Weekend Fun (x6)

For the past 6 weeks, my weekends have been full of fun! (Actually, if you include the Saturday that we left for DC, I haven't been home for 7 Saturdays in a row!) Tami asked me if that was just plain tiring, and I guess I've been having so much fun I haven't even thought about that.

1. The weekend after we got home from Washington, DC, I headed down to Utah Friday night to stay overnight and run a half marathon Saturday morning at Thanksgiving Point. When I signed up for the race back in January, I pictured myself running through the beautiful tulip festival on a gorgeous spring morning. After all, the race WAS on April 30th! How it actually happened--I awoke to 3-4 inches of snow on my car, and ran the race in 30-ish degree temperatures, with snow still falling during the first couple miles of the race. I also went alone, ran alone, and drove back home alone. But . . . somehow I still enjoyed it! Call me crazy. I would. Despite the poor conditions, I ran my 2nd best time ever, a 1:46:35, which is an 8:08 mile pace. And I didn't even get sore! And you could even see the tulips, and they were pretty, even with snow on top of them.

2. The following Saturday, I was basking in the 80 degree temperatures in Provo, Utah, while I watched my sisters run in a track meet at BYU. I took Mylie and Mariah with me, and we had fun, although we were dying of heat!

3. The next weekend, I flew out on Thursday night with two of my very best friends (the other ladies I coach volleyball with) for Anaheim, CA. We were able to go to a 2-day coaching clinic and learn from the top coaches in the country--the coaches of the men's and women's national teams as well as other great college coaches. It was so great to learn from them and watch the national teams practice. We learned a lot of great stuff to help us improve our program and had a great time! (But I was COLD--in Anaheim! What the heck?!)

4. The next weekend was my mother-son weekend as Connor and I headed out early Thursday morning for state track. We bundled up, wore our rain suits, and endured 3 days of rain, snow, wind, and freezing temperatures. Sounds like fun, right? It was! He never complained for a second. I'm so glad I didn't have my girls with me, because they wouldn't have stopped complaining for a second! We watched every race, and he didn't miss any pole vault. We were able to see my sisters achieve something I honestly thought was impossible. They tied for first at state with a team of only 6 girls! It was so fun seeing them do their very best in each of their events, despite the conditions. I have now been to state track 15 of the last 16 years, and I truly love it! And now I have somebody to tag along with me who also loves it!

The CHAMPS

Connor with the crazy Uncle Tyson

5. The following week, I headed to Cokeville for a long weekend. The girls and I left Wednesday afternoon, but Connor couldn't come this time since he still had a couple days of school left. Olivia graduated Wednesday night, which I still cannot believe (How has she gotten so much older when I haven't aged at all?!?), and then we stayed through Saturday night. Violet and her baby, Sedona, came up from Texas, so it was fun to visit with them. Tami was also there Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, so I got to spend time with her as well, and the girls had a great time with their cousins. I also stayed through the weekend to help my mom with her annual plant sale, which I enjoy. I also get to pick my flowers first before the customers come--a bonus for being there to help on sale day! I also enjoyed a game night and a spa night and just had a fabulous weekend!

The graduate with two other cuties.

Plant Sale--all set up and ready for customers!

Making cookies with Grannie and cousins

Spa Night--doesn't my mom look relaxed?

Mariah spent a lot of time loving on these cute baby cousins.

6. Finally, this past weekend, I went with my mom and sister, Tami, to Time Out for Women, which was a Christmas gift from Tami and me to our Mom. It was in Pocatello, and we met up with my aunt Susie (Chad's wife) who lives there. She fed us and let us stay with them for the night and accompanied us to the Time Out. It was truly FABULOUS! If you haven't been, you should go to their website, TOFW.com and sign up for one right now! I definitely want to attend another of these events. I was so touched by the Spirit while I was there, and left uplifted and so ready to become a better person. And it's always fun to have a girls weekend!

Tami, Mom, me, Susie

(Somebody said to my mom and Susie, "I can sure tell you two are sisters!" They're not--just sisters-in-law, but there definitely is a resemblance.)

And next weekend, I plan to stay home (gasp!) unless I come up with something more fun to do, I suppose.