Arizona B&B

This year Sara joined me in Arizona to celebrate my 35th birthday. I came to run the PF Chang's marathon and bask in the beautiful 80 degree winter weather!

Our first afternoon with Mom was spent shopping and dining, while we waited for Trace to fly in from Holland. We unpacked all our loot and I brought tons! The next morning we woke bright and early to go to a class, and then roused Mom for a day of shopping and a yummy home cooked meal. We went to see Bride Wars with Paul, DeNae and Dawn.

Skeen's home is the ultimate vacation destination. The guest rooms are like little suites at a bed and breakfast.

This is my friend Dawn and her hubby Chad, who was in my ward growing up. Dawn and I had both been in training for the marathon. With an injury, she decided to do the half. Sara and I joined her on two mornings for workouts at her gym. I'm not much for sleeping in when on vacation. She was so fun to hang out with!

On my birthday we did an early morning class at Mom and Dad's gym.....layed out at the pool, went shopping for summer swim attire and home decor, and made a delicious dinner (I don't like to eat out the day before a race.....but I'll still go on a hike and stay up till midnight!)
Played cards with Mary and David. I love Grandma's competitive nature. It makes beating her a lot more fun! I'm not a cake girl...so for my birthday Mom bought HUGE delicious sugar cookies from Poppy's. The reason I'm not holding one is, I had already eaten it before my gift opening had begun! Tracer took us on the most fun night hike up the Superstition Trail. He is Grizzly Adams....or whoever that outdoor Mt. Man is! He packed in the fire wood and kettle to make cider...flashlights, popcorn, and bottled water. The sunset was gorgeous. I'm suprised he didn't build us a bench to sit on by hacking off all the pricklies on the cactus!

Mom and Dad make any adventure more fun by going the extra mile and therefore making it more memorable.

Dad dropped me off at the marathon at 6:30. My goal was to run it in 3:45 the time I needed to qualify to run the Boston Marathon. I had done it a few years prior but got an injury and then had Brody. Early on in the race I felt great and thought I could pull a 3:38. I like to stay up late on vacations (5 hours of sleep both nights leading up)....go on night hikes the night before, and eat sugar cookies the day before. I think my body was mad at me because I had a big time mental struggle at about mile 16. My body said "walk....who cares" and my mind was in 100% agreement. I had to pull out all the willpower I had to keep going and keep my pace up. Sara joined me just before the 26 mile marker to run me into the finish. I crossed in 3:43:45. Seconds to spare to meet my goal. I was pretty emotional at the end, even Sara was touched by my mini breakdown. I wanted to quite but kept pushing.

This is the only position I want to be in after every marathon finish. It feels so good to let my legs stretch this way. Then....we had to walk a mile to the car. That hurts.

My Aunt DeNae and Uncle Paul came to cheer me on.

I told Sara that it's too painful, she shouldn't attempt one and that I was going to retire from marathons. Later that night in the hot tub we were talking about going to Boston:>
Sara grilled up a delicious post race salmon dinner. So good! I felt fine and wanted to go for a night time hike. Instead we caught up on 24 and went out for McDonalds ice cream.

Growing up here we had many wonderful families, who to this day remain blessed friends. Sidney Madsen and her daughters, Rissa and Natalie, had us over for a gourmet brunch just before Sara flew out.

Sara and I could have stayed a few more days, but our wonderful hubbies have had their limit!

Today, I'm getting up early to meet Dawn for another exercise class.... 5:30 to be exact....so another 4 hour night's sleep.

Crazy, yes....I just like to get every minute out of a vacation being with my family and free from the duties of home :>

Thanks to Todd for being the most loving husband and nurturing father. He enables me to fullfill dreams, builds me up, supports me in all I endeavor to accomplish and realizes that being able to stay close with my parents and sister's has, and always will, play a big role in the person I am.