Six Months

Six months ago today, on June 30th, James and I were married!

The weather was suppose to be the hottest day of the year...

it wasn't.

It was PERFECT!

When we walked out of the Temple,

clouds rolled in and shaded us from the heat.

The reception was beautiful.

It was by far the funnest reception i've been to!

The live oldies band was amazing.

The food was divine.

The wedding cakes...

tasted wonderful, looked terrible.

(thanks to the car accident they got into on their way)

The family was looking their best in their black and white.

The flowers were gorgeous.

The dancing was outrageous.

The honeymoon was eventful.

Not like a typical honeymoon that's for sure...

Stomach flu.

The past six months have been wonderful.

There has been good times

Fun times

Hard times

Memorable times

Enjoyable times

Funny times

Sad times

and the best of times.

I cannot believe that it has already been 6 months! We have had some great time together and I cannot wait to continue our journey together!

I love you James!

Leading to Christmas

The Craven Christmas Party.

aka

The Nativity.

This is the big part of our Christmas Party.

 Even though we had amazing food and great company...

it's the Nativity that is the big highlight of the night.

Me and stuff 'lucked' out of being in it...we were

'taking pictures'

Here is the rest of the family and their amazing costumes.

PS..I think the costumes get better and better each year

Check out the Shepherd...

AND the Donkey! (the 2 best costumes!)

And the Sheep!

Samuel (dodging stones...or socks)

The Beautiful Star

She held up the star above her head the whole time!

(that never happens..usually the star gets in trouble)

 

 

 

 My cute Wiseman.

(he was so happy to participate...without me)

Jake should have been kicked out of the Choir of Angels.

iphones are NOT allowed!

 

 My cute Grandparents baring their testimonies

My absolute favorite part of the night!!

After the Nativity the family started to leave.

The boys went down stairs to watch their

ACTION PACKED MOVIE...

While the girls did what girls do best...

TALK!

I made some yummy hot cocoa and did this outside...

so much fun!

I love the babies!

And I love my husband!

(he's getting...better...at pictures

or at least we are getting there )

:)

 

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On Monday for Family Night, we got together with Thomas and Sydney.

We went to see the pretty lights at Temple Square!

It was....

FREEEEZING!

And the air was

NASTY!

But it was, oh, so much fun!

 

Lets Be Honest

LETS BE HONEST HERE...

I quit my job at Allyse's Bridal a few weeks ago.

Things just got crazy there and I didn't want to be apart of it anymore...

LETS BE HONEST...

I LOVE NOT WORKING!!!!

I've been working for my parents trying to get their house back together after their remodel.

...It's a mess.

And can you say

CHRISTMAS PARTY THERE TOMORROW...
Yikies!

I've also been doing odds and ends things our families and for my Grandpa.

I'm bringing in more money that I did at the bridal shop...

HECK YES!

LETS BE HONEST...

I LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME!

I love waking up whenever I want...

(lets be honest..i did that anyway)

I love not studying...

(lets be honest..didn't really do that either)

I Love not going to class everyday...

(you can fill in the blank here)

BUT LETS DO BE HONEST...

I love all the Christmas Lights

I love looking at our Christmas Tree

I love the holiday spirit

I love being with Family

I love all the parties

(even if we have to pick and choose which ones we can go to)

I loved going to the Messiah

I'm excited for the Joseph Smith Party at the Wright's on Sunday

And Yes...LETS BE HONEST

I AM excited for the Craven Christmas party...

which INCLUDES the Nativity!!

Cuz..LETS BE HONEST

I WAS finally MARY LAST YEAR!!!!!

YEAH!!

I love the long nights of doing nothing

I love the snow that falls occasionally

Last but defiantly not least...

I love being with JAMES!!

And...
LETS BE HONEST

James passed his Serious 66 Test!!!

That means he isn't studying all day/night/morning.

We actually have time together..

And he has more he can do at work!!

Ya Ya YA!

LETS BE HONEST..

CHRISTMAS IS IN ONE WEEK!!!!

I'm super duper excited!!!

