Andrew's 16th Birthday

16 is a big deal.  Old enough for a driver's license and dating.  It seemed like a huge step towards independence and to be honest I had a hard time with Andrew turning 16.  I love this handsome teenager but part of me wishes I could just have my cute little boy back.  But like it or not, it was coming.  I wanted it to be a birthday to remember for Andrew but it was complete craziness at our house.  We were in the middle of a huge remodeling project and had to leave the house for the weekend so that the wood floors could be resurfaced.  His birthday also fell on General Conference Saturday for our church.  That meant lots of meetings and not much time to celebrate.  Since we couldn't host a party at our house and the day was taken up he decided to meet a bunch of friends at a haunted corn maze after dark.  He had a fun time wandering the maze with his friends.

Here's a look at Andrew at 16.

He's taller than me and almost as tall as his dad.  He's a great student and works hard at school.  He's a talented runner and dedicated to working hard to become better.  He's a great helper around the house.  He loves to ski and mountain bike and has no fear.  I make up for the lack of fear when I watch the videos from his gopro (SLOW DOWN!)  He's responsible and a careful driver (which both suprised and pleased me.)   He's having a lot of fun learning photography and takes some great pictures.  He's a great piano player now.  I find listening to him practice is payback for all the money I've put into piano lessons all these years.  He is a fantastic big brother and Skyler adores him.  Happy 16th birthday Andrew!

16 also means Andrew was ordained to the office of a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood.  This means on top of his other responsibilities he can bless the sacrament.  Here is a picture of him with his dad on the day he was ordained.  It was a beautiful warm fall afternoon and everyone couldn't wait to get home and change into comfortable clothes.  They didn't seem to want to wait for me to get the camera out...

Summer 2015

What happened to the lazy days of summer?  It seemed like ours was packed with so many activities and I'm finally getting around to posting about it six months later.  It's a good thing I have some pictures to remember some of the things we did.

Due to motion sickness I would avoid Lagoon if I could and I think Jared would too.  But the other kids love it so much that I had to take them once.  And looking at these smiles I think it was worth it!

Jared enjoyed his first week long scout camp at Camp Bartlett and earned 6 merit badges.  He even passed the swim test in the cold lake!

With my parents now living in North Ogden we enjoyed having some of my siblings come to Utah to visit.  Rebecca and Brian came with their five children and Spencer and his girlfriend, Janelle, came with her son Calvin.  My kids loved having cousins to play with!  We went swimming, hiking, to movies and just made Grandma and Grandpa's house a lot messier and noisier!

Kaitlyn and I enjoyed a girl's trip with Nancy, Melanie, Jana and Brooklyn to St George.  We enjoyed a fantastic performance of Beauty and the Beast in the spectacular Tuacahn theater.

We took a short overnight camping trip to Tony Grove.  It turned off really cold that night but we had a great time.  It was our first time camping there and definitely a favorite that we will return to.  The wild flowers were beautiful and the fishing was fast and fun.  The kids love camping so much it is actually worth all the work of getting everything packed up to go.  Next time we will plan a longer trip.

Jason and Andrew went on their annual backpacking trip again with Brian and Sam.  This year they went to the Wind Rivers in Wyoming and hiked 50 miles including over the continental divide.  This is no small feat considering they were carrying 50+ pounds on their backs.  They had to take bear spray, bear cans and hang their food in their trees.  They were fortunate to avoid any major encounters with bears although they saw a bear and plenty of tracks.  The fishing was good although not as fast as Brian would have liked.  They saw some beautiful scenery and had a wonderful time.

Jason had the opportunity to go to Colorado Springs to work as a volunteer physician at the Olympic Training Center.  He had a fabulous experience taking care of some of the best athletes in the country.  He's hoping it will open up some doors for some future opportunities to work with some of the national teams.

Summer means more time for just hanging out together.  I'm always sad when it's time for everyone to go back to school.  One of these pictures is a sight I caught as I walked in the door one day.  I guess my boys decided I don't make cookies enough and decided to take matters into their own hands.  I loved catching them in a moment when they were all working together on something and I love that they included Skyler!  He sure loves doing anything his older brothers are doing!  Kaitlyn loves to read and Skyler loves when she takes the time to read to him. We had fun running a few local 5ks together.  And who doesn't love a big slice of watermelon in the summer!

