A New York Christmas!

A month after my surgery, and I'm finally feeling 100%!

What a wonderful feeling it is to be able to have a perfectly happy throat.

No more sores on my tonsils.

No more headaches.

That awful surgery was well worth a month of my life.

We decided last minute to head to NY for Christmas.

It was perfect timing, since Chad's parents and two brothers were flying in from Utah too.

Staying in Times Square is always an adventure.

The kids kept calling people bad guys.

I shouldn't have shown them Home Alone 2 before we left.

We woke up the first morning to head out to the toy stores.

After a long day of shopping we met Mark, Liz, Tom and Travis at a live nativity somewhere in NY.

What a treat that was.

In fact, it might have been my favorite thing about Christmas this year.

To sit in that beautiful stone church, with high ceilings, children singing, and watching Mary ride a donkey between the pews toward the front of the church,

I couldn't help but feel the true meaning of Christmas,

remembering our Savior Jesus Christ.

It was just beautiful.

Thanks Liz for taking us there.

Thanks Liz again for taking some pictures of my family.

I usually choose to leave my camera at home instead of being tempted to watch the kids through a lens.

It's too easy to forget about my parental responsibilities when I've got my camera around my neck.

Here's some in front of the tree at Rockefeller Center

and

Some watching the light display on the side of the Macys building.

So much fun!

Oh ya, and Vanna and Jack on the bus.

My Christmas Day treat was getting to finally meet my new niece, Chantel. Liz is such an amazing mom, and it was a treat to be able to meet her new little baby, who was born 11 weeks early and is still in the NICU.

Wish me luck!

I'm going under the knife tomorrow! (I was going to make a funny joke here, about surgery, but decided it wasn't appropriate.)

The day has finally come for me to get my tonsils out.

And my deviated septum fixed.

And I'm freaking out.

Really.

I think I ate as much as I could today. The thought of not being able to eat scares me. So now, off to sleep, just to wake up and head into the surgery room.

I'm doing my best to be brave, but I'm not so good at that.

Wish me luck!!!!!

I love these guys!! Happy November!

I just found our Ocean City photos from our July vacation. How could I have forgotten about them?

Are you guys tired of race posts?

We just got done with another race! It was really fun pinning the bibs onto my 4 children this morning for the kids run. They loved the race and asked if we could do it again next week. I promised we would do it again next year. I am so glad they are catching on to the energy and fun of racing. Chad was so kind to sit out this year and be the responsible adult so we all could run.

I came down with an awful cold this week...and was a bit worried last night as I went to bed with an aching body and tissue stuffed up my nose. I probably should have not gone today, but I really wanted to qualify for the dc National Half Marathon, and I was worried about it filling up before I could find another race to run.

There is just something magical about racing. Every time I cross the finish line, I get really emotional. Today I felt so silly as I held back tears when I saw the finish line approaching. When I saw my time, I couldn't hold back any longer. I walked up to Chad and my kids and just sobbed. The look on their faces told me they didn't know what to think of me. My goal was to finish in 32 minutes, which is the cut off for qualifying for the Half Marathon. When I crossed the finish line, the clock read 23 minutes. The fastest guy was 15 minutes and the fastest girl was 17 minutes. Crazy huh! The last time I ran a 5k my time was 35 minutes.

I'm way too emotional.

But happy.

I got home and loaded up on the advil to bring my fever down, and I am feeling good. It's good to know that the runners high still comes even if you are sick.

Now for a few days of resting and snuggling my kids, then back to reality!

Thanks for letting me share this with you guys. It's nice having a whole blog of cheerleaders!

DC National, here I come!!!

RAGNAR!!!

Just a quick update! I just finished DC's RAGNAR relay.

What does that mean?

36 hours

7 amazing girls

2 hours of sleep (if that)

our team covered 201.5 miles

Lots of fun!!

Ready to do it again!

Here's just a few pictures. I'll put more up later, with all the gory details.

Bye!!!

Our team

Ready for my last run...

I'm still alive! Natalie and I survived the crazy trail run half marathon this weekend!

And it was so much fun...

I'm already geared up to do it again next year.

We climbed 2,700 vertical feet in the first 3.5 miles. Insane.

The rest of the run was great. I almost cried when I saw the finish line...I know, silly.

Natalie and I both had a couple of almost crashes, but besides a few scratches from branches, the only battle wounds we have are a few sore muscles. It was so much fun!!!

We both decided we have the best husbands...who doubled as camera crew and cheering squad. Thanks Chaddy. And thanks Nat for doing these crazy things with me!