Travis' Day of Birth

To celebrate Travis' birthday we headed up the mountain to Girl's Camp to be the guest speakers.  I was a little nervous to have the assignment because I remember back to my days of Girl's Camp and all the speakers they had were so inspirational and amazing.  There is no way I could be the type of speaker they were looking for to inspire the girls. 

We recruited my mom to come and watch the kids so we didn't have to find a sitter since most of the young girls I know were at camp anyways. Plus, I needed someone to put the kids to bed, that is quite the feat in and of itself- my kids may be a little spoiled but they are only babies once so I indulge them. 

I made Travis his favorite cake.  We had cake and presents before we left since this is the part of the birthdays the kids really enjoy.  When we were getting ready to leave I walked into the front room and say something suspicious on the floor.  I went to examine.  Much to my horror it was something that belonged in a diaper- we were in the midst of potty training.  Sawyer was no where to be seen.  We found him in his bedroom trying to clean up his "mess", and boy was it a mess.  I through him in the tub and scrubbed the "mess" off of him while Travis cleaned his room. I am so grateful for a husband who helps out.  After that whole fiasco we headed speedily up the mountain.  I may have gotten car sick and I was in the front seat.  Travis is one heck of a driver.  

At camp we ate with the girls.  It was fun to see what girls camp is like for others.  I loved Girl's Camp back in the day.  We had so much fun. Anyways, after dinner it was our turn to talk to the girls about making good decisions and how decisions we make today can impact our future.  We actually had the fireside at the camp fire which was nice.   After the fireside we played basketball with the girls for a bit and headed back down the mountain before it got too dark.  The ride down the mountain was a lot better, no car sickness.  Thank the good Lord.  Ever since I had kids I get vertigo bad.  One fast turn and whoa. 

Pioneer Day

The 24th started off as normal with the big Beaver Switchback 5k run.  I have been running the 5k on the 24th for 15 years- minus a couple of years due to childbirth.  I love this race.  It just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  This years race was actually a smaller one though I suspect because the 24th was on a Wednesday which makes it hard for people from out of town. This race had me really worried this year.  My brother in law was going to pay my 10 year old nephew $20 if we could beat me in the race.  I was really worried because 10 yr old's have endless energy and he wouldn't even have to train and could still possibly beat me.  We started the race and I was in head of Spencer.  I got to about 1/2 mile in and at that point there is a hair pin turn.  I took advantage and looked behind me to see if I could see Spencer.  Not 20 ft behind me was not only Spencer but my mom- whom I haven't beat in this race for 10 years- and we were starting the downhill part of the race, which is my mom's best area of racing. I picked it up and tried to keep my pace.  I got passed by a couple of people but not my mom or Spencer.  I finished the race and ended up beating my mom- not by much but I still beat her.  Spencer ended up getting a side ache.  It was fun to run.  I love that a my family likes to run.  This race is one of my favorite races. 

We headed down to the parade after the race.  Sawyer got a ton of candy, especially after he got a little aggressive.  The parade was fun as usual.  We headed down to the park for visiting and races for the little kids after.  This year Beaver decided to spice things up a bit and have a tug of war.  It was so much fun, I hope they do it again next year.  The men were so much fun to watch.  Travis got in the action and helped the 4th Ward out.  The sides may have been uneven so it wasn't very fair.  

The kids races were so crowded.  Jaylee ran with the one year old girls.  She wasn't very happy to run.  She made it half way and started crying but kept going crying until she met up with her Daddy.  Sawyer ran his race.  He was super pumped to have a race.  He keeps wanting a metal like his mom's.  I told him he has to finish a race.  

We visited at the park for a bit but we had to go to the El Bambi to make our lunch reservations.  We always have lunch with the Smith's. It was nice to have a little break from the heat.  

We hit up the golf course for our annual golf outing.  Dan, my mom, my grandma, Sawyer, Vanessa, Jaylee, Spencer, and I went golfing.  We had 3 carts.  We were quite the spectacle.  We were able to catch some amazing horse races.  We even saw a rider fall off right in front of us.  It was nuts.  Fortunately, the rider didn't get hurt. Golfing is the best while the horse races are going, we get front row seats. 

Allison, hosted the annual Yardley BBQ again this year.  It was nice to visit with family and catch up.  We don't do it enough these days.  Life gets busy, that is why it is so nice to have holidays and traditions.  

