Sweet Summertime

We've been having a very busy/fun summer so far! It's been relatively warm for Rexburg, so we spend a good part of the day outside. We love summer!

 Feeding the ducks

 At the zoo

 Getting dirty at the park

Cales' mom and grandma came out to help us celebrate Cale's 26th birthday back in May. (Dang, he's old!-just kidding :)) We hung out here for a while and then went down to Salt Lake for a couple days. There was great shopping and our hotel was amazing! We're so lucky to have wonderful family on both sides that travel hours and hours to see us!

One of the best parts of summer--early morning is perfect RUNNING weather! I ran my second half marathon and took four minutes off my first time, which puts me at 2:13 for my PR. My goal was 2:10, but the route was super hilly and I was about 5,000 feet higher in elevation than I was for my first race, so I'll take what I can get.

I just got back from running in the Ragnar relay at Wasatch Back last weekend. It was such a fun experience--definitely "bucket list" material. We started the 198 mile relay in Logan, UT and made it all the way to Park City, UT in 29 hours and 16 minutes. We placed 49th out of 1087 teams in our division and 106th out of 1390 total teams! The way that it works is that you have 2 vans with 6 people in each. You have 3 legs of the race that you are assigned to. The first person in the first van runs their first leg and then you go in order til you get to the last person. Once the last person in the first van runs their first leg, you pass the bracelet to the first person in the next van and go rest while their van runs their legs. When they are done, the last person in their van passes to the first person in ours and we all run our second legs and then the same thing for the third legs. I was able to run with my dad, mom, brother, uncle and cousin all in van #1. I had a 7.4 mile leg, a 4.2 mile leg and a 2.8 mile leg. The 7.4 was entirely uphill and without a doubt, the hardest run I have ever done. The name of it was "What the Hill?" if that says anything. The satisfaction of finishing was so worth it though! I am so grateful for the chance to be able to run in the relay and for all the work that went into making it happen. There was such a fun energy and I was inspired to become a better runner. I am so blessed to have Cale who supports me in my running and watched Elena the whole weekend so I could be in these races! I'm hoping this is something I can do again!

 Van #1 

 It's temporary :)

 The way the timing worked out, my second leg started at around 11pm so we got to wear fancy night gear. 

 Dropping the bracelet...I'm just so coordinated!

At the finish!

 Elena's souvenir! 

I was so excited to see this girl when I got home! It was the first time we'd been apart!

My family came up to Rexburg early to pick me up for the relay and stayed for a couple days. We had fun shopping, swimming and just hanging out. We were able to get some family pictures too while they were here.

In other news, Elena is POTTY TRAINED! I was so nervous to start, but once we got going, I wished I had started earlier! We took a weekend out of our schedule that we had no plans and stayed indoors. She woke up the first morning and I put her Hello Kitty underwear on. We talked about the toilet and that's where potty goes and that we don't want to get Hello Kitty wet. That was really all it took. The first day, she only had 3 accidents and they we very minor. The next day was a little different. I don't know if the novelty wore off, but it just wasn't working. It made for a lot of teaching opportunities though. The third day, something clicked and we didn't have any accidents! It has been smooth sailing ever since and I am so proud of my girl for getting it down so quickly! She does a great job while we're out running errands and is even dry after all naps and most mornings! Peace out, diapers! You will not be missed! Next mission: big girl bed.
 

 This was day 2. I was so close to giving up by this point, but who can be mad at that face?

Elena is such a good girl. She has no problem keeping herself busy and she can communicate exactly what she wants. She loves nursery and has fun playing with her little friends. She is a MAJOR sleeper and would sleep until at least noon everyday if I didn't wake her up. Her favorite movie is Wreck it Ralph and she loves playing at the park and on the merry-go-round, or the "horsies."

Cale is still working hard in school. His classes are tough, but he is such a trooper and is getting great grades! He does such a great job balancing school, and work and a family! A little less than a month left til summer break and we have some fun things planned! Cale's brother is getting married in Washington in about 2 1/2 weeks and we will be heading over for that. We are so excited to be there and see everybody! It'll be a quick trip, but we will get to see everyone again for a family reunion in Boise the first week of August. Then, my brother is coming to BYU Provo for his first semester and will be moving in towards the end of August. We'll go down there to get him settled and see some more family.

