Idaho Famous Potato 10K

I ran a 10k. I did it with my sister in law Maria. She was in much better shape than me. Our other sister in law Lori ran it too (with her friend Mary), but she did the 1/2 marathon! It was a huge race. I had never seen a marathon, 1/2 marathon, 10k and 5k all done at the same time. I did pretty well considering I had a lot of things stacked against me. Yesterday, I had worked planting my mom's garden and got sunburned and worn out. I had a broken toe that I taped so I could run. I hadn't run in a week because of the toe. Also, my monthly female friend visited (sorry for the TMI) yesterday too! Considering all those stumbling blocks, I did pretty darn okay. I had plans to run a 1/2 marathon this July with some friends, but I am sorry to inform them that I am not going to now. I have absolutely NO desire to run further than a 10k. Running isn't for me. I enjoy it sometimes, but this race again told me that I really don't want to go further than what I did.

Don't I just look fabulous! Great, pair me in a photo with a great looking running.

A little visit to the first aid tent. My left foot would sometimes catch and scrap the protruding bone on my right ankle. Cut myself up good.

Maria did so great for her first 10K!

Maria and I with the famous spud

The kids liked him too! They were a great support team, especially Tommy for being our photographer and kid wrangler.

Maria, Me, Lori, and Mary. Crazy runners.

Gardening for others

A young family in our community lost their father suddenly. He left his young wife and three little children behind. She was a year younger than me (Sheree's class) and her late husband was in Weston's class (three years older). Our (extended) family wanted to help and offered to plant her garden after things had settled down and the weather warmed up. It did and we were able to work the ground one day and come back another and plant the garden. It was a lot of fun and felt good to help someone else out.

Now Becca, if we randomly drive by your house and don't stop, it is because we are checking to see how the garden is growing :)

Pickles Anyone?

I ordered a case of pickling cucumbers from Bountiful Baskets because I wanted to make some pickles. They were too big to leave whole. I would only have been able to fit maybe two in a jar, so we sliced them up to fit more in a jar. We even tried a few jars of spears. Tommy helped for an hour at the beginning, then Maria came over and helped me with the rest, she had to bring me more jars. Then I called Sheree to bring me more jars, because I was out. We ended up with 40 quarts of pickles! I think I have a stock pile for a while.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was nice and painful at the same time. I will explain. I love that I have a child old enough to make things for me for Mother's Day. All the things I used to make for my mother, I am now getting to enjoy. Howie made me the card and stain glass butterfly at school and then the little snicker candy at church. My dad gave all the women in the family this framed quote from President Hinckley.

We (tommy and I) made this carrot cake for my mom and the family to enjoy. I can't decorate cakes to save my life (looks like a 3 year old colored on this cake) . I can do a cupcake much better justice. There is a huge difference between cake and cupcake decorating. Nuff said!

Oh, and our mother's day present to mom: A coupon good for planting and weeding her garden this year.

When grandma Joan came over for a slice of cake, all the grandkids went running and mauled her with hugs before she could even get in the house.

We made a photo book for Grandma Joan with photos from her 80th Birthday Party/Reunion last September. I think she liked it.

The painful part of Mother's day would have to be me breaking my toe. I stubbed it on my chop saw that I had sitting in my house. It was a nice one. Because I had done this and couldn't put weight on my foot, Tommy had to help me make the cake. Seated, I grated carrots, and told Tommy what to put in the bowl to mix up for the carrot cake. I frosted it. It was a joint effort and our very first time making carrot cake. He boasted that he made the cake, that I still have not made a carrot cake.

A memorable mother's day for sure.

Mother's Tea

Growing up here, I knew that my school does something called Mother's Tea for Mother's Day. When Howie brought home the paper in his backpack that talked about it, Tommy told him that his mom wouldn't be going to it because we don't drink tea. Howie was sad. When I found out Tommy had told him that I started laughing and told them both it wasn't tea served, but cookies and punch and that I would be going to it with Howie. Funny. The class sang us some songs they had been learning and gave us the presents they had been working on and we enjoyed a cookie and juice box. Howie made me a lovely stained glass butterfly (colored marker on transparency paper) and a cute card. It is so fun to start receiving these handmade gifts from my kids now. I love it!

Mother's Tea 2011