First Dam Run 2008

The First Dam Run was last Saturday and it was great. This year was different than last year. Some things were missing from last year and some things were here this year that weren't there last year. It made for a wonderful day. Here is a list:

Things Missing This Year

Running with the kids - my favorite part of the race last year was coming around a corner and seeing Brax and McKell and then running with them for about a block, it gave me a second wind to tackle the remaining half of the race. This year McKell was at dance and Braxton was several minutes ahead of me most of the race.


The cold - the weather on Saturday was great running weather. Last year it was 30 F the morning of the race, this year the temperature was about 45 F with no wind and overcast. I was warm (but not too warm) through the whole race - I was just right.

Jitters - I don't know if I have just been too busy or better prepared but I was not that nervous for the race. I was excited - especially the morning of the race - but I wasn't nervous. I think I was just so happy to be there with my family I didn't think about whether to be nervous or not.

Knee brace - last year when I ran and for most of this year I have worn a knee brace on my right knee. If I didn't my knee would throb for a while after I ran. I stopped wearing it about a month ago when I ran. Thankfully I didn't have any pain in my knee after the race.

Things Present This Year

Family - this year there were 10 of us from our family who ran. Dad, Mom, two brothers, two sister-in-laws, two nephews, Brax, and myself all ran. It was fun to watch and then cheer for each person as they approached then crossed the finish line. I only wish I could have been there to watch Braxton (22 min) and Glade (29 min) finish. I was so proud of each person who ran the race. Hopefully we will have even more family in the race next year.


Destry - last year Destry (below in green) ran with me for the first mile to where the 5k route turns and the 10k route goes straight (Destry ran the 10k last year). This year Destry ran with me the whole race. I wanted to run with Brax, Glade, and Destry for at least the first mile but Braxton was way ahead of me after a few seconds, Glade just got further and further away from me during entire race, but Destry stayed with me the whole race. I felt bad for Destry and kept thinking that he should ditch me and run his own race but I was so glad that he stayed. He set a great pace for me and encouraged me to keep going when I was tired. We finished in 30 minutes, two minutes faster than last year. A big thanks to Destry.



Glade - as I mentioned above, I had hoped to run with Glade (pictured below right) for the first mile but I wasn't able to. Even though I wasn't able to run with Glade I could easily spot his bald head bobbing above the crowd. This made me laugh for a minute until I realized that I look the same way from behind as Glade. He did great and I am so proud of him.


Ribbons - we were very surprised when they started to read those who placed in each of the categories - Tate, Connor, Brax, and Dad all won a ribbon for their category. It was great.




It was a great day. I can't wait until next year. I think that plan is to try to run a race in SE Idaho next spring and then tackle First Dam Run next year.

Halloween

I can't believe Halloween is over.

First, McKell chose to be a hula girl

and got to wear her costume to school,

had an awesome class party, and walked in the Halloween parade.

Then we had a pizza that looked like a pumpkin.

Next, we went trick-or-treating with Sydnee and some cousins.

Finally, went swimming with Connor, Tate, Attley and Mckinley.

GREAT FUN!!!

Overwhelmed!?!

It has been almost a month since I have posted on my blog. Yes, it has been updated since then, but Derek has been writing the most recent posts. The title should explain it all. Since school started I have been so OVERWHELMED!! It seems that I have not had a moment with nothing going on. I did not go to my classroom once during the summer. In fact, I didn't even think about school or lesson plans. I have been behind on planning my own music lesson plans and then I got a few new responsibilities at work that have just about put me over the edge.

This bulletin board hangs in my classroom and no I didn't just undecorate it to put up something new. It has looked this way since the first day of school on August 20. I have a great idea of how to decorate it. In fact, I have all the materials which sat in a stack on my table at home for about a month and now they are in a drawer in my classroom. This bulletin board has been a constant reminder of how much I have to do and no time to do it.

