I'm Back!!!

I feel like I start out my new posts with the same line..."I know it's been forever since my last post..." blah blah blah! Summer has been crazy for us and after awhile thinking of all of the things I need to post and pictures that I have taken that need to be on here...it gets a little overwhelming! Anyways, summer has been so much fun for us this year and I have so much to share about our families little adventures.
A couple weeks into summer Ben decided we needed a little break from every day life and some time just for me and him...so we went on a cruise! We booked this cruise a few months prior with some of Ben's Idaho High school friends (who I am just as good friends with their wives actually so I should just say my friends!) and it was a blast! The first night we drove to Vegas and played there all night, then off to San Diego where the ship took off! It ported in Ensanada Mexico and the Catalina Islands. The weather wasn't the greatest, we had one really good day, but it was still so much fun. Sleeping in, eating, going to shows, eating, shopping, eating, taking naps whenever we wanted, eating...did I mention the eating part? As you all read from the earlier post, my wonderful Grandpa who I miss so so much had passed away a few days before we were scheduled to leave. I didn't know how much fun I would have dealing with all of that and leaving my family during this time. But Ben is seriously the best most loving husband in the world and knew that cruise was exactly what I needed during that time. And he was exactly right. We were with the best group of people and had such a good time. Thank you to Ben's sis Tiara and my mom for taking my kidos, they were missed very much...but it was much needed time for Ben and I and we miss it already! As many as you know I did end up running that Wasatch Back Marathon with that team of girls from my ward. It was one week after we got home from our cruise, so I was nervous about that but it worked out great. It was 188 miles total and we all ran 3 separate legs during different times over a 24 hour span.(Maybe more then that actually) It started in Logan Utah and ended up in Park City, Utah...so quite a long ways. It was the hardest, dumbest, worst, most wonderful, awesome, rewardful experience of my life! I trained for 7 long months and even though it was gruesome most days (only because the only time I had to train was at 5 am because Ben has to work at 6-630 am) it was so good for me. Even though during the whole experience, as much as I said I hated it and would never do it again...I missed it the second it was over and will definitely do it again. I would say the hardest part was the no sleeping part. Imagine this...2 vans of 12 girls, 6 in each van. The first van goes and all the girls in that car take turns running their legs, then our first runner takes off when their last runner finishes..then our van goes and all of those 6 girls take turns running theirs. There wasn't alot of time in between to get sleep because we were either running or driving to the next stop! We lived off of bagels, ppj, and gu for 2 days..and the porta potties got old REALLY fast! The hardest part of the race for me was my last leg which was called the "Ragnar leg" It was like climbing Mt. Everest!!" The incline was almost not even runnable and was super challenging...I lost 2 toenails and was shaking by the time I finished...but it was amazing. Anyways, I made some amazing new friends during all of this and can't tell you how much I learned about myself, my body, my faith, my strength, and my limits. Thank you to all of the girls who pushed me and believed in me! I love you all! For the fourth of July we were in Rexburg, Idaho. My mom's family always has a family reunion over that time. Ben also had his ten year class reunion that same weekend so we were able to do both! We went to the Rexburg parade which we love to do every summer. (mainly because everyone jokes that Ben should be the mayor of Rexburg because he knows EVERYONE there...so we visit with everyone during that time) and then went the Idaho Falls fireworks that night. My kids loved it! Now to the next part of our summer! We took our little family of 5 camping for the first time this summer! My family had a reunion up in Idaho at Heise. It was so much fun and my kids did awesome. We camped in tents, went swimming, visited with family, it was great! I have the neatest family and loved spending time with all of them. SO, we are now home and enjoying it! Sometime summer feels like we go go go, and it's all fun stuff but I feel like we need some major down time afterwards! My kids seem to grow a whole foot every summer, and believe it or not, Talon will be ONE YEARS OLD this Saturday! Wow, where has the time gone? I love my family so much and even though sometimes it's super stressful being a mom of three kids 4 and under...I would not take a second of it back, I have enjoyed every moment and honestly feel so blessed to have the life I do. I hope you all have enjoyed your summer as much as we have! Oh and beware, below are just a whole bunch of pics of our wonderful summer...sorry, it's really long!!!