Hiking!

So, as you may know, I love to go on trail runs! And, Eagle Mountain has some of the best trails I've run. There is one trail (hill) that I had wanted to run for years, and then a good friend of mine, told me that she ran it, and loved it! So, I went for a run up the road that it was on, and decided to try it! Now, it is my favorite thing to run, and I try to do it every week. It is about a mile up, and it has awesome, yet very deceiving switchbacks. Once you get to the top, you are awestruck by the view!
Now that you have some background on the trail, I will get on with my blog....
This week, Adam has been in Cedar City for the SUU girl's soccer camp, and I was determined to keep the kids as active and busy as possible, so that they would have a fun week, but also so that they would crash at night :). So, I decided to take them on a hike up the hill, on Tuesday. Here are the pics...

In the car, all ready to go....(This was before I bucked them :) )

I wanted to take a picture at the start, but Azure was ready to get on with it!...

Right off the bat, we spotted an ant hill, and had to stop and take a look. Of course, they all wanted to "stomp it." This gave me a good chance to talk about ants, and what hard workers they are, etc., etc.....needless to say, it did not get "stomped."

Then, we heard a helicopter, and had to watch it pass over us....one of the perks of living close to an army base :)


Up, we go....(Now Azure is mesmerized by all the cool rocks)

Speaking of rocks...check out the cool moss!

The kids loved to turn around to see how "small" the van was getting!

They just saw a lizard!

Ace was such a good little helper! He was so good with her, that she kept on asking for him, and wouldn't let me hold her. She walked a lot of the way! Bot bad for a 20 month old!


They all wanted to hold hands up the steep parts...


We found flowers....check out Aussie in the background (he was mad that he didn't find it first)

The race to the top!

Again, Aussie was complaining....he must be 3, or something....:).....In all honesty, he walked the entire way, and was really pretty good!

At the very top!

Check out those AWESOME trails! A runner's dream!

The view of Eagle Mountain City Center...


The descent. They all found walking sticks!

Back to the van! They loved it so much, that every morning following, they asked to go to the hike again!

So.....Today, my mom and brother, Kett, came up to visit. Here is my mom with Azure...

Kett being a great helper!

Aspen sprinting to, what SHE thought was the top....only to find that we had a ways to go...

Finding more walking sticks....Aspen was very difficult to please when it came to the walking sticks. She threw many of them off to the side, because she wanted the "perfect one." My mom was very patient with her. It was very nice to have her there...

All along the way, my mom would name all of the plants along the way. I wish I could tell you the name of this flower....it was very pretty, though...



Aussie had difficulty on the way up, but was loving the downhill! He was in first place (for the first part of the descent, anyway)....

Azure stopping to look at the rocks some more...


My mom was such a good citizen, in that she collected garbage along the way!....


It was such a fun time, and I can't wait to take the kids on it, again!...

Pictures from Utah Valley Half

Here are 2 pictures from the Utah Valley Half Marathon I ran last week:
I'm not sure where in the race this one was taken...

but this one, was my sprint to the end! There was a girl and I who were neck in neck for the last mile or so. I wonder why she's not in it with me?...

The longest....but funnest day...

Okay, so today has been a long day....and I mean, LOOOONNNGGG! Let me begin at the start...

This morning, I woke up bright and early...2:30 am to be exact, to run the Utah Valley Half Marathon. I still don't quite understand why they do this. The last bus leaves at 4:30, but you need to be there before 4:00 to be able to get a seat. So, I woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and drove the 40 min drive to Provo, where I boarded a bus at 3:45, and rode it to the starting line, only to wait there, huddled around a fire for an hour and a half!

So, at 6:00 sharp, the race began. It started out fast, and I maintained a good pace for most of the way. I wanted to get top 5, mainly because 5th place got $75, and that would have covered my registration fee :). I ended up with 7th place, and a time of 1:22, which is a 7 minute personal best on this course over last year. My time this year would have put me in 3rd place last year, which goes to show how fast the girls were this year! It was a lot of fun, and I will most definitely do it again! Here is a link to the race results (if you like checking those things :) )
https://www.raceit.com/results/default.aspx?event=5230&r=682

Last year, the race ended at the mall, right by where we parked, so I was able to get right in my car, and drive home. This year they moved the starting line, to about a mile away from the mall. I didn't have time to wait for the bus, so I just ran back.

I hurried home, and made it home just in time for the kids to eat breakfast! This is just the way that I like it. I love to run!...it is something that has been, well, "me" for so many years...it is something that I need. However, when I became a mom, I never wanted this to take away from me being a mother. This is why, whenever possible, I do my runs before they wake up, and I try to do my races the same. I want them to know that I run/ exercise, but I don't ever want them to feel like me exercising, in any way, takes away from them, or is more important to me than my family is. My family is ALWAYS first!

Moving along...I got home also just in time for Adam to take Anderson to his soccer camp. And, me, being the one who thinks we can cram a million things into a day, may have overdone it, by scheduling Anderson's birthday party for today. As crazy as our last week was, with soccer camps, etc,. I had no time to even plan it. Anderson did say that he wanted to have a sports party, which is absolutely fitting for him. He told me that he wanted to have sports stations. So, that is just what we did. I had to run to the store to get everything, and I made it back just in time to get the kids lunch, and set up for the party. We had the party in the back yard, all sett up with sports stations...

Golf and bowling....

Trampoline Basketball..

Soccer...

I also didn't have time to make cookies (which is what he wanted, since he doesn't like cake). So, I bought some Oreo cookies, and frosted them to look like soccer and basketballs (as if Oreo cookies didn't have enough frosting to begin with ;) ).
Along with them, we had Squeeze-its...the ultimate soccer mom drink of champions!
While they ate, they watched what else, but sports bloopers! It was so fun to hear all the boys laughing at all the athletes as they ran into each other. So funny!
It was a fun party!

Presents...

In the middle of the party, Adam had to go to his school to be the the "dunk tank" as part of the "Saratoga Splash" festivities...one of the perks of being a head coach, I guess.

Meanwhile, I was getting Aspen ready for the next round of craziness...dance recital!...Well, "tumbling," to be exact. She is in a little tumbling class, and she does really well, despite my inconsistencies in practicing with her :/. Here's a picture and a video...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KUKweRuL2Q


All in all, it has been a great day...long, but really a great day....that I would rather not repeat for quite some time....

On a side note...completely unrelated, my oldest daughter, Aspen got her ears pierced, yesterday. She has been asking for a while, and I wasn't quite sure what to do. I didn't get mine pierced until I was eight, which was fine with me. However, Adam and I hadn't really decided on an age for our own daughters. I knew that I didn't want to do it when she was a baby, because I wanted it to be her choice. When she decided she wanted to have it done (mind you, I have NEVER brought this up to her...it is purely her own idea, based solely, I'm sure on pier pressure), I discussed it with her, and told her that she would have to take care of them. She agreed, and so far, so good.!
Here are some pics of the "Beautify Aspen Day.."

She wanted "Rapunzel hair." I did my best...

Beautiful ears...
Ace was feeling a little left out, and asked me to take a picture of his hair. Check out the steps!...