Earl's 60th Birthday

Last week Jason's dad celebrated his 60th birthday.  We were happy to have the whole family at our house to celebrate.

The Blackham Family

Earl with his brother, Darrell, sister, Jane and mom, Elna

We thought it would be fun to actually put 60 candles in the cake.  It was except the next day I found that Andrew had accidentally left three in the box so it's really only 57.  He managed to get them all out with the help of the grand kids, even with a few trick candles in there.

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A few weeks before Earl's birthday I started collecting some old pictures to put in a book for him.  It was fun to look back at the pictures over the last 60 years.  Here are a few of my favorites.

The Worst Backpacking Trip Ever!

Jason had been promising Jared he would take him on a backpacking trip all summer.  Finally the last week before school started they went.  The morning they left it was overcast with afternoon thunderstorms in the forecast.  Oh well, what's a Uintah trip without an afternoon shower?  They grabbed their ponchos along with their packs and headed out the door.  It was raining a little at home in the afternoon and I wondered how it was going for the boys camping. About dinner time Jason was getting just enough cell reception to get some texts through.  It was raining, hard.  Later I got the whole story.  They had about one more mile to get to the lake they were going to camp when the storm hit.  It was raining hard, hailing, lightening.  They thought about putting up the tent and finishing the hike in the morning but they figured the storm would pass in an hour or so.  They trudged on through the trail which had turned into a river.  Finally they made it to camp and decided the rain wasn't going to let up enough to set the tent up.  They set it up with the boys holding the rain fly over it while Jason set it up.  By then Jared was freezing cold.  Jason was worried he might get hypothermia.  Since it was just an overnight camp they didn't have a lot of clothes.  He changed into the only dry clothes he had left and jumped in the sleeping bag and started warming up a little.  They spent the afternoon, cold, bored and hungry.  It was too wet to light the stove and cook food so all they had were their dry snacks.  Jared didn't want to admit it but he was pretty scared too.  Actually, I think they all were.  Lightening was flashing all around them and the lake they were at had steep slopes of boulders and they kept hearing and seeing huge rock slides from all the water.  Finally about 10:00 the rain lightened up enough they could cook dinner.  It looked like they were at least going to get to go to bed with full stomachs but as soon as they finished eating Jared ran out of the tent and threw up.  Apparently, he hadn't felt well all day but didn't want to say anything in case he wouldn't get to go on the trip.

The next morning they finally got some dry weather and got to fish for a few hours before heading back to the car.  Jared was keeping a little food down and then had to hike the six miles out with his pack.  Luckily it was mostly downhill on the way out.  Somehow they made it back and were awfully glad to be home.  I guess maybe there were some valuable lessons learned about surviving in the wilderness.  I'm sure it's a trip they will never forget!

16 Years

Jason and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary on August 14th.  It fell on a Wednesday which Jason often has off work so we were excited to have the whole day together.  Then our day started to fill up with activities for the kids: school registration, sports practice, scouts.  Jason was a little frustrated and asked why the day had to revolve around the kids.  Of course, that seems to just be the stage of life we are in right now.  We had a hard time coming up with something to do with our time constraints.  I suggested mountain biking or hiking but since it was just a couple days before the Hobble Creek Half Marathon we didn't want to do anything too strenuous.  We finally settled on going to the temple together.  Since Ogden is still closed, we went to Bountiful, where we were married.  We got to wander around a bit inside and found the room we were married in.  It was a fun way to remember the day we were married.  We had just enough time to grab a quick dinner on the way home before we had to get to Andrew's court of honor for scouts.

Here we are 16 years later, still happily married, even if we are a little older.  Life has it's share of ups and downs for us but I'm so glad to share it with my best friend!

More Hobble Creek Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from our fun morning at Hobble Creek that were on their facebook page.  They aren't the greatest quality but it's always fun to have some pictures of me actually running since there usually isn't anyone watching to take pictures.

Summer Races

Jason's backpacking trip was planned over the 24th of July holiday this year.  I wanted to run the Deseret News 10K that morning in Salt Lake so my mother-in-law was nice enough to come up to my house and watch the kids.  This race has always been one of my favorites.  It's a super fast downhill course and you get to run on the parade route for the last couple miles.  It is also the most prestigious road race in Utah, always attracting some of the fastest runners in the state.  A lot of years I don't even place in my age division because the competition is so tough.  The combination of the competition and the course always leads to a fast time.  To avoid the heat in the middle of July the race starts at 6 am.  This made for a really early morning for me to drive to Salt Lake and make it to the race in time.  Due to some closed roads at the parade route I ended up getting to the start later than I wanted to and didn't have time to warm up.  I found one of my friends, Anna, at the start and we decided to pace each other at least at the beginning.  We started out the first mile and it felt really fast.  I figured it probably felt faster than it was because I hadn't warmed up. Then I looked down at my watch and saw that we ran it in 5:28!  It didn't just feel fast, it was fast (even if it was downhill!)  I felt terrible but decided to try to stick with the group I was with.  By the second mile marker I was finally warmed up and actually feeling pretty good.  We ran the second mile just slightly slower at 5:37.  The course levels out at this point and even heads up a little hill and everyone started to slow down.  That's when I started passing people.  The 4th mile is another downhill mile and I was feeling great and passing more runners.  I wasn't sure what place I was in but a spectator told me I was in the top ten!  I had never been able to run in the top ten in this race before!  The last two miles we turned onto the parade route.  I was still running under 6 minute miles but that last mile was hard!  It seemed like it was never going to end, especially that last half mile uphill to Liberty Park.  I finished in 7th place in 35:52, two minutes faster than my best on that course!

