26.2 miles? Seriously?

We're off tomorrow to fly to Oregon so that I can run my first marathon with Janica in Newport. I kind of think we're crazy. I'm hoping that everything goes well, and that we feel good. At least it's going to be nice weather, not hot like it is here! Newport's right on the coast in Oregon, and Robby and I went to the Oregon coast on our honeymoon. Janica and I used to run against each other in high school, and are really looking forward to running this whole race together-not trying to beat each other! We just want to finish this one! Robby and Lily are going to cheer us on, along with Janica's family, my parents, sister, and Robby's mom and sister. I'm not worried about the first 18 miles-its the last 8 that make me nervous! When Emily was in the NICU on the ventillator as a baby, they had her settings set in a way, that the respitory therapist said asking her to breath on the ventillator was like asking one of us to run a marathon. So I promised Emily that if she could do it, I'd run a marathon some day. So, here it goes! Send positive energy our way! Lily hasn't pulled herself all the way up yet, but she likes doing this when she can. And then she gets stuck sometimes, so we have to help her down.

Lily loves this chair that makes music, and will crawl to it from wherever she is in the house.

Robby tried to make a barricade to keep Lily in the living room the other Sunday. It definitly did not work!

Here's Em's marker. I debated about whether to post it or not, but I know many of you who look at this blog were at the funeral, either in San Antonio or in Quincy. The stone is actually green, but it's hard to tell because it was so sunny.

Behind Emily to the left is her Grandma Hammond, and to the right is Robby's Uncle Randy.

This Dang Texas Heat

I hate the heat in Texas. This year it actually didn't get super hot unti this week. It's been around 100, with 80% humidity. It's the humidity that I hate. It never cools off. At 6:00 AM it's 79% outside. That's just gross. For 6:00 AM, anyway. So, as I was laying in bed thinking about this last night, it made me think of Emily this time last year. The day after Mother's Day she had hip and foot surgery on her left hip and both feet. She was in this cast for 5 weeks, from May 12, 2008-June 16, or something like that. Look at that smile! She endured the whole thing like that, just happy. She never once complained that she had this cast covering over half her body. She would smile and play just like she always did. I was 6 months pregnant at the time, so we were quite the pair. That cast was heavy and akward!

Emily was able to go to school, even with this cast on. The staff was so terrific about working with her and helping her be happy and comfortable. This is how she'd get around.

Isn't that the most beautiful smile? I love this picture. It's so Emily. I went gararge sell hunting for dresses before the surgery, because I knew that's what she'd have to wear. COOL summer dresses. And I found a sell that had dozens. So all the dresses she's wearing cost about $1 each. It was great. I think she stayed pretty comfortable, considering it was 100 degrees outside and she was in this cast!

This is how she slept. We put a sheet down over the bean bags that our friends let us borrow. We'd actually prop her up on her side. This cast went up above her belly button. They cut a hole for the diaper area. We would stuff a small diaper up inside, and then put the pull up over the top. It worked pretty well! So, I'm done complaining about the heat. These pictures should help me remember not to complain-I'm not pregnant and I don't have a body cast!

Hawaii

Surfing and fishing on Sunset Beach.

The Laie Hawaii Temple

Lily had a great time!

We had a fabulous time in Hawaii. We went to Oahu and stayed for 5 days, spending three nights in Waikiki, and 3 nights on the North Shore. We enjoyed both places. Neither of us had been. I put a slide show on the right side if you want to look at more pictures. Some are the same as below, and some are different. Lily was great fun on the trip. She would just smile and laugh at everyone. When we got home she was a little grumpy from lack of attention. She loved the sand (especially eating it) but was not a big fan of the waves, even though I know you can't tell by her smiles in the pictures! Sunset on Sunset Beach. This was the last thing we did in Hawaii, and it was a great way to end our trip. These pictures are in reverse order. Sunset Beach is where the surfers go, and it was a lot of fun to see them surf. The waves were huge-I wouldn't swim past about 5 feet from shore.

Sunset on Sunset Beach.

I enjoyed playing with my camera settings. Lily was very fun to photograph!

Lily at Wiamea Bay. We went snokeling there, and saw sea turtles, which was one of the highlights of the trip.

Sunset at Laie Beach. This was the 2nd place we stayed. We had the entire beach to ourselves. There's pictures on the slide show of the Polynesian Cutural Center.

This is Pali Lookout, looking at the Windward shore of Oahu. It's extremely windy there, but Lily loved it.

This was at Bellows Beach, before Lily got splashed with waves and got sad!

Hanuma Bay. This is an amazing place to Snorkel. You walk down to it. This was probably my favorite part of the trip. We'd never been snorkeling before, and we swam with literally thousands of fish, all different colors and sizes. It was kind of scary (I'm not a great swimmer) but so worth it. We took turns playing with Lily while the other one snorkelled. If I had to do one thing on Oahu, this would be the thing.

