First week of school DOWN!

I've got a 4th grader, a freshman, a sophomore, and two seniors. One at Old Mill Elementary, two at Stansbury High School, and two at Utah Valley University.

And Erik is on hiatus from school for another 18 months as he gains an education in other ways.

It was a miserable first week. Actually the first day was the worst and it got better as the week progressed.

*School should NEVER start on a Monday.
*Back to School night should never be on the first day of school.
*Short day is much better half way through the week instead of at the end of the week.

These three factors made for a very, Very, VERY long week. And I've decided I don't care for the first two weeks of school. There is no routine or schedule as you are constantly teaching and reteaching and reinforcing procedures and behavior.

But enough of that. We finished our summer off with a short trip to Bryce, one of my favorite National Parks.

Nate had other things, so it was just Alex, Ash, me, and Tyler.

The scenery is just stunning. We live in such a beautiful and diverse state.

Ash started tennis and had a few matches the week before school began.

Nate had a birthday and celebrated by playing tennis all day at a tournament. It was the only thing he wanted.

Alex and his cousin Ian set up a lemonade stand where they made some money thanks to our very kind neighborhood.

Nate ran his first cross country meet of the season as a varsity runner. He wasn't too happy about his performance, but when you're getting over being sick, I think he didn't do too badly.

We made it to the Horsley Orthodontics summer swim party (taking some friends with us)

and to the USU Aggie Alumni night drive in movie/barbecue.

Such a cute photo of those two!!

The capstone of our summer was a trip to Logan to see family. Unfortunately, our quick game night resulted in us being stuck on the freeway coming home. 

Willard was kind enough to entertain us with a firework show.


Another week of school and then a three-day weekend.

Bryce Canyon

Since my first half marathon of the summer took us to Bryce, we decided to make it a family vacation.

I was pretty sure it was going to be hot since we would be there the middle of July. Nope. I guess at about 7000-9000 feet it's still relatively cool.

Bryce is B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L! God created one of his stunning masterpieces when he carved out this part of the earth. I absolutely loved the green trees contrasted with the red rock. There is simply nothing quite like it.

We hiked

and hiked to monster faces

and to a waterfall

and played in the stream.

It was even better if you laid down in it.


Our cousins tagged along with us,

we ate lunch on a bench-turned-into-table,

and found very old bristle cone pine trees. Tyler was in love.

I attempted my first selfie

and I think we pretty much wiped everyone out. Well, except maybe Nate.

Two half marathons this summer

Ever since my first half marathon in 2011 I've signed up to run one every summer. It keeps me running. This summer I signed up for two since my running buddy may be out of commission next year.

She thinks she wants to start a family. Sheesh.

Maybe my other running buddy will do one with me. It's no fun to run if no one is there to get early with ya, hang out at the start, train (kind of), finish with ya. My family hasn't been to the last three which is totally okay at this point in the game. I really liked having them there for my first, cheering me on at the end. Everyone needs that on their first. The second was fun to have them there. But now that it's become a hobby, I'm okay not having someone cheer me on at the end, but I do kind of like having SOMEONE to celebrate with. Thirteen miles is a big accomplishment.

And that's where my sisters come in, my running friends.

My first half this summer was Bryce Canyon. I'd never been to Bryce despite living so close my entire life. It turned into a mini-vacation. We rented a hotel room where the race route ran right by it. All my kids had to do was walk a 100 yards to watch me run by. I told them this would be a faster race and that I expected to be there in about an hour and 15 minutes. The only one waiting for me was Jacob who snapped a photo and Nate who ran the remainder with me. 

I loved that he would do that. One of his summer goals was to run a 10k. We never did find a race that worked with our schedules but I definitely count this. It might not have been his race, but it was still a race.

The first two miles of this race was a steep 8% grade. I decided to just let myself go and not hold back. It was a relief when it finally leveled out. I got my personal record on his course . . . 2:14. I give credit to that first two miles. And Katie tells me I was only four minutes behind her. Now that is impressive. I'm never even close to what she runs.

My second half was Mt. Nebo in Payson. Several weeks ago I was talking to some new neighbors who are runners and they let me know that it was a killer course. Mostly downhill and fast. They both PR'd on this course.

Uh oh! They were so right. It was fast and I hurt way more today than I have with any other races. Our stake conference was today in the Conference Center and I wasn't sure I could make the walk from the car to the building. Here's proof I made it.

I was rockin' and rollin' until about mile 10. I remember hitting mile 6 and then being surprised that I was at mile 7 and then was even more surprised at mile 8. It seems I flew down the mountain. I caught up with Katie at around mile 12 and hooped and hollered and danced around (don't know where that energy came from) that I had caught up to her. It was so much fun to run in together. Although I kept stopping to walk and she kept pushing me. We couldn't let the 2:05 pacers beat us. Can you see the pain on my face.

And then I thought here's my chance to finally beat Katie. It's never happened before. I tried holding her back at the finish line . . . 


Yep. She beat me by one second. Maybe even a half a second.

It's so hard to push yourself when there's nothing let to give. It's been a summer for personal records. I smashed my Bryce Canyon PR by 9 minutes, coming in at 2:05. I've shaved off 20 minutes from my Little Grand last September.

I've now run a half marathon for each of my five kids. I'm not sure what next year will bring, but I sure hope I can keep doing one a year at least.