Mesa Falls Marathon

The fam at the finish line of the Mesa Falls Marathon.

Layne and the kids with his mom. His parents and grandpa came to see him race, too.

Layne at around mile 23. Still going!

Taking a breather after the race. He was starting to feel it in his legs.
You'd never believe he went to my mom's and put in fence for the rest of the day.

All summer long Layne has been running like crazy to prepare to run his first marathon. He wasn't sure if he was ready, but ready or not he headed up to Ashton at 3:45 a.m. on Saturday, August 22nd. He started running around 6:45 a.m. and the kids and I headed up to watch him finish. He had hoped to do it in about 3 1/2 hours. At 3 hours 36 min. he ran in. He placed 25th overall out of 231 runners. It was awesome. He amazes me. It is always a special experience for us to be there.

Back to School

Abby and Karlee out waiting for the bus on their first day of school.

Kayci didn't want to miss out on the first day. She set out her own clothes for the first day just like the girls and was up bright and early to see them off to school.

Abby starting 3rd grade.

Karlee is off to Kindergarten.

They are growing up so fast.

Thursday, August 20th was the end of our summer and the beginning of a new school year. Our district just barely finished building a new school just down the road from us so now the girls are the South Fork Screaming Eagles. They are still finishing up a few things at the school but the first day came and went without any troubles except that the cafeteria wasn't up and running so the kids had to brown bag it. Abby started the third grade and despite not being in the same class with her best friend, had a good first day. However, because of the large number of kids that ended up registering for Kindergarten, Abby's teacher was moved to open up another Kindergarten class and she got a new teacher, Mrs. Treasure, on Monday. Karlee started Kindergarten and is loving it. She is on an all day every other day schedule so she got to go the first day and then had to wait until the next Tuesday. She really wishes she could go every day but is liking it just the same. I'm sure they will both grow a lot this year. I'm really glad they're there together so they can look out for each other.

Focus on the Temple Month

Kayci really loves her dad.

My Boys!

Me and my beautiful girls!

It doesn't get much better than this!

(I love that Abby takes such good pictures)

They really are cute, aren't they?

Karlee loves to pose for the camera.

Kayci thinks she's a supermodel.

Jake just loves to cheese it!

My Abby is really growing up.

Me and my eternal companion.

And our eternal rascals!

Jake loved the Christus.

I really do love them!

This month in primary we have been focusing on the blessings of the temple. We have encouraged our children to have a temple experience each week and then we talk about it on Sunday. So this week we decided as a family that we needed to get to the visitor center in Idaho Falls and let the kids walk around the temple. They were so excited to go. The I.F. temple has been remodeled and is really a neat place to go. It has a lot of interactive screens and displays to look at, but our kids favorite thing is the Christus that they encourage the kids to touch and look at the markings. It really was a sweet experience. Afterward we walked around the temple and the kids insisted on posing everywhere we went for a picture. Even Layne and I got in on the picture action. It was a great FHE. We are so fortunate to have two temples so close. We definitely feel the blessings that come from both. We hope the kids recognize those blessings, too.

Happy Anniversary, Darling!

Me and my amazing Layne in front of the Playmill.

I really am the luckiest woman alive.

Waiting for the show to start. They even sang to us (and all the other birthdays and anniversaries there, too).

Last Saturday, the 15th, Layne and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. It has gone by so fast! We were able to get away to the cabin in Island Park for a night and went on up to West to see The Secret Garden at the Playmill. It was sooo good. Even Layne liked it (and he was afraid it would be too slow). We went out to dinner and just enjoyed a little quiet time which is always nice. The next morning Layne needed to put in a good run for his marathon the next week so he brought my bike and I rode along side him. On the up hills he would shoot way out in front of me (in fact, once he actually turned around and ran back to me while I pushed my bike up the hill. He's amazing, isn't he?!) Then we went back and had a big breakfast, cleaned up, and headed home. It was a pretty quick trip but very much needed. I sure do love him. My love for him only continues to grow with each year. He has taught me so much over the past 11 years, and I hope we have many, many more together. Love you, darling!

Climbing the Rock Wall, FHE

Karlee, Trey, Andy, and Abby working their way up the wall.

Abby looking for a different hand hold.

