Let me be BRIEF

Went on a shopping trip with Josh yesterday.

He needed a new suit for his upcoming region meet.

(That means that his other suits have sat in the bottom of his swim bag and gotten all NASTY!)

Anyway, Josh opted for a BRIEF suit,

Instead of a normal jammer . . . . .

Ummm,  Hello?  That's way more of my MAN child than I was prepared to see.

Holy cow!  Where did my baby boy go?

(I'll try to capture a photo of this 3/4 naked swimmer and post it later)

Meanwhile, good luck Josh!  Swim hard in the 200 and 500 yard races.

Woods

How long's it been since you went to a Woods Class?

You know, the class in Jr High where you make candy machines, keychains, pen sets, etc?

Wednesday I'd have told you had been 25 years.

But today, I can tell you it's been 1 day!

It was fun (for me).

Ethan didn't seem to enjoy his mommy going to class with him though. . . . .

But what's a mom to do when her son is getting an "F" in the class and there's two days left in the term?

This mom does what she says she'll do when there's more than one missing assignment --

And I show up in class to "help".

Ethan was mortified!

But he's getting an "A-" as of this morning!

Guess it works to have mommy keeping you on track in class.


(Someone needs to get my kid therapy)

Craftiness meets Running-ness

With Melanie's help I created this little gem that I LOVE!

It's so fun to flip through my race bibs and see what I've been able to do over the past two years.

Escape

Watching the news tonight I am forced to recall a book I read earlier this year.  It's called Escape.

It's the story of Carolyn Jessop and how she escaped from the polygamist organization in Hilldale, UT.

I really would suggest that you read this, it makes the news reports even more meaningful and scary!

Carolyn does a great job in the book of pointing out what it was really like, but still shielding you from some of the more 'private' moments that she had.  

Really makes me want to go on a crusade to awake and enlighten the people there -- I know that sounds like I know what the right thing is.  But I guess that's exactly what I am saying.  I think there is value in human life, in the life of women and children. I believe that there is not suppose to be oppression in religion's name.

How do you convince a fanatic that they are a fanatic?  I still want to try though -  

The news tonight really, really bugs me.

GoodRead

I can not stop thinking about the series of books I just finished.  I find stupid ways to think about my daily life in reference to the books.  

I contemplated their meanings and thoughts all through stake conference today.

I even devoted my whole evening to finishing the books while at Jeff's company Christmas party. It's really hard to focus on blackjack when desperately wanting to pull out my book and read.

Oh, Mistborn,  I love you.  Brandon Sanderson, you're a genius!!

P.S.  Thank you to the Sumsion's and Dillon's who suggested this book to me!

Family Photo

My Mother-in-law wants family photos from each of her 6 kids, as her Christmas gift this year.

So, I've snapped photos for two of Jeff's siblings.

My own family's photos . . . still undone.

** a bit unhappy that I struggle to get people all in focus, clearly and sharply.  Any suggestions? **

Fall Run

I think this may have been the last time I see South Fork Canyon without snow until spring.

Sad . .. 

There's hard, and then there's harder

I'm a regular complainer lately.

Somewhere along the way we've turned a corner,

and parenting the boys has become very hard for me.

I feel like I have less control,  that they listen less, that I am less of a parent.

I'm struggling!


But, as is the case, when I whine -

I get it pointed out that my life ain't so bad.

I've heard heart wrenching parenting stories at work,

from parents and grandparents.

I call to make appointments to help kids,

And get sobbing parents and grandparents who are at their breaking points.


Yes, suddenly my hard life doesn't look so bad.


There's Hard, but then there's Harder.

And then I feel grateful and try to re-group.

While I pray for total strangers.

What do you get?

What do you get when the Science teacher hands out these:

To this person:

A BLACK EYE!!:

Thanks, science teacher, for handing these poppers out to boys who want to see what happens when they stick them to their bodies!  Dur!

26.2

I wanted to share my experience with you all by posting one photo for each of the miles I ran yesterday.

But I ran into some snags with that idea . . . . 

So here's the first 13 miles in photos!

This is mile 0 -- More accurately, this is all of us in a tent trying to stay out of the rain pour that started just before the race started.  This is our view when the start gun (muzzle loader) was fired. Ah, nice start!

 

Mile 1 -- People think they are hot and leave clothes on the side of the road.  We are all bundled up and running at this point, not willing to give up any clothes.

Mile 2 -- Time to use the Handi Hut!  Oh, Honey Buckets, I missed you.  You are the best port-a-potty around, this one just wasn't the same.

 Mile 3 -- First aid station.  Apparently this set of folks run the mile 3 station every year.  They are runners also, but like to help out in this way.  The flags were an awesome touch!

Mile 4 -- Pretty run down the canyon!

Mile 5 -- There were some great signs along the course.  It was really fun to see the message that were left for people.

Mile 6 -- We just came through our first hail storm!  Look at my freezing arms -- at some point I thought my arm would just fall off!

Mile 7 -- Here's are awesome race bibs.  Melanie is 3055, Jamie is 3052 and I'm 3044

Mile 8 -- I have a steady drip of rain water running off my hat.  I think that's gonna be the worst of it, but I was so, so wrong!

Mile 9 -- Two miles after it happens we take a closer look at Jamie's leg.  She has fallen out of the Handi Hut and had a crash landing.  That's two falls in the last two races for Jamie, maybe it's a sign.

Mile 10 -- More hail.  We run in it, we cry in it, we end up laughing in it.  At some point this race has become completely ridiculous!

Mile 11 -- Low lying clouds.  We hear lots of thunder claps over head followed by intense rain.

Mile 12 -- More water .. . this time we like it because it's in a river.

Mile 13 -- We are about to the bottom of the canyon.  A waterfall in the distance is nice, but we are soaked!  The camera is soaked and the battery is dead.  We hand the camera off to Jeff at Mile 14 and wish we could hand ourselves off too.  

We ended up finishing the race in just over 6 1/2 hours.  It was very hard and quite the accomplishment for us.   I was happy that I didn't ever get completely overwhelmed or angry.  We kept our wits about us.  I appreciated Jamie for bringing along some stories that she'd read to us every once in awhile.  I appreciate Jeff and Emma coming along and checking on us during the race.  And it was great to see Tani and the kids at the finish line!

This was really a hard thing we trained to do.  The time it has taken away from my family, my schedule, Ethan's football game, Josh's Homecoming dance, and many other things, has been hard.  I think that although I feel great about finishing, I won't do this again.  It was a sacrifice for my whole family for me to do this, and I love them for helping me finish!

And to my two running partners, I couldn't have made it without you gals.  Thanks for going on these crazy adventures with me and pushing me through to the end!

P.S.  When I get a photo of the finish line and medal I'll post that!