Backyard Shots

Kansas City Trip

the new Kansas City Temple

We took a trip to Kansas/Missouri to see my sweet cousin get married in the new Kansas City temple.  We were so happy to be a part of their special day.  They are a really great couple.  Perfect for each other. 

  Kylie & Noah

 Do you not love her wedding dress?  She designed it herself!

It had poured the previous night so it was a cool and overcast morning.  Perfect for a wedding!  Lucky since it would have been super hot. 

The boys played outside with my cousins while Tony and I went to the sealing.  It was a beautiful sealing.  A great reminder of all the blessings that come from a temple marriage.  We are so proud of Kylie and Noah!

 Joey exploring

 He is our full time walker and walked all over the grounds!

 

Tony & Grandpa Messer

 This was right before he fell and got a ginormous goose egg on his forehead

wedding luncheon

The wedding luncheon was at the Freight House Jack Stack's BBQ.  It was fun to be there with everyone in the wedding party.  Plus I got to sit next to Grandma and she is a sweety :)

 Me & Grandma Messer

We turned the wedding trip into a little vacation for our family.  The night before we explored the Crown Center and ate at Fritz's railroad restaurant.  Charlie was in heaven.  A train delivers your food to the table and there are trains driving all around the restaurant. 

Friday night we went to the Kansas City Aquarium.  It was awesome!  The boys had a great time. 

 touching the creatures

don't you just love their matching shirts?

Saturday morning we visited historic church sites-- Liberty Jail and the Independence visitor's center.
There is a strong spirit in areas where early saints sacrificed for the gospel.  I'm so glad we got to see these places while we were there.  It was one of my favorite things we did on our trip.

Independence Visitor's Center

That afternoon we went to Kylie and Noah's open house....  

 Charlie with his great grandparents

 Charlie and Trey

On our last day we visited the Deanna Rose Farmstead.  We pet cows, fed the goats, took a wagon ride and ended the visit with ice cream in the shade. 

bottle feeding the goats

riding tractors

Joey was so excited about the animals--especially the goats!

We got home Sunday evening--just in time to enjoy Memorial Day!

Only HALF Crazy

seeing my family on the last stretch

As a 2010 New Year's resolution I wrote down the lofty goal of "become a runner."  Charlie was just over 2 months so I had some baby weight and just extra weight I wanted to lose.  I wanted to run because I always hated running. 

Jenny and I with our medals

I liked the idea of running.  You just need yourself and a pair of shoes.  No gym, no instructor, no equipment--it's the most basic exercise.  The only way to really be good at running is to do just that-  Run.

Training for a race is goal setting at it's finest.  After making my goal I went to the track and ran one lap (1/10 of a mile) and that was all I could continuously run.  One lap.  This was going to be harder than I thought!  Run a lap, walk a lap, repeat, repeat, repeat.  A week later I would run two laps, walk a lap, repeat, repeat, repeat.  After doing this and progressing for a couple months, I signed up for my first 5k here in town.  I finished in 3rd place for my age group (probably because I was 23 and other 23 year olds are off at college, but hey, 3rd place!)  I kept running and thought maybe I would train for a half marathon--something I had always wanted to be able to to say I did.

I trained through the summer and up to 8 miles of running.  At the end of summer, we decided to get pregnant with Joey!  The race I was working towards was in November.  I scratched that goal and decided to be really smart during Joey's pregnancy.  Eat well, exercise hard but not too hard and be consistent.  I didn't want to throw away how hard I had worked.

