September 8, 2012

The Little Grand Canyon 10K has been on my list of to-do's for the past year. The 10K section of the run winds down through the Buckhorn Draw on the San Rafael Swell. I spent so much of my growing up years in this place, that I knew I had to do it. 

On the afternoon of September 7th I loaded up my kids after school and we headed to Castle Dale. Christian was working in Salt Lake, and we passed him on I-80 as he headed home and we headed to Castle Dale. The plan was to get to Castle Dale late on Friday the 7th, get up early and run the race on the 8th, spend a little time in Castle Dale and head back Saturday night so we all could be together Saturday night and Sunday, because Christian had to work in Utah again on Monday morning. 

We got to Castle Dale a little later than expected, but the kids were tired, so they pretty much went right to bed. I talked my dad into coming with me in the morning. So we hit the road to Huntington at 5:30 a.m. I got my race number and my phone and iPod situated, and then my dad drove to the finish line of the race. I boarded the bus to the starting line around 6:30 a.m., and was pleasantly surprised to run into a couple of high school friends. It was fun talking and catching up on the bus ride to the starting line.

We finally reached the 10K starting line around 7:30 a.m. After sitting on the bus, they gave us plenty of time to warm up and use the bathroom and make any final race preparations. The race started right around 8:00 a.m. and I got out of the gate pretty quick...maybe too quick. For the first mile I remained in first place overall. Around mile two I was passed by two girls and at mile three by some guys. I settled into a pretty quick and manageable pace and just enjoyed the run. 

This was, by far, all-time favorite run. To run through an area so familiar and dear was an extraordinary experience. I noticed things about the area that I had not noticed before, and I learned a lot about my self on the way. It was truly one of the best experience of my life. As I turned the last bend to the finish line, I could see my dad clapping like crazy. He ran the last few yards with me and tried to snap so "action" shots. 

 I finished 9th over all, 6th in women, and 2nd in my age group with my best 10K time yet, 53:09. I really wanted 52:00, but I was happy with my personal best. 

After a short recovery, some pictures, and some water, my dad and I headed back to Castle Dale. When we got there, my mom was playing with the kids at a nearby park. We decided to leave the park and have a barbeque at their house. While I was showering, the kids were playing, and my parents were preparing food, Caleb found his cat. They were so glad to see each other...Well, I can't speak for the cat, but Caleb was very glad to be reunited with his wild friend. The cat had grown quite a bit in the past month, but that didn't stop Caleb from hunting him down and squeezing him with love.

After our barbeque we headed to Huntington Lake to do some fishing. My dad was planning on taking Carter fishing, but we didn't have time to get to the good lake where the fish actually bite...and since Huntington was on my way home we settled.

Although we didn't catch and fish, not even a little nibble, it was a great day. Early fall is a perfect time to spend time in this area of the world. Not too hot, not to cold, just right for outdoor activities.

 

 

 

After a couple hours at the lake we said our good byes to Grandma Gwennie and Grandpa Neal and continued on our road trip home. We stopped in Helper on the way to say good bye to Grandpa Carl and Grandma Vicki. After several years of their beautiful home in Helper being on the market, it finally sold. Carl has been working in Salt Lake for the past 3.5 years and eventually wanted to relocate to the Salt Lake Valley. I guess we all thought it would possibly never happen. After their house was on the market for nearly 2 years. But it did, and we caught them right in the moving process...always fun!

Carl had a few things that he packed in my car for us to take home. There was a nightstand that goes with Carter's bed, a tiny rocking chair that Christian had as a kids, and a whole case of freshly bottled marinara sauce. We didn't have a lot of room, or a lot of time, so we quickly said our good byes and then took a picture with Carl, Vicki, the Utah cousins at their home for the last time.

I really had no idea that in a matter of 2.5 hours we would encounter a very scary situation. While driving through the small canyon between Wanship and Coalville, Utah, I was rear-ended by a semi truck. As I approached a construction zone the car in front of me locked up his brakes and in an attempt to avoid hitting him, I was hit from behind. It was getting dark, and the construction zone was not clearly marked, so it was a pretty big fiasco.

The semi driver told me that when he noticed the car in front of my swerving and locking up his brakes, he too began to brake. Thankfully we weren't hit at 75 mph, rather, probably 50 mph. The driver tried to avoid hitting us at all, but with all the construction going on, there was no shoulder on the road for him to drive off onto. So he hit us at an angle in an attempt to avoid hitting us straight on.

