I'm The Luckiest...(July Entry I didn't post)

I truly feel blessed by the Lord to have been given the opportunity to spend an eternity with my best friend, husband, companion and father of my children.  I cannot imagine the rest of my life on earth without him.  He is simply amazing and never ceases to surprise me.  I am dumbfounded!
Our marriage over the years has only gotten better.  We are more in love than ever.  He is getting more creative in the ways that he shows and expresses his love for me.  I could never keep up, and I frankly will not even bother trying.  He is simply the best at what he does. 
The only two other people that I can think of that could love me the more than Rob, are my Savior and my Heavenly Father.  It just doesn't get any better than that.  My cup is over flowing. 
This passed week Rob has gone out of his way to show me, creatively, how much he loves me.  He is so corney, I love it.  His most recent attempts, that just blew me away, were from the last 3 days.  He gathered enough rose petals (from a wild bush near the Tower) and covered our bed in petals, but with them came these sweet notes giving me instructions on what to do next.  I had to find 4 other notes that he had taped unto some petals, which of course he had thrown with the rest of the hundreds of petals he had spread on our bed.  I had fun digging through and flipping over a ton of petals.  I only found 3, and had to dig thru the same ones again to find the 4th one.  I was on cloud 9.
Then this morning, I wake up to find a giant heart made out of rose petals on our kitchen table with another love note.  The kids loved that one!  But not as much as their MAMA!
And later on tonight, he sent me a message with a Youtube video attached.  He said he had found this song and that he wished he had written the lyrics for me.  They are truly how he feels about me.  As I watched this video I cried reading the lyrics.  I thought "how can someone love me this much?"
I am so grateful to have Rob in my life.  I could not be any happier without him.  He is my joy, he is my life, he is my everything.  It is nice to feel this much love from someone close to me other than Heavenly Father.  It makes my earthly experience more worth it and exciting. 
I'm honored.  I'm truly touched.  I'm overwhelmed and humbled to be sorrounded by this much love.  His love astounds me.  Thank you Rob for all that you do to show me that you love me.  I'm the luckiest... 
P.S  I hope I didn't embarrase you too much.  The blog is my journal,lol!

Strawberry/Raspberry Picking...

This was the first year ever that our family got to experience Strawberry picking.  The kids had a great time.  Rob was the best at it.  He was fast and got a ton.  We froze them all and have been enjoying them in our smoothies.  I hope we do it again next year.  It's  agreat family Summer activity.
The girls loved petting the horses at the Farm.  I think that was the best part for them...

We also enjoyed picking some raspberries and caught James and Sophia sneaking one...little stinkers.  They are yummy!  We had a good harvest this Summer of berries.  And it is so much cheaper to pick them, than to go to your local grocery store and buy them in season.  Besides, we get to freeze what we pick and enjoy them all year 'round! 

The Ilitotibial Band...

