Think about it.

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair and confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."

Friday was crazy hair day!

Remembering

I didn't know that today was "Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day" until just a few minutes ago. I'm hoping some one, some where is remembering our baby too. This last month has actually been a WONDERFUL month. It's been crazy, but ever since I ran our 5k I've only had one "sad" evening. Until tonight. I don't know why, it was a great, busy, fulfilling day. Until it hit me like a brick. The sadness, that is. I'm so glad these times have become so few and far between but I never quit "remembering" our baby. My friends are having their babies (congratulations!!!!) and I'm not, ahhhh, that's hard!

Don't worry, there is a lot of fun being had. I can't wait to record our fun, fun trip to Albuquerque!

Let's help!

I don't know Taylie, but I've seen quite a few fundraisers for her and seen a lot about her family. I know there are so many kids who have to suffer through cancer and maybe, just maybe we can help. Go to this blog and see the details, but basically, by posting about Taylie she will get $2 for every blog that has a post. C'mon, give a little bit of blog space! And yes, I know the girl who is doing this fundraiser, I know she's honest in doing this!

General Conference

Every April and October the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hold "General Conference". This is a large meeting that is held in Salt Lake City and then broadcasted out to the whole world through TV, Internet and shown in Stake Centers and homes. It is my favorite weekend of the year. We get to stay home in our pajamas and be spiritually fed. This year was a little different. Justin was singing with his Stake and so he got two tickets to attend the Saturday afternoon conference. Alesa decided she didn't want to go so she offered them to Doug and me. We were happy to take the tickets. The Conference Center is amazing, it's huge and actually the sound quality is amazing! As we watched the leaders fill their seats and then the Quorum of the Twelve fill their seats. Soon after President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors entered the center- such quiet, respect and love filled the room. I was touched that even the Quorum of the Twelve and other leaders stood out of respect. What a blessing to have a Prophet of the Lord living on earth and to be able to stand in his presence and partake of his spirit! As the First Presidency walked in (and when they left) they shook hands and greeted the other leaders. You could see the love and respect they all held for each other.

Conference was wonderful! It was a spiritual high to stand in the same room as thousands of other believers and sing and be taught. The spirit was strong. Even during the final song men (in the choir) sang with all their hearts and tears poured down their cheeks. I do know that my Redeemer Lives! He lives and is here to help each of us! How grateful I am to know these truths!

Thank you to Alesa and Justin for allowing us this opportunity! It will not be forgotten!

You Did a Good Thing!

Thanks to all of you who sponsored Katie's Fun Run. She did all 30 laps (2 1/2 miles) and raised the $250 that was her goal, thanks to all of you!!! This was an incredibly fun fundraiser, and I was so not excited about it to begin with! Here are some fun pictures of the day, yes a little water fight was involved!This is Katie's teacher, he seems so much fun! All of the teachers were great and came and supported the students, most even ran with them!

Fun thing about these pictures- Sometimes I randomly surf blogs (link off other blogs), especially on Sunday nights when it's quiet. Last night as I was surfing a girl's blog I was pleasantly surprised to see these pictures of Katie. The blog belonged to the mom of Bailey (the girl in the pictures) and the blonde boy who is spraying them. Thanks, Chanelle, for sharing! (Since we were bad parents and forgot the camera!)

Way to go Katie! Way to set a goal, work hard, and achieve it!

5k

Yesterday I did the 5k race. Boy, you would think I’d run a marathon! The race was fun, but hard. Harder than I expected, I think my pace was a little faster so I felt it more. (No, I won’t tell you my time- it’s still embarrassing!) But there were some people slower than me! This was a great experience! I felt so supported and loved! There are so many people who have come this far with me. Alesa, Tori, Shauntel and I all started together and that lasted for about 5 seconds. They all went ahead and did an awesome job! Even Holly did a 5k in California yesterday, so we were all doing this together. I’m so proud of each of us! None of us have ever been runners but each of us finished and they all had times to be proud of!

Alesa, Tori, me and our husbands all went to Calloway’s for dinner Friday night. It was so fun to spend time together relaxing and having fun. We are all lucky to have very supportive husbands who love us and want us to succeed in everything we do.

Saturday morning we drove in to town and were nervous as could be. I woke up at 3:30a.m.and never went back to sleep. The race energy was fun. I have no idea how many people there were but I’d guess over 300. There was a little girl (later found out she was 5) who fell right at the beginning, I felt so bad for her! A little over ½ way and just before the steepest hill, Tori’s husband, Rob was waiting to take pictures, he even waited for me. Just seeing him and Gabby made me happy and gave me a little burst of energy. At just over 2 miles the lady who owns the salon where I work and her son and daughter were waiting to cheer for us! Then down the road ½ mile was Doug and the kids. Katie even came down and met me and jogged with me a little ways. That stretch was the very hardest for me. I was tired and I wanted to throw up, but I knew I just had to push through. I turned to go up 2nd South and could see Alesa (she'd already finished) at the end of the block, she was my angel this time and I knew all I had to do was make it to her and she would help me finish. I made it that far and we turned the corner and could see the finish line, but it seemed so far away.

I looked at the word “Finish” and focused on that. Other than that, I was very unaware of what was going on around me until I saw Felice (my trainer from the weight loss contest) Once I saw her I knew I couldn’t quit. So I picked it up and pushed my limits until I crossed the finish line. During the final stretch I heard people cheering and I thought “Wow, do they know I didn’t win!?!” :) I know the reason there was so much cheering was because there were so many people who love me there supporting me. Our baby probably would have been born this week (a little less than 2 weeks before due date) and most of these people who were there had figured out that was the reason I set this goal. As my dear friend Tori said “We are running to show we’re stronger than our pain.” That was exactly it, she said it perfectly! There were tears at the finish line, mine my mom’s and others. I am blessed! I have dear friends and family who supported me. Even though I was only doing 3 miles they treated it like it was a marathon, and maybe it was MY marathon. I received the kindest comments on facebook, the most encouraging e-mails and nicest phone calls. Thank you! I AM stronger than my pain and it is only because of my friends and family and a loving Heavenly Father.

Now, I'm thinking about a 10k…