in order of occurrence

Saturday was a pretty awesome day.

For three reasons.

1) I ran in the Wenatchee 1/2 Marathon with my mom, sister April, sis-in-law Daphne, sister Lael and sister Kristin.

It was a perfect day for a race. The weather couldn't have been better. And we all did great.

This was my plate of carbs:

This was where myself and two sisters made Wenatchee a little bit more like Seattle, by making water behind those dumpsters. Seriously though, the lines to the potty's were insanely long, and we had less than 10 minutes until the start. We were resourceful.

Got a starting line selfie of us all. The gal in the black hat in Daphne. The only other race, and only other physically challenging thing she had ever done in her life was a 5k last year. I somehow managed to talk her into running this race over Christmas. I am so glad I did...she did great!

I settled into the Pace 9 group at the beginning. Which was a perfect fit 'cause I ended up running an average of 8:49 a mile.

Wenatchee is apple country and very beautiful. Plus, they just got a Cafe Rio last year which makes it even more cool. This was a shot as I ran over the bridge. See the little runners in the right side of the picture?

The course was out and back. So I was able to snap a quick picture of my sister running back past me towards the finish. At this point she was the 5th female runner. I think a couple passed her on the way back, but still....she's amazing. I was telling everyone at church the next day that she flew up all the way from California just to beat me in a race.

What about all of our kids, you ask?

Well. My husband and my brother were in charge of all 12 of them, from Friday evening until after we finished the race. They both deserve a few hundred high fives.

    

Her first 1/2 Marathon!!!

See them hugging in the middle? Awwwwww......so sweet.

My 61 year-old mom finishing the race! And my sister Lael about to cross the finish line.

  

 

Finish line selfie!!

This guy. He is absolutely the best. The support and encouragement and cheers and motivation he gives me is what helps me get my lazy butt out the door some days. I love him.

For real...those ladies are amazing.

Kristin for kicking everybody's trash and finishing in 1:38
April for being a Relief Society president, working full-time and still managing to race.
Daphne for totally embracing the runner's life and loving it. They finished together around 2:12.
Lael for even attempting to run with minimal preparation. And by minimal, I mean, like, she ran maybe twice before the race. Came across the finish line in 2:58.
My mom for still running and keeping up with her daughters. She finished in 2:35
And I guess I should throw myself in that group. My 6th baby is 4 1/2 months old. I had surgery to stop having babies in February, and I finished in 1:56. Pow!

Number 2 event of the day:

After we showered and got back to the house and as our bowels calmed down ((truth!)), we celebrated Blake's 7th birthday. He really is the sweetest kid and has eyes the same color as his daddy.

I looked for our stash of birthday candles and came up with an eclectic group, but two short of seven. So we improvised with matches. Again, being resourceful!

 Thirdly? Lastly?

Carly has found her feet.