13.2 and I am Through!

The run of my summer! The payday for my early morning and Saturday runs...The reason I took running shoes on vacation and went to bed slightly early on Friday nights. The reason I was overjoyed at receiving a GPS for Mothers Day! (So I could track my pace and distance.) You'd think I was training for something serious and super competitive--nope-- just my first 1/2 marathon...and I LOVED it. It was the Hobble Creek 1/2 Marathon in Mapleton--and I think it was a good run to introduce myself to the half's. The first 8 miles were a slight down hill and then some nice ups and downs for the remainder of the course. The scenery was beautiful, and I really enjoyed (almost) every minute of it.

The best part was so many of my friends did the run as well. My sister-in-law Robyn amazed me with this being her first big race EVER. She has never ran so many miles in her life, and I think I have addicted her to the sport. (I became addicted when I went head first and ran a marathon without ever running any other races before....) I have to say that I am a fan of the 1/2's. The training wasn't as strenuous and I felt enthused the entire race.

What a beautiful day for a run! The day began when my alarm went off at 3:45 a.m. (I have to mentally prepare myself for things like this...I don't like to be rushed...so I wanted time to get dressed and eat my breakfast and take care of business.....ha!) We drove to Mapleton where we boarded a bus for a 13 mile ride up the mountain to where the race began. Luck have it...our bus was the one that kept over heating! It was actually a good thing, because we were able to stay sitting on the warm bus, instead of standing at the top of the cold mountain waiting for the race to begin. We got to the top just in time to stand in a really long line to use the fresh-smelling Honey Buckets! (Can you say absolutely disgusting.)



Let the race begin! There were hundreds of us making our way down the mountainside. It was slightly chaotic in the beginning, because there were so many people and not a whole lot of room to get move'n. It finally cleared out and I became engrossed in my run.



My awesome friends (Marcy and Alicia) made the drive (with some fancy posters) to cheer us all on. And of course..who can forget to mention an amazing husband (who originally signed up to run the race with me...and then decided not to.) I don't think it would've worked too well to have both of us training...so I'm glad he decided to let me do it:) He really has been a trooper putting up with me being gone on Saturday mornings doing the lengthier runs (Oh wait, I get back before he and the kids even wake up!) Truly though..what a sweet guy to support whatever I love to do!


And a big shout out to Kelly for watching my kids so Chad could be there to cheer me on without having to chase Myka out of the road. (I'm sure you had better things to do with your Saturday morning...but thanks for being so willing.)

The only memory I have of the run are some tight quads and great pictures!

Weekend Retreat

We took a quick little getaway last weekend with some friends to St. George to enjoy the heat! We stayed in a great condo (thanks Alicia) and had non-stop laughs the entire weekend. I would like to think it was a therapeutic retreat...time to unwind and become rejuvenated.

(Thanks to my parents for driving to St. George to pick up my kids and watching them for the weekend. I know it's not an easy task.)

Here's a small glimpse of the highlights:

• Guys golfed 36 holes (seriously, is that even fun? In that heat?) They would've done more, but we told them it was a couples trip and we needed to spend some time together.
  
• The girls shopped at whatever stores we wanted to and lingered longer...(now that's fun!)
• Caught the flick "Mama Mia." (just girls...the guys were still conquering their golf)
  
• Ate at In 'N Out (the guys stopped in there more than the ladies did) Us girls ate an adorable little cafe on Main Street called 'Twenty-Five Main'. If you are ever in St. George, you have got to check it out. It was delicious and decorated so cute AND had to-die-for cupcakes!
  
• Went boating at Sand Hollow (thanks to Alicia's wonderful Aunt and Uncle and their zippy boat!) We all wake-boarded and scurfed...and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of 'Little Lake Powell."
  
• Saw 'Les Miserables' at Tuacahn (loved it!) We were all a bit hot and sweaty...but still found it to be amazing and entertaining. (I decided I am an old fuddy-duddy. I was dead tired by the end of the show. I had to seriously keep fidgeting in my seat to keep my eyes open. It was way past my bedtime. There were senior citizens sitting around me who had more zip than I did!)
  
• Best of all---relaxed and enjoyed the company of good friends (and delicious treats....TJ's Gourmet POPCORN!)

Summer Love'n

The summer is zipping by (I can feel fall in the air in the wee hours of morning! Love it. But I also feel sad the lazy days of summer will soon be coming to and end!) On that note..I feel like I haven't posted enough about the great times we have had this summer. It's the simple day to day things that have made this summer wonderful and fly right by.

Here's what the day-to-day events consist of usually: pool or park.

POOL OF A LIFETIME
I love our gym pool. It's convenient, and I don't feel like I have to stay all afternoon. In fact, about 2 hours is my absolute max. I'm lucky I was able to snag these pictures; a lifeguard came and told me I was at a 'private gym and no photography allowed.' Oh well.



GETAWAY TO GATEWAY
I wanted to take the kids to the Gateway, thinking that Myka would be excited by the fountains. Wrong. This is what she thought of it: (and that is her rendition of a tantrum)



This is what Carsen thought:


PARK HOPPERS
One (of the many) great things about my neighborhood is I am surrounded by parks and so many little kids. Even when I don't plan to go to the park with friends there is always someone there to talk with and the kids to play with.


AND I just had to include my silly little girl...Myka just being Myka. She is in love with shoes and tries on everyone's shoes who comes over.

Minkee

I have the absolute most talented sister-in-law. She makes these adorable minkee blankets for baby's. The best part is---they're more than a blanket. They're a stuffed animal connected to a blanket, so they serve as a toy and a blanket. Children LOVE them!

You have got to see her blog: http://www.atouchofkami.blogspot.com/

She just started selling them, so I thought I would spread the good word about this amazing little blanket.

