OurLittleMcFamily.com

My dear friend of 22 years, Jessica, is participating with her husband and family in Relay for Life in Portland, OR this weekend. Dan and Jes lost baby George to brain cancer just a few short months after his birth. The Davenports have been champions in the fight ever since. I have seen them grow in strength and talent as they continue to perservere and spread Georgie’s story across the West. Baby George is a great reminder of goodness to us all. His story reminds me that one life can touch many…and that every life is valuable. Our time here on this earth is a gift.

I am proud to be George’s Auntie. And I am extra proud of what my dear friends continue to accomplish in the name of their son. Next year, I hope to take my children to Portland to walk with their Aunt Jes and Uncle Dan in Relay for Life. This weekend is for you Georgie, and for all of those who are here still fighting the good fight!

Meet our friends, Heather and Kavika. Adam and I drove to Thatcher this past weekend to hang out with them. Thatcher is two hours past Globe and about three and a half hours past Phoenix. Heather and Kavika are super cool and super fun. We went to a Chinese buffet for lunch, saw a movie–Journey to the Center of the Earth, and played scrabble. We had a great time. We want to thank their grandma, LaVana, for letting us come. Her hospitality was truly appreciated. While we were in Thatcher LaVana arranged a tour for us of Spencer W. Kimball’s childhood home. It was a fantastic opportunity for Adam and I. We spent a good two hours going through each room and talking with the homeowners. They had some wonderful stories about the house and President Kimball. We felt blessed to have the opportunity. Below are a few of our favorite pictures.

I have been so busy the past couple weeks. I traveled to Washington to help my mom and sister. My mom drove back with us for a week of Spring Break. I made FOUR scrap photo albums (okay, Adam helped with this). And in the midst of all of this I’ve worked 4-8 hours online every day–trying to wrangle some more adoption money. And I’ve continued training for the 1/2 marathon, which is only 10 days away at this point.

It’s the busiest I’ve been since June, and I’m glad for it. It makes the adoption waiting fly by. Adam and I are off to Las Vegas this weekend for an adoption shower that his mom and sister are throwing for us. My mom and Jaimee/Brian are also coming. More travel–yippee. I haven’t even washed our clothes from the Washington trip yet. Guess what I’ll be doing tomorrow?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jaime Lynne Lea this week!!! The McCrackens love ya, girl.

Here is our most touristy stop of the trip. We can at least check it off our list. Plus, Adam has always wanted a picture like I got of him. That makes the $3/person entry fee worth it I suppose. He also ate some fry bread with honey. My stomach was unfortunately uncooperative…no yummy fry bread for me, and boy do I love fry bread.

Update: As of 03/17/2008 at 2:00 PM MST, the user databases for both this and the adoption blog have been restored. Your old password should work fine. Email me if you have any problems.

This post is mostly just to test if the photo gallery is up and running. I figure I may as well show you a beautiful canyon — White Canyon in southern Utah. This canyon complex drains a large area and enters the Colorado (Lake Powell) near Hite Marina. Sure looks like a great place for canyoneering!

Well, all of your user profiles haven’t been added yet (actually they were and then I had to delete them again!), but I hope to complete that tomorrow. As it is after 2:00 AM and I have been working on this for a wee bit too long, I think I’ll pass on it tonight.

I know you are waiting with eager anticipation to hear the remaining tales of our glorious Spring Break. It was grand. Now I’m getting a bit loopy, so I’ll just hit the “Publish” button and be done with it. Good Night!

Introducing Brooklynn’s first and best snowgirl friend, Shellyanna Snowgirl.

Check out them icicles!

I jogged on the treadmill for a warm-up yesterday. It was the first time I’ve attempted to jog for a set amount of time since I began training. When my warm-up was finished I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t out of breath, and I wasn’t sweating to death. It was the best feeling ever. The rest of my work-out was hard and wonderful…but that small success was the best part of my day.

Yes, I’m sore. Yes, it’s worth it. Here’s what last week’s training looked like.

Monday– 30 minutes cross-training; 15 min on treadmill, 15 min on bike.

Tuesday– 3 mile walk outside hills; 400 ft. elevation gain

Wednesday–REST (should’ve don strengthening and stretching, but we were in Provo all day, plus I needed a rest since I was super sore)

Thursday– 3 mile walk outside hills; 400 ft. elevation gain

Friday– 30 minute cross-training; 10 min bike, 10 min eliptical, 10 min treadmill. Also total body circut training

Saturday– 3 mile walk outside hills; 400 ft. elevation gain

Sunday–REST

The Friday weight training is what really got my calves sore. It’s working itself out though. I know I “should” be running, but I needed this first week to get strong enough so I don’t hurt myself when I start jogging. This week I up it to four miles and I’ll jog more of the routes. I’m going to strength train on Mon, Wed, and Fri in addition to my cross-training. Hopefully that will boost my metabolism a little more.

I kept my calorie intake below 2ooo all week— usually between 1600-1800. It feels really good to be tracking everything. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve felt this good. I’m excited to go to the gym tomorrow!!!!!!!!! Happy Training Friends.