Digital Scrapbooking Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com

Our Charlie Brown Christmas

While James was out chasing ducks with is shotgun last week, he decided he would pick up our first Christmas tree. He and his brother bought permits and James came home with a tree. Do you remember Charlie Browns Christmas tree? Well, let me refresh your memory...

Well, our tree, isn't THIS bad, it's just...unique! There are a ton of branches on the bottom of tree, pretty much zero branches in the middle and then the top. I decorated it today and did the best I could. We got our cute ball ornaments from All a Dollar of all places! woohoo for only spending 10 bucks on decor..oh and we got our stockings there. Hey! We are in a recession here!! I tried to take some pictures of our tree. I'm happy with it, James is proud of his tree...it's gonna be a Merry Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

Yay for Christmas Time!!!

Happy Holidays!!

I blame the Ducks

I've been sick the past two days, ya know, the sick where you can't get off the couch, everytime you move or breath it hurts kinda sick, the sick you just want to sleep all day.
 Well, James came home from school last night all bothered because of this 'Derek' kid who messed up his presentation and now they have to redo to. LAME!
 Well, there I was, sick, sick on the couch moaning and he came and sat by me and rubbed my leg. ah, cute eh?!
 He had mentioned he might be going duck hunting this weekend, but ne never told me the exact plan.
 Well, when ten o'clock rolled around, I rolled off the couch, grabbed my blankie and headed to bed.
 Well, when I woke up at 11:32, James was not in bed.
When I woke up at 1:51, He still wasn't in bed.
Then at some time, i'd say about 3 or so,
I heard a car...a car leaving my drive way.
I feel back asleep without worrying about it. I should have worried...
It was the Ducks.
Now, throughout the night I could have been a good wife and look and see where he was...but I couldn't... was sick!
When I finally woke up this morning and stumbled out of bed, James was nowhere to be found, nor was his hunting gear. Hummm

The ducks had called. Blasted Ducks!

List

My list of things to look forward to...

1. Being done with this semester!!!
2. Celebrating mine and James' 4th Christmas together. 1st one actually being married
3. Picking out our first Christmas tree and decorating it!
4. The first BIG SNOW STORM!
5. Putting outside lights on our first home!
6. Not having to wake up for school OR WORK! yay!
7. Staying up late and watching Christmas movies!
8. Having James all to myself!
9. Going to see the lights at Temple Square!
10. Going to see the Joseph Smith movie with Thomas and Sydney!
11. Ice Skating at the Galivan Center (I'm still trying to convince James with this one)
12. Staying in my PJ's all day just because I can.
13. Having Hot Chocolate for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
14. Family Christmas parties that we say we hate each year but LOVE going to because it's the holidays and we get to spend time with the family.
15. Snow tubing...
16. Any snow activities!
17. Spending time with Family and Friends!

The good news

So this after noon I heard back from the doctors office and looks like my CAT Scan was normal. VERY GOOD NEWS...but at the same time it's frustrating because my headaches are still constant. Maybe some blood work will see if there is some sort of imbalance in my body, and if not...we'll, at least it cannot be serious.

blah

The past two weeks have been a hard one for me. One, James was gone for one of those weeks, and two, i've had this massive, consistant headache for 2 weeks. I went to an internist yesterday and she ordered me a CT Scan for Monday. Lets be honest..i'm nervous.  I told the doctor that my motor skills have been messed up, i'm off balanced, my vision goes in and out and just 'out of wack'. She really didn't say much about it all, but did say I needed a scan next week to see if there is something causing the head aches. And somewhere in her diognosis so used the word 'brain tumor'. I don't think I have one, and she doesn't know if I have one either..but goodness, that is something you don't want to hear at the doctors office! So now we wait.....

MY IRONMAN!

JAMES FINISHED THE RACE!!! YAY!!

He finished in 12 hours 36 minutes.  He wasn't cheering when he crossed the line..yet again, he usually never cheers after a race. But this time he looked beat. I can't wait til I get to talk to him and get the details about the race.

It was so fun to be able to watch him cross the finish line over the computer! It was almost like I was there...well, not really, but still. I'm glad that the internet was an option..it was so nice to see him!

