Everyone stand back because Chalisse and Jensen have a gun!
Every morning before Andrea goes to school we read, do math facts, and go over spelling words. Yesterday was costume day at school. Andrea decided she wanted to be a witch. We borrowed a witch costume from my mom that Grandma Anderson made for Marlyse when she was a little girl and she looked darling.
This is at mile 23. I think almost everyone agrees that mile 21-22 are the hardest on the course weaving in and out of neighborhoods. It's really a mental thing. Coming down this hill at the end of mile 23 was a relief to me because I saw my family again. (Apparently Josh and Kaleena were trying to get my attention at mile 22, but I was in my happy little place in my head and completely didn't see them.) Greg, Chalisse, Liz, Jake, Josh, Kaleena, and Grayce were there, cheering me on. I saw my Dad and mom at mile 25 and Marlyse and her kids about mile 25 1/2 Grayce paced me the last couple of miles until the finish line. 
This year after I finished, I felt a lot stronger. Even Greg said he noticed a big difference. The people in the picture above from left to right are Chris (my brother- in -law), me, Andy (Chris's brother), and Jeremy (Chris and Andy's Uncle). I was pretty excited to see that I was beating my record. At the Top of Utah last year, I ran it in 4:05:34. This years time was 3:53:11. I had two goals. The first was to beat the 4 hour mark and the second goal was to not stop. Well, I made the first goal, but not the second. I drank Gatorade at every aid station and took GU at mile 7, 13, and 19. Everywhere on the course there were oranges, I took an orange. And of course chocolate milk 1 hour before I ran and chocolate milk after I finished. It's my favorite!
I had to put this picture in because Chalisse loved working with her lamb.
So, here is Jensen in the showmanship contest. He is showing one of his rabbits that was born in June. He received a blue ribbon in showmanship where they judge how well he works with his animal and knowledge about his animal. All five of his rabbits also received blue ribbons.
This is auction time at the fair where they take their lamb into the auction barn and their animal is auctioned off. The money he earns from this goes into savings for education.
This is a picture of Jensen during the lamb showing. This is where his lamb is judged.
This is Greg and I after running the Wheat & Beat-- Hit the Street 10K. It was a perfect way to start our anniversary. Greg ran the whole race with a smile on his face. Our times: Greg 1:06:12 (after only running 12 times total this year). Cherilee 47:37.
On Saturday, Greg, Jensen, and I hiked to Old Ephraim's Grave via Old Ephraims Cut off. It is a 12 mile loop that starts south of Camp Lomia on the Right Hand Fork up Logan Canyon. There are many ways to get to Old Ephraims's Grave, but this is the only route that you can view a 120 foot deep sink hole.
This is the sink hole. I tried to get as close as I could without falling in to get a picture, but I could not even see the bottom. I can't wait until our next hike. Greg has it all planned out.
Think about running 187 miles with 11 other people that are just a crazy as you are to be running from Logan to Park City via the Wasatch Back. Through all the blood, sweat, and tears we were there for each other cheering each other on.
The best thing about running a half marathon is running it with your friends! Yep that's right, Amie, Jamie and I braved the cool wind and rain to run today in the Bear Lake Half Marathon. This was Bear Lake's second half marathon so I guess it was as good as what could be expected. I really liked the shirts and the course wasn't bad. It was a pretty flat route that wrapped around part of the Bear Lake. My favorite part was seeing the rainbow over the lake. I really didn't care to much for the part where you ran on gravel road since it was raining and the road was kind of muddy. For sure more than 4 port-a-potties should have been placed at the starting line when there are over 700 runners. And the race really should start on time, not start 2 hours later.
Greg did a good job taking pictures and getting drenched in the rain. Here I am again running the final stretch. My time was the worst I ever got 1:52:19. I did run a little slower due to the roads being kind of slippery and I had a gut ache because I ate breakfast at 3:00 this morning and then only had a bite of a bagel while I was waiting (for 2 hours at the starting line because they didn't start it on time) until 7:40 when the marathon started. I hate running when I am hungry :( ! But hey, I still placed 2nd in my age group (a miracle) getting a pretty neat medal and I got to chat for 2 hours at the starting line with my good old friends from work. Next week I'll be running the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay with more friends. I can't wait! 
