tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42943422724606904312024-03-14T03:50:40.903-06:00Travis . Cali . Gideon . ParkerWe cannot rest content with mediocrity, when EXCELLENCE is within our reach. Thomas S. MonsonCali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.comBlogger755125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-68913430633977195622015-09-22T12:47:00.001-06:002015-09-22T12:47:40.864-06:00Happy Birthday Girls!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So on Friday we held a birthday party for Tyree (who turned 4) and Parker who turned 5 on Sunday. The princess bounce castle was a big hit. And the kids had fun with everything. The birthday girls were especially excited. <br />
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I don't think Jesse and I have taken a picture together in over a decade. So that was fun.<br />
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We managed to successfully bust two different pinatas without maiming anyone.<br />
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<br />Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-39245548307458094702015-03-16T23:26:00.002-06:002015-03-16T23:26:55.330-06:00My two tours of D.C.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So I had the opportunity to return to Washington D.C. to run the Rock N Roll D.C. marathon. I flew in early and was met there by my sister Skye and her two daughters Reagan and sweet baby Annabelle. We spent Friday touring D.C. and I got to spend lots of time taking Reagan around the monuments and memorials at the national mall. <br />
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Reagan enjoyed her first ride on the metro, almost as much I loved getting lunch from the line of food trucks parked near the National Mall. It was great. <br />
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We visited the Washington Monument first but were too late to get tickets to go to the top. <br />
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It was still pretty funny because when Reagan ran up to touch the monument she starting screaming "Run away!! It's going to fall!" It was pretty hilarious.<br />
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I walked up with Reagan to visit President Lincoln while Skye was feeding baby Annabelle. <br />
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One memorial that I hadn't previously was the Korean War Veterans Memorial. Reagan and I took a few minutes to walk through it on Friday afternoon and I'm so glad I did. It was absolutely haunting. I was blessed to have a grandfather who flew in WWII, Korea and Vietnam and live through them all to get to become a grandfather and great grandfather. <br />
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Anyway, it was one that I was really touched by and I'm glad I took the time to visit this little section of the national mall. <br />
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My camera battery was dying the entire day, so I didn't get many pictures during the day, but we were able to visit the FDR memorial.<br />
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And go to my new favorite monument, honoring President and author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson. <br />
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We spent so much of the day walking around seeing everything cool, that I realized too late I was developing a blister on the bottom of my foot. Not the best sign going into a marathon, but what can you do. We met up with Shiloh and Jason and friends of theirs for our traditional pre-race Greek food. Tried to get to bed early on Friday night, but of course I was so excited, that doesn't really lend itself to a restful night. Still I got decent enough sleep and felt good going into the race.<br />
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Bright eyed before 6am. Jason an I were ready to run while Shiloh chose to cheer us on. (Something about being pregnant again so she decided to skip the race and just support us.)<br />
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The only downside was the weather. Although it wasn't cold necessarily (50's & 60's) it was pouring down rain by the time we started and the downpour didn't stop until around mile 20. It never did stop raining, but it lightened up to a sprinkle. <br />
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Jason and I didn't really have a strategy. Just take it easy and enjoy each other's company. And we did. The first 15 miles just flew by. Even after that it never got difficult or painful. We never hit the wall. We didn't even really take walk breaks until the final 3 miles when we were just soaked and exhausted and hungry. <br />
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So we finished strong and felt really good. Although we were soaked to the bone. I seriously don't remember ever being so wet in my entire life. <br />
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It was slow and steady but honestly it was the very best I ever felt after a marathon. And even two days later I'm much less sore and swollen than I've ever been. So we must have done something right. <br />
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The medals were great and the finisher's jackets were even better. We finished the afternoon with hot showers and our traditional post-race burgers and fries. Hey, we earned it. It was a great weekend and I'm so grateful I have wonderful family to share it with. Especially the ones who are crazy enough to run these things with me. Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-42649113513446563262014-12-19T23:07:00.000-07:002014-12-19T23:07:39.035-07:00Same Spouse. Different Story.Everyone knows that a relationship, any relationship, is a living thing. It grows and changes as the people in it grow and change. All relationships evolve over time. Some of them grow stronger and deeper through good and bad shared and individual experiences. And some of them cool and become casual acquaintances.<br />
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Marriage is especially tricky to navigate because it has such far reaching effects. Marriage is never just about the two people making the vows. And that's part of what makes it so damned hard. Knowing that there isn't an easy way out when the going gets tough. With marriage there are other considerations.<br />
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And the going WILL get tough. In fact, there are days when staying married seems impossible. And there are days when you loathe your spouse more than any other person on the planet. <br />
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Husbands and wives, no matter how much they love and respect each other are going to grow and change as individuals. You are not going to be the same person at 30 that you were when you got married at 25. Or 19. Or 35. And you're not going to be the same person five or ten years down the road at 40 or 50. And so at some point you're going to wake up one morning hardly knowing yourself and lying next to a virtual stranger.<br />
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So you're faced with a choice: stay together and put in the hard work and effort to try and make things work as the people you are today. Or give up and walk away. <br />
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In all fairness, divorce is probably the easier option in many cases. Because working it out is HARD. And it hurts. <br />
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With all of that in mind, we have decided within our own marriage to write a new story. It hasn't been easy getting to this point and I don't expect it to be easy simply because we've made this decision. But starting now, we start fresh. In the absence of being able to have a new wedding and recommit to one another with new vows, we decided that the best way to really symbolize our new relationship was with new wedding rings. Of course with the rings, come new promises to one another and new hope for a bright future.<br />
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Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-16368151589936507712014-09-22T00:28:00.002-06:002014-09-22T00:28:36.516-06:00Birthday Weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay so...... this is a long post, but fear not Cami and Jesse, it's mostly pictures, so you won't have to read too much LOL. Because we don't have friends yet to invite to a birthday party here, we decided to spend the birthday weekend on an adventure. So Travis took off work early Friday and as soon as we picked Gideon up from school we headed out. We arrived at our hotel in Deadwood at around 8pm and ordered pizza and wings for dinner. We had bribed Parker to be good on the trip by promising her she could open one birthday present when we arrived.<br />
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And because Nana was worried about Gideon feeling left out, she had sent a present for him to open on Parker's birthday and he got to open his when we arrived as well.<br />
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I love that Parker is such a girly girl, because it means she doesn't get disappointed when she opens presents that are clothes and underwear.<br />
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After opening a present and eating a little bit of food, we changed and went down to the pool for a bit. So once we finally got kids to bed around 10, we decorated the hotel room as best we could so that Parker could wake up to something fun. <br />
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Oh and here's a picture of the cake. The decorating job is pretty weak, I mean, I could have done that. But Oh well, they stuck a "Frozen" thing on the top of it and a few snowflakes, so she was really happy.<br />
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Parker loved her new clothes and underwear so much, she insisted on wearing them for her birthday. Happy Birthday my little pixie! And she opened one present before breakfast.<br />
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Breakfast waffles for the birthday girl, which she only ate about a quarter off, because she wanted to get back to the room and do birthday stuff.<br />
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Parker had lots of help opening presents from her big brother. And he was as excited about some of her stuff as she was.<br />
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And finally after Parker opened all of her gifts, it was my turn. The first gift I opened was a pair of pearl earrings from my in-laws that are gorgeous.<br />
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I love that Parker decorated the envelope of my card with her Frozen stickers.<br />
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Oh my children are absolute geniuses! How on earth did they pick out the perfect purse and shoes for me? He he he... Okay, I may have steered them in the right direction by ordered the items I wanted online myself, but still they were my presents from the kids.</div>