Other than work, I was also in charge of our ward's Super Saturday just over a week ago and it was just so time consuming. I had to find 5 speakers organize 3 home decor projects, collect all the money, pick up the projects, and make sure that a luncheon was going to happen. Also all the advertising, etc. I am so glad it is over. Not to mention all the football practices, games, dance lessons and gymnastics that I have to get my kids to. My house is a disaster. The laundry hampers are full (and it seems that I can do laundry all night and they are still full??) Most of our meals have been eaten out.

When I was at my breaking point, a few weeks ago, my 18-month-old niece was diagnosed with leukemia. It was at this point I realized that I had to stop and decide what was important to me and what I was going to put off until later. About two days after we found out about my niece, I had planned to miss Braxton's football game so I could do my dishes instead. Needless to say I went to the game and the dishes waited for me until the game was over. Many things were put on hold as we packed up that week to visit my sister and her daughter in the hospital. For now, the bulletin board will stay empty because I still don't have the time to get it done. Now it is a reminder that nothing is as important as family.

We Finally Got The Shot

Braxton has had seven games and so far we have either forgot our camera or did not have it ready at the right time to get a good shot of Braxton making a big play. With two games left we were really feeling the pressure.

Braxton's game last night was against Ben Lomond and there was plenty of opportunities. The game started pretty even but after each team scored two touchdowns we were on fire. I think it was because of the play below. Braxton blocked the punt and his teammate picked it up and ran it in for a touchdown.

Braxton did really well on defense. He was actually the defensive player of the game last week. He got several sacks on the quarterback. Below Braxton is two steps away from a sack (this was in the first quarter).


And a few minutes later, we got the best shot - Braxton single handedly sacked the quarterback. It was awesome! Here is Braxton half of a second from taking the quarterback to the ground.


We felt really good - finally having a good shot of Braxton doing really well on defense but we still wanted to get a good shot of him catching the ball. We almost had our chance. The picture below is Braxton very close to catching the ball, unfortunately a defender jumped in at the wrong time and intercepted it instead. You can see Braxton ready to catch the ball and head for a touchdown - better luck next time.


McKell and I got a chance to talk to Braxton during half-time, which we haven't been able to do before. He told me he was really tired. He would have had to be - he played practically every play in the first half and we scored 8 touchdowns so there were many kickoffs and big plays that he had to run a lot.

It was a really good game. Braxton (along with most of the 1st string players) didn't play much in the second half. I can't believe next week is the last game. What a season!

First Dam Update 2

The race information is now up and can be viewed at http://www.topofutahmarathon.com/Firstdam.php/

The race will start at 10 AM on Nov. 1, 2008. You can pre-register by sending in a registration form (link found on site) or you can register the day of the race. The cost is $18 (with shirt) or $12 (without shirt) if you register before noon on Oct. 31, 2008. If you register the morning of the race the cost is $20 (with) or $14 (without shirt).

Everyone is welcome to run it with us. I think that there will be quite a few of us. Email or call me if you have any questions. Thanks
Derek

First Dam Update

Just a quick update about the First Dam Run - I called Al's Sporting Goods to see if they have any information about the race yet - they have not received anything yet. I also called the race director and got his voice mail. The voice mail message said that he did not have everything together yet but will post the information at:

www.topofutahmarathon.com

I looked there and found the like to the First Dam Run at http://www.topofutahmarathon.com/Firstdam.php/

This link shows the information from the last year but I assume that it will be the same for this year. I know that date will be Nov. 1 this year so plan on that. It may be another week until we get the rest of the information and are able to register. You can register the morning of the race but will not be able to get a shirt (not a great loss).

I will post any information that I get here. Thanks for your support, I am really looking forward to this race. It will be fun for all of us. Plan on going out to lunch after.

So, overall the update is that there is no update - sorry.

