Memorial Day 2011

Each week in Kindergarten a student gets to be "Student of the Week."  To ensure that each student gets to be student of the week, the order started at the end of the alphabet and worked backwards.  Now that it's almost the end of the year Logan finally got his turn.  Jill was able to use her new Cricut machine to make a really nice poster with pictures of him.  

Privileges of being student of the week include taking home Kinder-Bear.  It's a Teddy Bear that each child takes home for a week.  They are to have an adventure with him and then take a picture to include in the classroom book.  Logan loved Kinder-Bear and Jill captured some nice photos of them.

Landon outside playing.

Our boy scout troop got to participate in a service project to honor fallen war heroes at Camp Williams.  Our troop took small flags and placed them on all 3000 headstones, so I thought this would be a teaching tool for my boys. We talked about the military and how these people served and fought in wars to protect our country.

After placing the flags they were able to enjoy a tasty doughnut.

They may not fully understand the meaning of Memorial Day, but this was one of the more meaningful service projects we could do on this holiday.

Ogden Marathon

It was 8 years ago that I ran a marathon in 4 hours and 1 minute.  This was a big deal to me because most amateur runners like me set the goal of running faster than 4 hours.  Try as I might I just couldn't run 1 minute faster.  Two years later I ran the St. George marathon in an attempt to take 1 minute off of my marathon best.  Due to some setbacks, I ran St. George in 4 hours and 16 minutes.

I had given up on marathons. They are extremely hard and they hurt to run.  Plus I discovered half marathons; it's such a great distance and I feel good when I run them. I get a great workout, a nice medal, and I don't feel horrible after crossing the finish line.

This year my running group decided to run the Ogden marathon, and after much thought, I decided to come out of retirement and run my first marathon in 6 years.  One of the biggest motivating factors to try it again was to beat the 4 hour mark, and with the right plan I felt I could do it. The plan was to run 5 minutes then walk 1 minute, inspired by Olympic runner Jeff Galloway.  By run/walking from the very first 5 minutes of the run, it's proven you can run your best marathon time ever. Your body rests during the beginning and there is enough "gas in the tank" at the finish.

We began our "man-cation" on Friday by driving up to the race Expo in Ogden and picked up our running bib, shirt, and other items needed to run the race. We all stayed in the Marriott right next to the finish line and it made getting around the city so nice.  The restaurant in the hotel had an amazing build your own pasta bar with a chef who cooked it all right in front of you.  It was very cool.

Pictured above next to me is Ron Hada, Kevin Yeager, and Nate Smith. Not pictured is Kevin Palmer; his family was spending the night so he didn't join us for the "man-cation" activities. 

We finished dinner and went to see the newest installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The Junction is a big revitalized part of Downtown Ogden with shops, restaurants, and a new movie theater.  After the movie we headed out to pick up some last minute supplies, and had a hilarious Wal-Mart shopping experience at 11:00 p.m.  After watching Pawn Stars we all went to bed around midnight. 

Sleeping with 4 guys in a room with 2 double beds wasn't the best for sleeping conditions.  I was up at 3:00 a.m. and couldn't sleep again until the alarm went off at 4:00 a.m.  We all got up got ready, picked up Kevin Palmer in the lobby and caught the bus to the starting line.  The loading zone was just outside our hotel, near the finish line.  

We had to wait at the starting line for just over an hour before the race began.  We all had to dress warmly being in the mountains at such an early hour, but by the time the race began at 7:00 a.m. the sun had come out and I shed the sweat shirt, running pants, and cap. 

The funny thing about running 26.2 miles is that most people gear down, run slowly, and hope to finish. So when 3 guys with yellow shirts all stopped running 5 minutes into the race it got a lot of attention.  I would use many of the same jokes really loudly so everyone could hear.   "Come on guys we REALLY should have trained harder!" "We can't finish in 3 hours if we keep walking."  It always brought smiles to the people running around us. 

One first timer said, as we walked and he ran past, "This is the last time you'll pass me".  Something came over me and I yelled back, "That's what you think sucker! By the end you will be eating our dust!" It inspired Kevin and Ron too, and sure enough the very next 5 minutes of running we passed him and teased him again.  In fact some other runners asked us, "Where is the guy in the blue shirt?" The runners liked the comedic relief and I even ran for a while with the man in the blue shirt.  It was his first marathon and sure enough he finished well behind all of us at the end.  

Further along the course a lady branded us "Team Yellow" and asked us about our running technique.  

Most of the race we were within sight of the 4 hour pacer.  The pacer wore a bright orange jersey and carried a sign with 4:00 written on it.  There were also balloons tied to the sign so he would be easy to recognize.