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Alright sisters dear, prepare to be jealous. Travis seriously went a little crazy at the jewelry store last week. So I already got an alexandrite necklace and a ring that he just couldn't wait to give me. And so at the hotel I opened up a sapphire necklace and a pink pearl necklace.<br />
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And a rose gold and diamond ring.</div>
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And rose gold earrings to match the ring.</div>
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And a rose gold and diamond necklace to match the ring and earrings.</div>
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Check out that rainbow cake.</div>
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So after breakfast and presents, we went out to sight see. Our first stop was the Mt. Moriah Cemetery. We went there of course to see where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried, but it turned out to be a really cool cemetery for many reasons, not the least of which is because it's in a great location on the side of the mountain. Sure they must spend a fortune in retaining walls, but still, it was very cool.</div>
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It's the only cemetery I've ever paid to get into but it was only $1 for adults, so worth the price of admission. And sure enough, they're neighbors in death.</div>
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The story Calamity Jane told was that she and Wild Bill were lovers, but historians and accounts from people who knew her differ. Most say that she carried a torch for him, but they were never more than acquaintances or perhaps casual friends. The truth is, Wild Bill was shot less than a month after arriving in Deadwood on the same coach as Calamity so they likely wouldn't have had time to develop any sort of attachment even if he had reciprocated her feelings. Most of the people who've done the research say that Hickok was a very handsome man who had his pick of the women around him and preferred the soft feminine type, which Calamity Jane decidedly was not. (In fact there are accounts that say she tried prostitution but couldn't make a living at that because of her lack of feminine charm.) By the time he came to Deadwood, Hickok was newly married to a lovely young woman named Alice who, by all accounts, he adored. He'd left her behind in Cheyenne to seek his fortune in Deadwood.</div>
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And per her final request, when Calamity died more than a quarter century later after suffering from a variety of ailments (chief among them alcoholism) she is buried next to Wild Bill Hickok.<br />
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Many cool headstones and stories to visit at Boot Hill, but one of Deadwood's most prominent found fathers, Seth Bullock, is buried on top of the hill, 780 feet above the cemetery proper so he could face Mt. Roosevelt and overlook the town. So we climbed up to see the grave and the view.<br />
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Deadwood was so much prettier than I ever imagined. Honestly I knew it was an old wild west mining town, but I never figured it would be in such a picturesque spot. It really is a beautiful area. After the cemetery we visited the Adam's House museum, an almost perfectly preserved victorian home with original furnishings, wall coverings, rugs, everything. It was gorgeous. After that outing we were hungry for lunch. I'd read online before we got to town that the Deadwood Social Club restaurant had the best cheesecake for miles, so that's where we chose to go for lunch. The Deadwood Social Club sits above the No. 10 Saloon in what used to be the brothel. (Hence the name.) It was still a very quaint old building and they had great food. <br />
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<br /> And the cheesecake did not disappoint. After devouring two slices at lunch, we ordered two more to go so we could enjoy them later in the day. After lunch we walked down to the 4 Aces Casino to see the shootout. <br />
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They have about a half dozen different shootouts and gun battles that they reenact during the summer season. We got to see the story of Tom Lunt. Who got shot in the head, walked away from the bar (seriously with a bullet in his head) and continued to walk around carrying on his normal life in Deadwood for the next 67 days before complaining of a headache one afternoon and lying down at the Continental Hotel for a nap, never to wake up. <br />
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Then we bought some souvenirs at the original Saloon Number 10. As you can see from the sign, where Wild Bill was murdered. The bottom floor (where the shooting took place) is a museum area, the upper floors a shop that sells antiques and souvenirs.<br />
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So after a successful day in Deadwood, we headed 47 miles to the south to visit Keystone and Mt. Rushmore. Both kids fell asleep in the car almost immediately. Yes, that's a stuffed Mowgli that Parker is snuggling with. She received him and King Louis for her birthday and has been walking around singing "I wanna be like You-ooh-oooh" ever since.<br />
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We checked into our hotel and headed straight up to Mt. Rushmore. It was around 5pm when we got up there so the light wasn't really that great for taking pictures, but the kids loved it anyway.<br />
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After walking the trail at Rushmore and hitting up the gift shop for some postcards and souvenirs, we found another old saloon with a restaurant for dinner. The Ruby House has antique furnishings and decor but the food was amazing as well. I had chicken penne with an asparagus cream sauce that was divine. And back at the hotel once the kids were asleep Travis and I ate the rest of the cheesecake.<br />
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This morning first thing, we headed back up to Mt. Rushmore, with a stop along the way for the kids to get pictures with their faces in the monument.<br />
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Much better light for picture taking this morning. And gratefully, both kids were super excited to go back and walk the trail again.<br />
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And this time we finally found someone to take a family picture.</div>
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It was definitely a fun weekend, but completely exhausting.</div>
<br />Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-45291884493449925262014-09-18T16:53:00.001-06:002014-09-18T16:53:07.625-06:00Gideon's 1st Cross Country Meet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So the Parks and Rec department supports a city running club and puts on elementary cross country meets for the schools and clubs in the area. So Gideon decided he wanted to participate, so Wednesday after school we drove out to Patterson Lake for the cross country meet.<br />
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Patterson Lake is a man made lake with a little beach and recreation and camping areas. The kids enjoyed exploring it a little bit before the meet started. <br />
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Gideon found some older boys who were veterans of the local club and asked them some questions, they were nice enough to give him tips and pointers. <br />
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Finally it was time to warm up. Even though we got here too late to officially join the local running club, they welcomed him in.<br />
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And to the starting line. They ran the 1st and 2nd graders first and then the older kids afterward. I think Gideon's age group only ran between 1/2 & 3/4 of a mile, but they really enjoyed it.<br />
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Except for one little thing. Gideon fell right off the starting line. And then of course, got trampled and tripped over. I didn't even realize I got a picture of the fall until later last night when I was looking at the pictures. He banged up his knees and elbows and was really screaming and crying. I ran out onto the road and asked if he wanted to stop. He cried that he wanted to run, so he took off running dead last. <br />
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Funny kid, ran the whole way holding his shorts up so that they wouldn't get stuck in his blood. <br />
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Anyway, he didn't finish dead last, but he was definitely toward at the end. Anyway, he was our little champion for gutting it out and finishing even though he was pretty busted up.<br />
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When we got home, he wouldn't let me really touch it or clean it up very well, so it wasn't until around 9pm that I realized how bad the actual cut was. From looking at it, I figured it probably needed stitches, but with the urgent care closed I really didn't feel like taking him to the ER, so we waited until this morning before school.<br />
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Unfortunately, by this morning we had missed our window for stitches because the edges of the wound were already showing signs of healing. She said it definitely could have benefitted from stitches but it will still heal okay. It will just take longer and he'll have a pretty gnarly scar. (Which Gideon thinks is pretty cool actually.) So they cleaned it up and wrapped it really well. (Which is what we'll have to do for a while to make sure it doesn't get dirty and infected.) But overall it was a successful event and I'm so glad he was such a tough kid and got up and finished the race.<br />
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<br />Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-68809607659314504472014-09-06T21:36:00.003-06:002014-09-06T21:37:03.769-06:00Where We Live<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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North Dakota reminds me a lot of North Central Texas (Circa 1985ish) which I suppose isn't a far stretch because we're just directly north of where I grew up. (Well it's far as in 1200 miles north but it's just a colder version of north central Texas.)<br />
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Anyway, farms, cattle and oil derricks. That's pretty much it around here.</div>
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This is the new Dakota Prairie Refinery where Travis has been working for the last 14 months. In the distance beyond the refinery you can see the bustling metropolis of Dickinson, where we live. It's about 15 minutes from the plant so Travis is home early almost every night.<br />