Summer Race Report: A Lot of Ups and Downs

After the initial disappointment of the Ogden Marathon had washed over I was angry.  Angry at myself for not running a smarter race but mostly angry I just couldn't hold the pace I had been running through the 26.2 miles.  I was anxious to go out and redeem myself at another race but I kept reminding myself that my goal was a good race next February at the Olympic Trials and I knew the best way to achieve that was to rest up and recover.  So I backed off on my intensity and miles and enjoyed the trip with my family to Jackson. It was a good break mentally and physically.  By July I had a couple good weeks of workouts behind me and I wanted to get back out and race.  I had picked the rest of my races for the year off the USA Track and Field Utah road racing circuit.  In these races you score points based on how you place against other USAT&F members.  Murray Days 5k was on the 4th of July.  Even though there were several races closer to home we took the whole family to Murray for a traditional start to Independence Day by running a 5k.  The three oldest kids participated in the 5k and Jason pushed Skyler in the stroller and paced Kaitlyn since he was still returning from an injury.  It was a hot morning and there were several fast runners there.  I started off the race with Emily Jameson.  It felt fast and uncomfortable.  The first mile was uphill and I thought I could recover on the downhill.  My son Andrew was also running just ahead of me.  He'd never beaten me in a 5k and I knew he was getting close.  I was just trying to stay with Emily and Andrew.  But the downhill the second mile wasn't helping.  I was struggling to just maintain the pace I'd run the first mile even with the downhill.  By mile three I was done and fading fast.  Emily and Andrew had disappeared ahead of me and soon Christina Perry came flying past me and I had to settle for third.  I was disappointed.  My time was slow, but it was hot and a hard course.  I would focus on the Deseret News 10k instead.  With a few more weeks to train I would be ready to race then.

The morning of the Deseret News 10k was perfect.  It was a nice cool morning for the end of July.  At the starting line I was surprised to find that most of the faster runners has opted to run the half marathon this year.  There were a few fast women there but I was confident I could run with them.  I was extremely nervous.  I had a chance to win and this would be a fun race to win.  This might even make up for the disappointment at Ogden.  I started out the first mile in the lead with Melody Jensen.  I knew she was fast but I'd been told by several people that I could beat her.  We came through the first mile at 5:30.  It was exactly where I wanted to be and I felt great.  This would finally be a good race for me.  I started to notice that Melody was beating me on the steep downhill.  I wasn't trained well for the pounding and I was struggling to keep up.  I was afraid to let her go though.  I noticed on the flatter sections I had the advantage.  So my game plan was this: stay with her on the downhill then push the flat on the third mile and try to beat her there.  The second mile was fast.  We came through the split at 5:18.  I was hoping to keep it closer to 5:30.  The third mile flattens out with a bit of uphill.  I started pushing the pace and was able to start putting a bit of a gap between us.  My plan seemed to be working perfectly.  But just before the half way point we turned down South Temple for another downhill stretch.  Melody quickly closed the small gap I'd gained and flew past me.  My legs were dead.  I'd pushed it too hard the last two miles.  I was only half way done with the race and I felt finished.  I struggled through the rest of the race and by the last mile was really starting to fade and some of the men were passing me.  One of my friends Janae Richardson came flying past me and for the third race in a row I watched myself lose second place trying to win first place.  I finished in 3rd at 35:58.  It wasn't a bad time but I was frustrated with myself.  How could I keep making the same mistake? Why couldn't I just finish a race?  How come I couldn't handle the pressure when I felt like I had a chance to win?  Why was I falling apart right now six months away from the Olympic Marathon Trials?