The corner where the impact occurred was the same side Cali was sitting on. Because she was complaining of a head ache and neck ache she was taken to the hospital on a back board, but not before they had to cut Caleb's car seat and pry open a door to get her out. A nice lady stopped to see if we needed help, but when she saw all the marinara sauce leaking everywhere she mistook it for blood...and was not much help. I clarified what the red liquid actually was, everyone was very relieved. 

Christian was at home when I called him to tell him what had happened, and he left Rock Springs immediately. He drove from Rock Springs as we all piled in the ambulance and rode to the hospital with Cali. The paramedics found a couple of car seats for Caleb and Carter {who was super excited that he got to ride in the front seat of the ambulance}, and we were on our way.

At the hospital all of Cali's scans checked out with no damage to her neck or head, and was released at midnight. We decided to get a hotel in Evanston and say there for the night. I was feeling pretty good, until I finally relaxed that night. My neck and chest were sore for the seat belt, and somehow I received a bruise on the inside of my left arm. The boys were fine, Cali and I were just sore, and Christian was panicked...but other than that, we were totally fine. The Honda Pilot, on the other had, was not...

We got up early the next morning and drove back down to Coalville to check out the damages in the daylight. We retrieved all of our personally belongings out of the care, with the exception of the marinara sauce and the tiny rocking chair, both were shattered. 

We took a bunch of pictures for good measure and said good bye to the Pilot forever. It was really surreal to see the car in the light. Christian said he kind of wished he hadn't, it made us both pretty sick.

We don't mess around when it comes to packing adventure into our days around here. However, this day had a few more than we bargained for. We are so glad that everything turned out so favorably, it was obvious to everyone that this situation could have had a number of other outcomes. Our car was a total loss, but we were able to find ANOTHER Honda Pilot! 

 

First Day of School

We have successfully made it through three weeks of school. Cali and Carter both love their teacher, and I am looking forward for their progress reports coming up the first week in October. Here are the pictures from that magical thing called the first day of school, a day we all look forward to!

 

 

 

 

A Fall Project...

At some point this fall I will pain my kitchen. I love the counter tops in our house, I love the cabinetry, but have always thought it would look better with a contrasting wall color. Now...what color? And, how do I reach the giant vaulted side of my kitchen.... I think I may have to call in a professional for this job. 

However, if you see a color that you think might work... Let me know!

 

 

 

Good, Better, Best Behavior

Everyone is working hard at getting to the top of their behavior charts around here. It's amazing what a picture, some poster board, and a ribbon will make kids do (or not do!). 

The Fun Before the Pain

In mid-August right on the heels of our New York trip, Caleb was scheduled to have some dental work done. For a while I noticed that something wasn't quite right with his tiny teeth. One giant clue came when I was brushing his teeth and piece of his tooth fell off. 

After a not very successful consultation, I sought a second opinion. Dr. Markham (my second opinion) was the perfect dentist for Caleb and he presented me with a less expensive and less invasive plan. Plus he had an arcade in his waiting room...sold. 

So, we made the trip on a Monday night to Provo so that we would ready bright and early Tuesday morning for the procedures. I tried to make the trip as fun as possible. We stopped at the Dairy Keen in Heber City on our way. 

 

Brandt and Alexis met us there for their very first Dairy Keen experience. The first of many I suspect!

 

After the Dairy Keen, we headed to Provo to a trampoline gym. Brandt flips around here all the time and wanted us to try it. We got there around 9pm and jumped our guts our until 10:30pm. We all loved it! 

It worked out perfect because Caleb couldn't eat anything after midnight, and so I was able to give him a snack around 11pm and he fell fast asleep.

The next day was not as fun. Caleb had seven root canals and six silver crowns placed on his teeth. He has a problem with the enamel on his teeth. Apparently it didn't develop correctly while he was swimming around in my womb. Enamel development happens right between the second and third trimester, so if a mother were to get sick or have a virus or something during this time, the teeth can be compromised. 

Luckily it shouldn't affect his permanent teeth. It wasn't fun, but it's over!

 

Back at Home

The suitcase with our gifts for our kids was nearly lost somewhere between NYC and SLC. Luckily someone at Salt Lake International Airport grabbed Christian's back and set it a side in an office. When our bag didn't come we went to the office of lost luggage, and there it was!

