The 4th

The morning of the 4th of July was the 10k I had been training for for a few months. I got ready and out the door in plenty of time. The problem came when the address listed on the race website brought me to the middle of nowhere. The Cottles were running late too and weren't sure where the park was. When I finally arrived- 5 minutes after the 10k runners had started- I called Lexie and found out she had my race bib and she had already started running. I had my hands full of stuff but I just started running. I tossed my water bottle and an uneaten banana in a nearby trash can, stuck my keys in the back zip pocket of my leggings and made my way along the course alone. About 3/4 of a mile in, I saw Lexie, grabbed my bib and clumsily pinned it on while running. It was a little awkward as I ran around people for the first half of the race, but I felt good as I settled in after a big hill at the halfway point. Towards the end of the course there was a 1/2 mile of switch backs straight up a steep hill. I was dying. It was not pretty, but I finished in just under 55 minutes, which was my goal. I think the adrenaline I had from the mess at the beginning made me go faster than normal.

Lexie and Nick's sister Brittany looked a lot more calm than I did as I crossed the finish line. 

In the end it felt good to accomplish a goal I wouldn't have thought possible 6 months ago. It's not impressive for most, but it really was a big for me. And now it's over. I will try to keep my running up, but with no clear end goal and schedule I will probably run a little less.

Unfortunately, Daniel and the kids didn't arrive until 20 minutes after I crossed the finish line. Daniel told me something about how it was hard to get 3 kids ready and out the door. That made me laugh. 

 After playing at the park for a while we went to visit Daniel's grandparents since they live only 10 minutes from where the race ended. This picture of triplets from different generations is Daniel, his great grandfather and the Millster. Camille is making a funny face so she doesn't look as much like Daniel's twin as she normally does.

Grandpa Blood is quite the photographer and seemingly has his camera out at all times. He got some cute photos of the girls and even captured Camille's first un-forced steps! The first time she just stood up and took several controlled steps without me encouraging her every step of the way. Too bad she didn't walk any more for a few weeks.

*please note the Kate Gosselin patch of hair
After the nice visit we headed home for some patriotic prep. I painted Sadie's nails with stars and stripes and then the girls helped me make a yummy flag short bread with cream cheese frosting.

The Gaines family came over for some fireworks lighting and spectating. Ben had bought some great fireworks and neither the girls or the dads could wait until total darkness to set them off. At about 8 PM we did sparklers, set off all of our fireworks and then settled in to wait for the neighborhood and Utah Valley to start lighting up. Camille was terrified of the fireworks.

One of these years I will capture a good picture, but the view from our driveway is seriously awesome. There are fireworks going off in every direction (all kinds of fireworks are legal in Utah) and you can see way down south of our house. Neighbors in the cul-de-sacs north of us are always setting off huge ones as well so you get a 360 degree experience.