Wasatch Back 2009

A little over a week ago, Collin and I participated in the Ragnar Wasatch Back. This was a unreal experience...so much fun! What made it so much fun was NOT the running (that too was pretty fun) but we had an AWESOME team. We had a blast! The Wasatch Back is a relay race from Logan to Park City, it is about 189 miles. You have a team with 12 people and the team is split up into 2 vans, we were van #2. Van #1 started in Logan and their first leg ended in Eden and that is where we picked up. Eden is beautiful...the whole race is beautiful. I wasn't aware of how beautiful Utah really is...breathtaking! I was runner 7 in our van so I started off the race for van #2.

Back at the beginning of May, I got a IT band injury that would not heal. I rested it and did everything I was suppose to and it did not heal. I thought for sure I wasn't going to be able to run this. I was really upset because we had been planning this since October! Anyway it came closer and there was still no way that I could do it on my leg, and that was when Lo-and-behold Ja-Ja Myers pulled through and switched me legs (not actual legs, but running legs). It was great that my team didn't care that I was slow as molasses if my IT band pain kicked in...which it would. :(

My first leg went great, I made it with just a little pain. Collin's first leg was awesome too. He had to run straight up a mountain up to Snow Basin. He rocked it! He also had a injury, which now we have found out that he was pretty much running on a stress fracture...ooops! Everyone did awesome on their first legs, we whipped right through them.

After our first legs it was van 1's turn to conquer their 2nd legs. They did great! While they were running we went and found some grub, grub at the good ole' Chuck-a-Rama...yes the Chuck-a-rama. We then headed back to the route and just hung out and Pineview Reservoir where the next exchange was taking place. We tried to get a little shut eye, but their was this crazy smell that kept us all awake...;) About 11:30 p.m. we stared our 2nd legs. We went until about 5:30 in the morning.

After our 2nd legs we made our way to Heber where Rachel's parents were letting is get some shut-eye at their house. We took showers and were able to sleep for a couple of hours...it was awesome! We started back up again about 10:30ish. By this time my IT band was killing me! I couldn't even bend my knee without a shooting pain, I really felt like my knee was experiencing labor...really! It hurt so bad, so of coarse I made a fool of myself and cried for half of my leg and I was limping along. It hurt and I was so frustrated that I just couldn't run, I have been running forever and now this, very discouraging. Anyway, I was able to finish with a limping walk, and a supporting team. Some of my family was even there to cheer me on. Everyone else continued to do great. Collin was doing awesome even with all of his pain.

Justin Myers, Trisha Paddock, Rachel Olson, Gareth Nash, Collin Richards, Natalie Richards, Ryan Paddock, Allison Strang, Chad Strang, Leslie Myers, Keysha Peck, Chad Peck.

Saturday was a crazy, rainy day. The temperature was perfect to run in though. I think we were all ready to get done and get out of the car. I saw how amazing Keysha was running the "RAGNAR" hill...she is one tough cookie! Everyone was super tough and did a great job. Thanks Ja-ja for switching me legs so I didn't miss out on all the crazy fun. Thanks Allison for putting this all together and being a awesome captain. I wish that we were able to see Van 1 more often, we had such a fun group!

Until next year...Monarch Maniacs!

Little Buddies

These two crack me up. Bode and Peiton can be best buddies one minute and then the next they are pulling each others hair out. Literally. But when they are being best buddies they are way cute. Peiton seems to want to be doing pretty much what Bode is doing (and that goes for speaking too, she has pretty much mastered the "uhhhh" sound that Bode makes all the time). She has learned all of Bode's made-up sign language for certain things and does them when she wants the same thing. When Bode is in an extra, friendly mood, they seem to get along great.

Here they are before bedtime watching a show on Cooper's bed. Peiton thinks it is pretty fun to get up on the tall bed and watch shows with Coop and Bode.

Bode loves to push the stroller and now he has a little mimic on his tail. Peiton loves to do the same thing. She will just follow him around and they both have a blast doing it.

Thanks Bode for being a great older brother and taking care of your little sis. I love ya both!

"I don't know how to discipline my kids.."

On Tuesday night I had quite the experience ( I think it was quite the experience). Collin had a softball game and I was actually going to venture out with the kids to watch it, this is pretty daring on my behalf, it is really hard to handle Bode and Peiton in public, at the same time. Before the game I took them to Iceberg ( I was by myself) I thought we would grab something to eat before and then head to the game. We they were great in Iceberg, Bode only tried to run away once, which is pretty good for him. We were finished and we were walking out to the door I had to pick Peiton up because we were going outside in the parking lot. Well she lets out her high-pitched scream...which is very high pitch, and really bratty sounding.

