Making Headway!

If you remember back to our family New Years letter, one of my goals was to run a half marathon and one of Shanam's goals was to get his pilots license. Well, today we've made some big steps toward those goals :) On Monday morning I was looking up some local 5K's that I could possibly do and there was one for today, Saturday, in Big Spring, TX which is about 60 miles away. When I told Shanam that I was interested in doing that one, he said, "No way! That's where I have to go to take my FAA written exam! Maybe if I study every night I can be ready to take it by Saturday." So he studied until 1 am every night and I ran 2-3 miles every day, so by the time Saturday rolled around, we were both ready and excited! I dropped him off at the airport testing center, kissed him good luck and Annabelle and I went on to Big Spring State Park where we registered and ran our first 5K! It was great! There were more hills than I'm used to, but we had a great run and had fun doing it! After they passed out awards for the top 3 males and females I shouted out, "What about the stroller division?!" You see...I was the only one there jogging with a stroller :) They said I got first place and everyone laughed and clapped for me :) A lot of them came over to check out Annabelle's jogging stroller, like they had never seen one before, and to say hi to Annabelle :) She was a star :) Shortly after, Shanam called to say he had passed the exam!! He was kinda nervous because it's a hard test. There were 60 questions pulled from a bank of 3000, but he did it!! We both felt great after accomplishing such big steps! Now he just has a few more hours in the plane and one long cross country trip he has to do solo and he'll be a pilot!! I'm now training for a 10K and my body feels better and better during each run!

Sophie vs Sasha

The ranch where we get the pups meat from delivered us some cattle bones last week, per Shanam's request :) I'm not sure he realized just how big they were going to be! :) I was laughing so hard I could barely take the picture!

Sophie dug in right away...

Sasha was afraid of it...LOL!

That's just one small difference between these two crazy dogs. They may be sisters but, boy, do they have different personalities! First of all, they look very different. Sophie's nickname is Sophie-Bear because of her thick fluffy hair. The hair on her tail is so long and fluffy it reminds us of a feather plume! Sasha'a hair is short and not as soft but it has a beautiful red tint to it and is very shiny. Sophie always wants attention and will bark to get it. That's the only time she barks. Once she gets it, she will usually roll over to her back so we can have full access to her belly for a good rubbing :) Sasha doesn't need attention but if she wants it, she'll make a noise very similar to the noise Chewbacca makes.

They are both very good with Annabelle and will let her pet their noses and pull their hair. She in turn, lets them lick her feet with glee :) Sophie loves the water and her kiddy pool while Sasha will have nothing to do with water.

I always know when the ice cream truck is near because Sophie howls each and every time. It's really kind of funny :) She also howls whenever she hears a siren. Sasha only howls if Shanam takes Sophie on a run and leaves her behind in the backyard. Don't worry, she gets her turn, too :) And this is the way they play fetch...

They still love to wrestle and have pretty much destroyed our back yard, but we sure love them :)

Utah Travels!

Our first trip to Utah and Annabelle's first plane ride was right after my birthday, Mar 22-29. All the family was so excited to see her! The last time, during Christmas, she was only 2 months old and couldn't hold her head up for very long. Now she was almost sitting up and laughing non-stop :) She did great on the plane and is a wonderful travel companion!

The next trip to Utah was for Easter, April 22-May 1! On my list of things we had to do was go to Thanksgiving Point Gardens for the tulip festival so I could get a picture of her with all the beautiful flowers :) It was great seeing extended family I hadn't seen in a long time and having them meet Annabelle!

Then, Shanam was able to join us the next weekend! He got in some great powder days and we even got to go out on a date for the first time since Annabelle was born! Shanam's mom watched Annabelle while we celebrated our 2 year anniversary with a couples massage (thank you so so so much Laura!) in SLC and dinner at The Metropolitan. The massage and the food were divine!!! Those have to be among my two very favorite things in life, so of course I was in heaven! Happy Anniversary to us!

It was wonderful having Shanam with us on the plane ride home!

Next trip to Utah will be for Memorial Day!