Derek

Fashion Parade

I am at a tradeshow for work at Houston, Texas. This entails sitting (and standing) in a 10 x 10 foot booth displaying the products that I sell. I am surrounded by booths of other companies doing the same thing. I patiently wait (and smile) for someone to mosey over to my booth and then I pounce – launching into my sales pitch - then I wait for the next person to show some interest and repeat

While I wait, I have been getting quite a fashion parade. The dress varies widely (and sometimes wildly). On one end there are those who are giving talks about their research, they are often in suits with ties. On the other end there are t-shirts, Levis, and the occasional wranglers tucked into cowboy boots. However, there is one reoccurring component of the fashion parade – the sports jacket.

I believe that the sports jacket has created a false sense of fashion for most of those wearing them. I can imagine them thinking, “Since this is a professional meeting, I should probably dress up, I know, I will just wear my sports jacket.”

I emphasize ‘my’ here because after five years of attending these tradeshows I am pretty sure that most of the men only have ‘a’ sports jacket and it has also been the only sports jacket they ever owned. It stays buried in the back of the closet and rarely sees the light of day.

The main problem with the sports jacket is that it does not include a dress-up of any other article of clothing. Their regular daily shirts (polo shirts, dress shirts, and t-shirts) and pants (dress slacks, khakis, and Levis) are worn but are mistakenly kicked-up a notch with the sports jacket addition.

There apparently is no concern whether the olive green button-up shirt, tan khaki pants, and Nike shoes go together with a gray corduroy sports jacket. There is also no concern whether the sports jacket their parents bought them for college graduation in 1968 is still in style today.

Luckily for me I outgrew (and out-gained) any chance of making a sports jacket fashion mistake. Now if I can just figure out the pesky rules of what not to wear after Labor Day I will be a fashion expert. I’d better go, there is a guy coming towards me whose herringbone pattern of his sports jacket is clashing with his Hawaiian shirt.

Houston, we have a problem.

I am on a business trip in Houston, Texas - I am not that excited about being here. Even though it is fun to spend someone else’s money traveling – I would much rather be home.

I usually take the airport shuttle from Logan to the Salt Lake airport. This gives me a chance to either relax and catch up on a little sleep or listen to stories from the driver on the way to the airport. Sometimes I want to pretend I am deaf (it worked so well for Elaine on Seinfeld). But this time was a little different.

We had gone to Salt Lake on Saturday and were staying at Destry and Trish’s. Jen said that she would take me to the airport but later Destry volunteered for the early morning drop-off. Against Jen’s advice, I accepted Destry’s offer.

It was a nice and quick 25 minute drive to the airport - no crazy stories just a random sampling of music from Destry’s iPod to keep us awake. Along the way we stopped for a breakfast burrito, I got my wallet out to pay but Destry took care of it (thanks again). When you are in a car and are fat, it is difficult to get your wallet out of your back pocket – it is even harder to get it back into your pocket so I just set my wallet on my lap.

We got to the airport and I got out, grabbed my luggage, and said good-bye to Destry. I took one step into the terminal and realized I had left my wallet in Destry’s car. I figured he was gone but I didn’t panic because this is the 21st century and everyone has cell phones. I immediately called Destry’s phone – it went right to voice mail – I panicked.

To make a long story short, Destry drove home, was informed that I was stranded at the airport, got his phone, drove back to the airport, gave me my wallet, and drove me back to his house – I had missed my 6:50 AM flight and was bumped to the 12:50 PM flight. I felt quite embarrassed but it was nice to go back to Destry’s, have another breakfast, and see the kids again one last time.

Even though Destry offered to take me to the airport again, Jen insisted and took me back to the airport. All I had to do was admit that Jen is always right and agree to do whatever she says for the rest of my life.

