Travis's birthday!

 

Travis turned 26 on June 26th! We had a fun day celebrating Travis! McKinley & I baked him chocolate chip cookies and brought them to his work for him and his co-workers to enjoy. We also decorated our apartment with balloons and birthday signs for him to come home to! Then that evening Travis and I got to go downtown to the Haymarket and ate some yummy Cajun food at Buzzard Billy's! After dinner we went over to Brad and Emily's and had some yummy DQ ice cream cake! Me, McKinley and my parents all went in together and got him a gift card to a sporting goods store in town called Scheels. After dinner, my friend came over to stay with McKinley while she slept, and we went to Scheels so Travis could get a new golf club that he's been wanting for a while. After that, we went out to a driving range so he could test out his new club! I even shot a few balls, and did a lot better than I expected! It was a lot of fun! We had a fun day and enjoyed making Travis feel special on his special day! He works so hard and is such a great husband and daddy that he deserved it!

22 Months

 

McKinley is 22 months old! I know I've said this time and time again, but I love this age! Her ever expanding vocabulary and personality are so fun to watch grow and develop! Some of my favorite things that McKinley does at this age are when she drops something or something falls down she says, "Oh No! Wha happen?" (translated: "Oh No! What Happend?") It's so cute! I love it when she says that! Also when she falls or gets hurt, right afterwards she says, "Ok? Ok? Ok?" Meaning, "I'm ok." She says this because every time after she falls we says to her, "You're ok." I put the question marks after ok when she says it, because when she says "ok", she doesn't sound too convinced that she is ok. But luckily, she gets over it pretty quickly and without even crying! Which is quite the feat, because she can be a drama queen sometimes! We have a little girly-girl on our hands!

She is expanding her horizons from just Barney and Super Why when she gets to watch a show. She now really likes Yo Gabba Gabba too. She calls it "Gab Gab" when she wants to watch it. Another favorite show of hers is Madagascar, or "animas"! This is the first older-kid show that she has really shown an interest in. I think it's because of her love of animals that she likes it so much! We may try and take her to see the new Madagascar 3 in theatres, we'll see if we're ready to take on that adventure! She does love shows, but I don't know how she'll feel about sitting still for over an hour to watch one!

She has also gotten quite the sweet tooth lately! When she was first able to eat sweets when she turned one, she wasn't too interested in them! I was hoping this would stick, but like most kids she loves her sugar! When we get donuts she's crazy about them! Right after I give her a bite she asks for "more, more" with her mouth full! She wants to be sure she gets her share! The other day I was making cookies and she just came right up and stole one off the counter and started eating it! She was so happy to be able to eat her "c-coka" aka cookie! She also still a huge fan of ice cream or "i-cream"!

We took her on her first train ride at the zoo! She loved it! She said "choo, choo" the whole time we were on the train. As you can tell  from the first picture she was a little nervous and not too sure what to think about the train ride, but once we got going she loved it and had the best time! She was all smiles at the end!

 

She is learning new words and  new things everyday! Now when you ask her how old she is, she says, "One, one, one, one, one." She holds up one finger and says one a bunch of times in a row. It's pretty cute! She also answers my questions when I ask her one. I asked her the other day what she did at Nursery and she told me, "ball, bubbles and Evyn" (Evyn is another little girl in her class at Nursery). It's so fun that she understands what I am asking her and that she is able to respond to my questions! Anytime I ask her if she had fun somewhere she says, "uh-huh!" Some of our favorite words that she says are "sh-show" (shower), "wimming" (swimming), "ju" (juice), "i-baw" (i-pad), "tweet-tweet" (bird), "duh-di" (diaper), "jam-jam" (jammies), "ish" (shoes), "ish" (fish), and "nigh-nigh" (sleeping).

She loves shoes now! When she first started walking she hated wearing them, but now she is the opposite. When we are sitting around home she loves to put her shoes on. We got her some Crocs and she is in love with them! She can put them on and take them off on her own, which is nice for me, as long as she gets them on the right feet :) If she has a choice of which shoes to wear, she will always pick her Crocs! She also likes to wear mine and Travis's shoes around the house! Here she is trying them on!

She is getting a lot better at playing by herself and entertaining herself. Which is nice for me and allows me a little more time to get things done that I need to get done! I still make sure I find time to play with her though and take her fun places! We still like to go to the Y, the park, the library, the zoo, the Children's Museum, to play places at restaurants, and swimming at the pool! Those are some of our regular stops during the week.