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And this is Lake Patterson. A man made recreation area that we haven't had the chance to check out yet because Travis has worked every day since we've been here. Hopefully he'll get a weekend off soon so we can do some fun things around here.<br />
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<br />Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-38727567574206272342014-07-20T23:07:00.000-06:002014-07-20T23:07:10.348-06:00Camping at Cave Falls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Cami and family arrived in Idaho on Monday afternoon and it was a non-stop party the entire time they were here. On Tuesday we took them to Rexburg Rapids for more fun in the sun and water. Then on Wednesday we took the kids camping. Jacob has never been to Yellowstone, or really to anyplace out this way, so I took them up to the spot that Travis and I stumbled upon a few weeks ago.<br />
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This is all our campsite at Cave Falls Campground in Targhee National Forest. It's a mile from the southwest corner of Yellowstone. We were the only campers in the entire campground, so we had our pick of the best spots. And we got a gorgeous one right on the river. <br />
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So, naturally, after we arrived, the first thing we had to do was stretch our legs with a walk down to the river.<br />
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<br />Lily and Parker found some lovely flowers along the way.<br />
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And Gage found lots of dirt. Because Gage always finds dirt. <br />
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We had lots of help getting the tents set up and camp arranged the way we liked it.<br />
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And then before dinner we drove up to the falls. In fact, Cave Falls itself is in Yellowstone, but there's not a road to
get to it from within the park. You can hike there from other parts of
the park or take the road from the Mesa Falls byway, which dead ends at
the Cave Falls trail head. You can follow the trail all the way up, 31 miles to Old Faithful, but we only made it about a half mile down to where the Bechler and Falls Rivers converge. <br />
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I love the Gideon and Lily are so close they spent the first part of the hike holding hands. <br />
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Checking out Cave Falls.<br />
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After we wore them out, we returned to camp to prepare dinner where Uncle Jacob once again had plenty of help getting the fire started.<br />
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After tin foil dinners were prepared, cooked and enjoyed, we had s'mores and story time by the fire.<br />
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We retreated to the tents just before the mosquitos got really bad. But it was fun, the kids like being in the tent. It's a novelty for them.<br />
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Everyone slept and Jacob woke early to get in a long run up the trail through Yellowstone. He made it a lot further than we had the day before and saw elk and deer and various other creatures along the way. He said it was a gorgeous and peaceful run. I wish I'd had the foresight to pack running clothes, it would have been amazing. For breakfast we had oatmeal and hot chocolate to get everyone warmed up before we broke camp.<br />
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While we were taking down tents and packing everything up, Cami heard Gideon say "Strike a pose!" We looked over and he'd gotten hold of my camera and was having a photo shoot of his cousin Ransom. It was pretty hilarious and the shots he got are priceless!<br />
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OH! So the other funny thing.......this area, as most people know, has a lot of bears. There are bear boxes everywhere and strict instructions for how to store your food and what precautions to take. So as we were breaking down camp, one of the maintenance men came through and Cami asked him if there really were a lot of bears in the area. His response was hilarious, "More often than not. Usually they're just passing through to someplace else. Just make a lot of noise, they'll leave you alone." I guess it's good we've got so many kids between us. It's NEVER quiet with five little ones running around.<br />
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After we broke camp, we drove up to Mesa Falls. We stopped at the lookout at Lower Mesa Falls and then drove up to Upper Mesa Falls for a picnic and hiking.<br />
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My kids, having just been up there a month ago, were more worn out and much less impressed by the falls than their cousins. Even so they were good sports and hiked the whole way.<br />
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By the time we got home, we only had time to shower and then headed up to Jesse's for dinner and horseback riding. Pictures of that to follow.Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-32244522095729301492014-07-17T22:52:00.001-06:002014-07-17T22:52:09.922-06:00Water Park Fun & a Personal Best!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On Tuesday July 8 my friend, Malia, met the kids and I up at Rexburg Rapids water park on a day that was 96 degrees. I love this park because it's big enough to have all the cool features a water park should have, but yet small and intimate enough to keep an eye on the kids from my comfortable lounge chair.<br />
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Gideon's very favorite thing to do is float the lazy river and then slide down one of the big slides and then float the river again. <br />
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All in all it was a fun and very exhausting day! So much fun we went back there with Cami and Jacob and their crew on Tuesday the 15th, although I didn't manage to get any pictures of that one.<br />
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On Friday July 11 we drove down to Utah so that I could run one of my favorite races, the Hobbler Half marathon. I was so excited to run with Cami and Jacob. Not that we really ever ran together since we all run different paces, but we rode up and started together and that was fun. <br />
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I managed to blast twelve minutes off my previous best time, finishing in 1:51.27. Jacob came in at 1:37 and change and Cami also got a PR coming in at 2:13.09.<br />
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We stayed with Jacob's sister Heather who was nice enough to keep all five kids and bring them over to the finish line so they could play on the bounce houses and be there to support us.<br />
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And then we got to play in the pool at Heather's. It was great because Jake and Hillary brought Gabriel over. <br />
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The kids were pretty worn out but still managed to make the best of the day together, finishing it with a cookout up in American Fork Canyon with Heather, Amelia and Manny.<br />
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Parker was asleep when we got up there but by the time we got a hot dog and marshmallows in her she was being her usual self, making faces and being silly. All in all, a great weekend.<br />
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Even better, we got to come home and have cousins join us for a week, so more of those pictures coming.Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-46406632484994460122014-07-07T22:59:00.001-06:002014-07-07T22:59:08.198-06:00Independence Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our 4th of July week got off to a rough start. During our trip to Yellowstone last Monday, Parker began complaining of a headache, and by the time we headed home she was running a low fever. She didn't sleep much that night as her fever spiked higher and she had nightmares. She didn't eat anything at all Tuesday and instead spent the entire day curled up in my life, feverish and complaining that everything "burned" her. I took her to the Dr. on Wednesday where she was diagnosed with tonsillitis. Dr. Smith encouraged me to try and get her to drink whatever we could to keep her from becoming too dehydrated and to keep the motrin in her for the purpose of controlling the fever. We finally got her to eat some cold watermelon and popsicles, but that's literally all she had for three days.<br />
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But it was enough to help her feel well enough to make the trip to the cabin with Nana and grandpa on Thursday. It was a little cloudy when we arrived, but we didn't really get rained on.<br />
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The 4th of July dawned bright and beautiful over the reservoir. Travis (who'd had to work on the 3rd and left straight after work to drive down) arrived around lunch time on Friday.<br />
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And he arrived bearing gifts. Somehow he found Cheerwine in North Dakota and brought several bottles for us to enjoy.<br />
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Parker is definitely her daddy's girl. She insisted on wearing cowboy boots with her shorts.<br />
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After a short hike, a bad bike crash and cooking out, it was time for pj's and a few fireworks.<br />
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We didn't make it down to see any big fireworks displays because both of our children decided they were tired and wanted to go to bed by about 9pm. That was okay though because it had been a long and tiring day. We made it home Saturday afternoon and enjoyed a barbecue on Sunday after church. All in all, it was a good weekend and we were blessed to be able to spend it together as a family.Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-40269547486735804772014-07-01T00:32:00.000-06:002014-07-01T00:32:29.682-06:00The Weekend that Wouldn't End!This weekend was amazing. And long! In some ways as I sit here and type this Monday evening it still feels like it hasn't ended. We've been constantly on the go since last Thursday. And it looked a little like this. First was the Ragnar Wasatch Back race as a member of an ultra team. It's something I've been wanting to do for at least two years now, but never really thought I'd ever be fit enough to do. But with my recent training schedule and the goals I've been hitting during this race season so far, when a friend reached out asking for a runner for her brother's "ultra" team for Wasatch Back, I accepted without hesitation, praying silently that the team would be an easygoing one and understanding of my slower pace. (As it turned out, everyone on the team ran a pace within 30 seconds of each other in recent races, so we were on a very level playing field.)<br />
