Road Trippin’

I have this weird love of Utah. I have really great memories (and some not so hot ones too) from my BYU days. I love being around all the Mormons and not feeling like a complete weirdo for having more than one child. I love how nice the people are, how family oriented most of the state is, and the mountains. I always forget how much I love hiking until I’m back in Utah. I was pretty outdoorsy when I lived in Utah, I miss that. So it didn’t take much arm twisting when Anna talked to me about carpooling for a trip in early June. We piled our kids in my car and off we went! Anna was a fantastic co-pilot. We both understand what its like to be the co-pilot (the constant snack hand outs, the movie changes, the  activity dispersmenting (is that a word?) etc.). She was really easy to travel with.

We split the drive into 2 days, stopping in Las Vegas to spend the night at Anna’s parents house. Thank you Christensens! The second day was our 6 hour drive and I have to admit that when kids fall asleep there is a certain peace that swells within my heart. Aren’t they angels? hehe…

Anna headed off to her brother’s house and I went to my friend’s, Mari and Josh. Ethan and Luke became best buds with Mari’s nephews (who conveniently live downstairs) Tyler and Travis. We went to the Bean Museum and checked out the cool animal displays. The kids got to pet a snake and check out some aligator hides. Capturing a picture where everyone stays still for longer than a second and looks into the camera was near to impossible. Sorry Luke!


Lunch at BYU’s duck pond proved to be prophecy fulfilled when Luke fell and scraped his leg. I had to take a picture and text it to Steve. Poor Luke, it was a nasty scrape.

Josh and Mari had a cool tire swing in their back yard. Ethan and Sadie loved taking turns on it.

We went on a hike up Provo Canyon on Saturday morning.

I actually got Sadie to wear her sunglasses for a little while.

Then the boys found walking sticks and even Sadie had to have one. They did pretty well on the hike, I was impressed.

Unfortunately, we had to cut our trip short when my boys got a nasty stomach bug and were throwing up. I got afraid I might catch it and not be able to drive home and then miss Steve’s birthday. And I don’t like being in someone else’s house with sick kids, especially since I wasn’t sure if this was contagious. We now think that maybe our kids get altitude sickness. Anyone know anything about that? So I headed home. We didn’t get to see everyone we wanted to or go to Temple Square like I wanted to but oh well. Maybe I’ll get enough courage to try again soon. The drive home wasn’t as bad as I expected. Thankfully no one puked but California definitely needs to make the drive between state line and Barstow more than two lanes! The traffic is ridiculous!

All about a boy

Boys and girls are different, we all know that right? They play different too but sometimes that play can overlap. Like when my sister found Ethan and his cousin Ellie playing. They were being really good parents and tending to their children. They have good models to emulate…haha. Ethan’s future wife will be happy to know that he is willing to help out with the feeding schedule…probably with a bottle though.

Sometimes skin gets dry and you need to lube it up with lotion. Especially little boys who let it go until their skin starts cracking. I felt bad I had never noticed it until he complained of some pain. This little boy let’s his hands “air out” after putting lotion on, he doesn’t want to get it all over his sheets. This was how we found him when we were going to bed and doing the rounds of checking on everyone. I went to bed with a smile on my face.

Ethan is a super hero with super hero strengths! Like extra teeth! Three front teeth for a while because his baby tooth just wouldn’t fall out. Its gone now but he’s still a super hero!

Lastly, a picture of all the Powers side cousins and my parents. They are getting big so fast!

65.5 plus 31

That’s how many miles I’ve run total in the five half marathons I’ve done since 2007. I did the Laguna Hills Half Marathon again this Memorial Day. This race really is beautiful, I think this will be my regular race on Memorial Day. I finished in 2 hours and 15 minutes. I was a little disappointed with that time because I was trying to beat my last time of 2:14 from January’s Carlsbad Half. Unfortunately, I had a hip injury that I wasn’t able to treat completely before the race. Oh well. Hopefully next time I can hang with the 2:10 crowd. My sister Evelyn decided to run with me just two days before the race! She didn’t train at all and still ran right by my side. She’s a stud, what can I say?

Finish time

Avg Pace of 10:09 and 1599 calories burned! Sweeeeeet!

Ev and I after crossing the finish line.

Luke did his own race today, the Sonora Elementary Jog-a-thon! He ran and ran and ran! Go Luke!

And sometimes he walked too.

When it was all over he had completed 31 laps, way to go!!

Then it was time to sit and sip some water and, like any good runner, eat a banana. But boys can’t help being a little goofy too, especially when its Luke, Matthew (his best bud) and Aaron. Its always more fun to run a race with friends.