Turkey Leg 5K & Kids 1K

Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and it's time to think about your Thanksgiving Day 5K. Why don't you come and do ours? Darrell got into race directing this year doing the Sapper Joe 30K/50K out at Camp Williams. It was a big success. With the holidays approaching, Darrell and Brad would do up to three Thanksgiving Day races on one turkey day. Well, living in Salt Lake, there are plenty of Thanksgiving 5K race options. Davis County doesn't have any. Thus, the Turkey Leg 5K & Kids 1K was born.

It will be held Thanksgiving Day morning, 9:00 a.m., at Heritage Park in Farmington. The proceeds benefit the local food bank. The family has been great support but we would like to invite anyone who wants to come run or walk the 5K route. You can find all the info on Darrell's website, http://www.fatpackracing.com/. We hope to see you Thanksgiving Day morning.

Marathon MADNESS!

This past Saturday, Sept 12th, 2009 both Darrell & I ran the Mid Mountain Marathon up in Park City. For Darrell it was just more of the usual, setting a new PR for the course despite a lack of concentrated training for the event. His longest run in the last couple months was the 19 miler he did with me at a snail's pace. Yet, he was able to come in at his best time yet for this race, finishing in 3:28. He has incredible talents in running, he has definitely been blessed with a gift and despite my comments here, he does actually train hard. Most of you know that he ran the Squaw Peak 50 miler this year, so its not as if he hasn't put in time to become as fast as he is. Nevertheless, I am constantly amazed at how fast he can run. So, he was definitely satisfied and felt great at the end, although he did say he contemplated taking the Gondola down at mile 17.

I recently took up trail running in the last few months and have found a great love for it. Those who know me well know that I do not LOVE running (shock & awe, I know). I run to stay in shape through life because it is both time & cost effective and because I have a great hook up to get all my gear (thanks to Wasatch Running Center). So, when I started trail running I found a different kind of enjoyment in running. One where a 6 mile run up the canyon would just fly by due to the beautiful scenery, the winding trail, not knowing where it would take you next, the ups & downs, & the lack of traffic on the trails.

So to get to the point…the race was only about 250 people (I love these small races) and the venue was absolutely beautiful. The race started up at Silver Lake Lodge at Deer Valley. We ran a mile on the road and then hit the single track. Darrell had fore-warned me that the first 5 miles were uphill so I was prepared and that part went REALLY well. He told me that the next 10 or so were rolling, but what he failed to tell me was that from mile 4-10 it was rolling in an uphill trend. So, by the time I hit 10 miles I was emotionally beaten a bit, I really wanted to quit! Luckily, during my moment of weakness, the trail truly went to flat rolling and so I got a break for a few miles and was able to pick up the pace and lift my spirits. I was pretty good until 15 and then mental weakness hit and I once again wanted to quit (I am not a quitter and pretty much knew I wouldn't ACTUALLY quit but I REALLY wanted to and couldn't stop thinking about the pain I was in) For the next 4 miles, I struggled (that is an understatement), walking some and just feeling very vulnerable and weak. I was able to disgracefully pull myself through to mile 19 which is where all the uphill ends and the descent begin.

Once I began running downhill I realized how tight my calves and ankles were from all of the uphill and wanted in my mind to run fast but my body wouldn't comply. The pain made me want to stop but stopping only made it worse, so I tried to keep moving at a slow pace. Once I got to where I only had 2 miles to go, my spirits were lifted and I was able to pick up the pace again to the finish. I was able to finish in the time I wanted and was happy about that, but once you finish you always look back and think "I should have been mentally stronger and I would have come in much faster." It truly was a test of mental strength more than physical strength; it was a chance for me to learn quite a lot about myself. For the next 3 days after the race, I said there was NO WAY I would ever do it again, but at day 4 the thought has started to creep into my mind.

I do have to give credit to Mid Mountain Race Crew, they were absolutely fantastic. They had aid stations everywhere, places where I wasn't sure how they got there (where guys had biked up the water & food), AMAZING! And the party at the end is always great...free pizza & drinks (For most people this meant BEER but for me it meant an ice cold Pepsi which seemed to hit the spot). Despite its difficulty, it is a race well worth running.

My big finish. Don't let the smile fool you, I don't feel really great I am just REALLY happy to see the finish line!

