Lately

We went to Kim and Eric's house to visit baby Jackson and everyone loves him. The kids loved playing in the swing in the backyard. Can you believe these cool summer nights? We have lucked out on weather this summer. 

We got bunk beds for the big kids... finally. So sweet Brooke has moved into her own room and sleeps in a real crib instead of the pack n play. I hope that C and C can share a room again, so far, so good. They love sleeping in the same room and talking at night. 

Happiest, cutest, sweetest baby in the world. Loves her baths. 

We have been making fun summer treats. Here we made some yummy chocolate popsicles. The kids were beyond excited to make these and eat them. Brooke loved them as well. 

Fourth of July

Have I mentioned lately how much I love the fourth of July? I think it just might be my favorite holiday. Every year we have so much fun and the kids enjoy it more and more. This year we made our annual trek out to Blue Hole. Aaron got there very early to secure us spots at the park and the best table in the shade. While he was gone we made and tasted a lot of cookies.

 Our friends all got there early and brought lots of food and family. After we were all set up, the kids immediately wanted to get into the water. We were soon playing catch and eating snacks. 

Yeah pretty sure Brooke is completely done with baby food. :)

Both the kids loved jumping off the decks into the water. 

Two faces we know very well. 

Aaron showing up the teenagers on the big rope swing. 

And my favorite part this year was Carson going on the small rope swing over and over and over. He did awesome.  Later he even did the big rope swing, he is fearless. 

We spent a lot of time swimming, laughing, and playing games.  

I did the big swing too, although its hard to see me. 

We were so worn out by the time we got home and took baths so we opted for sparklers at home instead of a big firework show. I missed the fireworks but the kids were just as happy with this. 

Happy Independence Day. I am especially grateful for a country where I enjoy so many freedoms as a female and where I am free to worship and learn as I choose. 

Jackson Wolf Nelson Brown

My newest nephew was born on July 3 at 3:05 PM. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 10 oz. and is perfect. I was able to be in the room when he was born and it was amazing. Birth is a miraculous thing and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude to have a healthy baby here. 

He had a few cousins who were very anxious to meet him and this one in particular is very smitten. 

Happy Birthday Carson

Our sweet boy is 5 whole years old! I cannot believe that my baby is 5 and going to Kindergarten soon. This is the first year that Carson was excited for his birthday. He looked at the calendar everyday and counted the days until the 29th. He talked about his birthday party all the time and who would be there. It made things really fun. 

We started off the morning with pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes (Carson's favorites :) and orange juice.

 Then it was time to open presents. Carson got a present from each of us and he wanted to play with each of them right away.

We spent the morning playing games and teenage mutant ninja turtles. Then for dinner we had the C Man's favorites again, cheeseburgers, fries, and corn on the cob. 

We sang Happy Birthday and blew out candles in honey dew (another favorite). 

My kids never wear clothes in the summer. 

The next day we had his birthday party at Lake Plugerville. It was perfection. We loaded up on water guns, buckets, bubbles, shovels, and our favorite friends. Then we got pizza and watermelon and juice boxes and the kids were pretty much in heaven. I had to beg them to come up for cupcakes and singing and then we didn't get presents opened until right before we left. We had so much fun and it was so fun to have Aaron there to wrestle and play with the kids. Our kids were exhausted by the time we got home. 

Carson has been the best 4 year old and we have been sad to think about him turning 5. He is such a great older brother. Just a couple of stories from his birthday that show was as sweet boy he is. During the party the kids all had water guns and were chasing me around the lake. Camilla wanted to come with me and Carson immediately told all his friends to not hit Camilla. Then he came up to Millie and gave her a big hug and told her, "don't worry Mill Mill I will make sure no one gets you, I will never let anything happen to you." For Carson's birthday Camilla gave him CandyLand. He was so excited to play it and immediately asked Millie to come play with him. She agreed and ran into the living room with him. Then I heard this exchange:

Car "Millie since its my birthday and my new game can I go first?"

Mill: "No."

Car: "Okay well maybe next game I can go first."

At this point I stepped in and made sure he went first. :) 

He is so much fun and such a brilliant boy. We are amazed at how quickly he is still learning things all the time. He tries so hard to be obedient and do what we ask him to. He was recently worried that his teacher at church was giving them fruit snacks as a snack at church and he asked me if he should tell them no since they don't make you healthy and strong. He feels so bad if he doesn't do what he is supposed to. 

Carson is a mega cheater, he cheats at games all the time and hates to loose. He still loves to play soccer and swim and jump on the trampoline. He also loves the iPad, especially Angry Birds and video games. 

He is still loves to cuddle with us and gives out plenty of hugs and kisses. (I hope this doesn't change) 

We love our C man!