"Locking The Church"

Last Sunday I was asked to check the church each night and make sure it was locked up for the week. The first night as I was leaving to go check the church Braxton asked to go. When I got to the garage Braxton was already in the driver's seat of the Jeep - he wanted to drive. I thought it would be okay so I got in the passenger's seat and got strapped in.
Braxton backed out of the garage slowly and out onto the road - we were off. He did a really good job that night. He drove the three blocks to the church and then drove back home after. We were careful not to tell Jen that he was the driver.
I let Brax drive to the church each night I went to lock the church. We had our own little code for "locking the church". As we left home one night for the church I told Braxton he could drive wherever he wanted for five minutes. He drove by as many houses of his friends as he could in the time.
He was doing a great job of slowing down at each intersection and checking for cars. I had to remind him that he didn't need to stop at each intersection but it was good that he was careful.
The last night of locking the church McKell came along. She was a little surprised and expressed her concern when Brax was allowed to drive. I had Brax drive us to the gas station for pop and candy bars all around.
I am sure that we will have to go "lock the church" more often now. I remember driving with Meme, Mom, and Dad when I young - it was so fun and I felt so old. It won't be too long until he has his learner's permit - then we will go for much longer drives. Until then we will keep it in the neighborhood - so be on the lookout for a green Jeep, the young driver will have a HUGE smile on his face.

Reese's You've Got Competition

I am a slacker home teacher. Luckily Jen makes great treats that I can drop off to my home teaching family's houses on the last day of the month. Last night while I went to CrossFit Jen made peanut butter cups and Braxton took them around (I said I was a slacker). She has made them several times. I had a few when I got home - they were awesome.

Today when I got home from CrossFit the house was empty. Brax was at mutual and Jen was picking McKell up from dance. I quickly checked the fridge to see if there were any of Jen's peanut butter cups left, there were none. I was sad until I found some Reese's peanut butter cups in cupboard. They were the single cups so I thought it would be great to take care of my craving - it did not. Jen's were way better, by a factor of 10 at least.

I plead to all of you - the next time you have a party, birthday, baby birth, wedding shower, etc. please ask Jen to bring her peanut butter cups that way I can get some more. I feel a little weird asking Jen to make me a whole batch just for me - though I really want to.

Happy Birthday Braxton

This past week Braxton turned the big 15!! Where has the time gone? I really can't believe he is so old. Our little family of 4 has started some birthday traditions that we do for all of our birthdays. First, the birthday person gets to pick where our family goes to dinner. Braxton picked Iggy's and of course, had to bring a friend. The San Diego Chargers were playing, if you know Braxton you know he is a HUGE Chargers fan. Braxton and Ryan both wore Chargers' jerseys and we got a booth right in front of the TV to watch the game. All night the servers were handing out raffle tickets for a drawing that would be held at half-time. We started out with a few, but as people kept leaving they would give the boys their tickets. By half-time we had about 30 tickets. A man came out to do the drawing, there were 2 prizes, a jersey and a helmet. However, since there were so many tickets the guy pulled the first ticket and said it would only be for a free dessert or appetizer. Braxton WON!!

I always decorate my kids' doors for their birthdays and a few years ago they started decorating ours on Derek's and my birthday. McKell helped with Braxton's and she had the great idea of putting on 15 frogs and numbering them all. She is so creative!! Braxton got so many great gifts and phone calls - thanks so much to everyone. It means so much to him as well as me.

It also happened to be Homecoming Week at the high school and Braxton was in the Homecoming Parade with the football team on his birthday. We went to watch and had so much fun. He is loving high school and getting so involved which is great. He was gone every night last week to either the movie on the lawn, the powderpuff game, his game, or a party. I commented on how he was gone all week and his answer, "Mom, it is homecoming week, the biggest week of high school!" I still don't know if I am ready for this teenage thing!!

My Cubs Are Eagles

My first church calling when we moved to this area was a Cub Scout leader. There were three boys in my Wolf Den - Braxton, Corey, and John. It was fun to be their cub scout leader - they were excited to be new cub scouts and earned lots of arrow points and segments.

They were patient with me as I made up crazy activities each week (usually about five minutes before they got there). I was their Bear leader as well but they moved on to another leader for Webelos.