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Thursday afternoon I left home and took the muchkins to Hillary's house where we treated the Platt family to a lovely dinner at the Banana Leaf and then went back to the house to try and sleep. But as is usual for me before a big relay I was pretty wound up and didn't fall asleep until almost midnight, and since I had to get up at 4:15, that really didn't seem like much sleep, but it's still twice as much as I got before last year's Wasatch Back, so I'll take it.<br />
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Most of the team met each other for the first time, the morning of the race at Tom's house. From left: Anahi, Tom (our captain), me (of course), Jon, Christine and Jared. It turned out to be a great team of really solid runners, which is good because when you're running twice as much as everyone else, most of the focus has to be on the running. There simply isn't down time for socializing. Or showers. Or meals. You're literally recovering from one run while prepping for the next.<br />
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Seeing the green bib suddenly made it all sink in and seem real. There was no arguing with that color. I was really going to run six legs of this thing.<br />
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As previously mentioned, there is hardly any down time when you're running six times in under 30 hours. We were joking hat we didn't even have time for pictures because you're always the "on" van. So we grabbed the camera took a few obligatory selfies.<br />
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This cute lady is JeNae, her husband and I served in the same mission and he's remained one of my dearest friends from the mission through the years. In fact, he and Travis have become quite good friends and JeNae has become one of my favorite people. She was volunteering one of the overnight shifts at an exchange up on the hill while her husband, sister and two brothers-in-law and various other family and friends were running.<br />
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Here's the one picture of the view I took the entire race. This was on the way up Guardsman's Pass during our final legs of the race.<br />
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And look who I ran into while killing some time at the finish line! JeNae's husband, James, who was celebrating his 35th birthday by running 7.5 miles up Jordanelle on his final leg. But he was a champ and finished. So proud of him. Actually I ran into several people I knew at the race, friends from the mission, neighbors (Michael Hays), former team mates and some of my running "friends" that I only know through this community and had never met in person before, including a few team mates from the EPIC relay I'll be doing in August.<br />
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Anyway so my six legs (Legs 6 & 12) totaled 29 miles and the final 3.3 were up and down a mountain that was steep and slow going up and treacherous coming down. Steep switch back, single track and extremely technical trail. I bit it twice on the way down and ended up ever so slightly bruised & bloody and extremely dirty!<br />
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Team Ultra Crazy at the finis line. We finished very strong and everyone went away with a positive impression of the weekend. The pros of doing an ultra are that you never get bored. And frankly there's not enough time in between your legs to get stiff or sore or obsess about how tired you are. You're always going. On the down side there's no time for socializing. Or showers. Or meals. Or sleep, you just have to mentally prepare yourself before hand to keep going no matter how fatigued and hungry you get. And yet wen asked if I'd do it again, I say "YES" in a heartbeat. There's such satisfaction that comes from pushing yourself to your limit and conquering what you once thought was impossible.<br />
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Besides, who doesn't love Ragnar blink for the person and the car, that's reason enough to keep doig these races when ever and however possible.<br />
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So as if not sleeping for three straight nights wasn't bad enough (don't ask about Sunday night, even though I was exhausted, it was rough) I got up at 3:30 this morning to do my girl, Malia, a favor and caravan with her up to Grand Teton to help her reserve a camping spot for her family vacation this week as her parents and siblings weren't able to come up until later this evening, and this being the fourth of July holiday week, they figured all the spots would be gone very early. So after a two hour detour (bad directions, mass frustration, don't ask) we finally made it to the campground around 10am and got a good site reserved for her family. It's good we did too because by the time her family got there around 5:30 the campground was completely full. Anyway, after we finally got the camp spot, we squeezed into one vehicle and headed up to Yellowstone to play for the rest of the day. After a couple of hours there, we had an extremely fatigued group of kids (who had been up since 4:15 am) complaining and whining. Parker had a headache, Gideon had a bad splinter and screamed loudly that I was hurting him when I tried to take it out (I'm sure the hundreds of people at the castle geyser thought I was beating my son) and you'd have thought Scarlett's legs were going to fall off with as much as she was complaining. But somehow, they all survived. (Ice cream seems to fix everything.) Anyway, I consider it a successful, though long day, since we didn't arrive home until almost 10pm. I'm definitely looking forward to sleeping tonight and a very low key day tomorrow. Still it was a fun adventure I'm glad I had the opportunity to force my kids to participate in. They'll thank me someday, right?<br />
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<br />Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-18109699967163825242014-06-25T00:48:00.001-06:002014-06-25T00:48:38.287-06:00Number 17<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So my parents were blessed with grand baby number 17 on Tuesday June 24 when Jesse finally gave birth to baby Clancy. She was 10 days past her due date, so they induced her early this morning. All 8.3 pounds and 21 inches of Clancy J Crystal arrived at 2:09pm. Both baby and Jesse (who I never did get a really good picture of) are doing great. In fact, Jesse looks a little too good for having just had a baby.<br />
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Tyree seems to like him, and cousins Gideon and Parker were fascinated by him as well. <br />
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Although to be honest Parker was more interested in Jesse's visibly smaller stomach and asking her exactly how the Dr took the baby out of her tummy. I don't think she was completely satisfied with the answer "very carefully" but she's three so that's all she's getting for now.<br />
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The kids got to watch Clancy get his first bath through the window in the nursery, although Tyree was VERY upset anytime they made the baby cry. Which he really didn't do a lot of, compared to many babies I've seen. As soon as they put him back under the heat lamp he was sleeping. Anyway, he's adorable! I can't wait to go snuggle him some more tomorrow.<br />
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<br />Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-53046106018039083572014-06-21T19:30:00.000-06:002014-06-21T19:30:20.775-06:00Another Saturday, Another Race<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So today was the Scenic River Classic Race from Snake River Landing up around the greenbelt and into Freeman Park here in Idaho Falls. Since that's one of my typical training routes I figured it would be a good race for me. Gideon wanted to do the kids' race and even though that didn't start until 10:30, he was ready to go just after six this morning.<br />
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As for me I did pretty well. I managed five seconds faster than last week's half marathon. But there were no hills and no wind this week, so I think that helped, even if the temps were close to 20 degrees warmer.<br />
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Parker started to feel left out because she didn't have a race number, so I pinned mine on her.<br />
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The kids had a great time, enjoying free slices of bread from Great Harvest. And then Gideon ran the one mile. He did an awesome job and finished really strong.<br />
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As he was coming into the finisher's chute, Parker decided she should run with him, so she finished with him.<br />
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It was actually very sweet, the organizers let her have a race medal of her very own which she proudly wore around all day.<br />
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And then of course there were the free snow cones and dance party afterward, so according to Gideon this was the best race ever. Although he did tell me he'd rather do triathalon races because he's faster on his bike. Guess I'll have to get him in swimming lessons again.<br />
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<br />Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-13307986877492011652014-06-18T00:53:00.000-06:002014-06-18T00:53:37.618-06:00Ask Me How I Really Feel?http://www.ksl.com/?sid=30347725&nid=<br />
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The news broke today. The news I'd been expecting (and dreading) for a couple of months now. Someone let it slip recently that LDS Family Services (the private agency owned by the church through which we were blessed with our babies) would no longer be acting as an adoption agency. They will still offer counseling to birth parents, unwed parents, single parents and prospective adoptive parents, but they will no longer have any part in facilitating the actual placement of children through adoption. And today it became official.<br />
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This news has hit me rather harder than I thought it would. Travis and I knew even before Parker was placed with us, that she would be the missing piece that would make our family complete. We had no designs on adding anymore children to our family. And that's still the case. We're complete. Not just for now, but forever. Our family is perfect. <br />