Fishlake

Travis decided we needed a trip to Fishlake to experience the phenomenal fishing up there. We rented a boat because apparently you have to get out past the algae to catch the really big ones, and trust me there were some HUGE ones. The water is so clear though it was fun to watch them swim.  If only they would have ate our bait.  We did catch some great perch, which are really good to eat so I won't complain.  

My parents met us up there to partake of the fishing.  We were told we could only have 5 in the boat and with Jaylee we made 6- really the baby counts as a whole person?  So my mom volunteered to stay ashore with me.  We walked along the lake shore trail down to the old Fishlake Lodge.  I had Jaylee in the backpack.  She didn't think the hike was very interesting so she snoozed while we walked.  We met the men back at the dock and headed over to the famous Bowery Haven for some delicious lunch.   After lunch my parents took the kids for a ride to let them take a nap while Travis and I went back out to see if we could land the big ones.  The weather started to get pretty windy and our small boat was struggling so we headed back to the dock, right before the rains came. It was a great day! I love the weekend adventures Travis takes us on.  

 Travis cleaned the fish for Sunday dinner for us.  The perch, like I said, are great for eating.  We had a great day fishing even though we got rained out in the afternoon.  Fine by me, it was stinking hot before the rains came in.

 I was pretty tired after eating and hiking with Jaylee on my back. Also, I caught a fish on the way back in.  It ripped the pole out of my hand.  Good thing I have cat like reflexes, hahaha. We reeled a nice trout in.  

Jaylee Turns 1

Jaylee had her very first birthday!! I was a great day, except it rained on our party a little.  I forgot to take a picture of the table with all of the food and all the decorations.  Parties are stressful.  We had quite a few people come and I was worried about making our guests comfortable instead of taking more pictures.  

Travis is a master cake decorator.  I bake them and he frost the cakes, we make a great team.  The engineer in him helps put the cake back together when it falls apart too.  I really liked how the cake turned out this year.  I didn't quite know what to do but Travis did a great job.  The only down fall was the cake was put on the oven and the oven had been previously on, therefore the frosting melted off the cake.  Bummer, at least I got pictures though. 

We all ate and when it was time for cake it started to rain so we had to move everybody inside.  Jaylee loved her cupcake but wasn't very excited to blow the candle out.  I believe Sawyer took it upon himself to help her blow it out. 

Some Fun Things About our Jaylee:

She started walking at 11 months.

She had 12 teeth on her first birthday, so beware sticking your fingers anywhere near her mouth

She loves to eat- particularly dirt.  That girl can not be left unattended outside or she will eat rocks dirt, and sticks.

She is very loud.  She likes to make lots of noise when she eats and she loves to laugh

She loves playing with Sawyer.  

She loves riding in our toy cars and frequently goes and sits in them when we are outside.  

She is a happy baby

She likes to explore the cupboards and drawers

She is so much fun to have around.  We love her with all of our hearts.  We makes us laugh daily. 

Seven Peaks

We have been itching for a little fun in the sun and since we have Pass of All Passes we headed up to Utah's "Big" beach Seven Peaks water park. We coordinated with my sisters and my mom to meet up with us.  Who wants to party alone, and we may have needed someone to watch the kids every once and a while so we could go on a grown up ride. 

When we got there we got a great place to set up camp thanks to Vanessa's friend Carolyn who joined the party.  We headed to the kid pool first.  Sawyer thought it was terrifying for some reason.  He normally likes water so who knows what the deal was.  Jaylee was loving being in the water.  She of course though had a floaty and it was nap time so the waves of the water were putting her to sleep.  We headed to the wave pool after and that for sure just lulled her to sleep so we put her in the stroller and my mom walked her around for a bit which did the trick.  Jaylee took a much needed nap while we all rode some rides.  

Sawyer discovered the little kids pool and was in heaven.  He loved the splashing without the water being really deep.  We rode rides most of the day.  When Jaylee woke up we took her a on few rides as well. When the kids from the sports camps and youth camps from BYU started showing up we decided to call it a day. The kids were tired and hungry anyways so we headed to the mother of all places to go after a long day of swimming "Chuck-A-Rama".  Sawyer fell asleep on the way there.  He was so tired.  I don't think he even made it out of the parking lot before he was sawing logs. 

Dinner was great and it was so much fun to get together and enjoy a day at the "beach", even if my feet were killing me.  Why does that always happen?  I unfortunately didn't get pictures at the "beach".  

