catch up continues - here's july 2008

I promised I would continue catching up on my blogging, if only to share the pictures with our families back in Utah. I actually did a pretty good job with July, but here's what I missed. . .

The first weekend in July brought the blessing of baby Sam, one of the newest Ortho babies. Afterward we enjoyed a lovely lunch in Hunt's Point. We love a party at the Daines' place!

Jess, Mandy, Randi, Mary, Carly, & Sam

Christian, Aaron, & Brian

This could be a Ralph Lauren advertisement if it wasn't for the pants. Seriously, what's up with the pants, James?

Oh yeah, that's what's up with the pants. You can't go down to the lake in the Daines' backyard without taking a dip!

Mr. No Pants Magoo

The handsomest goofballs who ever lived!

Another fun attraction just north of the Seattle area is the Kangaroo Farm. What a farm of kangaroos, lemurs, wallabies, wallaroos, and ostriches is doing in Western Washington is beyond me. But we thought we might as well visit them as not. It was a good excuse to hang out with the Clarks and the Myrups. And the kids went nuts over all the animals!

James and a wallaby.

Addy feeding a wallaby.

Ha! This wallaby's name was Boomer!

Addy was not at all afraid of the animals (like James), even though he looks hesitant with this kangaroo, whose name was Cheryl Tiegs.

Part of our motley crew (where are Jake and Logan?).

Visiting Jetty Island is one of our favorite summer pastimes! This was our first trip of three this summer. You take a 30-second ferry ride to a sand bar in Puget Sound where the water is extremely shallow and warm for quite a ways out. The kids can run out as far as they like without too much worry. It is the best sand in the region, too. We love Jetty Island!

Addy did NOT like being covered in sand and wanted me to "get it off!"

There now, don't you feel better that you've been caught up on our July?

what goes up must come down--like it or not

It's over. It's finally over. Maybe this isn't the best day to blog about the Top of Utah Marathon, but I wanted to share pics with Cree who was, of course, unable to join us. But I'm still a little grouchy about this, my second-slowest race.

Paige and I signed up for it when we were the only two members of the family not to get a spot in our beloved St. George Marathon. From mile 1, this marathon had a lot to live up to. The boys and I made the trek out to Utah a few days earlier, and my parents were so gracious to watch them while we went up to Logan the night before. Jody joined us as our support person (thanks, Jode!), and we spent the night in a charming bed and breakfast just blocks from the finish line. We got Olive Garden take out, walked around TJ Maxx, and splurged on Ben & Jerry's. Kind of like a mini girls trip! So fun. Too bad we had to get up at 5:00am and run 26.2 miles!
Training this year was hard on me. The long runs were almost impossible to schedule with Christian working so much, and my medium-long runs were few and far between. In fact, I did about half my training on the treadmill, which is, for me, the worst way to train. Running alone is hard, too. I lost my running partner Kay when she moved to Taiwan last year and never found another. Christian actually got me out to do quite a few shorter runs with him (thanks, Love!), which was fun, but even pushing the jogging stroller he leaves me in the dust. With no one to talk to, I start talking to myself in my head. It only makes me feel slightly crazy. I am not a competitive person, but I find myself becoming oddly competitive with other runners on the trail, talking to them in my head as well. Each person who passes me at a quicker clip I pretend to remind them, "You may be going faster than me, but I'm on mile 18 of 20, and you're going a mere three miles today. Take that, Speedy Gonzales." So not me! But all that goes away during the marathon, since we're all in the same boat, and I'm slower than most. I have no room to talk, even to myself. After all that lonely training, I was so excited to run the race with Paige. We hardly get to see each other, and we had trained about the same amount, so I was hopeful we could stay together through most of the race.

We started at Hardware Ranch up Blacksmith Fork Canyon near Logan, Utah. Our fleece went unused--it wasn't the chilly 20° we expected. More like 45°. Warmer than St. George's start! The beginning of the course was beautiful. The changing leaves and flowing stream were diverting. The winding downhill seemed fast and easy. Good conversation rendered our iPods unnecessary until mile 17. And the best part? The oranges! Orange slices are so refreshing during a difficult run. They only offer them at one or two stops during St. George, but they had them at almost every aid station in this race. That scored seriously high in my book.

The first half of the race was so great. It would make an awesome half-marathon (there actually is a half marathon--too bad I didn't sign up for that instead!). Unfortunately, just after halfway we entered the valley and began running through neighborhoods on a flat, uninteresting route. That was the race's only downfall. And I guess you could say this is when I lost it. Paige still had it, but I could not help but walk every half mile. She was in my sights, but I couldn't summon the energy to catch up to her. Blessed girl, she waited for me on several occasions, and we were together until mile 23. That's when I started to get emotional, and that is not a good thing. One thought of the finish line, seeing my family, or just stopping, and I literally get choked up, my throat closing off and my lungs beginning to tighten. I can't breathe, which triggers another walk break. I know this about myself, but it happens every year. My thighs and calves were cramping, despite the Icy-Hot, and the bottoms of my feet felt like raw hamburger. The altitude (5500-4500 feet compared to Seattle's sea level) was a killer on my lungs. I felt like I could not get a deep breath the entire time. Then, I watched at mile 25 as a 65+ year-old couple, an older man leaning heavily to the right as if he was about to fall over, and a woman who had speed-walked the entire race passed me by. At 26 a well-meaning spectator shouted, "Only .2 more to go!" I wanted to slap her. You have no idea how difficult that .2 are when you've already run an excruciating 26 miles. It's torture.

