Meanwhile...Alec and Charlie have fun with Utah cousins

My brother and his wife Ashley were sooooo kind to have Alec and Charlie stay with them during the U.S. Open. They're oldest 3 kids were still in school (they have year-round school) and yet Ashley still managed to give my boys one of their best vacations ever. She took them to museums, the lake, on bike rides, to parks, not to mention all the fun stuff they did when they're older kids came home or in the weekends: more lake time, watching a parade, outdoor movies, science experiments.  They even did 5 k race! 7 kids under 11 is no easy job so Ashley and Jared - Thank you thank you thank you! We're so glad our boys could have some good quantity time with their Utah cousins. 

Seattle Rock n' Roll 1/2 Marathon

The very next morning, we drove up to Seattle to spend time with our good friends, the Talbots, Amanda, Brooke and Britton and Renee  from our grad school days. Amanda led a Zumba class on Amy's back patio and then we drove down to the Seattle to pick up our bibs for our race the next day. Chris took the kids back to my parents house and let me have some girl time with my friends. We talked and talked and talked and chatted and talked for pretty much 24 hours. We went out to dinner just us, women, and carb-loaded on pizza and some delicious dessert from Hot Cakes. Amanda and I were staying in a room at Amy's house and for the first time, in a LONG time, I went to bed 'early' around 10:30pm.

We woke up at 5:00 to grab a bus to the Seattle Science Center where the start of the race was. We met up with Renee and took some pictures. Then at 7:00am the race began! By 7:50, our corral had moved up enough to actually cross the starting line! haha. We ran for a mile or so and then used the porta-potties (for like the 4th time that morning!) and then ran the rest of the race. It was fun to have live bands every so often - I wish they were more often - and it was nice to have so much room (side to side) to run. Entire streets, on ramps, off ramps, bridges, over passes, etc.. were blocked off for us. There were around 20,000 people doing either the full marathon, 1/2 marathon or 8 K race.

This time was the hardest 1/2 marathon I've ever done.  The first 7-9 miles were actually super fun. I loved running with Amanda and Amy again and enjoyed the gorgeous views of the Puget Sound, Downtown Seattle, and Lake Union. It was also really nice NOT to be running in 90 degree, 100% humidity weather.  But the last few miles were brutal. Around mile 9, we ran through a super super long tunnel where my GPS watch lost the GPS signal and so didn't track the distance for a good mile or so... meaning that I had no idea how much further we had to the end. I usually rely heavily on knowing that. I pep myself in my head, "Only 2.5 miles to go... wow, already another 1/2 mile down... now almost 1... almost 1 mile left. YAY, only .75 more to go..etc..." My feet were hurting, my hips were hurting and I had no clue how much more distance was before me, and the finish line was out of sight and uphill - terrible end for a race.  I pretty much moaned for the last 2 miles. I wanted to walk a bit and not push myself too hard so we walked through the water stations towards the end of the race, and even about 100 feet further past the water station around mile 10, but then my friends were like, "ok... you good now? lets just finish" and so somehow I just kept running, putting one foot in front of the other.  We all crossed the finish line together, somehow picking up the speed at the very end, and finished around 2:30. Not my best time, but pretty good considering how little I trained.

The problem was, I hurt. I hurt bad. Both my calves cramped up and my legs just ached, and my left foot was abnormally painful with every step. I almost threw up getting my medal and some chocolate milk then happily hobbled into Chris' arms. He, Gwen and Freddy came up to Seattle to meet us at the end of the race and spend the rest of the afternoon with our Grad School friends. I saw them cheering for me about 100 feet from the finish line and I just about cried. I love that Chris braved the crowds and parking mess (Freddy in a hiking backpack, and Gwen in a stroller) to do that for me.

Us runners took long bath/showers at Amy's and then played a few games and talked so more until the babysitters came to watch our children so we could go out to eat as adults. Justin, Amy, Chris, Amanda and I met Brooke at this yummy Mediterranean restaurant near their house and had a really really pleasant time together. I miss all of these dear friends so much and enjoyed every minute with them.

From MS to WA, via UT

Saturday afternoon we got home from Trek and then we had less than 24 hours to unpack, do laundry, pack up, get some sleep, take Grandma Dixie to the airport, go to church and start driving out to Utah. We left around 3:00pm on Sunday and made the 29 hour drive in good time, stopping for food a few times, and once at a rest stop somewhere in Kansas for 3 hours to sleep. The big kids did pretty good and Freddy is just at the tough car-driving age.  He whined for most of the time during the 5:00-9:00pm hours and woke up crying once or twice during the night but luckily by the time we stopped to sleep at the rest stop at 2:30am, he was too exhausted to be bothered by stopping.  We arrived around 9:30 pm in Provo and enjoyed seeing Grandma and Grandpa Dixie's renovated house - its beautiful!! We also got to meet Edward and Kayla's puppy Darla for the first time. The kids were excited to see her, but could hardly stand to be within 6 feet of her. Silly kids.

The next afternoon, after some play time with Jess and her kids and a lovely visit with my Grandma Hardy, we loaded up to drive to Herriman and stay with my brother Jared and his wife, Ashley and their kids for 2 nights.  I love talking with my family and hanging out. We've done this often enough that their homes feel like home. I wished I would've remembered to take pictures of my Grandma Hardy when we saw her but alas, I didn't think of it at the time....so I made it a point to remember to take pictures when we visited our next great grandma on Wednesday. We drove up to Ogden to visit Chris' Grandma Archibald. She fed us lunch and made sure we picked and ate some fresh raspberries "razzies" from her garden.