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But it hurts because I know that we wouldn't have these children without LDS Family Services. For starters we couldn't afford any other agency. And believe me, we looked into several, but LDSFS was the only agency that offered a subsidized placement fee. Meaning that instead of a set fee of $20K or more, we paid a set percentage based on our combined income. Honestly, for our adoptions, we paid only 1/4 to 1/3 of what we would have otherwise had to shell out for a placement fee. Furthermore, our birth mother chose LDS Family Services as the agency with which to place her child because she is LDS and wanted a family with the same religious background and similar values. <br />
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I found the reasons for shutting down the adoption agency cited in the article to be vague and confusing. How can taking away the only affordable option for so many families increase their opportunities to adopt? <br />
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Anyway I know they said there are alternative options for couples and birth parents still trying to adopt, but right now it just seems confusing and heart wrenching for those families still trying to build their family through adoption.<br />
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Alright so now that I've rambled about something I can't change or fix, I'll post something positive. So here's how awesome I am, today I put together a princess bed for my daughter. Without instructions (because for some reason the manufacturer saw fit not to include any.) And without help other than that from my children. True it took me all day, but I got it done. And Parker has never been happier.<br />
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<br />Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-41859778977689977892014-06-14T22:04:00.000-06:002014-06-14T22:04:22.897-06:00Family Fun with Daddy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So this happened yesterday. During a trip to the post office I thought I scraped my foot on the door but then my sandal started filling up with blood. It wasn't a terrible deep cut and it didn't even hurt super bad, but because you're always putting pressure on your toes it wouldn't stop bleeding. All day yesterday and through the night I bled through layers of liquid bandage and other wraps. So this morning as I was getting ready for my race, I put as much liquid bandage on it as I could stand and wrapped it as tightly as you can wrap a pinky toe and hoped for the best. Even putting a running shoe on hurt and made it start throbbing, but I figured that's why we have advil right? <br />
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So the Teton Dam half marathon was a transformative race for me this year. For starters it was my first half marathon in over a year (the last one was May 18, 2013 with Cami in Red River, NM.) I took a year off from long distance races, other than relays, not so much because I wanted to, but rather because my school schedule and my internship were not allowing me to properly train or prepare for most races. So my half marathon PR was set during the Hobbler Half (a downhill race) on July 7, 2012, almost two years ago. That PR was 2:07.42. My goal for this year is to break 2 hours in the half marathon and I feel that I will this summer at some point, but I wasn't counting on that during this race. I was realistic going into this race, knowing that the course has more uphill than down, looking at the weather and realizing we'd be facing some stiff head winds for most of it, I told myself I'd be happy just to set a new PR, even if I didn't break two hours this time. I was kind of amazed at how easy this race was for me. I found my comfortable pace within the first couple of miles and just cruised. Literally the race just flew by. I never felt tired or worn out, I never felt that I was pushing myself too much. My toe throbbed some, but mostly it was just an easy run. I realized why around the six mile mark when I ran past a girl who could have been me three years ago, the last time I ran this race. She was probably 40 pounds overweight, shoulders hunched over, looking at the ground, huffing and panting up a hill, determined, it seemed, not to walk, even though her pace was barely faster than a walk. I saw myself in her. I saw where I was three years ago as fit runners of all shapes and sizes zipped by me. I saw the determination not to quit. I saw the frustration with her own slow pace and yet she kept moving. I cheered her on, as I passed, realizing that somewhere along the line there's been a paradigm shift. Suddenly I'm one of the "fit" runners, hardly seeming to be working as I cover the miles with my shoulders back and my long strides. In the end it was a PR by more than 4 minutes. I crossed the line in a final time of 2:03.39. And the best part about it, was that I felt good and comfortable, and like I could easily have gone on for a few more miles.<br />
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My sweet family was frantically looking for a parking place as I crossed the finish line, so I met up with them after having made my way through the runner's corral. Because I'm the best mom ever, I had packed us a picnic lunch early this morning and so we could go find an adventure.<br />
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I changed quickly in a gas station bathroom (surprisingly my toe only bled a little and didn't completely ruin my socks or shoes) and we headed up to Mesa Falls for a little hike and picnic.<br />
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The Nature walk from Upper Mesa Falls is a one mile trail that dead ends on a cliff above lower Mesa Falls. So it's a 2 mile round trip, very easy hike that our kids did with no trouble at all. In fact they enjoyed daddy telling them all about the different plants and animals along the way.<br />
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(Sidebar: Parker was so cute, she insisted on wearing my race medal all afternoon.)<br />
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Once we got back from the nature walk, we took the boardwalk path down to view Upper Mesa Falls.<br />
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After all of that, we were definitely ready for our picnic. We enjoyed our sandwiches in the sunshine before loading up in the truck and heading for Cave Falls.<br />
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We'd seen the signs for Cave Falls before, but neither Travis, nor myself had ever been there, so we decided to take a little detour on the way home and check it out. Really it's only 20 mile off the main road, but what we didn't know was that it was all on very rough, unpaved road. Still it was a beautiful drive up there. I know these aren't bluebonnets, but the ways these fields looked, made me homesick for Texas. <br />
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We were surprised as we got closer to Cave Falls, to realize that we were inside Yellowstone. LOL. I guess that was something we should have expected, but we didn't. Anyway, Cave Falls is an area of Yellowstone that has 7 or 8 different waterfalls, all within walking distance of each other, so we decided after driving around and seeing a couple of them that we really need to do a trip up there one day to hike the trails and see all the falls. As a bonus there's a Cave Falls Campground in Grand Targhee National Forest, right outside the border of Yellowstone, just a couple of miles from the trail head for the falls that is one of the prettiest and most secluded campgrounds I've ever seen. Gideon was ready to get a space and stay the night but we had to remind him, we hadn't brought any camping gear, so that would have to be next time.<br />
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Anyway, it was a very fun day and we made it home at around 5pm with two very exhausted (and very filthy) children. We all had a blast though, so we can't wait for daddy's next trip home so we can have more fun adventures together.Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-29438136694294181632014-06-04T23:01:00.000-06:002014-06-04T23:41:24.010-06:00Top of Zion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Top of Zion was easily the most beautiful and hardest relay I've ever done. Much of it was at elevations of 7000 to 9000 feet and up and down mountains. You started this race in Capital Reef park, ran through Bryce and ended in Zion's. It was gorgeous. And I always love being stuck in a sweaty van for 30 odd hours with some of my people. Most of the team were strangers to me before this race, but as relays do, they provided new opportunities for friends. And I had my girls Malia and Cami to keep things fun.</div>
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Malia taking in the view before our first run.</div>
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Van 2, ready to run. Justin, Kirstin, Malia, Alan, Cami and myself.</div>
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My friend Cory Vause is such a rock star! We were in the MTC together 15 year ago and now I talked him into running a relay. It was such a ball to have him on the team.</div>
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It's never fun running uphill in the heat of the day but Malia is a champ and she handled it extremely well!</div>
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6.5 sweaty miles later, I made it and was rewarded with some more breathtaking scenery!</div>
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This race was so beautiful it was distracting as a runner. I kept having to remind myself to watch the road and get back to running because it was seriously stunning.</div>
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And evening picnic in the park before our second legs. Very pleasant.</div>
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Cami the "Moth Ninja"!</div>
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The final exchange of the race, Cami hands off to Justin and we're just 7 miles from the finish.</div>
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The last few miles of the race dropped us down into the northwest corner of Zion's National Park, so that's where we got to finish. Somewhere there is a picture of the entire team at the finish line, with our medals, however, I'm not sure where those pictures ended up though. </div>
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One of the coolest parts of the trip for me, was the drive back to St. George through Zion's National Park. It was truly gorgeous and I took a lot of pictures from the back window of the van.</div>
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<br />Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-56970883372694398982014-05-14T00:43:00.000-06:002014-05-14T00:43:46.503-06:00Graduation 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Well Travis has been causing this "Phase 1" of my education pretty much ever since I started this program, because I think he always knew I'd never be satisfied with just this degree. So that having been decided, we celebrated the completion of phase one tonight with the graduation ceremony. As for the next phase, we haven't decided yet what exactly that might be, so for now I'm in limbo, and taking some time off to get it all figured out.</div>