We reached 13.1 (half) at 1:58, so I would need to run exactly the same or slightly faster to finish under 4 hours.  Right at the half was where my brother-in-law Aaron began the half marathon.  There were tons of bathrooms right along the course, so I took advantage of my only bathroom stop. It was a quick stop and I caught up to Ron and Kevin within a couple of minutes. 

Mile 14 was our only uphill section.  It was roughly a mile and wasn't terribly hard, however the 4 hour pacer was getting further and further ahead of us.  By mile 16 I asked Kevin if he was going to make it under 4 hours. His leg was hurting again and he didn't think he was going to make it.  Ron stopped at the Honey Bucket, so I took off on my own hoping to break 4 hours.

I didn't know how far Nate Smith was ahead of me, this was his first marathon and he thought he could run it faster than we would with our run/walk method.  Coming down Ogden canyon was so beautiful, I was running strong and feeling great.  In fact a David Cook song came on the ipod at about mile 18 called "Time of my Life".  I just smiled and laughed from mile 16-20 because I felt so good at such a late part of the race.  In other marathons by mile 18, doubt kicks in, negative self talk begins, and the last 6-8 miles are so miserable I've never wanted to run another marathon again.  This was different, I felt great, smiled, and passed a lot of people along the way. 

I had left my watch in the hotel room on accident.  I never run with a watch, but after leaving the others I couldn't continue the 5/1 ratios.  The program worked so well I didn't want to jeapordize the plan.   So when I felt like I had ran for 5 minutes, I would walk, count to 60, then run again. 

By mile 22 the course moved from the road to a parkway trail by the Ogden Dinosaur Park.  It was also beautiful, however the course got very congested.  It was shortly after being on the parkway trail that I came around a corner and saw the yellow shirt of Nate Smith.  I caught up to him and put my arm around him and said, "Congratulations you just ran a sub 4 hour marathon!" He put his weight on me and with my weakened legs I almost fell over.  "We haven't done it yet," he responded.  He and I ran/ walked for a couple of miles and as we made the last turn I looked behind me and saw the 4 hour pacer!  "Oh no!" I thought to myself.  It was just the motivation I needed to push the last 5 blocks.  

I ran the entire race with these gloves.

I would like to point out that unlike other marathons when I'm mostly walking, I can be seen here running .... mostly.

The 4 hour pacer can be seen eating my dust.

This is a great view of the finish line, and all those who came out and supported the runners.

Here are some of my best supporters.  It was so nice to see them at the end.

Nate and I ran the last few miles together it was nice to have him to finish with after so many hours of training together.

Here is "Team Yellow".  The shirts all came from the Riverton Half Marathon that we had ran earlier in the year. It worked very nicely for our supporters to spot us in the crowd.

We found Kevin Palmer at the finish line laying in the fetal position.  He took off, hoping to come in under 3:30 and took off way too fast (rookie mistake).  He was at the half way point in a personal record (1:37) and it cost him dearly in the end.  Come to find out he only finished a minute before me and because of his starting position, I actually beat him with my chip time!

Jill is my number one supporter, she goes to a lot of trouble to get everyone ready at an early hour to see my crazy races.  Alyssa is excited about the medal,  maybe one day she can earn her own. 

By far the Odgen Marathon is the most beautiful of the Utah marathons that I have ran.  It's the most fun I've ever had at a marathon, and I ran it with some terrific people.  I may just be inspired to run it again one day, but need to wait a couple of weeks before I make that decision.

After the race Jill and the boys stayed an extra night in Ogden and they swam for 3 straight hours!  They love swimming and Logan even got to the point he could dive in and retrieve something in the deepest part (6 feet).  We had an amazing dinner at a local Italian restaurant that had live entertainment, great food, and no line to wait in.

We slept in until 7:15 Sunday morning, yes that is sleeping in for us, and drove the marathon course Sunday morning before coming home. 

The marathon festivities actually began on Thursday when I went to the dentist to get a new crown.

I am on record for saying I would never get a tattoo.  But I really didn't have a choice here.  Kevin is one of my best running partners and also my dentist. After this new crown he is also my tattoo artist. 

When I had the need for this crown, he said, "Great we can put the 26.2 on your new tooth." 26.2 of course, is the distance of a marathon. While I didn't get a choice, it is pretty cool. 

I'm not sure I'll tell the Bishop, or even my children, but it is pretty cool. 

Kevin is the the man who gave me my one and only tattoo, and the running coach who made my goal of a sub 4 hour marathon a reality.  Now all those stories of "stick with it," "you can accomplish any goal you set your mind to," and "endure to the end" have a very personal meaning to me. 

Landon's Baseball Season

For the past four weeks, we gathered the family together on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. so Landon could play baseball.  He's always taken a backseat to his older brother who has played baseball, soccer, basketball, etc. and finally Landon moved from the sideline into the game.