Last year Braxton earned his Eagle Award and tonight Braxton and I attended the Eagle Court of Honor for Corey and John. Now all three of my little Cub Scouts are Eagle Scouts. I am so proud.

The boys have played together on football, baseball, and soccer teams. They all currently play football for Logan High. Here is a walk down memory lane.

Braxton, John, and Corey at a pinewood derby.

Here they are leaving me and moving onto Webelos.


And here they are at Bear Lake at Scout camp last summer.

I Will Not Give Up

I have had a few situations this week where because of difficulty I have given up. It started last week on my Saturday run (http://www.pinnocks.com/blog/2008/09/14/AtLeastIWent.aspx). It started out okay but after awhile I felt more tired than usual and the run seemed to drag on. I had to walk and rest before my running plan dictated. I gave up and ran the shortest route home – not finishing the full 30 minute plan.

At CrossFit on Friday, the workout of the day was Fran. The workout Fran (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVBgKB4Gnsw) consists of doing 21, 15, and 9 reps alternating between thrusters (squat with a barbell at shoulder level then stand up and push the barbell above your head) and pull-ups. The trainer suggested that I do 95# thrusters, which is the weight recommended for men. Time started and it became obvious very quickly that I was not going to be able to do the workout with 95#. I struggled through the 21 reps of the first round and then moved onto the 21 reps of pull-ups. Sadly, I decreased the weight down to 75# to finish the last two rounds of thrusters. I finished with a respectable time of 6:30 but the experience left me let down, upset, and empty.

The running plan today was to run for 22 minutes, walk for one minute, and then run for seven more minutes to finish the 30 minute plan. The run quickly became a repeat of last week. At sixteen minutes in, I was exhausted. I wanted to quit, my body begged me to. The week’s failures quickly went through my mind. I decided then that I would keep running - no matter how much pain I felt. I told my pains to shutup and kept running. The one minute walk after 22 minutes of running was very welcome but passed quickly. I finished the run and felt redeemed.

I am glad I did not give up. There are a few more weeks to go until I reach my goal of running for 30 minutes with no rests – just in time for the 5k. If my running doesn’t improve there will pain - a lot more pain – but I will not give up. I guess I will find out for sure next week.

2nd Place

If I was a sports writer and had been assigned to follow and write about Braxton’s football team over the last several years it would have been a joy. The team has won most of their games, a lot of the games their opponent didn’t score, and they even went a whole season without a losing a game.

However, this week’s game is hard to write about - 2nd place, okay, it was a loss. They played Highland up in Pocatello. When we got there in the first part of the second quarter Logan was ahead 12 to 7. The teams traded touchdowns throughout the game but Highland ended up with the win.

The boys played hard and there were some good things our team did – a touchback, a couple of fumble recoveries, and a stripped ball ran back to a touchdown.

We had a lot of family support again this week. Terrell and Siri, Don and Delain, Kristie (and kids), and Hollie (and kids) all came. The little girls did a great job of making sure Braxton (as well as everyone in the stands and on the field) knew where we were seated and that we supported him.

Braxton (and team) had to walk by us on the way to the bus so we were at least able to talk to him briefly after the game - he is awesome. The team was pretty upset about the loss – but that is good it will help them fight harder the next time.

After the game we all went to Perkins for dinner. The food was good but I hope that there is a waiter in Pocatello looking for a new job today. Maybe I am being too harsh - he must have just gotten the buffet room we were in confused with a prison cafeteria.

A big thanks for all of the family support – it meant a lot.

I'm Forrest, Forrest Gump

At CrossFit we often run as part of the workout of the day. The runs are short; usually three to five rounds of two to four blocks each. We run on the street right behind our building. Even though it is only one block west of Main Street there are very few cars that drive on it. The street slopes down on each side so running on the side of the road is difficult. It makes if feel like one of your legs is working twice as hard as the other. For this reason, I usually run right in the middle of the street.

