Our LOVEly weekend

Ellie & Noah had a lil Valentines party at their preschool.
Ellie wanted to make her own cards for her teachers & friends... so we let her.
When she showed us her first card, she was trying to sound out & write:
"Happy Valentines Day"....
It said: "HB VLNTI...."
It was really cute, but when I showed her the right way to spell the words, she scribbled out hers.
Finally, Lance came & wrote on each card & Ellie signed her name.
(sometimes with dots on each letter)
Then they stapled on an AIRHEAD candy.

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On Friday night our ward & neighbors had a VALENTINES PARTY. FUN FUN!
My mom & I were in charge of games.
My mom kind of took charge of "The Newly-wed Game" & I did "Name That Love Tune".

The games were lots of fun - esp. getting to know the couples better- wink*wink...

At the end of the night, the couples danced to a song.... that's when Lance leaned over & whispered .......

"I love you Suzanne, you are the best wife ever. What would I do with out you" and he started crying.

OH WAIT- that didn't happen. BUT, he did whisper:

"Let's dance our way out of here." {I think he THOUGHT he was too cool for dancing}

The PARTY was a hit. Thanks to all those that made it happen!

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VALENTINES DAY (Saturday) was crazy busy!! We ran from gymnastics to the other side of town for a b-day party, then grocery shopping, exchanging our Valentines gifts, making the finally preps for that night- AND even getting Miss Ellie's hair cut from LaRee.

Ellie had been asking if LaRee could cut her hair really short for a while now- so we finally made it happen. I love it, & most importantly- SHE LOVES IT!

Then we headed to "Grandma Cheryl's store" to shop!

This is always a HIT! Ellie loves this (along with all the other grandkids). It really teaches them alot- like counting, budgeting, etc.!

This is Elle striking some poses with her gifts from mommy & daddy.

We both love cooking!

Now we even have matching aprons to add to our APRON COLLECTIONS!

(I loved the Target "hot/cheap spot"... so many things were only $2.50 each- such as our aprons & cute cooking accessories.. we really have loved the heart shaped silicone pans/trays...we've enjoyed making heart brownies twice already!)

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KNO @ USA

Lance & I chose to earn money instead of spend money this year for our romantic Valentines Day. We spent it playing with over 125 kids!!!!!

(Kids Night Out at Usa Youth Fitness Center- KNO is once a month)

We actually had a blast!

The kids made V-Day cards,

frosted, decorated & ate cookies,

played freeze dance,

ate pizza, watched Charlie Brown's Valentine,

played copy-cat,

played duck-duck-goose,

watched some great gymnast perform & SO MUCH MORE!

The kids had so much fun & were very worn out for their parents!

(goal accomplished)

{thanks Lance, Auburn, Shalae, Charlie, Dawn, Whitney, Ashley, Jackie, Danny, Nick, & James}

I hope everyone else had a great

VALENTINES DAY!!!

Cancer Is Hard. 13 Miles Was a Piece of Cake.

Why did Kayne West say:

"That That Don't Kill You Can Only Make You Stronger"......

(I really do not think that he ever ran 13 miles in a row. )

I loved playing that song while I trained myself for this 1/2 marathon. But on Sunday (the day after the BIG race) I am not so sure those words are true.. I could not even walk. Not only were my muscles so sore, but my BONES hurt. If I didn't limp, I could feel my bones grinding in my right knee (the opposite knee of pain during training) & also my right hip bones!

OUCH OUCH OUCH.

I felt like the ground was uneven for a while on the run... and I think my bones got set in place.

... (I'm almost done complaining)....

AND when I trained myself, I never walked- I only stopped to bend my stiff/sore knees.... but on the way to the race on Saturday morning- my support {aka: Lance} said to me:

"I don't think I would ever run 13 miles even if somebody paid me 1 million dollars."....

that thought kept coming to me & I would ask myself "WHY I WAS DOING THIS?"! I had nothing to prove.That thought would slow me down... a few times I even stopped to walk for some reason. THAT WAS DUMB- oh well.

I think that it's kinda funny that I was faster when I practiced by myself. (Can you tell that I am not a competitive person! ha ha)

...... fine- enough negativity........

BUT- along the sides of the path, there would be random signs saying "You can do this" or "Keep going" & other motivating things.... THEN there were big pictures of the kids that BATTLED the fight with cancer, or still are ... and sometimes signs would say

"DO IT ANYWAY".

Mind

-------

Matter

Ahhh, fine- keep my painful feet running! It made me emotional sometimes thinking of how I was struggling when I knew that the race/pain would be over soon- and cancer or other things that kids (or adults) struggle with is nothing compared to the run.

A man that was in front of me for awhile had an inspiring shirt on that was from another run somewhere. It said on the back

"CANCER is HARD. THIS is a piece of cake."

.... maybe I should've kept running by him!!

SO, even though participating in London's 1/2 Marathon Run was one of the hardest things I have ever done (and still can not believe I did this crazy event)....

I agree!:

Cancer Is Hard.

13 Miles Was a Piece of Cake.

Londons Run was so crowded with people ready to support the families involved.

When we pulled up, I kept saying "this is crazy!"! My stomach hurt from how many people were there.

I always run alone & for some reason I had such a stomach ache about running with all of these people.

As you can see- I was a LONER. Which was fine with me.

Lance was waiting with the camera (& Elle) near the finish line.

As I passed him, I was listening to my finale song-

"WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS"

- with my {flabby} arms pumping in the air.

(I know, I know, all the neighbors are going to miss those pumping arms on Fridays after my long runs.. ha ha)

This sight alone made me a bit emotional.

It was over.

Finally Over!!!!!

I DID IT!!!!

I can't believe I can run 13 miles.

I could barely run a straight mile a couple years ago.

Then- little by little- I got up to running 4 miles. I was so proud.

Next thing I know, my FAVE CUZ {Krista} challenged me to run a 1/2 marathon with her & some friends in Cali. NO PROMISES... but I added a mile each Friday & got up to 13 miles!!! YAHOO. What a feeling.

I wasn't able to take that trip to Cali to run, so I had to do an actual 1/2 marathon somewhere. I am so glad that London's Run was so close to home. AND I am so glad that I got to run for such a great reason.

I have been saying "It was my first .... and probably my last..... but- when my body fully recovers- who knows..... I might want to do better that my first actual run... SOMEDAY?!

We'll see.

Lance asked Ellie in the car:

"Are we going to wait for mommy at the finish line & cheer her on?"

Ellie replied:

"If she makes it."

{can I get a Waa waa.. ha ha}

As my supporters waited for over 2 hours- I think they were pretty entertained.

Lance even shot some snaps of what they did..

Thanks for coming you 2. I love you & I appreciate it.

-----and P.S. Ellie - I MADE IT.

One more thing- they had FREE 5 minute massages.

Good thing I got a girl that must've felt bad for me, or could tell I wasn't a normal runner, or something else? wink!---- She massaged me for over a 1/2 hour!!!! Seriously. It was great.

Congrats to all the other runners!!!! WHAT A FEELING IT WAS!

I think it's one of those times when it's o.k. to toot our own horns.

Toot-toot!

and a big

YAHOOOOO!!