Another super cute thing that McKinley does is when she's looking for me or Travis. She walks around the apartment saying, "Mama, are you?" or "Dada, are you" (translated: Mama/Dada where are you?) She will also say that when she is looking for one of her toys. She'll say, "duck, are you?" While she's saying it she holds her hands out to the side in a questioning manner and shrugs her shoulders. It's my favorite! The other night she woke up in the middle of the night and was crying and saying, "Momma, are you?"

She also loves to sing songs. I'll find her around the house playing with her toys just humming a tune. Her favorite songs to sing and do the motions to are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Mr. Sun, Popcorn Popping, and the Wheels on the Bus. She also loves to sing the Elephant song from Barney. That is another song she'll sing a lot of times while she's just playing around, she just sings "ele...pant" over and over. At church during Sacrament meeting, she'll open up the song book and start singing. It's really cute, just kind of loud when its quite during church :) I love it!

Her favorite thing to say is, "thank you"! Which is a good thing! She says it anytime you give her something, it's really cute! Sometimes she'll even say, "thank you, welcome", because she knows what comes next!

Here are a few more pictures of us enjoying the summer! We got ice cream shakes on the first day of summer, had a family date night camping inside our living room, and spent a day at the lake! We're having a good summer around here :)

I'm in love with my sweet little Kinners and I'm so glad she's mine :)

Running

I started running about a year ago. I met some friends from church who would get together and run at the YMCA. I decided to go with them one day. I couldn't run very far, but nevertheless, I enjoyed it and got a feeling that can be felt few other ways. I felt a sense of accomplishment that eased any pain or discomfort I felt from running. I decided to work up to running a 5k as a goal for me to work towards. I still remember running 3 miles without stopping for the first time. It was such an amazing feeling of accomplishment and self control. I pushed myself through any discomfort to accomplish this goal. I overcame my natural tendencies to achieve something I wanted to achieve! I knew then that I had to keep going.

I made a half marathon my next goal to work towards. I remember being scared and hesitant to tell people about my goal, because that would make it real! I eventually found the courage to tell people and make it a real goal, one that I actually believed I could achieve! My first long run was a 4 mile run. It was in January, so it was still cold and snowy outside. So, I headed to the YMCA to run on the treadmills there. I started off and got to 3 miles, my previous longest run, and felt good. My hopes and confidence were high. Mile 3 to 3.5 were accomplished riding on that. Mile 3.5 to mile 4, my body and my mind were both tired. I found it within me to find the strength to finish. The thought of me crossing the finish line carried me through, when I felt like I couldn't possibly run anymore! I was on top of the world when I finished 4 miles! I remember on the drive home, saying a prayer of gratitude to my Father in Heaven. I pictured in my mind me crossing the finish line at my half marathon! I knew then that this was what I had to do for myself! I knew that training for and completing this half marathon was the challenge I needed for my personal growth!

The next Saturday, my long run was a 5 mile run. It was still winter time, but we had an unseasonably warm day that Saturday, so I ventured out on the trails by my house to complete 5 miles. I had mapped out the night before 2.5 miles on the trail so I would know when to turn around to complete my 5 mile run. I felt the cool air on my face and in my lungs. I enjoyed every minute running outside on the trails! It was so nice to run out in nature and to follow the trail on my journey to running a half marathon. It was such a great experience, especially when compared to running on a treadmill. I enjoyed the run and felt that same feeling of accomplishment when I finished my run. I felt like there was nothing stopping me to running 13 miles now!

I increased my long runs by 1 mile each week. The next week was 6 miles, the following week was 7 miles, and then it was 8 miles. I didn't have any trouble adding a mile on each week, until I tried going from running 7 miles to running 8 miles. I felt like I hit a wall at 7 miles and couldn't run anymore! I tried 2 weeks in a row and just couldn't pass the 7 mile mark. Luckily, I had a friend, Janna, who was also training for a half marathon. Our half marathons were on different dates, so we had different training schedules, but we decided to meet up a few miles into my run and run the remaining miles together. It was running with Janna, that I was able to push past the wall I had hit at 7 miles. I remember I ran a little over 8 miles with her! It was so great to have a friend to talk to and distract my pain and discomfort as well as motivate me to keep going! It was so great to overcome this setback and continue on my journey to running a half marathon. 

As the date of the half marathon I was slated to run approached, I didn't feel like I was ready. The most I had run was the 8 miles I ran with my friend Janna. I knew I needed to have run at least a 9 mile run to have my body and my head ready to run all 13 miles of a half! 2 weeks before the half I set out with Janna to run 10 miles. At about mile 6, my stomach started to bother me and I couldn't run anymore. Luckily I was close enough to walk home. I knew that I wasn't ready to run 13 miles at this point, so I backed out. We were meeting up with family in Kansas City on the weekend that I was supposed to run my half. We had plans to visit the new temple there and stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. The weekend was packed and I wanted to spend as much time with family as possible, so I thought it was the best decision to not run the half.

