Melanie!

 My friend Melanie came to visit for two days.  It was dreamy.  We never slept.  We talked all day and all night.  I had rehearsal so that sort of got in the way, but we got so much done.  We went on two walks, painted a wall, and decorated the shelves.  

I am so glad I got to spend some quality with Melanie.  She means the world to me and our friendship has grown so much over the years.  I am so glad we live closer.  While she was here I wanted to snap a photo of us by the river.  We walked down to the river and I turned to get a photo.  As I took the photo, my phone slipped out of my hand and fell right in to the river.  It was like slow motion.  It hit the ground then slid right into the water.  I jumped in with my new Nike running shoes on and new Zyia running gloves.  I felt around where I saw the phone disappear and didn't feel the phone.  Then I moved my hand just a bit and caught the side of it.  I grabbed again and pulled my phone out of the water.  I am so glad I found it!  The Rio Grande is a muddy river!  I am sure I would have never found it had I not jumped in as quickly as I did.  We finished our walk and my hands and feet were frozen the entire time.

 

I have also decided I do not spend enough quality time with my boys.  AND for that reason I am so upset at myself for saying yes to doing Frida, the opera with Opera Southwest.  It was a mistake.  It takes up so much time and I just do not have that kind of time to give.  I work 20+ hours a week, home school my boys, and I am training for a marathon.  I really should have thought through all the things that are important to me and being a part of an opera is not one of them right now.  

With this in mind, I decided to take my boys on a little date just to remind them (and me) that I love them.

 

Phoenix Rock 'n Roll Marathon and a Half

 This weekend, Stephen and I wanted some redemption for our 2020 marathon.  My legs were not quite ready to run 26.2 miles, but Stephen's were ready.  He ran the full marathon in 3 hours and 55 minutes! It was incredible to watch him accomplish his goal.  I ran the half marathon in 2008 and it took me 2 hours and 36 minutes.  I wanted to prove to myself that I could run it in under 2 hours.  I ran it in 1 hour and 54 minutes.  

It was so crowded.  There were 15,000 people out there that morning.  I passed 8,000 of them.  I started in the back after waiting in line for 30 minutes to go to the bathroom.  Stephen started a little after 8 AM and he was with a lot of walkers, so he had to pass a lot of people.  I had a great race except for the unexpected knee pain that crept in at mile 9.  That means I have a lot of work to do in order to run a full marathon someday.  

We stayed with Craig and Blair and it was amazing.  After the run we went to Omni spa to relax.  It was anything but relaxing.  We were starving and thought it would be a good idea to eat lunch up at the pool.  Blair and I ordered food that took an hour to finally arrive.  The service was absolutely terrible.  The food was not worth the wait. I was so hungry.  I went to my massage and the massage therapist JUMPED on me and used her knees to massage my sore hamstrings after I ran 13 miles! It was excruciating.  

After the spa we went to a delicious dinner at Stake 44.  Wow, best stake I have ever tasted.  We ate all the delicious food and I went right to sleep when we got back to Craig and Blair's house.  All in all a wonderful weekend! 

 

Priesthood

 Today, Nolen received the priesthood.  He just barely turned 11 but the church changed when they give boys the priesthood so Nolen got it at the first of the year.  He seems so little.  He will spend the marjority of this year as an 11 year old.  He is so responsible.  I just love this little boy so much.  He truly cares about others and their feelings.  Sometimes he isn't aware that he is being rude and when he is told, he will change what he is doing.  I love him.

Stephen's parents drove over for Nolen to get the priesthood.  Susan is spending a week with us.  It will be so fun and refreshing to have her around while we live our daily chaotic lives.  

 

Cousins

 We are so lucky to have so many people come and visit us over the holidays!  Kendra, Michael, and the kids drove over from Tennessee and we have been playing hard all week while trying to get our school work done.  We took them horse back riding and just hung out as much as possible.  Kendra and Michael were supposed to go on a cruise but it was cancelled due to covid.   So they went up to a little resort here in Santa Fe while we watched their kids.