A Big Move

Well, as most of you probably know by now, Darrell was just called to be the 2nd counselor in our ward bishopric. Most of you have talked with him about that by now and know he is both nervous and excited. I know that he will be great and I know he is excited to finally be in a calling where he is truly needed and used. Sundays have entailed a few changes but not as many as you may think. With Darrell as executive secretary prior to this, I was already used to having him gone most of Sunday. Honestly, when we got married, I kind of assumed that I would spend most of my Sundays alone, knowing that the Lord would utilize him in many capacities. So, for me it isn't too big of a deal since I only have 2 children. Plus, I have awesome built in help in the form of Brad and Madison. This past Sunday was the 1st sunday Darrell sat on the stand and Brad & Madison were such a great help to me, as they always are. They even let Gabe walk home with them to their house and then they dropped him off on their way to dinner at Madison grandparents. They have done this the last few weeks and I am afraid they have opened Pandoras box on that one. Gabe loves them and he is lucky to get to form such a great strong relationship with his aunt and uncle during these formative years.

To get to the point, since Darrell receieved the call to serve we will be sticking around the area for a while. Darrell & I were making plans to finally buy a house sometime this summer, but those plans have obviously changed. Since we are kind of in tight quarters we having officially decided to move. This move is BIG...... we are moving 2 blocks North of where we are now, into a 3 bed, 2 bath apartment. A single guy in our ward recently purchased a larger home up the hill and is now renting out his old place. It is a little uninviting on the outside (we will have to work on that) but the whole interior is being completely remodeled, every last room and it looks great. The layout is a lot better which we hope will allow us to have some of you over for dinner in the future. No yard, what can you expect up here, but it does have a pretty large deck that we will spice up a bit with a lot of plants. He is working on the remodel and plans to have it done in two weeks. But, as we all know, remodels don't always work out as planned. We are planning on somewhere around the middle of March or 1st of April and are excited to have a little more space. We will keep you posted on the details as they come.

Little Stitches Outfit

My sister Kelly bought me an Amy Butler pattern book for Christmas called "Little Stitches for Little Ones". Most of the items, as usual, are for girls and so I needed a reason to make something. A gal in my ward was having a baby shower for a baby girl and so I took the opportunity to try out one of the patterns and I think the results were pretty cute. I used the pattern for the Kimono-style PJ's and used 3 coordinating fabrics (the pattern only calls for 2, I used an additional fabric to bind the edges of the top). The process was pretty smooth, although the instructions are kind of wordy which makes you have to read and re-read them to find out what it is actually telling you to do. But, now that I have made this once, it would be a cinch to make again and only takes a yard and a half of fabric for size 6-9 months. The book includes patterns for sizes 0-3, 3-6,6-9 & 9-12 months, but I want to try and blow up the pattern to come up with a pattern for 12-18 and 18-24 month sizes because I think this particular item would look great even in bigger sizes and could be cute for boys if you used boyish fabrics since it doesn't include ruffles or anything like that. As for the headband, I had made binding tape for the outfit and had a lot left over and had leftover 1" elastic so I decided to make a coordinating headband and sew on a silk flower with button as that seems to be all the rage these days.

As you can see from the photos, I tried the outfit on Sam-bones and he obviously did not appreciate it at all. Darrell nearly had a heart attack when he saw the outfit on our son. I don't blame him.... but you can't tell what it really looks like until you see it on a body. It looks a little small on him because he is 12 months and the size I made was 6-9 months. So, taking into acount how small it was on him, I think the sizes are pretty acurate.

If any of you in the family would like to borrow the pattern just let me know, or you can buy the book for yourself for about $20. I will let you know if I make anything else out of the book, maybe the diaper bag. Who knows!

You Decide

Gabe or Sam?

Sammy's attire for the 1st birthday party was a T-shirt that he received from my OBGYN when he was born, it reads "Special Delivery...c/o Dr. Larkin". Gabe received the same T-shirt when he was born, so I thought I would post a picture of each of them at the same age wearing the same thing and see if you know who is who. Maybe then you can tell us if they do indeed look alike.

Bones Turns One

Sammy, better known as "Bones" had his first birthday last week. If we thought Gabe's birthday was low-key..Sam's was even more so. We had it early in the afternoon and just had simple cake and ice cream. Both sets of Grandparents came and Uncle Errol happended to be in town and was nice enough to come as well. My initial thoughts were feelings of remorse for not having thrown him a better party since Gabe's 1st birthday was much more of a shin-dig, but then I realized that this party was true to form for Sam. He is so mellow and low key and simple and so it just seemed to fit him. I made him a turtle cake at the request of his big brother, it was relatively simple, but somehow still managed to be a bit stressful. Maybe someday I will become better at it......or maybe not! Sam didn't give the gift-givers the reaction they desired, throwing every gift opened on the floor immediately after opening. That's Sam for you, he would rather fiddle with egg beaters or spools of thread than play with perfectly good toys. You gotta love it! I did expect a much better CAKE reaction than we got. In keeping with tradition we put him in his high chair and gave him a big chunk of cake and let him go at it. Since Sam has a much less particular nature than Gabe we honestly thought he might really go for it......but he dashed all our hopes and gave us the biggest krusty when he got the frosting on his hands. He wanted nothing to do with it! Oh well!

