I {HEART} Utah

Well we had another lovely trip to Utah. Life's not always sunshine and rainbows, even in Utah, but it certainly helps just being in Utah. :)

We made a long weekend out of our trip - with the main purpose of going to say farewell to Jonas at his deployment ceremony. His ceremony wasn't until Tuesday, the 22nd - so we were able to make it into a short visit, but a long weekend. :)

We headed out on Friday after work and school and made it in time for the BYU vs. Oklahoma football game. It was a wee bit chilly (it dropped like 30 degrees that weekend - of course!), but turned out not too bad. It was a really, really fun game - especially at the end when BYU came back with seconds left to win the game with a touchdown. It was beautiful and the stadium went wild. LaVell stadium knows how to party and puts on an amazing show throughout the entire game. It was awesome.

Um, yeah, our seats were just about on the last row up. But whatever - it was still fun!

BYU does this drone-show pre-game and it was super cool!

We all slept in Saturday and just took our time getting ready. After lunch (brunch?) we headed down to the Jordan River temple for a baptism session. My girls LOVE the Provo City Center temple, but they were full and so we couldn't schedule an appointment. But the Jordan River temple was kind of fun as it was the temple I went to as a youth. We had a nice time there.

From there we drove like 10 minutes to a cool Pumpkin Patch. Although I think it might have been more for younger kids . . . it was still a lot of fun. But ridiculously expensive. :( We certainly didn't spend enough time to get our money's worth, but it was still fun and pretty and full of all-things-fall. So win.

Cute sisters.

Silly sisters.

Cute mom and dad. Ha.

I did love the floating pumpkins!

This is not the best picture, but it's of all of us so I had to post it. :)

We eventually ate dinner at 8:30 - hello city restaurants and long wait-lists. So sad. Anyways, it was another late night, but a good day.

Sunday was nice - going to church with my parents and then just hanging out. I think Emmy took Lucy on a ride on dad's machine. He was a bit nervous about her going . . . but she did great and he warmed up to the idea, ha. 

So fun!

That evening we were invited over to one of Ben's really good high school friend's home. Brandon Weaver is his name (he's in my parents' ward and is actually their home teacher!). He's an awesome guy with a lovely wife and beautiful family. We enjoyed (especially my girls) their pumpkin cookies and played some fun card games. We ended the evening playing Murder in the Dark and that was something I hadn't done in like . . . forever (ever?). It was a really fun evening.

On Monday we met up with Holly Coon (Emmy's friend) and dropped the girls off with her. Holly then drove our girls up to their home in Layton and the girls (including Lila - Lucy's friend) hung out for the day. Ben and I went and hiked Lake Blanche. The site of our engagement! It was so pretty and so awesome. The weather was great - slightly cool but not too cold. There were still fall colors out and a dusting of snow on the mountain peaks. So pretty! It was really a great hike.

Fall - you're simply the best.

Re-enacting our engagement, haha. Ben and I backpacked here once after we were married, but that was still back in 2002. So it had been 22+ years since we'd hike this. Crazy!

Lake Blanche with snowy Sundial Peak in the back.

We had fun trying out some selfies and even moved on to .5 photos . . . 

Hehe, I was dying. Love those .5 angles!

So perfect. For a .5.

Our pretty view on the way down.

It's hard to see, but we were like 12 feet from a moose on our hike down. He was right off the trail munching on leaves and couldn't care less about us. It was so cool!

We had a nice evening with my parents. We played some games with them and Lucy was a first-time winner at Left-Right-Center - claiming the $15 pot. (Which she promptly had to give to Ben to pay back for the Saturday night's purchase of pimple patches. Haha.)

Tuesday morning Ben and I had a nice run to and up Memorial hill and back. Then we got ready to head to Jonas' ceremony. Jonas knew I was coming - along with my parents. But we tried to keep it a secret that all of us were coming . . . but he figured the girls were with my as Emmy turned off her location on one of their social media apps they follow each other on. Darn. But I think Ben being there was a surprise and so that was fun! The ceremony went well. We hung out with Jonas for a bit and then bid him our farewell. 

More .5 pics because why not?

Cute grandparents and their "tall" grandson. :)

.5!

Kolter and Jonas - Montrose buddies. While they are going out together and on the same deployment order, they are not at the same site. They'll be about 2 hours from each other.

Yeah, we went a little .5 crazy for sure.