We rode on the UTA Front Runner down to Salt Lake. It was air conditioned and much faster and better than a school bus.
This is the group of kids by Mr. McGruff in front of the stadium. 
The first pitch of the ball game. It was a foul and came our way. However, it went up and over the top.
Jensen and his friends loved the game. Mom loved it too. Hopefully we will go again soon.
The good and bad list sums it up, but I put some extra pictures on here for you to look at anyway while I tell my story. This is a picture of me at mile 13. Giving my family a thumbs up meaning I am doing great!
After mile 14 "Heart Break Hill" named after the Boston Marathon, and the hill at the end of mile 15 my quads were pretty shot. My right hamstring pain that developed around mile 5 went away at mile 8, but my left leg numbness was now going away and I could feel a blister on the bottom of my foot developing because of the cheap Walmart socks I was wearing because my good running socks got holes in them when I did my last long run. And for the very first time about mile 20 I got lightheaded. This picture above is at mile 23 when I am walking over to my family to get some Vaseline to put under my arms for chafing. They told me I looked white. I told them I felt like I was going to pass out. I felt like I needed to sit down to raise my feet above my head to make the feeling go away, but I knew if I stopped running I wouldn't be able to finish the race. 
Running the final stretch. When I crossed the finished line at 4:14:58. A medic ran over to me and took me to the tent. I told her I was going to pass out. I laid on a cot and was covered with a blanket and Dr. Graham came over and checked me out. He said I was pretty orthostatic. My blood pressure was pretty low. After the recovery he talked to me and told me I had developed dehydration. I'm not sure how this happened because I stopped at every aid station for a drink. The only thing I can figure that I did different was that I drank water at the first 3 or 4 aid stations instead of Gatorade (because I thought I would get sick of the Gatorade). 
This is Jensen running the 40 yard dash. One of his times was 0.077 sec. That was not his best time, but I didn't write down the other time.
Jensen leaping over the high jump. I think he is pretty good. He did a forward jump everytime. He can jump 3 feet 1 inch. Perhaps he might like hurdles later on in life and this will give him good experience. Josh could help him improve on this if he decides he likes it, since he holds the state record in the hurdles.
Jensen at his next event. The shot put. 12 feet 8 inches. Needs to work on his form a little, but still pretty good. Maybe Jake could help him if he decides to do this later in life.
Okay, for those of you not familiar with Power Rangers, a Power Ranger is a fictional individual that changes into a superhero that possesses superhuman strength, durability, and ability in hand to hand combat. A Power Ranger may not use their Ranger power for personal gain or for escalating a fight and if they disobey this rule, they will lose their power. As long as they fight for what is right, they will never lose their power.
No wonder Carson likes to pretend he is a Power Ranger! I'm not so sure about the pajama attire with one boot and a sword shoved through the leg opening. But hey, if he wants to pretend to fight for what is right that is fine with me.
Today, Carson came up to me and said, "Mom make ocolate ookies for dad!" I had other plans that included cleaning the fridge, organizing the toys, vacuuming the upstairs, and working on the Levi quilt. But I guess Carson knows me to well and knows that I have a hard time turning down cookies. He also knows that chocolate chip cookies are Greg's favorite. So guess what we did today? Yep! We made ocolate ookies for dad. By the look on Carson's face you can tell he enjoyed every minute of it. I think he wanted a little one on one time with mom since I spent a lot of time on the treadmill yesterday (17 miles), and he used making cookies as an excuse. Kids learn so young how to get what they want.
I took a few pictures this morning when I took Poopsie on a walk. This picture was my favorite because it showed a beautiful winter scene. Something you would expect to find on the front cover of a book titled "Twas The Night Before Christmas". The only problem that I find with this is --IT'S NOT CHRISTMAS--. It has the beautiful ice capped roads preventing any runner from actually trying to run outside and not hurt themselves. It has snow flocked trees causing blind spots preventing any chance of defensive driving, and if that driver was new to the area, they would have no idea where they were going because of the snow covered street signs. But wait! Look just above the tree tops. I see blue sky! Yes, I believe it is a hint of blue sky! Could this promise spring? Well, I'm crossing my fingers, especially since I have a 10K of hills on Saturday.
