I am so happy that summer is here and vacations are lining up! My sweet sister Alyson graduated from nursing school last week, so our family traveled down to Arizona for her graduation. I must state that I am quite impressed with all that she has done the past couple years. She has gone through a lot and done a wonderful job.

All the kids fell asleep while playing Risk, I thought Gavin's sleeping arrangement was the best.

For Mother's Day we gave all the mom's the day off. So my brother Steven, his kids, Aly and I made a delicious dinner. Eliza loved helping with the brownies, mainly the cleanup.

Aly and my sister-in-law Kristy did a triathlon on Saturday and both did a great job. It was really fun to watch them transition from swimming to biking to running. They made me realize that it is time to get back into exercising. Doug and I both have not run at all since our half marathon. We will be changing that soon though.

Before getting to Mesa I stopped by my sister Shannon's house in Eager, AZ. She lives 30 min. away from my Grandpa Hall and it was so nice to visit with her and my grandpa. Her son Kade is such a boy and we caught him playing in the mud one day. He was so pleased with himself, until Shannon stripped him down and hosed him off.

Of course, we had to stop by the famous El Camino in St. Johns, AZ. St. Johns is a small town and just about every time I have gone to visit my grandpa we have stopped by to eat at this Mexican restaurant. My Aunt Laura also lives there and it was so nice to visit with her.

Here are some pictures from our first Sommers girls retreat. Doug's mom, sister Brooke, sister-in-law Becca, and I all went down to St. George for the weekend. We hiked in Zion's, went shopping, ate delicious food, and watched the iron man competition. The iron man triathlon was amazing to see. What a motivation and inspiration these people were.

As many of you may know, my dear husband does in fact like Pokemon. You may wonder why...I have asked myself the same question. But he does enjoy it quite a lot. A few weeks ago he had a Pokemon party at our house, so I decided to support his cause with poke-cake. I am taking a cake decorating class in June, so this was my first attempt without proper schooling. Bow sure wanted a bite of it, but he didn't get it.

Well that's about all the excitement going on in our lives. Our next bit of excitement is some home remodeling. So look forward to pictures of the newly improved house. We are getting new doors, windows, floors, and of course painting. Oh the fun that lies ahead!

All the children that we need

When Doug and I are gone for extended hours in the day, we just barricade Bow in the kitchen because there isn't much he can ruin. Plus, he loves to sit on the window seal and watch people walk or drive by. After Easter I made the mistake off leaving a grocery bag full of eggs on the kitchen floor while bow was being held captive. Despite it being tied, he managed to get all the eggs out and spread amongst the kitchen. I guess it was his way of celebrating Easter with us.

Don't judge what I am wearing, it was early in the morning and a bit cold outside. This picture shows that Doug and I have found our perfect child. I didn't even have to strap him in the stroller, he was so obedient.

running and more running

Well today was the Salt Lake City marathon and half marathon race. A few months ago Doug's sister Brooke suggested that the three of us train for the half marathon. Every week we would increase our mileage by 1 mile and today was the final run...13.1 miles! Doug, Brooke and I ran the entire way, except for Doug's potty break at mile 5. There were many a times during the past three months where we didn't feel like running and would rather stay at home and relax, but I must say that it did feel very good to accomplish this today and it was all worth it. So I guess it was worth all the hard work and training.

Here we were a little chilly before the race got started. They had everyone take trax to the starting line by the U of U... It was a packed full trax.

In case you are wondering, Doug did get the fastest time because he sprinting at the end. But I was happy to see that he only beat us by seconds. His time was 2:09:15 and Brook and I tied for 2:09:51. Happy exercising to all!

Sarah's a Married Women!

Our past weekend was pretty fun, my friend Sarah got married to Jordan Gillespie. She had a beautiful wedding, with lots of good food. We went up to SLC for her wedding in the SLC temple, but weather was horrible...so we took all the pictures in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Here is Doug and I, passing the time between all the pictures.

It really was so cold and snowy...this picture gives you a little idea. Also, if you look close at the picture, you will notice that Doug has a green cast on his right hand. This is a funny story. Three or more months ago Doug fell while longboarding and hurt his wrist. It got a lot better in a few days, so neither of us thought it was broken, just a sprain. Although, over the past three months it has continued to always bother Doug a little. So we finally got it xray'd and he did in fact break his wrist. The doctor said it was the worst bone to break because it is known for not healing. We were so lucky because Doug ended up not needing surgery, just a cast for 6 wks. He is getting really good at writing with it and he has recruited everyone to sign it. Only two more weeks and its off!

It was fun to see friends at the reception. I love Doug's face in this picture, he looks quite excited.

A little update...

It has been forever since we have updated our blog...Doug is still doing school this semester and will be applying for the nursing program this spring. We both really hope he gets in for the fall semester. He is working as the night manager at Ridleys...the grocery store that took Albertsons place. Sadly, his brother Shane and his cousin Davey are not working there any more, so I'm sure he isn't having half the fun.

We got to watch my sister Kristene's daughter last week and I thought this was such a cute picture. We have the best dog ever, he loves to cuddle up and sleep next to anyone.

A not so fluffy Bow, during his first bath at home.

Bow got neutered and he now has to wear the "cone of shame" for 7 days. It is actually really funny to watch his try and squeeze under our coffee table, time and time again, not realizing that he can't fit with the large cone. We may be mean to laugh at him running into furniture, but I think if you could see him, you would fully understand.

The Wild Side

You better believe it...we are owners of a snuggie. Doug got it for me, mainly as a joke because I am always cold. But now he enjoys more than anyone. If you have that yearning for the snuggie, feel free to stop on by and try it out!

We have loved the snow this past week. Doug was kind enough to do the snow shoveling...along with his little wolf hat. I hate this hat, but he loves it and claims it keeps his head very warm.

Our Christmas lights were the first ones up on our street because we were a little too excited for Christmas to come this year. Doug did a great job putting them up.

We have been dehydrating apples lately and Doug is so great to help with the work. Doug, Shane and Davey LOVE the apples, but they don't know when to stop eating them. I think they learned their lesson last time they ate too much...apples make the bowels move a little quicker if you know what I mean.

New Addition to the Family

Yesterday I received an early Christmas present from Doug, a bichon frise puppy! He is 3 months old and we LOVE him. His name is Bow... a simplified way of spelling beau.

His favorite treat is cheerios and his favorite spot is underneath our coffee table...hiding from us.

He is still a little shy around us, but he is definitely warming up. He loves to jump through the snow, but he blends in a little too well. A good thing about Bow is that he has gotten Doug and I excited enough to actually blog about something!