Mid-June, I decided to run a half marathon. The race was scheduled for the end of June. I allowed myself two weeks of training. Brutal may be a bit exaggerated to describe the training, but it wasn’t easy.

The race started 7 miles or so up American Fork canyon. I was on a bus at 4:30am to get up to the starting line, where I sat for an hour. It was dark, and chilly – cold air floating from the reservoir and over the starting line.

I ran well downhill for those 7 miles. My pace was rocking (compared to my normal pace). Jeana and the kids were cheering for me at the mouth of the canyon. The feeling of support in a race is so motivating. Then, they’re gone, and the downhill is now flat. And your leg muscles are used to compensating on the downhill, and fatigue sets in.

Sure, all you marathoners are thinking, “Quit your whining!” Go ahead think that. For all you who don’t run half-marathons, I’ll accept your admiration of my perseverance. I finished the race in an acceptable time. I don’t remember what it was now, something like 1 hour 47 minutes.

My parents spent some time in Utah this summer, baby-sitting our oldest niece (who is now 22 years old). While they were in town, Jeana and the kids joined them at the zoo. They got a good laugh when a fountain sprayed Kate in the face.

We spent the 4th of July at Sundance resort. Our original plan to walk around the grounds and shops turned into a ride up the ski lifts, and then turned into an impromptu hike. How can you resist when it’s so beautiful up there?

While riding up the lift, we could see a fantastic waterfall off in the distance. Later we learned that this is Stewart Falls (and Jeana would hike it 37 weeks pregnant). Of course, we were not prepared with water, food, or even proper hiking footwear, but we decided to hike until we could get a good prospect of the falls.

The snow was packed really well, and the need for snowshoes was practically non-existent for most of the hike. That didn’t matter to us though. Occasionally, Adam and I would wander off the path just to feel the power of the snowshoes on the fluffy snow.

When we got up to the waterfall, it was almost completely frozen over. We have never been able to get this close. We walked right down to where the falls are and took some pictures.

Snowshoes have a claw positioned right under the ball of your feet to prevent sliding. I wanted to try skiing down to the waterfall area, so I had to lean back to keep the claw from digging into the snow.

Thanks Adam and Jamie for the fun day!

If I talk too much about goodbyes, it’ll make me sad… so, I’ll keep it short and sweet. Here’s Kate with her preschool teacher and Audrey with her second grade teacher.

Goodbye warm weather.  Goodbye Mockingbirds.

Goodbye to some of the best friends EVER! …and my favorite house we’ve ever had.

On the way, we saw a bunch of cotton fields, so we stopped to check it out.  It was freezing (at least what we thought was freezing then), but Audrey was a good sport and hopped out of the car with me.

We also saw this awesome shack that Audrey, again, indulged me in exploring.

We saw tons of oil drills and I thought it was a little odd to see the cotton all around it.  We also saw a few trains which Simon LOVED!

Goodbye Texas!  We’ll miss you.

Hello freezing Utah!

Jeana thought I looked funny wearing the baby carrying device (a.k.a. the Baby Bjornn). Her comment made me feel a little self-conscious, but then I saw another dad wearing one too, and my masculinity returned. I later saw a picture of a friend wearing one, which confirmed that, YES, it is acceptable for dads to utilize such a practical resource.

Audrey took a picture of the spire with Angel Moroni on top.

Granddaughters

There were plenty of rides for Audrey and Kate to enjoy and they had plenty of cousins to hang out with on these rides.

Kate and Audrey on the Boat Ride

The bumper car experience deserves some mention here. Kate really had no idea what to do. Apparently the rider of the car was supposed to turn the wheel to get the car moving, but that was the last thing in Kate’s mind out there. The operator of the ride had to stop everyone multiple times to ask Kate to sit properly in her car and remind her to turn her wheel. Kate ended up trapping Peter at one point, or I should say that Peter’s car happened to get positioned next to Kate’s stationary car.

Kate in a Bumper Car

Audrey was excited to go on the Dinosaur Drop. This ride lifts you up in the air, rotates, then drops and leaves your stomach up in the air. Kate hated this ride! She wailed and wailed and made me look like the best parent in the world for making her go on the ride.

Scott and Kate Getting Ready to Drop

Jeana and Audrey Waiting for the Dinosaur Drop

I went on this roller coaster with Audrey and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t designed for anyone older than the age of 10. I wedged myself in on a tight angle and tried to get the bottom side of my legs as close to the seat as possible.

Wedging into the Roller Coaster with Audrey

Roller Coaster with Audrey

Audrey came on the Rattlesnake Rapids ride with us and Jeana told her that if she felt scared to just scream like her aunt Gina. We approached a dark corridor and Audrey started screaming with a shrill high pitched sound and her face looked horrified. I had the hardest time not laughing.

Embracing Rattlesnake Rapids

I took a picture of the trailer so I would know how to put all the boats back on in the correct place.

The Boats

Kate sitting at the dock in a canoe waiting for Jeana and her cousin Holland.

Kate in the Canoe

Touching the buoy. Holland is a cousin, seated between Audrey and Kate in the picture.

Touching a buoy out on the water

Jeana demonstrating her kayaking prowess. She recently took lessons from someone in Austin.

Jeana in a kayak

Me trying to look like I know what I’m doing.

Scott in the kayak

Taking the canoe back across the reservoir to load on the trailer. This canoe, “Old Town”, was very tipsy. I didn’t like it. I don’t think anyone took it out on the water (other than me getting it from the dock to where we were stationed).

Audrey, Kate, and Jeana at Arches

Kate hiking to see Delicate Arch

When we would stop to take a drink break, I would realize how steep the trail was we were hiking on. Imagine having “little girl” legs hiking up a steep trail!

Audrey and Kate with Delicate Arch

It seemed like every Utah license plate we saw for the rest of the trip was acknowledged by Audrey yelling, “I see the arch!”

Audrey hiking after Delicate Arch

Kate dying of thirst in Arches

Balanced Rock

When I was about 8 years old my family went to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. We stopped at Arches National Park and the two things I remember from that stop were red gravel/dirt and Balanced Rock. The scenery in Arches is absolutely incredible, and none of the photos we took adequately express the beauty.

Audrey sat at the piano with me tonight singing. We sang “A Whole New World” from the movie “Aladdin” and when we finished I looked at Kate who was dancing and playing nearby. Kate and gone up to her room and come back with small little figurines of Aladdin and Jasmine so that she could play along with us.

Karen, our sister-in-law, took these pictures of Audrey and Kate while they were playing in a park in Park City while we were at the reunion.

Melt factor #1

Melt factor #2

In the past when we would get together we would play Halo or Nascar until early into the morning. This year we did it the first night. When Jeana’s dad made the wake up call for golfing the next morning before 6am we all realized video games were not worth the late nights since we wanted to golf.

We did get introduced to a fun new game called “What Were You Thinking.” Most of us played this game every night instead of video games.

We like the movie “The Sound of Music” and especially the Do-re-mi song. Right about the time this picture was taken, Jeana rode up by me singing, “Sew, a needle pulling thread” like the scene when Maria is riding bikes with the Von Trapp kids.

We discovered a bike park with some large jumps. On our way back to the condo, Garrett, Bryan, and I stopped to ride at the park. I was extremely chicken due to a recent crash. Garrett got some really good air though. There is a video of us, but you really can’t see us (I mean Garrett) getting the air.