Hello from Utah!

We have now been in Utah for a little over 2 weeks. The drive up was not as bad as I had expected! We left early Friday morning & made it by 8pm Saturday night. My dad flew down to TX & then drove back to Utah with me. He pretty much drove the entire time except for maybe 3-4 hours of it. Thanks Dad! We went stayed the night in Pagosa Springs, CO where my aunt & uncle live. It was 1 1/2 hours out of our way, but well worth it! I told Kiley that I wouldn't mind living there when all is said in done! It was so beautiful & quaint! Loved it! My Aunt Mary & Uncle Butch have done a lot with their yard. It was quite the garden!

We left the next day & made the 7 1/2 hour trek to my parents house. Surprisingly the kids did great. There were a few times Livy needed to just get out of her car seat & roam the car & the boys did need to be bonked on the head a couple of times, but other than that, it was great. I would definitely do the long drive again!

We have had so much fun & have LOVED the weather. Yes, it does get hot during the day, but their is no humidity & the evenings are amazing! We spent the first week playing with cousins & having sleepovers, too. Teagen & Brayden were having a conversation in the car the other day & I was eaves dropping. This is what was said:

Teagen: I like Utah the best.

Brayden: Me too. We have lots of cousins & friends to play with here!

Teagen: I wish we lived here.

Brayden: Me too!

That made me so sad for them! It is a lot more fun being around family-but I have got to make Texas a little more exciting for them so that they love it there, too. The first week here we had lots of fun playing with cousins & having sleepovers! I don't normally let my kids have sleepovers, only if it is with cousins. They had fun swimming in the "recycling" can-don't ask! Fun running races in grandma & grandpa's big back yard.

Kiley got here a week after we had been here. We went up to his sisters house in Rexburg, ID for a few days. That was AMAZING! The weather was perfect. Teagen & his cousin Brady rode their bikes all over & we didn't have to worry about them getting hit by cars etc! Brayden & his cousin Spencer played so well together & enjoyed helping Uncle Rich on the farm! They swam & played literally all day long! Teagen loved the 4 wheeler & Kiley even taught him how to drive. They boys loved going for rides on it! I did get sick with some nasty stomach bug & spent a lot of time in the bathroom. Unfortunately, this was just days before the big Marathon-I will post more about that later! The pool, 4 wheelin, good food, riding the motorcycle, watching the crop duster, getting blasted at 3 in the morning with the pivot, a night out at the movies, Cold Stone, & good company=PRICELESS! Thank you Blasers for such a fun few days! We love you guys!

The 24th of July was a blast, except for I was barely able to walk! We had a little BBQ at my parents with all of my siblings & kiddos. The kids had a good time on the slip n slide! It was a LONG day, but one full of great memories! Liv has absolutely adored her Uncle Shawn & her Grandpa Tom. She has a thing for men & won't give women the time of day, except for her mommy, of course!

We spent a day with Kiley's sister & her family, The Conrad's. It was fun to have dinner with them & let the kids run wild! They had these things called Kinder Eggs or something like like (German made) & the kids (adults, too) had lots of fun opening them & putting them together!

We had a fun family BBQ on Saturday with several of his sisters & their families & a couple of our nephews whose families live out of state & then of coarse a few of my siblings & my parents & some of our friends stopped by, too! It was a lot of fun! The kids had a blast playing on the slip & slide & swimming in the kiddie pool! Kiley left on Sunday. We were so sad to see him have to get back to work & leave us for a long 2 weeks!

Memory Lane......

Okay, so I don't normally take the time to do tags & all of those other cute things, but I couldn't resist this memory one. It is cute & I have had fun leaving memories on several of my girlfriends blogs! So if you have a memory of me, leave it!
Love,
Jen

I thought it would be fun! I hope you will play along.

Here are the directions:1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

UTAH here we come!

The kids and I are heading up to Utah this weekend. My dad flies down tonight and then we are braving the 20+ hour drive Friday & Saturday. I am really nervous about this drive. It seems like the car is where my kids fight the most & Liv screams the loudest! Why am I doing this to myself? Truly, I do not know! Okay, I really do know......we miss our family & friends up in Utah, we miss the "cooler" evenings & mornings (a little sick of the humidity here), I am running the Deseret News Marathon on July 24th, and we need a break from Texas life! AND, I really need a break from trying to keep up on the household duties. Kiley has a week off, so he will be flying up on the 19th & then back home on the 27th. He will be able to cheer me on while I am running. He wasn't able to be at my first marathon a few years ago because he had to be here in Texas for a rotation. I am very happy to know that he will be there at the finish line to resuscitate me! My good friend, Andrea & her hubby Austin will also be running. Andrea & I have been doing our LONG runs every Saturday together. This last week we did an 18 miler! It was tough......I am so grateful to have had a running buddy on these horrific long runs. Good Luck Andrea & Austin!

Just finished up a whopper of a run (18 miles)!

The kids & I will be up at my parents house in Highland, so we would LOVE to see any of you who are in Utah or will be there visiting as well!!!! We will be there until the 6th or 7th of August & then we'll head back down to Texas with my little sis. Should be an adventure!