RAGNAR

In October my friend and neighbor came over and asked me to run a relay race with her. She said a girl dropped out and that I should do it. I said sure, mostly because it sounded fun to get away with girls! I had NO idea what I was getting myself into! Last weekend was the race and I have to say it was one of the worst and best experiences of my life. During my training, I also found out something about myself that I didn't know- I love to run! It will definitely always be part of my life now and I am hoping to run a half marathon and a full marathon this year.

I only knew 2 of these girls but we all became fast friends for sure!
The race was 204 miles in total, the miles were divided up between 12 girls, 3 legs each.
Decorating the Tahoe
Here we are the Jones cousins at the beginning!
Go Meredith Go! She is inspiring- having a c-section 8 months ago, now running more miles than most people do in their lifetime!
My first hand-off, i was soooo nervous and i don't know why? I run almost everyday, but for some reason in this setting it was scary!
It must've been adrenaline but i ran this first leg of 6.3 miles in my fastest ever time. At the end this guy was just a little bit ahead of me and my teammates were cheering PASS HIM PASS HIM, so I did! And thanks marisa for running along side of me the last little bit of this and cheering me on! I needed it!
After our first leg, we ate and found a nice cozy patch of Arizona grass to lay down in. Then it was on to our nighttime runs! It was definitely scary running on the freeway shoulder at 2 a.m.

After our nighttime runs we decided to try to sleep. We parked in our next exchange area- a highschool parking lot. I probably was able to sleep a maximum of 1 hour on the hard pavement.

Here are the girls in Van #1 cheering on meredith who was running. All of these girls were so sweet and inspiring! Thanks for making my experience even better!
Waiting for Marisa... ALMOST DONE!!!

My last leg I had to run. My body was so tired, physically and mentally, this run was definitely ALL mind over matter to keep my legs from not stopping. Very emotional experience.
Here we all are at the finish line. One poor girl hurt her knee so badly she couldn't walk over the finish line! The solution?? A shopping cart! This was a great feeling!
It's over!!!
We are SUPERWOMEN!!!

Since we are here in E.P. I decided to take advantage of putting the boys in some sports programs. We put Ryder in soccer and he really loves it! After the first couple of games they put him as goalie and it turns out he is an AWESOME goalie! He stops almost every ball that tries to get in the goal (unless he is otherwise occupied i.e. doing twirlies, or playing with the net). I even hear people on the bleachers talking about how good that little goalie is..... I want to turn around and say "that is MY son" but i refrain.. hehe! I am happy too because his poor little leg has been bothering him a lot lately so i love that he doesn't have to run around in pain! Even little Tanner gets to join in the fun because usually someone from our team is crying or doesn't want to play, so he jumps right in and fills in. It is pure entertainment!

Farewell..... my friends

I am not a dog person. I don't like to touch them because they are dirty. I don't like them to lick me because ewww.. we all know where that tongue has been. I don't like them to jump on me because they get their muddy paws on my clean clothes. I am not a dog person. But, Jared has always insisted we have a dog and I agree as long as I don't have to take care of it. But something happened... i began liking my dog. He followed my little boys everywhere they went, he got excited when i came out in the morning because he knew i was going running and he could come along. He ran happily by my side and i felt safe. He barked at night at all the bad guys. He was lost for 6 months, but still appeared in our back window as soon as he got free. He followed us to church, to school, to field day, and to grandma's house. My Echo had actually become my friend. We also had another dog, one of echo's puppy - named sayed or thriller, whichever you prefer. He was a beautiful puppy and turning out to be a great dog like echo. A few weeks ago they were killed and i had no idea how sad i would be. It broke my heart because I asked the boys the first thing they wanted to do when we got home and they all said "go play with echo!" but he wasn't there nor was our puppy. We found out later they had been bothering a horse and a foreman shot them.. so sad. So, here's my farewell to my dogs, you will be missed and never forgotten.
(Please keep this quiet from the boys, I have not told them).

Christmas Vacation

We had a wonderful christmas even though it was filled with a lot of changes! Here is the short story version of what we did.
Tried to take the annual christmas picture by the tree, BUT.... someone is missing?? Who could it be???
This guy, who turned from day to night from my sweet angel to my TERRIBLE, STUBORN, 2 year old who refuses to get in the picture.

Santa was good to us this year... the boys got all that they wanted even after CHANGING their lists at the last minute!!! (Good thing we were in El Paso). We had 4.. oops, i mean 5 very happy boys this year! (oh and a happy mama too)
The star wars force trainer, this thing is hillarious! They have to become a jedi knight and concentrate to move the ball in the tube. Look at Jamison's concentration!
Santa hid 4 bikes all around the house and suprised the boys!

He even surprised this little boy too!
Happy little "gamers"

GINGERBREAD HOUSE FUN
We also made a gingerbread house, hmmmm... i think they ate and messed more than they helped!

Whew, I was sure glad when that was over!

After christmas we headed out to a very COLD Utah to visit friends and family there! We had a great time visiting with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandpas, and grandmas.

Moab

Cocoa on a cold wintry day, thanks aunt trisha!


I think tanner and Logan look a lot alike in this picture!!

Love his cute smile here!
Thank you all who let us crash at your house, we had a great time !!

Bongo Boy turns 4!!

I know, I know, it's been a LONG time since I've blogged, but i have been VERY busy lately and pretty much have not had any time. So, bear with me as I try to catch up on all of our happenings! First, we celebrated Ryder's 4th Birthday! We had a bike party and let the kids ride their bikes and race their bikes in our driveway.



The boys went fishing!

Next, we came to El Paso for some Thanksgiving fun! We got to see all of our cousins and had a grand time at grandma's and grandpa's el paso house. We went swimming, hot tubbing, and the boys even got to go to white sands.

Now, sadly, we are here in El Paso for awhile. It has not been an easy adjustment for Jared and I, but we are hoping it is temporary so that helps! The boys have adjusted very easily.. they love their new school and have tons of new friends. We all miss our house, our dogs, our yard, and most importantly all of our good friends, who if they are not already related to us somehow still feel like family to us! More picture of our new little "temporary" life to come!!!