Red Rock Relay!

So... The reason for the decision to do intense running training all summer! The Red Rock Relay! For those of you who don't know what this is (I stole the description from the website because it was better then mine)...

Teams of 12 run relay style through 187 miles of southern Utah's most stunning landscapes in a journey that starts on a Friday morning at Brian Head ski resort and ends sometime the following day at the base of Zion National Park. Teams split into two cars so one set of six runners can rest while the other set of six takes turns running their legs of the race. Teams switch off running and resting until each runner has run three times, and then they are all standing together in a exhausted daze at the finish line, gazing up at the base of an extraordinary red rock monolith. 

 Cricket was our team mascot

I feel so accomplished after running this! Scott and I both ran it and I was so proud of him. Scott isn't really a distance runner, more of a sprinter, but he trained hard through shin splints and got to a point where he could run the distances he would need to! I thought he did so so good! So there is a total of 36 legs. I ran legs 10, 22 and 34 and Scott ran the legs right before mine so that he would hand off to me. So he ran 9, 21 and 33. I ran a total of 17.8 miles and Scott ran a total of 11.5. It was so intense but was also a lot of fun. It was fun to be apart of a team and to have the support of them and also the other teams. Our team did great to! We finished the race in 29 1/2 hours! It was a lot of work with little sleep and lots of running. But like I said before, I feel very accomplished.

Scott finishing his first leg

 Me waiting to start my first leg

 Scott handing off to me

Clarissa and her boyfriend Justin were also apart of the team. Clarissa ran legs 1, 13 and 25 for a total of 10.8 miles and Justin ran lets 4, 16 and 28 for a total of 18.5 miles! I was impressed with Clarissa because she only started training for the race less then a month before she ran it! We were glad she joined though because we were a runner short and that would have meant more running for other people. Other members of the team consisted of Sharna (my old roommate) and her sister and father. And a bunch of random other people who came together by knowing someone or another on the team.

Clarissa and Justin after the race

 Justin, Clarissa, me, Scott

 So strong!

 With our medals!

 It was fun having Clarissa run with us! I'm glad she did it :)

 Next year we plan on running the Grand Teton Relay with my family! So everyone better get training!

The tunnel... And Scott running like a dork

Bragging time! About a month before we ran the race Scott was given the opportunity to hike the Grand Teton with one of his old roommates and a bunch of his friends! This was his second time climbing it and I'm very proud of him! The first time he climbed it he climbed it in one day. This time he climbed it in two and said if he ever had the choice he would chose to do it in one day. They backpacked to the lower saddle and camped in the saddle on the first day and then finished to the top on the second before climbing down. He said it was to much work to pack everything up and then have to pack it down and he would much rather just have a day pack. He was a little stiff from having to carry the pack and just had a little bit of a hard time walking the next couple days but he enjoyed going all the same. He is my mountain goat that's for sure. :) I hope that in the next few years he'll be able to take me up with him!

Mother/Daughter Outing

 Every year or so all of my mother-in-law's sisters and their daughters go on an outing together. This year we went down to southern Utah to go white water rafting on the Colorado River near Moab!

On the bus heading to the drop off location for rafting

 Red rock of southern Utah

 The whole group!

 Aunt Denise wanted a picture too!

 My mother-in-law decided it would be funny to splash Janette. So naturally, with the help of myself, she was the first one to be tossed out of the raft :)

 At one point everyone had been pushed, pulled or thrown in the water except for Grandma Bird! Well we didn't think that would fly and next went Grandma into the water! We were very gentle about it, but thought it was only fair. She did great though! This is a picture of our Guide (can't remember his name) pulling her back into the raft.

 The water was very brown and dirty. You couldn't see your hand at all after it was 6 inches under the water.  but the water was also very warm, which made me happy.

 The whole gang after rafting. Our group all wore green M&M shirts and all the other rafters loved it! Everyone called us "The Green M&M's" which was pretty fitting :)

 I can't remember her name, or where she was from, but we saved this girl after she had floated quite a ways down stream from her own raft. She was foreign and was with a group of people that had come to the United States on a three week tour. She was really cute and nice.

The next day after rafting we all went to the Olympic Park in Park City, Utah to ride the Alpine slides and to go zip lining! It was great to be able to hang out with all the cousins and Aunt's for a few days!

Restoring Love

 This wins the award of most spontaneous trip of the summer for sure. About a week before the Restoring Love convention, which was located in Houston, Texas, Scott told me he felt like he should go. I was a little busy at work and didn't know if I'd be able to get it off. So the plans were made for Scott and Janette to go to Texas and I was going to be staying in Idaho. I made them stop by my work before they left so I could say good-bye to Scott and after they left I started feeling really left out. I mean, I've never been to Texas before, and Scott was going without me. So, I called them up, told them I was going, and and hour in a half later the three of us were headed to Texas. Talk about short notice.

