St. George Marathon

Ryan did it!!!

He qualified for the Boston Marathon while running the St. George Marathon. He ran 26.2 miles in 3:08:57. An average of 7:12 minute miles. He did great and I can't wait to go to Boston in 2014.

Way to go Ryan!!!!

Girls Cruise 2012

It came and went, my annual girls cruise. This year there were only four of us and we went someplace different. We left out of Vancouver, BC and sailed to Los Angeles. On the way we stopped in Astoria, OR and San Francisco. We had a great time and I am already looking forward to next year. Although I wouldn't mind someplace warmer.

 

Lori, Eileen, Amy and myself on the top of the column in Astoria. It was 164 steps up and well worth the hike.The view from the top was beautiful.

 Eileen, Amy, myself, and Lori at the seaside in Astoria. It really is a beautiful little town.

 Myself in front of a fall tree. I love when I see trees that are changing color. I love the red leaves.

 The Goonie house. No trip to Astoria would be complete if you visited and didn't see the Goonie house and try to do the truffle shuffle outside.

 Lori and me at the Golden Gate Bridge Park. San Fran was so foggy when we were there so this is all we got to see. In fact our ship sailed right past Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge but both were hard to see because of the fog.

Gospel Teachings???

Ryan and I try hard to teach our children true and correct principles, and just when we think we are doing a good job we get emails from their primary leaders or we have scripture study like today.
Here are some things we clearly need to work on.
Today at scriptures Ryan started the verse with "And it came to pass that Jack and Jay were commanded to depart out of that city." Instead of Alma and Amulek. The boys thought this was funny. But later in the the verse it says "and they departed."  Jack hears they farted. So he starts cracking up and I couldn't help myself so Jay starts laughing and Ryan was trying not to. Needless to say scripture study happened but what we got out of it I don't know.
Earlier this week we got an email from the primary president. On Sunday after the Primary Program, which my kids did awesome in even Kate, they had a missionary party, where they wrote letters to the missionaries and were asked missionary questions. Here are a few responses Jay and Jack gave.
When do missionaries go to bed?
Jay-At bedtime
Jack- Gotta say 8:30
When do they wake up?
Jack- 9:30
What do missionaries do if they don’t like the food or get served something disgusting?
Jack- You have to learn to like different things.

What is the best mission to go to?

Disneyland

Alaska

Sea World

Hawaii

Lagoon

Like Ryan said it might be easier to get Jack and Jay to go on missions if you can sleep until 9:30 and serve in places like Disneyland and Sea World.

We have a long way to go in teaching my our children but it sure is fun to get some laughs along the way.  

perspective

This past week we had two deaths in my ward and another death of a friend. While one death was of a 93 year old man, Tony Vaughn, who was reunited with his wife the other two are tragic. A 17 year old girl, Callie Barney, and and 42 year old husband and dad Rob Verhaaren. I attended the funeral of Tony Vaughn there was laughter and great stories. He had lived a good life and was ready to return home. The other funerals haven't happened yet but I imagine they won't be as full of laughter.
As I have been thinking of these deaths and trying to comprehend our Heavenly Father's plan I attended institute today. Mind you I really didn't want to go to institute. It's been raining in the valley and I really wanted to take Kate to school and come home and read. But I went anyway. I am glad I did. The teacher taught about the Plan of Happiness. As she was teaching it she ask the question "Why do I need to teach this? Don't most of us know this?" A few people responded but one in particular commented on perspective. She said when you look at the diagram that was up on the board you realize how little the earth is and what a little part of the Plan of Happiness it is. I have been taught this before but with these three deaths it really hit me again. We are sent to earth to learn and to grow. To gain a body, have great experiences and have not so great experiences. But the reality is this earth life is short in the whole grand scheme of things. I am glad I was retaught this and hope and pray that the three families who are struggling with their losses can find a little comfort in this knowledge. I am grateful for the Plan of Happiness and that we can be with our families forever. I am grateful to know of the truthfulness of the gospel and all of the comfort it brings to me. Even though I don't understand everything in fact I only understand about and eighth of everything and that might be too much. I do know we will live again and can be with the ones we love again.

Hood to Coast

Ryan ran the relay race Hood to Coast. It's a 199 mile race that starts at the Timberline Lodge of Mt. Hood and ends at the coast of Seaside, Oregon. Their team finished in 25:05:54, 75th overall out of about 1100 teams. Not too shabby. Ryan ran a total of just over 19 miles and had a great time. He also got to go to Nike and do some shopping and explore Oregon. He can't wait to go back next year and maybe I will get to tag along next time.  

Here are some pictures of the race.

The starting line. I love that there is still snow on the mountain.

 The finish line. With Ryan, Dave Funk, Steve Shield, Ryan Driggs, Kevin Wolfe, Brian Ricks, and Richard Rassmussan. They had way too much fun together.

 One of the look out points along the way of the race.

 Outside of Nike with new shoes on everyone. It turns out that they got themselves invited to a lunch for the Nike employees that were running the race. The Nike people thought Ryan's group were employees so they got a free lunch and a good story too.

A waterfall outside of Portland. I really want to go there.

Jay's moving out

Apparently I made Jay mad the other night because he informed me he is moving out. (I had asked him to turn the TV off and shower to get ready for bed.) So, I said okay you can move out and so he started packing up. After about 10 minutes of packing Jay informed me he needed a little TV and DVD player to take with him. I told him he would have to get those himself. I then asked where he would be living and he wasn't sure. "Maybe an apartment or someplace." He seemed to think he had enough money to get a place. I told him he would have to work to pay for his apartment and couldn't go to school but he still wanted to go to school so an apartment was out. He was still thinking about where he could go when I told him he couldn't leave because it was dark and he had no place to go. He then settled down and watched the movie with the rest of the family. The next morning he still said he would like to move out and was still thinking about where to go. Anyone have room at their house for a seven year old boy?

What does a seven year old think is important enough to take with him when he moves? His stuffed dog, wallet, play book, water balloons, colored rocks, "Cars" cards, a swimsuit "in case it gets really hot" and about four outfits. What else does he need besides a mini TV and DVD player?

It's cold outside????

I can't decide if it's cold or hot. I asked Kate to get her shoes and she came out with her slippers on. I guess her feet were cold but not the rest of her. Then today she was getting dressed for school and she put her jacket on because she was cold. Like her teacher said it was only 90 degrees outside. I think we are all ready for some cooler weather.