February Happenings

February has been a great & full month for us. We've continued to have beautiful, sunny weather. So warm, that we've contemplated planting a few hardy vegetables in our garden bed. The weather makes me hopeful that when outdoor track season comes around in a couple weeks, we won't be coaching outside for hours on end in freezing cold, rainy weather! But maybe March will bring what we've been missing in January & February. 

We had a relaxing few days off over President's Day weekend. Todd & I were both off on Friday & Monday that week. Todd had parent/teacher conferences earlier in the week and was glad to have a day off after a rather tiring week. We coached our track team at an indoor track meet Friday afternoon/evening. For Valentine's Day, Todd came with me to the Bar Method Class in the morning (more like I dragged him there...). My friend Jessie Strike convinced me to come to some bar classes with her and it's been great. When she said she was bringing Brian on Valentine's Day, I decided to drag Todd along too. At least they could be miserable together. 

Todd & Brian's attendance was documented on their instagram page. Haha!

We went out for coffee & bread at Great Harvest after class

We tried out a new restaurant for dinner on Valentine's Day-Cafe Trio. It was delicious! We spent the rest of the long weekend in Capitol Reef National Park, which was the only remaining National Park in Utah that we hadn't visited yet. It was beautiful! We drove down Sunday morning and did some shorter hikes near the visitor's center that afternoon. We camped in a primitive campsite that night, and then got up early for a long hike on Monday. We hiked the Upper Muley Twist Trail, which ended up being 15 miles. It was a really beautiful hike with a little of everything--slot canyons, scrambling, great views, the thrill of never being sure where the trail was (at least we didn't get as lost as the group behind us), etc.

Our traditional park sign picture

We hiked to the arch across the way

Todd standing on top of the arch

Slot Canyon

Beautiful view!

We spent last weekend in Pocatello, Idaho for the Simplot Games with the track team. Idaho State University has a pretty neat indoor track with banked curves. 2,500 athletes from 30 states, Australia, Canada, & Mexico were competing there. Of the 23 athletes we took up with us, 6 made the finals! Everything went really smoothly and the kids had a lot of fun.

Our friends Mark & Jenna Moffatt (and their little girl, Harper) were in town this weekend. They moved to SLC on the same day as we did almost 4 years ago, but moved back to South Dakota last summer. It was wonderful to see them again! We really do miss them.

Tomorrow I leave for Point Clear, Alabama for the CPSDA (collegiate and professional sports dietetics association) Advanced Practice Workshop. I'm really excited about this opportunity! The workshop focuses on professional development for career advanced\ment, and attendees are nominated by veteran members and then selected by the board. 

We are really looking forward to my parents visiting in about 2 weeks! Always wonderful to have family in town!