July summer fun

Summer is cruising by. Lots of fun with the kids between band camp, cross country, track, basketball, sports camps, and more. 

I ran a few trail races up in the mountains. Right before the first race, they sent us a warning about an aggressive bear sighting in the area (i.e., on the trail we were to be running). Like a Utahn, I went in the garage and found our bear spray to bring just in case. That did not stop the race and thankfully there were no bear sightings. Though the race was painful. 1200 feet elevation gain over a mile. 

Park basketball

Swimming and sunning and popsicles 

Sun Valley Idaho

Jeff had a conference in Idaho this summer so we tagged along for some summer fun.

While Jeff had meetings, the kids and I went on a long bike ride along the Salmon River. And of course we stopped for ice cream because you have to do that in new cities. We all went white water rafting the following day which was pretty amazing. Sun Valley is beautiful.

Jazz game

The Jazz made the playoffs again this year so Jeff and I were lucky enough to get the company seats for a game. Was good fun, even if the Jazz didn't do so well. 

Anniversary

This year marks 15 years married. Hard to believe we are those kids in this picture so long ago. Happy anniversary Jeff! And to many more! I love you! 

March

While Hawaii was great fun, reality kicked in upon our return. After multiple ER trips and incorrect diagnoses, we learned Jeff had a dissected artery. We don't know how he got it, what caused it, etc., but thankfully they were able to help his pain somewhat and figure out a treatment course during his several days in the hospital.


Jeff telling me how he really feels about the excruciating pain. This was probably the 3rd ER visit where they finally admitted him since they realized they did not have a correct diagnosis. 

Aaron snuggling with Kyle for comfort while Jeff was in the hospital

Jeff and I had a game of hospital bedside scrabble going. Some apropos words there. 

Sleeping Jeff

Working hard or hardly working... 

Joy

Jeff's babysitter from when he was young has always been in touch with his family as she was part of his family. She was coming to Utah with her sister for an event and knew we lived there so she decided to stop in. It had been many years (decades) since Jeff last saw her and of course the kids had never met her either. We had a great time catching up on life with her and getting to know one another. It was really special to meet her and hear more fun stories of Jeff growing up. 

Arthur visit

Jeff's friend from North Carolina came out to visit this month. We had a great time catching up with him and Jeff had some great guy time. We also learned a new fact about Utah... when you are in a restaurant that serves beer (note not a bar), you may NOT stand up with said beer. You must be sitting down to drink that beer. Odd. But Utah... 

Cross Country Season

Cross country season kicked off in September for Kyle and Emily. 

Emily kicked her season off with a great race, finishing in the top 1/3 of JV girls. 

Kyle's first race didn't go so well. Running varsity and wearing XC spikes for the first time... Within the first 100 yards when the course narrowed to a turn, Kyle was taken down by some spikes and couldn't finish. I tried my darnedest to avoid taking him in for stitches, but no amount of bathroom doctoring could hold his wound together. Ended up with 7 stitches (numbing wore off so final 2 were skipped). Oh and this was all on Jeff's birthday. Happy birthday to Jeff. We ended up at ramen dinner at 9pm post ER. 

Moab trip

One thing we failed to take advantage of when we lived in Raleigh was all the great parks and places nearby. Utah has so many national parks within driving distance, we are making a concerted effort to visit these amazing places. So this weekend we went down to Moab and it sure did not disappoint.

Pretty awesome hotel pool. The kids were thrilled. And it was nice to cool off in given it was 100+ outside. The water was nice and warm, but still cooling from the desert heat. 

Hike to Arches

The famous Arch

This was a great picture that someone else captured. They were trying to take a pano of the Delicate Arch and Kyle ran across his screen. Kyle's photobomb turned out to be a pretty amazing picture so he emailed it to us. 

Jeff's favorite part - ATV adventure