In memory...

A few years ago a good friend of mine died in a car accident on his way to graduation. It was really hard for all of his friends that he left behind. But we know that he is doing great things on the other side! He and I were on the same cross country team together and since that was one of his favorite things to do, yep some of us really do like to just run (for fun even!) :), his siblings have put together (this year was the 2nd annual run so far) whats called a Brad-K Fun Run! We run 3.2 miles (5K) in memory of him. Since I couldn't make it to Port Orchard to run with everyone there, I had my Brad-K shirt sent to me and my sister and I ran our own little 5K. Below are pictures of us running, Shanna even finished the run with us :) and the map of where we ran. Go here for more info on the actual Brad-K run!

Together Forever

We really enjoyed our little walk around the the temple and our camera lady, Lisa, was kind enough to take our pictures. We have had a picture of Eric and I in front of the Idaho Falls temple on top of our entertainment center for so long that I thought it was high time we had a few pictures of the whole family.

Are you ready?!

My brother-in-law, Phillip recently finished a budget program that he created. If you LOVE budgeting than this program is for you. If you highly dislike budgeting (because we don't say 'hate' in our family) than this program is for you!! Hes made it super easy plus its totally free! YAY! Check it out here: https://www.sbudget.com/

Also this link is located under My favorite links to the right of the screen. Enjoy!

Shanna and Nicci

Mothers

A few reasons I absolutely LOVE my mother:

• She always listens to everything I say
• She often has good advice for me
• She laughs and, more often than not, puts up with my craziness
• She woke up every morning at 5:00 am to make all of our lunches
  
• She always made sure we had family prayer before we left the house, so that meant praying in shifts, once with the earlier seminary kids and then again with those that left later in the morning.
• Shes totally a super mom, always having dinner done, going to school, and still sparing a few moments with us.
• Her to-do lists are always 5 miles long, yet she always manages to do it all
• She is an AMAZING cook
• She loves to shop for shoes and that is definitely one of my passions and something I love doing with her on occasion
• One time we were stuck in traffic on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and we went like 3 miles in 3 hours, no joke, and my mom started getting bored, so she grabbed Jared's GI Joes and started playing with them and it was SO funny we laughed for hours. While we were still stuck in traffic she rolled down the windows and turned the music up loud and we all sang along to the radio. People around us were staring and some were even laughing at us, but it was so fun, because as some of you might know, thats not usually like my mom. Shes too proper :)
• She is SO patient
  
• She is so thoughtful, especially of other people's feelings
• Despite her feelings of inadequacy, she made my prom dress when I asked her to, which turned out absolutely amazing by the way!
• I don't ever remember my mom not being home when I got home from school, she was always there to welcome me home and ask me about my day.

Every day I thank my Heavenly Father for such a wonderful mother. Can you imagine life without your mother? I am so glad we have Mother's Day to not only remind us of how wonderful our mothers are but to also allow us the chance to let them know how special they are to us. More often than not, I think we take them for granted and its good to have a reminder to step back and truly realize everything our Mothers do for us. Happy Mother's Day mom and to all of you moms out there as well! You are the best!!