Yearly Midnight Run...or walk in my case

Us Sailor girls have started this tradition where we do the Midnight 5k in Sandy together.  If you flashback to last year I was about 6-7 months pregnant.  So, this year was better just for the fact I didn't almost have to ask a random person to use their restroom a mile in AND when I did run, I didn't feel like I was running with a bowling ball attached to my uterus.

Sara and I were running a little late to get there so Sara literally ran into line to start.  She is definitely the "fit" Sailor.  She is a great runner and does it regularly.  I have tried to run and tried to get into it...and...well...I hate it.  I would much rather do some other form of exercise.  I tried Pilates a few years ago with Sara and I LOVED IT!  If it wasn't so expensive, I would keep doing it.  But as for running, it is not my thing! So, the first 2 miles I walked with Heidi and Jody and I jogged the last mile.  My Aunt Debbie also was a go getter and ran/jogged the 5k.  My mom wasn't able to attend this year, but we did miss her!  She will be there next year when we do it!  Who knows, maybe next year I will try and run the entire 3.2miles...but don't hold your breath!

Here is me, Jody and Heidi during the race.  Obviously we didn't care much about the time if we stopped to take a picture! haha.  Also, notice the glow in the dark necklaces.  It is cool to see everyone there with glow in the dark stuff on.  Some people go WAY out!

 Sara and me just before heading home.  We are starting to look a little tired.  Mind you, it is about 1am at this point.

 Heidi, me, Sara, Jody and Aunt Debbie all done with the race.

Even though I don't love running, it is fun to get together with these women once a year at midnight to chat for 3.2 miles and make memories!

The ups and downs

Life definitely has it's ups and downs!  Thursday night after work I ran some errands and I was at Target and I was leaving (or trying to leave) and my car wouldn't start AT ALL!  So the history of my little car is this...it's a grandma car.  No really...it was James' grandma's car.  When she couldn't drive anymore, we bought it from her.  She had wrecked it pretty bad before so it didn't run really great, but heck...it got us from point A to point B...until last night.  It also was having major issues earlier this month but my amazing husband fixed those issues so we thought we were in the clear.  Think again.  So, Thursday night was a definite LOW because I thought we were going to have to buy a new car and now is just NOT good timing for that.

So because all this happened at 9:30p.m. and Tucker goes to bed at 7p.m., James had to wake the beast to come save the day.  Tucker was good at first, I think mostly because he never sees nighttime since he sleeps from 7p.m. to 7a.m. so I think he was just confused on what was going on.  This was him just pulling his new favorite move in his car seat. (Look at those yummy rolls...LOVE IT!)

 James was checking everything out to see what it was.  And James' awesome brother, Jeff came to lend a hand.  I am soooo grateful for James' family and how willing they are to drop what they are doing to help out the fam!  James just called to ask a question and Jeff said he was on his way...so awesome! 

Luckily my AMAZINGLY TALENTED hubby fixed it today!  Seriously, I am so grateful for my husband who can fix and build pretty much anything!  Saves us a lot of money and me a lot of stress! 

So, to counteract that horrible night, we went hiking today.  We really have been wanting to take the dogs and Tucker hiking, so we just did it.  We went up to Dog Lake trail in Millcreek.  It was pretty darn steep.  I was not expecting it to be that steep, but it was a great workout and pretty fun.  Mostly because I just got to hang out outside with my favorite men!  We didn't make it up to the lake because James had to be at his softball game, but there was still lots of water for the boys to play in!  There were streams that criss-crossed the trail.  Very beautiful trail and very shaded!  We will definitely be doing that again. Hopefully having enough time to go to the lake.

So I realize that life is going to have it's LOWS, it's inevitable, but I am just grateful for the HIGHS to help me get through the lows. 

Livin' the Dream

 Well, so far we had quite a blast this summer.  Lots of sun, that's for sure.  The top pic is of Tucker at the Herriman beach.  He LOVES the sand and playing in it endlessly!  The next pic is of him just getting done swimming at my friend Jen's pool.  The whole time he seemed like he wanted to go under the water, so I waited until the end to try it.  I blew in his face then dunked him quickly and he LOVED it!  Sara was shocked that he loved it so much!  So, I did it again to see if it was a fluke, and nope, he is our little fishy!

 For Father's Day I did a few things.  One day I gave him a new church outfit, another day I gave him his hammock I got him, and the last day I gave him a cute saying with candies.  Of course he has to set up everything right away when he gets it, so he had to set it up in our living room of course! haha

 On Father's Day we went to my Grandpa's and had a BBQ.  The played in the water a bit as well. Everyone LOVES Tucker!

 So special to have my Grandpa get to know Tucker!

 All the grandkids...Bailey, Connor, Braxton, Miley and Tucker.

