My running partner

I have finally chosen a race to train for.  I want to run a marathon, but I can't find any ones close in August or September, but I still might do it if I find a good one.  So in order to keep my motivation, I picked a couple of races to train for.  I am going to run a half marathon on May 16 in Summerville, Georgia.  I may be able to do another half on June 27th in Seattle if we end up being there on that date.  Also, there is a half on June 6th in Kansas City which is right by where my sister lives, so it may be a great excuse to visit her.  Then there is a marathon July 24th in Salt Lake City.  All of the races except for the one in Georgia would be so much fun, but are probably not very likely to happen due to lack of travel funds, hahah.... but if anyone else wants to join me in the Summerville one or any of the others please let me know, and then they will be more likely to happen!!! I had to post this cute little picture of Cheyenne in her jogging stroller, because as I have been running I look down at my bundled up little angel and she makes me want to run faster!  I loved having an athletic mom growing up and I want to be a good example to Cheyenne of taking care of my body and enjoying being physically active for my whole life!  I think that is why we are supposed to have kids to motivate ourselves to be better people and to learn to serve!

Proud Parents

This was so exciting for me because Cheyenne so far has kind of been this little adorable "blob" that I take care of.  I say "blob" because she didn't quite seem like a real person yet.  She didn't interact with me or seem to understand any of the world around her.  Well in the past week or so she has really started to "see" me and make eye contact with me.  She has also started to begin to respond to me by smiling while she is making eye contact with me, I love this!  I have tried to get her interested in objects, but have not been so successful.  She has a pink bouncy chair and I have noticed this past week she has started to actually focus on the little hanging toys, although she has made no effort to touch them, she gets really excited when I spin the noisy ball tube, or crinkle the noisy wings of the butterfly.  Anyway, last night I was changing her diaper and I have these noisy wrist straps.  I have strapped them on her before and she seems to like that, but I put them in her hands and she grabbed them!! She was holding on tight and I moved my arms and told her to shake them and she did it!  I know this is so lame, but I was so so excited.  I told Jeff I felt like crying because I couldn't believe she could hold an object.  Man if I get this excited about her holding something I wonder how I will react when she starts to wear make-up or date!  Anyway, this was a super exciting thing, so I got it on video...

Nashville Tennessee

We went to Nashville for Jeff to attend the AFCA coaching convention.  Jeff's parents came with us and then flew out of Nashville back to Bellingham, we miss them already!  The first day we got there we drove through Franklin because that is supposedly where many of the stars live (like tim and faith).  We didn't see any famous people there but we did stop at an awesome high school.  It was huge and the facilities for athletics were amazing!  Then we got to Nashville and drove around touring the town.  The next day we walked around downtown and went in some of the "Honkey Tonks" and listened to some live music.  Unfortunately after that we had to take Connie and Frank to the airport.  That night Jeff went to listen to some speakers at the conference and I walked around hoping to find some famous coaches.  I saw tons of coaches, but no one that I knew.  The Opryland Resort where the conference was held was also amazing.  We also got to see Cosper who is the head football coach at Kearns High School where Jeff and I coached last year.  It was so great to see him as well as Coach Rickerts who Jeff taught with at Taylorsville.  It felt like we had just seen them yesterday, and it made me miss Kearns and all the awesome people who worked there. While we were there we also visited the Opryland Mall, drove down Music Row, went to Old Spaghetti Factory, and got to relax.  Jeff got to listen to lots of great speakers including Joe Paterno and Nick Saban.  On the last day of the conference he also saw Urban Meyer at a resturaunt and got to shake his hand as he congratulated him on his season.  It was a fun trip and we were so lucky to be able to go:)

Baby Blessing

Jeff blessed Cheyenne on January 4, 2009. What a great way for Cheyenne to start the new year, with a Priesthood blessing from her dad!! I love the gospel so much and we are so blessed that we can all be sealed together for eternity, I can't imagine spending eternity without my family.  The blessing was awesome and it was such a spiritual experience for our little family.  The picture at the top is Grandma and Grandpa Bennum, Jeff and Cheyenne.  The next picture is pretty much all the men in our ward, minus about 5 people.  And the last picture is Jeff, Cheyenne and I with Coach Miller (the head football coach at Elberton, and the reason we came out to this little branch in this little town), his wife Linda and their adorable two-year old daughter Kylie.  Another HUGE thank you to Jan and Dean Hurst (my mom's cousins) for the Adorable blessing dress:)

Christmas with the Bennums

Jeff's parents came to visit on New Year's Day and we had so much fun having them here with us! We got to have our own little Christmas with them.  Cheyenne is just over 4 weeks old in these pics.  We took her to the Dr. for her 4 week old appt and she was 21.5" and 10 lbs 4 oz!!! She has grown an inch since she was born and has gained about 3 pounds!  I call her my little chomper (among many other nicknames we have for her...princess, bobblehead, honey, baby girl, etc.).  The doctor said that she is doing very well, so that is great news!  

Christmas with the Roberts Family

I know these posts are way late, but it has been such an adjustment with a new little baby!  We spent Christmas this year with my brother's wife Andrea's family in Villa Rica Georgia.  My brother Aaron, Andrea and their two kids Audrey and Austin were all there.  It was so much fun to be able to see them again.  One of the family members brought an American Idol video game on Playstation 3.  It was so much fun, it was basically Karaoke but you could battle against each other, it was so funny to watch Jeff and Aaron battle it out over and over again!  Jeff and I had so much fun playing we bought a used Playstation 2 on Amazon.com and the American Idol game and a singstar game, so if anyone wants to come battle us, we will be practicing!! haha... it was a very fun Christmas and Cheyenne is about 3 weeks old in these pics.

Bathtime

Cheyenne hated sponge baths, but ever since her little cord fell out we have been giving her full baths and she LOVES it!!!! First she gets really calm and tries to lick the washcloth or any water that gets near her face. Then her eyes get really wide and she opens her mouth and starts flailing her arms and legs splashing water everywhere.  She always cries when we take her out but falls right asleep once we get a snuggly outfit on her and feed her a little... bathtime is so much fun!

Sleepyheads

...this pretty much sums up my life the past two months...

In Memory of Vandy Baldwin

Vandy Baldwin

12/30/08~01/07/09

Isn't this tiny little angel so adorable??? My best friend Natalie and her husband Carlos were scheduled to have her in April.  I think Vandy and Cheyenne must have been best friends in heaven too because she wanted to come out early.  She was born at 24 weeks on December 30th.  She was so tiny, 1 lb 10 oz. Unfortunately she only lived for 8 days, but what an amazing blessing it will be for Natalie and Carlos to be reunited with her in heaven.  She is one of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen, I couldn't believe how sweet and pretty she is.  I wish I could have seen her in real life. Please keep this wonderful family in your prayers, I am sure this is such a big trial for them and they will be blessed as they make it through.