A few weeks later I was headed to Logan for the Top of Utah Half Marathon.  It has always been a favorite race of mine.  I had a horrendously busy week trying to get my house packed up for some remodeling we are having done and getting the kids started in school.  I hadn't had a lot of time to think about the race.  But I had come up with a whole new game plan.  As much as I wanted to defend my title, I was not going to let anyone control my pace.  I wanted to come as close as I could to running the same mile splits I did last year and if that meant letting someone go ahead at the beginning that's what I was going to do.  I wanted to finish this race well.  I enjoyed a pasta dinner with some friends and felt very relaxed the night before and the morning of the race.  Jason was finally back to racing with me now that all of his injuries have healed.  At the starting line I didn't have any butterflies in my stomach.  That is really rare and I wasn't sure it was a good thing.  Was I really in the mindset to race?  At least I wasn't feeling the pressure I had been feeling at the last few races.  The race started and I was running with Tom Kuehls (a teammate from last year) and Emily Jameson.  It was almost the same group we had last year.  Emily seemed to be in control of the pace but it was the pace I wanted to run so I stayed with her.  Before long she seemed to be breathing hard and I realized she probably wasn't feeling her best.  By the third mile mark Tom and I were pulling away.  I hadn't expected to take the lead so early but I was feeling great.  We were hitting the mile splits exactly as I wanted to in the 5:50s and soon started hitting some 5:40s on the steeper downhill sections.  We got out of the canyon about halfway and I realized I had a good lead.  Chances were that no one was going to catch me.  I was starting to work a little harder to maintain my pace now that we were into the second half and the course leveled out.  I could have chosen to back off a bit but Thom was pushing the pace and I tried to stay with him and focus on a good time.  I might have a chance of breaking 1:18 again if I didn't let up.  We were still able to keep sub 6 minute miles on the flat part of the course.  Even though I was starting to tire by 9-10 miles and I knew we still had a mile and a half of uphill ahead, it felt so good to be in the lead and be running strong again.  We got to the hills and Thom started to pull away a bit.  In retrospect I wonder if I could have pushed just a little harder up the hill but I was tired, I knew I'd won and I was on pace to run a great time.  My slowest mile up the hill was a 6:24.  With the last mile, a gradual downhill to the finish I tried to catch Tom.  I caught a couple other men but Thom was maintaining the distance he had gained on me on the hill.  I looked at my watch and realized it would be close to break 1:18.  I needed a sub six minute mile.  I ran the last mile in 5:51 and broke the tape in 1:17:52!  It was just 8 seconds off my PR from last year at this race and only the second time under 1:18.  It was great to finally have a race again where it all came together.  It was a huge confidence boost for me to realize that I can still run the way I was running last summer. Click here for a link to the newspaper article.  Jason was happy to finish 5th in his age group in 1:19.  He's still trying to build up his fitness level after all the time he had to take off running in the spring and summer.  It was a good solid run for his first race back.

 

The countdown is on with just over five months until the Olympic Trials in February.  I'm getting more and more excited every day as I start to receive more information from  USAT&F and make my travel arrangements.  I have one more short race next week to finish up the road racing circuit I'm competing in and I'm planning a tune up at the Snow Canyon Half Marathon the beginning of November.  The main focus will be on continuing to improve my fitness and stay healthy between now and February.  Even now as the days are starting to get shorter I'm finding it a little harder to get out of bed in the morning early to get the training in.  I've got the darkest and hardest months to train ahead of me for my peak training season.  Yet, I am thrilled with this opportunity and can't wait to test myself against the best marathoners in the country!  162 days to go but who's counting?

Skyler's 3rd Birthday

Skyler celebrated his 3rd birthday in June.  He was finally old enough to understand that a birthday meant presents and other fun things and he was so excited.  We left for Jackson a couple days before his birthday and he saw me packing up the wrapped presents.  He couldn't wait to open them.  He kept trying to sneak into the presents once we got to the condo so I had to find a high shelf in a closet to store them.  His birthday was Sunday.  We had been up late the night before in Yellowstone so we slept in a bit then as soon as we were up left for church.  As we were leaving the church building the ward there was having an ice cream social.  Of course the kids were eyeing the ice cream but we felt a little odd joining their party so I told the kids we would go back to the condo and have a birthday party with cake and ice cream there.  The kids thought that sounded fair and rushed to the car.  I didn't really mean the second we walked in the door.  I still had to make a birthday cake.  Skyler had clearly understood me though and rushed to the closet where the presents were "hidden".  He had waited long enough and he was ready for a party.  I really couldn't tell that cute little face no so we let him open one present, a Thomas the Train bubble blower, and take it outside to play while I made a cake and dinner.