Godspeed Jonas! We'll miss you! We love you!

Then it was home for us. 

It was a great weekend full of family and friends and fall. My favorite things.

Black Canyon Triathlon 2024

The 2024 edition of the BCT. We started this back in 2016 as two family teams. Then I started doing it on my own, Emmy did it once on her own, Ben began doing it on his own a couple years later, the other kids did it with friends on a team, etc. But this year it was just Ben and I competing from our family. So sad! But it was still fun for us . . . but I still want to cry that my kids are all old and lazy teenagers haha, sniff, sniff.

Ben was a bit "worried" about the triathlon as his "training" had slacken in the past month or so. However, when we got our bags and checked in on Friday night, he was scoping out the competition and thought he had a shot at winning it all (a thought that literally never ever ever crosses my mind). The two top competitors from last year weren't racing and I think Ben took third last year . . . so he was optimistic about his chances.

The day was lovely and almost - just almost- too warm. Luckily we both got in the pool close to 9am and so we beat the hotness for the most part.

All was well and we both ended up doing well - but, sadly, Ben did not take 1st place overall. He was closer in time to the 1st place finisher (last year he was maybe off 7 or so minutes; this year he was off by only 3 minutes) and even had his best time, so a PR in racing terms! I was happy with my time, even though it was about 2 minutes slower than my best. But it's faster than when I first began and so that's good!

Some fun numbers: Ben took 4th overall. Ben and I both took 1st in our age division (Ben was the only one in his, haha. There were four in mine.) Ben was the 12th fastest swimmer (out of 42), 3rd fastest biker (out of 54, yeah I don't get that either . . . ), and 2nd fastest (!!) runner (out of 54 and was beaten by his good friend who only decided the night before to do it, ha!). His overall time was 1:18:20. I was 31st in swimming (out of 42 - not last!), 18th on the bike (out of 54), and 10th overall runner (out of the 54). I was quite pleased with my run. It wasn't as fast as two years ago (I was out of town last year), but it's fast for me nonetheless! I ended up 18th out of the 54 competitors and 5th out of 30 women. And my time was 1:29:32. 

Our good friends and neighbors, the Shockleys, were there (with Molly taking this picture). The dad/husband was doing it for his first time. (I love it - Molly told me her husband's "training": one 500 yard swim, one bike ride, and 2 walks. Haha.) It was cute, though, as I came out of the water - Molly and her three adorable kids (Milo, Aidrey, and Trent) were on the other side of the glass window and  were cheering me on. Love them.

Molly got a picture of me running in. Her kids were sooooo happy because I was the first one they knew coming through - and especially happy because I was beating Ben! (But, of course, I was not technically beating Ben . . . I had just started like 10 minutes before him. But he didn't pass me - which I thought he might. Anyways, the kids were so excited for me and it was the best.)

Yay, another good race in the books!

Yay - my first 1st place finish!!! Ben has had lots. :)

Maybe as my kids grow out of their lazy teenage phase, they will someday rejoin us . . . that would be dreamy.

September 2024

Well October is half-way over (what the heck?!), so it is only fitting that I finally post our end-of-September random stuff . . .

We were literally given/gifted a car by our friends, the Noel family. (Actually we paid them $1 - which we found when cleaning the car haha!) Jaymie, the mom, wanted to get ride of the "piece of junk" and we were happy to oblige. . . It's old and not in cosmetically the best shape - but a good car for our teenage Emmy, ha. The only problem? It's a stick. So Ben took Emmy out twice and the third day she was driving it to school, etc. She's done really well in picking up how to drive it - even driving it up to Junction (although the drive to Junction isn't tricky - but driving around town is - go Emmy!). Ben's done some things to fix it - including getting all the lights and blinkers working, plus getting the windows to roll up (and down). It could use a bit more cosmetic work, but for now it's a great car for Emmy and she's happy with it! 

We thought maybe the "Y" sticker would bring us some luck . . . :)

Lots of Friday Night Lights happening in our small town. This is Emmy's unofficial boyfriend Aidan . . . so I guess her friend who is a boy and whom she likes to hang out with . . . Ben goes to the games as well. Our HS team is rocking it (including Aidan who scores a few touchdowns every game) - they are so far undefeated and win by lots and lots of points. Maybe this year they take state - we'll see!

Heather, me, and Marnae on a beautiful hike. :)

That's a wrap on our September.