After a couple more hard weeks of training Jason and I were both signed up to run the Hobble Creek Half Marathon last weekend.  I had never run that race before but had been told it was beautiful and fast.  I was excited to give it a try and was expecting a PR after so many great races this year.  The week of the race I came down with a bad head cold.  I was hoping it would be better by the weekend but as the week went on it just got worse.  Then Kaitlyn and Skyler both got ear infections, only it took me a couple days to figure out why they weren't sleeping.  By Friday I felt terrible and exhausted.  I really wasn't sure what to expect for the race.  We drove to my mother-in-law's house the night before.  The kids finally slept with some antibiotics and Tylenol in them but I tossed and turned on the air mattress all night.  The alarm clock went off at 4 am and I just wanted to go back to sleep.  We picked up our packets at the finish line and boarded the bus to the start.  I was almost asleep when the bus pulled up to the start area.  The cool air in the canyon woke me up quickly and felt refreshing in the middle of August.  With a breeze blowing down the canyon it looked like a perfect morning for running fast!  I started to get nervous while we were doing our warm up and kept running into some really fast runners.  I was hoping to finish in the top three but I started to doubt if I could really do it.  I had to remind myself that I was running fast and could run with those girls (and try to forget that I was dead tired.)  I was actually feeling pretty good now that I was awake and excited to race.  I had decided to wear these cute new green shorts that I bought.  Jason thought it wasn't such a good idea because it's always easier to work on passing people that are easy to see in bright colors.  I told him it wasn't a problem as long as I kept running hard and didn't let anyone catch up to me!

The starting line was a mess with lots of people crowding at the start.  The gun went off and I lost several seconds trying to get around the slower runners that started at the front.  I settled into a pace that felt fairly easy down the canyon.  My goal was to run around 1:22, maybe 1:20 if everything went well.  I needed to average just under 6:15 miles.  My first mile was 5:50.  It was a little too fast but it was pretty steep downhill and I knew the course would level out at the end.  I slowed down a bit though not wanting to die later in the race.  My next mile was a 6:15.  I thought it was a little too slow since I was still in the steep downhill part and wanted to be a little ahead later in the race when we left the canyon.  I decided to go with a girl who had just passed me.  She stayed with me for about a mile and then dropped back.  I settled into a pace around 6:00 to 6:05 miles.  I could see at least one woman ahead of me and could hear a group that wasn't far behind me in the canyon.  I just concentrated on keeping a steady pace.  I was running fast and was a little worried I might be going out too fast but I felt like I had been too conservative the first half and had too much left at the end.  I wanted to really give it everything this time.  The first half of the course was gorgeous in a narrow canyon with lots of trees and shade and a steady downhill.  By halfway I realized I was running a pace that would put me around 1:20.  In the second half the canyon opened up and we were in the sun more. The trail we were running on had some hills and I felt like I was starting to work harder but still kept my pace steady.  Some of the runners were starting to fade and I was catching some of the men, although the first place girl, Kassie Harmon, was still out of my sight and I figured would probably stay that way.  I was more worried about the group of women behind me.  I knew if I slowed down they would probably catch me.  The last three miles we came out of the canyon.  The course flattened out and the runners were getting farther apart.  I ended up on my own the last mile and a half.  When I glanced at my watch with a mile to go I realized I could break 1:20 if I could run it in 6:30.  It was hot, and it looked like I was never going to get to the finish.  I couldn't help glancing behind to see if that group of girls was catching me.  I had a decent lead over them still but I tried to focus on my time.  I crossed the finish line at 1:19:22 in 2nd place.  My average mile pace was 6:03.  Third place was 20 seconds behind me so I was glad I hadn't given up or it might have come down to the sprint.  Jason finished two minutes ahead of me in 1:17:15 with a new PR.  I won $150, a bouquet of flowers, and a plaque.  It was a fantastic race and makes me excited for St. George Marathon in October.  I never thought I would be able to run a half marathon under 1:20.  Just earlier this year I was trying to break 1:25.  I'm not sure how long this is going to last running PRs in every race but I am loving it and can't wait to see what I can do in St. George!

