Happy 4th of July!!

I started my 4th of July out by running the Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run in Hyrum. It was a 9.3 mile race. This was my first year running it, and I thought it was a really fun race. Shawn brought the kids over to watch me. After my race we headed up Blacksmith Fork Canyon and went 4-wheeling. This was Brooklyn's 1st official long ride. She did so good! She didn't like her helmet very much though. We had a really fun time 4-wheeling. Keegan, of course, had to stop and pick flowers for me everytime we stopped. I'm thankful for this country that we live in and that we are able to enjoy the things that we do and our freedom to do just about anything.

My Wasatch Back Relay Race

Well, I survived running the Wasatch Back Relay Race. We started in Logan and we ended in Park City. It was an awesome experience! There were a few times as I was running that I thought "What in the heck am I doing???" I'll break down each leg.

Leg 1: (6.9 miles)

We started in Logan. The first runner in our van started the race at 1:00 p.m. I rode along in the van. We would drive about 2 miles ahead, then wait for our runner to see if they needed water or anything. I also took alot of pictures. My first leg started around 6:10 p.m I finished running up Avon Pass about 1 1/2 miles then the rest of my leg was pretty much downhill. (I don't know how Kim ran over 7 miles of that Avon Pass uphill!! You go girl!) The hard part about this leg was I was on a dirt road for the first 4 miles. There were so many loose rocks that I kept thinking I am going to break my ankle! I couldn't wait till I got to the pavement, but once I did it wasn't much better. It was so hot; atleast on the dirt road I was pretty much in shade. I was soaked because I kept pouring my water bottles on me just to help me cool down. Anyway, I was almost done and I looked over on the side of the road and there were my parents, Jason, Julian, Jesse, TyiAnn, & Danielle. They had come to cheer me on. They probably won't ever know how much that strengthened me to have that support!! Thanks for coming to cheer me on!!

What we did while van 2 ran:

I was the last runner in our van so after my leg we hung out at Liberty Park for awhile to cool down. I visited with my family. We were supposed to eat a pasta dinner there, but they had run out of food. So we went to a place to grab a hamburger. We then drove to where we thought we were supposed to go. After driving for awhile and not seeing any other runners or drivers we knew we must be lost!! So we turned around and went back. We went probably about 10 or 11 miles in the totally opposite direction. We called the other van to let them know we would probably be late for our exchange point. Luckily we made it on time and we were able to get our first runner going again. This was around 10:30 p.m so we hadn't had a very long break.

Leg 2: (5.2 miles)

I had tried to sleep in the van, but I had so much adrenaline or something going through me so I wasn't tired. My leg started around 2:15 a.m This was one of my favorite legs even though it was pretty much all uphill. The first few miles were a gradual uphill, but it was dark so I really couldn't see much. I didn't even know I was running uphill till my calves started burning! There was a full moon and I was running in East Canyon up to the reservoir. Towards the end I had a pretty good hill. I kept going and then I came up to another good hill. After I got to the top of those two hills, I thought I'm almost done. The rest will be flat. WRONG!! I had a bit of gradual road and then I remember going around a curve and I could see a gigantic hill with headlamps(what we were wearing on our heads) and headlights going up. I thought for sure I wouldn't have to go up that. I thought my exchange would be at the bottom. WRONG!! So I started up the hill. I ran up as far as I could, and then I had to walk up it a bit. It was really steep. I told Shawn later that what helped get me up it was at the bottom of the hill, the song "Eye of the Tiger" came on my MP3 player. Just hearing that song (and throwing a few Rocky punches) helped!! hehehe. We got done aroung 3:20 a.m and then our van headed to the motel in Coalville to shower and sleep till our van started again at 8 a.m in the morning.

The motel:

After arriving at the hotel, we all showered and tried to sleep. I think it was aroung 4:30 or 4:45 a.m before I went to bed. And then we were back up at 7a.m. Yeah, I know a little over 2 hours of sleep!!! CRAZY!! Then we were off again to our next exchange point.

