10 Year Reunion

Me, Krystal, Sarah, Lauren, & Aubrey at our 10 year High School Reunion

While we were in Utah, it happened to be my high school's 10 year reunion.  I was hesitant to go since Brandon wouldn't be able to come with me (he's back in Arizona working) and I was anticipating some serious awkwardness.  I also have a slight complex about the fact that I didn't keep in great touch with anyone from high school, which is strange because I really did love high school and was so involved and met lots of great people. 

Anyway, I started recruiting some old/good friends from high school to go with me without their husbands and make it more like a girl's night.  What a success!  I was able to go with 4 girlfriends from high school, and although we really haven't kept in great contact (other than facebook/blogs), it felt so natural to be with them and catch up.  They really were/are great friends and I'm so glad that we all went together!  What amazing women!  And it really wasn't that awkward, and it was fun to catch up with a lot of familiar faces who I have not seen since graduation.  Go T-wolves! 

(Picture courtesy of Lauren.)

Ragnar - Wasatch Back

Van #1 minus Karlie, who went home sick during the middle of the night

Team Purple Stuff at the Finish Line!  Top - Kevin, Kyle, Scott, Brandon, Tyson & Chris, Bottom - me, Rachel, Jennica, Cami & Kacie

Boys from Van #2 - Tyson, Kyle & Brandon (Beetle as he was called in High School) - these boys are some of Brandon's closest friends ... aren't they ... darling?!

Our team, "Purple Stuff", finished the Ragnar Relay, June 17-18 - and we feel great about it since we accomplished our goal, which was to finish!  Our team time was right around 32 hours and everyone did awesome!

The Ragnar Relay is a 192 mile race from Logan to Park City.  It's basically running up and down mountains, and the route was just gorgeous!  You come up with a 12 person team, divide into 2 vans and constantly have a runner running and pass off the baton (slap bracelet) to each other.  The race spans across two days and you get very little sleep.  We slept in a high school on cheer mats for about 3 1/2 hrs total.  The weather was perfect (other than the night feeling chilly to me), and since our team consisted of family/friends, we had a great time together!

Van #1:  Chris & Kacie Hale, Scott & Rachel Murray, me and Karlie Christiansen (Kacie's sister)
Van #2:  Brandon, Kyle & Kevin Flanagan (family friends), Tyson Camp (Kacie's brother) and Cami & Jennica Redd (family friends of the Camp's)

Looking back on it now, we had a TON of fun and I would probably do it again!  If you would have asked me during the race, I wasn't so sure if I wanted to do it again ... it was a TOUGH course and it's interesting to break up your run into three different legs.  It also creates an interesting pressure that is different than other races, since your whole team is counting on you.  I counted this as my half marathon for this year, so this is my 6th half marathon - I'm more than half way done with my lifetime goal of 10.  Go me!  :)

My total mileage was 14.5 miles.  The first leg was brutal, but I was mentally prepared and it was probably my best leg - it was 7.5 miles uphill (elevation gain of 1200 feet) and was on a rocky/gravel road.  My only disappointment was that I couldn't look around at the beautiful surroundings since I didn't want to twist my ankle.  I didn't walk until the last mile and then walked for just a few minutes, and even then my walk was probably faster than my run.  :)

Brandon's total milage was 18.5 miles and he hardly trained - no surprise!  And of course he still ran much faster than me and did it with style.  "Style" meaning that he ran it in a track singlet (one piece spandex), which somehow managed to be baggy on my skinny husband.  He also did kartwheels up hills, painted his face, and wore other crazy outfits ... if only his co-workers could have seen him. And technically Brandon claimed first place for our team, since he was the anchor runner, and sprinted ahead of everyone to cross the finish line first.  You're supposed to cross the finish line as a team, so we looked pretty ridiculous all chasing and trying to catch up to Brandon. 

We all had some good laughs!  And how amazing is it that all of Brandon's siblings and spouses were able to run it all at the same time!  Thank you, Mom for watching my kiddos!  And thanks to the Hale's for all the support!

p.s.  This race was on my 28th birthday.  Not my best decision ever, but it was very memorable.

Long awaited date night

For Christmas I had given Brandon tickets to Les Miserables at Gammage (ASU) for June 9th.  He had seen the show many years ago in New York, and I knew he wanted to go back.  I hadn't seen it before and it was incredible!  Not entertaining the way "Wicked" is, but the storyline is meaningful, and I really enjoyed the scenery and the music.  It was more risque than I would have imagined, so I was a little surprised with that aspect.

We went with some of our favorite people - the Johnson's and the Perkinson's and we went out to eat at Bandera before the show.  We had bought tickets to the show almost a year before, so it was a long awaited date, and well worth it!!

Hot, hot, hot!

It's already getting hot (consistently in the high 90's or low 100's), so we are swimming or playing at splash pads a lot!

Daddy was brave enough to venture out with the kids and took them to the Peach Festival.  They brought home the most delicious peaches that they had picked themselves.  Brandon had a hilarious story about Rachel needing to go pee - she needed to go after they had taken a long hayride out to the middle of nowhere to pick peaches.  Of course there were no bathrooms and Andrew was asleep in the baby carrier,  so Brandon couldn't help much.  From what I remember about the story, he basically sent Rachel in through some prickly bushes where only she could fit and told her to pull down her skirt, squat down and just go in the dirt.  No surprise that Rachel got upset after she got pee on her skirt and shoes.  