 

Here's a look at Skyler at three: He's energetic, happy and always the center of attention at our house.  Things he likes: to play with toy trains, puzzles, legos (big ones and to the dismay of his older siblings occasionally getting into their little ones, especially Andrew's Hogwarts Express) watch trains when we are driving, do things by himself, count, reading books, riding his bike with training wheels, playing on Mom's phone, stalling when it is time for bed, picking vegetable out of the garden, helping me water the flowers and copying anything anyone says.
Things he doesn't like: getting left behind, going to bed, the vacuum, the lawnmower, and any other loud noise.
Things I love about Skyler:  He literally lights up the room when he walks in.  He has a fun loving personality.  He adores his siblings. I love having my little guy in tow when I go places.  I will be lost next week when he starts preschool and I have a few hours to myself.

Jackson

My grandparents owned a timeshare in Jackson so when they passed away Jason and I decided to buy it.  This was our first summer going up there.  The week fell on the same week as Jared's scout camp so he was only able to spend the weekend with us and then we dropped him off at Camp Bartlett in Idaho and went back to Jackson for the rest of the week. Our kids were dying to go to Yellowstone so we did that the Saturday Jared was still with it.  They were still just as excited about the geysers, mudpots, and animals as they were when we went five years ago.  We could have spent days just in Yellowstone so we didn't get to see everything we wanted but we enjoyed the little bit we got to see.  The highlight for the kids was the bear that we saw in Hayden Valley just across the river just before dark.  It made for a long drive back to Jackson late at night but it was worth it!

The kids were excited about hiking all 328 steps down Uncle Tom's trail to see the view of the falls.

 

Jason's dad came to spend a day in Jackson with us.  We to Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park.  We took a shuttle across the lake and hiked to a waterfall and overlook on the other side of the lake.  We didn't run into any bears but we did see some moose!  It ended up being a pretty tough hike since part of the trail was closed and we had to go the long way around.

 

 

We took our bikes with us to Jackson.  Kaitlyn got to try out her new bike on some real mountain biking trails for the first time.  We also enjoyed the paved path that runs all the way from Jackson to Jenny Lake that we could take Skyler along in the bike trailer.  The weather was perfect for getting out and enjoying the beautiful scenery!

We enjoyed exploring the town of Jackson for the week.  We are excited to go back every year and do some of the things we ran out of time for.  I think the kids favorite part was swimming in the pool even though we were right in the middle of some of the wonders of the world!

Jason wanted to go fishing with a guide on the Snake River but the runoff was still too high.  So instead the guide took Jason and Andrew about an hour away to the Green River.  They had a great time fishing and caught a lot of big fish.

On the way home from Jackson we had to stop for one more fishing trip on Granite Creek.  This time Skyler got to join in on the fun.  He is always so excited for Daddy to catch fish for him.  The canyon was gorgeous with wild flowers.  The fishing was slow but finally just before we left Jason caught one big fish for Skyler!

Spring 2015

Spring flew past this year with lots of activities like it always does.  I keep waiting for life to slow down but I'm coming to the realization that it probably won't.  Here's a few highlights.

Jared went to school early a couple mornings a week all spring to attend a STEM(science, technology, engineering, and math) program.  They worked hard designing and building a robot.  They tested the robot on a course that they had to program it to get through.

Kaitlyn had her last dance recital with her teacher Brynn before she moved.  She sure has had fun taking dance from her the last five years.  It's amazing to see how much she has grown and learned!  She's a natural up on stage and doesn't have a problem performing in front of a crowd.  And she's had so much fun with her friends in the class.

Kailtyn and I enjoyed a girls day at Gardener Village with Melanie, Nancy and Brooklyn.  The girls had lots of fun making their own jewelry and going to lunch.