He finished 69th in his age group! awesome! He also got 1214 over all! That is still super duper good! Now he has a time to beat for next time! :)

Good job baby! I'm so proud of you!!!

The Finish..?

James...James..where are you?!
James' miles have been getting longer and longer. Mile 13 I had a panic attack, burst into tears and kept staring at the computer. I saw that John had finished his 13 miles way before james (good job John) But not seeing James hit his mile point made me think that something happened. Thank goodness for my dad, he knelt down and said a prayer. James time popped up soon after and now I am waiting for his next check point to show up. So please, please show up! I feel helpless half way around the country!

Seriously...it's only 5.6 miles and it's been FOREVER! I pray you're okay.
(maybe this tracking thing isn't a good idea)

Good Job JohN! you're ROCKING IT!!! I'll watch you cross the finish line soon! "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!"

OKAY - James finally was posted. he's running about 14 minute miles. I'm just glad he's alive!! Keep going baby only 7.2 miles left..you can do it. I'm praying for you!

CONGRATS JOHN! YOU ARE AN IRONMAN! 11 HOURS 18 MINUTES!!! .... now go back and find my husband!

26.2 Continued

Well James' first run segment of 6 miles took him 1:02:12. At a pace of 10:22/mile. You can tell he's tired. They have a total of 4 different run segments, each at about 6 or 7 miles. When his next run segment comes up, i'll keep you posted.

James has fallen behind in the rankings. He is now ranked 776 over all and 47th in his age division. That is still super good though!
Second leg segment  7.4 mi. (1:35:04) 12:50/mile
       Ranked 1010 overall and 63 in his age division.
Third leg segment -  5.6 mi. (1:19:14) 14:08/mile
       1147 over all. 68 in his age division

John is doing awesome! His first leg segment took him 45:45 at 7:37 pace. Way to go John! John is now 830 over all and 113 in his age division!

John is still doing awesome!!!!!!!!!!
Second leg segment- 7.4 mi. (1:00:07) 8:07/mile
        Ranked 658 Over all 99 in his age division
Third leg segment- 5.6 mile (53:06) 9:28/mile
       Ranked 584 over all.  In his age division 91

A lot can happen in the next 20 miles...we will see what happens. When more is posted, I'll continue to post on his page!

Thanks for the support!

26.2 miles

JAMES FINISHED THE BIKE! YES! It have been a long 5 hours 32 minutes and and 14 seconds, but he is done! Yay! His average speed on the bike was 20.23 mph. Sweet! He is now off to the run for 26.2 miles. Hopefully he can make it! His transition time was 8:12. I'm sure he is soo tired. But glad he's still going and nothing bad has happened yet. Well, I guess something could have happened, but atleast nothing bad enough that he had to stop the race. Now that would be a scary feeling.

James in now in 38th place in his age division. He moved up almost half! Awesome! And he is now 685 overall...out of 3,000- i'd say he's rocking it! Especially for his first Ironman. man, I married a stud!

I'm still waiting for John to finish. Once he does, i'll add to this post.

Okay, John came in! He biked an average of 19.22 mph. His total time was 5:49:38! Awesome time John! Johns strength is the run so we'll see where his standings are once he finishes. He is currently ranked 994 overall and 120 in his age division! John's transition was 9:05.

My first question to the boys is...why is it taking so long during your transitions?! :)

112 Miles

James and John are continuing their biking adventure. This part of the race will take a while. It looks like we won't know how they've done until after they have completed the entire bike poriton. I thought there would be updates at certain mile markers, but it looks like they aren't going to now.

The men/pros that are at the front of the race are around mile 70. So looks like it still might be a while for James and John. Luckily the head wind has died down on the course so that should make life easier for the bikers.

...blah...I hate waiting....

Let the race begin

Here I am, sitting outside on my parents front door step trying to get internet service. I'm wrapped up in a blanket, still in my PJs tracking James' race!!

James is half way done with the swim! yay! I love being able to track him. It's like I am there in real life! I wish I was though. I woudn't be freezing at 7AM in Utah..i'd be nice and warm on the beach of Florida.