At the beginning of June we almost got all the roomies together (everyone except Suzi) for a swim party and look at all of our kids - geez, where has the time gone?!

Grace & Natalie, Shannon & Graham, me & the kids, Cooper & Crew in front, Kasey & Cole, Sarah & Avery

Photos courtesy of Shannon's mom, Lynette

Kasey is expecting baby #3 and it's a girl!!

And I just had to add this little collage of Drew at 8 months - it accurately portrays all his different expressions:

Garage Sale / Lemonade Stand

What was I thinking?

We had a garage sale / lemonade stand this weekend and it was a bust!  But we still had fun since we were with friends!  I think it was just too late in the season and the shoppers were SO slow.  I myself, am a big fan of shopping at garage sales, but Brandon is thrilled to learn that I will not be having one again anytime soon.  I told him I'd never have one again, but never say never, right?!

I made approximate $55, but spent probably $20 on stuff that my friends had brought over to sell.  All the other girls who brought over stuff made about that as well.

Luckily we had invited Mandy & Lore and their kids over and so it was quite the party for 7am!  Also, Rachel had this adorable lemonade stand (I didn't take pictures because I was scarred from the long morning! ha ha) that my mom got her and not one single garage sale customer bought a cookie or lemonade from her.  What a disaster!  :)  Luckily her friends bought about $2 worth, so we were able to teach her about tithing and she turned in her 20 cents to the Bishop today, and was so excited about it.  She even decorated the envelope with about 15 stickers!  He was over by his office, so he invited her in and gave her a piece of candy - talk about immediate blessings!

Girl's Camp

I survived Girl's Camp - whew!  This is my second year as a stake leader over the 5th year YCL's and this year I had 17 fifteen/sixteen year olds.  It was such a good year, truly!  They were great girls and I loved them dearly.

I had one who had severe emotional disorders, communication problems and anxiety issues.  The first night, she was very disoriented and wandering around camp.  Her anxiety had got the best of her and I stayed up late with her and held a bucket while she threw up (I guess she always throws up the first night at camp, yet no one informed me of this?).  She ended up leaving the second night because her mom, who was at camp as a leader, had to go to the ER for high blood pressure, and the young woman didn't want to stay knowing her mom was headed home.  I was relieved since this young woman stressed me out the most at camp; however, I was pleased with how she responded to me and how easily I was able to communicate with her.  I know that I was blessed and that Heavenly Father was helping me know what to say and do to best help her.

That was my biggest "drama" of the week, which was a relief compared to last year.  Last year, a YCL who wasn't a member of the church had her shoes stolen and then a few of the girls accused another YCL of stealing them and bags were searched, etc.  Not fun.  Also, we had issues last year with girls not wanting to sleep with their assigned wards and people saying that I had given permission to move cabins when I hadn't.  It was a nightmare getting everyone back to the cabins that they belonged in (girls crying, leaders mad, etc.).

We did have an unwanted visitor this year at Camp Lomia and he just took over.  A bear appeared on the afternoon of Day 2 - we quickly rushed all the girls to the main lodge and made sure everyone was accounted for.  There was one girl missing, but was quickly found asleep in her cabin.  We said a prayer of gratitude that everyone was safe, but some of the younger girls were stressing out.  The Priesthood Leaders chased (for lack of a better word) the bear away and were all in their white shirts and ties since it was Sunday, which was quite the sight.  We were in cabins with doors, so I was not too worried.  I even went running with some other leaders early the next morning (we took a whistle just in case), and not 10 minutes after we got home, the bear was back in camp - right around the place we had ended our run.  He appeared at least 3 more times that day and kept trying to get into all the food that the girl's brought to camp.  Animal control was there all day trying to catch him.  He was a smart, confident bear - enough so, that the Stake felt that it would be best to pack up and go home.  We missed two nights and one full day at camp, which was slightly disappointing since we weren't able to bring it all together and make sure everyone got the right message, etc.  But the bear thing is a great memory to have!  We met for a few hours the next night at the Stake Center to wrap everything up and do skits.

Truth be told, I do enjoy camp!  Especially the other Stake Leaders who I work with, BUT it is a lot of work (especially in the few months before camp) and it is in addition to mine and Brandon's ward callings, which keep us plenty busy.  I need lots of help and support from Brandon (both before and during the week of camp) and my mother-in-law, Nancy, to help take care of the kids while I am gone.  I appreciate them both for all they did for me to make it possible that I could go!  The kids hardly even missed me, but I did miss them!

YCL's:  Rebecca, Lindsay, Ashley N., Ellen, Jezerea, Kelsey, Cami, Chanty, Deborah, Sister Jones, Juliette, Shannon, Ashley W., Mandy, Kealoha, Lydia and Michele (sitting)

Here we are growling like a BEAR!

Unwanted visitor (picture taken by my buddy, Lynne)

Preston Ward!  Top:  Melissa Sarager, Brenda Sibley, Gaby, Rebecca, Kimberly, Lori Ervin, Lexie, Bishop, Christina, Tyler, Kristen.  Bottom:  Kristen, Juliette, Katie, Sarah, Kyla, Shawna & Haley