Playing Catch up, Porter 18 months

Hey World,

It's me Porter. Yep, the 'rents still call me Pman and I still haven't had my hair cut. Life is good. I will be 19 months in 3 days but we have been so busy I'm a little behind. So far I say: mom, mama,dada doggie, woof-woof, ready-set-go, mmmm, no, yeah, ok, cold, hot, tweet (bird), cookie, nigh-nigh, hi, turtle, hat, vroom, upleas (up please), moo, roar (when looking at a dino). I sign: dad, baby, water, more, please, food, milk, cat, signing time, sit, horse, hot, cold. (I have more words and signs but my mom can't remember and doesn't want to go check the book) I love babies and doggies. I always want to play. I love chase and always end up turning around and running to you. I am getting more teeth, which means I am more interested in eating. I love toast (just like mom) and will eat an entire J-Dawg hot dog (just like dad), I love cucumbers. I am transitioning to one nap a day, kinda. Sometimes I still take two naps, like right now. I stated going to nursery on October 9,2011 and once I saw a chair my size I was happy to climb out of mom's arms and into the chair. I haven't cried about going, yet. Sometimes I hit people and I am trying to remember to have nice hands. I have my moms temper for sure. I sleep from 7:30-7:30, unless the 'rents wake me up earlier. I weigh 24 lbs (remember how sick I was over the summer? still haven't gained it) and am in the 97% for height and 93% fore head size. I love to throw the ball and have quite the arm. People don't believe my mom or dad when they tell them and I usually end up hitting them in the face. I love books and music. I'm having a blast growing up and love life!

Thanks for checking in,

Porter

(I promise we have done more than just go to my races, but I haven't had a chance to update! Things to look forward to: Octoberfest! Halloween! And my HALLOWEEN HALF MARATHON!)

Run Kendra Run (St George Marathon)

Before summer I entered the lotto to get an entry into the St George Marathon. I entered it on a whim. I was more than shocked when I found out I was selected and would run the ST GEORGE MARATHON! I called up a friend, whose sister in law is a running coach and had her write me up a training program (she is amazing if you want a coach and want to see results let me know and I'll give you her info). Training for this race was a P.A.I.N. Almost every Saturday morning was dedicated to waking up early and running and running and running. Every trip we went on I had to make sure to pack my running shoes. Caleb was for sure my biggest supporter. It really was extremely time consuming and he never complained once. Thanks babe! Well, I called my mom and told her I was running the race and she and my DAD decided to make a trip of it and come cheer for me! I knew my mom would come, but my Dad is super busy and it really meant a lot to me. I may or may not have cried when I found of he was coming!

