June 8th: I went for a 6 mile run this morning… not one of the better runs but I got one in). We said our goodbyes to Kymbra (Corom’s sister) and her cute family… after we had a donut cake for her son’s soon to be birthday. 
We went to the Kirtland temple and did a tour. It was so amazing!! 
This was the 1st LDS temple built. And it was so neat to see where Joseph Smith walked/lived. The table was the original table in his living quarters… where he translated the scriptures. So amazing! 
We left Kirtland Temple and headed to Niagara Falls. So beautiful!! We absolutely loved walking around the falls. We actually bought our 1st meal here… we had to try the New York pizza 🍕! 
As we were walking back to our car, we saw that there was a haunted house. 12 and under were free and adults were $5 per person. So of course we had to go. It was a little gross and My kids were a little freaked out… but we had a good laugh. 
It was a fun and eventful day. Just a couple of good fights from my 2 youngest. 😉 Now off to our next destination… we will sleep in the van tonight! Fun times.
June 6th: Today we drove through quit a few States….
and ended up in Ohio at my sister-in-law’s place. I can not believe all the dang tollbooths there were. We paid a little over $60 just to drive on the freeway. I thought that was crazy! We did make a few stops along the way and once again, I was able to get a 2 hour bike ride in while Corom was driving. We passed the Mississippi River which I thought was pretty cool. And The nice gas station attendant let us use hot water for our oatmeal. 
It was fun getting to Corom’s sisters house and hanging out with her family. My kids were so excited to be out of the car!
June 7th: It was a lazy morning but I eventually went out for an 8 mile run in Cleveland (well in University Heights, Ohio). So pretty here! 
I ran to a park and met up with Corom, the girls and our nephew. We went for a little walk/hike. 
We took the girls to wal-Mart… a good friend of ours (Mary and Ceri) got them a gift card each (for their birthdays). They were in heaven. I think we went down every isle and put back so many different things with them changing their minds. But it was cute! 
Our kids watched the Christmas Story for the 1st time this last December and loved it… we found out that the Christmas Story house is only 10 miles away from my sister-in-laws, so we took a drive over. 😉 
And of course… lots of cousin time today. It was fun being able to hang out with them. We don’t get to see them too much with living far apart. 
Sunday June 4th: After church today, we said our goodbyes to Jamie and headed out for our hopefully 3 week trip! We will see what our sprinter van will do. We plan on visiting as many popular destinations as we can in the 3 weeks we have.
Our 1st few stops: Fort Bridger, Wyoming; Martin’s Cove, Wyoming; and early Monday morning we arrived in South Dakota.
Monday June 5th:
Mt. Rushmore!! We parked our van in the parking lot there and cooked up oatmeal (and got ready for the day 😳) before we went in. It was so fun to go into the park. We spent a few hours there. 
Yes that is me in the above picture giving the girls a lecture about respect (and then explaining the history of Mt. Rushmore). I wasn’t being that mean… Corom told the girls to look like they were in trouble. 🙄
I was able to get a 2 hour bike ride in! While Corom was driving I hopped on the spin bike and rode while the girls watched a movie. I loved it. 
We made sandwiches and then headed out for our next destination. We did make a stop at Wall Drug Store (I guess it’s a pretty big thing here in South Dakota). 
We drove some more, then stopped off at a park in Sioux, South Dakota. It was nice for the girls to get out and run around. I was able to go for a 3 mile run, which felt nice. Corom made dinner (cup-o-noodles 😉) while the girls and I cleaned ourselves up.
We made it to Minnesota! And drove well into the night… 
On Easter Sunday, Jamie came to live with us for about 2 months. He came here from England to coach soccer for a couple of soccer clubs. It has been such a joy to have him in our home. He immediately clicked with our family and fit right in (that could be a good thing but it also could be not so good). 😉 We have done many activities and gone many places. He even got to see how the ER works here in America. Corom our good friend, Mike, and Jamie went big wheeling (down a steep hill…well mountain) and Mike crashed and broke his collar bone. Quite the experience.
Took a lift ride at Sundance Resort:
Went to the Bean museum at BYU:
Cooked S’mores, went for walks, BBQd with neighbors, haircuts and played around:
Paddle Boards, kayaks, jet skis, boats, wake boarding and tubing at Utah Lake:
Hot springs in Meadow, Utah (one of Jamie’s favorite places):
Family fun and more:
We went on Lots of different hikes:
Tin foiled dinners up the canyon and walking on fire 🔥:
Cinnamon challenge, marshmallow challenge, milk challenge (well talking 2 kids into doing it) 😉, salt gun wars, spin the wheel games (with a few other coaches from England), raw eggs and Jamie having to dress up with Corom to sing 🎶 “Hoppy Birthday to Moo” for my daughters birthday (in class):
Driving up to the famous “Salt Flats” and hanging out there:
And the “awesome” memes Jamie kept making with random pictures of Corom and I. 😳
We parted ways today (don’t cry too much Jamie); but he will be coming back in august for a few months! It has been so much fun for all of us.