I felt GREAT during Joey's pregnancy.  Of course all pregnancies are different, but I think a part of that was because I was taking such great care of myself before and during his pregnancy. I kept up my endurance, not with running but using the elliptical machine and other things easier on my body.  After Joey was born and I start really exercising again I found that I still had endurance.  I had to retrain myself to run, but I wasn't starting back at square one.

waiting for the mommy's to run past

Marathons are either in the fall or spring and I definitely wasn't running one in the fall.  I exercised for fun and then decided to pick a race after the new year started.  I picked the Joplin Memorial Half Marathon.  I picked it because it gave me lots of time to train, plus the money would go towards something I thought deserved it.  Joplin was the city almost destroyed in last year's tornado.  It's just an hour north of us.  116 people died.  Schools and hospitals were wiped out and they plan on years for the city to recover.

I signed up for the marathon and printed out a free 12 week half marathon training schedule.  I printed out my own blank sheet so I could fill out all the exercise I did. I knew I could commit to 3 days a week of training, but that didn't give me any room to miss a day here or there.  I would look at my sheet and progress when I wanted to skip a day.  That gave me the motivation to be consistent.

Tony helped me reach this goal.  He comes home from work around 4:30 so at 4:30 I would run my routed course through the neighborhoods.  He would have dinner ready for me when I got home.  He would run the house on Saturday mornings so I could go to the lake and do my long runs.  He encouraged me to keep going and told me he was proud of me.  He's the best...love you Tony :)

The night before the big race Jenny and I drove up to Joplin.  Our families would be coming up the next morning. We picked up our packets and checked into a hotel.  My first night away from the boys!  Unfortunately I had to wake up at 4:45AM, but I slept great!  We woke up, stretched and packed onto the bus with other runners.  I was nervous and excited!  I didn't have any time goals for the race.  I only wanted to run the entire thing even if that meant running at a walking pace.  

I started with "Eye of the Tiger" on my ipod and started running on the gunshot.  There were water stations every 1.5-2 miles and they were life savers.  The course was wonderful. The first half took us through the cemetery, and a beautiful wooded park/neighborhood.  Most of it was in the shade!  The last half was in the sun and it started to get hot.  I was thankful for my 4:30 runs during mid-day heat!  The best part of the race was when I started looking for my family.  I knew they'd be anywhere after the 12 mile mark.  I first saw Charlie playing with along the road with a stick.  Next I saw Tony with the camera out.  I gave him a big kiss that he said tasted like seaweed haha.  I sprinted the last quarter mile and it felt so good crossing that finish line!

I finished 31st in my age group (364th out of 741 women) with a time of  2:22:16--a 10:52 mile pace.

 me and my reminder

I've learned so much from this experience.  That's why I wanted the sticker on the back of my car!  Now every time I load groceries I will remember that I was able to accomplish something that seemed impossible to me.  Exercise has helped me deal with stress, anxiety, crazy hormones during pregnancy and baby blues/postpartum depression after.  I've gained self confidence by reaching small goals.  I've learned to enjoy getting sweaty and dirty.  Our family has become more active as I have worked towards this.  We eat healthier and more adventurous.  I know I am strong and can push myself harder than I think possible.
I did it!  I finally did it!
And I have no desire to ever run a full marathon.  That's just crazy.

Mother's Day

me and my boys.  mother's day 2012

I love Mother's day because it's a day to learn about how women are needed in Heavenly Father's plan.  Each of us have a different situation, but we all have motherly traits that bless the lives around us.  I'm grateful for my mother, mother in law and all the women who have been a positive influence in my life.

Motherhood to me is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, dirty diapers, prayers for patience, being a friend, taking care of our home, teaching kindness, learning to be kind myself, nurturing, nighttime stories and creativity.   

My favorite thing about being Charlie's mom is seeing him when he wakes up.  He squeals, "mommy!!!!" and runs to me with his arms open.  

My favorite thing about being Joey's mom is playing hide and go seek.  I love his laugh and excitement when he finds me.

Each year for Mother's day (and birthdays), Tony finds fun recipes and surprises me with something he made.  It has become a fun tradition.  This year he made a fruit pizza and I'm pretty sure I ate about half of it. It was so beautiful.

I'm always surprised at what he does!  He has talent, no?

Happy Mother's day!