Love Story

I LOVE . . .

* nuzzling my nose into her silky, just washed hair.
* the way she signs "hot" with so much flair that she looks Italian.
* how she cracks herself up.
* watching her run in a circle, iggling because she can't keep her balance.

* how she gently rubs my back if she sees me lying down.
* her intense fascination with all things train related.
* the way she folds her arms and likes to say little prayers all day.
* how excited she gets when she helps me with laundry.
* her long brown hair and dark brown eyes.

Expedition

Gabe left in the wee hours this morning for a trip to Peru. He will be visiting Machu Pichu with my father and two brothers. I hope he has an incredible time!

Little Chicken and the Bollywood Star

Playing in Nature's Toy Box

This past year, I've become more aware of the calming effects of nature on both Persephone and myself. If I'm feeling disgruntled, a little air and sunshine usually has the power to diffuse a bad mood. I make it a point to spend at least a little time outside each day, regardless of the weather. With perfect fall temperatures over the last couple of weeks we've been spending a lot of time outdoors walking, exploring, playing. I let Persy collect pine cones, leaves, stones and other small objects to bring home and play with together. She loves to take them out of her bowl and then put them back in again. Sometimes the best toys are the free ones that Mother Nature provides!

First Haircut

Run, Wendy, Run

I knew that running a marathon would be a challenge, but I had no idea it would be so much fun! I was amazed by all the friendly volunteers and the great crowd support. I also felt a lot of camaraderie with my fellow runners and really enjoyed the gorgeous course route for the St. George Marathon. As a first timer, I don't think I could have had a better experience. One thing that really helped me was running most of the race with a pacing group. I finished in 5 hours and 28 minutes, (I had no goal time and had estimated my pace at closer to 6 hours, so I was pretty thrilled with my time.) I feel very blessed to have had this opportunity and thankful for all the support I received from friends and family.

St. George Marathon By the Numbers:

0 Blisters (Smart Wool Socks Oh, how I love thee!)

1 Pre-Race Banana

2 Times listening to "I'm Gonna Be" (500 Miles) by the Pretenders and feeling so happy that I actually started to sing out loud while I ran.

4 Family members that came to cheer me on

5 Hours of sleep the night before

6 New friends (Thank you Deb and Esther)

7 Thousand runners in the race

11 Mile mark when I wished I was a man so I wouldn't have to wait in line for the port-a-potty

15-17 My favorite miles of the race with breathtaking scenery of Snow Canyon- I can hardly describe my elation

22 "The Wall" - My 2 mile stretch of nausea and fatigue



24 Family greets me and some angel hands me a bag of crushed ice (Pictured above at mile 24, the finish line is so close I can almost taste it!)

26.2 Miles completed!

I Love the Mountains, I Love the Rolling Hills!

I am often surprised by the fact that I have lived in Utah nearly all of my life and I still feel like there thousands of places in the state left to discover. Here are some pictures from a lovely little Mommy-Daughter hike to Doughnut Falls that I took with Persy and my friend Megan. The fall leaves were just beginning to change and the drive up the canyon was quite stunning.

Megan and her cuties- I'm lucky to have an adventurous friend that will do such fun things with me. This is one of the same friends that traveled throughout Europe with me before we both got married. We are constantly planning excursions and expeditions that we want to go on when we are little old ladies.

The kids all loved tossing rocks into the water!

I love my Kelty backpack! I also use it around the city to do errands.