I love the month of December! Starting Dec 1st, the girls open up a little door on a Christmas Tree and pull out an activity that we will do that evening. It has been a fun tradition that we started when our girls were very young. (I did it when I was younger.)
Dec 1: Make the Christmas countdown rings and Christmas Tree
Dec 2: Make Ornaments
Dec 3: Christmas Movie night
Dec 4: Write letters to Santa
Dec 5: Paint Snowman blocks
Dec 6: Drive around Salem Pond lights and have Hot Chocolate
Dec 7: Make Gingerbread Houses
Dec 8: Go through Stuffed Animals and Donate them
Dec 9: Go to the Old Folk’s Center and sing
Dec 10: Christmas with Cooper fundraiser & Ward Christmas party
Dec 11: Make Military packages/letters
Dec 12: Make Ornament Hot Chocolate
Dec 13: Decorate Christmas Cookies
Dec 14: Deliver Treats to neighbors
Dec 15: Make a service coupon book for neighbors
Dec 16: Christmas Crafts
Dec 17: Build a Snow cave
Dec 18: Write a Thank you note to Mail Lady and the Garbage Man
Dec 19: Read Christmas Stories and Drink Hot Chocolate
Dec 20: Leave letters to the mail lady and garbage man; Candy Cane drop a parking lot
Dec 21: Christmas Crafts
Dec 22: Go to the Police Station and Deliver Christmas Tree Gift
Dec 23: Sledding (Four-Wheeler)
Dec 24: Christmas Eve Greek Dinner & Pass Around
Dec 25: Christmas!! And a Christmas Gift To Our Savior!
Dec 26: Ice Skating
Dec 27: Yolanda’s Wedding (Corom’s Sister)
Dec 28: Major Cleaning Day!
Dec 29: Cross Country Skiing
Dec 30: Friend’s Day/Sledding
Dec 31: Polar Plunge & New Year’s Eve Party with Friends…
There were lots of classroom parties and fun…
Bring on the New Year!!
My running:
I still have not been into the racing scene, yet. I do want to start training once summer comes around and depending on how I feel… try for the Olympic Trials again. But for now… it’s been nice just to go and run.
I paced the Provo Half marathon for the 1:35 time and came in at 1:34.54. It was so fun bringing people in at their goal time. And I paced the Tulip Festival Half for the 1:40 time. I came in at 1:39.38. It was a tough course but I love pacing.
January On…
We had a pipe burst. It froze with the freezing cold temperatures… good thing Corom was sitting on the toilet at the time it burst. He jumped up, ran downstairs and shut our water off. We had to go without water for about 24 hours. He found the place where it burst and he and Mike fixed it. Then later our basement flooded due to rain and construction issues. 😉
We had 3 people in our neighborhood pass away (all due to health issues), our girls’ science project rats got out of their cage (and luckily we did find them)… But other than that, things are rolling along nicely. 🙂 Lots of subbing jobs (in my kids classes), volunteering in classrooms, church stuff, Clarion work, my girl’s basketball games, and in-door track.
February & March was just as busy… subbing, Clarion work, kids stuff,, church, track (Simplot Games in Idaho), Valentines, etc. 
April: My youngest turned 7 this month! She had a great birthday and we actually celebrated it a month later with all the kids in 1st grade. 
Easter was great and we have a soccer coach from England that came to live with us for a couple of months. (He came on Easter Sunday.) 
My oldest had her maturation program. 
I can’t believe she is old enough for that. Crazy hair day for the girls at school… 
Lots of subbing jobs, clarion work, lots of little trips now that we have Jamie (from England) staying with us, track meets and practices (with youth city track and high school), etc. 
May: My oldest had her 11th birthday this month. Corom and my anniversary is on the same day as our oldest’s birthday.
Region and State track took place this month. Our top female runner placed 1st in State for the 2 mile (10:52). Our throwers took 1st and 2nd in the shot put and discus. The girls placed 1st in region and everyone did so well this season. 
Mother’s Day was nice… and Lots of fun activities with Jamie and the girls. (I will post a new post with pictures of our time with Jamie.) And of course… work, play, church, programs, etc. The girls ran well in the city youth track. They don’t like running to much but they are really good at it. I hope, in time, they will learn to love it!!
There are so many random pictures but too many to share… 
Sorry for the picture overload!
Mother Racer 
