THIS GUY

This is Chris, one of my big brothers

He's great

He and I have been wanting to run a marathon together for years (ever since I ran my first marathon 4 years ago)

He wants to set a good example for his kids and only run marathons on Saturdays (which really limits what you can run)

When I found out the Seattle Rock n Roll marathon was on a Saturday, he jumped right on board and sacrified a lot to get up here to run it with me

He also had run only one other marathon before and wanted to improve his pace by one whole minute (which is huge)!

He trained for 4 months to drop his time down to an 8 minute mile

He was totally prepared for it

I also wanted to drop my pace by one minute

But I was not prepared for it

After 4 months of intense training, and excitement to reach his goal

The morning of the race

He gave it up

For me

He decided he'd rather cross the finish line with his sister than reach his goal time

So he stayed with me the entire way

Pushing me

Encouraging me

And at times, just running next to me

At one point, he practically carried me

And we did it

We finished

And in a better time than expected

I couldn't have done it without him

I hope his sacrifice was worth it to him

Because it meant more to me than I can say

Love you, Chris!

Thank you just doesn't seem enough

SEATTLE ROCK N' ROLL MARATHON

Yes! I did it! I ran another marathon! And I couldn't have done it without my family!

I was freaked out to run this marathon because I didn't feel as prepared as I should have. I had done great training for the marathon, until about a month and a half before. With finals, and graduation, and buying a house, and moving, I just lost my motivation to run. I had planned on running at least one 18-miler before the marathon, and the farthest I had gone was 15, back in April. Then I only ran 12 or 13 miles a couple of times in May and June. My original goal had been to finish in under 4 hours, which would have beat my first marathon time by about 20 minutes, but as the day approached, I wasn't so sure that was going to happen. 

5 AM, Prepping ourselves for the big race

Bryce ran the half marathon

Paige's bro, Chris, flew in from Mesa to run the marathon with her

Bryce's parents, Sheila and Greg. Sheila ran the half marathon too

Oh yeah, we're ready!

And we're big goofballs!

Seattle Rock n Roll, here we come!

If you're going to run a marathon, I would recommend the Seattle Rock n' Roll to anyone! It was amazing! We couldn't have had a more perfect day to run - the temperature was cool and it was overcast the entire morning. There were about 25,000 runners, so the atmosphere was fun and exciting. And then, of course, the bands and cheerleaders - they made it! I couldn't believe how fast the first 15 miles flew by! After that, the marathoners were all on their own - the half marathoners were running to the finish as we were running away from it (not a good feeling :). It kind of kicked the fun down a few notches - not as many people, not as many bands, and not as many cheerleaders - but still going well.

At about mile 9, we were running an 8 to 8 1/2 min mile, and I felt great, but I made a comment to my brother, Chris, that I felt like we should conserve some energy for the rest of the race. Later, I wished I had just ran my heart out when I felt like it, because I don't think it would have made a difference in the end. Either way, I was gonna end up struggling at the end. I started to have some stomach cramps at about mile 17, but I still felt pretty great until about mile 22. Then things started to get tough. The combination of the cramps and the heavy muscles were starting to take their toll. Thank goodness one of the stops had gummybears! I was a little reluctant to try them, what with my cramps and all, but they got me through the next two miles.

At about mile 22 or 23 we hit the last switchback, which was the longest switchback of my life! I was so mad at Seattle RnR for putting this stupid switchback at the end of the race! And to make matters a million times worse, there was a hill between mile 25 and 26. C'mon! I was literally dragging my feet, and at one point, my brother and my father-in-law, who had stayed with me the entire time, took my hands to help me get up the hill. That only lasted for a second because my pride got the best of me and I found it in myself to get up that hill unassisted (I mean, come on, I was the youngest of the three by quite a few years and I had run the whole way thus far,so I wasn't going to stop now). And glory be, the last .2 miles of the race were down hill into the race finish line! My father-in-law and my brother and I all held hands as we crossed the finish line together!

After Bryce finished the half, he went home and got the kids and came back to meet us at the finish line

CJ with his Papa

Marathon finishers

L-R: Paige, Chris, and Greg

Big bro kept little sis going

Half marathon finishers

L-R: Paree Akana (family friend), Bryce, and Sheila

Bryce did amazing on the half marathon! Especially considering he hadn't trained at all, like AT ALL 

He finished in just over 2 hours

Our Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon crew

L-R: Chris, Paige, Bryce, Greg, Sheila, and Paree

So I don't really know my finishing time. According to my GPS watch, and my brother's GPS watch, we actually ran 26.2 miles about half a mile before we crossed the course finish line. If I go by that time, I ran the marathon in 3 hours 55 minutes. If I go by what my watch, and my brother's watch said when we crossed the finish line, it was 4 hours on the dot. But according to the races website, we finished in 4 hours 1 minute. Considering how unprepared I felt the few weeks before the marathon, I'm pretty happy with that. I'll let you decide.