Utah Valley Marathon Recap

The Saturday that we were in Utah I ran the Utah Valley Marathon. It was a beautiful race. It goes through the Provo Canyon, past Bridal Veil Falls (where I got engaged) and finishes in downtown Provo (where I went to school). It was so fun through a city that holds so many wonderful memories for me. 

On Friday I went to the race expo and picked up my packet and hung out with Jeana for awhile. Then we went and got dinner at Kneaders, yum, and I went home to try and get everything organized and get to bed early. I ate a snack at around 9 and then got everything organized for the morning and all the kids' stuff out. 

Saturday morning started very early, 3:30 AM. I got up and ate breakfast and got ready and Aaron took me to a bus in Midway which worked out perfect. Then I waited at the start line with Jeana until it was go time. 

The first 7 miles fly by and are through a small neighborhood, past horses and its the beginning so everyone still feels good. I tried to make myself run slow a I knew that this was an easy part of the course and I didn't want to run too fast. The hills hit you at mile 7 -9 and they hit hard. A lot of people started walking. I just tried to not look at my Garmin at all and know that I was moving really slowly but eventually I would go downhill again. The next 5 miles are just beautiful, they go by Deer Creek and the hills are more like rolling hills. I passed the half way mark at 1:45, exactly where I wanted to be. I knew I was going to see Aaron and the kids at mile 17 so I just tried to focus on getting to that point. At mile 14 the hills come back with a vengeance and this time the headwind came with it. Everyone was slowing way down again but I just tried to keep going and not pay attention to my pace. I knew that this was the hardest part of the race and at mile 17 I would be pretty much done with hills for the rest of the race. Finally it was time to see Aaron and the kids and my heart lept. I was so happy to see them and it gave me just the boost I needed. The headwind ended when we came out of the canyon and it is flat all the way to the finish. I kept trying to do the math in my head on where I would finish and I knew it was going to be close. ( I wanted to finish sub 3:35) I saw Aaron again at mile 21 and 24 and I told him at 24 that I didn't think I was going to make it. 

Then when I passed the 25 mile marker I did the math and I realized that I was going to make it as long as I didn't slow down. I was still feeling pretty good so I flew through the mile 25 aid station and pushed it to the end. The end of the race is big and people are cheering and I zoned in and sprinted to the finish. 

3:33:57

I was so, so happy! I found Jeana right away, she finished about 3 minutes ahead of me and rocked it. I started looking all over for Aaron and couldn't find him. We finally met up and when I told him my time he was so excited too. I felt really good post race and was lucky enough to have so much of Aaron' family there at the finish line. 

One of the first things I needed to do was feed my sweet baby. She is such a good baby. 

 

The race gives shirts to all the Boston Qualifiers. I love this shirt, it represents so much hard work. That last .5 mile I just kept repeating to myself, 4:30 AM wake ups, early bed times, turning down ice cream, lots of miles, blisters, lost toe nails - you can do this. 

It felt really good to have a strong race with a strong finish. Getting back into shape after a baby is not easy but running a marathon is easier than having a baby so it makes me tougher. :)

Then it was time for the kids' race. They were pretty tired after all of my activities but they still went out to run their 1K.  

This is about all Camilla ran, Aaron carried her the rest of the way. 

Carson ran as hard as he could. He loved it. 

They got medals and creamies, they were pretty happy. 

It was a beautiful day for running a marathon and I am so appreciative to Aaron for all the hard work her put in, not only on race day but all through training. He was so supportive of me and motivated me anytime I started to doubt myself during my training. Love him. I'm going to take him on a trip to Boston to say thanks. :)

Camilla

You may have noticed a disproportionate number of pictures of Camilla on our blog lately. I'm sorry, I can't help myself. I love all my children the same, I promise, but this little two year old has completely stolen my heart. (And made me lose my mind simultaneously:)

The Green Band

Yesterday we went swimming at the big outdoor pool at the Y for the first time this season. It is a really fun pool with big slides and sprinklers and waterfalls. When we got there we asked Carson if he wanted to take the swim test so that he could go down the big slide. "No thank you," he said. We didn't push it so we just played and swam and Carson and Camilla, who is fearless, went down the smaller slides and had a lot of fun. Then after about 30 minutes Carson decided he did want to go down the big slide. So we went and got the lifeguard and Carson did the test and was awesome. We were so proud of him and what a great swimmer he has become. He proudly placed his green band on his arm and went down the big slide all by himself, while Camilla screamed begging to go down as well. :) I just can't believe he has gotten this big. I mean that's my little boy taking the swim test so he can swim all over the pool by himself. I sure love him.