Perfect Conditions

 

Amy and I have been running together for weeks now. I don't know about her, but I love it. This girl can run and she pushes me to run faster, harder and in the end, better.

 

So she showed up Saturday morning and we decided to do 6-8 miles that day. She did say that there might be a storm coming in so we took off hoping to beat it.

 

About half a mile in it started to hail and become very windy and it whipped us in the face AND it hurt. I really didn't know how much of that I was going to be able to take, but we kept going.

 And then it really started to snow

Amy introduced me to the beast, also known as Val Verda. It's a steady uphill climb all the way to Davis Blvd. It sucked.

 The snow really started to stick. Snow plows passed us again and again but we kept on going.

 

 After 6 cold, wet, crazy miles, we were done...and it was awesome!

 

That day I wore fingerless gloves, a cloth headband and regular running pants instead of my warm fleece lined running pants. I was frozen! Not even the hottest shower got me warm after that.



 

However, I was so happy that I was done running that day. Thanks Amy, for being my running coach and pushing me to do hard things like running in a snow storm.

Tater-Tot

Our nephew Tayten turned 11 this year. I can hardly believe it. I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.

 

This year to celebrate him, we were invited to have lunch at Ihop with him and the families.

 It was a party of 27 so we had a whole section reserved for the group.

Afterwards, they put together a party back at their house. Taleesha did such an awesome job with the decorations, cake and activities. Seriously, I was very impressed.

 

Happy Birthday, Tate!

"Can I borrow some nickels"

Nickel auction has been going strong in our neighborhood for a while now. I however, have been slacking when it comes to attending these things. Last night I decided it was time to start up again, so I called some of my girls and we hit up the local NA.

We had a great time sitting around bidding and laughing and eating. I forgot how fun these can be when you have some good Friends with you.

I have to note that this was Melissa's first time ever. She showed up to see what the show was all about and in the end she was so into it, that she even had to borrow some nickels and even went home with arm fulls of new treasures. I promised Luke that I wouldn't buy anything, but broke that promise when I bought a Gone With the Wind antique book for a buck twenty five. Good times.

Cabin

This past weekend we had the opportunity to hang out with the Jensen's up at their family cabin. In previous years we have gone without kids, but this year they all came along and it was fun to have them up there.

Before going up, we stopped to get some food at Cafe Rio which was much needed. It was no secret that I was a monster because I was so hungry so this stop made me very happy.

 

Party of 10

 I didn't take a single picture the whole time I was there so I couldn't show you how funny it was to pull Oliver 2 miles up a mountain on a sled. He had his head lamp on and acted like we were his horses telling us not to stop and that he even needed to rest his legs. Trent came to pick us up on the snowmobile once they had dropped off all the kids and cargo. We were pretty happy to see him. As he pulled us up the rest of the way, Luke was so giddy riding in the back in the toboggan (sp?) hitting bumps. smelling fumes, getting snow in his face and squishing me. He didn't stop squealing the whole time. It was great!

 

We settled in and got cozy by the wood burning fire which is an absolute favorite. We also watched movies, played games, ate really good food, went sledding, Luke made a cave for the kids, Amy and I napped and read all weekend, we played hide and go seek, talked, and overall had an awesome time.

 

Only downside was when Oliver and I got the stomach bug that lasted for about 12 hours. No bueno.

Andrew was a gimp on the trip, so I was trying to help him stretch his sore legs.

 

Sleeping arrangements.

 

 Jensen kids plus Oliver.

 

 Snowmobiling back down with Oliver. We usually sled out, but since I was feeling like crap, I was so happy to ride down this way...actually I loved it!

These two were so hard core, they broke their sleds. 

Love him and Loved this weekend. Thanks Jensen's!