FAMILY IN TOWN

Paige's sister from Utah, and brother from Arizona, came into town to visit and it was so much fun!

We went to a Mariners game...

which ended up going 13 innings!

This was the great view we had at the game!

Bryce, and Paige's brother, Chris, commenting on the game

Bryce, Chris, and Paige's sister, Courtney and her daughter, Kenya

Chris came into town for the marathon and the whole city welcomed the runners

M's fans

We hung out at Bryce's parents' house

We played basketball after dinner

And played with aunts and uncles

CJ got ready to cheer us on at the marathon

CJ's favorite cousin, Kenya

We checked out the old houses that Chris and Courtney lived in as kids

Queensgate and Sun Village in Bothell, WA

And played more basketball

Courtney's fiance, Madhav, flew into Seattle to join us

Carbo-loading at Maggiano's in downtown Bellevue the night before the marathon

L-R: Kenya, Madhav, Courtney, Chris, Bryce, CJ, Paige, and Mattie

Half of the Forsgren siblings

L-R: Courtney, Chris, and Paige

Courtney, Kenya, and Madhav checked out some tourist attractions while we ran the marathon and then they left the next day.

Chris felt amazing after the marathon, so he did a session at the temple

Paige's parents moved before the Seattle temple was finished. Chris remembered having a Family Home Evening on the temple grounds, and helping with the construction as a child, so he was excited to see the finished product 30 years later.

Can you believe he did a session at the temple after running a marathon that morning?! This guy's crazy!

We took Chris to see Wenatchee

He checked out our new house while we were there

Sadly, Chris had to leave too

Yes, we are both wearing our marathon shirts

It was so wonderful seeing Paige's family!

She sure misses them and can't wait to see them again!!

WARNING

Large update

With old posts

(look at the labels at the bottom of each post to know the date)

Bryce has Paige's computer everyday while he studies for the bar

so Paige is slowly trying to catch up on the blog

Please be patient

"PINK FROG"

Within just a couple of weeks of living here at Bryce's parents' house, CJ found his Aunt Kelsey's old stuffed frog and has claimed it as his own.

Meet "Pink Frog": sleeping buddy, wrestling buddy, travel buddy, best buddy

WATER BABIES

Our kids love to play in the water.

They love to help with the dishes.

They love to play with the tea set and put water in it.

They love playing with spray bottles and water bottles.

And since we finally had a hot day,

Gramma Sheila got out the pool and the kids were in heaven!

click on the grid to enlarge the pics

After naps, and unbeknownst to Mommy, the kids went out for round two

...fully dressed

click on the grid to enlarge the pics

(yes, CJ likes to strip down for the pool)

PAIGE WORKS FOR...

...these two

most of the time

But now she works for these guys too

Click here to learn more about it

MONDAY NIGHT MUSINGS

- Last week CJ put it together and realized that we have to actually buy something before we can open it. I'm so glad that he gets it now because it helps him have some patience. Now he holds the item (gum, or crackers, or whatever it may be), and repeatedly asks, "Buy it first? But it first?"

- I don't know where he got it, but when CJ doesn't want something he says "wanny." He also tends to get a little lazy and slur words together, even though he knows how to anunciate them. So all I can figure is that "wanny" is his shortened, lazy version of "want any," as in, "I don't want any." He’s been doing it for months…I must be the slow one for just barely figuring it out…

- Mattie uses a fork ALL the time now - she insists - and she's practically better at it than CJ. Another difference between the two: CJ LOVES sauces. Mattie, not so much.

- So Bryce has been going through his old high school and pre-mission stuff - pictures, letters, etc. - and I've been reading A-WHOLE-LOTTA love letters to my Mr. Man. The letters to Bryce from his high school girlfriend were comical, but I know I was just as dramatic when I was her age. I'll admit, reading her letters made me just a tad jealous. Jealous that I didn't know Bryce then; jealous that he ever had such a serious relationship with anyone but me; jealous that she got a part of Bryce that I'll never get (unlike Bryce, my high school boyfriend was a third-string benchwarmer and we were definitely never Homecoming and Prom King and Queen). Then I read a letter that Bryce wrote to a girl he was totally head over heels for before he left on his mission. It was a very sweet letter, very sincere and innocent, and very Bryce. Reading that letter was different. It was kinda fun reading letters written to him, but it was kinda hard reading a letter that he wrote to someone that he earnestly hoped would be around when he got home from his mission (I'm still not sure why he never sent her the letter). She was everthing he wanted, and it gave me a feeling I didn't like so much, it made me question: did Bryce settle for me? Was I what he got because she was no longer around? Not so fun. So I think I'm done reading these love letters...

