Dirty Dash!

A few weeks ago Dave, Josh and most of my siblings and my mom had a unique Saturday morning.  They participated in the Dirty Dash.  The Dirty Dash is a 10K race.  Now it is not your typical race because this race is all about the dirt.  Wet dirt to be exact.  MUD.   

The course is mud, slides, water, marshes, snow, and other obstacles all wrapped into 6.2 miles of fun!  The race took place in beautiful Soldier Hollow where some of the Olympic events took place 9 years ago. 

  

Mitch and Haley were voted most creative for their costumes.  Of course I was the only one voting.  

 Here is Mitch as Superman!  Notice the cute curl!

Here is the clean crew at the beginning of the race.   The t-shirts say We're Great but No One Knows It.  It was our family theme about 30 years ago.  It came from a Girl's Camp song.   Please notice Jacob's short shorts.  Very 1980's Jacob. 

 You start the race by hiking up a huge mud hill which was very slippery.  Apparently Josh was tackled in the first few minutes by Andrew.  At the top of the hill they sprayed all the racers with a fire hose.  So you were cold from the very beginning.  

Not too dirty yet.  The middle kids.  B. Rad, Alli and Andrew.  (Tricia doesn't count as a middle because she thought she was my twin from the very beginning)

 Tricia is doing some kind of Dirty Dash strut here.  They were hiking through one of the muddy rivers.  

 A big mud hole in the road.  Part of the fun was you never knew how deep the puddle was at any given point.  You could be walking next to someone and they disappear up to their neck.  See how muddy Andrew is compared to Brandon.   

 Alli with some stylin glasses.  She was the brave one who took a camera in several ziploc baggies so we could have some pictures of the actual race.  Thanks Alli.  

 Here is one of the least favorite obstacles.  You had to climb through the mud filled tube.  That wasn't the bad part.  

The bad part was that on the other end they were spraying out snow from their snow maker machine. They were freezing cold at this point.  

 They look happy here.  You will see that in the background there is a woman running.  Some people took this race very seriously.

 Here you had to either climb over or under these walls.  This is Alli going under but trying to keep as clean as possible. 

 Here are the boys.  You can see that even when it is not an obstacle it is still a big mud slop of a road. 

 This was their least favorite part of the course.  These are sewer pipes that they are crawling over.  Thye determined this by the horrible smell all around them!  Of course this is the place that Alli slipped into a hole and went in over her head!   NAAAASSSTTTYY!

 Here is the snack station.  Yum!  Muddy jello.  

One of the last obstacles is the giant slide.  Only Dave flew down this thing.  Everyone else had to inch their way down.  (This isn't actually Dave flying.  People can't fly.)

 The kids waited at the big mud pond at the finish line. 

 They collected water balloons to throw at their parents.  They were so excited! 

The racers all waited for each other at the slide so they could finish together.  The first ones in were Josh and Jacob.  (Of course)

 Jenn, B. Rad, Tricia, Andrew, Brandon and Dave were next.  I love how Tricia seems to be trying to be careful going in.  She didn't want to get dirty I suppose...

 The last ones in were Haley, Alli, Mom and Mitch.  

 Wow.  Mom.  You really do not fit in with this crowd!  They are all smiles though except Dave.  

 You see Dave couldn't see.  He was completely blind.  He didn't even know which way to go to get out.  

 B. Rad, Brandon (Who lost a contact)

 Jenn, Mitch,

 Josh,  my baby,

 Mom and Tricia

 Dave still blind.  Mom.

Mitch, Alli, Tricia

 Jenn, Andrew.

 Mitch and Haley

Here is the after photo.

What a fun day for us all!  Thanks Sara and B.Rad!   

Now I am going to post the full video (3 minutes) on youtube for the family to see how lovely they look.  It is too big for blogger.  But I need to preface by telling you that I was holding 2 cameras.  One took all of the pictures that you see above.  The other was my attempt to film but it was really more of a chest cam.  The video camera just rested on my chest and whatever it captures is what you get.  I edited out my running because it would have just made you motion sick.