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So Parker played with Nana while waiting for graduation to start, and then fell asleep 10 minutes in and slept through the entire ceremony, which with a wild three year old, is actually a plus.</div>
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Anyway, there's really not much to talk about, so I'll just let the pictures tell the story. </div>
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Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-46300380832133235282014-05-10T18:54:00.000-06:002014-05-10T18:54:25.843-06:00Ditching the Scale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I'm not exactly sure when my body image issues started. I know by the age of 13 I was wearing a girdle anytime I wore a skirt, even though I barely weighed a hundred pounds. I do have theories on how I became obsessed with my own appearance, more specifically, my weight, but I won't dissect them here. What I can tell you, is that by the time I was a sophomore in high school I barely ate enough to sustain myself and weighed only 85 pounds. At 5'3" with a naturally curvy figure, that's clearly not enough. Although I eventually overcame the most severe symptoms of anorexia, but the battles with food haven't ever ceased.</div>
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The battle with food, led to an unhealthy relationship with the scale of course. I've always put way too much stock in the number on the scale than I should. I started gaining weight within the first year of my marriage. I had stopped stepping on the scale because we didn't have one. But it was okay. I was happy, and felt loved and was cooking to impress my new husband. But within a few short months, I was having meltdowns in department store dressing rooms when what had once been a "fat" size for me, would no longer button. And then the yo-yo of the next seven years began. I'd gain weight, get mad, go on a crash diet, lose a little weight, gain it all back and then some and start the cycle over again. </div>
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Five years ago, in May 2009, I took my then 14 month old son to visit my sister in Florida. The pictures from the beach shocked me. I didn't even recognize myself.</div>
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So I started running. It was the only thing I could think to do with a toddler and a husband out of town all the time. I walked/ran my first 5K on July 4, 2009. Actually there wasn't much running. I finished at the very back of the pack in 42 minutes and wanted to crawl under a rock of shame, because I couldn't even run a full mile. I didn't really want to run anymore races, but I kept registering for 5K's because I knew I had to keep myself motivated. My only goal, and what I wanted desperately, was just to be able to run a full 5K, without walking. It seemed impossible at the time, but I was going to keep "running" until I could do that. I honestly figured I'd quit running once I finally reached that goal. As if I had "arrived" and could then rest on my laurels. I dealt with my fair share of non-running related injuries that summer that affected my running. A dislocated shoulder, surgery on my foot to remove a bunion, but I got back to running a quickly as I could each time always with my eye on the goal of just being able to run a full 5K.</div>
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I never planned to become a long distance runner. But within a year I had shed close to 20 pounds and had registered for my first half marathon. It took me 2 hours and 57 minutes to run that half marathon, still carrying 30 extra pounds and plodding along at 12 and 13 minute miles. But I kept running. When a friend invited me to run the Ragnar Wasatch Back, I had no idea what I was getting into, but a relay junkie was born.</div>
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Six weeks after running my first relay, I ran my first full marathon. In the 18 months since I'd begun running I'd lost some weight and gotten a little faster, but that first marathon still took me 5 hours and 31 minutes to complete. It became clear after this initial marathon (Mesa Falls) that if I really wanted to keep running distances I needed to shed some more weight. For multiple reasons but mostly because running is harder on your body when you're heavier. <br />
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In the summer of 2011 I started my first real attempt at losing weight the right way. Making lifestyle changes, instead of just going on a diet. I started by getting control of my portion sizes. Letting myself enjoy food, but only until I'd had enough. I cut way back on the carbs, and started saving sugar for special occasions. And I ramped up the running. Over the past three years I've run 3 marathons, a handful of 10Ks, a dozen or so relays and more half-marathons than I can remember (it's my favorite distance.) And with the additional 30 pounds I've lost (making it a grad total of 50 from this point five years ago) my speeds have become quicker and my body able to take more and more miles without the wear and tear and aches and pains I always had when I was heavier. And for the first time in my running career a BQ (Boston Qualifier for my non-running friends) doesn't seem impossible. It's a long way off for me yet, but it's actually attainable.<br />
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The problem is, that the battle is still ongoing. Losing weight is something of a drug for me. Watching myself get thinner and seeing the number on the scale get lower threatens to become an obsession for me. I find myself skipping meals because feeling hunger pains makes me somehow feel in control. I allow myself one or two bites of cheesecake to celebrate a big accomplishment, only to tack two extra miles on a run in order to "atone" for the sin of the cheesecake. So a month ago I made a conscious decision to step away from the scale for a while. I put it up in the closet so I wouldn't be tempted to step on it each morning and then be frustrated and angry for the rest of the day because the number wasn't what I wanted to see. As long as my clothes fit and I have the strength and energy to power through the training program that will get me through 2 relays, 7 half marathons and 2 more full marathons this year, that's what really matters. And I've been much happier ever since.<br />
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<br />Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-61374577396301789142014-04-20T15:30:00.002-06:002014-04-20T15:30:12.671-06:00Easter 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Marshmallow Peeps, Goldenrod and chocolate bunnies for breakfast! It must be Easter!</div>
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The Easter Bunny was tricky this year and took our eggs to Nana's house and hid them there. But he made it worth our while by putting money in the plastic eggs. </div>
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The kids are thrilled to have daddy home for a couple of days. </div>
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It almost took Divine Intervention, but we eventually got everyone dressed in their Easter Sunday best. </div>
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Parker's hair looked gorgeous. For about five minutes.</div>
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Gideon is just getting so grown up, I almost don't now what to do with him.</div>
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And this was our attempt at a family picture. I set the timer on the camera and crossed my fingers that everyone was smiling.</div>
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Happy Easter!</div>
Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-90248940809609675912014-03-10T13:33:00.000-06:002014-03-10T13:33:15.735-06:00All Because of a Wedding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I love my family. And it kind of sucks that we're all so spread out because we hardly ever get the opportunity all be together. So when opportunities arise to get several of us in the same geographical area, we jump on those chances. </div>
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This time the chance was the wedding of Amelia Guffey. For those who might not know the history, Amelia is the youngest sister of two of my brothers-in-law (because Shiloh and Cami married brothers, Jason & Jacob.) So as it turned out, six of the seven of my siblings were able to make it. </div>
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Once again we stayed at the Hampton Inn because they have a pool (and free breakfast) but as far as my kids are concerned, we were mostly there for the pool.</div>
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Gideon's pretty good as long as he has some floaties, he'll go all over the pool by himself.</div>
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Ransom, Lily and Gage finally showed up to swim with us.</div>
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Attack Uncle BoBo in the hot tub!!!!!</div>
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And here's the happy couple! The ceremony was lovely and beautiful and they were so very happy coming out of the temple to a gorgeous spring morning.<br />
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The reception was lovely. My kids loved it because they served breakfast food, which for them meant yogurt parfaits and waffles with any number of toppings.</div>
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Tyree and Parker really are the best of friends. Parker asks to play with Tyree at least a dozen times a day. They are peas in a pod.</div>
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Shiloh and Jason Skype with their kids.</div>
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And then take the kids to Aunt Kiki and Nana and Poppa standing in the receiving line.</div>
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Jesse said she got to back for seconds because that's a pregnant lady's privilege.</div>
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Photo Booth!</div>
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Yep that's my Gideon under that get up.</div>
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I love visiting with my family!</div>
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I'm not sure what Jason, Gideon and Ransom were laughing about, but apparently it was really, really funny.</div>
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I'm sorry this one is blurry, but the cake turned out really cute. The layers were carrot and red velvet.</div>
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One of the down sides of being pregnant Jesse walked over and said, "How long have I been walking around with butter on my boot?" Oh the joys of not being able to see your own feet.</div>
