Georgetown to Idaho Springs 1/2 Marathon

A bunch of M.O.M teammates and I (and a few honorary mom hubby's) ran the Georgetown to Idaho springs half marathon last weekend. It was SO much fun:) Georgetown is a little mining town about an hour into the mountains from home, so at 545 am we rolled out. Ryan had taken the boys and his dad to the ward father-son campout and the girls stayed the night with grandma. It was really strange to be in the house alone, I did not sleep well:) But, once we got the the race the adrenaline was pumping! At the start they had about 10 porta potties for about 3500 people, so after waiting in line for 45 minutes we got to the start just a few minutes before the gun went off. Some of our teammates were still in line! The race felt really good, I was a few minutes faster than my time last year. The elevation starts about 8500 ft. and ends about 7500 ft. It's such a pretty run - along Clear Creek most of the way. I was really sore for a few days after, so I feel like I gave it my best. I think it's a race I could make a tradition of:)

Here we are in line for 45 minutes:) At the end we were all tired but feeling good:)

She's 9!

Emma celebrated her 9th birthday a few weeks ago - does that make us in the tween stage? (it sure feels like the teen stage most days!!!) We had a marathon few weeks. She started a few Saturdays before her birthday - we hit the lake with Ryan's family where she tried waterskiing for the first time - and she got up on her first try!!! Sadly we didn't get any pictures, but it was awesome:) Then a few days before her official birthday Emma had a birthday party with her friends, with a movie/ popcorn theme with a bunch of different kinds of popcorn & Ryan projected a movie on the fence. The night before her birthday we went to Panda Express to get Emma's favorite orange chicken. Then we spent Saturday celebrating with Aunt Heidi and Cousin Cloe. Saturday night we dropped the other 3 kids off at babysitting co-op and Emma, Ryan and I went to Cheesecake Factory - where we all ate too much:) Here are some pictures of Emma's birthdays through the years - what a cutie!!! I'm so glad you were my first baby - You are a joy to have around - you're spunky, helpful, thoughtful, and fun to be around - We love you!!!

Emma celebrated her 9th birthday a few weeks ago - does that mean we're in the tween stage? Emma celebrated by hitting the lake with Ryan's family a few Saturdays before her birthday and trying waterskiing for the first time - and she got up on her first try! I didn't get any pictures b/c I was on the back of the jet ski holding the rope holding her in one hand and the orange flag in the other. But it was awesome!!! Then she had a birthday party with some of her friends, with a popcorn theme with a bunch of different kinds of carmel corn and popcorn and a movie projected on the fence. Then, the day before her birthday we went out to eat as a family to get orange chicken at Panda Express (per Emma's request) and Saturday spent the day celebrating with Aunt Heidi and cousin Cloe. Saturday night we dropped the other 3 kids off at babysitting co-op and Ryan, Emma and I went to the Cheesecake factory, where we splurged and each got our own piece of cheesecake YUM!!!

Here are some pictures of Emma's birthdays through the years - she's such a cutie:) I am so thankful to have her as my first baby - Emma, you are such a joy to have, you're spunky, helpful, thoughtful and fun to be around. I love you!!

Trip to Montana!

After the Ragnar race we headed up to good ol' Montana:) We haven't been there since I was just barely pregnant with Brody, so the kids didn't remember too much about it, especially Max.

I was really bad about remembering to take pictures, but here is what I got:) We stopped in Rexburg on our way and had lunch with my sister Amy and her 4 kids. You'd think I could have taken a picture of that! But I didn't.

This sign cracks me up. Stevensville has about 2000 people in it, there is 1 stoplight (which wasn't there when I was growing up) 1 4-waystop, and 1 wrong way street in Stevensville - and I'm not sure that there is any reason this street is 1 way, the street is about 75 yards long:) I love my hometown!!! This picture is just to remind me how close the mountains are in Stevi. They are literally right out the back door. They are so pretty too. I miss having mountains so close. I don't love having to drive at least 30 minutes to get to the mountains here in Colorado.Here everyone is waiting for our food at a gourmet hamburger shop in Stevi. We ate out A LOT (I was on vacation!) and we spent a lot of time waiting, there were a lot of us to serve:)The burgers were soo YUMMY! I can't remember what kind mine was, just that it was "handcrafted" and had either feta or bleu cheese on it (or is that the same thing?)See? huge!Here we are waiting to eat at Cracker Barrel. It was hard for Brody to get naps, so he got them in whenever he could! (Not that it's any different at home - poor 4th child!)

The cousins playing checkers at Cracker Barrel. We had to wait for a table for 5 adults and 9 kids:) (Poor waitress!)There is a little Italian place in Stevensville called "Romeo's "fast, fresh, and Italian" Yummy food there too:) right after I took this picture of Brody he fell (but I caught him and he wasn't hurt)- but good mom that I am I couldn't resist a picture of that cute smile:)the children's museum in Missoula is the best! Max and cousin Dylan are digging for dinosaur bones...and they found one!!!Cousin Alanna and Riley played dress upRight behind the museum is a carousel. I remember when it was built there was a big deal about it being the only hand carved carousel in the U.S., The kids loved it and took several rides:)G-Sue has a great cupcake book so the kids spent an afternoon decorating cupcakes. They turned out pretty darn cute! (and yummy)! Uncle Matt and Aunt Emily have a fabulous, gigantic tree in their front yard that Max loved climbing, and cousin Bridger has a fun swing that the boys had fun on:)

We walked all over town one day (it truly took about 3 hours, including stopping for lunch) Riley and Alanna get along really well:) They are 2 of 5 girls born in the Hill family in 2003:)

We were up until all hours of the night. It stays really light till 10 and 1030 in Montana. So we would look at the clock thinking it was time to get the kids in bed and it would be 1130 and midnight. The kids did great with such late nights. It helped to have cousins around I think:) We had a really great time in Montana - I tend to forget what a pretty, laid back place it is. I'm glad I got to grow up in a small town (and by small I'm talking 1500 people). Thanks G-Sue and G-Pa for a great trip:)

Here is how light it is at 1015 pm.

What do you do with your old running shoes?

You wear them for a mud run! 4 miles of running through mud, climbing over two 5 foot walls, crawling through big cement pipes, wading through swampy parts, and cleaning off by running through streams. It was so much fun - Riley wants to do it with us next year! We made pretty good time, finishing in just over 36 minutes ! As I was going through the last obstacle (climbing over a pile of mud then wading through a giant mud puddle then run about 100 yards to the finish) Max yells out "get muddy mom"! Good times!!!



Rinsing off at the end


I got a chocolate pedi the day before - it held up pretty well!

I thought I was running the last sprint to the finish...

I didn't realize this was waiting for me!

This is them making that last obstacle

The muddy girls at the end:) ( I thought we'd be muddier)

The cousins (minus Dylan and Logan)