifts. we are feeling a bit spoiled at the moment. thank you to all!here is the progression of the cake eating...it went slowly at first, not too sure what to think of it....then he discovered he could do this....which then lead to this...we had a room set up in the back with all of maddux's favorite toys...each kid got to take home a goldfish as a party favor (some, who shall remain nameless...{*cough*lauren*cough*aubry*cough} chose not to take one). here is amirra super excited about her new pet...party favor...messy birthday boy...here are most of the girls who came. i am sad because we didn't take pictures until after a few people had to leave...(sorry rasmussens, goodmans and hansens)this is drew's side of the family...my mom and dad....
We love you MadDog!!

Reviving an Old Tradition

My dad...Me...
(If you know anything about waterskiing at all, you know that my form here is HORRIBLE, but I promise that at one time in my life I was pretty decent)

My dad and I both used to be ski-aholics. Truly...obsessed! My dad would take me skiing before school, after school, weekends, and nights before the sun went down. I can remember sitting on the lake so early in the morning that we had to sit and wait for the sun to rise up just enough to give us the light we needed to see which direction we were driving. It was a tradition for my whole family to ski on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years whenever we could growing up! It was always tough though since it was in Denver and the few lakes we had were usually frozen over. When we did get to go, we would be skiing around ice chunks in the water...classic!

Moving to Arizona made it easier and we skied a lot more frequently for a while. But lately, the ski-frenzy has faded. I haven't been skiing with my dad for two years!! Until today! We went to a little hidden lake in the center of downtown Phoenix and revived the New Years skiing tradition. It was a blast. A FREEZING cold blast! He took two runs and I just did one, but I was pretty stoked that I got up on the first pull. It was like riding a bike and all came flooding back pretty quickly. I think I might be hooked again and will for SURE need to find more time to head to the lake with my dad. Thanks for a good time today Dad!
Happy New Year!!!