Morning Hike

After heavy thunderstorms the night before, we awoke to a clear and crisp morning, so we decided to go on a hike as a family. We just went up the street onto the Parrish Sunset Trail, and we couldn't believe we hadn't taken advantage of this before-- the views of Centerville from up there were spectacular!

Siena was a trooper and walked the whole time

Chelsea was the most excited about this hike and carried her own water supply

Dad and the kids trudge up the rocky trail

We even ran into Brighton's preschool teacher, Mrs. Starr, and she was so kind to take this picture for us  

What a great way to start a Saturday.

The Big Race

About 15 weeks ago I had never even heard of the Ragnar Relay...

until one of my neighbors invited me to join her team for the Wasatch Back (188 miles from Logan to Park City), and I am so glad she did.  It really has been an experience I will never forget!

We gathered at my house the night before the race to load up on carbs and paint our nails sparkly gold

Our two youngest and cutest teammates sporting the team uniform (I was in charge of uniforms)

Here I am trying to stretch? before my big hill up to Snow Basin

Going up the hill

My "van-mates": me, Rose, Megan, Liz and Ali (Nicole was running)

The #2 van crew, again: Nicole, Megan, Michelle (our driver), Liz, me, and Rose (Ali was running)

The whole team with van #1 in the background (minus poor Lizzy who was running in the wind and rain)

At the finish line (I was the last runner)

Most of our team at the finish

And of course, the best part of finishing-- my family was there to support me!  (Grandma and Grandpa Allen were taking the pictures)

I thought I hated running, but it made a huge difference to have such fun girls to train and run with.  I ran all three legs on basically no sleep over a 24 hour period in all weather conditions-- sunny, at night, in the rain with wind blowing in my face, but it was all through beautiful mountain scenery and I loved it!  And I have to brag a little... there were a total of 650 teams, and 88 of them were all-women teams like ours.  We came in 10th in the women's division!  Not bad for a bunch of over-30 moms, right?

Brighton's Soccer Camp

We signed Brighton up for soccer camp this year that was run by Real Salt Lake. They had RSL players there and fun coaches who taught them lots of new skills while having fun. 

His sisters were good sports and rode their bikes or looked for bugs while I watched

The huddle

Siena was super excited when Leo showed up (Chelsea was not, and went and hid)

Brighton getting his certificate of completion from his coach and Leo

Group picture

Brighton with Leo the Lion

Brighton with Coach Brian

Brighton had so much fun and was so sad when the week-long camp ended.  I guess we'll be doing it again next year!

Cousins from Seattle

My cousin Lydia was visiting from Seattle with her family. She has three adorable girls and the kids had so much fun playing together. It was a short and very busy trip for them, but I was so glad we got to see them for a few hours on Thursday.

Our Annual Lagoon Day

On Friday we went as a family to the annual "elected officials day" at Lagoon. After a week of rain and thunderstorms every day, it was nice to have such gorgeous weather.

Brighton is now officially tall enough to go on all of the rides.  He especially loved the "Bat"

 

Chelsea loved this free-falling Ladybug Bop

We ended the day on the big ferris wheel

Next year we'll have to include Lagoon A Beach

An Outing with Grandma

Grandma and Grandpa Allen had given Siena a gift certificate to Build-a-Bear for her birthday, and Grandma took her to redeem it today. She chose this soft pink bear and named her "Cindy", and picked out a Cinderella outfit for her. I think it was especially fun for Siena to have some one-on-one time with her Grandma.

A Visit from Grandpa and Annie

We had a fun-filled day with Grandpa and Annie while they made a quick stop through Utah.  First, we went to see "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian", and then the kids wanted to take their grandparents to their favorite-- Discovery Gateway.


After a quick nap and some dress-up and light saber fights,

We went out to dinner at one of our favorite places, Settebello's.  The best pizza and gelato ever!

It was a short visit, but we sure had a fun day.  Thanks for coming to see us!