Chloeefornia dreamin........

Holy Hannah!  This will be a long post and I'll warn you RIGHT NOW - there are a lot of pictures.  Usually, I break our SoCal trips down into days, but not this time so really, you can just move on if ya want.  I don't think anyone really reads blogs anymore anyway and it's essentially my journal so.....whatev's, don't say you haven't been warned.

August!  Our annual trip to the beautiful Camp Pendleton and Oceanside.  Time with the kids, Chloee and sunshine!

Friday night was Splenda Daddy's and mine 29th wedding anniversary so some celebration at BJ's took place

While my steak looked good, they couldn't seem to get it cooked well enough for me, so most of it went home in a box to be nuked for someone else later.   There is no denying their desserts are stellar though!

Saturday was special.  A run in the morning, and some relaxing, but then we drove south and east to meet up with a special couple of friends for a special baptism!

Me, Monique and our other special friend who is a little shy about his picture being taken.  But that's his ice cream cone  - so....there's that.

We were introduced to an excellent new restaurant

Chloee and the girls hit it off right away and had fun all evening.  Chlo and I even took another trip back during the week for a visit and some playing.

seriously, could that spider be any more disgusting?  She lives (or rather lived - she has now passed on) right on the front porch of M's house.   ICK!

The girls are so cute and so fun!  And congrats to Jaycee and her Daddy on their big day!  Thanks for inviting us to be a part of it the special day, we were honored to be there!

Monday was the day that Splenda Daddy surprised Chloee and took us all to Disney's California Venture!  WOOT WOOT!

Fun having the family name at Pixar!

Corb looks like he's just posing nicely for the pic

What a screamin fun day!  Loved, loved, loved it!  Sure, the lines were long and weren't early enough to get any fast passes, but it was so fun to just be there together and have so much fun!  Thank you Spenda Daddy!!

Tuesday was Chloee's first day of 1st Grade.  Holy SMOKES!  Where has the time gone?

She settled right in at her desk and began reading books.  There were other children not so brave.  Some tears and clinging of parents legs, but not Miss Chlo.  She was ready to go!

With some free time, we got a lot of running in

The views are stellar

Not pictured is my great trail run with Corbin on base by the armory.  Rattlesnake Canyon.  Yes, we could hear them.  Yes, it was HOT.  Yes, it was hard.  And most certainly YES - it was fantastic!!

In between all this there was swimming

Some eating at our new favorite restaurant in Oceanside - Swami's.  Holy Smokes so good!

Lot's of playing with Poppa and teasing of Mimi

And the boys got some golfing in

damn, I love these men!

It was such a wonderful week!  Kickin back, playing with my best friend, great talks with the kids and having Splenda 24/7.  Perfect way for us to celebrate our 29th anniversary.  With those we love!

Considering this is likely our last visit there, I was honestly trying to soak up as much as I possibly can.  I've made no secret of my love for the USMC and Camp Pendleton in particular.  

But as it goes in life.....good things will come to end.  And often better things are in the future.

A little cabin in the woods, some prenatal drama, and a whole lot of love

I've written about the cabin before here.  Splenda's mom shares it with her siblings, and we get the blessing to go up a couple of times a year and enjoy.

(view from the front room of the cabin)

With new girls in the family, and some free time we wanted to take advantage of it, so we planned a long weekend of doing absolutely nothing but kicking around and enjoying the mountains.

Tuffy and 'Tana went up Thursday and then Splenda Daddy and I packed up all three dogs, food and games and headed up late that night after I got off work.

First sign that the weekend wasn't going to be what we expected was as we were almost turning in the driveway to the cabin, we saw Tuffy and 'Tana headed down the mountain in their car the other way.  We pulled alongside each other and by the looks on their faces, it wasn't good.  Montana was having contractions 3 minutes apart and so they were heading home.  We gave them Jace and instructions to make sure to call us and keep us updated.

Splenda Daddy and I unloaded the car, got everything situated in the cabin and realized that we had no cell service.  Thankfully, the cabin has a landline so we called Tuffy's number and made sure he knew how to get a hold of us.  They had ended up going to the hospital and they were checking things.  He promised to keep us updated.

Huh.  Well this sucks.  Our long weekend of spending time with our kids didn't seem to start off well.  We debated whether or not we should head down to the hospital or stay there and try to sleep, or bag the whole weekend (Luke and Mindy were coming the next day).