We came home on Saturday, but Kurt and Julie decided to come home on Monday. On Sunday we saw them on TV enjoying another Yankee game. We laughed so hard and sent them pictures of themselves on TV.

 

Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Baseball?

If there is such a thing as too much baseball, I think Christian's legs would be a good indicator...

For our third game we got to the park super early to try to get a tour of  Monument Park. Monument Park is a section just outside the outfield where monuments have been erected to the great Yankee baseball players.

They only let a certain amount of people in during an allotted time period, so we were some of the first in line.

It was pretty cool to see the monuments and read a little bit about the history and significance of each player. I took this picture of one of the only Yankee's I recognized (and mostly because of the movie Sandlot).  However, there were full grown adult men tearing up and touching some of the monuments. It was quite a sight. Christian managed to hold it together pretty well, but he was really happy to be there.

Since we were there so early, Julie worked her mojo and got three balls signed by Jaba Chamberlain. She does not mess around when it comes to getting signatures. She will say most anything and is not afraid to shove small children out of the way. She is as generous as she is tenacious and gave Christian one of the signed balls to give to Carter.

Kurt tried to get some balls thrown to him by acting like a small child. His attempts kept me entertained throughout several innings. 

Christian had the time of his life and I think that he and Kurt are already scheming up a plan for another Yankee extravaganza. We had so much fun in our short visit to New York, and I was rewarded for my baseball tolerance with a small gift from....yes, Tiffany's! 

 

Central Park via Petticab

The Petticab was a really fun way to see Central Park. The guys peddling the bikes were from an Eastern Block country near Russia and had come to America to go to school. In the summer they take people on tours of Central Park and save up enough money to go to school all year. 

I really wanted to try to drive it, but liability...blah blah blah. Anyway, in my next life I think I would like to be the owner of a petticab. Really, ride a bike all day, teach about the history of the park and city, and meet people from all over the world. Yes, please, sign me up.

 

We tried not to miss any really touristy photo ops! For real! That's Jerry Seinfeld's house in the background above Kurt's head. Yes, he owns the entire top few floors. If you are rich and famous in NYC you live somewhere in the background of this photo.

 

The only straight path in all of Central Park. If a movie is filmed in Central Park, chances are it was done so right here. Like I said, never miss an opportunity to really tourist it up!

Also, some ridiculous percentage of all people married in NYC were proposed to on this, the kissing bridge. So, like a good tourist, we kissed!

 

A truly amazing park with so much history and fame. For as many tourists as there were, there were just that many regular people taking advantage of a nice day in their city park. The most expensive and valuable city park in the world. If the city were to develop the park or sell it off as a real estate venture, it would be worth 83 billion dollars. That's some seriously valuable ground!

A Fancy Dinner and the Top of the Rock (not Rock Springs...)

After a long day at the ball park we went to dinner near Rockefeller Center. There was this place that Kurt had gone with his dad and son a few years ago, and wanted us to all go there together. He called ahead for reservations, and asked if they had a dress code. After all, we were in Yankee T-shirts and jeans. They confirmed our reservation and told us that there was no dress code. Regardless, we were severely under dressed. I wanted to take a picture of us four fish out of water, but it seemed highly inappropriate at best.

The food was great and the looks and comments we got from others were pretty priceless. Things like, "hey, is there a game today?" and, "did you guys just come from a game?". Of course not, we purposefully dress as casual as possible at all times! One of my favorite experience of the whole trip.

I wanted to stop by and say hi to my friends at SNL, but they weren't filming the current season yet.

 

Julie and I had some time to tour around 5th Ave and the Rockefeller Center while Christian and Kurt ran to the hotel to put our Yankee souvenirs away. We got reservations to go the Top of the Rock observation deck, and had some time to shop and see the 5th Ave sights.

 

The elevator ride to the top was pretty awesome and there were enough security check points to make you feel really safe. The view from the top was amazing. Being pretty afraid of heights, I was glad that it was dark... It seemed less scary for me in the dark.

 

You might wonder why so many songs are written about this city. I'm sure in a matter of minutes you could think of at least ten. Well, I don't wonder anymore. It is really the greatest city in the world. Amazing and inspiring and strange and truly American.