My First Marathon

Running my first marathon, and I'm hooked!

I ran the Top of Utah Marathon on Sept 15th, and I'm trying to figure out how to do another soon.

I finished in 4:10, not to shabby for the first marathon, and  not even really being too much into running until two years.

Nathan and I had signed up together, but he really wanted to do the Xterra Tri the next weekend, and didn't think he would be recovered enough by then. 

I actually enjoyed running it, and now I'm hooked.

 

Kristie and I at mile 24

Kristie and Tom seriously made my entire month, came up for the race, and Kristie jumped in and ran with me from mile 18-26.  At about mile 22, the tiredness hit. I had another chocolate GU gel, and made it through the last 4 miles.

 I'm apparently mad in this as I'm heading to the finish, I think I'm just trying to beat the clock from ticking away any more time.

 

Thank you Kristie, Tom, and Lilah for coming up to Logan!  When Kristie called that week to plan it, it made my whole month.  I was so worried about how I would get through the race because I didn't have anyone to run with.  It was so much fun to run with her the last 8 miles.  

Now we just need to sign up for one together, and get Angela in on the fun too!

James and Jack-Jack holding a sign for Mommy to go faster :)

 

Thank you Nathan for supporting so much to accomplish this goal!

(James was sad because he wanted my ice cream sandwich from the after race tables)

A Preschooler in the House

We have a preschooler in the house! James started preschool last week!

James on his very first day of school!

He goes two days a week for 2.25 hours to the new preschool here in town, and he loves it! His favorites when asked are "applesauce" and playing with playdough. I couldn't figure out what "applesauce" was, until I figured out it was the saying they say for kids to sit on their square cross-legged. I said "do you mean criss cross applesauce?" "Yeah, criss cross applesauce". I've caught him repeating it, to himself, I think he likes that tongue twister.

He is always excited to go to preschool. The teachers there love what they do, and love the kids.
I know it shows because the kids love school and their teachers.

I hope that he'll always have that love for school.
Keep learning little buddy :)

Backyard Oasis

The day before labor day Grandma and Papa met us at our house, then we went to Grandma Hiller's for a scrumptious dinner. Grandma has a backyard oasis, and so after dinner we enjoyed letting the kids run (or crawl) , hit the ball around, and get to talk and tell stories.
It felt like summer, but we know that this weather won't last forever, gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

Grandma always loves the babies :)

James going for the swing while Jackman looks on from Grandma Hiller's lap

Mommy and Jack-Jack enjoy the backyard beauty

Nathan and Grandma Hiller

Grandma and the two cute boys

Papa was tickled, then snuggled

Another one bites the dust

Our cousin Lacey Tanner married Travis Lott on August 24th in the Salt Lake City Temple, and were lucky enough to be able to go. It was so beautiful, her colors were very tasteful and went together just right, without too much of one. The bridesmaids outfits were so pretty, I loved them, might have to have her go shopping with me to pick out what I should wear.

Honestly, she was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. Her hair was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Lacey is gorgeous inside and out always, but on this day she just glowed. We are so happy for her, and Travis is really neat. From the Hiller Reunion, Travis held our little Jack for awhile, who just adored him. He faced her family during the ceremony, and it was awesome that you could see the love pouring from his face for her as they were sealed. We are excited that he has joined the family! Congrats you two!

The whole Tanner crew getting ready for a picture

The oldest sibling Angela and Jeff who live in South Dakota.

Kristie, Tom, and Lilah

A shot by the temple

Nathan and his mommy
It was great to have her come stay with us for this neat occasion

We are still pretty happy too :)

After the sealing we went to the luncheon with lots of other family members. Then we hurried home to the chillin's who were at our sitter's house. James and Daddy went to a father/son's campout that night. Mom Manwaring helped them get food ready (she is the expert at that), and I helped get them packed.
Then after they left she, Jackman, and I headed to Bountiful for the reception.
I wish I had gotten pictures, but I was holding Jack-Jack the whole night.
I love talking with Kristie and Angela, they are pretty neat girls, and I'm pretty blessed to be in the family too.
Nathan and James ended up setting up a tent in the backyard, and they slept very soundly.
Cute little guys.
Happy weddings!

Box Fun

Sometimes boxes make the best toys...