But then, I saw my dad and James. James ran out and grabbed my hand, pulling me along as he ran by my side. Then he just took off, running at a pace I couldn't possibly match, looking as if he was about to win a gold medal. Around the corner was Addy with my mom, Lind, and Jody. Hooray! And none of them told me I was almost there. Thank you! Addy ran out and grabbed my other hand and we ran after James.

It was so fun to cross the finish line with my boys, even though I was sad to be a half hour behind my anticipated time. We had ice cream sandwiches and fishy crackers and the boys told me all about the dinosaur museum they attended with Grandma and Grandpa the night before. Their sweet faces made the whole thing worth it. I just want to thank Peen for being such a great running partner, friend, and sister. I could not have finished this race without her. She made the first 17 miles fly by, and got me to run when I didn't think I could. And she did so great! She met the goal we made together when we were feeling a little behind at mile 13. I'm sorry I couldn't stick with you, but I'm so thankful for all those miles I could. Thanks for getting me through my 6th and second-hardest marathon! Love you, pal!
P.S. Tonight we had a bite to eat at 5 Guys Burgers. The best part of running a marathon is being able to eat this with a big Coke and not feel one ounce of guilt.

i'm a terrible blogger - here's june 2008

I'm only a little depressed that summer is officially over. We're making the most of the warm weather by going camping, swimming, and having a few final BBQs before school starts. We've been so busy all summer doing all sorts of fun things, but I've been terrible at posting, and now I'm so far behind! Plus I've put my posts at Little Birdie Secrets before this blog, which is paying off (thanks so much to everyone who has supported the new blog!). But I still feel bad I've missed all these fun memories. To play catch up, I thought I'd do a post for each month of the summer. So here goes. . .

June. . .

June started out COLD, so one day we went with some friends to the Children's Museum in Everett.

The boys climbed walls,

got wet,

played hide-and-seek,

dressed up,

(can you tell which profession James would be more comfortable in?)and used scissors. Okay, sounds like a typical day at home, but it was way more exciting! Thanks Jenny & Ashley!*
For our girls' night we had a "wrap and roll" party at Stacy's.
She taught us how to make lettuce wraps, spring rolls, and egg rolls. YUM! (Okay, she and her mom did all of the cooking and the rest of us did all the eating. Sorry Stace! But we love you!)Even better than the food, though, was the conversation. I stayed way too late talking, which Christian probably didn't appreciate. He even took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's with Ryan and his kids. We have amazing husbands.
*
James started swimming lessons!
This was such a good thing for him. He (like me) is not a huge fan of water. At least not of going under it. He used to freak out when we washed his hair in the bath, which is how we knew it was time. Here's a video of the first day when he teacher asked him to put his face in the water. He was so brave--you can see
it was pretty scary for him!


*

Then Uncle Boy came to visit! Sorry all you other uncles, Uncle Boy is still the reigning "favorite uncle" in our house. He wrestled with the boys, read them stories, and took them out to McDonald's and to see WALL*E. And don't forget the movie meals that mom and dad will never buy. No wonder he's the favorite! He's my favorite, too--he took us out for sushi!

Man it was good! This is our new favorite sushi joint (thanks for the recommendation, Dr. Weisstein)!Then Uncle Boy came to visit swimming lessons! He bought Addy some M&Ms. Another reason he's the favorite.

Here's a video from the last day of swimming lessons. Look at the improvement! He's reaching down in the water to grab a diving ring. It took him a few tries and a lot of encouragement before this, but he got it, and he was SO proud of himself!

*
We spent a lot of time at the spray pad near our house, too. It just opened this summer and it's the perfect way to stay cool! I don't have to get in my swimming suit and they can go from the water to the sandbox to the playground in one trip! Does it get any better? I mean especially about not getting in a swim suit. . .


*
This was definitely one of the highlights of the summer. Jelly-filled-doughnut-making. We got together with some friends to learn how to make them and combined it with FHE. That way the husbands could watch the kids while we dealt with hot oil and ooey-gooey fillings. They were so good--lemon, raspberry, and Boston creme.

Stacy was the doughnut baker, Jess was the glazer,

and Emily and I filled and frosted. Don't ask me how many I ate.
I'll never tell.This Emily was a fan of the chocolate and creme,

and so was James, mostly because it had sprinkles.

So there you have it--the lost days of June 2008. Now you're all caught up. That wasn't so bad, was it? Look for July and August, coming soon! (Think kangaroos and floating lanterns. . .)