It's been a while...

Well, Elena is playing peacefully on her own and Cale is at work for the night so what better time than now to write a little update?

I'm so bad at this. I guess I'll start where I left off in November. We had a great, not to mention, low maintenance Thanksgiving with just our little family. Rotisserie chicken, anyone? Pretty soon after that, I GRADUATED! I literally did a little dance in my kitchen as I submitted my last assignment for BYU-Idaho. I am starting to look into colleges with a radiology program to get into ultrasound sonography.  It probably won't be for a while that I can actually start because we're not sure where we're going to end up. I love being a stay at home mom right now and wouldn't have it any other way. Cale did a great job on his fall semester, as well. It's amazing what a difference there is in school when you actually like your major!

For Christmas, we were able to head out to Illinois for a week. It's always great to go back home for the holidays. And boy, were we spoiled! It went so fast that we didn't even think to take very many pictures. These are from opening presents Cale's family sent over.

And someone LOVED Santa this year...

Cale was able to take some time off work and we drove over to Washington for a little while to visit his family back in February. It's sometimes a downer that we're the only ones that don't live close, but it's always fun to go visit. We had a lot of get-togethers, did some shopping and got see some of our nieces and nephews play some of their sports. Cale and I were even able to go on a date for Valentine's! We had a lot of fun seeing everyone!

Winter always drags around Rexburg and this year was no exception. Elena and I kept busy with crafts, toys, movies and games and once in a blue moon, we would go play in the snow. Definitely not my fave, but she loved it.

By the time March rolled around, Elena and I were getting ready to head off to Illinois for another trip. We were there for two weeks and I was able to run my first half-marathon with my dad and brother! I had been training since January and was so nervous by the time it came. You can only do so much with a treadmill and it was WAY too cold to train outside. My goal was to finish and to not walk and I did it! I was so excited when I finished that I signed up for another one during my post-race pedicure :) Now, I'm running the Teton Dam half-marathon on June 8th and I'm running in the Ragnar relay in Utah two weeks later. Aside from the race, we had a blast hanging out with my family in Illinois. We were there for Easter and I had a lot of fun playing Easter bunny with my parents. We were really sad to leave, but it was nice to get back home and see Cale. Elena was angelic on the plane and in the airport.

 Sleeping in church haha!

The day after we got back, Elena turned 2! She doesn't really like cake, so we went down the street and got some cake batter fro-yo at Kiwi Loco, put a candle and sprinkles on it and called it good. She had so much fun with the singing and presents that she has been talking about birthday parties ever since. (Luckily, Cale's birthday is coming up next week!)

I can't believe how grown up this girl is! She is so polite. Instead of crying (usually), she says, "Help me, please." She is always saying "please" and "thank you" and lately has started calling everyone "sweetheart". It's hilarious! She can communicate pretty much anything she wants with words and she understands whatever we say to her. She knows all of her body parts, animal noises, shapes and colors and she can count to twenty in English and ten in Spanish. She knows how to sing the ABC's (for the most part), Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Old McDonald, Popcorn Popping, Once There Was A Snowman, and Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam. Right now we are working on writing her name. I thought that we were ready to potty train, but she got sick this last week and now has shown no interest whatsoever. Ugh! She has gone on the toilet a lot, but it has just been random and nothing super consistent. We'll work on it some more :) She loves babies and takes such good care of her dollies. When she wakes up in the morning she yells from her crib, "Mommy, (or Daddy) get me out!" She is absolutely obsessed with Dora and I often bribe her with it. Not nice, I know. Lately, she has turned into a snuggle bug. She comes to me and says, "Come here. I snuggle you." Talk about melting my heart! Lately, I've been teaching her a little bit of yoga just for fun. Her favorite is downward dog and she's actually pretty good at it! She is such a girly-girl and is obsessed with pretties. She gets on me if her toe nails aren't painted. It's been warming up and we've been able to head over to the park a couple times. She loves it! I'm so blessed to be her mommy!

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