Pioneer Day Celebration

OK, this post is going to be a long one and there aren't any pics to break it up...Sorry!! (Kind of forgot the camera, silly me!!) This post is definitely more for my "blog-journal" but might be entertaining to a few of you! :0)

Anyway, last Saturday, our Stake had their annual Pioneer Day Celebration. My parents, brother, sis-in-law and nephew came down for it (and also to see my sis-in-law's parents). My mom and I woke up bright and early to run/walk in the 5K. This was the first 5K I've run since I was in the 6th grade! For those who know me, I'm not a long distance runner AT ALL, but I have some good friends here that talked me into training for it. I have to say that it was fun. I hurt my ankle a couple weeks before the race so I had to ease off of my training before the race, but it was feeling better so I was able to run. I finished 4th out of 10 women and my mom did a GREAT job and finished 7th. She even sprinted in at the finish line!! It was fun doing this and if I'm not pregnant by next year, I'll definitely be running in it again. :0)

After the race, my mom and I went home to pick up the kids and my dad (Brian had to work) and we went to the parade. Our ward always has a Root Beer Float float. It was a short parade, but the kids still got plenty of candy and I personally think that it was the perfect length! ;0) After the parade, we had a big lunch, where each Ward in the Stake is in charge of a certain type of food. Our ward does fried chicken, another ward does tacos, fries, hamburgers, watermelon, etc. Can I tell you... AWESOME. The food is just amazing and there are so many people there to help celebrate and honor the pioneers.

After we ate, they had some children races. They start out with the 1 year-olds. Austin was in this group and he was so funny. My parents were at the finish line and he just had a huge smile the whole time he was running to them. I was dumb and forgot my camera, but my friend, Gwen, took some pictures of him. When I get them from her, I'll post them. I can't wait to see them myself! They went through the 2 year-old boys and girls and then when it was Paige's turn to run with the other 3-year-old girls, she was on the ground crying and throwing a major hissy-fit. She was trying to run with Austin and I told her she had to wait and run with the girls her age and she didn't like that idea apparently. We later found out why she was being so "disagreeable"! (Keep reading and you'll find out!) :0)

We went home when Paige was throwing her fit and both of the kids were EXHAUSTED and took some great naps. When they woke up, we went to a Salmon BBQ that the Search and Rescue Dept. was putting on. I don't care for fish, but I have to say that this salmon was good! It was flown in fresh from Alaska and it was very tasty. While we were there, though, Paige wouldn't eat anything and was just sitting around doing her fair share of complaining. As soon as we got to our table she said she had to go potty. They only had porta-potties there at the park so we made our way over by one of them. We had to wait in line and while we were waiting Paige threw up right on sidewalk. It was lovely. Luckily it was sort of hidden from the majority of the crowd, but there was a school-age girl that was waiting also and I thought she was going to puke, too, because it was so gross. So that explained the major tantrum at the Celebration earlier and the not eating thing. I felt so bad for her. She had a few more episodes throughout the evening, but she was fine the next morning, so that was good.

We had a very, very busy weekend, but it was so fun and memorable. Thank you, Mom, Dad, Keith, Julie and Jaxson, for coming to visit us, especially since Keith and his adorable family just moved to Cleveland! (Say hello to O-H-I-O for us!!!) :0)