Summer Solstice Half Marathon

I love June 21st!  Not only it Sharon's birthday, but the longest day of the year!  I've celebrated it over the years by forcing whoever I was with at the time (roommates, mission companions, Bevan, etc.) to go on a "summer solstice stroll" at 5am!

This year, I signed Bevan and myself up for the American Fork Canyon Half Marathon.  We paid back in March, and looking back, had I known how busy I was going to be this summer, I probably would've thought twice!  I had NO time to train, and when I did, it was with kids and slow.  Day of race came and I was grossly unprepared.  Good thing the entire course is down hill or flat!  Bevan didn't train for it either, so he hung back with me and decided not to PR.  Good boy.

What a beautiful course!  The mountains always look good at 5AM.  Our bus broke down halfway up the canyon, so we got there with only 10 minutes to shiver before it started.  We made good time, mostly because the timer guy got WAY ahead of schedule.  Time to get a Garmin watch, right?  My main struggle was that last mile.  Bevan told me to push it, but I don't think it was worth the extra 20 seconds it saved me.  Our time wasn't bad, 1:52, but I sure paid for it later.  I couldn't walk straight for 3 days, especially down stairs.  Oh well.  The Kneaders french toast at the finish line almost made it worth it!

Dallin Turns ONE!

In the midst of his never-ending illnesses, Dallin was able to celebrate a birthday!  It's nice to have a "holiday baby" and be able to have family around celebrating anyway.  We went to the cabin a day early for a mini-vaca.  We roasted smores, walked down to the raging river, and remisced about the years we lived there (sans kids).  I forgot how COLD it gets at night.  I love it!  The next day we had burgers and junk with family.  The homemade jalapeno poppers got me remembering LAST Memorial Day.  It started with bike-riding and popper-eating, and ended with me going to the hospital to have a baby.  Has it really been a whole year?!

I was worried about Dallin not "enjoying" his birthday cake because he's been so fussy lately.  He sure showed me!  He smashed it and smooshed it all over his face.  It fell on the ground, it smeared on his shirt, and stuck to his hands... but he was happy!  It was so cute!  He got some cool cars and loves to bang them on the floor.  It was also Dad's birthday.  He got giftcards and a free ride in a B-29 bomber!  Both boys were in heaven!  Happy Memorial Day!

Time to play catchup!

It's weird that I let this much time go by!  Where are my priorities?  Seriously!  I finally got the last 7 years of this blog published into a book that sits handsomely on our coffee table.  You can read all about this on Projects Connect. Let's see what else...

March came and went.  My birthday was a blast, but was overshadowed by the death of my Grandpa and the loss of my sister's pregnancy.  That month always seems to have something to it.  We took Anna skiing one more time, EVEN after we were fixed we wouldn't do it again.  Well, we are fixed EVEN MORE.  She had more fun this time, but still not ready.  

April came and went.  Bevan's winter season had ended.  He was furloughed for 7 weeks.  I, in the mean time, went back to work.  Same kind of work, different company.  Our office is in Kimball Junction, right above a pizza place.  The smells that creep up through our windows are torturous!  No wonder they got such a great deal on rent!  When Bevan went back to work, I cut myself back to part-time.  Working 40 hours a week and putting my kids in daycare does NOT sound like fun, even though that's normal practices where I work.  Instead I do a trade for one day, pay a girl to come over another day, and Bevan is home with them on Fridays!  I'm hoping to be home on Fridays once it slows down, but the way the business of landscaping is going, it may not slow down 'till the fall.  "Is it October yet?!"  It works and it's nice to have money again.  Darn that money!  Anyway, that sums up May as well.

As if my life couldn't get any more complicated, other events lined up for the summer are:

-Bevan and I GET to be in charge of the Midway Swiss Days 10K.  I never knew so much planning went into these!  We're trying to keep it simple.

-Bevan and I GET to be in charge of the Ackerson Family Reunion this year!  I'm still trying to figure out what to do.  I mean, there's lots to do here... it's just organizing the whole bloomin' thing!

-Somebody got the gumption to call me into Young Womens again!  Just when I was really starting to enjoy cub scouts....  anyway.  It's not like how it was when I was in Young Womens.  It's a lot more complicated now.  Lessons, activities, camp, trek, online stuff, training, and of teenage girls you're trying really hard to care about.  It's a lot of work.

Dallin has had a rough last couple months.  He got a cold during Bevan's first week of vacation.
That cold turned into an ear infection.
He caught a stomach virus for almost 2 weeks.
His molars starting pushing through.
The ear infection came back.
The molars still aren't popped through!
That poor kid!  He was so miserable he would just sit and cry all day.  Poor Bevan had to deal with it.  He did not have a good vacation.  That, and the fact that work has been super busy, caused us to put off our annual mud-season road trip.  Don't worry, there's still plenty of summer left.  Fun will be had!  I don't know what we'll do, but I'm sure the kids will get dirty!