Tutu

Yesterday Kendall asked me if she could go outside and play, but I told her it was too cold. A few minutes later I hear the back door open and close. I went outside to find Kendall playing in the snow in just her boots, a hat, and a tutu! Crazy girl! 

Well, I'm glad that she really loves to go outside!

Later that day, I had an appointment for a mammogram. Casey came home early from work so that he could come with me, and my mom came over take care of the kids. She brought Isabelle with her and so Kendall was happy! :)   

I was so nervous for my appointment and so I was really glad that Casey could come with me. When we got there I checked in and we waited for about a half hour before they called me back. I felt so out of place because all the other people in the waiting room were elderly women.

When they called me back I put on my gown and only had to wait a few minutes before they called me back to do the mammogram. I wasn't sure what to expect, and so I was really nervous, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The machine hurt a little, but it really wasn't too bad. 

After the mammogram I sat in a room by myself for at least 20 minutes before a technician came back and told me the doctor wanted to get some ultrasound images.
I waited for about another 15 minutes before the doctor came in and started the ultrasound. I was getting a little nervous watching them and seeing the look of confusion in their faces. The doctor finally said he didn't think it was anything cancerous, but that he wanted to move me to a different ultrasound machine to take another look. The technician joked with me a little and asked me if it was ok if they did some experiments on me, haha.
 After changing rooms, the doctor took a second look and finally told me that he thought the mass was a cyst, and that he wanted me to come back in six months to make sure it hadn't changed.
 So, GOOD news! I was so afraid that it was going to be something bad, but it looks like it is just a cyst. I was so relieved!
I got dressed and went back out to waiting room where Casey was patiently waiting for me. I told him what the doctor said and we headed back to the car for our snowy ride home! I finally have answers to something I have been worried about for a very long time. I'm so glad that I finally took the step to call the doctor...it took me months to get the courage to do it. Now I can relax knowing that it's nothing serious! The doctor did say that they are going to keep an eye on the cyst, watching it for any changes, and that they may chose to drain it at some point. So, until I have to go back in six months, I'm not going to worry about it!

Sister Night!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        I am so glad we were able to have a girl's night before Megan went back up to BYUI.  It has been a long time since the three of us have been able to get together and hang out, and just be silly! 

                                                                                                                                      We went to Mal's house for a movie night. We decided to watch Mama! It was scary!! I guess this is how Megan and I watch scary movies, haha! I didn't realize that she was doing the same thing as me (maybe she was mocking me, I don't know, haha).After the movie we just chatted for a while, and even got a fright when Ethan scared Mal, which made me and Megan scream, too! I have the best sisters!

Potter Run!

 As soon as I heard about this race I knew I wanted to do it! Harry Potter + Running = Awesome! Riley was also really excited about the race. We have been running together for a while now and so she was really looking forward to doing another 5k.

The race was ok, but it was really cold! Riley had a hard time running because of how cold she was. She ran a lap with me, decided to join the rest of the family on the sidelines. It was fun seeing everyone dressed up, but hopefully next year the race organizer will pick a different location for the race. It was at Veteran's Memorial Park, but we basically just ran 5 laps around the park! It was still fun to get out and run! The kids were cold, but once the sun came up it wasn't too bad. They had a good time playing on the "castle playground" for a while, and then we took some pictures with Dumbledore, Harry Potter, and Snape.

 My cute cheering section! I loved having the whole family there!

Riley and me running our first lap...it was cold!

Mischief Managed! I hope that we will be able to run may more races together. I love my sweet girl!

Thankful 13 Half Marathon!!

So, I just registered for my very first half marathon!! Ahhh!! I'm scared, haha! It it the Thankful 13 Half Marathon and it will be on Thanksgiving day.
I hope I can do it...the farthest I've ever ran is 6.5 miles!

I'm excited and nervous, but I think it will be awesome!!

Getting Back Into It!!

Yesterday I did TurboFire for the first time since breaking my ankle in June! It felt pretty good, but I can tell I'm out of shape! I was getting a little out of breath during the warm up, haha :)

I also charged my Garmin and I went for a run this morning.  This was my first run since I broke my ankle. It was good to have Riley run with me. We stopped when we needed to and just had fun! My ankle felt stiff and a little weak, but it didn't hurt. I'm looking forward to getting back into running shape and hopefully there will be no more injuries!

Cuddles!

I love it when Cooper wants me to hold him and cuddle  He can be such a sweetheart! 

Lagoon!

Last week me and Casey were supposed to have a date night at Lagoon, but my endometriosis was making life miserable and so we postponed until last night. I was so excited to spend some time with Casey...and I really like amusement parks! We had a "date night" coupon that got us in for half price after 5:00 pm. My awesome parents came to our house to watch the kids so we could go. 