The other day while running at CrossFit there was nobody in front of me, I had a long open view to the end of the block where I would turn around. I thought that I must have looked like Forrest Gump as he ran through the desert in the middle of the road. I started quoting lines from the movie in my mind. It helped pass the time but became annoying when I tried to remember all of the kinds of shrimp that Bubba told Forrest about.

Now I have to pay close attention when I run to make sure someone is in front of me when I run at CrossFit – if I don’t I start thinking I look like Forrest Gump and start dreaming of shrimp . . .

You can barbeque it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it, shrimp cabobs, shrimp gumbo, pan-fired, stir-fried, pineapple shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp stew, shrimp soup, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich – that’s about it.

Sky View Game Pictures

Here are some pictures from the Sky View game. This will be Brax's main rival through high school. He is #95 - bottom center in this picture right after a kick-off.

Braxton playing defensive end.

After running, catching, hitting, tackling, and blocking Braxton takes a well-deserved drink.

Park City Game Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures from Brax's Park City Game. Braxton is #95. He has played lineman on both offense and defense for several years but this year he went out for tight end and defensive end. He has done an amazing job and the coach really likes him.



Neither of the passes in these pictures was intended for Braxton - the goal for the next game is to get a picture of Braxton with the ball.

Athletic Supporters

Braxton's game this week was against Judge Memorial. They are a private Catholic school in Salt Lake City. Jennifer had some stuff to do after school so I drove down to the game by myself. The only good part was being able to listen to talk radio - by the way Sean Hannity is crazy.

So far Braxton's team has blown away both of the teams they have played so far (like they have done for most of the last several years). The score stayed close throughout the game. We would score then they would score, then we would score and then they would score.

You could tell though that we were having a much easier time scoring then they were. It would take us a few minutes to score and it would take them about eight minutes to score. They did not have any kind of a passing game - running plays only. I was impressed with our offense, they ran all types of plays. I really liked the passes to Braxton - it makes for a whole different game having Braxton make the big plays.

We still have not had the camera ready when Braxton makes a big catch. So far, we only have a bunch of pictures of Braxton standing in the huddles, on the line, and on the sidelines.

Back to the game. With time running out (score 34 us - 28 them) Judge rallied and drove down the field to the 5 yard line. Our defense was able to hold them and got the ball back after Judge ended up being inches short of a 1st down.

We ended up winning. It was a really good game - a real nail biter. The best part of the game was that Destry and Trish (and kids) and Allison came to the game.

It was so great to see Olivia, Ellie, and Luke (but you can call him Lucas). Luke must be the happiest baby ever - his smile is quite contagious. I think he likes me the best.

After, we all went to the Training Table for dinner. Thanks to Destry, Trish, and Allison for coming to the game - you all are great athletic supporters.

"I Just Feel So Much Older"

McKell started third grade last week. She had a great first day of school. She has a really fun teacher who will be getting married in October. It is so funny that the students are so excited about her name changing during the year. McKell is 100% girl. She loves to shop and we bought way too many new school clothes. Not only did we buy the clothes this year, but we had to buy the matching shoes, necklaces, watches, bracelets, and hair things. It is all about the accessories.

After school was over, McKell and I were going through her papers and I asked her how her day was. She answered, "I just feel so much older." I said "older than yesterday?" She said, "Of course." Our baby girl has grown up and I have enjoyed every second of it!!

"Give 'Em L"

Excuse the profanity in the title, but this is a slogan for the high school. They actually have T-shirts with this slogan on it that the students wear. I don't love it, but it seemed appropriate for this post as Braxton started high school this week as a Freshman. I can't believe it either. It seems like only yesterday that Braxton was that crazy, busy two-year-old that would not leave my side. He wanted me to hold him ALL the time even after he was way too big and heavy for me to pack around. He hated to sleep without the light on all night and he wouldn't let me out of his sight.