Leg 3: (3.6 miles)

My body must have been trying to tell me something this morning. I woke up feeling a little sick to the stomach. I thought I'll be okay. So we started going again. My third leg started around 12:15 p.m I started running and I knew it would be a long run. I was running down a long, long stretch of dirt road. I had stomach cramps and every time I took a step it hurt! But I knew the faster I got done the sooner it would be over with. My van wasn't allowed to follow me cause they had part of the road closed, so all I had with me was a half full bottle of water. It was so hot so I kept pouring it over me, but I knew I needed to save some in case if I got thirsty. Towards the end of the dirt road I saw a large water sprayer truck coming our way. He was spraying the road to help control the dust. He saw me and a guy runner that was ahead of me and he turned off his sprayer trying to be nice. The runner in front gave the thumbs up sign to him so he turned the sprayers back on and thank goodness. We got drenched!! It felt so good though, plus it helped save some of my water. After the dirt road, I was running through residential areas until my leg finished at the high school there in Heber. I was so glad that my last leg was an easy leg because I was exhausted by then. After my leg, we were done!! So we went into the school and showered then we went and ate. Then drove to Park City and waited for 5 hours or so till van 2 was done. We were able to cross the finish line all together as a whole team, so it was really neat.

The End:

After crossing the finish line we got team pictures, and then started our drive back home. Our official time was 28:44:15:0 Yes, it took us 28 hours to finish and about 2 hours of sleep. The motto for this race is "Run .Drive. Sleep? Repeat." Yeah, that's about how it is. We finished about 290 out of 545 teams overall. And in our co-ed open division we finished about 97 of 210 teams so about right in the middle. I think we did really well. We stayed about right on with our estimated time. I know there was a team at my 3rd leg that told me they were about 2 hours behind. I had a really fun time doing this. If I do it again, I'll know better what to train for. Thanks team for letting me be a part of this!! Thanks Shawn for taking care of the kids again and the support you give to me!!!

Keegan's swim lessons

This was Keegan's second year taking swim lessons. He is quite the little fish! He just swim, swim, swims! He was so brave and would jump off the diving board all by himself and then swim to side of the pool by himself. He loved going down the slide too! When swim lessons was over I had a hard time convincing him to get out of the water. He loved swimming.

Shawntae's swim lessons

Well, we've spent the last two weeks doing swim lessons. The kids had a blast. They were both able to learn so much. Shawntae has come a long ways. The past few years she has been so scared of the water because she fell in years ago. She still got nervous a few times this session, but atleast she would try. And she even swam in the deep end!! She really did a great job!

Keegan's t-ball

Keegan is done playing t-ball. Last Wednesday was his last game. After the game, he got a trophy. He is so proud of his trophy! He enjoyed playing(even though he was picking flowers most of the time in the outfield!) It was fun to watch him learn.

Update!

Well, we've been keeping buisy these past few months with dance competitions and graduations. Now the kids & Shawn have all started softball games. So Monday through Thursday we're at the ball diamonds. I just got back last week from Young Women girls' camp. We went for 5 days to Heber Valley Campground. It was a really nice place to be & hey we got cabins and running water!! Thanks honey for all you did to keep the fort running while I was gone!! Thanks mom for all the help with the kids!!! The kids will start swimming lessons next week. They are really excited. My Wasatch Back Relay is next weekend. 8 days away. I can't believe it!! I'm excited. I hope it will be fun!! I'm runner #6 so my first leg is 6.9 miles, my 2nd leg is 5.2 miles & my 3rd leg is 3.6 miles. I'm not sure what times I'll be running yet. I can't wait to post pictures.

Brooklyn has been growing like a weed! She's a buisy body and keeps us going! She'll be two in September. Time is flying. She's starting to talk a lot more now(especially since we've been trying to take her binky away during the daytime hehehe). She's got quite the attitude! Her newest word is 4-wheeler. I know; her dad is sure proud!!!

Shawntae's dance revue

Shawntae had her dance revue on May 20th, 2008. She did such a good job. They had their first clog competition in Taylorsville on April 19, 08. Her class got 1st places on both of their dances there. Then they had a clog competition on May 17, 08 at Lagoon. It was the Nationals. They got a 1st and a 2nd place. They did such a good job. It was fun to see how much they have learned. She really likes to clog. Her clog partner is KyLynn Rees, her cousin.

Keegan's preschool graduation

Keegan's preschool graduation was on May 19, 08. He was so exicted to graduate from preschool, and he's excited to start kindergarten this fall. I don't know if mom is quite ready yet! I can't believe he'll be starting kindergarten already!!