Welcome Mollie Ann

As you can probably see, July is a crazy/busy/fun month for us.  This particular year, it got even more awesome with the addition of my new niece, Mollie.

She was born on July 25, and my sister was so nice to allow me to be there for her birth.  I cried when she asked me if I would be there because I may never get the chance to fully witness the birth of my own children.  I cried again when Mollie made her appearance into this world and words cannot even come close to explaining how special the experience was.  So, I'll just leave it at that.

Traci asked me to take pictures for her.  I studied up on birth photography, tried to figure out my camera better, and got some great tips from some pros.  I gotta say that I'm way pleased with the pictures and I even put them all together in a video clip that brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it.  It made me wish I had Evie's birth photos from her birth mom so that I could put something together for Evie to have one day.  The birth of a child is a miracle.

Traci and Brodie meet Mollie for the first time.

My first chance to hold the new miracle.

The girls.  We're quite the threesome.  I love these women so much!

Carter holding Mollie for the first time.  He was SO adorable at this moment.
He is already being a great older brother.

Carter and Evie get a close-up of Mollie.

Evie loved the baby.  She kept walking up to her and saying, "Hi Baby!"

"Hi Baby!"  Evie and I get a close-up of Mollie Ann.

Traci had me take some newborn pictures of sweet Mollie today.  These are some of my favorites.  She is such a sweet addition to our family.  I hope Evie and Mollie will be the best of friends.

Mollie Ann Miller

Born July 25, 2013

Time:  7:32am

Weight:  7 lbs, 9 oz

Height:  18 inches

No Quitting! Another Half Marathon!

I did it, you guys!  I completed another half marathon.

I signed up for the Timp Half again.  I signed up clear back in December because I knew, without a doubt, that I would want to run it again this year.  I swear I jinxed myself, because at the beginning of the summer I was definitely having (huge) doubts about running it.

I thought training with a newborn was rough last year.  Well, I dare say that training with a one-year-old has been much more difficult.  I felt like I was doomed this year.  Evie would wake up early, she would sleep late, Beau would have to be work by 6am, I got the flu, etc.!  I am not kidding when I decided that I was going to pull out of the race.  I'm not a quitter, but I am a realist and I know there are seasons for certain things and I figured that perhaps my season for running in such a dedicated manner was not now as a new mom.

Beau talked me into running one more long run to really see if this was something I wanted to pull out of.  I ran 8 miles one Saturday and I actually felt okay.  My pace was much slower than I've been used to, but I was able to pull the miles out without wanting to die.  So, I figured I had 3 choices.  1 - Pull out of the race and get my exercise doing other things that would better suit my family's schedule.  2 - Train hard no matter what.  This would mean waking up at 4am to get a run in if that's what my family's schedule would require for a certain day.  3 - Get in what I could and not stress about pace, mileage, etc.  I opted for option 3.  I new that if I could spit out 8 miles, I could run the full half marathon.  I just had to let go of any expectations of a personal record or, for that matter, even matching a previous time.  This is hard for me to do because I'm always trying to improve, but I did it and I tried to enjoy my training season without too much frustration.

Race day arrived!

Here I am at the starting line with my new friend, Claire.  She really helped me pull through this training season.  As miracles would have it, when I moved into my new house, there just happened to be someone in my ward who was signed up for the Timp Half too and needed someone to run/train with.  We did several of our training runs together and she helped me to get my miles in and improve my pace . . . since she's faster than I am.  She is my little running blessing this year!

I also made Amber (next to me) jump in for a photo too because this is the third year that we've both signed up for and completed this race.  Go us!   My sister-in-law's mom rode the bus up with us too and she's such a nice woman.  Thus, she's in the photo too (far left).

I really started getting super tired by about mile 10 and when mile 11 hit, I SERIOUSLY wanted to be done.  I had to take several walking breaks to finish those last 2 miles.  I was starting to get frustrated and remembered my initial goal.  I also put things into perspective and knew that my training schedule was difficult because I have a sweet one-year-old.  And you know what, I wouldn't trade her for ANYTHING and when this thought entered my head I was immediately fine with even walking those last 2 miles.  I didn't care anymore.  I didn't walk them, but I was okay in my mind and heart if that's what I ended up doing.

