Wasatch Back Baby!

Queen's of Sole ready to start the race in Logan, Utah.

Angie, Sara, Marcae, Lori, Bonnie and Annie Queens of Sole Van 1

Coming in from my 1st run...man was it HOT!

I did get to see my hubby on the course a few times. Our teams ran neck and neck...but he was in his team's 2nd van.

It was so stinkin' cold waiting at the finish line in the rain.

At the finish line...Queens' of Sole finished in 29 hours! I think we did awesome!

Team Photo

Don't our calves look awesome?

Michelle, me, and Annie....Michelle is in our ward and was our team captain. Annie and I loved running together!







Well I've been waiting a few days for Nate to get his pictures from the Wasatch Back...but I decided not to wait anymore, so we'll have 2 seperate posts about our fun race last weekend. Both Nate and I ran in the Wasatch Back Relay. It is a 188 mile 12-person relay from Logan to Park City. It involves high mountain passes, harsh conditions and NO SLEEP! You may think we're crazy, but it was a ton of fun. I was on an all womans team (aka: Womans Sub-Masters...which means we were all over 30) called the "Queens of Sole". And Nate was on a mixed team (men and women) called "There is no 'I' in Teim". This is a race where there are 2 vans with 6 runners each, and each runner runs 3 different legs. While the other van is running, this is where you 'rest'. My first run was 5.1 miles in the heat of the day. Running in the sun is something that I hadn't ever done...but will definately prepare for next year. My second run, 4.2 miles, started at about 11:30 that night, and was wonderful. It was such an endorphine rush to be running through the back roads of Cache Valley next to the farmers field, and only have my head lamp for light. After our 2nd legs, we went to North Summit High School and slept. It was wall to wall bodies of tired runners, but believe it or not, the 2 hours of sleep really did help with our 3rd run. We started running at 7:30 am again, and my 3rd run was 3.8 miles....and about 3 miles of that was down hill. Pretty harsh on my knees, but they are recovering nicely I think. I had 9 road kills on that run (road kills: aka...people that I passed while running, which surprised me..because we were all running down hill), and felt like I was flying down that hill. I had a little rain, but it felt good of course. After that our van had to wait a few hours for the 2nd van to finish their 3rd legs, and then we could all cross the finish line together. We killed time by going to Cafe Rio and having lunch. And can I just say that after living on trail mix, Gatorade, fruit and power bars for the last 30 hours....that Cafe Rio salad never tasted so good. Queens of Sole came in 4th in the woman's sub-masters and 16th out of 81-all-woman's teams. I am definately going to run in this race again...no sleep and all!

Jace-ism

Right before school got out, Jace, Hannah and I were walking into PG Rec Center for morning aerobics. Since it isn't that busy of a parking lot, I let Jace either run ahead of me or walk behind me. Well that day he was lagging a bit, but still close enough that I could hear his footsteps. When he say's, "Mom, I'm on you." I turned around to see him walking on my shadow. So I let out a fake, "Ouch! Jace that hurts...stop...Stop!" He just looked up and gave me that devilish grin. And now it is a little game whenever we are walking somewhere for him to walk on my shadow, and for me to pretend that it hurts. (Although in the past 2 weeks, there hasn't been a whole lot of opportunity with all the rain.) But it beats dragging him along and making him hold my hand while walking in a parking lot!
(The picture of Jace is just one from the other morning. I let Jace make his own toast, since the other kids get to. But there is about an inch thick layer of butter on that toast. I let him take just one bite before I scraped off his future heart attack!)

Valentine's Weekend

Mario Cart on the Wii was a huge hit...and when Nate and I needed a break from remodeling we would come and steal the wheels and race each other.

Poor Hannah was 'neglected' by everyone. See it's the middle of the day and she was still in her jammies. But she didn't whine too much as long as she was dry and fed.

Valentine's day cookies...oh so yummy!




So this past Valentine's we kind of forgot to celebrate. It was actually the weekend that we decided to rip out our Master Bathroom (see previous post) and start the remodel. This meant that we had to make it up to our kids and find something to occupy their time. Nate had always wanted to buy Mario Cart for the Wii with a wheel for each of them. This was the perfect Valentines present, because it kept the kids occupied and out of our hair. Since we weren't working on the bathroom on Sunday, we made an effort to at least make some Valentine's cookies and let the kids help frost and make their own. This is something we do every year, which is a favorite of everyone's.