The Ragnar Relay Race was awesome this year.  We (Melody Mc. and I, were Runner #1) ended up with 2 teams (24 runners) and met a whole bunch of new wonderful people.  I had the privilege of seeing my little Brother Erick (Runner #11) again.  I hadn't seen him for almost 3 yrs.  It was a real treat!  He brought with him 2 new friends (new friends for us) that also ran in our team.  I couldn't believe how the year had come and gone as far as raining and running for this Race.  We already can't wait until next year, again!
I can honestly say that I'm passionate about this race.  It is different and it adds a little variety to racing.  I always meet the most wonderfully interesting people.  The Race course is breath taking.  The atmosphere is positive and we all thrive on each other's energy and enthusiasm.  There is always so much excitement involved.  It also tests me in different ways.  It is not as challenging as a Full Marathon is, but it pushes me to the limits enough that it becomes another spiritual experience.  Especially when we are only getting about 3-4 hrs of sleep during the race, and running thru hills, after hills, heeeheee!  It is actually not so bad. 
We all manage to get that adrenaline pumping and we run.  I personally know that because of my Heavenly Father's love, I'm a runner.  He has allowed me to have this in my life and I'm truly grateful to him for it.  He knows it brings me joy and happiness.  I'm also able to encourage others to join me like Rob, Melody, James (and many others).  It is a positive thing in my life.  Besides, it keeps us all in shape.
Thank you to everyone that joined our teams.  It was so much fun meting new faces and seeing those from our past teams, as well as having James (Runner#4)  join us again.  I had a wonderful experience running it this year.  My Best RAGNAR yet.  James had a good experience as well.  I was so impressed with him.  He only ran a few times and managed to go to Scout Camp that same week, and yet he did great! 
It was an honor to have Rob (Runner #6) run this with me again.  I love watching him run.  I feel very proud of him because I know this is not his favorite thing to do, Running that is, but he is such a good sport about it and he has become good at it.  I believe we all set some Personal Records this year.  I know I definitely did.  We ran faster and it felt GOOOOOD!  The best part was being surrounded by such wonderful friends and enjoying the camaraderie this Race brings with every runner involved.  I love the energy, the enthusiasm, the dedication, motivation and support.  I am so excited for next year already. 
Thank you to every one that flew out here to join us, Margaret (Runner #10), Madalyn (Runner #9), Erick (Runner #11) and thank You Lara G. (Runner #5) for joining our team at the last minute.  You are such a joy to know.  I'm only sorry we didn't get to spend more time with you.  But I know we will keep in touch.
Thank you Erick for sharing your sweet friends with us.  Margaret and Madalyn were a treat to meet.  What a pair?  They were a hoot.  I admire their mother-daughter relationship.  It was inspiring!  Thank you Erick for joining my team again after three years.  I'm glad you had a good time and plan to join us again next year.  I can't wait! 
Thank you Rob and James.  I always have more fun when you two come along.  It has become a family thing!!!  Eliza wants to join  us next year.  She would be 12 by then and I believe she can do it.  She is really excited already!
Thank you Dawn (Runner#2) and Chris (Runner #3).  I so appreciate you two joining our team this year.  I enjoyed getting to know you better.  Thanks for the laughs Miss Dawn, you are a cutie.
Thank you Melody L. (Runner #7) for running the longest leg of the whole race so gracefully and with such an  amazing attitude.  You never cease to amaze me girl.  I knew you were the best runner for that leg.  I will miss you!  Have fun in New Mexico.  Join us again any year.
Thank you Miss Jennifer Mc. (Runner #8) for being part of our team again and letting us drive your van for 200 miles.  You are always such a treat and a delight to be with.  It was so nice to see your tender and encouraging smile at every major exchange.  I just love your heart and spirit.  I still want you to join us again next year, heeheee! 
Mark (Runner #12 "our anchor")- Thank you, Thank you, thank you!  You joined us later and brought such an amazing enthusiasm with you to our team.  Thank you for letting your family drive my small van while our team drove yours.  I heard Van #2 folks loved being in a 12-passenger van.  Thank you for your great example of dedication and persistence.  You have come a long way with running and it is good to know that you are enjoying it again.  YOU ARE AN INSPIRATION.  Thank you for your great example and support.  Thank Miss Emily as well for letting us borrow you for over 24hrs. 
And one more Thank you.  Rachel Peterson (NW Passage Race director), Thank you for all of your hard work and time put into making this race what it was this year.  It is a treat to know you and be your friend.   It was also a treat to meet new faces and see the rest of the crew from Del Sol.  I'm glad we were able to you help out in the ways that we did.  Thanks for asking us.  Although it did feel kind of funny and a bit wrong walking away after the race without helping you all clean up at the Finish Line, lol. 
Thank you to Jony and Jim for offering their home to all of us.  It was our only shower and good meal of the day!
A bigger Thank you to Miss Melody Mc. for running alongside me on our first leg (we rocked that leg.  We were fast!).  Thank you for bringing such creativity and so much Spunk to our teams.  Thank you for your enthusiasm and excitement.  Thank you for keeping us in line.  Thank you for being as crazy as me.  Thank you for being such a great friend.  Thank you for your great example (of many things).  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.  The list goes on!  I just love ya!
P.S  We can't forget our wonderful babysitter Carlene A.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Our girls were in heaven and they just loved you!  Thanks for always coming to our rescue!  Love ya tons!
P.S #2- I will be working on a slide show and posting the video of all of our pictures from this year's Race.  But here are some of my favorite ones...