Baby Mia

A dear friend, Mimi, whom I grew up with in Heber City had a sweet little baby girl who is need of a heart transplant. I am posting this on my blog, because I know there are a lot of people from Heber who read this blog and may want to help out Marie Jensen (McDonald) and her baby Mia. Any little bit helps, and I'm sure your thoughts and prayers are appreciated as well!

My love goes out to Mimi, Mia and their family. Anyone who wants to donate can click on the link to the right and read more about baby Mia and her current situation!

Hey Baby, Let's go to Vegas....

Why not? We haven't been gone enough (or spent enough on gas) the month of July, so we decided to leave early Thursday morning and drive to Las Vegas. Actually, there was a legitimate reason for going; my dad was called to be a Bishop (Ha! Serves him right for being such a good guy!) Sunday was the big setting apart, so we really wanted to be there to support him. He is now the Bishop over a Singles Ward! (How exciting for he and my mom! Right?) Interesting little tid bit...they were in the process of applying to go to China to teach English next year. They had their applications all filled out and then he received this calling. So, they are cancelling China for now and staying put in Vegas. I'm not sure which I prefer... I was really hoping they would be back up in Utah within the next year; but no such luck. Now he will be even more tied down and won't be coming down as often either!

So, we decided to make the most of our trip. Pa went and bought the grandkiddies new Razor Scooters, which they rode constantly. And of course pretty much the entire weekend was spent in the pool. (Except for the times we were able to drag ourselves away to go eat at In-N-Out Burger and stuff our faces at the Planet Hollywood Buffet....Oh my delicious crab legs!) The weather was beautiful and the company was even better. Kye, Kelly and the kids were there to support my Dad too. The kids always have such a good time together and never stop playing the entire weekend--they usually sleep a good majority of the drive home.

We talked about going to see "The Dark Knight", but Kye wouldn't let us go see it until we had first watched "Batman Begins." He said we had to know the story behind it. I loved "Batman Begins." If you haven't seen it....see it. Just us youngens went to the movie and left my parents home with 5 kids! (It was my mom taking care of the older 3 and the new baby and my Dad had to single-handedly watch Myka. I know...she's a handful)!

It was a wonderful weekend, and a very special one for my Dad. We were so glad to be there with him and to see his new ward...He is going to be an awesome Bishop and his ward is going to love he and my Mom.

Star Valley Peck Reunion

We spent last weekend at the 5th Annual Peck Reunion. Chad's family is so much fun to be around--there are 10 kids so there is always someone to laugh with! Everyone was present (except for Chad's sister Kami who lives in Omaha and the 18-hour + drive wasn't very enticing!)

We (well, I can't really say we) camped in a beautiful place with trees to provide shade and a little creek (or 'crick') that the kid weds threw rocks in the entire day. Myself and Myka decided to 'rough it' by sleeping in a little motel right around the corner. I know, I am a tent-slacker. Truly though, I did it for Myka. It turned out for the best, because the second day she came down with some runny-nose-yucky-cough thing that would not have gone well with paper-thin tent walls.

We arrived Thursday afternoon looking like a bunch of hill-billies. We were loaded to the max. Camping is a lot of work (and requires a lot of crap)! Chad and I decided we need to become a 'simplified' camper...We take too much stuff. It's because we wanted to do EVERYTHING. We took four-wheelers, bikes, tennis rackets, fishing equipment, golf clubs, cook stoves, tables, chairs, etc. and beyond etc.

The first evening was spent riding doom-buggies and four-wheelers and helping to set-up camp. Carsen immediately fell in love with the doom-buggies and was begging anyone to take him for a ride. (Myka even liked them; but she just wanted to crawl all over them and see how they tasted).

Friday morning my sister-in-laws Robyn, Candi and myself hopped on bikes and headed out on a bike ride. I was already exhausted of chasing Myka all around the camp (and up on chairs and tables), so I loaded her in the bike-trailer and we went out on a 15-mile bike ride around Star Valley. It was beautiful! (And Myka took her morning nap)!

That afternoon we went swimming at the pool and the guys went golfing. I tried to get Myka to take a nap in her pack-n-play under a tree--but that didn't work. She kept seeing people and saying, "hi."

For dinner we headed to a near by town where we ordered some pizza and let the kids play at a park. Chad said it best when he described the park by saying, "Whoever built this park did not like kids." It was a suicide park! The slide was monstrous and so fast, and the teeter-totters were a sliver waiting to happen! The kids loved it, but we adults had to stand by and make sure no one got hurt. The night was ended with a campfire, some sticky s'mores and fun-family stories.

(Myka has a new face she pulls when hold up a camera. She squints her eyes and does a silly smile.)


Saturday morning we took a nature hike to Period Springs, which was absolutely amazing! All of the kids were such troopers and hiked all the way to the top of the geyser--I opted to not risk falling on Myka so I stayed at the bottom.


We went swimming again (and the guys took the chance to go golfing...again). That evening was the traditional "Survivor" amongst all of us. Evey year a different couple is in charge of planning (before the reunion) some games which test each couple's skill. We used to vote people off, but now we just use a point system for elimination. Chad's brother Jared and his wife Candi were in charge of the games this year--and they did an excellent job. (I will also add right here that they drove all the way from Arizona! What a drive!) I had to eat a powdered doughnut dangling from a string held behind Chad's back while I was lying on the ground.....just to give an example of some of the games we played. Everyone looks forward to playing, and this year Chad and I were first-time winners at the end of the events.

Sunday morning we wrapped things up and headed home. My kids were so exhausted they slept the entire 4-hour drive home! Another successful reunion, and the next one is already in the works. We are hoping to do something a little more relaxing next year and go to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico! (Crossing my fingers that it happens!)