Phoenix Marathon Weekend...

This past weekend we pulled the kids out of school about an hour early on Thursday (after the 800m run) and started on our way to Phoenix. I got a call around Indio from my dad letting my know they had taken my mom to the hospital.

We made it to Phx in record time, 6 hours and 40 minutes. Henry threw up about 5 minutes from my parents house all over himself and the carseat. We even had a barf bucket available but we weren't fast enough.

My dad, Uncle and Aunt were home from the hospital without any real news of how my mom was doing, but plans were made for my dad and I to head over at 6am so that we didn't miss the doctor coming by in the morning.

My dad woke me up at 5:57am and we were in his Buick at 6:03am. The rest of the morning and afternoon were spent at the hospital with my dad and sister.

That afternoon N8 and I and the kids headed over to pick up his bib number and shirt for the Phoenix Marathon. Then we headed over to my brother and sister in laws house for the rest of the day. My brother and nephew were at a swim meet and didn't get home until after 10pm, so we hung with my sister in law, the kids enjoying their dog and cat. Emma and Bud loved taking Jade on a walk through the golf course.

At 4am N8 was up and ready to go and I drove him to the busing area for the Marathon. I came home and went back to bed. My brother's family was off at 6:15am for another swim meet and me and the kids were gone by 8:15 for the finish line. We had made signs for the kids to hold to cheer N8 into the finish line.

N8's goal was to come in under 3:10 so he could qualify for the Boston Marathon. He was oh so close and came in at 3:16:24, which is awesome. It leaves room for him to run again and try for the elusive Boston time.

Then it was back to my brother's for N8 to rest and shower. My brother picked up another one of my sisters who came in to see my mom and help my dad with care for her. My brother is training for a triathalon sprint and had just got a wet suit. He decided to model it for us.

We headed back to my parents since my mom was coming home from the hospital and moving onto hospice care. We rearranged some furniture to make room for a hospital bed and then my mom got there. She was so much more awake on Saturday than she was on Friday. We spent some time going through some of her things and visiting.

On Sunday my sister and her little guy Briggs stayed home while the rest of us went church (I stayed for sacrament mtg and my dad, N8 and the kids stayed for the whole 3 hour block). It was nice to see a few familiar faces from my childhood. I came home and made lunch and started packing our things.

We headed out about 3pm and made it to Ontario in time for a late dinner at Marie Calendars.

Bud got the lucky spot of sleeping in the closet! The 2 couch cushions fit perfectly!

N8 caught a flight out early Monday morning and me and the kids made our way home with a few shopping stops along the way. For FHE I took the kids to the long promised ice cream.

I am grateful that we had the opportunity to go and spend time with my mom and help my dad a little bit. We're headed back in a few weeks during our spring break to help out some more. My mom has always been the one to care for us and take care of things. She's organized and on top of everything. It's been very hard to see her not be able to do the things she wants to do and know it's only going to be getting worse and not better. I'm glad we'll be able to go back soon and spend as much time as we can with her and my dad.