Running Free (well sort of)

Yesterday my awesome running partner and I ran a half marathon. Yay us!!
One of the reasons why I started running years ago was because it was basically free. All you need is a pair of shoes and out the door you go... right? What I didn't realize at the time is that the more you run the more expensive it gets...
You need more expensive:
shoes (bought alot more often!), insoles, running clothes, fancy socks, race entry fees, protien drinks, reflective gear, etc...
Now don't get me wrong, all of these things are still less expensive than other sport hobbies but after paying a few race fees already this year and being due for some new shoes I didn't feel like paying anymore for my "free" running hobby. Luckily my amazing hubby got me a GPS watch this summer (which I LOVE) so we met early Saturday morning and just ran for 13.1 miles. There was no race energy in the air, portapotties, gummy bear stations, or medals. But we did it! My big finish line was driving home and seeing my boys run out to me with a hand written sign that said "Great Job". I'm totally keeping that sign and putting it on my board with my other race bibs.

Franklin Falls

We took the kids hiking on Saturday morning to Franklin Falls. Whenever we go hiking the primary song "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" continually runs through my mind as we meander down the trail. Here are the words:

Whenever I hear the song of a bird

Or look at the blue, blue sky,

Whenever I feel the rain on my face

Or the wind as it rushes by,

Whenver I touch a vevlet rose

Or walk by our lilac tree,

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world

Heavenly Father created for me.

.

Franklin Falls is a beutiful hike and great for kids! It is 2 miles total and isn't too steep (note to self: 1 mile takes alot longer than normal when you have young kids with you). The trail follows the river up through a forest and when you get to the top of the trail the view opens up and there is a 70 foot waterfall cascading down right infront of you into a very calm river bed. The kids were able to throw rocks and play for a while and had so much fun. But, because we went in the morning it was still a little cold (and we are awful parents and forgot to bring shoes for Max!!) On a warm day, by about noon or so, when the sun is straight up in the sky, the mist from the waterfall would feel so refreshing. There is no doubt in my mind that this Earth was created by a loving Heavenly Father.

I've been trying to find heart shaped rocks everywhere. I mentioned it when we were there to Brandon and I kidd you not... he didn't even move, looked down and said "here's one". How sweet that my lover found me my first heart rock!

50.1 miles later...

We did it!!!

Yesterday, June 5th I ran in the Rainer to Ruston Relay. The total relay was 50.1 miles. It started at the base of Mt. Rainer Nat'l park and ended on the water front in Tacoma. We put together two 4 position teams (two teams with 8 people each because we ran in pairs so a total of 16 women there are 3 people missing from the photo).
My awesome running partner Rachel and I were postion 2 and we had 3 legs to run... leg 2, leg 6, and leg 10.
Our first leg (leg 2)- This leg was described in the course description as isolated rocky and muddy trail. Rachel and I normally run on a gravel trail and it is often muddy after it rains so I wasn't too concerned. When we arrived at the check in point the guy incharge of the race said that leg 2 was very muddy all the way down and to just take it slow and it's best to run through the puddles. "what"? did he just say "run through the puddles"?? Yep... run through. Still in my mind I was thinking "how bad could it really be"???......... Calf deep mud puddles that covered the entire trail (no way around), running through streams, If there wasn't a puddle there was thick sticky slippery mud, rocks, tree ruts,.... Insane! A picture that will be forever in my mind is when I went to forge through another muddy puddle and I looked down and saw shoes in the puddle! I stopped with one foot in the muck and looked up to see Rachel running with no shoes on! There they both were filling with mud and water! Luckily my shoe only came half off. 6.1 miles of wet muddy squishy shoes and the most crazy conditions. Luckily I brought an extra pair of shoes, pants, and socks to change into our our next leg.
Our second leg (leg 6) - 2.7 miles on a paved trail. Thank heavens!
Our third and last leg (leg 10) - 3.2 miles on a mostly sandy trail. Below is a photo of Rachel and I at the end of our last leg.

Brandon brought the kids down and they were there cheering for me at the end of this leg. It was so nice to see them! We then drove to the finish line to meet the rest of the team and cheer on our runners in the last leg. The two photos below are of me and my support/inspiration. If you look close in the last picture you can see Mt. Rainer (where we started) behind us!!

My kids are going to be SO smart....

if this is true.

If only I had a picture of them "helping" me pull weeds as we got the garden area ready for planting yesterday.

Carter’s First Primary Talk

At church during the primary hours, Carter is in the Sunbeam class. This class is for kids that are age 3 on January 1st. This month his class has been responsible for all the "assignments" during primary which are: prayer, scripture, and talk. Last week he gave the opening prayer and this week he gave the talk. Now let me preface... the primary presidency emailed out the list of who was on which assignment at the beginning of the month. Each month in primary they have a theme. The theme for May was: Living the principles and ordinances of the gospel will bring me closer to Jesus Christ. The fourth article of faith says: "We believe that the the four principles and ordinances of the gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; Second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Since his talk was the fourth Sunday of the month we ended up focusing on the fourth principle of the gospel - the Holy Ghost. Carter did an awesome job. I should have just stayed in the back of the room to listen because he definitely didn't need my help. Me trying to "help" is the only little mishap he had during his talk. Way to go Carter!

Carter’s First Talent Show

Family Hike - Twin Falls

On Saturday, April 17th (happy birthday to me!) we went on another fun family hike. The Garcia's and Kovacs went on the hike with us and this time we hiked up to Twin Falls (photo above is of one of the lower falls). It was a beautiful hike! The hike started out following the Snoqualmie River. I think the kids would've been happy staying by the river the whole time and throwing rocks. This picture is of all the kids (except the two babies) near the beginning of the hike. Of course our camera battery died right after the photo below. Luckily Brandon just got a new phone that takes pretty decent pictures so we were able to get a few more shots along the way....

This photo is of all the kids (and Damon) on top of a huge rock. The picture cuts off the bottom half of the rock so it's hard to tell how big it is. At this point in the hike we started walking through an old growth forest. There was moss dripping from branches and there was one tree that was over 700 years old. It was giant! Carter taking a break on another rock.This photo shows us at top of the hike on a bridge that spans the river in between the falls. On one side of the bridge are the upper falls and on the other side of the bridge is the lower falls. It's pretty amazing. You can't see the falls in the picture because with a cell phone camera there isn't much zooming in and out that can be done but the upper falls were just to the left of us (it had just started to rain prettty good which I think is why Max and Carter are not smiling for the picture).
When I planned out these hikes I deliberately chose hikes that were easy for kids because Carter has to walk the whole way. In my "Best Hikes with Kids Western Washington & the Cascades hike book it says this hike is "easy" for kids and is 1 1/2 miles. When I got back in the car I double checked the book because it was definitely not "easy". There were switch backs that were steep and had me sweating! ... not that I'm a pro hiker or anything but if it's easy for kids then you would think an adult should have no problem. It seemd a lot longer than 1 1/2 miles too... It turns out that the 1 1/2 and "easy" category was in reference to the hike up until a certain viewing point on the trail and not all the way up to the falls. Our little group of kiddos hiked 4 1/2 miles and gained about 500 feet of elevation! Way to go kids!!