We've Really Tried!

So since September we've had a lot of things happen.  Halloween was fun.  Teigan was Little Red Riding Hood and Sawyer was the Big Bad Wolf.  I loved that they matched this year!  I will totally keep doing this for as long as they let me.  We went Trick-or-Treating in a new neighborhood where they block off the entire street and all the people that live there go all out.  They had train rides, homemade corn dogs and cider, and some were even playing movies and handing out popcorn!  All for free!!  It was such a blast!

Sawyer turned 3 on November 19th!  He is way into The Hulk and Avengers.  So his Birthday party was super hero themed with Avengers cupcakes and a cake that was red, white and blue in the middle.  He got mega boy toys too, which was good...and bad.  His favorite thing was the Nerf guns, which he kept shooting right in Teigan's eye.

Thanksgiving was in Salt Lake, as is tradition for us.  We had a blast as always.  Thanksgiving Day was the usual marathon of eating, playing, eating some more, and playing, etc.  Being able to spend some time with family was the best part.  Grandma Cooper sent us home with some amazing blankets that she'd made; one for every person!  She had a room full of them and she wasn't done making them!  I can't imagine all the hours she put into them!  We always love the presents that Grandma Cooper gives us.

December has been a whirl wind.  I volunteer in Teigan's Kindergarten class twice a month and help with the writing center which has been really fun.  I love being able to see what's going on and getting to know her teacher.  I also have been helping out with any class parties that they have.  For her class Christmas party we had hot coca and doughnuts and then had the kids make snow globes.  Another mom had gotten a copy of all their school pictures and laminated them then glued them to the lid of a jar.  Then she had all the kids get some confetti and some white glitter and fill the jar with water.  She then super glued the lids on so that they wouldn't come undone.  They turned out ADORABLE!
    My favorite activity this year, though, was our Christmas Express!  Steve took his trailer and we decorated it with garland and twinkle lights.  We got the kids ready for bed and placed a ticket on their pillows so that when they got int bed they found them.  Teigan was so excited!  They ran downstairs and right as we got our coats on the doorbell rang.  Steve was outside with a hole punch ready to punch their tickets.  It was magical!  They were SO excited!  We stopped by other's houses to pick up some more kids and then just drove around the neighborhood singing songs and having a great time!  It was definitely my favorite activity of the entire year!

We hope that everyone is doing well and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love, Steve, Kim, Teigan, Sawyer!!

Cedar City Half Marathon!

That's what I said...the Cedar City Half Marathon!!  I did it!  I ran 13.1 miles!  I still can't believe it when I think about it!

I decided to start running because I wanted to do something extra to get rid of some extra...ahem.  Then a friend talked me into running this half marathon because she said it was mostly all downhill, so I thought, "hey, if it's downhill, why not?"  So the training began!  I would run in the mornings on the treadmill for 30 minutes or so.  Some nights I'd run with some ladies for maybe 2-3 miles.  I thought I was going to die!  It was so hard!  I'd run for maybe 2 minutes and have to stop because I couldn't catch my breath!  I felt awful because I knew I was holding the others up.  But I kept at it.  To be completely honest, it wasn't my main focus.  I was still mostly focusing on my Zumba 3 nights a week and running came second.  So if I had time for it, I'd run.

Well 3 months later...the race was here!  And for the 2 weeks before the race, I didn't run at all!  I know, I know, what was I thinking?!  The bottom line was that I just didn't feel like it.

The morning of the race was here and I got up at 4 am.  My ride picked me up at 4:45 and we headed to Cedar City.  Riding in the car in the dark all I could think was, "what am I getting myself into?"  We got there, picked up our bags, popped the pain killers, ate some Marathon bars and drank some Gatorade.  Everything was a blur.  We hopped on the bus and started up the canyon.  It was still dark.  People were laughing and talking, and I just sat there listening.  I sputtered out a few nervous comments to my friend trying to calm my own nerves.  We finally got to the starting line.  It was freezing!  There were people dancing to the music that was playing in the background, some huddled around a big fire, but most were lining up at the bathrooms.  I was there too.  I put on my jacket and gloves and tossed them into the truck that took them back to the finish line.  Then I noticed people heading to the starting line and I knew that this was it.

There was no big signal to start the race, people just started running.  I was in the middle of madness!  I quickly moved to the side so that they could pass me.  I turned my music up loud enough to drown out their footsteps.  And I kept running.  As I passed mile 2 I thought,"That's it?!"  But I kept running.  I looked up and was the amazing canyon walls around me and how beautiful they were.  There was a cool breeze that seemed to be pushing me onward down the hill.  I kept running.  The next thing I know I'm passing mile 7!  I looked at my clock and an hour had passed.  1 HOUR!  I had run 7 miles in 1 HOUR?!  That was new for me!  So I kept running!

