8 Month Catch up Post :)

Wow-I think I may officially be the worst blogger ever. Time has gone by so fast lately and I really do want to catch up on some highlights, so this will be short and sweet. I will try to do better and hopefully I won't be doing this all over again in December! So the biggest and most exciting thing that has happened since July is that we added a new little member to the McIntire family! He is by far the cutest and the hairiest-sorry babe. ;) His name is El Tigre and we couldn't love him more! He used to be so tiny! Look at those ears!

I suppose we added another member to our family in October as well-Dustin's new Dodge Ram. He was able to get a steal of a deal and we traded in our beloved Dakota. He loves it and I guess I do to! We picked it up in Littleton, CO and did a quick drive around downtown Denver. I really like Denver. If I couldn't live in Utah or Idaho, I think I would move to Denver.
At the end of October my FAMILY (my mama, Austin, and Alexis) came to visit me here in UTAH! I love love LOVE it when they visit-it's not very often. We packed it full of fun with a trip to the Living Planet Aquariam, Clark Planetarium, city swimming pool-and hanging out at home. Can't wait till they come visit me again. :)
Here are some pictures from Halloween: it was fairly uneventful--we stayed at home, watched scary movies, and handed out candy. We even dressed up this year!
he HATED wearing this but we made him anyway-he just looked so cute

We Had Thanksgiving in Rexburg and it was really fun! Unfortunately I didn't take my camera so I don't have any pictures from it. :( My mom sang in the Thanksgiving choir and it was great! There is no better way to start of the holiday season. We had a delicious dinner at my mom and dad's house-Connor made a fancy turkey, and Andrea made some other stuff, I just can't remember...Mom and I worked on potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Rolls, and dessert. I am so thankful for my wonderful family, and even more thankful we get to be together as a family for eternity. Also, my brother hit his one year mark on the mission! He is doing a great job in the Dominican Republic! Love you KRISTOPHER!
For Christmas we went South to warm and sunny California! I am lucky to have great inlaws-it was nice be able to go to the beach during the break. A little weird, but nice. Again, we didn't have a camera to take pictures with. :( We got one as a Christmas present but it didn't come in the mail until we were already home. I love the Christmas season. I love how everyone is just a little better version of themselves and realizes what is really important. We went to "Scrooge" at the Glendale theater to kick things off and were completely spoiled by Santa :)


Happy New YEAR! Glad that Dustin's family could celebrate with us

We like take pictures with our new camera-what a beautiful temple!

Happy Birthday to my Father-in-Law John!
My wonderful hubby celebrated birthday #27-This is him with his favorite birthday present ever. His sister Wendy sent him a Giant Gummy bear! That thing was 5 lbs and 12,600 calories! haha-how can I follow a present like that!? (btw it took him about a week to finish it)For his birthday, Dustin wanted to go to "Monster Jam" It was actually pretty cool, just really loud. We ate at Olive Garden beforehand.
Happy Birthday Babe!

Happy 2 Years!

Wow! Time flies doesn't it? I am sure that you all feel the same way as certain events take place. Well for me it was my 2 year anniversary on July 7! We cannot believe how fast the time is passing by but are grateful because it means we are having fun and is a lot better than it seeming like time is dragging on! :) Well since we spent our anniversary last year amongst nature and bears, I insisted on a hotel. We wanted to get away for a long weekend and decided a visit to one of earth's wonders was a good idea so we went to the Grand Canyon! It was absolutely incredible. I had never been there before and we look forward to visiting it again one day. On with the pics!

Still happy-2 years down, forever to go

Some cool watchtower

1 of many scenic shots

Of course, what's a trip without a scenic dakota pic? (miss you dak)

I could not believe this place! It was huge! Did you know all those canyons were made just by thousands of years of corrosion from the Grand Canyon? It's true.

Another beautiful picture


A little close to the edge.....haha

But not as close as Dustin!

Of course we had to stop by In N Out...even if it was a little out of the way...(*2 hours..ahem)

Dustin gave me the most thoughtful present for our anniversary :) We didnt really want to buy anything for each other so I decorated his office at work and he framed our marriage certificate. It made me cry a little :*)

And some beautiful flowers too!

For dinner we went out to "Gloria's Little Italy." I had been wanting to try that place for a while and it was worth the wait! It was delicious-I love ya babe

Kendall's Angels

Wow, I am really behind....again. Well at the end of June we partcipated in the Relay for Life, but this time we did it in Rexburg! It just felt better to celebrate and remember my daddy right there at home. It was also nice because the Andrea, Connor and the kids were able to come! We were really worried because it was pouring rain all day and we were sure that the relay would have to be cancelled, but right when it was time to start, the sun came out. It was really neat. The kids had a blast-especially Alexis who stayed up all night and cheered everyone on to keep walking. Celeste came and walked with me and we all had a really good time. The Luminaria Ceremony was very touching as we all thought of those we had lost to this horrible disease, and celebrated those who have overcome it. We plan on participating in the Relay for Life every year until we find a cure-as should everyone else! Here are a few of my favorite pictures off my computer of my dad. We love you, miss you, and will never forget you! love, your little girl

"Ignorance is Blissters"-Clever huh?

Well, they never said it would be easy, they only said it would be worth it-and they were right! I did the Ragnar Wasatch Back relay and I have to say it was a really good experience. The race is from Logan to Park City-188 miles. They say it's an overnight party between 12 people-I don't know if I would call it a party but it was fun. My friend Kiirstin asked me if I wanted to run because they needed an extra runner so I said "Sure,"-not really knowing what I was getting myself into. I trained for about 3 months. Well race day came way too fast and I was really nervous. (It didn't help that I crashed my car into a lightpole in an empty Walmart parking lot on my way over.. :( sorry babe...but that's a whole other story!) I tried to channel some positive energy from my wonderful teammates and ended up having a really good time-especially when I wasn't running! A quick overview of my 3 legs:

LEG 1- Hot, 7.4 miles, horrible, constant uphill, dirt road, everytime a van passed me I got dirt in my lungs, eyeballs, and mouth-couldn't wait to brush my teeth! People giving me sympathy cheers because I honesty looked like I was going to die (trust me I have pics, but noone of you will ever see them...)Life was good when I finished this one!

LEG 2-Pitch black outside, 3:00 AM, really sore from the first leg because we had 0 time to ever stretch, thought I was going to be eaten by a bear because the runner before me saw one, ended up being 5.1 miles when the handbook said it would only be 4.2-bummer huh?! But everything considered, this was my best run for sure!

LEG 3-Piece O' Cake-or at least easier than the others, 2.5 miles, cool and rainy outside, on a paved road, really REALLY sore, Dustin cheering me on :)

That was the race! I felt really cool that Dustin came to see me because there really weren't any other spouses around. I am one lucky lady! You know, it is really amazing what your body can do if you push it. I have never worked my body that hard on so little sleep and food. I slept about 3 hours and it was bad sleep (we were pretty scrunched in the van). You hardly get any fuel because because you are too scared to eat before you run and then you are sick afterwards. On top of everything, the exercise/no sleep diet seems to really get your insides working so everything you eat lasts for an hour before you have to visit one of the "Honey Buckets." Gross name huh? Sorry I am probably being a little too graphic so I will be done. Can't wait for next year when the whole McIntire clan does it in LA! Yeah Kinosha Kickers!

Thank goodness for water and water MISTERS

About to run my last leg-pretty happy about that!

Team finish! 188 miles later!

One last pic at home