ragnar del sol relay 2013

My race was last weekend.  The boys made the sweetest cards for me.  I crawled in bed with Tosh on Thursday night to visit with him before bed and he told me, "I hope you win the race, Mom!"  He couldn't understand how I just knew that I wouldn't win.  I promised him that I would do my very best and that was all that mattered.  

I was in Van 2, so we were lucky enough to get a better night's sleep and later start.  I had major nerves for a good 24 hours before I started racing.  Waiting ALL DAY to run made for an anxious day.  I was runner 11 out of 12.  Our van consisted of Alecia and Rob Lundell, David Cope (Alecia's brother--the guy that goes all out for our roller skating party), and Paul and Briana Dommer.

We got all checked in a met up with our Van 1.  This next photo was taken right after Paul started his first leg.  Van 2 included Chris and Christy Berereton, Christy's sister Hayley, Chris's sister Jessie, and Jen Maclay and Sue Yocum.  Tara Reading was the driver for Van 1.

We would generally 'leap frog' with each runner and would drive ahead a few miles, cheer each runner on, and then drive ahead until we met up at each exchange.  Doesn't running in the desert look fun?!

We did  A LOT of laughing over the weekend.  The 'being really tired' was only part of it.  David and Rob are too funny and kept things entertaining.  Here is David stretching out for his run as we waited for his exchange with Paul:

Alecia had the longest leg of anyone on our team.  Her FIRST leg was 13.5 miles!  That is over a half marathon--and it was mostly all uphill.  She rocked it!
About an hour after her run, right as I was about to run my first leg, Alecia started feeling really sick and almost passed out.  I had a moment of panic as she lost color, but good thing that Paul is an ER doc and stayed super calm. Between the hours of 5pm and 9am all runners are required to wear reflective vests, head lamps, and blinking lights on our backs.

On my first leg (7.5 miles) I watched the sun set and then ran in the dark for about 40 minutes.  I was feeling really great and was probably running a little too fast to begin with.  Unfortunately for some reason, my right knee really started hurting around mile 3 or 4!  It was the only problem I had for the entire race (I stayed very hydrated, and never had any cramping).  I was so bummed about my knee, but still did very well and averaged around 10 minute miles over all legs.  After we had all finished, we exchanged with Van 1 (they were about 20 min. late--woops!) and then headed to grab some dinner and we went to a hotel to sleep for a couple of hours.  We were back up around 1:15 to get ready for the next exchange.  It was very cold (high 30's) and dark for our second legs.  My knee was so cold and tight and it took about two miles for my knee to warm up and to start feeling a bit numb and better while running.  The second two miles of my four mile run were uphill, so I was grateful that running got a bit easier once I felt warm.  The sun was just starting to rise as I finished my second leg.

So happy to have completed two out of three!

After Leg 2, we grabbed some breakfast and went to the hotel again to sleep.  I wasn't able to sleep at all which was so frustrating!  My right knee was a little swollen at this point so I iced it and at least rested for a few hours.  Saturday was a gorgeous day (high 60's) and felt very warm while running.  At the end of the race we were running through Scottsdale and ended in Tempe.  There sure were quite a few hills!
 

One of my goals was to stay hydrated.  My team laughed at how much I used the porta-potties (every single exchange and often twice!).  I never quite got passed the nerves, but it got better.

Briana, Alecia and me right after Alecia's last run:

Our 'baton' was a wrist band that you would snap on the next person to go.  My last exchange with Rob:

And I'm off (with a little limp):

My last run was about 5.5 miles.  I was really hurting on the first mile and was doing this crazy shuffle any time I had to go downhill so I wouldn't have to bend my knee.  The team stopped to give me water with about two miles left and I was feeling better (numb knee) and running strong!

Aww, cute married couple.  Briana on the very last leg!  


Our entire team was at the finish line and jogged in with Briana at the very end.  It felt like a great accomplishment, and so fun sharing it with awesome friends!