We got there a little after 5:00 and rode the Bombora first. It is a family roller coaster that is pretty new and so I hadn't been on it before. It was really fun! Riley loved it when she came with Casey a couple of years ago. After that we rode the Jet Star II and then to The Rocket, re-entry. The Rocket is one of my favorites! Casey doesn't like that one as much as I do, but he is awesome and rode it with me :) 

The Samurai was next. I was so excited for this one and I remembered it being one of my favorite rides. It had been at almost 10 years since I last rode it and so I was looking forward to it. We got the best seats on the end...but after the ride started I was wishing we had sat on the inside seats! It was so much crazier that I remembered!! I was being whipped around so much and I felt like I was going to lose my lunch. My heart was just pounding...the force of the ride was just crazy. After we got off I felt so so sick and my shoulder was hurting. The pain just kept on getting worse. We walked over the Pioneer Village and sat down. The pain was so bad! I literally couldn't move for about 10 minutes. I was sweating and my arm was shaky and I thought I was going to spew. I was getting a little worried and told Casey I needed to go to the first aid station. After I got up and started walking again my neck, shoulder, and the left side of my torso started cramping up. It felt like I had a big charlie horse. I started moving my arm around and the pain started to get a little better. We decided to get me a drink so we went into the Arby's at Pioneer Village. Casey ordered a roast beef sandwich combo meal for him (freaking $9!) and I started feeling a little better after I drank a little soda. I kept on telling Casey how disappointed I was in myself, lol! I couldn't believe that one of my favorite rides totally took my out! I felt so lame!

The Sam Damurai!

 We walked around Pioneer Village for awhile and the pain would get a little better, then it would get worse. We walked through a couple gift shops and then went on the Terror Ride about an hour later. I was feeling a little better by then, but still not ready for any roller coasters. We went back to the gift shop by Rattlesnake Rapids and bought some stuffed animal snakes for the kids. We took them out to the car and on the way back I was finally feeling ok. When we got back in the park, we went on Dracula's Castle. I liked that one a lot better than the Terror Ride! Both of the scary rides had a few new things inside and the Terror Ride's mural had been replaced by some cool looking trees. 

Flippin Sweet mural that used to be on the Terror Ride.

Wicked! My new favorite ride :)

After we went on the Terror Ride I was finally ready to try some roller coasters! I was glad we didn't go home...we were pretty close to leaving because I was hurting so bad! We walked down to the Fire Dragon and Wicked. We went on Wicked first. It was so awesome...I think it is my new favorite ride! It was also the first time that I had gone on it when it was dark outside. We loved it!










 After Wicked we went on the Fire Dragon. The line was short and we got on pretty fast. When we got to the top of the ride we looked over and saw a fire on the side of the mountain! It was really close...it looked pretty cool in the dark. We could also see the lights from the fire trucks and police cars.

Here's a view of the fire from the parking lot.

 After the Fire Dragon we grabbed some Teriyaki Stix for me (yay!) and called it a night! When we got home we gave the kids their snakes. They love them :)  

We had a super fun night (despite my injury!). I'm still not sure what happened. We thought maybe I had a pinched nerve? Or whiplash? It feels pretty good today...just a little sore.

Some on-ride video of the crazy Sam Damauri

Zoo!

Today we went to the zoo with Megan and Nate. It was pretty busy and there was a lot of construction going on, but we still had a fun time! Kendall was kind of nervous at first and wanted me to hold her, but after we went on the carousel she started having fun. I think the kids favorite thing was the bird show. It was pretty cool. I liked the big owl that flew right over us...he was pretty awesome looking! The boys thought the talking parrot was funny, and Riley really liked the raven that grabbed donations from peoples hands.

There were a lot of new things that I hadn't seen before. The Rocky Shore exhibit was nice. The kids really liked watching the seals and sea lions swimming under the water. There was a lot of construction going on and everything looked so different. I think it will be really nice when everything is all finished!

Dirty Dash!!

The Dirty Dash was so much fun! The only bad thing was that I broke my ankle 5 miles into the race. Boo! I was so mad at myself! I was able to finish the race...I climbed up the cargo nets, went down the giant slip n slide, and made my way through the mud pits. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I wanted to finish! After we were done I knew that my injury was pretty bad. The next day I found out my ankle was broken and I had to go in and get a boot to wear for 4 weeks. It could have been worse, but I'm just mad I can't run or work out for 12 weeks! Oh, well. At least I was having fun when I got hurt....and I'm still planning on signing up for next year's Dirty Dash!! It is so much fun!!