He had his best buddy and cousin Hudson on the team to help him transition into playing.  Landon had a great season and it took some serious dedication from us to make this season happen.  Not only was it rainy and cold every single Tuesday and Thursday of the season (except for the last day), but Tuesdays are rough for our family.

Jill teaches 10 year old scouts at 4 p.m. for an hour.  She and the kids then rush to get ready, while I'm busy rushing home from work.  The baseball game goes from 5:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. which is the exact same time that Logan has a soccer practice, 15 minutes away in Herriman.  Tuesdays we've been dividing up and driving separately to pull this off.  Soccer is only 30 minutes, and then I have 11 year old scouts at 7:00 p.m.

Needless to say Tuesdays are a pretty rough day to schedule everything, but I like getting most everything done and having other days to work on projects.

This was the last week of baseball season and Landon has been from the first game, the most consistent hitter on the team.  Coach pitches 3 times and then you hit from the tee, if you can't get it.  There were very few times Landon needed the tee.  Look at his determination.

His eye is on the ball.

Another great photo I had to include.

As the last hitter on the team you get to run all the bases as if it were a grand slam home run.

Of course sometimes you have to play defense. Landon and Coach Wayne.

After the game you huddle up and give the other team a cheer.

When it's all said and done, you earn your reward.

Life should be so simple as a boy's baseball game.

This week has been filled with challenges of sickness.  Landon threw up on Monday and Tuesday and he was sick, Alyssa threw up on Wednesday and finally Jill threw up Friday night.  It's tough when the kids are sick, especially baby Alyssa who can't tell you what she would like to be more comfortable.  But when Jill gets sick I'm elevated to a new level of responsibility.  It's better for everyone when Jill is healthy.

Everyone is feeling better now and let's hope it stays that way.

Mother's Day 2011

2011 is a year that allowed Jill 33% greater appreciation of Mother's Day.  Last year Alyssa wasn't born yet so Jill was able to feel 33% more love this year than last year.  

Upon reflecting on Alyssa's first Mother's Day, I realized that my father, for the first time, didn't have his mother this year.  We miss Grandma Bryant.

To start the morning off, I had made a favorite breakfast for Jill, pull-a-parts and chocolate milk.  The boys loved it.  

Saturday we prepared to host my family for Mother's Day dinner.  We cleaned the house and prepared some food, and Sunday after church had them over for dinner. Here is Mom and Dad at our dinner table.  We had lots of fun setting the table with our wedding china and fancy goblets.

We also honored my Mom for her birthday.  It was a surprise of sorts, she planned on coming over for dinner, but didn't known that Shanel and Jake and their families would be coming.  

The other important mother in my life was out of the country.  Judy and Corwin have been in England/Ireland for about a week and won't be back until later next week.  I hope she knows how much we love her in her absence this Mother's Day.

Jill does so much for our family, and every Mother's Day I realize just how hard her work is.  Each year I help cook and do the dishes, and it wears me out.  I don't mean to sound like such a sissy, but when cooking and clean up takes so much time I wonder if it's worth it.  It would be so much easier to eat out every night, of course the food wouldn't be as good and we'd be broke.

The boys made a nice card for Jill and drew her a picture, and later sang a song to her in church today.  We had a nice Mother's Day and I hope Jill knows how much I love her.

Alyssa's First Word

Despite the snow we continue to have here in Riverton, the calendar still shows that it is springtime.  Springtime means ducks are invading the neighborhoods and looking for places to nest.  With our basement construction, some supplies were stacked up against the fence and when they were removed, a mother duck was found sitting on her eggs.  There were 10 eggs in all.  With the weather still cold and snowy Jill wanted to protect the duck in hopes of saving the baby chicks. We put up some wood to cover her, and it snowed 3 inches that night.  The boys will love checking on the duck and we can't wait to see the baby chicks.  

We celebrated dad's birthday at Sunday dinner.  The kids sure love playing together. 

We had lettuce wraps; Kandis found a P.F. Chang recipe and they were delicious.  

The family is getting so large that dinner was served a la carte. 

At present time all the children gather around Grandma. We celebrated JaKayla's birthday too, I can't believe she is now 11. 

We can't keep Alyssa in one place these days.  She always wants to be down crawling and getting into things.  It's helpful that she doesn't need to be held all the time, but it's almost worse because she is constantly picking up anything on the floor and putting it in her mouth. 

Here is dad opening his presents.  In the background you can see Kandis, she got sick now that finals in law school are over. 

For a few weeks now Alyssa will say MaMaMa, or DaDaDa, but she doesn't really know what it means.   She also will "give 5" and wave "hi".  This week she mastered those skills.  She will even say "hi" as she waves.  One night while watching TV some characters greeted each other with "hi".  Alyssa turned to the TV and waved and said, "hi".  She has so many little milestones, it's nice to see them and, of course, record them.