This day seriously made me consider never buying another toy ever again.

The boys helped me clean out the massive pile of boxes in the basement and take them to be recycled. James didn't want me to take them away :)

Coming Home

Saturday we came home. They plane ride home seemed longer, but maybe that was because Kristen and I didn't get to sit next to each other, and because of the whole time travel/time zone thing.

Before we got to the airport we of course stopped at a very touristy place ...Dunkin Donuts. I've always heard about them, and so we tried them for ourselves. Pretty tasty. Then we went to the Marines Memorial, aka the Iwo Jima Memorial.

This was the last memorial we found before heading for the airport. We gave back our rental car, and boarded the bus for the terminal (which was a bus ride away, a little different for us, but okay). I hope this won't sound like I don't love my kids, because I do, very, very much. I hadn't though had time to feel sad and miss them until waiting to board our plane, when I talked to Nathan and James, and James said he loved me. Then the waterworks started and I was ready to go home to my family. This was a good trip to take a break from life, and be able to go back and take it on again. Thank you Kristen for going!! She was so much fun!

I also realized while out in DC that I am living the dream. I know that lots of people say that, or you might think I'm just saying that and not being real, but after talking with singles in DC, and realizing that I am going home to a husband who works hard and provides really well for his family, two little boys who are as cute as buttons and are growing up well, we are all healthy, we have a nice home, I am able to stay at home with the boys, I have a position as a nurse but only have to work in the fall to give flu shots that allows me flexibility to stay at home with my babies, and I even have the dog with the fence (thought the fence is brown and not white, but it is see through like a picket fence). Anyway, point is, life is good and I don't want to take it for granted, so I will try not to each and everyday.

In Between Wedding and Reception Sight Seeing

A quick side note about back east: there were deer everywhere, and we saw baby deer all over, and they all came in pairs, and they seemed to understand not to go out on the highways because they would just eat the grass right next to the road, and we didn't see any dead ones like out here.

Two cute, baby spotted deer near the temple

Anyway, in between DeAnna's temple wedding and the reception that night Kristen and I had time to go do a little more sight seeing. Really, we were hungry because we didn't want to be late to the temple (turns out we could have been and it would have been fine, see previous post). Then with the wedding starting late, and then going longer than I've ever been too, we were starving for lunch. Not to mention the weird time zone thing, being hungry was an understatement. So we went looking for a place to eat. Turns out, we couldn't really find anything, and we actually wanted fast. Then we drove by the National Zoo (the entrance is unlike any zoo I've ever seen, off a semi-busy road, no parking in front). I said hey, lets go there, they've got to have food. The National Zoo is also part of the Smithsonian, which are all free, so the zoo was free! We parked on the street, walked in, and found a place to eat among the panda attraction. Pizza never tasted so good.

Look, a real Panda!

Eating his bamboo

A little elephant that made the blog because he was cute :)

Kristen and Kendra

We walked around for a bit, then we decided to go to the Arlington National Cemetary. That is an awe inspiring place. I know some history of it, and got to share it with Kristen, that it was once Robert E. Lee's plantation, and after the Civil War, it was taken and made into the cemetery to remind him of what had happened evermore. Any service man or women can be buried there now.

A sea of white headstones

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
We were able to witness a changing of the guard as well

The Kennedy's headstones and the eternal flame

I am so grateful for the freedoms that have been preserved be the sacrifice of the men and women buried there. It was such a feeling of peace there. A beautiful place.

After Arlington, (and walking around in I swear 90% humidity and 90+ degrees), we headed back to go to the reception. It was such a full day, we made the most of each minute.

My Best Friend's Wedding

DeAnna was one of the bestest friends that I made when I went to BYU. I always told her that when she got engaged she had to tell me right away because I would be there! Well, she did tell me, and I did get to go! DeAnna married Tim Newton on Friday in the Washington DC temple, and I am so glad and so blessed to have been able to be there. I love her to death, but anyone who lived with her knows that she can be late. She was a little late to the temple, but that was okay. What was crazy was that her siblings were late, really late. So the wedding started late, but it was beautiful. When they came out of the temple, it of course started raining (like we needed more humidity anyway), but you couldn't keep the smile off their faces.

Look how happy they look? And DeAnna is so pretty!