HOCO

Well Homecoming week has come and gone - and it's good to be over with, ha. I mean, it's not bad - but there is some stress with finding a dress, shoes, getting ready, going out, getting asked/not getting asked, and on and on. But in the end, I think both my girls ended up have a good HOCO week and everything.

We were all surprised when Lucy ended up as one one of two freshman girls nominated for HOCO Freshman Princess. I mean, surprised just because this never happens to anyone in our family - but also not too surprised upon finding out because Lucy is a really friendly little gal. :) Every student in each grade nominates who (a boy and a girl) should be HOCO royalty. Then the top two girls and two boys - except for the seniors who get four nominees each for girl and boy - are part of the "homecoming court" and participate in different activities during the week. The grades vote for the winner on Friday and the results are announced during the homecoming football game's half-time. 

So Lucy got to be in the parade, participate in the Pep-Rally assembly, and go down at half-time. So apparently that means three dresses - luckily she borrowed the other two from 1. Emmy and 2. Her date's sister's old dress. Haha, how sweet. Lucy had a lot of fun all week. Unfortunately she didn't end up winning, but she was okay about that really. I am sure she was a bit bummed (I mean, who wouldn't want to win?!), but she was also totally fine. She likes the girl who won and so it was all good. I also made a petty but just to lighten-the-mood comment down on the field after the results were announced: "Well, YOU are the one going to the dance with the Freshman Prince." Yes, her date was declared the winner. Anyways, fun stuff.

Emmy was excited for Lucy and was possibly more bummed, or at least more surprised, that Lucy didn't win. Haha. Emmy enjoyed the activities of the week - going to the Powderpuff volleyball game (where the boys play, coached by the girls on the high school team), watching the Powderpuff football game (where the girls play, coached by the boys on the high school team - including Lucy), etc. I took Emmy, Lucy, and Alaina to Grand Junction late Thursday evening to go to the Junction Mall and get some shoes.

I had to go to the football game to support Lucy, but it wasn't horrible ha. Emmy's crush, Aidan, got hurt again during the game and that was a slight bummer. But the girls had fun and our team crushed their opponents. 

On Saturday, Lucy and Alaina went and got pedicures. Emmy's too poor and so she just went for the moral support, ha. Then Lucy went over to a friend's house, Lizzy, and got ready there. Emmy managed to find someone in our ward who loaned her a vehicle for the night (a cool red Jeep), and so that was exciting for her. She went over to Alaina's house that afternoon and got ready, pictures, etc. I really didn't see her at all once she went. I went to see Lucy's group and got pictures. Then I picked up Lucy and her friend and their dates and took them from where they got their pictures and had dinner - and took them to the dance. They were cute and excited. After the dance the girls and boys went to Taco Bell. I picked up Lucy around 11:30 and called it a night. :) Lucy said she had a ton of fun.

Emmy and Alaina got ready and got pictures at Alaina's. They ate dinner at Sonic because they love Sonic ha. Then it was the dance and they had a lot of fun there. From there I think they also went to Taco Bell and then just drove over the town for a bit. Alaina (whose mother passed away completely unexpectedly just the Saturday before) didn't want to be alone that night and so Emmy got to stay the night at Alaina's.

Anyways, a busy but fun week for the girls! So here are some pictures, with the vast majority being of Lucy. Sorry Emmy! But 1. Emmy didn't want me to come take pictures and 2. Lucy was just involved in more things. For being the youngest, this is a great honor to have MORE pictures ha. Also, the pictures are in reverse order pretty much and it truly is a pain to fix that, so I am not. Now on to the photos:

Lucy's picture she took for her nominee announcement.

The cute Patton and poster asking Lucy to homecoming.

Emmy's pretty dress and shoes. :) She loved the back.

Emmy and Alaina cruising the town.

Some of Lucy's group photos. This is Patton (Lucy's date), Colter, Sadie, and Lucy. Doing what's called the "step-child" pose, I think. Haha!

Just Patton and Lucy doing the step-child. :)

The boys in Lucy's group.

The girls and boys.

It was rainy and cold all Saturday - but right before pictutre-taking time, the rain stopped and the lighting was perfect. Gorgeous!

Aidan and Emmy down on the field after the homecoming football game.

Here is Lucy with Rish (Marisha) - another fellow homecoming nominee (for the junior class) and fellow gymnastics teammate.

Lucy and Sierra - the freshman nominees. 

The freshman nominees at the parade.