Backpacking in the Wind Rivers

Jason decided this year that Andrew was old enough to go on the annual backpacking trip with him and his brothers.  Andrew was thrilled to be the first kid allowed to come on a 50 mile trip.  They usually go to the Uinta mountains but decided this year to try the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming.  After a whole summer of trying to find out about these mountains they were unfamiliar with they were finally ready to go the end of July.  As always, Jason's pack was way too heavy and he was trying to decide what he could leave home at the last minute.  They were a little nervous about bears but not enough to scare them away from these lakes.  They came home filthy and tired but happy to have caught the golden trout they were after and everyone having survived all those miles of hiking without any encounters of bears (although they did find some tracks.)

4th of July in California

Our summer was already full of vacations but I decided we needed to go visit my parents while the kids were out of school so we took advantage of a long weekend off work for Jason and went to California for the 4th of July.  We arrived late at night on the 3rd after a long day in the car with too many stops for the kids.  Andrew, Jason and I were up early the next morning to run the Surf City 5K in Huntington Beach.  I wasn't expecting too much out of the race since I had done a hard workout Tuesday evening and then spent all day Wednesday in the car.  I forget how nice it is to run at sea level on a flat course and it was quite a bit cooler than the summertime heat in Utah.  I was hoping to be able to keep up around a 6 minute mile pace but I felt great running the first mile in 5:50 and just hoped I wouldn't die.  A 5K really feels like a sprint to me now compared to all the longer races I've run.  I kept my pace pretty steady and was thrilled to finish in 18:15 in third place for the women.  That is only 13 seconds slower than I was running in college!  I won my age group and Jason placed third in his.  Jared and Kaitlyn ran the mile after we finished our race.

Then we stayed to watch the parade at our friends, the Taylor's, house.  It was a nice morning for a parade although our kids were slightly disappointed to find out Huntington Beach doesn't throw any candy in their parade.

After a barbecue with the Taylors, we headed to the beach in the evening for fireworks.  It was such a fun place to watch fireworks.  They lit up the pier and the ocean.

 We were happy to meet Spencer's girlfriend, Janelle.

As always, Jason had to catch a baseball game.  The Angels were playing the Red Socks.  It was a great game although the Angels ended up losing.  The kids didn't mind too much.  There were fireworks at the end of the game and the highlight of the night is when the rally monkey came out and the kids were shown on the jumbo tron!

At the end of the weekend, Jason flew home to get back to work and I stayed with the kids a few more days.  We took several trips to the beach.  The kids decided this year they were more interested in body boarding than building sand castles.  Skyler loved the water.  It was a little cool the last few afternoons that we were there but that didn't stop him from wanting to be in the water.  When he was up on the sand he would scoot on his bottom down to the water.

Jared and Andrew digging a hole to China

One afternoon we went to Hollywood to the Griffith Observatory.  I think the kids were most excited about seeing the Hollywood sign on the mountain although the observatory was fun and had a lot of neat exhibits.  The kids really liked the ones that had a scale that told them how much they weighed on different planets.  They were excited to see a moon rock and get to hold an asteroid.

In front of the observatory at Griffith Park

Kaitlyn would weigh about 9 pounds on the moon.

Jared and Einstein

It would be a beautiful view of LA if you could get there on a clear day.  Maybe after a rain storm...

We finished at the planetarium just in time to hit rush hour in LA.  So instead of sitting on the freeway going nowhere, we found a Roscoe's in Hollywood to get dinner.  Jared had been dying to introduce us to this fried chicken and waffles place that my brother, Spencer, took him to in June.  The good thing about Roscoe's is that it was only a couple miles from where we were.  The bad thing is that in that couple miles we drove out of the really nice part of LA into the part you really don't want to be in.  We felt safe enough during the daylight though and everyone enjoyed their meal.

After dinner we realized that we had parked the car near the walk of stars and decided the kids would have fun looking at the sidewalk.  We told the kids to stay close since it isn't the safest part of town.  The kids liked finding stars that they knew.  They were determined to find Johnny Cash.  I had no idea how they knew who he was or why they wanted to find him.  (Since I'm not a country fan, I didn't even know who he was.)  Luckily for the kids we stumbled across his star.  They were thrilled!

We wanted to make it to the Chinese Theater where the hand prints and Star Wars actors are.  Unfortunately we had no idea how long the sidewalk went and how far we were from there.  Dad got tired and we ended up leaving him on a park bench to rest.  We kept going thinking, it must be the next block.  Two miles later the kids legs were awfully tired and we finally made it only to find that part of the sidewalk blocked off for construction.  The worst part was that it was starting to get dark, all the people were disappearing and we had a long walk back to the car.    I had to almost drag Kaitlyn to try to get her to hurry back.  The later it got the scarier it got and I started to panic.  My dad was sitting on a park bench, ALONE, (later he told me he was fine since he had his cane) and my mom and I were walking through a scary part of LA with the four kids.  I was never so glad to get back to the car.

It was a great week.  All too soon it was time to go home.  I was a little nervous about the drive home but the kids were fantastic and it wasn't bad.  In fact, they do much better in the car when we are there all day than when they get in for 10 minutes to drive across town.