The Washington, D.C. Temple

Later that night we went to the reception. Funny thing was that we had gotten there after it had started from sight seeing in the afternoon, and as we were walking in (mind you it was an hour after it started) DeAnna and Tim were just getting there as well. We didn't miss a thing.
Walk in late and bump into the bride?!
Love that girl :)

Stole a picture at the reception.
Weddings are so busy, and everyone wants a piece of the bride and groom's time.
I'm glad that I got my picture!

Old Friends and Roommates
Kristen, DeAnna, and Kendra

Leaving the church in a sea of bubbles :)

I'm so happy for them, and wish them all the luck in the world.

Epic DC Trip Day 2

The second day we were in DC we were a little off because of the time difference. After waking up, and then realizing how late it was because of the said difference, Kristen and I headed out to brunch, then we went over to the church where the reception was to be held to see if we could help out setting up. We ended up making this ceiling:

There are probably over 35 sheets of that stuff draped through those lines of wire and lights. That took a bit longer than anticipated, so we didn't get to see part of the Smithsonian that day. We did then go to dinner with some friends of Kristen's that night while DeAnna had a family dinner. I got to meet Don and Heather Bugg. They are such neat people!! I really enjoyed talking and getting to know them, it was a highlight of my trip.


Again after dinner Kristen and I used our trusty neverlost GPS and figured out how to get to the Jefferson Memorial. We saw it from farther away, stopped, and got out to take a few pictures.

Then we saw people walking around it, even though it was later in the evening, so we figured out how to get closer to it, and were able to then go up to it too.

It is such a gorgeous memorial, one of my favorites.

A founding father

The view across the tidal pool to the Washington Memorial from the top steps of the Jefferson Memorial. Such a beautiful city.

After that adventure we went back to where we were staying (with some of DeAnna's old roommates from Maryland). Every place we went to seemed to be 30-40 minutes away from where we were. And it wasn't the miles, it was the slower speed limits that out west that I think took us longer. And we needed some sleep, the time difference and our constant go, go, go was starting to catch up. Of course when we did reach DeAnna's roommates place, we stayed up and talked about life, differences of East Coast and the West, they asked me about being a mommy, etc. Good times.

Epic DC Trip Day 1

This August one of my dearest friends, DeAnna Ray, was married in the Washington, D.C. temple, and I was able to go! DeAnna and I go way back to freshmen year in the dorms at BYU, and then we lived together in a "house of 6 girls" two years later. She is an amazing person, and everyone who meets her thinks so. She was one of my bridesmaids, and a keeper of secrets of mine. I am so happy that she met a wonderful man, Tim, and they choose to be married in the temple. Of course when I found out, I really wanted to go. I had a lot of Southwest Airlines points, so I was able to get a ticket. I emailed many of our old friends, and our RA from freshmen year, and my room roommate from "the house", Kristen, was able to go with. She was a fantastic traveling buddy. Even though we hadn't seen each other in a few years, we were able to pick up right where we left off, and had a grand adventure. The first day we traveled in and got to DC around 5pm EST. After some negotiating of our rental car (we almost ended up with this little clown car thing), we decided to see some sights before heading to where we were staying.
Driving around DC.
People were actually really considerate drivers, the highways all seem to go through forests, and without our neverlost GPS system that we nicknames Maggie, we would have always been lost :)
She would "ding" right before a turn we needed to take, and it was great

Also, with the time change, we weren't tired yet, and all the monuments are free, and open all night too. Check out what we got to see the first night:

Around the Washington Mall, and all that is there to see, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War Two Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Vietnam War Memorial. There was the huge reflection pool, but they were doing some maintenance on it.

Kristen and I at the Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial, there are a lot of names there. We were on the tail end of a tour there, and the tour guide made one of those names come to life.

View of the Washington Monument from the WWII memorial.
My two grandfathers, William Aderman (Navy, on the ship USS Warren), and John Grazulis (Navy in Phillipines) and my great uncle George Croker (USAF pilot in Europe), all served our country in that war.This memorial made the sacrifice that so many gave real.

We decided after seeing all these things we should head to where we were staying, and see more the next day.

That was all just day one! (really just a night, but it was like being back to my single days, and it was different not having to worry about kids schedules while on vacation)