Finished the Race!

Saturday was our big day. We woke up by 4:30 am to catch our ride up the side of a mountain in Ogden Canyon. After our taxi--Thank you Tyler--dropped us off we huddled around the small campfires and waited for the beginning of the race. Warmed up and ready to go we ran around a nearby reservoir and then through the canyon surrounded by the most beautiful outdoors you can imagine. Mountainous backdrops with natural waterfalls spilling off the sides into the babbling brooks all along the road would welcome any runner. For the first 10 miles we refreshed our spirits as we soaked it all in. At the bottom of the canyon, we hit a park near town and realized with all the downhills we had run under 10 minute miles the entire way and were determined to make the next 3 miles count. Melinda being a good mile ahead of us and Tori's training aches setting in made for a long 3 miles as most 1/2 marathons seem. However, we visualized the huge fan club of family that were waiting for us at the finish and charged on! Melinda made it in just under 2 hours; as we followed her footsteps we could hear the bands of people and looked intetly for the ones we loved. All of a sudden, there they were! Mae and Jason and Robyn and Tyler and Caleb and David and Tiffany and all the kids jumping up and down, cheering us on to the finish! What a great blessing it was to have them there as we crossed the finish at just over 2 hours 10 minutes. We did it! Not only did we do it, but we hit our goals!
Thanks to all of you for your donations and support as we tackled this great accomplishment! We couldn't have done it with you and appreciate the donations of almost $300 dollars to help muscular dystrophy. Please feel free to go to our individual blogs to read our story and also to again visit our donation blog for the race to place your last minute donations! We will leave it open until June 10th for all those interested in helping us achieve this amazing day!

We love you all!

Tori, Dawn, and Melinda

Friends

So, as most of you know, it's been raining and yucky here alot...that is in between the awesome sunny days. Anyway, one day I decided to get the mowing done before the rain again that night and of course got stuck out in the front ditch. One of my most amazing friends, Tiffany, called me in the middle of the day just because and then ended up coming over with another friend and before I knew it, had pulled me out of the ditch and quickly disappeared back to work. I felt so special that day and just thought all day about the great friends I have. I feel so blessed to have learned so much from all of them. I feel so comforted in knowing that I have so many people that have "got my back" no matter what. And what a great opportunity awaits me to meet even more new friends, as I hold the ones I have as cherished rubies. God has truly blessed my life with each of you in my path and in my families path so that we may become better people because of all you guys do to teach us. I love the examples you are to my kids. I hope your influences will one day make my job easier as our kids grow together. To all my friends I will have for LIFE and a special thanks to my friends now that I have made in the last several months who seem to have appeared as answer to my prayer for someone to lean on without feeling so much like I'm leaning. Or at least I hope not too much:). Anyway, so much for the mushy stuff. You know who you are and I love you all!

Horseless Rodeo

I almost forgot about the Horseless Rodeo! Easter weekend we went up to Gramma Sherwoods for a little family reunion which was a blast in it's self. Then we went to Jacob and Cami Slades for a Horseless Rodeo, what a RIOT! The kids rode steers, chased chickens, and dressed goats. Mom and dad even got in on the fun with some steer dressing and cow milking contests. We were glad to have the Woffinden's there, too and hope they enjoyed a down-home Arkansas day at the farm! Here are some photos of the kids that will blow you away!

Ski Trip!

We had a blast in Utah with some of our dearest friends for spring break! I think skiing is one of my new list of "hardest things I've ever done." However, it was a perfect leg workout for the day since all the other days were passed with cabin games and food! Mike and Gina, well Gina anyway, made the best food including an amazing Mocha Lava cake! Heather and Bryan shared in our entertainment by providing endless hours of Wii tournaments of which I think Shandi, Heather, and Gina kicked my tail for the most part. Brian and Shandi killed us on the slopes even though I think they would have been even scarier on snowboards. And don't worry about the kiddos, they had a blast hanging out at Papa and Grandma's house in Mississippi. Nathan and I feel like we still are so blessed after these short 10 years to have such great friends. Our family has grown so amazingly. You can't imagine the power of our family with our 4 spunky kids always asking us questions to keep our minds sharp! Following as close as we can the gospel of Christ and having fun while doing it. We are so grateful for all of you to be a part of what makes us the Browns we are today!

"Mrs. Graff, I rode a marathon!"

Last Saturday, my batteries were dead on my headset and my friends were unavailable to run. I said something out loud to Nathan about it and then Jalen and Deserae suggested that they could come and ride their bikes while I ran. It was so much fun. We went 5 long miles which I would say normally might challenge a 6 and 8 year old. They really had fun and Deserae claims to have tighter abs now that she exercised so long. Anyway, she was so proud of herself that she told her kindergarten teacher that she "rode a marathon." Tomorrow I will remember Deserae's engaging journey as I get more like 7 or 8 miles in for my long run before spring break.
I have also been attending a Women Can Run clinic twice a week to work on technique. I have to say it has been very rewarding. I no longer run like a robot and I can charge a finish! I am excited to learn about the uphill and downhill techniques coming up soon. My instructor actually said he wasn't sure I could break an 8 minute mile, so I am proud to have impressed him and hope to do even better at our 5K graduation.

Okay, so I know it's been a long time. Actually I just set this up last year because of sibling pressure. Ha! Now, it has become something I understand everyone does and uses to keep in touch. So, I will participate as best I can with our new marathon goal in mind. My sister, Tori and her sister-in-law, Melinda, have decided to run the ever amazing 1/2 marathon. I completed my first last December with St Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. The experience I had training with my newest and will probably be one of my greatest friends ever (Natalie) was intense and grouling and what seemed impossible at times. The team of friends from Conway that I actually raced with were strong and determined. Even more, though, was the power of the children we raced on behalf of St Judes. The children and their families who were able to attend were all along the 13.1 mile stretch cheering and high-fiving us with all the energy we couldn't have created on our own to finish such a fantastic race. The rush that comes to your heart while you run can only be found with such a cause. It's addicting leaving you wanting for more.
Thus, I have decided to train again for the Ogden, Utah 1/2 with Melinda and Tori. This time on my mind a family friend very dear to my heart, Sarah Combs. Mother of 4; Baden, Brooklyn, Ella, Porter, heart of Mother Teresa, strength of a lioness, and spirit of an angel does not even begin to describe my passionate friend. Her blessing in this life is to care for a hard working husband and her children of which her 2 boys, Baden and Porter, with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Each year they send out flyers not needing help for themselves, but help for this cause that a cure or relief may be found through their efforts to comfort others in their shoes. I have know Sarah for a long time and have come to understand that she is strong and so will be her children, but in this life our help in medical research will help weaken this disease. I wish that each and everyone of you could have the gift I've had in knowing Sarah, but since you may not get that chance I challenge you to read the information on our blog ogdenmarathon.blogspot.com and join our efforts to raise the needed funding for MD research. Even the smallest donation will bless the lives of many as we work together to sponsor this cause. Thank you in advance to all of you. You will give us "all the energy we couldn't have created on our own to finish such a fantastic race."

Not much going on here. We just spent 2 weeks with Aunt Tori and Rachel. Uncle Tyler came for the last week of their trip. We had fun visiting mom and dad, going to the Traveler's game and crossing the longest pedestrian bridge in the state of Arkansas. Now we anxiously await the arrival of Uncle David and Aunt Tiffany and their new baby David. Hopefully everything works out or we will maybe have to wait a little longer before they can visit. All for now.