First Day of school

 Jackson had his first day of school! He was so excited to go back, he kept saying "I hope so-and-so is in my class..."It was so cute to see him go. His teachers are great. He looked sooo handsome and Brian rode with him to school on their bikes.

Another thing I love about Jackson being in school is that it gives me one on one time with Zoey. While Eli is napping and Jackson is gone, She and i have some fun moments together. She is in this fabulously fun stage of dress up and make believe. On this occasion, she was grilling me birthday cakes. I had never had a grilled birthday cake before, but it was delicious! And she did it in her princess dress (on backwards), but it was the cutest thing.

There are fun stages to every age, I think, and I am enjoying it!

11 months old!

Eli is 11 months! Hard to believe a year ago I was hugely pregnant and ready to have a baby. A year goes by fast! 

Eli is our little walker now, he's moving all over the place. 

He's learned how to throw a nice tantrum from watching big brother and sister. He even will throw himself on the floor. I was shocked the first time I saw him do it! 

He likes to feed himself now. Cantaloupe and String Cheese are his favorites of the moment. 

He climbs and crawls on everything. Sometimes I wonder how he gets in the places he ends up in. 

He gives great hugs and open mouth slobbery kisses. 

He "wrestles" like a boy and barrels through will his head.

He  has a great laugh. 

He loves to be where we are, loves people. 

He's the best! 

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Epic Relay

Last weekend, 11 friends and I ran an Epic relay from Logan to Jackson Hole (our course was 206 miles long). It was an amazing experience. I was the team captain and had been looking forward to this race since January. I can't believe it has come and gone! 

On Thursday, we met as a team in Logan. We had runners coming from all over the state as well as from parts of Idaho and Wyoming. We chatted, decorated our vans...and painted toenails! We were the S.W.A.T team (standing for "sweaty, worn-out, and tired")!

 These are the girls from my van (we split into 2 vans with 6 runners in each). I was lucky to run with my sister and a few good friends from my ward. The two other girls I met on that day, but we got along great. We had the BEST van!! So much fun and positive energy!

We had a 6am start time, had to be at the check in by 5:30, but with nerves, we didn't sleep much. Here we are at the start. 

 Some beautiful country we ran through, it was gorgeous! I felt so lucky to run!

 My sister acting like a goof. She kept us laughing the whole time.

My sister and I with smiles on. Her goal was to run all her legs without walking, which she did- she rocked. mine was to run all my legs without walking AND with a smile on (which I did)! 

 It was literally a blast. I soooo want to do another one! Here is us finally making it to Jackson! Yipee!

The whole team crossed the finish line together. It was an emotional experience. Van 2 had it a little rougher, but I think all in all, we had a good time, but most of all, we made good friends!

Annie's wedding

 Annie was married in the Salt Lake temple on Tuesday. The kids survived well enough. They loved the temple the best. Zoey was running around screaming "This is the BEST. DAY. EVER!" For all of you Tangled fans out there...you might recognize where she picked this up!

Here are the kids waiting for Aunt Annie to come out. Zoey was so enthralled with the brides and the white dresses! She is already looking forward to her day and couldn't stop talking about it. 

 The new happy couple! We are so happy for them both and feel they make a great match!

 All the nieces wanted to help hold Annie's train. Anything they could do to touch her beautiful dress. Zoey was so happy to help.

 Annie and the nieces and nephews...a preview of what's to come for them- ha ha!

My handsome hubby (on the right) with his younger sister and brother. 

After the temple we had about an hour and a half until the luncheon, so we went to the church history museum and visited the interactive Book of Mormon display. I read about it in the Friend and wanted to check it out. It was quite amazing! The kids had fun. Above, Jackson is fishing from Nephi's boat. Below, Zoey got to dress up and dance in native clothing.

These next few pictures are what I spent two weeks of my life putting together! Annie had a vision and asked me to help pull it off...so I did what she wanted. I wasn't going to be a bridesmaid in name only after all....besides she's my sister-in-law! Of course, I would do it.  It was a ton of work, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. I really love getting creative and it's been a while since I've had my own project, so it was a perfect "filler". Although, it did encroach on my running, but I'm feeling prepared enough for my relay this weekend, that I felt it was worth it.

