It feels so good to be back home. We sure missed guy while we were away!

These two sillies! Tenley just can't get enough of Dave since we got back to California. She completely adores her daddy. 

on the road again

It's been such a fun couple of weeks being in Utah, but we are missing a certain someone in California like crazy so it's time to get back to our home! I will miss these beautiful mountains and clear blue skies. 

We spent the night in St. George (as always) and got one last meal from Cafe Rio! We ate here 5 times while we visited.  T devours her quesadilla every single time!

We strolled around the little shopping center that's near Cafe Rio and this girl just cracks me up with her little purse that she had to take with her.

The Pet Store is like Christmas morning for this little animal lover. When we walked in, she immediately yelled, "Eeew!  Stinky! KaaKaa mommy!"  I just laughed at her because the girl is right. Those stores always smell so horrible.  She loved watching the fish and it was probably a good thing we had a 5 hour drive the next day or I totally would have bought her one.

Cousin Time

Matt & Jenny came over on Sunday so that Nash and Lucy could play with Tenley. Oh how I miss living close to family!

Nash was so cute playing with Tenley.

Nash wanted to turn the play mat into a slide, so that is exactly what they did and they played on this all evening.

 Tenley decided she was tired and laid down right in the middle of the mat. Nash just sat right beside her and started to tickler her back. Cutest cousins ever!

So glad we got to play for a day. It is so hard to say goodbye to these cuties. 

Utah Valley Half Marathon

We did it! We finished! It may have been my worse time ever, but considering how sick I am and how I really just wanted to stay in my bed at 3am this morning, I'm really proud of myself for finishing! My sister Kelli was so sweet to stay with me the entire race.

So happy to be done. Like, really so happy. 

13.1 miles definitely deserves a creamy or two!

"Thumbs up if you pee'd a little."  I should have two thumbs up. For reals!

After the race I went back to the Madsen's and took the most wonderful 3 hour nap ever.  My mother in law is awesome for watching Tenley while I rested.  Later I met back up with my family for dinner at Milagros and it was oh so good. 

perfect summer day

I had some errands to run in Provo today and I made sure that one of those errands included a stop at the Riverwoods.  As soon as Tenley saw the splash pad, I knew where we would be the rest of the afternoon! I was totally unprepared so I went into Called to Surf and bought her a little swim suit and asked a stranger for some sunscreen. Impromptu splash pad fun is my favorite!

Pausing for a quick cookie break! Also, those green mountains in the background are magical. I sure do miss this place.

Later that night I went for a run around the lake with my sisters. Such a gorgeous place for an evening run.

We were laughing so hard as we literally ran past the train.  I know it's called the Heber Creeper, but I didn't' realize it was THAT slow! All the passengers on the train waved to us as we passed them by. 

Also, notice how I look like death? It's because I feel like death. I've had this horrible cough/congested chest/head cold for the last week and it seems to only be getting worse.  Trying to train for a half marathon while sick & adding a few thousand feet in elevation and I'm a hot mess. Ok, maybe just a mess. It's going to be a small miracle if I finish the UV half marathon this weekend. 

We finished the night off by roasting some hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. Utah really knows how to do summer evenings right. 

Sunday Funday

One of Tenley's favorite things to do while we've been at my parents house is to collect sticks. After church I could not get her to come in the house, so we just stayed outside the rest of the day finding as many sticks as we could. I seriously should quit buying her toys and just get her a bunch of rocks and sticks! 

I should probably buy her a dog too since she is completely in love with Oscar. These two are pretty attached to each other. 

Helping husk the corn for dinner. She thought it was pretty fun to pull it off leaf by leaf. 

 Tenley sat here with my dad for quite a while helping him. So cute!

While waiting for dinner to cook, Tenley played a little soccer with aunt Leeshy. We may have to work on the concept of the game with her, but she's pretty darn cute to watch throw the ball into the net with her hands and then get stuck in the net trying to get the ball back! 

I loved watching my daddy play with Tenley. He's such a good gramps and Tenley loves him.

After dinner we all went for a little walk around my parents neighborhood. There are little ponds and walking trails everywhere and it's kind of just dreamy and after my visit here, I've decided I'm buying a house in this neighborhood.  I just have to convince the hubby of the small town life.

I loved this view walking back to the house. My sister Kelli is pulling her dog in the wagon,  Jason was walking backwards the whole time to talk to her, my dad is pushing the stroller....which is empty because Tenley is walking her fox. Haha! I love my family.

But this right here is my favorite view.

Dirty Dash

About a month ago I talked my momma and sisters into signing up to run the  Dirty Dash at Soldier Hollow. I've never done an obstacle course race and it seemed like a fun one. I had no idea what I was getting us into! We had fun getting some matching shirts and of course we had to tat ourselves up. Ha! We look so tough! Oink! Oink!

This picture had potential to be cute....if only I could get myself together! What am I even doing? I have about 5 more similar to this where I am just off doing my own thing. What the heys! I did go to the doctor yesterday to see if he could give me some magic potion to get me feeling better. He gave me some fantastic cough medicine that knocked me out and I slept like a baby, but maybe I took a little too much of the good stuff! 

One last picture before we get completed covered in mud! As we were driving up to Soldier Hollow, you could see all the runners. Except no one was running. EVERYONE was walking! We were like, um, hello isn't this a race? Why isn't anyone running? Well, we obviously didn't know what we were getting into.  The first 100 yards of the race was up a big muddy hill where you were slipping and falling all over the place, then shortly after that you had to jump into a giant mud pit and swim yourself across to the other side. We got out and ran for a few minutes until the mud dried and made it nearly impossible to even bend any of your limbs in a different position than where the mud dried them! We just laughed at ourselves as we walk/jogged the rest of the 10k. 

We had so much fun crawling, falling, sliding and sloshing our way through this race! I think we all fell flat on our face at least once and we couldn't stop laughing the whole time. 

Then we took the coldest shower of my entire life. No joke, I think this was glacier water. Kelli is not amused here!

Can't wait for next year because we are definitely making this a tradition! Except we'll remember to bring cash so we can pay for the hot showers!