- Mattie sings all the time now. Just a few notes, but over and over and over again. Just on Friday she was singing, "Da-dee, Da-dee, Da-dee" over and over before “Da-dee” took her to bed.

- Mattie is so funny. She has started letting me brush her tongue when we brush her teeth. She sticks it right out. I’m glad she’s as orally conscious as her mommy.

- We went to see Toy Story 3 tonight. It was Mattie's first movie, and only CJ's second (but the first movie doesn't count - he was probably Mattie's age). Gramma and Papa loaded us up with popcorn and drinks, and CJ had many laps to sit on. Besides his one potty break, CJ sat through the whole movie and really liked it! And Mattie did really well too. It was a great Family Home Evening!

Happy Monday!

SNIFF SNIFF

Mattie had a body spray obsession there for a little while

When we'd ask her to smell it, she'd stuff it in her nose

And then we'd hear little sniffs

She's so fun!

MONDAY NIGHT MUSINGS

- I fried my brain this weekend and would be fine never doing another internet search again! But all the hours - and I mean HOURS - of work paid off because I found out a few days ago that I got the job! I almost cried when I found out. Not because it's my dream job, but because it was a lot of work and I honestly did not think I was going to pass the second test...that, and it is such an answer to our prayers. With a mortgage to pay now, our budget is stretched to the max, so the added income will be such a relief!

- Mattie has become such a picky eater lately...and she insists on feeding herself! So if you try to feed her with a spoon or fork, than she holds it with you the entire time.

- CJ loves to answer the phone at Gramma and Papa's house. Last week Bryce's aunt called, and CJ answered. First he said, "Hello?" and then he followed that with yelling at the top of his lungs, "HELLLLOOOOOO??" Good thing it was family! (I thought it was pretty funny though)

- Mattie has started throwing everything - probably gets it from her brother; she loves to watch him and do whatever he is doing, And this week she broke two of her Gramma Sheila's little keepsakes around the house. Thank goodness for an understanding Gramma and Super Glue!

- Bryce started his bar review class this week...and now our summer begins...

- Um, I'm running a marathon in less than two weeks and I'm FREAKED OUT!! I felt so ready a couple of months ago, but with graduation, Utah trip, moving, Port Ludlow trip, graduation party, family in town, and testing for this job, I have not been running at all! My goal was to finish in less than 4 hours. Now I'm just hoping to finish at all :)...at least under what I finished when I ran it before. We'll see...

- Mattie will eat like a little piggy in the morning and then be picky as can be the rest of the day. What's that about?

- CJ's new way of saying 'yes' is "Mmm-hmmmmmmm" or "Uh-hhhuuuuuuuuuhhhh" (imagine the second syllable sliding up in tone). I wonder how long he'll have his little idiosyncracies that I love...

- Bryce's mom threw Bryce and his sister, Kelsey, a joint graduation party on Wednesday. None of Bryce's friends could come, so that was a bust, but Bryce's favorite Aunt and Uncle were in town with some of their kids, and some old family friends came by, so it was actually low key and really nice. Plus Bryce made out with some great gift cards, so it was super nice :)

- Not sure why, but Mattie loves my body spray. I have a basket with all my amenities in it, and there are plenty of other bottles to choose from, but she always goes straight for my body spray. And it's not just the one. I have two different kinds, in different shaped and sized bottles, but she goes for both of them, and only them. So funny.

Happy Monday!

KELSEY'S GRADUATION

This is Kelsey

Bryce's only sister and the baby of the family

She just graduated from high school

This is Latia

(yes, the same Tia that CJ thanks Heavenly Father for in every prayer)

Have you ever seen so many leis?

We couldn't stop laughing at the fact that poor Tia could barely stand

But her family had good reason to celebrate

She's the first ever to graduate from high school!

This is Bryce's family

(minus Cameron, on his mission, and Tyler and his family)

We're lucky to be dry

The ceremony was held on Interlake High's football field...outside

Yes, we got rained on...but just for a bit

(who holds a graduation outside in Seattle?)

Happy Gradution, Kels!

We love you!!

JUST CUTE PICS

If her pants aren't on, she tries to take her diaper off

Mattie climbed up there all by herself to watch Daddy shoot some hoops

Enjoying some Spongebob in the morning with Daddy

We LOVE Sundays around here because we get to see Daddy ALL day

JJ must be the most patient dog in the world because she lets the kids climb all over her, and doesn't even flinch when Mattie pokes her eyes. Maybe it's because Mattie feeds her treats and people food all the time...

"What's on your nose, CJ? Oh no, honey...make-up is only for mommies."

CJ wanted to put on Daddy's old letterman's jacket (but didn't want to take a picture :)

When we drove to Wenatchee last weekend, Paige was taking some pictures of a fire outside. When CJ saw Mommy taking pictures, he insisted that she take some pictures of them as well :)