As she is screaming there is a lady walking to the same door as us and this is what happens...

Lady: Walking towards us says "Ahhhh SHUT-UP!" Very rude like.

Me: Not sure if she was serious or not says. "Are you serious?"

Lady: "Yes, discipline your children."

Me: "What?? She is not even 2 yet?" (What do you think I was doing picking her up so she couldn't run like crazy through the parking lot, when she screamed I kept her in my arms so she didn't get her way...she is learning).

Now we will call her Raunchy lady: "Well is starts in the home." (saying it very rude).

Ticked off me: "Don't tell me how to raise my kids."

Raunchy lady: Mumbling..."stupid Mormons" ( I don't know why me having 3 kids makes me a Mormon, I am, but why would she think that. I know many people that are not LDS and they have more kids than 3. I am sure she had more than 3 sad, lonely, no friends because there mom was so mean, scared kids.)

By this time I was super mad, but had to kind of walk away from it. Thankfully there were 2 girls there that stuck up for me and starting reaming her out, they went at it pretty good. This scared Cooper, he didn't understand why she was being so mean, especially to Peiton. He kept asking me questions about it..."is it cause she was old?" I just had to reassure him that she wasn't very nice and probably had a bad day and just had to take it out on cute little Peiton." But inside myself I was so angry and wanted to drop kick the lady. But I do know what she drives and the where abouts of where she lives, so beware "Raunchy Lady" I am watching for you....

(I really wish my sister Stacy or my friend Alicia were there with me, they would have really put her in her spot. I am glad I stuck up though, usually I would just walk away, which would have been the Christ-like thing to do, but I wasn't feeling that way at all).

Birthday bash

Alright it has been quite a while since I have posted anything. I am finally finding the time, well not time, I have had that, let's say motivation to get something posted. So here we begin...

A couple weeks ago we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday. They took the whole family up to the Zermatt resort in Midway. I really love going to that place, it is beautiful, the accommodations are nice, the food is great (although we didn't enjoy some of their food on this trip) and it is just a fin place. We started the day off with a little swimming before we had to meet for dinner. For dinner my mom had planned on us all going to Chick's cafe, this place is something else. It was actually fun to go there because my mom used to work there (my parents both grew up in Heber) and my parents probably had a lot of fun memories there. We had the whole backroom, thankfully, it got a little crazy towards the end and the kids were ready to get out of there (at least mine were).

Next we headed back to the Zermatt where my mom had rented a conference room and invited some extended family members. This was a surprise for my dad. It was great to have everyone there. My mom put me in charge of playing Bunco. It was CRAZY! You can't teach 40 people how to play bunco. It is kind of a game that you just have to learn by playing, so I was going to table to table to explain everything and by the time we were on the last round I think everyone picked it up (we only played 2 rounds).

It was a bummer because nobody got pictures of the party...what??? No party pics!

The next day we spent the morning swimming and just enjoying some relaxing (what you can do chasing around 2 kids). We rode the carousel, saw the goats and just hung around. After checkout we went to my grandparents house where my mom had planned a road rally for us to participate it. She had taken all of the memorable spots that my dad had growing up and incorporated them into the road rally. And guess who won?? Yeah my team, we were the fastest, probably because we didn't get the directions and rules down and kind of messed the whole thing up, but hey we won...:) Sorry mom. It was fun to see the spots that we did go to and see where my dad use to work, go to school, etc...

After the road rally we all pretty much made our way home. It was a fun celebration and a great time to be with the whole family. I love when we get to spend time with each other and everyone is there. Collin had to leave Friday night to go out of town so it was a bummer that he had to miss all the fun. Thanks mom and dad!

Memorial day

On Memorial day this year (actually we do this almost every year) we went to Midway to visit my sister's and my grandpa's graves. This is something that I really like to do. My whole family usually comes up and we just make a whole day of it. This year, unlike most Memorial days, we had great weather. It was a perfect temp and a little overcast so the sun wasn't so hot. Everyone meets up at the graves and we do the regular chit chatting with cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings and grandma. We then have to make the grave rounds, there are a few graves that we visit every year, people that we don't know but have come to know because we see their headstones once a year.

When we are done with the graves we make our way down to Grandma's and usually have lunch and play around for a while. Like I mentioned in a earlier post, she has a huge backyard and we made full use of it this year.