I volunteered to head up the elementary school 5k fundraiser this year.  I made a lot of mistakes and learned a ton about being a race director and a lot of things to do  It felt like a full time job for several weeks but it turned out to be a success with lots of people having fun and raising a lot of funds for the school.

When you live with a bunch of Star Wars fanatics Star Wars Day is a big day.  "May the 4th be with you" was a hit with Tie fighters for dinner and R2D2 treats for dessert.

Andrew had a successful track season running as a 9th grader with the high school.  We watched him get closer and closer to breaking the 5 minute mile in every race all season.  He ended with his best race at the region meet running the mile in 4:57!  Pretty impressive for a freshman!  We are excited to see what he does the next three years!



For the spring piano recital we were excited to finally get in the same recital as our friends the Larsens and Andrus.  It was an awesome group of piano players!  They all received their awards for the year from federation.  Here they all are with their teacher Sharyl Tucker.

Kaitlyn and her friend, Ruth Larsen, were both selected to represent their school at the district math Olympiad in Krypto.  We found out just a couple days before that they could build an egg drop.  Without much time to work on it they threw one together.  First the group at their school tested all the egg drops.  Out of all the ones that didn't break they voted on who would represent them at district and Kaitlyn and Ruth won!  They were thrilled to try it out again at district but unfortunately thunderstorms kept them from being able to test them.  They still had a great job competing at Krypto though.

I volunteered at field day and didn't I have the cutest little helper?  He was pretty wet by the end of the day!



Jason has been struggling with some injuries so he decided to just run the half marathon this year at Ogden instead of the full marathon like he had been planning.  Since Andrew had just finished track season they decided to run it together.  It was the farthest Andrew has ever run.  The weather was terrible with drenching rain and freezing cold temperatures but they finished in 1:36!

Spring also means baseball and softball season.  Jared's team struggled but he enjoyed getting to pitch a lot more this year.  Kaitlyn had fun playing on her coach pitch softball team and was really getting good at hitting the ball.  I also coached the Ogden Track club again.  Kaitlyn worked hard at practice and qualified for the district meet this year although we missed it when we went on vacation.

Kaitlyn's 9th Birthday

Kaitlyn turned nine in May.  Nine has always been a hard age for me because it's hard to believe that my kids are half way grown up.  We celebrated all the May birthdays in the family at our house on her birthday. Skyler really wanted to help her blow out her birthday candles.  We had to convince him he's get his turn in a month.  Kaitlyn's request was the raspberry white chocolate cheesecake.  It turned out tasting a lot better than it looked.  Her cousin, Winston, got to blow out the candles on his Oreo cake.

 

We took Kaitlyn shopping the weekend of her birthday for a new bike.  She picked out the perfect one but it had to be ordered in and then built.  She was very patient waiting for it but it was worth the wait!  I think it's the perfect bike for her!  She was a little scared of the bigger bike and gears at first but in no time she had it all figured out and was biking like a pro.

 

Kaitlyn chose to have her birthday party with her friends at Color Me Mine, a pottery place downtown.  The girls got to pick out a piece of pottery and paint it.  They had a great time painting, opening presents and eating cake and ice cream.  It was a fun afternoon with a cute group of giggly girls!

Here's a look at Kaitlyn at 9: She's smart, happy (most of the time), friendly, outgoing, excited about life, determined, imaginative, playful, daring, and active.  There is never any doubt about what she is feeling.  She lets everyone know!

What I love about Kaitlyn: her happy personality, her hugs (and the fact that she still likes to give them to me), her bubbly personality, and having a girl to do fun things with.  As much as I hate to see my only little girl grow up it is so fun to have her along for girls outings now.

What Kaitlyn likes at 9: Barbies, American Girl Dolls, reading (Ever After High, Gregor the Overlander, and Fabelhaven are a few recent favorites), amusement park rides (she was thrilled to be tall enough to go on all the rides at Lagoon, even the new ride Cannibal), running, biking, soccer, playing with friends, school.

What she doesn't like: practicing the piano (she really doesn't like it but she's also way too good for me to let her quit), chores, being teased by her brother, and not being able to do something (she's a bit of a perfectionist.