For those of you who don't know what Restoring Love is you can check it out here. http://www.theblaze.com/news/restoring-love/  Yes it is a Glenn Beck thing. And typically I'm not a Glenn Beck fan but Scott is and that is why we went but I was very glad I was able to go to share in the experience because it was amazing. The first night of our journey was spent in the car at a gas station. Yes... All 3 of us slept in the sedan. We made it to Dallas, Texas and stayed with an old class mate of Scott's which was so nice because it was free and he lived 5 minutes away from all of the events. The first day that we made it to for the Restoring Love event was the day of service. Thousands of people from all over the United States came and did service in the Dallas, TX area. It was pretty amazing to see. Scott, Janette and I did our day of service at the Goodwill and even got to be on the Blaze! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOvOgsivWSg The Goodwill was huge and there was so much to do.

 Lisa Paige, Scott, me and Janette at Goodwill volunteering

That night we went to a religious leadership conference called Under God Indivisible where they had pastors, bishops and priests from different religions come together and speak to us about God and Patriotism. It was so awesome to just see the different religions come together and preach the same thing to everyone. It felt so united.

Saturday was the last day of the event. We went to a Preparedness Convention where they taught us all about food storage in the morning and then to the Restoring Love event where Glenn Beck would be speaking that night. All I can say is. Wow! It was so incredible and spiritual. I was not expecting to feel the spirit there but I did. I don't always agree with Glenn's tactics, but I do think that he is doing what God wants him to. He's trying to make a difference in the world and he is in a place that he can do it. I was glad to be apart of the whole event. 

 There were all sorts of people at the event...

 Abraham Lincoln's Desk

 A blood soaked beam that was under a hospital at Gettysburg, and a tree trunk that has a canon ball that was shot into it.

 One of the original bibles printed by the government in the new America's

 Janette and I from Scott's seat

 Glen Beck

 Scott and the Liberty Bell

We headed back to Idaho Sunday morning. Stopping in a small town in Oklahoma for church. It made the whole trip. I can now say I have gone to church in a legit double wide! It was just a small branch and this was their last week before moving into their new church building. (which was also pretty small) It was just so cool to experience church like that in middle of no where Oklahoma. We drove through the night and made it back to Idaho Falls in time for me to just be a couple hours late to work Monday morning. Well at least I would have only been a couple hours late if we hadn't discovered our dog was missing from the in-laws... Long story short, Cricket was lost for about 8 hours, but she was safe and sound at the dog pound. She had a little adventure of her own. We got her back shortly after discovering her location and now she is back with us.

On the Fourth Day of July...

 On the fourth day of July it was very warm.
But we went to the parade, which is the norm.

"Now to the greenbelt!" We yelled in high tones,
To wander through vendors while eating snow cones.

After our time at the greenbelt did dwindle,
We went to the home of the Well's to mingle.

It was at this time that we would celebrate,
The birth of Janette, who could hardly wait!

Off to the greenbelt again we would go,
But this time to watch the firework show.

Our bikes we did ride to avoid all the crowd,
To be under the fireworks where it would be really loud.

We sat by Clarissa next to all the commotion,
To celebrate the birth of our wonderful great nation.

I know, I know... everyone is super jealous of my awesome poem writing skills....

The 4th of July was great through! this pretty much sums up what we did the whole day. The only difference was that I was pretty sick the whole day. And It just continued to get worse and worse as the day went on. I tried to be a good sport though and go to all the activities of the day.

Scott and I decided it would be easier to get through the crowd at the greenbelt if we rode our bikes. So we borrowed Janette's bike trailer, threw all our stuff and Cricket inside and set off! It ended up working out really well! After the fireworks we rode our bikes on the rode to our car and were home no more then 20 minutes after the fireworks had ended.

Scott and I waiting for the fireworks to start with Cricket

 Venny and Scott-er :) Newly engaged!

 Clarissa and I watching the fireworks

Manti Temple Pageant

 Back in June Scott and I headed down to Ephraim, Utah with Scott's mom, Janette, Reily and Jersey to visit Aunt Denise and Uncle Lawrence's family! While we were down there Scott and I got to go to the Manti Temple for the first time. It was amazing! That temple just has such a strong spirit in it. Plus it's a live session and I LOVE live sessions.

Scott and I in front of the Manti Temple

 Janette and kids in front of the Manti Temple

Scott had a couple cousins in the Manti Temple Pageant which may or may not have been the main reason for the trip down to central Utah. Scott had been to the Pageant before when he was pretty young and I had never been before and had heard great things about it, so why not go when you have family in it! 

 Janette-n-kids with Jared. He was a Laminite for the pageant

 Gotta love Aunts....

 Scott's mom and Jared

Scott, myself and Jared

Myself, Jacob and Scott. Jacob played the young Joseph Smith

The boys did a great job and the Pageant was great! Thanks again to the Durtschi Family for letting us come visit! 

Tin Cup Challenge

Scott and I decided we wanted to get in shape this summer so we could do all the outdoor activities we wanted without feeling like we were going to die. So what better way to get in shape then to sign up for a big race we had to train for (The RRR)! At the beginning of my training I decided I wanted to run a 5K. I have never ran in a formal race before so I was pretty excited/nervous. Scott wanted to run as well but he has been suffering from shin splints and is taking it easy for awhile.

Aunt Beth was also running the 5K

 The beginning of the race

 The end of the race

 Mom is my inspiration to run. She ran the half marathon faster then she ran it 20 years ago when she was in high school! She did awesome!

 I ended up getting 3rd in my age group! Which I thought was pretty awesome....

One step closer to my big race!