We had a little baseball game with our own rules. We used a soft bat and a small foam ball (which is actually really hard to hit). It was something the kids could play and it kept us pretty busy. My mom helped out with the other kids that couldn't play (Peiton and Bode, etc...) it was nice to spend some time not chasing them around and worrying about where they were.

After playing the game for a while, my mom came and told me that Bode had made himself comfortable in one of my grandma's beds downstairs. He crawled right in the covers and put himself to sleep. I loved it! He actually has been doing this at some of my friends houses too, it is just too bad he won't do it at home. Gotta love the kid...:-)

Here he is just dozing off, snoring and all...

Here's to another fabulous Memorial day!

Set your DVR

That's right, set your DVR for one of the best shows!

SYTYCD starts tonight on FOX!

Don't miss it:)

Trip to Grandma and Pa's

On Friday I tagged along with my mom and went to beautiful Heber Valley to wish my Grandma a happy birthday. I have always loved Heber. I have so many wonderful memories of this place. My mom and dad both grew up in Heber and I have many extended family members that live there. My grandparents use to have this little farm house that I will never forget. We use to spend so much time getting 3-wheeler (yes 3-wheeler, not 4-wheeler) rides around the farm, chasing all the stray cats that my grandma would continue to feed and watching my cousin Cobi throw them in the air telling us that they always land on their feet (you were so mean Cobi). Eating the Schwan man push-ups, rainbow bread and a yummy strawberry dessert that my grandma would make when she knew I was coming (I love strawberries). Watching Pa feed the cows, (this didn't happen very much because we were all so scared of him). I remember whenever grandma would start running the bath water it would mean Pa would be coming in soon from milking the cows and we would do our best to leave the room, we were somewhat afraid him. Now he loves to sit and talk and is more of a sweet teddy bear. The memories could go on and on, but I don't want to bore you. Anyway, my grandparents sold their little farm house a while ago and built a house across the street, Coop calls it the "big white house." It has this HUGE, beautiful yard that the kids love to play in and my memories continue to grow.

It is always so good to go and visit my grandparents, they crack me up. They are both such hard workers and my grandma is a wonderful cook, she always has something yummy for us to eat, and Friday was no exception from that. :)

My mom and grandma

Grandma, Pa & Mom

Another snap shot of Peiton, she was in the mood to pose.

I hope that my kids will build their own memories of my grandparents house. A place that they will remember as a fun, loving place to go. I think the memories are already starting because they had a great time on Friday.

Who is yor fav?

I have always been a big fan of American Idol. It is something Collin and I enjoy watching together and now Cooper likes to watch it too. This year I think they have had some amazing talent, but let me tell you who I like....

Chris Allen is my #1! I know that he isn't the best singer out of all the finals, but I really like his voice (and his mouth isn't bad either ;) He just looks like that nice, wholesome guy.

My #2 is Adam Lambert, actually Adam is pretty close to Chris. I think he has an incredible voice and I have always been a fan of the rocker music. Now for his outfits, hair, and makeup (the guy wears more makeup than me) I could kind of do without. There have been a couple of times that he actually looks really nice. He sure does know how to perform and does a great job doing it.

My #3 choice is Danny Gokey. This guy seems like a real nice guy and he too has an awesome voice. I guess the reason why he is my 3rd choice is that he kind of reminds me of Michael Bolton and I am not a huge Bolton fan. I think he wins the hearts of the older American Idol fans (like my mom, he is her fav). He has a great story and like I said before an amazing voice.

When it is all said and done, any of these 3 would be a great American Idol winner because they are all so good. But this is the order I like them and we will see what happens and I really did like Allison too!

Who is your favorite American Idol?

24 hour getaway

This past weekend we did St. George, or should I say Hurricane in 24 hours. Leslie and I had to go do another race to guarantee us a spot in the St. George Marathon and Allison came along just for fun. She was a riot and we were glad she came. We thought we would make it a quick trip and leave Friday late afternoon and just come back right after the race. We now have learned that you don't do road trips quick, if we are going we might as well make it long, coming back Sunday would have been much better, although the 24 hours was pretty fun too.

We left about 4:15 and made our way to Hurricane, Utah. The drive went quick because there was much to talk about.

We booked ourselves a room and the Super 8 motel, it was everything i imagined a Super 8 to look like. We were a little nervous even sitting on the bedspread taking this picture...you know what they say about hotel bedspreads:)

It was overcast and rainy the day of the race, but perfect running weather. Lou and I were planning on doing the 1/2 marathon, but due to yet another injury I had to do the 5k (it actually felt quite nice being done after 3 miles). Lou stuck with the 1/2 marathon and did great. When we were done we got ready and were back on the road by 10:30.