Our first day there we hiked to the top of Diamondhead, which gives you 360 degree views of Honululu, Waikiki, and the mountains. We're looking down on Waikiki here. I got to go running along Waikiki twice, which was great fun for me. I also ran around BYU-Hawaii. The marathon is in 4 weeks-yesterday I ran 20 miles. I think I'm as ready as I can be!

On Waikiki with Diamondhead in the background. We hiked up it an hour after this picture was taken.

Emily and Lily's doggie!

Our friends have a dog named Harry, who Emily loved. My friend Cindy would watch Emily, and Emily would play on the ground while Harry licked her and cuddled with her. We think that Emily whispered in Lily's ear how much fun Harry was, because the first time Lily saw Harry she laughed and laughed. I'd never seen her laugh so hard, especially without trying to make her laugh. It was just a few weeks after Emily died, and was so much fun to see. So last week when we went over, I was smart and brought my camera so that I could video Lily with Harry. Lily also sleeps with a little dog that looks just like him. So, here is Lily with her friend Harry!

Our girls' share Easter

Well, we made it through Easter. It was our first holiday without Emily, and it was hard, but it was also good to remember the real reason that we celebrate Easter. Church was especially hard, not having Emily there all dressed up, but the rest of the day went well. Not too many tears! Here's some fun pictures from the last week. I'm trying to find new things to do to fill my days, and decided that I really should learn how to sew without having my mom there next to me (doing most of it!). I made this dress yesterday with the help of my friend. I am the world's worst person on a sewing machine, so what normally should take an hour took me 3 1/2, but it got done!

A friend made this chocolate bunny cake, because it was her daughter's birthday. I made the pies. We all loved the bunny cake, though it was a little tramatic when we had to cut the cake. She cut the ears, then the head, etc! I don't think I'd ever have the patience to make something like that!

Robby made this area for Emily's bench. We took Lily on a little Easter egg hunt. It was fun to put some under Em's bench.

Lily with her first Easter Egg.

Emily's first Easter Egg hunt. She's 1 1/2. It was the first time we lived in our house for Easter, in March 2006.

Emily on Easter, 2006. She's 1 1/2 in this picture. My mom made this dress. She wore it for two Easters! She seemed to think that she looked like a princess.

Lily really liked her Easter basket.She's trying to eat the M&M's.

Lily and her Daddy. She definintly looks like her dad. I need to post a picture of them without Robby wearing glasses.

This dress was Emily's. She wore it at Parker and Jessie's wedding. We thought it would be fun if Lily could wear it, too.

Emily and I at Parker's wedding in May 2005. She was 10 months old. Robby had just moved to Texas to start his job, and Em and I followed after the wedding.

Lily and I on Easter Sunday.

What kid doesn't like French Fries?

Lily learned how to roll with Curious George. She's drag him along with her as she rolled.

Twins

My brother Parker and sister-in-law Jessie came with their two girls from Tennessee for a visit last weekend. Their youngest, Kylee, is 2 weeks older then Lily. We had a great time watching the two of them together. We went to Seaworld, and everyone thought they were twins. It was really great to have family here. McKinley is 2 1/2, and she was also very fun, especially at Seaworld where she watched all the animals. McKinley got to sleep in Emily's Princess bed with Emily's stuffed animals, which I think she liked. It's exciting to have family within driving distance!Lily's on the left, and Kylee's on the right.

McKinley on Emily's bench.

Lily and I matched last Sunday.

Robby saying goodbye to McKinley.

I have Lily and Parker has Kylee.

Now I'm holding Kylee, and Jessie has Lily.

Lily being silly.

I like this one of the girls.

Lily and Kylee at Seaworld. Lily pulled Kylee's hair and made her cry, and then Kylee did something to Lily to make her cry. We're not sure what it was, but Kylee was smiling and Lily was crying, and Kylee's hand was on Lily. We figured they're even.

Lily is very much a people person. She was smiling at everyone!

Parker has a really great camera. I love this one of the whale eating the fish.

I got to touch a dolphin! In all my times at Seaworld I never have. It was very fun.

Lily watching the whales. She was quite intent.

Hmm...I wonder what she's thinking about?

We went down to the Riverwalk. It was actually cold and rainy. It felt like March, which was so nice!

Lily and Kylee seeing each other for the first time.

We're doing pretty well here. Some days are better than others. Lily likes to talk. She learned how to roll around the room after watching Kylee do it, and she takes Curious George with her as she rolls. Well, she rolls, and then she reaches out and grabs Curious George, and then rolls some more. I'll try to put pictures on the next time!