2008 Pumpkin Run

We ran the 5 mile Pumpkin Run today. I finished 3rd overall for the women and also 3rd in my age group. Russ finished 3rd in his age group and beat me by about 2 minutes. But I did run the race in just under 39 minutes which means I broke my 8 min/mile goal. The clocking wasn't high tech so I just had to go by my stop watch that I started 20 seconds late. Riverton City will post my official time on Monday. I did however pass up and beat Mike Bradshaw (who was on my Wasatch Back team) and David Roth! Two guys who live near me and are doing the IRON MAN next year. I think they were taking it easy but I still felt pretty good about myself.
I kinda forced Russ to run this race with me - his first ever - so I would know he was serious about joining my team for Wasatch Back 2009. He rocked it, so I guess I'll have to find a spot for him!
Has anyone ever been to a race where they serve Little Ceaser's at the finish line? All the teenage cross country super speedy kids were chowing down right away. At first it sounded so awful but after standing around waiting for the awards for 30 minutes it started to smell so good.....luckily I resisted.
Did everyone notice that my ribbon is bigger?

Dad's Wedding

We just got back from Arizona on Sunday. We spent almost two weeks there. The purpose of our trip was to attend my Dad's wedding. He and Cindy Peterson we married on Friday Sept 5th, six months to the day after my mom's sudden passing. I really like Cindy and she was great with my kids. The ceremony was small and pretty short. It was a little hard for me to get through without crying and thinking of my mom but I am glad that my dad has found someone to love him and help in to not be lonely. He and Cindy just got back from their honeymoon to Hawaii.

I flew down to Arizona about a week and a half ahead of the wedding. My dad has been remodeling his house and the carpeting was finally layed on the morning my kids and I arrived. I spent most of my time in Arizona moving in furniture, unpacking boxes, organizing cupboards and throwing out junk. If I wasn't doing that then I was in the water. We swam in Dave's pool a few times - his new hot tub was great. At first I was sure I wouldn't use it - I mean it was Aug. in AZ. But as the sun went down, the pool got a little chilly and it was actually nice to get in the warmer water. We also went up to our family's cabin at Apache Lake for Labor Day. Russ drove down from Utah on Saturday with Taylor and they spent the remainder of the time with us at the cabin. Every night we were there we experienced monsoon thunderstorms with lots of lightening. During the day we had lots of sun and warm smooth water and had a blast skiing, wake boarding and tubing. Maili learned how to knee board - the little dare devil! She was so proud of herself. Bryton had a lot of fun inner tubing with my brother Ryan. I kept asking Thyse to go on the tube with me but he would quickly reply "NO! Too scary!" - he is only 2. I love the lake! I wish we lived closer. I actually enjoyed the 100 degree plus weather. Now that I'm back in Utah its been cold and rainy. I want more summer! I am sooooo not ready for winter.

Daddy daughter week

Marci took Thyse and Bryton to Idaho this week. Maili starts schoool this next week so she is staying behind with me. Tonight we watched the Spiderwick Chronicles. Maili seems to be enjoying having some time where she doesn't need to compete for attention.

Thyse's B-day

We didn't really do much for Thyse's birthday. Bungee was a having a free movie screening for Batman - The Dark Knight. We had my parents come babysit while Marci and I went to the movies. We did do a little bit in the morning where he was able to open his present, a Batman mask. He likes to dress-up. So now he can wear Bryton's Spiderman costume and a Batman mask.
On Friday we all went to Coldstone Creamery for his free ice cream.

For Maili's sixth birthday she wanted to have her hair cut short. We got it done today and she is really cute.

Disneyland

The Disneyland trip was good until the last day, but I will save that for another post. We drove down on Sunday. We stopped in Vegas at In-N-Out. When we got to Anaheim we checked-into the Candy Cane Inn. It was pretty good. I just wish we would have gotten a separate room for the kids. The kids wouldn't settle down unless the lights were out. So we all went to bed at 8:00. We also were able to pass a cold around the whole family. Luckily it didn't knock anyone out.
Monday:
We got to the park before it opened. We took the kids to the Autotopia ride first. We then went on the Finding Nemo submarine ride. That line was way too long but it was good. While Marci was waiting in line Bryton and Maili watched the Jedi academy show, but Bryton was too shy to raise his hand and participate. After that, Cordell and his family showed up. We spent the rest of the day at Disneyland without having to wait in many lines. Thyse was able to go on a lot of rides as well. He was doing good until we took him on Matterhorn. Then whenever I took him on any ride he would start to freak out thinking it would be another scary ride. He freaked out on the baby roller coaster in Toon Town, and the "cast member" asked me if I was going to be able to control him on the ride. Marci and I thought the Indiana Jones ride was a lot of fun. We were able to trade kids while we took turns on the ride. We saw a little bit of the parade the first night. We went to IHOP across the street from the park for dinner and were having kids fall asleep as the dinner progressed.
On the way home I saw one of the weirdest things ever. There was this drunk guy riding his bike down the sidewalk. He was yelling and swerving a little bit. He then dropped his bike and went over to a puddle where he started lapping at it like a dog.
Tuesday:
We asked on Monday if we needed special three-day park hopper passes in order to get early admission Tuesday and they said we just needed the three-day park hopper passes. So we went early waited in line, got up to the front and the ticket taker said our passes weren't valid for early entry but they weren't going to make us wait in the whole line again. So we got in early. We did some more rides and then went over to California Adventure to get our free pictures with Mickey. At lunch we had reservations for Ariel's Grotto. Marci and Maili really enjoyed getting to meet the princesses. The food was okay but I think that was the most expensive meal that I ever took Marci too. But at least she got to meet the princesses. We really liked California Adventure. The Brother Bear totem area was really cool. There were a whole bunch of activities that Maili and Bryton loved. Thyse really liked the slides there too. At night we stayed went early to hold our seats for the parade. We found a good spot that also allowed us to escape the park once the parade progressed passed us.
Wednesday:
We started off catching a few last rides in both parks with Cordell's family before they would leave around 1:00. Once they left we headed over California Adventure to eat lunch and catch the Aladdin show. When we were sitting down to eat we got a call from Marci's brother, Ryan. I took the kids and started getting them ready. I looked back over at Marci and saw her facial expression change to really sad. I ran over to her to give her a hug. Ryan told her that her Mom was on life support and they wouldn't be able to bring her back. At that point we didn't know how long they were going to keep her on life support. We left the park, checked out of the hotel and headed to Arizona. A couple of lighter stories... As we were leaving the park a lady asked Marci if she could take their pictures. Then she saw that Marci was in tears and felt terrible.
As we were packing up at the hotel and loading up the car Maili was still crying hysterically. There were two gardeners nearby observing us. Not being able to hear them I just imagined them saying to each other. "Oh so sad the little girl is sad to be leaving Disneyland."
We were able to make it from Disneyland to the Rogers on exactly one tank of gas.

Leukemia

Ann was diagnosed with Leukemia today. What a shock. They say it is a pretty curable type so we are all optimistic that she can beat it into remission.
I guess the Disneyland plans are going to change. Cordell and his family are still going to join us. We are going to go through Arizona on the way home and see Ann.