Two days after we got home from Kansas City, I got a package in the mail from my sister-in-law Natalie. It was a super nice running hat and some energy gummies for me to use during my half marathon. I felt sad and disheartened as I opened the package, knowing that I had given up and backed out. I called Natalie to thank her for the sweet gift, but ashamedly told her I had not run the half. While I was talking on the phone to her, I had the thought pop into my head that time was not up. I could still run a half marathon if that's where my heart still was. The next day, I went outside and ran 3 miles. It was during this run that I realized, my training had not all gone to waste. That the 2 weeks I had taken off hadn't compromised the months of training I had done up to this point. I knew I could still run a half marathon! So that Friday, I set off on my long run of 9 miles. It was a pleasant morning, cool enough to keep my sweater on the whole run, but not too cold! My favorite running weather. A few miles into my run, I met up with my friend Janna, and I was able to do it! All 9 miles! I couldn't of done it alone! I was so happy and excited! I went home that night and paid the money and signed up for my half marathon, the Running With The Cows Half Marathon in Bucyrus, KS.

 

My cute husband made shirts for me and my sister Natalie, who was running the race with me, to wear on the race day. He also made some for him, My Mom and McKinley, our fan club, to wear at the finish line. It was such a sweet gesture to know how supportive he was of me in this journey! It wasn't easy for him to put up with my sometimes 2 hour training runs on Saturdays. It wasn't easy for him to take the whole weekend to come out to Kansas City to support me in my race and be there at the finish line. I was so grateful to have such a supportive husband! At one point in the race when I was having a particularly hard time, someone told me they liked my shirt. I proudly told them my husband had made it for me and telling them that nearly made me cry. His sweet gesture helped me make it through the race, and helped my by allowing me to know I was wearing his support even though he was not there with me by my side!

The morning of the race, I woke up nervous and a little bit doubtful. I hadn't ever run 13 miles before! I wasn't sure if I could do it. I had a game plan in my mind and I knew I could do it both physically and mentally, but the pre-race jitters got a hold of me! That coupled with traffic getting to the race, I was a little frustrated. We got to starting line only 2 minutes before the race started. I used this frustration as adrenaline to get me started on my journey of 13 miles!  I started the race with some pacers and a group of people who were running with those pacers. It was nice to talk to a few people and get my nerves settled in for the race.

After running with the pacers for the first 2 miles, I decided it was time to venture off on my own. The pacers were not running the way I had trained, and I decided if I was going to finish the race I needed to stick with what I knew and what I had spent all those weeks training for. I ran from miles 2 through 8 on my own listening to my music and thinking about all the things I had to motivate me to finish this race. The most motivational thing was knowing Travis, McKinley and my Mom would be waiting for me at the finish line! I couldn't wait to meet them there and hug them knowing what I just accomplished! At mile 8, I had to stop to use the bathroom. After I came out, I knew I needed a little break from running so I decided to walk a little. I walked for a little bit, until I met up with another group of pacers. I ran with this group from mile 8 to mile 11. Once again, it was nice to have people to talk to in order to get my mind off of the discomfort of my body and to help me mentally regain my strength! At mile 11, I decided I needed to walk a little more. So I took my time and used this period of walking to regroup. I knew at this point I only had 2 more miles to go! The motivation of seeing Travis, McKinley and my Mom was growing stronger the closer I got! I trudged through the last 2 miles, blister on my little toe and all! I can't described the feelings of excitement, relief, happiness, accomplishment and just plain comfort it was to see the finish line! It felt so great to cross it!! I truly felt like I had accomplished something remarkable! Like I had achieved something spectacular!

I remember seeing McKinley and Travis as I approached the finish line. I used the motivation of just wanting to reach them to make it the last quarter mile. When I finally hugged them, I felt like I was on top of the world! 

I had done it! I had accomplished my goal. It wasn't a simple goal, it was as a goal few people achieve. It was a goal I had planned for, trained for and taken months to work towards! Accomplishing a goal always feels great, but accomplishing a goal you put so much into feels even better!

I've taken a little break from running since then, but I've kept up working out and participating in group exercise classes at the YMCA. Who knows, maybe I'll take up running again once it cools off a little outside and complete my second half marathon! I do know, I want to find another worthy goal that I can put so much into. It takes a lot, but I know the feeling when you complete it and how worthwhile it is despite the hardships along the way!

Emmy and Bossy visit!

My little sister Emily and her husband Basilio came to visit us here in Lincoln for a few days! This is the second year in a row that they've come and visited us on their road trip! We were so glad they decided to include us as a stop 2 years in a row! 