Utah Museum of Natural History

In April when I had to go up to SLC to pick up mine and Nate's 1/2 marathon gear, I decided to take the kids with me and we would make a day of it. We went to the Utah Museum of Natural History on UofU campus, this was the first time for any of us. Since I hadn't ever been there, I didn't know what to expect. But it is a lot like the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point, only on a smaller scale. (And since we have been there many times, it was nice to go to a smaller museum, since I was handling 5 kids on my own.) We had a great time, and the highlight was the Frog Exhibit. They had an actual Frog Wrangler there, that talked to the kids about all different types of frogs. Still the most interesting thing are all the dinosaur bones that they have on display. I think that will always be my favorite too!

Glow the Play

At Grovecrest Elementary every year the 2nd grade does the same play. So even though we saw this play 2 years ago when Brady was in 2nd grade, we were able to see Zack this year. It is a fun, short play, that has some really cute songs. And since it is the same play every year, all the kids in the school know all of the songs. Zack was a firefly in the play, which he was excited for because he didn't have any speaking parts. But the highlight of the play is that they have a song that includes turning out the lights and all the kids turning on their flashlights, and since the parent's performance is the last one, the kids get to keep their flashlights. They really do know what appeases to 2nd graders.

Hot Chicks!

Hannah didn't dare touch the chicks...she would just giggle and run away! (Probably a good thing though!)




Our friends the Menlove's hatched baby chicks for their grandpa this past spring. They invited us down to see the new additions. These baby chick were just a couple of hours old, but had completely dried out. It was fun to see how cute and fluffy they were and all the fun and different colors of the baby chicks. I would love to have chickens one day (just for the fresh eggs), but we need Pleasant Grove to change their city ordinaces before that happens.

Rachel Kindergarten Graduation

Rachel and Mrs. McAllister

We Did It! Class of 2021

In awe of the Diploma! ;-)


Rachel receiving her diploma...notice how tall she is compared to the boy behind her...poor girl!







Rachel officially graduated from Grovecrest Elementary Kindergarten on May 22, 2009. She was so excited for this day, it was fun to hear her try and practice her graduation songs without letting me hear them. If I asked, "Rachel, what is that you're singing?" She would furrow her brow and and say, "Mom it's a surprise for Graduation." There were quite a few friends in our neighborhood that were there too. Autumn Redd, Ali Robinson, Sage Floyd, Weston Clark, and Toby Reid. Even though they graduated on the 22nd, they still held school the following week with lots of fun activities like a dance festival, field day, a fun run, and an awards assembly. At the awards assembly on Thursday the 28th, Rachel was one of two kindergarteners that received the Perfect Attendance Award. I honestly couldn't believe that she had been there everyday. She was so excited to come home and show me her certificate. I told her to remember what a good feeling it was to get an award, so that next year when she is in 1st grade, she will have something to motivate her to go to school, even on those hard days. (Believe me we had a few of those in kindergarten, but somehow made it there every day...maybe I should get an award for pushing her out the front door when the bus is in front of our house...just kidding.) We're so proud of Rachel and glad that she had such a wonderful kindergarten year, we will miss Mrs. McAllister, but can't wait to see who the new teacher will be.

Zack's Birthday

Zack got breakfast in bed on his birthday....sorry bad lighting, I forgot to turn on the flash.

Zack getting ready to blow out his birthday candles.

Rachel, Mitchell, Johnny, Caleb and Jordan being sworn in as Deputy Marshalls.

Jaxon, Parker, Zack and Trevor being sworn in as Deputy Marshalls.

Making marshmallow guns....all the kids were very excited to have their own. Thank goodness we have Nate's woodshop with all the right tools to build whatever we want. Plus it was a great place to hide while we waited for Zack to arrive.

Zack was really excited to have his party on his actual birthday!





Okay so I'm a little late on putting this post on, but better late than never! On April 8th, Zack turned the magic 8. So since it was his Golden Birthday (turning 8 on the 8th), I wanted to throw him a surprise party. It took a lot more planning on my part, but was well worth it. (Surprise Video included.) I wanted to do some sort of science experiment party, but found something much cooler to do with all those 8 year old little boys. MARSHMALLOW GUNS! I found out how to make marshmallow guns on YouTube and away we went. All the supplies were at Home Depot (besides the mini-marshmallows). And it was WAY CHEAP, about $2 per gun. But it gave the kids something to make and then they took the guns home as their party favor. I had them sworn in as Deputy 'Marsh'-alls. And they had a ball in their marshmallow war. I told my other kids that they would get a surprise party on their 'Golden Birthdays' too. (I have a few years to plan those Brady's birthday is February 22, Rachel is December 27th, Jace is September 30th, and Hannah is December 31st) I wonder if they'll want to have marshmallow guns on their Golden Birthdays? Hahaha.