Well, he has completely grown out of that stage. Now, he wants me to be as far away as possible. I probably couldn't pick him up if I tried and he shuts his bedroom door tight every night because it is so "annoying that McKell has to sleep with the hall light on." He now wants to be out of my sight, at least most of the time. He is just starting Driver's Ed (scary, huh?) so he still needs me to drive him to school, practices, movies and anywhere else he and his friends can think of. But, it is official - I now have a high school student. It makes me feel old.

This is Braxton on his first day of high school. He fought me on taking the picture. He said it was stupid. I said that I have taken a "first day picture" since he started pre-school at age 3 and I wasn't stopping now just because he was in high school. He reluctantly agreed to pose for the picture. Doesn't he look so excited?? Here are some stats on Brax:

Height: 5 foot, 8 inches; Weight: 130 pounds; Shoe Size: 10.5; Classes: Biology, Geography, Driver's Ed, Seminary, English, Spanish; Favorite Sports: Football, Soccer; Favorite Sports Team: San Diego Chargers

He actually was really excited to start 9th grade and can't wait to play in his first official football game next Thursday. I have been driving him to football practice at the high school since the first of August and it hasn't seemed strange. But, it was crazy dropping him off on the first day of school. It is hard to be sad because he just couldn't wait. Braxton, I am so proud of you and I hope this year you do your best and "Give 'Em L."

Summertime - when the living is easy

I cannot believe that school is starting. We have had so much fun this summer. We have stayed up way too late and slept in way too late. I have absolutely loved the lazy days of summer. I love to stay in my pajamas all morning and not get anything done until late afternoon. Actually, we were gone from our home a lot this summer, whether it was on family vacation, a trip to Salt Lake City, or just hanging out in Idaho at grandma and grandpa's house. Here are some highlights of our summer:
The week after school got out we went on a last minute family vacation to California. Some of our friends were going with their kids and invited us to come along. We had a blast!! We started out at Sea World in San Diego. We also hit Disneyland and California Adventure and ended with Universal Studios in Hollywood. We would get to Disney when the park opened and stay until it closed. McKell loved meeting the characters, riding the tea cups, and the "Finding Nemo" submarine ride. Braxton rode pretty much every ride and loved the "Indiana Jones" ride and "Screamin'" at California Adventure. Also, the "Tower of Terror" was a huge highlight for him and me as well. I love fast rides and roller coasters and had a great time. Derek even made it through "Space Mountain" without getting too sick.

We even spent a whole day at Laguna Beach, California. I was not thrilled about this because I really don't like to lounge out in a swimsuit. However, this ended up being one of our favorite days. It was a great way to relax and slow down after the fast pace of the theme parks. Derek and I got completely fried. Apparently our snow-white skin wasn't used to the sun. We came home really red but it was worth it. It was a great experience for our family because our usual family vacation is to Idaho.

Our kids were also involved in many other things this summer. Braxton spent a week at football camp and McKell took swimming lessons. We spent the Fourth of July with my family. It is always fun to go to the parade and the sprinkler park. We always have a great time with our cousins. The Fourth is one of my favorite holidays and I love going to the fireworks in Idaho Falls. They are still the best I have ever seen.

To end the summer we spent two weekends with Destry and Tricia. They were great hosts as always. It was great to see them and catch up. When we visit there is always great food, great fun, and great conversation. The four of us stay up way too late talking. Also, my kids love to see their girls and Luke. We spent a Saturday afternoon swimming in Tricia's sister's pool and finished up our school shopping just in time to come home and get back to reality.

The summer is officially over. The kids have gone back to school and I have gone back to work. We were so not ready. I already miss the days of hanging out in my pajamas at home with nothing to do and nowhere to go. I guess getting back on schedule will be nice but I will be counting down the days until next summer.

Welcome!

Hi, welcome to our blog. I am officially a blogger (well, I am learning as I go). I have been wanting to start a blog for months and finally took the plunge. Although the name is "Just the 4 of Us," the two kids pictured above will probably be the main focus. These two keep me going with all the music lessons, practices, games, and other events they are involved in. I actually love every minute of it!!