Horses

One of Kaylee's favorite things to do when she comes to see us is ride horses. 

My sweet friend, Kelli, lets us come over and ride hers! 

It's such a treat for all these cute girlies!  

 

Claire wasn't so sure she liked to ride the horses . . . 

feeding them sounded like a better idea . . . at least for a minute! 

 

Kaylee LOVES all things horses!  

Isn't her face the cutest thing ever in this picture?! 

Camryn LOVES all things animals . . . all my girls do.  

She always looks so cute riding!  

Too cool for pictures!

Carsyn was SO excited to ride all on her OWN.  I love her face!

Cute Tyleigh

I love that Kaylee's little face captures every ounce of joy she felt!

Little Miss Claire was as happy as she could be NOT riding horses, 

but riding in the wagon instead!

As always, thanks a million Kel!

Lehi Days

 We didn't do a whole lot for Lehi Days this year.  

It was SO stinkin' HOT.

And my girls are just getting big . . . and outgrowing everything!

We were so excited that cute Kaylee and Claire came all the way from Canada to play with us 

this summer!  They made everything we did go to 100% worth it!  

Waiting for the horses at the horse parade . . .

Cute little face!  

Other cute little face!  

My "big girls" are getting into the whole "I don't want to be in pictures" phase, 

so none for them! 

We love the painted horses! 

Um . . . only in Lehi?!?  

Poor little thing! 

Cute Claire at the Miniature Float Parade.  

My sweet Tyleigh! 

Carsyn's beautiful smile! 

Camryn laughing at me taking her picture, being darling, and growing up too fast! 

Our Ward's Float - they did such a great job!

All my favorite people at the Grand Parade! 

Wasatch Back

I have NO idea . . . 1. Why I am SO behind on my blog, and 2.  Why I feel like trying to get caught up now!  Either way, here it is!  All the way back to June! 

Rod and I BOTH got asked to do Wasatch Back this year!  It was so much fun having him on the team and having him with me the WHOLE time (as opposed to being the driver, or the fill-in runner for one leg)! 

 It was non-stop adventure from the get-go, but Rod was a trooper and we had a great time!   

Our team did PHENOMENAL (we had some very elite runners on our team - and Rod and I were not them!).  

We came in 52nd out of 1092 teams, 23rd out of 800 in the co-ed division, and ran 192 miles in 28 hours and 30 minutes!  

 Our first adventure of the day - Rod put his duffel bag on a cooler rack next to the muffler of the truck.  

It got just a little hot on the way up to Logan. 

When we got there and started grabbing our things to check in - 

Rod noticed a good size hole in his bag.  It had melted . . . 

along with his brand new underwear and running socks.  

He looked really cute in my pink running socks - but the pink underwear wasn't going to work. 

Too much chaffing.

Luckily, van 2 hadn't left yet.  We had to call one of the gals in that van and have her buy Rod some new underwear and socks.  

Um, awkward.  

I, of course, couldn't stop laughing, and just added to his frustration by trying to "cheer" him up with teasing, not to mention that the poor guy was STARVING! (Sorry babe!)

The start line was pretty anti-climatic.  

Our team got a really late start time because of our fast runners.  We literally started with about five other people.  

The announcers were pretty bored with the whole deal at that point!

These are the runners in Van 1.  Rod, Jessica, Lorena, Nicole, Nyle, and Kenny.  

It's amazing how good of friends you can become with complete strangers in 24 hours! 

Rod's first run of three.  He did so great!  It was SO hot -

 or was that just Rod???

I love that he still looks happy to be there! 

Rod was the only one smart enough to climb in the river this year and soak tired muscles! 

My first leg - towards the end.

This is what running at midnight does to you!  

Makes you CRAZY!

Rod's second leg - and his daughter's cute pink and purple headlamp.

After a long night and ZERO sleep, Rod was still smiling and going strong.  

As for me, there are no pictures because I'm pretty sure that the Honey Bucket and

 I were best friends at this point! 

Besides, it's my blog, so I get to pick what goes on here! :)

Thanks to Team Trail Dusters for another fun and wild year at Wasatch Back! 

(No finish line pictures either . . . we were a little ridiculously tired and went home instead of waiting for another 6 hours for van 2 to finish.  Yes, we're old and lame.) 

Utah Valley Half

These cute and crazy girls talked me into running the Utah Valley Half Marathon with them

two weekends ago!  They are my dear friends and long-time running partners, 

Jill, Tamera, and Leesa.  They are incredible runners and inspire me daily!   

 (Don't judge - we had to leave our houses at 3:30 in the morning!) 

 We found some of our favorite friends along the way  - Kelli, Nicole, and Kelli's cute cousin, Tif!

 

This was Tamera's first official half marathon!  She did AMAZING!  We stayed together right up until almost the very end!  While it was not my fastest race, I was happy with my time (1:43:54), 

but more importantly, I had a great time!  It was a beautiful day (even with the head wind), 

and a super fun race!

One of my most favorite moments of the whole race was seeing this sign attached to three of the cutest little munchkins ever!  My darling friend Kelli's (pictured above) mom, helped Kelli's kids (who I teach in Kid Fit - and love to pieces) make this sign for me!  They were holding it up near the finish line and yelling for me!  It gave me all the mojo I needed to cross strong!  Thanks Jeannie, Kel, Tate, Whit and Reese! I loved it! 

6th Grade Graduate!

I can't say it enough . . .

Camryn is growing up too fast! 

It's crazy to think she will be in JUNIOR HIGH in just a matter of months! 

She will be ready (the mom is a whole other story!), because she is ready to conquer the world!

Camryn, you are beautiful inside and out.  We have watched you grow so much over the last couple of years, but even more so, over the last couple of months.  

You have the most amazing compassion for others, and have a way of knowing 

when someone needs a friend most.  It brings tears to my eyes to think of all 

of the times you've reached out to someone in need.  

You have a gift, and you really are something special. 

Camryn's 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Edwards

A dear friend, Maya, who will be missed, and who helped us all grow a lot this year.

Camryn and Mrs. Edwards

Lahela (Camryn's bestie), Rhylan (the picture spoiler) and Camryn

Had to post this one because it's so rare that I ever get a real smile out of her! 

 She is so dang cute!

 

Congratulations on such a huge accomplishment, Camryn!  The world is yours from here!  

You will do great things because you are an incredible kid!  

Never forget how much you are loved! 

Student Council!

Carsyn decided to run for 6th Grade Student Council . . . and she made it!

We are SO proud of her for having the courage and desire to go out for this!  

She had to run against 31 other kids, and only 12 were picked.

(which means that a lot of sweet little munchkins went home sad)

She had a fun campaign - and I would post it on here, but I somehow managed to delete all of the pictures

of her posters and stickers!  Brilliant!!!

She used the theme "Go MAD!  Vote for Carsyn Madsen!"

She decided (very late) the night before that she wanted to wear a t-shirt with her theme on it,

so luckily, her dad is a lot nicer than me and took her and her sisters to get shirts to decorate.

Her skit was a Mad Tea Party - which turned out really cute!

(Maybe one day I'll have the energy to post the video!)

Congratulations Carsyn T.!  We are so proud of you! 

You always amaze us with the things you "dare" to go after!  

You don't let anything get in your way - and have never let anyone convince you 

that you can't do something! (Including me!)  

You are going to do great things!

Brace Face!

This is kind of old news now . . . but that's how far behind I am! Camryn got her braces! She has to have them on for about 15 months, just to correct her bite - and not her already perfect straight teeth and smile! She makes a much cuter brace face than I ever did! 

Before

 And after!