Salt Lake City Half-Marathon...

4.18.09

*Blogger SUCKS! and won't let me turn my pics around, thus the crooked pictures. I'll keep playing with it and see if I can fix it...*

I must have been DRUNK when I signed up for the race. I was super scared/excited that morning as we (Me and friends Marti and Mindie, plus a friend of Marti's) left my house at 5:30 in AM to head downtown to the Gateway. In typical ADRIAN THOMAS GATHERUM fashion, we were LATE and ended up getting up to the start line 13 minutes past the start time! It didn't really matter though because your chip is activated once you cross the start line. Mindie and I started off at a really good clip, we ran the first 5 miles at about an 8:30 minute mile. I had hurt my ankle a few weeks prior and at this point I knew there was no way I could continue on at that pace for the next 8 miles, so Mindie went on ahead and I slowed down to about a 10 minute mile. Anyways to make a very long story short, it was the HARDEST thing I have done physically, WAAAAAAY harder than natural childbirth in my opinion. I thought I was going to die-literally. There were so many times when I wanted to call Neal and have him come get me (he and the kids were waiting at the finish line-how great is that???) but I kept going, I played all sorts of mind games with myself. I had 13 jolly ranchers in my pocket and ate one per mile, I would look ahead and set goals for myself that if I got to a particular marker, I could have a power goo etc. I also imagined how awesome it would be to see my cute little family at the finish line. I started crying when Neal called out to me right before I crossed the finish line! I was so happy to see them! I ended up finishing my first race ever in just over 2:18-my goal was 2:11 so I was a bit disappointed to not have finished it as fast as I wanted to. I have already signed up for my next 1/2 marathon in August. It's the Top of Utah half in Logan and I am hoping to run it in 2:00 or less. It turns out that my ankle was sprained, I had to rest it for 2 weeks after the 1/2 and now it's as good as new. I've been working on my time and I have shaved my mile down to about an 8:30 on a regular basis. I am super proud of myself. Can't wait for the Wasatch Back in just 3 weeks!

Easter 2009...

So thankful for Easter and what it means for all of us, both in the present and future.

Mexico 2009...

What a GREAT TRIP with a GREAT GUY! Love ya.

A loose tooth, "I wanna be brave", A whole lotta baseball and three months away from turning ONE!! In other words, a long catch-up post...

Holy cow! It's been WAAAAYYYYY too long since I last blogged. I have a lot to catch up on, thought I'd give an update on the kiddos and then go from there. First off, I have decided to hold off on going private for a bit. I haven't had the unwanted comments for a while, we'll see how that goes. Thanks for all of your emails, I'll hold onto them in case I do decide to go private.

ANYWHO...Let's start with Numero Uno. Gage has his FIRST LOOSE TOOTH!! He is sooo very excited, he's probably one of the only kids left in his class who hasn't lost a tooth and he couldn't be more happy about it! He says at LEAST 10 times a day, "mom, I cannot believe I have a loose tooth!" And, "mooo-om, did you forget I have a loose tooth?!?!?" So cute, can't wait for the tooth fairy to make her first appearance in our house. He is almost done with KINDERGARTEN!!! I cannot believe it. He is SUCH a great reader and LOVES math and is pretty much obsessed with Legos. He is playing baseball again and is doing really well.

Onto CRAZY number two. No, really he is (crazy) I mean. Boe is soooo excited for Kindergarten. He went to Kindergarten Orientation with Neal and had a lot of fun. They went to McDonald's for lunch and then got to go to the school and take a tour and get a treat in the lunchroom. He thought it was great. He knows his letters and sounds and I am hoping to get him on his way with reading before school starts in August. Boe dressed up as clown for circus day at school and today he dressed up as a fireman for "What I want to be When I Grow up Day" because, "I wanna be brave mom, brave like a FIREFIGHTER and save people, or maybe save ducks..." Um, okay Bobes, we sure do love you you little nut job! Boe is so fun and always sarcastic and except for the few times when he drives me NUTS for not listening and keeping on task, I have so much fun with him. He is doing AWESOME in t-ball and can't wait to play coaches pitch next year and he too is totally into legos. I have legos EVERYWHERE in my house.

Ryder turned NINE MONTHS on Monday April 27! Time FLIES when you aren't pregnant I tell you...He had his well-child check-up yesterday and is in the 7% in weight and 43% in height. He is crawling like crazy, cruising around furniture, standing on his own and I'd bet he'll be walking in the next month or so. He says "Da-da" "ba-ba", he knows yes, more and no in sign language and he waves bye-bye. He has THREE bottom teeth and although he is into EVERYTHING, he is still so pleasant and happy. He LOVES his brothers and enjoys "playing" legos with them-they enjoy it as well :) He LOVES table food, I think his favorite is spaghetti and meatballs, but he will pretty much eat anything we give him. We are enjoying his immensely.

Phew! I am glad to get caught up. I will post about Mexico, the half-marathon, Easter and other random activities in the next couple of days or so. I know you are ALL on pins and needles waiting!