 SOOOO grateful for this amazing man!  James is seriously the best dad, husband and friend!  I am one lucky gal!

 Tucker is all ready for the 4th of July! (Notice his way long hair!  It is cut now.)  We headed over to The Overby's for the BBQ.

 Mack is always loving on Tucker.

 Tucker's little buddy, Miley.

 Notice the clock in back says 7:30p.m. Tucker usually is down for the night at 7p.m. and if not, he is a mess!  I had to walk around with him in the backpack for a bit until James took him home.

 Grandma saying goodbye.

 Sara saying goodbye

 Then last week we headed to Lake Powell.  James left Sunday with his entire family and me and my sister in law left wednesday to meet up with them.  I was super stressed trying to get the dogs all ready to go to my sisters, and Tucker all ready to go to my moms and then get me ready.  I wasn't really sad leaving Tucker, more concerned for my mom.  He is a handful and I was hoping she could keep up with him.  But, we tried to relax and enjoy our trip...which we did.  One of the main places you would find James and his 3 brothers were on the sailboat.

 My hot husband!  LOVE HIM!

 They also played bad mitten....

 Rumba party on the beach lead by Amelia....

 Launched rockets....

 Read books....

 and even knee boarded.

 Jeff, James, Randy and Spencer

 Sooooo glad I went and tried to relax a bit.  It was much needed!  But, I was also glad to see my cute boy when I got home!  Another Lake Powell trip down, many more to come!

Dogs...or should I say children

Before I got my chocolate lab Milo, people always said having dogs is like having another child.  I always blew it off thinking, "No, it can't be that bad since you just leave them outside to hang out."  Well...I should have listened! 

Now I not only have 2 chocolate labs, but a six month old baby as well.  I LOVE my doggies, but MAN...Tucker is really my third child, not my first! 

This is why I think dogs are like children...if not harder!

1.  Going on most vacations is impossible!  At least with children you have more people willing to babysit.  Finding dog sitters is ridiculous!
2. Yes you can leave them alone for long periods of time, but you never know what destruction is going to be there when you get home!
3. You have to 'register' your dog every year with the county...REALLY??!!
4. You can't just go out and enjoy the sunshine, you have to leash them up!
5. If they get out or lost, they can't tell someone what their phone number is.  Instead, you have to have faith that a very nice person will find your dog, and if it's nighttime, hold the dog until the next morning until animal control can come and get them. 
6. You have to clean up pee, poop and barf out of the carpet just like a child.
7. Cutting their nails is harder than cutting your own childs.
8. They cause our grass to look like it has a disease.
9. At least Tucker will be able to communicate in the future what is wrong with him.  Milo and Mack it's a constant guessing game!
10.  And my biggest annoyance with having dogs is the HAIR!  It is EVERYWHERE!  No matter how many times I vacuum and clean, there is no getting rid of it!!

So you are probably thinking I hate my dogs now.  I really don't!!!  I love them so much and already know it's going to be rough when they pass.  This is just a heads up for all of you out there who are thinking about getting a dog.  It is just like having a child, if not harder!  So just know that a lot of work goes into it...but on the flip side, there is nothing better than being able to cuddle up with them and have them love you no matter what your day was like or what you have done.  I cherish this time with my doggies and wouldn't change having them for anything...except maybe a little less hair all over the place=)

6 months...really??

 I cannot believe my baby boy is 6 months old already!  It is so crazy!  We were able to get his pictures done last minute for the big 1/2 birthday and they turned out pretty well for it being so last minute.  Here are some of my favs!

 Also, here are some things about our Tucker.  He has been sitting up on his own for about a month now.  It really did happen over night! haha. 

 He has the cutest little giggle and lights up our home whenever he smiles!

 He is looking more and more like his daddy every day!

 He loves little kids and dogs and could watch them play all day!

 Tucker loves being outside and we learned he loves swimming!

 He 'sings' during the hymns at church.

 He is a great eater (as you can tell) and we haven't found anything so far he won't eat!

 He hates his tummy now, but loves standing and sitting.  Getting him to crawl might be harder than we thought.  It's a good chance he will walk before he crawls.

 He doesn't mind his helmet at all anymore and it has already worked its magic.  We still have about 2 months left, but we already got our money's worth!

After about a year after James and I were married I remember thinking "What was life like BEFORE I got married?"  It was like it was so normal and meant to be.  That's how I feel about Tucker.  "What did I do before he was here?" I wouldn't trade him for anything!!!  I have known all my life that I wanted to be a mom and when we tried for 3 years and it wasn't happening, deep down I knew it would work out SOMEHOW, SOME WAY!  I am so incredibly grateful for Heavenly Father blessing me with him! Seriously, don't you want to eat those cheeks???  He is so YUMMY!