Fall

My favorite thing in the fall - running to the mountains to catch the "golden hour."  :)

I Think the World is Glorious!

I'm grateful for a beautiful afternoon in the mountains!!!!!  This is what came to mind and I couldn't stop singing all the way up and down the mountain!  (I was trying not to surprise the bobcat, either.)  ;)



The scenery was pretty great too!  :)

Manufactured Marathons

I learned early in my life about manufactured marathons.  :)  Thanks, Dad!

At the beginning of the year I signed up for a marathon.  It's good to have a goal.  It kept me going when I didn't want to run.  The mild winter actually made it pretty good for training, but then all the snow came on race day in May.  ;)  So, I picked up my packet the night before and started almost as early, but ran my own race - instead of Ogden Canyon it was a half marathon loop around the upper Avenues of Salt Lake and City Creek Canyon and then another half marathon around the indoor Olympic Oval track in Kearns.  I'd never been to the track before - it was actually a great alternative, but I'm very grateful for cheerleaders and another runner to helping me finish my 48 laps.  ;)

Family Time

It was kind of like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and everyone's birthday this past week!  :)  It was so wonderful for the whole family to be together!  Most importantly we were celebrating Kayla's eighth birthday and baptism and Hailey's first birthday, but other than that it was just really nice to be together for a few days.

A few of the highlights:

• kalua pig and pineapple
• Mason dancing to "Happy" during Hailey's first birthday video - the kid can dance!!  :)
• strawberry and donut sticks until 1:00 am
• color coordinated banners (it's a good thing my kids are missing the birthday luaus, so at least that part of their lives they don't have to compare to their cousins')
• Kayla's baptism
• the baptism video (a five-tissue event)
• being together and talking and laughing
• watching Mason and Noah play together
• watching Henri protect himself from Hailey
• family pictures
• hiking Timp 
• watching all the kids sing "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" together
• visiting the pumpkin patch
• adventures at City Creek Canyon and Temple Square
• beautiful fall leaves all along the way

It was a fun week!  Until the next time, we'll enjoy the pictures and memories....

Pioneer Day Weekend

I'm grateful for four days to celebrate and reflect and relax and get out of town and the regular routine of life, but I'm grateful my journey was in an air conditioned car and not a handcart.  :)  I love Pioneer Day - what a blessing to consider those who have paved the way with courage and faith, particularly the Mormon pioneers that settled in the Salt Lake Valley 167 years ago.  Their lives and sacrifices are inspiring and there is much we can learn from them and others that are pioneers.  I really loved this talk that President Uchtdorf gave in honor of Pioneer Day this year, All Is Well.

It was the perfect weekend in St. George!  There was 600 miles of driving, little traffic, good weather, air conditioning, time to relax, Mom, Dad, Josh, Kirsten, birthday cake, sunsets, the St. George Temple, a bike ride around the river loop, two nice walks/hikes the Dixie rock and the Snow Canyon overlook, two books, watching the parade, indexing, a full Hallmark TV series on Netflix, and an incredible golf course/canyon view the whole time!  I think Brigham Young's winter home was the perfect place to celebrate....the pioneers and Josh.  :)