My trip to AZ

A mountain right by my parent's house that we hike/run on

Sorry I've been MIA these last couple of days.  I actually went to AZ this weekend to visit my parents while my husband held down the fort here with our boys.  My mom had foot surgery a couple of weeks ago and my dad just had hip surgery, so I went there to help them out.  My goal was to cook them lots of meals to freeze, clean, and help them with whatever else they needed.  I got some things done, but I wish I could have done more.  The days just seemed to fly by and I just didn't have enough time (Plus I spent a couple hours with my sister-see below-that I could have spent with them).  We only get to see each other a couple times a year though, so I'm glad I was able to go and see them, even if it was for just a couple of days.  Plus, I got to see both of my sisters, my niece, and both of my nephews!        

The weather in AZ up until the weekend was in the mid 70's.  It has been really cold in Denver this winter, so I was excited about the thought of being in the warm sun.  When I got there however, it was raining and continued to rain off and on all weekend.  But, I'll take 50 degrees and rain over 20 degrees and snow any day!  Plus, I got to see one of AZ's famous "after rain" sunsets.  The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it was so beautiful.

Everything was so green and there were actually flowers blooming!  It really made me long for spring and wish that we didn't have 2 more months of winter to go.  The days are getting longer though, which is nice, so I know that spring will be here before I know it.  And, it will be filled with flowers, days in the park, and evening bike rides/runs.

My younger sister is training for a 1/2 marathon too and we had planned on doing a long run together on Sunday.  Our 1/2s are the same weekend, so we were both scheduled to run 8 miles.  It has been a long time since I have run with my sister and I was so excited about it.  In high school we both ran on the cross country team and there was always this unspoken competition between us.  In fact, when we did speed workouts we couldn't be in the same heat because it was just too much for us.  I know, I know, but we were only 16 and a little immature at the time! Ha ha.  

All through Saturday night it poured and poured and poured rain.  I kept waking up, hearing the rain, and thinking that we wouldn't be able to run because of the rain.  I didn't have any of my rain gear with me and she doesn't even own rain gear, so we would have had to cancel our run if it would have kept up.   But, the rain stopped, the clouds cleared, and it ended up being in the upper 50's Sunday morning when we were scheduled to do our run!  Woohoo!  I was so happy because I was really looking forward to running with my sister.  When I got to her house and saw her outfit we both started laughing because we were basically wearing the same thing!  Here is a before picture of us:

    That's right.  We were both wearing black capris, blue short sleeved shirts, and our bondi bands!  And, we didn't even plan it.  People that saw us running probably thought we were twins.  Ha ha.  :)

We drove to this great outdoor park/recreation center, made a bathroom stop, and started down the trail.  The trail was a multi-use trail that ran alongside a riverbed.  Our plan was to run 4 miles out and back.  Parts of the trail were flooded because of the rain, but it was an awesome trail for running.  My sister had a baby about 8 months ago and is just getting back into running, so I let her lead the pace.  We ran a little slower than my pace, but it was awesome. She kept apologizing for being slow and I just kept telling her that I didn't care and that she was doing amazing for the short time she's been running.  I was just so happy to be running with her!  We've come a long way since those cross country days.  We finished the run, gave each other high fives, and said a big "hooray!"  We'll be running our first marathon together this fall, the Denver Rock-n-Roll marathon, and it's going to be awesome running it together!  I can't wait! :)

Here we are sweaty and happy after finishing our run! :)

It was hard to say goodbye to my family, but I was anxious to get back home to my husband and boys.  When I got home, this is what greeted me:  Signs made by my husband and boys 

and flowers! :)  

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family.