Post Birthday Bowling

On Wednesday, Darrell had the day off and we decided to continue the birthday celebration with just our little family, so we took Gabe bowling at Orchard lanes. We bowled a couple of games this time........that proved to be one too many, even for me! He had a great time and I am embarrased to say that he beat me in the 2nd game.

Birthday Boys

As most of you know, both of our boys had their birthday this month. Gabe turned 4 and Sam turned 1. We definately scaled down this year since we have two so close together. Gabe's birthday was on a Tuesday this year which proved to be difficult in having a get together on that day since everyone in the family was busy with church callings that night. We have definately learned our lesson on having birthday parties during the week. We had contemplated having a friend party for Gabe this year since he has a lot of friends in the ward and cousins his age. But Gabe loves his family the best and would most want to share it with them, so we kept it to just family again this year. Besides that, both Darrell & I were talking and neither one of us had a "friend" party until we were about 8 or so and we thought that plan sounded great for our kids as well.

On Monday night Aunt Holly, Ally, Darrell, Gabe, & I went to the Harlem Globetrotters. Fowlers had planned to go and bought an extra ticket to take Gabe with them for his birthday. But as Monday came, Ty, Mitch & Jeff had to stay home for b-ball games and although Gabe surely missed them being there (he adores them), Darrell & I were lucky enough to go in their stead. It was fun for Gabe to have the full attention of both of his parents (which rarely, if ever, happens) and none of us had seen the Globetrotters for years....loads of fun!

Tuesday night, Grandpa & Grandma Kitty-cat (Phippen), Grandma & Grandpa Trampoline (Memmott), Onikka, Benny, Grant, & Uncle Brad came over for the big "Dog Party". Gabe requested a doggie birthday cake and thus the party theme naturally followed. We had hot dogs and other foodstuff for dinner. After dinner, Gabe opened gifts, everyone was very generous. We bought him the Playmobile "dino & the cage". He had been asking for that for a couple of months before and would on a regular basis bring out the Playmobil catalog to remind us of all of its awesome features. So, needless to say he was thrilled when he finally got it, he has played with it every day since. I made a doggie cake, that flopped on me at the last minute. It was supposed to be a sitting up dog and it looked great, but it did not have the support it needed and so I came in the kitchen and saw that it had flopped over. I had to quickly figure out a way to salvage it and thus it became a lying dog. Not what I had in mind, but Gabe liked it so I guess that is what really matters. Every year, I wonder why on earth I don't just buy a cake. The frustration.......... I'm not sure its worth it. Who knew that making a cake could be such trouble.

Atlas Snowshoes

Here are the snowshoes that we bought. They are the Atlas womens specific Elecktra 10 series snowshoes. There are 11 and 12 series now that are more advanced and more for backcountry adventures. But for recreational use, I would highly recommend these if you are looking to purchase some. The lacing system on the front is a dream compared to some snowshoes I have worn. It is a one pull, one hand cinch webbing system. Truly, it is so simple, one pull tightens on two points of the forefoot creating a very snug fit. It is so easy to use and it stayed nice and tight after two + hours of use. Very comfortable.

Superb Snowshoeing

Madison (Brad's wife)and I finally ditched the men and went snowshoeing up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Darrell & I got each other some Atlas showshoes for Christmas last year and seeing as how I was pregnant and just a BIT too heavy (ha ha) for the flotation we never went last year. Then, Brad & Madison bought snowshoes this year for Christmas. Both Madison and & I were waiting around for our husbands to go with us, but finally we wised up and realized that wasn't going to happen. So, with Mom as my pinch babysitter, Madison and I headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon in her Subaru Outback (I really felt like we were a couple of granolas). We parked at the Mill D trailhead and suited up in our fancy gear (courtesy of Wasatch Running Center connections) and headed out into the winter wonderland. Despite the little walk we had to take just to get to the powder....the outing was more than expected. The powder was fresh and untouched and thus we did a lot of trail blazing. We were nearly void of mishaps until I lost the basket to one of my trekking poles. Madison and I knew roughly where I had planted my pole and scooped out powder over and over with no luck. Finally I gave into the idea that I just wasn't going to find it, I picked up my poles and out fell the basket into the snow. You would think that as a mother of two I might be a more thorough searcher....but aparently not. We both laughed (although in my mind I was sighing in relief because I knew I had just narrowly missed the wrath of Darrell for ruining the brand new poles). Good fun! It was a great hike and we ended up on a plateau that looked out over endless stretches of snow-kissed wilderness. It was serene and almost spiritual. We pulled out a little beef jerky to refuel the engines and returned to where we started. It was a beautiful outing with tremendous scenery and was a great oppportunity for me to get to know Madison a bit better. I was lucky to have such great company and we were both thrilled to have made use of our dusty snowshoes.