Saturday, October 24, 2015

Happy Fall Y'all

We're enjoying a restful Saturday...the Utes have an away game and there's no cross country meet! Since I last posted, we've had two visits from family and wrapped up all in-state meets for high school cross country.

Back in early September, Todd's parents came out to Utah for a long weekend. We all went to the Utah vs. Michigan football game. All I've been hearing lately is how we're glad we played Michigan when we did!! Jeff & Bonnie cheered on our high school cross country team at the BYU Invitational that Saturday. They were able to put some faces with the names they see in our race results online. We also drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon for a walk around Silver Lake, and then took the scenic route to Park City for lunch. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures that weekend. As always, it was great to have family in town!

In late September, I did my first trail race as a part of a marathon relay team. The University of Utah Athletic department had 4 marathon relay teams for the Northface Endurance Challenge in Park City. It was a fun experience....I might have to do some more trail races!

Coming down the hill at the end of my leg

Athletics Department runners

Holly & Matt visited us last weekend. Lily stayed home with Grandma & Grandpa...we missed her, but our trip would have looked a little different with her along. The day they arrived, we hiked up in Big Cottonwood Canyon on the trail that leads to Mary, Martha, and Catherine Lakes. The fall colors were pretty in the canyon.

Lake Mary

We went up to Jackson for the next three days. We had beautiful weather there...much warmer than it typically is this time of year! We did the Bradley & Taggart Lake loop the afternoon we arrived, and then hiked up to Holly Lake on Saturday. We saw several moose, including one that was only 10 feet off of the trail. It was rainy Sunday morning, so we drove up to Yellowstone instead of doing a wet hike in the Tetons. We watched Old Faithful erupt and did some short trails through the geysers and thermal areas. 

Hiking up to Bradley lake

Taggart Lake from above

Moose! She was splashing in the water

All we could see was his antlers!

Holly Lake

On our way back down

So close!

Buffalo


Old Faithful



We wish they lived closer to us! And we're excited to see Lily again at Christmas time!

We just finished our high school cross country regular season on Wednesday with the state meet. The boys team finished 3rd and the girls team finished 8th! Both teams improved greatly from last year, and the boys' 3rd place finish was the best they've done since 1975. We've got two post-season races on the schedule: Nike Southwest Regional meet in Arizona & the Footlocker West meet in California. 



Enjoy your Saturdays! And GO UTES!








Sunday, August 16, 2015

Summer Lately

Hello All! Hope you're enjoying the last few weeks of summer! It feels mostly over here. At the University of Utah, I'm a week and a half into fall training camp for football, volleyball, and soccer. Todd has already started contract days for Olympus High, and the students start on Wednesday. Our cross country team has their first meet on Thursday of this week! And Todd starts graduate school tomorrow. He is pursuing a Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration.

We crossed something off our bucket list in July...hiking Mount Timpanogos! Timp is the second highest mountain in the Wasatch Range at almost 12,000 feet. It's a 14 mile round-trip hike, so we camped near the trailhead the night before to get an early start. We saw a moose and 20+ mountain goats!

Snack break! Caleb and Amanda Rottman hiked up with us.

Emerald Lake. It doesn't look emerald from here, but it is from above!

Glisading down the glacier

Almost to the top!

Made it!

The wildflowers were beautiful!


Can you spot the mountain goats?

Looking back at the peak on the way down

Last month, we got to see both our families! We first flew to Iowa to join Todd's family for Grandpa & Grandma's 60th Anniversary at Lake Rathbun. We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary while we were there. Since our hotel was right on the lake, we spent a lot of time on the water...kayaking, canoeing, boating, and jetskiing. It was wonderful to be all together.

While the guys golfed, the ladies biked around the resort...

...and went kayaking
We had two pontoons on the morning of Grandpa & Grandma's Anniversary

The lovebirds!

Family pictures



Goofing off in the pool

Canoeing
"Minute to Win it" games

"Minute to Win it" games

From Iowa, we flew to Atlanta and drove up to Bryson City, North Carolina for a family reunion with the VanWyk's. It was wonderful to see all of my family - many of whom I hadn't seen since our wedding. We stayed in cabins near Smoky Mountain National Park. We enjoyed hiking, rafting, tubing, and exploring the Biltmore estate.

We went White Water Rafting on the Nantahala River




Storytime with Great Grandma

The sunset from our front porch

Great Smoky Mountains National Park



Lily & Grandma

Bathtime!

Cousins vs. Uncles Football

Splish Splash

We spent a long weekend at Bear Lake for Olympus XC Team Camp. The kids had a great time running, boating, playing team-building games, and setting goals for our upcoming season. 

Team Trail Run at Tony Grove Lake


Team Building Games

Fun at Bear Lake

Team Run up Logan Canyon


We are really looking forward to a visit from Todd's parents in a couple weeks!