So far He has swam 1.2 miles in the time of 35:20! Awesome babe! His average 100/m is 1:51. His second 1.2 mile he swam in 40:10 with an average 2:06 100/m. He is currently ranked 63 in his division and 990th over all! WOOHOO! James' transition time between swim and bike was 8:55. James told me last night that the transitions were set up in a ballroom at a hotel. He said you run into the hotel, hit your transition spot and change then run out and a volunteer hands you your bike. I told him last night that I hoped he got the right bike. It didn't make sense to me that they could know who would be going through the transition at the time and which bike to hand off. Oh well, at least he off to his looong bike ride.


John is also do awesome! His first 1.2 miles he swam in 36.49 with his average 100/m at 1:56. His second 1.2 he swam 40:34 with an average 2:08. He finished the swim in 1:17:23! He is currently ranked 141 in his division and 1124 over all! Johns transition time from swim to bike was 8:44.

To be honest, i'm SOOO glad the swim is over! That is the scariest part of me. I am SOO Glad he is out of the water! It is seriously SUCH A RELIEF!  

I pray for ALL THE ATHLETS! It's dangerous out there!

I'll keep you all posted when I get new Information.

T-13 hours

 Well, all the bikes are racked and transition bags are handed in. The work and training has been done in preparation for the Ford Ironman Florida and tomorrow is the big pay off for those competing. The night before any Ironman is probably the most difficult part of Ironman racing.   For many here racing, a pasta dinner and a restless sleep is on the agenda for tonight. With 1239 competitors attempting there first Ironman tomorrow you can only imagine the collective nervous anticipation here.

Only 13 more hours until the race starts! I just got off the phone with James and he is getting ready for bed. (It's only 7:35 there right now) He's super nervous and is planning on laying in bed for the next 7 hours until he has to get up and get ready for the big race!

I wish him the bestest luck! I'll keep everyone posted on how he's doing! You can track him your self by going to ironman.com and click on Athlete Tracker. Type in Wright and you'll see him there! John is also listed so track him as well! It's exciting because I'll be able to know how he's doing before he really knows..he he. He doesn't like that so much :)

Good Luck Guys! I'm proud of you! Wish I could be there to cheer you on!!

Update on the IRONMAN

James and John arrived safe in Florida late Wednesday night. They had a problem checking into their hotel because the hotel so some reason didn't save their reservation. But luckily for them, John had printed out their reservation when he first called so the hotel was able to accomadate them. yay.

On Thursday they had all their regestrations, meetings, and packet pickups. James said it was a long day but very educational.  James found out that there are 3000 athlets and 153 in his age group. 20 of those 153 are not from the US. So-we'll how he does.

If some of you don't know, The IRONMAN is a 2.4 swim in the ocean, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run. I'm really worried about James over doing it and not listening to your body.He is in such good shape, but i've seen some IRONMAN videos and people litteraly kill themselves cuz they want to finish! I hope he's smart. But in the meeting yesterday for him he said that they said to be smart and not over do it, so if he doesn't listen to me, I hope he listens to the people in charge.

Here are the course maps...

The Bike

The Run

You have to finish every transition in a certain amount of time. Here are the cut off times. If they can't finish in the time given, they cannot finish the race. Swim: 2 hours and 20 minutes, Swim/Bike: 10 hours and 30 minutes (IM Florida ONLY is 10 hours and 15 minutes), Swim/Bike/Run: 17 hours

Today they get to set up their transitions and rest for the day. I think the boys are going to do a little swimming in the ocean to try and get use to the salt water.

Oh! Last night James also said that he thinks we can track his race! YAY! James' bib number is 163.
Johns bib number is 543.

Real Time Athlete Tracking, the core product of Team Ironmanlive. Follow your athletes progress through the course, with split times, pace, transition, and position information. Our goal is to keep you connected to the race, from anywhere around the globe.
At the start of the race you will see a link for the Athlete Tracker under the coverage tab of the event on the home page of Ironman.com. You can also access the coverage by navigating to "Events", then choosing the race you are interested in.


You can also to to ironman.com to get live coverage of everything going on starting tomorrow.