This is the buffet table. I created and wrapped all the boxes to make different levels of display. She had chosen candies and doughnuts to be served. We rounded up as many glass containers as we could find, and all the unique pieces really made a statement themselves. I loved looking at the fun vases, cake plates, platters, and candle holders we collected.

 My sister-in-law, Taraleigh helped design the tags. It wouldn't have looked near as cool without her help! She is so creative. The tags alone took hours to make. I stayed up WAAAY too late several nights making them. I also decorated the candles, mason jars filled with lemons and limes,  and made topiaries for display. The mason jars were repeated as centerpieces on the tables with flowers and wedding pictures.

Anyway, that was a ton of pictures. but it was a ton of work and I wanted to remember it! Two weeks of work for two hours of display! 

Below are some more fun wedding pictures, just candid. It was a beautiful day, but very long for the kids. I'm surprised they hung in there as well as they did! 

Zoey loved being in a white dress like Annie!

10 months!!

Ya...I can hardly believe it myself! Where has time gone? I love this picture of Eli because it's so typical of this age. He's tall enough now that he has a whole new world to explore! Things aren't bound to just the floor view that he has had for so many months. And explore he does! He gets into everything from toilets (sometimes unflushed if big brother was in the restroom earlier!), garbage cans, drawers (he actually crawled inside one the other day), the washing machine (pulled out all the laundry) and dirt! He loves dirt. Eating rocks and leaves are no big deal for  him. 

 Eli is starting to walk on his own now! He takes a few steps and then sits down to crawl...not that he can't walk , he just decides to stop. He' so funny. He also does better when we don't "stage" it for him, I usually catch him taking steps on his own without our encouragement. Here are a few shots of his efforts! His first steps were actually last Sunday, but he's really starting to take off now.

He's a great kid. He just got his 8th tooth and he is getting weened this week! He's a fast mover, knows how to get moms attention, and is the easiest kid to get excited. He is also going through a really cuddly phase- he loves to hug and lay his head on my shoulder and be held. I've never experienced that with my other two...they always wanted to be on their own unless they were hurt. We love him!! 

Summertime...

Two words: Family reunions! We had two this summer. They were fun and exhausting at the same time.

For the Beutler reunion we all stayed in a huge (beautiful) cabin in Afton Wyoming. We had so much fun that the only picture I stopped to take was this one. You can tell Eli was having the time of his life being out of his carseat...but don't worry, we weren't actually driving in this picture! Brian golfed, I ran (beautiful country!),  we played games, went on a hike, had fireworks, and the cousins enjoyed being with each other. The only thing we didn't get enough of was sleep.

I learned from the first Reunion to remember to bring my camera, so I snapped a few more pictures this time. For the Gray reunion we all stayed in a big cabin at Bear Lake. It was also a blast accompanied by very little sleep. We wore the kids out with activities. The boys went fishing while the girls took the kids swimming at a nearby pool. We also played at the lake (very little shoreline with the water being so high this year). there were only a few "beaches" open and they were crammed shoulder to shoulder with people. 

...and my sisters and I went for a 10 mile run! This was us at the beginning. At 6:30 am....all smiles. We kept each other paced pretty well. And although I had moments when I didn't feel my best, they passed and at the end I was surprised at how good I felt overall. My sister and I later said we should have added on three more miles and just made it a half-marathon! I wish we did.  We are all training to run a 205 mile relay race from Logan to Jackson  Hole in two weeks. I am soooo excited and pumped for the event. I have been training since January and can't believe it's just around the corner! I'm glad these girls get to do it with me! 

 We hiked through Minatonka cave later that day. The 400+ stairs were hard on my knees after our morning run, but it probably kept me loose and limber and prevented me from getting too sore. It was nice and cold down there and so we had to bundle up the kids, but they loved it. Both were great family reunions. We really enjoyed being around our relatives and exploring new places with the kids. 

We have had the bussiest summer (still more on the horizon) so we are looking forward to a weekend of NOTHING! I'll let you know if/when that happens!