Abby on her way back down. She didn't quite make it to the top yet.

Nice job Abbs! She was the first to make it to the top.

Here's Karlee and Abby climbing with all they've got.

Keep going Kar. You're almost there!

Even Grandma climbed. Go Grandma!

Kayci floating back down.

The heights didn't bother her at all. She was all smiles.

There I am at the top. It's a lot scarier than it looks.

But it was a great work out and a ton of fun.

The first Monday of every month, we have Family Home Evening with my family. We take turns each month planning what to do. Last week, we had one of our funnest activities yet. Brittany was in charge and rented the rock wall on campus at BYUI for an hour. The kids had a ball climbing up over and over. Only Grandpa, with his shoulder still recovering from surgery, and Heidi, who is expecting, didn't take a turn. Kayci wasn't heavy enough to pull the cable back down, so we could only let her climb as high as we could reach, but she still loved it. Once Abby had overcome her fear of falling, she made it to the top several times. Andy made it up a couple, too, and Trey and Karlee went up quite a ways. I even made it up on several different sides. Afterward we all went out for ice cream and Brittany talked to us about overcoming our challenges. It really was a great FHE!

Clayton Family Reunion

This picture was posted on my Clayton Familly website as "Little Miss Kinghorn"

Layne taking his best shot at the skeet shooting activity.

The men really got to know each other better by the end of this competition.

Jared taking his best shot. I think he won this round!

Kayci going down the slide on the bounce house. Their feet were black by the end of the day from running around to get back on the slide.

Abby tries it head first.

Time to pose as Great Grandma and Grandpa

Now Abby with Jake

Now Layne and I take our turn. Aren't we a handsome couple?!

Kayci and Jake hamming it up.

A relative of mine took an old picture of my Great Grandparents at Craters of the Moon and painted this stand for everyone to use at the reunion. It made for some pretty funny pictures.

My Grandma and Grandpa getting dinner ready in the kitchen.

Bow-making madness!

Karlee, Abby, and Andy decorating their "drums".

Kayci hard at work on her drum.

All finished!

Say cheese girls!

All the kids playing their instruments. What a show!

Kayci made friends with my cousin Val's little girl, Sydney. They loved swinging and playing with their babies.

Every three years the Clayton side of my family has a big reunion. The last few reunions have been held at this park along the Bear River just outside Tremonton. Everyone pulls their campers or sets up a tent and spends the weekend getting reaquainted with relatives not seen in a few years. The park is the perfect place to go. As Jake found out, there is ample space to just run and play. On Friday night they had a dinner and then played some get to know you games. At dark they watched a movie outside on a big screen. It rained all night on Friday and we woke up to some pretty cold temperatures, but that didn't seem to stop the festivities (except maybe the water games). On Saturday there was plenty more food, from breakfast to dinner, plus lots of activities for all to take part in. A favorite was the skeet shooting. They played a kind of round robin version that really kept things lively and a little more competitive. Layne and Jared both won different rounds! They had crafts for the kids to do (they made musical instruments and played them), bows for the moms and girls to make, picture frames for the kids to make that held the pictures they took with their heads in the picture of Great Grandma and Grandpa Clayton, foam swords to fight with, and of course the bounce house that stayed busy the entire time we were there. They even made snowcones despite the wet, cold weather we had on Saturday. Overall it was a blast! My Great Uncle Harlan's family was in charge and they did a phenomenal job. They raised money for the next reunion with a silent auction on boutique items and also put together an awesome cookbook that I think will really be an heirloom for us and future generations. I bought one for each of my kids to have when they leave home.

Oh, we also took our new camper out for the first time. Yep, that's right. We finally got a camper. Something we have wanted for a really long time. It worked great. I think we are really going to love the memories we make with it.

This was a special reunion for me because it gives me the chance to represent my dad. He would have loved things like this reunion. He loved being with his family. We miss him but know he was there in spirit.

The whole reunion was dedicated to my Great Grandma Clayton which was why the cookbook was so special. For as long as I can remember, the Clayton get togethers have revolved around food. At this reunion, a lot of people shared their memories of Grandma and her love for family. I have very fond memories of her. There were around 140 people at this reunion and by the time we all left it was hard to say goodbye. We are looking forward to the next one.