My sister Katie drove down with us and I am so glad she did. I am really lucky in the sister department. I have three amazing sisters and friends. We ate at Brick Oven and chatted it up!This is me at 4:45 am getting ready to go! I was so very nervous so all I had for breakfast was a pepto and water.
Caleb drove me to the bus station, we got there around 5 and there was a huge line. Can you tell I am scared/tired?
The line in front of me. The line behind was insane!
I was worried we wouldn't make it to the start in time. I was lucky to get on a bus with that guy in front of me. I had enough time to go to the bathroom, walk around, drink, pray and get some nerves out.
This is my goodbye picture. I was worried it would be 5 or 6 hours before I saw my hubs again.
The course was amazing! I was glad I kept my jacket and gloves. I was freezing at the start. I told Caleb and my family I wanted to see them cheer for me at miles 7,12, 16, 22 and the finish. So at mile 7 I was shocked when they weren't there. But I was having a blast. I was doing 8:30 minute miles with ease. They say this is a "downhill" marathon and what they don't say is that there are HILLS you have to climb to go downhill. All the way till mile 22. Luckily I trained with hills, while pushing Porter so it really didn't kill me. I stopped to go pee at mile 12 and had to wait, in total that wasted about 5 minutes of my time. I drank at every aide station and took my gels at mile 9, 12, 15, 18, 22. I should have taken the caffeine one at mile 18. At mile 16 Caleb and Porter were there cheering for me! I was so happy to see them but was having a blast and felt great so I didn't want to stop! At mile 23 my mom and Katie were there cheering for me. They were jumping around tell me to run faster! All I could say was I love you guys! I was still feeling really great at this point. The course turned into a finishing shoot here. Way to mess with my head. They had to make it smaller (similar to a finishing shoot) due to the roads and traffic. Wish I knew that before. This course really was amazing. It was beautiful. I felt great and really this had the BEST cheerers ever! I didn't think my mom or sister would make it to the finish line in time so I was surprised when all of the sudden Caleb was running by me. I totally started to cry! Then he had to stop and I heard this voice screaming "beat the boys" and telling me to go faster and faster and harder. It was my SISTER! I really needed this encouragement and it was because of those screams that I was able to beat the 10 people in front of me. As I was coming towards the finish line I was cheering and screaming for myself! I was so happy and so proud.
This is me kicking it into high gear to beat the few people in front of me!
I crossed the line in four hours and two minutes! My goal was 4 hours. I am more than happy. If I hadn't stopped to go to the bathroom I would have been under four. But guess what? I did it. And I had those people that mean the most to me cheering for me!
I saw a Dad and his son running this race, I cannot wait to run with Porter beside me!
I totally wore my metal the rest of the day/night. Maybe I slept with it. After the race my mom and my sister hocked me up with a 70 ounce Rootbeer and a score bar( I don't drink soda but a rootbeer after a race like this is a must!) I took a nice hot shower/bath and we all got ready. Then we went shopping at the outlets. Then we had a delish lunch at smashburger and the hubs took Porter back to the hotel for a nap while us ladies did some more shopping. And then some more.
We went out for dinner and a bit more shopping!
And ended the night with sweet tooth fairy cupcakes! This is my "I did it shirt".
My mom and dad left really early the next morning and didn't want to wake me but this was outside our room. This race was one of the best experiences of my life. I worked really hard and it wasn't easy. Sometimes I hated running. But it paid off. Big time. I am so grateful my mom and dad came and cheered for me. It means more than they may ever know. I am so grateful my sister gave up 3 days with her family to come cheer for me. Katie, you've become one of my favorite race partners. Let's do a marathon together one day. I needed your cheers at the finish line. Thank you. Hubs, thank you for giving up your Saturday mornings, sometimes for four hours. Thanks for working around my running schedule, thanks for understanding when I had to bring an entire bag just filled with my running stuff on our trips. The one thing that would have made this race better would be to have done it with you. I really miss running with you. Porter, thanks for letting me push you all those miles this summer. I love running with you and cannot wait to run with you by my side. I tried to run fast so I could see you sooner. Now just trying to figure out which marathon to do next....

Gone Country...Aka Our trip to Georgia

Our entire marriage (over four years) we haven't been able to go to Caleb's parents house. Mainly it is super expensive and mainly because I don't want to spend my birthday/Christmas away from my family. It's complicated =). But when Caleb's little brother Joel joined the Army I knew we needed to get out there before he was gone for years. And luckily I found some pretty amazing tickets. So off we went!

I loaded the pictures the wrong way so it's from finish to start but that's ok!

Porter at a battle field.

Oma and Opa Wilkins and Porter at the battlefield.

Proof that we were there too.

Our awesome ride. It is a mini-mini van and we loved it!

One thing I knew we had to experience in the SOUTH was the food. Porter loved it. His mouth is FULL of fried ham and waffles.

Only one person recommended that we eat at the Waffle house. Sure glad we did. It was delish.

Somehow I didn't get any pictures of Porter with his cousin Shane. This will have to do.

One tired kid.

The hubs and I at one of the few covered bridges.

Caleb and his mom.

So beautiful.

The Chattahoochee river!

