Lake Powell 2009

Family...
All connected together in our favorite place - Lake Powell.

Halloween 2009

Okay, when you don't have any idea what to be for Halloween, just raid your mom's and dad's closets and do a quick shop at Saver's and shock the masses with a fat butt and wig. Being a fat tourist has its advantages. It's Halloween so go for the donuts and the chocolate candies. Your butt is fat anyway, right?
Annual Halloween party at our house with the Packer side of the family. Limbo, pinatas, new "jamboats" from Grandma Lynda, and this year the food was over the top. Navajo tacos and scones. Now you know why the fat butt was key this year...

Most memorable moments?
-Lucie as "I Love Lucy" - she had the pose down perfectly. (It helped that she got addicted to watching the "I Love Lucy" shows right before Halloween...)
-When Marlie decided she wanted to be a pumpkin girl and we decided she could tell everyone she was "Peter Pumpkineater's wife" - who couldn't love that?

Catch the Vision

One of my more unique church callings was to design a float for the Children's Parade for July 18, 2009. The theme was, "Catch the Vision." I drew up a few designs but this one, inspired by the movie, "UP," was hands down the winner. A really talented man in the stake made it all happen - hours and hours of time making the temple and the clouds, as well as trying to figure out how to do the balloons at the top. It was his idea to have the primary kids put their handprints on the bottom layer. So sweet. They all felt so proud to be a part of the parade.
One little surprise... He kept it a secret but he found a way to make the temple rise up out of the clouds as if it was going to float away. It was truly a lot of fun!
After the parade, there was a huge children's festival down at the City and County Bldg. in Salt Lake. The kids made birdhouses at Home Depot and got to jump and slide for hours. Lucie and her cousin Ella had a blast playing in the water around the fire engine. Lucie even got to be in the newspaper - a photographer asked our permission to use a photo he took of her.
The best part for me was the popsicle at the end. Parades can be HOT...
But seriously, if you ever need a float design, just let me know! I'll take that calling any time!

The Packer Family

And it all started with Blair and Lynda Packer...

LOTOJA 2009

There comes a time in life when you have to do something that you truly believed you never would do. Doing the LOTOJA relay was one of those times. I had watched Kevin and my brother-in-law, John Peebler, do this race each year. My sister-in-law, Sue, and I were the supply car - stopping at each rest stop, nervously anticipating our husbands coming in - not knowing if they were going to be wasted out or excited.
The LOTOJA stands for Logan to Jackson (Logan, UT to Jackson, Hole) and consists of cycling for 207 miles all in one day.
Kevin has signed up for this race year after year, even though he had to go in the ambulance the last time for severe dehydration and exercise induced hypoglycemia. So... much to my excitement, this year Kevin decided that instead of one more trip to the ER, he would have us four do a relay team.
5:30 am start in Logan - Sue and I first up (so dark I couldn't see anything but the cycling butt in front of me!) - 34 miles
Switch to John and Kevin at next stop (Preston, Idaho)
Sue and I switch again at Alpine, Wyoming with 47 miles to go! (Beautiful ride uphill into Teton Village, Jackson Hole, Wyoming)
All I can say is my butt hurt so bad from riding hard in the morning, sitting in the car while the guys rode 126 miles, and then getting on for another 47 miles. I do not recommend it!
But, I have to say, it was definitely better than riding in the ambulance to the ER with Kevin hooked up to an IV. As a wife, you do what you have to do...

This is what dreams are made of...

Between eating Mickey shaped icecream sandwiches, to dinner with Pluto, we were thoroughly enjoying this vacation. Yes, I had to convince Kevin that it was worth tapping into the savings. And yes, it was worth every penny. We went with Kevin's biking friends and their families - friends that are now mine and the kids as well.

October is a great time to go to see Disneyland at Halloween...

The trip consisted of:
1. St. George - we stayed in Julie's big house with all the families
2. American Girl Doll Store in Hollywood
3. Universal Studios
4. Anaheim, CA - Disneyland - 3 day hopper pass
5. San Diego, CA - Sea World
6. The beach
7. St. George
8. Home

My most memorable moments were:
-Hollywood, CA at the Lemon Grove Farmer's Market, eating pizza and donuts - feeling like we were back in the 40's, listening to a senior citizen band
-The beach in San Diego at sunset - the girls doing splits and cartwheels in the leftover sun
-Eating a chocolate dipped rice krispie square on mainstreet in Disneyland while we watched the Halloween night show
-Seeing the girls faces at the American Doll store as they saw all of the dolls and clothes (in real life, not just in the magazine that comes in the mail)
-Kevin walking into California Adventure, hand in hand with our two girls, talking excitedly about what rides they are going to go on first
-Eating cotton candy by Soarin' California
-Walking through Downtown Disney, running into random shops, eating candy (of course)

This is what dreams are made of...

Friends Forever

You know those memories you have of growing up, that stand out in your mind? Ours will be forever engraved in our hearts of friends we made in Sparks, Nevada. And when those friends come all the way to Utah to visit, it just makes those memories last longer.
Jerussia, Adi, and Sawyer
Emma, Hannah, and Robert Reilly
Best friends forever...
Oh, we miss you so much it hurts!

ULCER Bike Ride - September 2009

You know those moments when you have to blink to make sure you aren't dreaming? I had one of these with my older sister Heidi. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would get her on a bike let alone see her complete a 60 mile bike race! What a moment when she burst into tears at the end - overcome with emotion that she had just done something that she never thought possible for herself.
I was overcome as well to the possibilities in life. Cheers for living life to the fullest!

The Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay consisted of two vehicles full of 6 runners each. We started in Logan, UT the morning of the first day and ended the next day in the evening in Park City, UT.
I was a graft into the group - someone had injured themselves and I was a replacement. With only two weeks to train, I ended up with one of the worst legs of the race. I had to run a little over 7 miles uphill through a canyon. This sounds bad enough, but it was the heat of the summer, and I had to run up a gravel road, with hundreds of support vans going by, kicking up the dust in my face.
The reward was the beautiful meadow at the top, where I got to get back in the car and watch our friend Jen go down a grueling downhill leg.
My next leg was 4 miles in the dark of the night where my only friend was my headlamp and my iPod. I couldn't see a runner in front of me or behind me.
Third leg was a quick 3 miles in Heber, UT where I ran my fastest ever. I ran an 8 minute mile for all three miles!