July--Part 4

My flight from Phoenix had a layover in Portland. We realized at the end of my trip in Phoenix that Sean and the boys would still be in Portland when I flew home. So instead of continuing on to Seattle, Sean picked me up from the Portland airport. This allowed me one last time to see Ryan and Heidi and their family, which I am so grateful for! Our families have grown so close over the past several years and I am so sad to be moving so far away from them. 

Mavi loved hanging out on this bookshelf.

It was so weird seeing Mt. Rainier this way. It was totally bald on the east face. I didn't like it!

I hadn't been running for a really long time but July 21 I just went out and ran a 5k. I couldn't believe that I could do it. The even more amazing part? I ran it in 28:39...faster than any previous 5k time. Then, on Thursday, William wanted to go running with me. So again, we set out to do another 5k. William hasn't run a ton since he was fresh off of his mission, but he's definitely fit. He kept his pace slow enough to stay with me, but just fast enough to push me. So, 2 days later, on July 23, we ran a 5k in 27:32...a whole minute faster than my previous time, making it an 8:51 minute/mile pace. I absolutely couldn't believe it. It goes to show that Cross Fit is a great conditioner, and I was more physically fit than I realized. I'm so grateful for Will and his willingness to go "slow" with me and push me harder than I can push myself.

The fam out picking blueberries. We are going to miss these trees!

We had a family gathering for dinner one night. I love seeing our yard being used this way, and I so love being surrounded by so much family and good food!

Despite his expression, he loves this horse swing!

Garrett and Maverick loved hanging out together in the hammock

While everyone was in town, we all went to hike Greenwater Lakes. Everyone was there except for Kyle, Keith, and Aaron. It was so fun, and so beautiful! One of our children, (I won't name any names but he has orange hair), had a hard time hiking the whole time and had a pretty grumpy attitude, so we were always the back of the pack, but all in all, it was a great day.

I had just gotten my Go Pro and Will had fun taking it for a spin!

There was a ward party at our house in celebration of the 24th of July. We had a lot of different stations where you could try new things. We had paintball guns to aim at a target, tomahawk throwing, panning for "gold", watermelon eating contest, pie eating contest, potato sack races, three-legged races, etc. Both Brayden and Asher got a tomahawk into the stump after only a couple of tries. I was really impressed! I tried it and was unsuccessful :)

Asher and Brayden in the watermelon eating contest. Asher got 2nd place!

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Think Hendrix ever questions if he is loved or not?

The day before we flew out, I got to go on a trail ride with Kim Folk. It was a beautiful day to ride, and it was so therapeutic to be on a horse again after so long!

Garrett, Mavi, Everett and Paul all watching a top spin.

Jennifer and Isaias came into town a couple days before we left. They were in town to have their beautiful daughter Calyse sealed to them in the Seattle temple. We left the day before that happened, so unfortunately we weren't able to go, but I am so grateful that we got to see them and spend time with them before we left!

Our stuff. 3 huge bins, 1 large suitcase, 6 carry on's and 6 backpacks. Trying to manage this and 4 children in an airport was an adventure. We didn't originally have this much stuff but Sean bought a lot of his thing for school (computer, books, battery backup, etc.) while we were in Washington since it was a lot cheaper than waiting until we were in Hawaii. It all worked out in the end!