My first medal--ever!  :)

Twelve people, 202 miles!  Team "And I ran...I ran so far away" at the finish!!!

my little valentines

This was the first year that all four kids took Valentines to school to give to friends.  It was interesting that they each knew what they wanted to do.  Burke-candy only.  Hewitt-homemade cards with a Hersey's kiss. Tosh and Liv- store bought cards (Avengers and Cinderella) with a Dumdum sucker.  They actually shared boxes so Tosh could give the girls in his class Cinderella Valentines.

I have never been able to get Liv to wear a headband in her hair and finally got her to do it by selling it as a "Valentine gift" :).  She looked so sweet going off to preschool.

 I had to laugh out loud when I saw her after school!  Maybe she isn't quite ready for a headband?

She thought it was so fun to look at all of the cards and get all of the candy.  She is funny with candy, because she will have a few licks then throw it away and go to the next thing.

 I thought it would be fun to go to Intel to have lunch with Rob on Valentines Day.  I thought that Liv would be thrilled to see where her Daddy works (we've never been there!).  We got checked in with our visitor badges and had lunch in the "Bon Appetite Cafe" together.  We had yummy (any way you want it) pizza and shared a huge cupcake.

 We then went to see Rob's desk and Liv got TONS of attention from several of Rob's co-workers.

For some reason, Tosh has been on a kick about wanting to change his name.  A few weeks ago he wanted to change his name to Jacob, and lately he wants us to call him Tosho.  He even wrote Tosho on all of his Valentine cards...

Tosh came home from school with a bag of Valentine cards and three special "Fire Grams" from some cute little girls (these were sold for 25cents each and came with candy attached).

 I found Hewitt's Valentine bag a few days after Valentine's Day.  It made me laugh out loud:

Hewitt asked me for a journal/diary that he could have.  I have a cool Traveler's journal (got it before my DOD tour) that I've never used so I gave it to him.  I've always been a fan of Hewitt's writing--I think he was tying to write like the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" style here.  Makes me laugh.

 I noticed this in the kitchen last week...ummm, Liv?

Hewitt reads NON STOP!  I told his teacher that he probably spends two to three hours reading every day and she told me that it's probably more than that because he usually reads all through recess (and on the bus and all through every meal if we let him...).  It was cute the other night after showers that Burke sat down next to Hewitt and they read a book together (it was one Burke had never read):

Burke and Hewitt are getting braces!  They both have a cross bite (opposite sides) and need some space created for their adult teeth.  They've been to see the orthodontist a couple of times and will have the braces on in March.  The elastics they have in haven't seemed to bother them at all.  Hopefully this whole thing won't be too painful and horrible.   I wanted to get some "before" shots before I forget:

The boys have really gotten into roller blades lately.  Tosh wasn't interested last year, but is really getting good!  Love the 'tongue out' concentration:

Three cuties:

catching up!

Has this been the longest I've gone without posting?  Thanks to "Influenza 2013" I'm feeling quite behind on things this month.  Here are some highlights:

Liv and I hit the library after dance class (three weeks ago).  I love that she picks very different books than my boys did/do.  A new favorite series that we've been reading are the "Bubba and Beau" books--she loves them and there isn't even anything about 'ballet' or 'pink' in them :)

It might appear that Liv is watching a movie or something in this next shot, but she got all set up like this for a family game of charades.  Ha!  

We've received LOTS of citrus this year.  Maybe someday we'll get some from our own trees, but for now we are thankful to friends for sharing:

Our family home evening a couple of weeks ago was about 'teaching' and Rob had each of the kids teach us about a member of our family and then we would ask questions.  Liv taught us all about Burke and it was quite dear and hilarious too.  I caught some photos of Rob helping her a bit and of her classic 'I'm thinking' face:

It warmed up into the high 70's and the younger kids decided it was time to start swimming.  So cold!  Liv didn't get in much past her legs, but sure enjoyed it anyway:

My two little goofs!:

This is Livvy playing dress up with her darling friend, Kinsley.  They are starting to play together so well and are so cute!

