October Adventures

What an exciting win for the Utes last night! Bowl eligible for the first time in the 3 years I've been working with the team--very exciting! I was able to get some extra tickets, so Jessie and Brian Strike joined us in the biggest crowd ever in the RES.

Brian & Jessie Strike joined us for the game

Blackout Game!

While we're on the topic of football, Todd and his gophers have earned the bragging rights over me and my Wolverines in the Mitchell household for the next year...something that is so very rare, but so very exciting for him. Until next year...(or basketball season??).

The leaves in the mountains (and somewhat in the valley) are starting to change. I'm hopeful we'll have some fall weather soon. I went for a trail run up in the mountains to enjoy the colors. It was breathtaking!

Millcreek Canyon

One of my wonderful graduate school classmates was back in Utah for vacation a few weeks ago, and she planned a get-together for our class. I hadn't seen most of my classmates in quite some time, and it was wonderful to catch up with the people I spent what felt like "every waking moment" with for those two years.

7 of my 13 CMP classmates

Todd & I went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze a few weeks ago. We didn't get completely lost in the maze, but definitely had a retrace our steps a few times. We picked out a few pumpkins that we have yet to carve, and then went out to dinner together.

Ready to go!

Our cross country season has come to a close. For the first time in Olympus High School history, both the boys and girls XC teams qualified for state. The boys team took 8th at state and the girls team took 12th. The girls team battled many injuries over the last month, and so we were proud to still make it to state and to not get last at state! We are looking forward to the celebration banquet in a couple weeks. Also, we will be taking about 20 athletes to California for the Footlocker West Regional Meet in Walnut, CA. Should be a lot of fun!

Todd is happy to see the varsity boys running as a pack

Goofy boys

Team Picture

Varsity girls running for Natalie, who's out with a stress fracture

Pre-race Prayer

I'll miss these seniors!

State Finals Team Picture

Last week, Grant & Allison flew from MN to UT to visit for a long weekend. We spent 3 days & 2 nights down in Zion National Park. Weather wise, this is probably the best time of year to be down in Zion. We camped on BLM land outside the park and loved our campsite! We hiked Observation Point, which is the trail that takes you to the highest elevation in the park. There is a beautiful view of the canyon from the top. The next day, we hiked up the narrows a ways. The water was low and the current wasn't too quick, so we could make progress fairly quickly. Back in Salt Lake City, we spent time together playing games, walking around downtown, and doing a sunset hike. We also drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to walk around Silver Lake. We were happy to have visitors!

Hiking up to Observation Point

View from the top

Sunset over Salt Lake Valley

Walking around Silver Lake

Beautiful reflection

We are planning a trip to Jackson Hole & the Tetons this coming weekend. Now that the cross country season is over, we have more freedom to take small weekend trips. We're looking forward to some more hiking!