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Not sure about Hillary's expression here but they look so cute anyway.</div>
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My personal kryptonite are grandma Peggy's cream cheese mints.</div>
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Jacob, Lily and Ransom employ the photo booth.</div>
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Daddy/Daughter Dance</div>
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Oh goodness Tyree and Parker couldn't wait to get out there and dance! It was adorable!</div>
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Okay so all we wanted was to get a decent picture of the six of us together, but we couldn't stop laughing. We literally laughed until we cried (and in some cases almost wet ourselves.)</div>
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Yes, this is awkward. We had this great idea that we were going to do a "train" picture to show off Jesse's pregnant belly, but really it just looks like we all have to pee. Or we're trying to keep Jesse from peeing, I'm not sure which.</div>
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Yay we got one! </div>
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And that was our Saturday!</div>
Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-32448465854392067932013-12-28T14:34:00.003-07:002013-12-28T14:34:56.933-07:00Christmas 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We had a good, if quiet Christmas. As all of my family was basically far away, Travis and I spent it with his parents. This actually worked out to be a good idea since I got hit with the flu two days before Christmas and was completely out of commission for a while. By Christmas day I was at least vertical due to the aid of heavy duty drugs, but hey, at least I was there. <br />
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We continued the family tradition of letting the kids open on present each on Christmas Eve. In this case it was the gift they had chosen for each other. Parker was particularly impressed with the "Sofia the First" amulet that Gideon picked out for her. And yes, he picked it out himself and was insistent that she needed it.<br />
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Christmas morning started with stockings at like 6:30 after I spent most of the night sitting up on the couch holding Parker who had a bad cough. But hey, we were all together and we got to attack that pile of presents so everyone was happy.<br />
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Three days later, we're still having fun playing with all of our new toys, even us adults. I got a new laptop and camera in addition to the treadmill that came the week before, so it was a very successful Christmas for everyone. Anyway hope yours was happy, healthy and blessed as ours was.Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-76979523451454251712013-10-19T14:27:00.000-06:002013-10-19T14:27:03.389-06:00Pumpkins and Wrestling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our annual trip to the pumpkin patch yielded only two photos since I forgot to take the camera with me. But it was still a successful trip. We rode the train, made it through the straw maze, and came away with four lovely pumpkins. We carved two of them last night and we'll take pictures once we get the other two carved.<br />
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Today was Gideon's first competitive wrestling match ever. It was a tournament at Idaho Falls high school.<br />
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I'm not sure why he was laying on the mat (that's Gideon in the orange shirt and navy shorts. Anyway he's so funny because he would run laps and laps and then lie down and then get up and run more laps.<br />
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I got tapped to keep stats at one of the tables, so this is the only one of Gideon's matches that I even got to watch. But I'm glad I got to see this one, it's the one he won. It was close for a while, but then Gideon got the kid on his back and started racking up the points. <br />
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Of course, Gideon has an advantage over most of these other kids. He's actually got a super experienced coach in his uncle Cody. And Uncle Cody was glad he came too, because he got to referee a little bit, which he loves.<br />
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In the end, Gideon took 4th place in his age/weight division. Not bad considering this was his first competitive sporting event ever. And it gave us a good gauge on what we need to work on. Gideon knows what he needs to do and understands the sport, right now what we need to work on is his "attack." He's a little timid and not very aggressive. But he'll get there.Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-35846641611647984312013-10-13T18:23:00.002-06:002013-10-13T18:23:51.247-06:00The Impromptu Road Trip<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Do you ever just wake up in the morning and feel like you have to get out of town or you're going to lose your mind. Well that was me on Saturday. I honestly felt like I was falling apart and losing my sanity. So when Travis called around 10 and told me they'd been rained out for the entire weekend, I pitched the idea of meeting us halfway somewhere in Montana. Actually I didn't really give him a choice. I said, "I'm booking a room do you want to meet us in Bozeman or Billings?" So an hour later the reservation was made and the kids and I were in the car headed north.</div>
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The colors were kind of pretty through Yellowstone. But it was so cloudy, the camera didn't really capture it that well. Still it's not a bad drive, although Gideon kept saying "this doesn't really look like a park mom." I kept having to tell him that National Parks a little different than the "parks" he's used to playing in.</div>
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We stayed at the Microtel Inn in Bozeman. Not the fanciest place we've ever stayed, but they had a heated pool AND a hot tub. The heated pool was actually perfect.</div>
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After swimming, we had a pizza party party in the room. And then went swimming some more.</div>
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This morning after breakfast we had to hit the pool as soon as it was open, then we hung out in Bozeman with daddy for a little while and got some lunch before heading home.</div>
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We did get caught in some pretty major snow between Big Sky and West Yellowstone on our way home today. It wasn't bad, just slowed us down for a while. But it was lovely to look at.</div>
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This is the picture I promised Travis of the colors coming out of Ashton, they're actually so much more vibrant in real life.</div>
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It was a lot of driving for 20 hours together, but definitely worth it. We've already decided that we'll do it again the next time Travis winds up with a weekend off.</div>
Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-22414332963075821082013-10-06T14:09:00.001-06:002013-10-06T14:09:28.482-06:00Best Vacation EVER!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So here's the great thing about a Disney vacation, everything is Mickey Mouse! Even the waffles. </div>
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First of all, we had the coolest hotel room ever!!! Just ask the kids or just see for your self! </div>
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The kids loved the pirate room and really the whole resort was awesome! Plus with Disney transportation to and from the airport and in and around all of the Disney world resort, we were saved the expense and hassle of renting a car.</div>
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Our hotel also had the best pools EVER!!! This kids' pool was naturally a favorite. </div>
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In fact they enjoyed it so much, we never even made it to the big people pool, which was pretty awesome in it's own right. </div>
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Yes, that's Parker getting caught in the big splash. she would sit under the thing and wait for it, then the minute the bell sounded and bucket started to go she'd scream and jump and run away.</div>
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I have no pictures of our day at the Magic Kingdom because our camera got lost in Tomorrowland sometime between 5:30 & 6:15pm. And I've called back to Disney twice and it's never been found or turned in. Which is a huge bummer, because this was Trav's first visit to any Disney park and I did have some really cute photos. The great thing about going to Disney September is that the weather is milder and there are NO lines for anything. We walked straight on to almost everything. Including my two favorites, Pirates of the Caribbean and Space Mountain (which I rode twice.) Gideon loved everything but the two he still hasn't stopped talking about were Buzz Lightyear and Splash Mountain. And Trav's favorite was the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It was a fun day, and then we got up the next morning and caught our transport out to Port Canaveral to board the Disney Dream. </div>
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Our stateroom was decorated for birthday which Parker especially loved and kept calling it her birthday party. </div>
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The fun thing about Disney cruises is that you eat at a different restaurant every night, but your servers travel with you, so you have the same wait staff every night. Our first night we ate at Animator's Palate.</div>
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The kids fought over the top bunk, but we usually let Parker fall asleep up top and then put her down in the bottom so Gideon could sleep there. </div>
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When we woke the next morning we were pulling into Nassau.</div>
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The annual birthday girls picture! I can't wait to have a full album of these pictures when she's all grown-up.</div>
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And Parker got her wish of meeting Minnie Mouse and giving her a kiss. And on our birthday even!</div>
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We ran into Peter Pan on our way up to change clothes to go swimming in the ship's pools and splash park (which I have no real pictures of.)</div>
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After swimming, the kids wanted to go play at the kids' clubs and Travis and I were able to go sightseeing in Nassau on our own.</div>