As I mentioned, I got hit with the nasty flu this year and was really sick for about two weeks.  I spent about a week and a half of it in bed (as much as possible, anyway).  I had a fever for several days and felt like every inch of my body was on fire, then it turned into bronchitis/sinus infection.  I was so bored, yet overwhelmed at everything I wasn't getting done.  This self portrait was on day 2 of fever, but before my nasty cold hit:

Pathetic Day 4 (I'm so dramatic!):

I was in charge of a Baptism Preview for all the kids turning eight and wanting to get baptized this year, and my friend Angie designed such a cute program and handout for me!

My dad and Helen got their mission call to serve in the New Jersey, Morristown mission.  They leave on March 4th (so soon!).  I am really excited and happy for them.  Congrats!

Tosh's school had a "Moustache Day" for part of school spirit week.  I think he looks rather great with a moustache, actually :)

Liv giving it a try:

Lady Liberty:

Hewitt finished this book report project and said, "This is epic!"

Liv got the flu after I did, but she didn't seem to be nearly as sick.

Even though Liv had a fever, it didn't slow her down much.  She still managed to climb up to get some scissors and give herself a haircut.  At least it wasn't as bad as the last time she cut her hair : 

Liv was *really* sad when I told her it was way too cold and she was too sick to go swimming.  Thank you, Bathtub!

My friend's dad came up with a great water storage system using 50 gallon barrels that we had him install in our small garage.  It feels good to have this done after talking about it for years!

The friend I carpool with informed me that there was a poster with Burke's picture on it at the corner of Frye and Dobson.  Liv and I drove by to check it out a day or two later, and I was surprised that it was just of Burke (thought there would be several kids in the photo).  Such a fun thing!  The district couldn't have picked a cuter kid or better student :)

 I sent the photo to Burke's teacher and he was excited and made a big deal about it, and challenged all of the fifth graders (three classes) to go and have their photo taken with this "superstar" and to bring the photos in.  We stopped by last night so Burke could see it and are told there are other posters around town as well.

Liv had school pictures on Thursday.  When I told her it was picture day, she got very animated/excited and said, "I've never had school picture day before!"  I think this picture makes my 'Liv's Top Ten' list, for sure:

My being sick really set me back on my running/training schedule.  I wasn't able to run for two weeks and my big race is two weeks from last Friday!  I finally got back to it this week (with a new pair of shoes) and am getting better at running without feeling like I am going to cough up a lung.

We have been involved in lots of training for our upcoming trek.  We got together with some of the other Ma's and Pa's last night to test out our dutch oven skills.  While I was hand-kneading and making my bread in the dutch oven yesterday afternoon my anxiety went from a '4' to about an '8,' but I felt much better when the bread turned out (now it's back down to a '3' maybe!).  I was snapping some photos in the dark and love Rob's expression here:

 It may not look pretty, but it tasted fine and I figure that the kids will be STARVING anyway!  :)

So Thursday marked one year since my Mom's passing.  This last month has been rough emotionally (especially while I was sick), but I had a good day on Thursday and felt really peaceful.  I decided to celebrate my mom's life with some of her favorite things including making her Frog Eye salad, working on a sewing project (made an apron for trek that I started and completed in just a couple of hours), and listening to some Barry Manilow!

We are learning the song, "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" in Primary this month and for some reason it really makes me cry and think about my mom.  But it's mostly a good cry because I am grateful for all of my blessings, and know that I'll get to be with my mom again someday.  I sure miss her now though.  What a spectacular woman, mother, and friend.  LOVE YOU and MISS YOU, MOM!!!

Mom on the cruise ship to Hawaii  in the early 60's

My wedding day 1999

In Franklin, ID  in 2008

February 2012