I wish James and John the best of luck!!

Florida..and I'm not there

So I have some frustration going on. First off, James is leaving tomorrow for Florida...and I SHOULD BE GOING WITH HIM! He is running his first IRON MAN! Yay, I'm so proud of him! He has been working so hard. He'd wake up at 6 and go biking or running for several hours, then go to work/school then come home and head to the gym for weights and swimming. It will be nice not having him on a strick workout schedule anymore and now we'll have more time for each other! YAY! okay, so back to my frustration. When James was about to buy the tickets, I had just got back from one of my classes and my teacher said that we'd have MANDITORY classes the first week of Novemeber..which is this week. She then said there would be no excuses and if you missed your grade would drop 2 letter grades. BLAH! So I told James that I could fly out late Thursday night so I could go to class and still spend time in Flordia and watch the race.  Well, we decided we would wait a few weeks before we bought my ticket so I could make sure I could make it work with my schedule and once we did, we looked up the tickets and they DOUBLED! So, I will be staying home...missing out on my husbands first IRONMAN and not spending time in the nice, warm, beautiful Florida.  Well, today I was in that MANDATORY class and a couple of my classmates went to my teacher and said they couldn't be there in class on Thursday and she said...okay, that's fine i'm gonna give a paper for the ones who miss the class so they can make it up. WHAT THE!? I could have written a paper and have gone to FLORIDA! NOT COOL!!! So THEN tonight, I got an email from my teacher stating that if you are sick you can miss class and not have to make up what you missed that day because she doesn't want sickness to get passed around. I'm sick..cough cough. GOODNESS...I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A TICKET!! So now i'm staying home..well actually i'm going to stay at my parents this weekend..which will be a lot of fun..althought Kelli just got back from the doctor and she has the Swine. So my luck i'll get it while i'm there. But hey, if I end up missing my class...i won't have to make it up! (come on, lets look on the positive side :)

I'm seriously so proud of James! He's done so many triathlons and a handful of marathons and now he'll be completing an iron man.  He is such a hard worker and so determined. I can't wait to go to this next iron man..maybe next time it'll be in HAWAII!
Good luck babe! You'll swim fast, Bike hard and run like the wind! LOVES!

The Release

I just needed to verbally express how grateful I am for my dad and all his hard work. Yesterday afternoon he was released as second counselor in the stake presidence.  He had been in that position for 9 years. I was in the 7th grade when He was called and now i'm in my 3rd year of college and married.

It's weird to think he's not 'President' anymore. I grew up with him having meetings Tuesday and Thursdays night, and being very involved in the stake. We are grateful that he'll be around...especially now that my parents are empty nesters.  It's been fun to see my parents begin to the adjustment of having more time together.  The past month or so my dads meeting haven't been so regular so my parents would go out and send time together. It is so fun seeing them. It's like they are on a second honeymoon. They truely love each other and I love seeing it!

The new stake presidency is going to be amazing! The new President was one of my former Bishops and was the Stake Executive Secretary, Bishop Strong.  He is such a great man! He is so loving, caring, and a genuin person.  The first and second counselors were also former bishops in the stake...both outstanding men.

It'll be great to have dad around more. I know it'll be an adjustment for him, but he served faithfully and magnified his calling to the fullest. Good job dad...I Love You

Bridal Photos

I know we've been married for almost 4 months now, but I finally got the copyrights to our wedding/engagement/bridal photos today! yay! It's been taking a long time to upload the 4000 photos, but it's almost done! i'll post a few of the bridals that I have already.

My photography was Adilifa Ford @ donpolo.com She was amazing!! If you want a good, socialable photographer..higher her!

I got my pictures done at Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake. I loved doing them there! Earlier that day it was stormy and raining and I wanted to cry! While I was getting my hair done, my mom called and said they forgot to do my bouquet...talk about panic attack! Luckily my sister was able to let me vent to her. Luckily the florist was able to find the flowers and put one together and it looked decent so I was happy...and the rain quit! We got some awesome photos of the stormy sky in the background. Yay for miracles! 

P.S. I LOVE MY DRESS!!!

Enjoy!