The Talent Abounds

We are starting a new tradition in the Rencher family. We are doing a Girl's Night Out once a month. We are taking turns planning it and I was in charge this time. We had a wonderful night a couple weekends ago! We followed President Uchtdorf"s advice and decided to create something. My talented and amazing friend/boss, Sandra Rast agreed to teach us how to oil paint. So we went to her art studio/home and had a great time painting our still life!Jenn getting comfy. Here is her masterpiece! She was not only talented but quick also.Tricia taking this very seriously. She also was the master of bold color! Sara doubting that it will actually end up looking like a flower! But look how great her flowers turned out!Mom the artist! Mom's shadows were fantastic! Here is Alli and Haley. After we finished painting (about midnight!) We critiqued each other's paintings! Here is Alli's. I loved her leaves and her cloth especially.We voted that Haley's won the show's Grand Prize! Here is mine. I like my purple flower.

We all decided that we would leave the painting to the professionals but I think we all had a fun time despite the moments of frustration!

One last deep thought. Although we were all looking at the same exact still life not one of us painted the same painting! All of them were completely different and yet all of them were correct. Alli could barely see the hot pink flower that was the focus of my painting! Kinda like life.

The Holiday in August!

I wake up every year on August 1st and announce to anyone who will listen (thanks Joe-Joe!) that it is My Birthday Month! All my life I used to joke that August was the only month without a major holiday in it and that someday when I had fulfilled my destiny that my birthday would become the August holiday. Suffice it to say having my family and loved ones practice this eventuality wears thin on them! The young women were good sports though singing to me every week! (This month is such a special one. It's birthday time for you....) It was really only one. My husband gets a bit tired of doing all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, dishes and such but really it is my birthday month! Oh wait he does that every month! Ha-ha. Just kidding Mom. I help. Sometimes. Back to the holiday. I am not sure what to call it yet but already practice for this celebration has begun. School started on my birthday. The boys say that the best gift they can give me is to leave me alone for several hours. It sure didn't seem like several hours. My family has a tradition that they call each other on their birthdays to say "hi" and "glad you're around". Sometimes someone forgets (that's ok you guys, I only cried for a few minutes) but that is part of the fun. We get together every now and then and say "So, who forgot you?" It really helps with the family unity thing.

Don't read this next part if you think I only write about sad stuff.

I mean it Tricia!

This tradition also made for a sad few minutes on my birthday. My dad, you see, used to be the first to call. He would sometimes call at 5:00 in the morning in order to be the first. It was horrible. I remember telling him I was going to take my phone off the hook. Anyway when I finally sat down at about 10:30 am. I couldn't figure out why I was so sad. Then the realization hit me and I cried out "My dad didn't call me for my birthday!" I cried for a while over that one. I will miss him telling the story about my birth and the poor man who had been in the waiting room all night waiting for the birth of his child and how I came in a few hours. I will miss him telling me the story of Mom asking if he had seen me yet and when she commented about how beautiful I was he went back to the nursery because he was sure they had shown him the wrong baby. Aw, Dad. I missed your stupid early morning call.You may read again, free from emotion. Tricia don't say I didn't warn you.

The other tradition that we fight but secretly must like is that Mom makes us all go around the circle and tell each other why we love the birthday person. I told Dave that I wasn't going to let her do that this birthday. I didn't want it. I wasn't in a good place for it. (what in the world does that mean, anyway?) Despite my protests it happened anyway and thanks to my sweet family I did feel very loved. I really should have written them all down so I could read them whenever I needed a little pick me up. Let me see if I can remember them...

• Mitch: I love Kelli because she makes a mean meatloaf.
• Haley: I love Kelli because she gave me $5 for a movie. Once. A long time ago.
• Alli: I love Kelli so much I put her on my Do Not Call List. Teasing Alli.
• Sara: I love Kelli because she is the best kite maker. Ever.
• Brad: I love Kelli because she has blue eyes.
• Brandon: I love Kelli because she knows movie lines from Star Wars.
• Tricia: I love Kelli because her legs don't look as good as mine.
• Mom: I love Kelli because she does a good job keeping plants alive.

Aren't they wonderful! Can you see know why I love my birthday month so much! Andrew and Jenn were missing but don't worry I will hit them up later!Josh took this picture. Two questions. Can you tell I spent a good hour crying? Be honest. yeah. I thought so. Second question what is up with pointing my toes like that. I did it here also. Strange. Goodbye August! I will miss you! Dave won't.