That Wednesday night, all of my other UT siblings came over for dinner and we talked, ate, and played Spikeball until late. Its so hard to make sleep a priority when theres so much fun possible! But early the next morning, Chris and I slipped out with Frederick and Gwen to drive 14 hours to Washington.  Alec and Charlie were getting the lucky chance to stay with my brother Jared and my angel sister-in-law, Ashley.

The drive to WA was like a dream. Gwen was so happy and content and Freddy did really well too. I mean, it was only 14 hours! When Gwen realized she could pick the movie by herself since Alec and Charlie weren't there, she started hypothesizing about all the benefits of having a mom a dad and only 1 kid and a baby... then she dropped 'the baby' out of her aloud day dream and explored the concept of an only child. Her voice was mixed with awe and perplexity...like such lives couldn't actually exist. By 7:00 pm we made it to our final destination: University Place, Washington. Home sweet home in the beautiful Northwest.

Trek

Chris and I had the amazing experience to be a Ma and Pa for our church's youth Trek trip. We left our kids with Grandma Dixie (a Saint!) dressed up as pioneers, 'adopted' 7 teenagers, pushed a handcart, walked a lot, slept in tents and used porta-potties for 3 days.

We feel we were blessed with such great, helpful, kind, interesting, strong, smart kids for our Trek Family. They were all kind of quiet - well, all but one. Emma Grace doesn't fit that word.  I really surprised myself with how quickly and how strongly I loved each one, like my own child.  I was worried about being able to really love them, because sometimes I think teenagers can be a little obnoxious in large group settings from an I-just-met-you kind of standpoint. But with these kids, I could see their strengths and their hearts and I just loved them - Emma, Kobe, Tyson, Derrick, Madelyn, Brody and Jessica.  Chris and I had so much fun talking with them, playing with them, working with them, dancing with them and just watching them.

Another pleasant surprise from the Trek experience was how great it was to just be with Chris.  I love that guy. I loved watching him interact with our Trek kids. He's a great conversationalist one-on-one and loves to look out for the hurting ones. He is a great square dancer, a willing partner-in-crime to whatever I wanted to try, a master packer, and the best kind of quiet leader. I love camping with him as it provides him with many chances to "save me" from the bugs and spiders. Oh, and he looks so HANDSOME in pioneer clothes.

The hard parts were bugs, fear of bug bites, a little chaffing, the heat, and trouble sleeping super great at night. But those aren't so bad. I loved being out in nature, wearing long swishy skirts, feeling a breeze on my face under a bonnet and holding Chris' hand as we walked. I loved the adrenaline rush of getting the handcarts over tricky parts of the trail - over big ruts, through streams, between trees, etc. We even had to unload most of it and tie it to a rope to get it down and back up a big, steep gully. My favorite physical part was the awesome challenge of pushing/pulling the handcart during the Womens-Only pull. I wish it could've been longer. My daughters and I pushed away some of the kind but unnecessary offers of help and did most of it by ourselves! Chris was great and respected our wishes and only helped when he absolutely had to...which he (and another Pa) did or we would've had a run-away-cart on our hands.

Trek was a BEAST to prepare for (making most of my clothes, gathering all the supplies, getting our real kids taken care of, etc..) and some things I would do differently but I would be happy to be involved again. If Chris is with me, I'm game for almost anything.

Charlie baseball

Charlie wanted to do coach pitch baseball this year because some good friends from his class were doing it. It was our first time our family did anything with baseball and it was a lot of fun! His season overlapped with his soccer season a little bit so it got kinda busy for a few weeks but the heavy rain has helped keep some evenings free. 

Charlie is a good little baseball player! He never struck out and everytime got on base except for once in the championship game, they got him out at first. He got a pop fly once and was pretty dependable overall. We had a lot of fun watching him and we're glad that the playground was so close to his field.  Frederick is such a busy toddler. Literally. Always. Moving. We've got to keep a close eye on him with the fire ant piles all over the place. 

Charlie's team did really well, only lost 1 game. They had a fun pizza party and gave out little baseball bat trophies at the end of the season. 

Even Grandma Dixie got in on the fun for his second to last game. She flew in town to watch the kids while Chris and I went on the pioneer Trek for our stake church youth group.  The championship game was going to be while Chris and I were gone so we told the coach Charlie wouldn't make it and he was like, 'no! We need Charlie!' And offered to come pick him up from our house and take home home again! Coach said Charlie never spoke a word the whole time! I knew he was nervous but he also was willing to do it. I love our courageous Charlie. 

Trip to Memphis

Our nearest temple is in Memphis and so is the nearest Costco. We occasionally clear a Saturday to visit both places.  This particular time, we decided to make a little overnight trip of it. We leave just before school gets out and 3 hours later have 10 minutes to eat pizza at CiCi's before dropping me off at the temple to help work the Stake new member baptismal night. Meanwhile Chris checks into the hotel and then shops at Goodwill for some clothes for Trek with the kids. Then the next morning, it's Chris' turn to attend the temple while I swim with the kids in the hotel pool. Then it's out to lunch followed by a trip to Costco. Then we get home around 4pm. Kind of a long weekend but it's a good way for Chris and I both to have a turn in the temple and the 6 hours in the car is good practice for our cross-country drive to Seattle coming up in a month!!