The next weekend was my little sister Christina's birthday. I made her one of my famous star ice cream cakes, it had been about 6 years since I made my last one and it was for her as well so I embarqued again this time it was funfetti with vanilla ice cream. My "little" sister may be younger than me but in many ways I think she is way ahead of me. Although she is only 23 she is a wonderful woman who has done many great things with her life including getting her degree, serving in a Romanian orphanage for a semester, getting married, and buying a really cute home. More importantly I remember her being a team with my mom always helping her do something she is one driven woman!

The weekend following Colorado Springs I ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon by sports am obviously different than the one I ran in the spring. This was a beautiful and wonderful run up Emmigration Canyon and then down it. There were only 2 water stations the whole race and none for the last 6 miles but I still managed my goal of under 2 hours by doing it in 1:58 something, just 3 minutes behind first place in my age group placing me in 9th place. Imagine what some water could have done I was parched! One of the best parts of the half was that it ended right in front of TJ's work so he could come out and cheer me on, when I reached the finish line strangers were cheering me on got to love my husband! We were filmed again but I didn't even bother to see by who, I just remembered that haha. We were on the news after I ran the St George marathon and TJ proposed. The top 3 pictures are from the St. George marathon where we got engaged. Sorry I tend to where the same shirt for race days.

Wow I'm behind! TJ and I ventured to Colorado Springs in August, we winded along the way stopping in Moab and an amazing hike I've always dreamed of hiking called Hanging Lake. We went to help my mom paint the house so our trip was short. On our way out the car was making a funny noise so we had to take it in luckily the repair wasn't too pricey and they even fixed what was left of my drooping muffler for free, yea for Meineke I only got one run in on one of my old trails and didn't even get to eat the best Chinese food known to man kind! Guess we'll have to go back.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication

Today was the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication. For those of you not from Utah, the Oquirrh mountains are a mountain range to the west of Salt Lake City, UT. The word Oquirrh (pronounced Oh-ker) is and Indian word for "wooded mountain" or "shining mountain". The first time I heard the word Oquirrh I thought it was Ogre, like the mythical creature in Shrek, and it took me a few times to pick up on what Oquirrh was. This is the 4th temple in the Utah Valley and the 130th temple worldwide. The temple always helps me keep things in proper perspective and see things as they really are. It's a place that has always drawn me to it and a place where I can take time to worship God and remember the promises I have made with Him. One of my favorite quotes is by Bruce C. Hafen "We must put both hands on the temple and hold on for dear life. One hand is not even almost enough." I've found that to be true we can't have one hand or foot dangling away from the temple floundering about in the world holding onto worldly things, it will pull us away from the important things in life like family, truth, God and service, the things that believe it or not bring true joy. That's why we must hold on with both hands to the temple which embraces the fundamental truths of Christ's gospel with both hands for dear life.
TJ and I are enjoying this month we have together before he starts school, marriage really does get better and better!

Friends

On the far left is Natalie, she's one of my favorite people from the mission, she's from Sweeden, but she married a Salt Lake local, so now I get to see her again, JOY!! The apron shot is 2 of my old roommates and a sister-in-law out for a wifes night out, we watched Julia and Julia. The bottom photo is Liz from my mission at her bridal shower. Yea for friends in Utah!

We were going to go tube the Provo River but it was raining off and on so we went to Bridal Veil Falls instead, my camera was on night mode so the pictures close to the falls are a bit blurry and will not be included. Notice my U shirt, I don't like to be in BYU territory without it.

Twilight Hikes and such

Our Twilight hike up Bell's Canyon