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At Ft. Charlotte</div>
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Ardastra Gardens and Zoo</div>
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Toby the Macaw even gave me a kiss for my birthday!</div>
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As we were picking up kids to go down to dinner, we ran into Chip and Dale in the hallway!</div>
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All of the food on the ship was phenomenal, but I'm glad we got to eat at Enchanted Garden on my birthday because I truly think it had the best menu on the ship.</div>
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Poor Gideon didn't make it though, he was out before dinner even arrived. Then they brought Parker and I a birthday treat and sang to us and he even slept through that!</div>
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The staff were nice enough to cover his food and let us take it back to the room. And since it was Pirate night there were bandanas and gold coins waiting for all of us.</div>
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After dinner we went to see the "Villains Tonight" live show, which was awesome, even Travis enjoyed it and he's not big on Broadway style shows.</div>
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After the show, Parker and daddy were way to tired for anything else, so Gideon and I went to Pirate party on deck by ourselves. </div>
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It was super cool because we got to meet Captain Hook and Mr. Smee first and then to the Captain Jack show up on deck. We watched Jack Sparrow elude capture again, and they had fireworks and a dance party where the pirates came out and danced with the kids.</div>
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There was seriously so much to do onboard the ship, I can't even tell you all of the activities and events they had going on all day, everyday. One of my favorite days though, was our day at Castaway Cay! It really is paradise with Disney service!</div>
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The kids couldn't wait to get through breakfast so we could go to the beach!</div>
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And on our final night aboard we got to meet Mickey Mouse, that was the one thing the kids were bugging us about all week long and we finally did get to meet him.</div>
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Anyway, as you can tell, this was literally the BEST family vacation EVER and we're already trying to plan our next one!</div>
Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-13469316356126369332013-08-24T22:57:00.000-06:002013-08-24T22:57:06.390-06:00Up the Lemhi Divide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When my mom called yesterday and asked if the kids and I wanted to go on a hike with a small group of people from church I said yes without even knowing where or when or if it would be a good hike for little kids. Yesterday was so stressful just the idea of getting away from it all for a short time was appealing. I had no idea when we piled into Ed and Arlene Williams' minivan this morning that we'd be driving a hundred miles from home just to get to the starting point of today's hike. I'm going to try and let the pictures do the talking and only interject the necessary details. The good part about going on a hike with Ed Williams is that as a geology professor for so many years he knows EVERYTHING about everything around here. He educated us about everything from shield volcanos to the aquafir under the snake river plain. We stopped at Birch Creek on the way up. <br />
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So the hike started at Meadow Lake Campground and went up the Lemhi Divide from there. I have no idea why they call it Meadow Lake. As far as I could tell there was no meadow anywhere around. But there was a lovely small lake. In fact I was surprised at how beautiful it was up there. <br />
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We had lunch at the campground before we started up the trail. The campground itself is at about 9000 feet up above the ghost town of Gilmore, which in itself was something interesting to see. <br />
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Gideon loved the fact that he was taller than me on the stump.<br />
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And he actually took this picture. You don't have to tell me I look like my mom. I already know.<br />
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Speaking of mom, Gideon took this picture too and I'm not sure what he was trying to capture.<br />
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Mom and Parker started up the path with us but then turned around and went back very shortly. It was Parker's nap time and since mom had foot surgery just 6 weeks ago, she decided to take it easy. Gideon was amazing though. It was a tough trail and he hung right with the group, he must be part mountain goat.<br />
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I got some really cute shots of Grandpa and Gideon together.</div>
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We told Gideon this was the tree the elves bake their cookies in and it had caught on fire so they had to find a new one. That actually backfired and he got a little scared to go into the tree. But he did with a little coaxing.</div>
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We finally got high enough to see the lake from above. It was stunning.</div>
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At the summit. 10,200 feet.</div>
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It was a lot more of a workout than I had thought, and by the time we got back down the mountain it was dinner time so I ordered pizza on the way home and took the lazy way out for dinner. I hope I get the opportunity to get back up to Meadow Lake again soon. Definitely worth the drive and the climb.Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4294342272460690431.post-48528429165506623192013-08-18T12:34:00.001-06:002013-08-18T12:34:14.070-06:00Grand Teton Relay 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NEzudX7HxGU/UhEMYznHFLI/AAAAAAAAMCY/0nKvc0oCpuA/s320/IMG_20130816_105048(1).jpg" width="240" /><br /> So with every new relay there are fun stories to tell and pictures to share. The Grand Teton Relay was started in 2010 and even though I knew about it back then, I never wanted to make the effort to put a team together myself. So until this year when someone needed a last minute replacement for their team, I never got the chance to run it. Cody (pictured with me above) was also a replacement runner for the team so we got to spend his 23rd birthday in a van full of strangers running from Ashton, ID to Jackson, WY.</div>
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You start this race at North Fremont high school in Ashton. This is our first runner Matt, on the right int he green. But can I just make a comment about super yellow spandex guy in the right. He was a really strong runner. I know this because we basically leap frogged their van the whole race. But it's a good thing he was such a strong runner because it takes some serious guts to wear yellow spandex like that in public. Just sayin'....</div>
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The start line was great. Basically a wall of sound to run through. And they kept playing "Paradise City" over and over again to get everyone pumped up. Not sure why the organizers chose that for their theme song, but it worked.</div>
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Actually the first 30 or so miles of this race follow the Mesa Falls Marathon course in reverse, so I've run a lot of this going the other direction. Rolling farm land up into Grand Targee National Forest.</div>
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That's Doug waiting on Matt at the first exchange. I was really happy with our team. I mean, considering I didn't know anyone except for Cody and Diana (the girl who organized the team. She ran the Wasatch Back with us in June.)</div>
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Cody and I posed for pictures to kill some time waiting for our turns to run.</div>
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And here's Cody handing off to Diana after 7.7 miles.</div>
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These got out of order because now we're waiting on Cody to start again. Oh well. You can tell from these that Cody was really the one who started out in the farm land and took us up into the hills of the forest.</div>
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Found a fun place to feed the fish while waiting to give Cody some water.</div>
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And got to check out Upper Mesa Falls while Diana was running</div>
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After our first legs were over, we were really blessed because one of our team members owns a cabin that was literally 1.5 miles from our next exchange. So we got to go back and watch movies, cook a real meal, shower, rest and enjoy the sunset over the Tetons before running again. I wish we had an option like this every relay.</div>
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As usual I managed to skip taking pictures overnight. (Something about running in the dark and being sleep deprived will do that to you.) But we did have a little bit of excitement. A blown tire on our van at 1:30am right before I took off on a super dark 4 miles down an ungroomed forest service track. It was a little creepy because this is such a small race (only 88 teams) so I literally ran completely alone with no one else in sight for most of that time. But it's okay because the threat of bear attack kept me moving pretty quickly. Our other van also got very lost on their way to the next exchange so we ended up waiting for about 30-40 minutes before they finally showed up and we could go to Teton H.S. and get some rest.</div>
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This race does have a pretty cool finish line at Teton Village in Jackson Hole. We were able to get some good food (and of course free ice cream) at the finish while we waited on our other van to arrive.</div>
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I somehow didn't mange to get a picture of the whole group together at the end, but that's because we were all in a big hurry to collect our medals and get home. Something about running on no sleep and only junk food for 30 hours will do that to you.</div>
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Still it was a fun race, and even though I hit rock bottom at about 3am and wanted to kill myself for signing up, by the time it was over, I was already making plans for the next one. Vegas Baby!!!!!Cali and Travishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13007276136932295475noreply@blogger.com1