This was at the museum for Martin Luther King Jr.

This was an extremely moving museum. The statues are walking towards freedom.

Porter said "hi" to most of them.

My boys.

Here we are in MLK Jr's chapel where he gave his sermons. They restord it to look how it did when he preached there. It was really beautiful. Th stain glass had faces and it was amazing.

Outside of the chapel.

Here we are at the Freedom Walk.

One of the oldest fire stations in Georgia.

At MLK Jr's birthplace door!

Here is the home!

We ate at the Varsity. It's a little bit famous and a lot of bit fun and delish. If you go to Georgia you need to go to the Varsity.

So many reminders that we were in the South. I was worried that my little family of three was what this sign was warning us of!

Inside the varsity!

Of course Porter loved it! We actually had to go and order him more!

Happy family!

And a yummy apple pie to go with it.

Porter met another Porter at Cenntenial Park.

I had visions of him playing at Cennitial park, splashing in the water and laughing. Instead Georgia decieded to rain and have tornados this weekend.

Entering Cenntenial Park.

Tasting Mr. Coke's drink...

View of the Atlanta skyline!

And here we are at the World of Coke. And that's about it. I thought it was free 99 to go to but turns out it's like 30 bucks a person. And after paying for tickets, renting a car, buying food you better believe I was not about to pay to go taste samples of coke when I have actually had the coke from 10 different countries myself. But maybe next time.

We get art.

Caleb and his parents at his Dad's place of work!

This picture is so sweet to me! Opa showing Porter things from his mission in Africa. Opa and Oma are grandpa and grandma in Africans.

As we were leaving the Dinner the tornados started touching down. The sirens were going off!

I was totally disgusted when the waiter brought bread and MANNAISE to the table. A little too country for me.

Leah, Caleb's sister said we should try this place so we all went after we said our goodbyes to Joel. It sure was tasty!

Porter really wanted a hat and he usually gets what he wants!

When we dropped Joel off they gave us some ARMY stuff to show our support. I am not a shy person so you better believe that backpack is packed FULL of goodies.

I went to This is It! And had my first Hush Puppy. It was delish.

Saying goodbye to Joel. His little sisters made cute signs. This family is the most picture taking haters I have ever seen. Luckily I was able to get them to be silly and take a cheerful picture to say "GO JOEL!"

Leah, Shane, Opa, Oma, Joel, Caleb, Porter, Awesome mamma, Kara.

These two were able to get some bonding in. This picture makes me get a little teary eyed.

See what I mean about the picture haters? Daddy, Porter and Uncle Joel.

The family just chillen.

Porter loves his Auntie Kara.

Opa reading some scriptures.

Oh yeah, their a little bit old school! Opa broke out the slides from his mission in Africa. It was one awesome home movie night complete with popcorn!

This is Caleb's highschool football field. It was used in part of the filming of Remember the Titans.

Daddy and Porter at one small part of Caleb's highschool. It used to be a University and it is really the most beautiful campus I have ever seen. Way more beautiful than BYU and that's saying something.

We saw lots of spacious homes!

All in all we had a wonderful time in Georgia! I loved the accents and the slower way of life. I was able to go on a few runs and I felt like I was running in the forest. There are so many trees, and a flock of geese flew over me and I heard them honk! Never had that happen before! It is really beautiful in Georgia. I wish we had loads of money and could go back soon! We had a blast with Caleb's family, his parents HATE Atlanta and I basically had to drag them to go with us! But I think they had a good time too, and they hadn't ever been to MLK JR's birth house or monument before! Everyone was surprised when I said I could live in Georgia. That said, I would want to live in or near Atlanta or at least a bigger city than where Caleb is from. I also don't want my children growing up where racism is rampid. I was always the monority (until we moved to Utah) and never understood rasism. The south is still batteling this, despite being the birthplace for the anti-rascism movement. However, Georgia is beautiful and fun.