I made it to the finish line.  See, I even have a medal to prove it.  I was hoping to get this race done under two hours and I did. . . barely.  I got 1:59.  This is my worst time on this half, but granted, it's my worst training season too.  Go figure.

I even made it home for breakfast and Evie just had to wear my "pretty" medal while she ate her nannas and sausage.

I love this girl more than I love or care about running, pace or finish time.  She's worth every sacrifice in the world.

The Birthday Boy Gets Techie

It's true.  Beau turned another year older.  He had a pretty nice birthday this year (according to him).  He actually had the day off (due to working 55+ hours earlier in the week).  So, we got to spend the entire day with him.

We started with breakfast and then Evie just couldn't wait to deliver a birthday balloon to her daddy.

She then cuddled right up with dad to play on his iPhone.  Beau said, "This is my most favorite birthday present ever!"

After plenty of cuddle time, we got to opening presents.

Evie gave Beau an entire box of socks (Beau totally had them on his wish list).  She went to the store with me, carried them all around the store, took off the labels and such before we even made it to the cashier, and then helped me wrap them.  She's such a good helper.  :)

This is where Beau gets techie!  I gave him an iPad.  This is pretty uncharacteristic of Beau, but he had this on his wish list too.  Why, you ask?  Well, it allows him to easily pack a "computer" with him up in the mountains to check the pictures on his trail cameras.  Thus, it's truly a hunting gift.  Regardless, I'm thrilled because Evie and I are going to love it too.  Yay!

We relaxed around the house all day.  Beau loved it because he has been working so hard and hasn't had a lot of down time.

We ended the night with dinner at the Outback with his mom and step-dad.

Today, a few days later, we were treated to dinner by my parents.  We tried a new restaurant called the Wild Mustang.  

He was gifted a SD-Card Reader for the iPad . . . which will be key to looking at all those pictures of bucks and bulls (and who knows what else) that will be on those trail cameras.

Happy Birthday to the best husband and daddy ever!

9 Years of Marriage

It's our ninth wedding anniversary, folks!  We are both amazed that it's almost been ten years!  Oh, how the time flies when we're having fun.  

Then . . . 

Now . . . 

We decided to take the night "off" and go out to dinner together . . . just us!  (Little Evie got to play with her Uncle Chance, Aunt Jamie, and Aunt Amber for the night.)  We went to the Harvest Restaurant at Thanksgiving Point and it was nice to just sit and talk for the evening.  

We've been through a lot over the past nine years, have built some incredible memories, grown a lot, and accomplished much.  We look forward to more of ALL of that and we are SO happy that we'll have each other through it all.  

Not the best picture (taken by our server), but here we are
at the Harvest Restaurant.

One Nation Under God

Independence Day is honestly one of my favorite holidays.  We  had a pretty good time this year.  Evie and I spent the afternoon swimming.  It's a family tradition on my side of the family and nearly all the cousins made it this year.

Later that night we headed down to my mom and dad's house for a delicious and festive BBQ.

Here's the family enjoying dinner and fun conversation.

Here's a close-up of Dad and Evie eating their dinner.

Grandma loves to get the kids a little surprise on the 4th of July.  This year Evie was given festive flip flops, some sparklers, and some glow sticks.  How fun!

The BBQ was followed by some street-side fireworks.  It started out with simple, little sparklers.

Cute Oakley with going to town with her sparklers!

Evie loved watching the kids do their sparklers while she wore her glow sticks.  She sure thought those were extra cool!

Evie also got together with most of her cousins for a group shot.  What a cute bunch of kids!

Next came the much larger and noisier fireworks.  My brother was just a little excited about these.

On the other hand, Evie was NOT excited about these and started bawling hysterically when the first loud one went off.  So, our night was cut short.

I am so thankful to live in the USA.
I am thankful to all those that sacrifice so much to serve and contribute to our freedom.
I am so thankful to have so many freedoms that we can enjoy (small and big).
God bless the USA!

Happy Independence Day . . . From our Family to Yours!