Mile 10 was when it got really hard.  They had us detour off the road and onto a trail that ran along the river and took us into town.  It was a constant up and down.  My legs were screaming for me to stop!  I listened and began walking fast.  By the time I got into town there were only 2 miles left!  Those were the longest 2 miles of my life!  I could see the finish line but they kept weaving us through the streets.  It was so hard!!  I kept looking behind me to see if there were still people so that I wasn't last.  If anything, I did NOT want to be last.

I turned the last corner and saw the end!  I walked a bit further and began running again.  Then I saw Steve and Teigan and Sawyer cheering me on and waving!  I was so happy!  As I crossed the finish line there were people there giving me my medal and congratulating me and all I could think was, "It's OVER!!"

I spent the next two days not being able to walk.  My legs hurt SO bad!  But I did something I never thought possible...I ran 13.1 miles!  (Plus I did it in less time than I thought!  I thought I ran it in 2 hours 33 minutes, but if you look in the picture, it was 2 hours 18 minutes!!)

Memorial Day

This year Steve and I just wanted to escape the heat, so we thought a trip to the mountains in order.  We packed up the kids and had some friends come with us and went to Pine Valley.  It was gorgeous!  The weather was perfect!  The recently upgraded their camping up there and it was amazing!  We found a perfect spot that was just up the hill from the creek and surrounded by trees!  The kids had a blast!  Some friends brought their dogs and that just made things more exciting for the kids!

We went on a fun little walk down to the lake and back.  It sprinkled a bit but it felt wonderful!  We roasted hot dogs and had marshmallows and chocolate, visited with friends, all the fun things you do when you're in the mountains.  It was simply wonderful!

There's a First Time for everything!

The first weekend in June I took a trip to Vegas to get certified as a Zumba Instructor!  It was awesome!  After an all day training/workout, I got my certificate.  It felt so good to have actually done something all the way and followed through.

I had a great opportunity to go to SLC a couple of weeks ago with the owners of The Warehouse and some other awesome ladies from Zumba class.  We all went to a Master Class (for those who don't know what that is; its a 90 minute Zumba class taught by the higher up people in Zumba...ZES a.k.a Zumba Educational Specialists) taught by two ZES from Miami!!!  It was more like a concert experience than a workout!  It was seriously SO MUCH FUN!!  But...it was SO HOT!  We were all sweating before it even started!  But it was worth it.
Later in the day I had the chance to go to my first ZIN Jam (its a class for Zumba Instructors where they can learn new routines from a Zumba Jammer...the ones who make up routines for us to use if we so choose).  I loved it!  They keep the classes small, 30 people tops, so that we can all get some one on one time and get to know the other instructors there.  That was 3 hours long!  But the time went by so fast and I learned SO much!  The fact that she provided snacks and drinks didn't hurt much either!

And then to top it all off, tonight I got to teach my very own routine for the first time ever!!  It was the cool down; so nice and slow (a perfect starting point for me).  I choreographed it to Michael Buble's "Feeling Good".  And it was great!  I didn't get nervous; I felt perfectly at home actually.  It was weird.  But I managed to smile and sing along to the music and just have a great time.

I seriously feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to do this!  I've been really pushing myself to go outside my comfort zone and do something different.  And I'm not going to lie, its been tough.  I'm NOT an outgoing person AT ALL so for me to try and talk with people that I don't know and that intimidate me is really hard! But, you know what, its been great because I feel like I got to know people and made some new friends!  It's been wonderful!

The First Time

Geez I can't believe that it's already half way through June!!  Where has the time gone?!  My days seem to mesh together some times.

*Disclosure*  There are A LOT of photos headed your way...

Let's see...where to start?  At the end of May I had my 10 year high school reunion!  That was weird.  It was fun to see some friends that I don't get to see often.  But I don't feel like it's been that long since high school!  I guess I just don't want to realize it.

On the same day as my reunion my family loaded up and drove down to Mesquite for my Aunt Luanne's 80th birthday party!  She is the nicest lady!  I love listening to her stories and watching her and my dad and their other 2 sister's talk about "old times".  It was fun to see all my cousins too; its been a VERY long time since I've seen some of them in fact.

The next day we loaded up, again, to start our trek to Disneyland!  Oh I was so excited!  Steve and I started a little earlier than the rest of my family so that we could stop in Vegas at the Disney Store to pick up some souvenirs for half the price!  We made pretty good time too.  We made it to Anaheim by 4 in the afternoon!

It was all the kid's first time to Disneyland so they each got a fun pin that they got to wear all day!  The first thing we saw when we walked to Main Street USA was the White Rabbit, Alice, and The Mad Hatter!  Teigan and Sawyer loved it!  Sawyer LOVED the Dumbo ride!  He made me a little sick actually.  He kept going up and down as fast as he could!  Oye!

We got to take Teigan to Ariel's Grotto for lunch with the Princesses.  She loved it!  She got so excited each time a new princess was introduced!  The food was ok, nothing special.  But the dessert...that was awesome!  They has a white choc. sea shell, brownies, macaroons, etc.!  Yummy!

We spent 3 glorious days there and I already want to go back!  There was just so much we didn't get to see or do!