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

Back in December I convinced my mom and sister, Krista, that we needed to run the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon.  Who wouldn't run a half marathon for only $35? (that was rhetorical, most people think we are crazy.) 

My mom and Krista had ran this race before and liked it but warned me that it kills your quads.  Actually anybody who has ever ran this race gave me the same advice, make sure you work on quad strengthening.  I thought "well, I have been doing the Squat Challenge with Travis I will be good.  Shoot, I just ran the Ragnar too, I can do anything." Wrong, I was so wrong. 

The night before we headed down to my Grandparents to meet up with everyone.  My Grandma, Jaylee, and I made the trek down to Cannonville to pick up our racing packets, while the men went fishing.  While driving down there I was scoping out the course, making sure there were plenty of restrooms- which there were every 2 miles, and what the terrain was like.  It didn't seem too bad.....in the car.  It was a fun little drive down but we got rained on.  I was worried we might get rain the next morning and I did not want to run 13.1 miles in the rain.  

My mom,Vanessa, and Krista made it to Grandma's in perfect timing to have a spaghetti dinner with us and compare notes.  We ended up going to bed way too late but oh well it was fun visiting with everybody.  Colby was even there with us. 4 in the morning came way too early.  Who gets up that early?  We loaded the kids in the car and were on our way in the dark, the race started at 6.  I was a little upset when I found this little fact out but afterwards I was so grateful that we started so early, it go HOT. 

Vanessa and Travis dropped us off at the starting line and headed down to the finish line before they closed the road.  They were armed with food, blankets, and an I Pad to keep the kids entertained. The starting line was exhilarating.  I love starting lines, so much anxious, excited energy. We actually ended up running into a few people we knew, Greg- my cousin and his brother in law, Nikki Richins, and Hillary and Cassidy Carter.  It was fun to know we were running with people we knew.  

So happy at the starting line

When we started it was a mad house.  It was so crowded.  We should have listened to my wise mother and got on the left side of the road.  We also noticed right before the gun that there were pacers.  I love me a pacer.  We realized we were way back with the 2:35 pacer so we tried to push our way forward but to no avail we got stuck by the 2:15 pacer. When the gun went off the masses started moving but very, very slowly.  Our first miles was 8:45 and it felt like we were barely moving.  I know I probably tripped a few people trying to get out of the pack but oh well.  Krista took off.  I tried to stay in front of my mom, which I did until mile 7.  That never happens so I was super excited.  

The first part of the hill is all downhill.  Not like a gradual downhill, like so steep your legs can't stop if you wanted them too.  You just gotta let gravity work its magic here and go with the flow.  As we were nearing mile 6 I could here talking behind me.  I recognized the voices and my mom and Greg.  I thought I could fend them off but to no avail they passed me when the course leveled out and we had to start going up and down hills.  I kept my mom in my sights but she ended up beating me.  I actually ran pretty close with Hillary and Cassidy.  It was fun to be by people I knew.  There was a lot of support along route from volunteers and townspeople. They even had a sprinkler you could run through if you wanted to.  All I though when passing the sprinkler was chafing.  Not a good thing. 

There goes Krista, notice how nobody is around here.  Apparently that happens when you are fast. 

I made it to the finish line and my little cheering crew brought me in.  It was fun to have Vanessa, Travis and the kids there.  Sawyer was really happy when he saw me.  He now asks when he can run a half marathon to get a cool metal.  

Did she even break a sweat? 

The finish line was awesome.  I was so tired though and stinky, just ask Vanessa who got stuck behind me in the car. Krista ended up taking 1st in her age group, and 9th overall female, and my mom got 1st in her age group too.  Sadly, I got 17th but the winner was in my group.  It is also the biggest age group and most competitive.  

We headed back to The Pines Restaurant to get some delicious pie to go.  We then headed back to good ol' Circleville.  When we got there the bikers were just going through for the awesome "Crusher in the Tushar" bike race.  We all decided to watch them go by and cheer them on.  It was amazing how fast those bikers were going.  It was fun to watch and sit down.  

The rest of the weekend was filled with good food, rubbing sore muscles, and trying to remember what if felt like to sit down or go up stairs without pain. 

There is my Mom leading the pack in gray

Sawyer's camera skills

Cheering Section

Krista was so tired she kept falling asleep talking to us

Cool Dude