They got in on Monday night, and we decided to have a BBQ in the park with Brad & Emily once they got to town! McKinley had fun having 2 new play mates at the park while we were waiting for the food to finish grilling! We enjoyed having fun company, yummy food, and of course fun time to play at the park!

Emily wanted a picture of her eating corn in Nebraska :)

McKinley had fun having guests at our house for a few days! Every morning when she woke she came out of her room looking for "Emmy" and "Baba"! She was always excited when she came out and realized they were still here! She liked to find all their things around the apartment and tell me whose it was! She especially loved to find Emmy's phone and play with it and the fun new apps that I don't have on my phone. Here she is trying on Bossy's shoes, and sitting in "her spot" on the recliner with Bossy. She always sits in that spot with Travis on the recliner, and I thought it was cute she sat there with Bossy too!

On Tuesday after Travis got off work, we all headed to Omaha to visit the Omaha Zoo. Omaha has a great Zoo so we wanted to take them to visit it. Not to mention McKinley's love of the Zoo, and anything to do with "animas"! She was so excited when we told her we were heading to the Zoo. She immediately repeated, "Zoo, animas, animas, animas" !

 

I think everyone's favorite part of the Zoo was the orangutans! They were taunting the people near their netting to give them food. They were clapping their hands, did a hand motion, and smacking their lips to get the people's attention so they would give them more food. It was so funny. The people gave them some sunflower seeds, and the orangutangs used their teeth to open the seed and spit out the shell. It was so funny and neat to see how intelligent these animals are. We had such a fun time watching them!

 

 

Other than that, we spent the rest of the week hanging out with Emmy & Bossy. We rented Home Alone 2 to watch with them, a favorite of all of ours. Emily and I worked out, while Travis & Bossy played basketball at the Y one afternoon. Emily and I also went to a Zumba class one morning. We also played lots and lots of games, one of my favorite things to do! Emily and I played numerous rounds of Yahtzee and Scattergories. Bossy and Travis were even nice enough to play a few rounds of Farkle with us as well! We had such a fun time having them visit! We love having visitors! We were so glad to have them come and visit us for the second year in a row :)

Memorial Day Weekend

We had an extra fun Memorial Day weekend this year! We left Friday after Travis got off work and flew to Texas to spend it with my family! All 3 of my sisters, their families and of course my parents were all there for the fun! It was great to have everyone together! McKinley enjoyed her first airplane ride being aware that she was on an airplane! She was excited to get on and kept saying, "ai-plane"! She did great too, on the way there she even got her own seat and enjoyed watching Barney on my ipad. Here she is with her set-up on the plane:

While we were in Texas McKinley got a lot of swimming in and quite enjoyed my parents swimming pool! But I think her favorite thing to do there was play with her cousins! She had a lot of fun playing with all the new toys at Meme and Pepe's house and having fun cousins to play with!

We celebrated Memorial day by wearing flag shirts and having a BBQ, complete with my flag fruit pizza :)

We even got to have a sister and brother-in-law's night out! We all went bowling. We played boys vs. girls, the 3 boys scores totaled vs. the 4 girls scores totaled. I'm happy to report, the girls won both times, even though by only a small margin :) We then completed the night with cold stone, you can't go wrong there on a hot summer evening in Texas!

We went to the mall a few different times, one of my favorite places, especially when I'm with my Mom and my Sisters!

My Dad had just gotten home from a 3-week trip around the world, literally. He brought as all back gifts from Kenya. He got the girls handmade Kenyan necklaces and bracelets! And he got the boys, African smocks (I'm not sure that's what they're called, but that's the name I gave them :)  Here they are modeling them!

Before, Mandy and Natalie had to head back to Dallas, we stopped in at the nursing home where my Grandma is, and visited with her for a little while. It was so good to see her and to know that she is doing better and is in better health than she has been! Here's the whole group at the nursing home!

The kids thought the nursing home was great fun and enjoyed running around in the open spaces. Here are all 4 of the cute cousins playing "Ring Around the Rosies". They were so cute together and had such a great time!

Lastly, here is a picture of my Dad with his 2 almost 2-year old granddaughters! They're such cuties! It's so fun to have them so close in age! They played really well together, better than most toddlers play with other toddlers, so that was a pleasant surprise :)

We had so much fun getting to spend time with my family! We of course played lots of games. The boys got in 2 games of golf, which Travis loved! The girls of course got in tons of shopping and I got to go to all of my favorite Houston stores! Travis and I got to go out to dinner with my good friend from high school and college, Kari, which was fun to get to catch up! We can't wait until the next time we get to go back!