In front of our awesome motel door...room 206 baby!

One last shot! The motel actually worked out great, it was right by the race and pretty cheap.

We decided that on the way home we were going to stop and have some lunch and then we planned to stop and see a movie too. We picked X-men (Lou is a HUGE Hugh Jackman fan, I mean HUGE!) So we stopped in AF and grabbed some delish Cafe Rio and caught the 2:00 show of X-Men. It was a great show, a little violent, but pretty good.

We were home by 5:10 and the kids were anxiously awaiting my arrival (not really, they were probably pretty upset that I was home, dad is much more fun).

Bode's first T-ball game

This is Bode's team (and coach's rear, sorry coach) lined up to bat....

And this is Bode....

Yeah, it is going to be a l-o-n-g season. :)

Little Miss Independent

Peiton is at that stage now where she has to do everything, well not everything, but a lot of everything by herself. There will no longer be helping her with her food, which is fine, but some things are a little more messy than others and I just like to assist a little bit. Well last night we were at Wendy's and she had a chocolate milk, yes without the lid, and she insisted on doing it herself. She had a straw in the bottle but doesn't realize she can't tip the bottle because everything will come out. Of coarse she would not let me help and this is what the final result was.....

Notice the milk pouring out of the cup all over her and all over the floor. She continued to do this until the bottle was empty. If I tried to help her, she let out her ever so piercing scream that can break your ear drum. We love our Peiton.

And then she will go and be super cute like this...

and this....

and especially this....

People always said that girls are different, I didn't realize how different they really are. Gotta love them! She keeps me on my toes and she makes me super happy (well most of the time). I just can't believe how fast she is growing up, it is sad because she is probably are last. Well she is our last as of right now!

I made it!

I ran the Salt Lake Marathon this past Saturday and I am so glad it is done with. I really don't like that marathon, it is full of hills (at least I thought so). I ran it 3 years ago and I really didn't like it then and I thought I would give it another try and I liked it a little better, but not too much. It did help that I wasn't running in 80 degrees weather this time. I guess after you run the St. George you kind of get spoiled. I loved the St. George! The course was great and the training went great. The training for this one was pretty ridiculous. When we were running it was FREEZING cold or raining, sometimes snowing. We got a lot of our long runs in, but the shorter runs during the week were pretty much not happening. But I did it, and I actually am very glad I did do it.

( My friend Rach brought this by to me the night before. She is amazing and so thoughtful. This cookie was delicious! I saved it so I could devour it right when I got home. That I did. I got so many calls of "good luck" I really appreciate everyone that supported me.)

Collin took us to the starting line that morning. Holly and Charlie had our kids so we didn't have to worry about them. Thank you so much, it was so great not having them with us. We really appreciate it. The race started at the Legacy Bridge up at the U of U and right by Primary Children's. It was a perfect day. The temperature was awesome and there wasn't too much wind until mile 18 and then it kicked in and it was pretty strong.

Collin, Kelly & Mat (Collin's sister & husband) & Justin (Lou lou's husband) were there at mile 8 (about 2000 east and 3300 south) cheering me on. It was so good to know that at mile 8 I would see them. It just kind of pushes you a little bit. Kelly and Mat were so great to be there, it was so much fun to see them.

They then met up with me at mile 15 (about 5500 S and VanWinkle). I was still feeling pretty good at that point. I was tired, and didn't feel the strongest, but I was doing okay.

At mile 18 I started crashing. Not with endurance but my leg started acting up. It got to the point that each time I would lift my leg I would get this shooting pain up my leg to my hip flexors (I think that may be the correct term???) it killed. I then started to slow down a lot. I had to walk about every 1/2 mile just to stop the pain. Anyway, it wasn't fun but I had to finish or find someone with a cell phone and call Collin to come pick me up:)

I made it! And I am so happy I did. I was pretty happy with my time, I did better than my first Salt Lake and that is what I wanted, just to do better. And the best part is that I had so many friends and family there at the end cheering me on. It really means so much to me to have people there to support me. I am really so blessed to have such great family and friends. I love you all. Thanks for taking the time out of your Saturday to be there and thanks Holly and Charlie for taking your Friday night and Saturday to watch the kids. It means SO much to us. They had a blast. Thank you, thank you!