Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Ready to Run!!!!!

I was in a car accident at the end of November, and have spent the past five months in and out of doctor's offices and physical therapy trying to fix my back. I have been really limited in what I can do physically, and it has been a bit depressing at times. I got the go ahead yesterday from my therapist to start running again, so I ran two miles this morning and IT FELT GREAT!!!!! I have been worried that I wouldn't be able to run Hood to Coast this summer, but my therapist thinks that I may be able to do it after all. We'll see how things go. This will be my fifth year running the race, so I am going to start training and see what happens. I'm crossing my fingers!

Hood to Coast is a relay race that starts near the summit of Mt. Hood, and crosses 197 miles to the beach. 12 people are on each team, and you take turns running between about 3.5 and 8.5 miles at a time. Each person runs three times, often over difficult terrain, once through the night, and normally through some pretty severe heat with it being the end of August. It is an amazing experience -- you start on a Friday morning and finish sometime on Saturday, depending on how quickly everyone runs and whether or not you run into problems (knock on wood - we have had our share of injuries and sickness through the years-several times one person has ended up running four times because another runner is injured and can't run again). By the time we finish, we are very sore, sleep deprived, and absolutely thrilled to be finished! It is really an amazing experience, particularly being able to prove to yourself how strong you can be. Jared has run with us from the beginning, and Paul has run all but last year. We have also had Danielle, Dallin, and Sandy (Paul's dad's wife) run with us, and lots of friends. Here are some pictures from our run last year.

Jared, Roger, Tony, Dallin, Angie and Heather at Mt. Hood.
Angie, Tony, Heather, Jared, Dallin and Roger getting ready to start the race. I was the first runner, and had 6 miles to run with a 2000 foot drop in elevation. It sounds nice to be able to run all downhill, but it is really tough on the joints to have such a steep grade!

Here's out team sleeping between our second and third times running. Each team has two cars, and they alternate cycling through all of the runners once and then the other van steps in. We got about three hours of sleep, and then started again. There are hundreds of cars that park in an empty field and you just sleep the best you can. It's really crazy.
Here we are getting ready to run for the third time. It was about 4:00 am, and I was exhausted, and sore! Angie, Tony and Jared waited at the start of my leg with me to wait for the last runner from our other car to get to the exchange point. We had to wait about an hour, because once you get to the coastal mountains there is no cell phone coverage, so you don't know when the last runner from the other car will be arriving. We estimate, and then come a bit earlier in case they are running faster than projected.

Hood to Coast finish line and party at the beach Our 2007 Hood to Coast team--I am getting excited for August!

Video of me starting my first leg of the race - they have small groups start every 15 minutes for about 8 hours because there are so many runners. They roads still get really congested doing it this way, but they are a lot better than starting all of the teams at once! I am at the back of the group close to the camera, wearing blue shorts.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

15 Years! ! ! ! ! ! ! !


Today is our 15th anniversary! It is really amazing that it has been that long, but we have the children to prove it, Josh is going to high school next year!


I have truly been blessed to have such a wonderful husband. I hope that I show him often enough how much he means to me.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

My favorite pictures

I was going through some old pictures and decided to share some of my favorites:

We had a regional dance festival almost two years ago at the Rose Garden. All of the deacons dressed as Napoleon Dynamite and did the Napoleon dance. It was really fun. It was a really great experience for Josh. I just love this picture! Rebekah was a bride for Halloween (for several years, actually). I think she was about 8 in this picture.
This is the Twin Falls Temple, under construction. We were amazed that it was just in the middle of nowhere. I am sure that there will be houses surrounding it in a few years.
Our little performer, Rachel. Rachel is always singing, dancing, cartwheeling, or something like that. She loves life, and lives it to the fullest.
Rebekah, Rachel and Elizabeth - this was a couple of years ago. The were so cute playing together, I wanted to be sure to get a picture of them together.

More of my favorite pictures

This is Elizabeth in 1st grade - they made easter hats at school. I love her missing teeth!
Elizabeth sandboarding during our vacation to the Oregon Coast near Florence. It was so much fun, and I was amazed at how well the kids could do it! I didn't dare to do more than sit on the board! Rachel and Elizabeth with their new baby cousin, Jade. They love to take care of her!
Michael and Rachel. I love any picture with my kids being nice to one another! For Christmas last year, rather than having the kids give one another gifts, they each chose a name and did an activity with that person. Michael and Rachel went bowling together and had a great time.
Rebekah and I at Sequioa National Park.


Easter Egg Hunt

Haley, Rebekah and Lindsay ready to head to the park
Liz helping Tavis
Rachel pushing Tavis on the swing - Whee!

Rebekah, Tavis and Jade

The kids had a lot of fun having an easter egg hunt with Grandma and Grandpa Adamson, the Couchs and the Adamsons. It was a beautiful, sunny day, something that we don't get very often here in the March!

More Baptism pictures

We are so grateful for all of our wonderful family and friends who came to Rachel's baptism! It was a great experience, and we really appreciated being able to share it with you.
Rachel with Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Jim

Rachel with Grandma and Grandpa Adamson

Rachel with her Grandma Debbie

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Rachel's baptism








Rachel was baptized last weekend! It is amazing that our youngest is growing up so quickly. We had a really nice weekend with family, and the baptism was beautiful. Rachel has been waiting for this for a long time, and has really prepared well. We really enjoyed having so many family members here - Grandpa and Grandma Adamson, Grandma Debbie, Grandpa and Grandma Jamison, Couch family, Taylor family and Adamson family. Our cousin pictures are always interesting--you would think these poor kids were being tortured!