We hunkered down and tried to sleep.  The dogs were in heaven of course with so much to explore and so many smells to smell, but Splenda and I were on edge.  Finally, at 1:30 in the morning Tuffy called to let us know that they were going to be keeping Montana for awhile since the contractions were moving her along and she was too early to safely deliver.  They were going to work on getting them stopped.

After some more tossing and turning, the sun started to rise and the dogs wanted out to explore.

I put on my trail shoes to try and get some trail miles in.  Splenda stayed back at the cabin in case the kids called and I took my cell phone to see if I could get service higher up on the road with less trees.

The run was spectacular.  Oh.my.goodness!  Seriously, Timberlakes is one of the most beautiful places on earth and to run, in the early morning, with nothing but trees and the sounds of nature was absolutely cathartic!  I got some cell service, talked to the boy, and made the decision that we would come to the hospital, check on them, and decide what to do from there.

We packed up the dogs, leaving everything else at the cabin and headed back to SL.  After a stop at home to let the dogs in the back yard, we headed over to the hospital.  Unfortunately, the contractions had done enough in the labor process that Montana was going to be kept, moved to a another room and would be staying for the foreseeable future.  Plans were put in place, medication given in case she delivered, and then it just became a waiting game.

Based on the fact that they were in good hands, there was nothing we could do there but sit and wait, we decided that we would pick up Luke and Mindy and go back up to the cabin for the rest of the weekend, unless we got a call saying it was time to get back down.

Another quick stop at home, get the dogs, out to the kids house, get them loaded and back up the mountain we went.  Mindy had never been to the cabin so even though she was on crutches it was still a relaxing and enjoyable place to be.  I think Luke loved showing here where so many of his childhood memories were made.

(a common sight - deer everywhere)

We played games, talked, watched Jack get tormented by the chipmunks and overall enjoyed the peace that the cabin brings.  I got some hill repeats in on Saturday morning, we did some work around the property, napped, and did what one SHOULD do at the cabin and that is relax.

(my new blankie that my Minds made me!)

(this beauty turned his head completely around to look at us)

(and a random pic of how we keep warm in the chilly mornings)

Later in the evening, we drove down to Heber and to our favorite shake shop.  With cell service there, we checked in on the kids at the hospital, grateful for no changes and then back to the cabin and our last night there.

Not gonna lie, it was strange to be "disconnected"  No service.  No phones or gadgets to play with or get drawn in to.  Just the fun of being with each other, talking and playing games.  Making memories.  Can't wait until Corb and his girls get home so we can take them up there.

With Minds on crutches and not able to run, her CF got bad in her lungs.  And while we screwed around playing with her treatment vest, I want it known that I HATE this disease, and will dedicate more of my time and resources to finding a cure.

Sunday, we lazed around until early afternoon, then packed up, cleaned and headed home.  After dropping the kids off, and dumping things at the house, we headed back over to the hospital for another check on Montana.  Luckily, no further progression but since she was still having contractions, she was staying at least a week.  Bummer, but glad that everything is okay.

So that's it for our annual cabin time.  Not quite the weekend we were expecting, but it was so relaxing.  For the first time, we didn't have any motorcycles or four wheelers to spend all day on and with being disconnected from the internet world, it was a much different experience than we've ever had before.  I have to say, I kind of liked it.  I liked that there was so much eye contact, actual talking, playing games and human interaction with my kids that I love so much.

Looking forward to next summer.  Hopefully, we'll get a chance to have all TEN of us by then!

PS - Montana and baby are good.  This whole thing was early in August.  She is now 36 weeks along, home, off bedrest, moved into their new apartment and just waiting for little Addy to make her appearance.  I'm grateful for the wonderful care she got at IMED and the power of priesthood blessings.

PSS - Much thanks to Grandma Joy for sharing her cabin with us and letting us have the opportunities to make such fun memories.

Sapper Joe 2013 - Sapped me good!

Okay, so my boss at the store happens to be the race director for the Sapper Joe out at Camp Williams.  Click here to read about it and you can also see the course, the results and basically gain some more respect from me 'cause this SOB was hard!!

It's a trail run.  That in and of itself adds a level of difficulty.  I was warned the first 5 miles or so were a significant climb and then the fact that we were on the artillery range, I was also admonished to not pick up anything shiny. HAH!  Sounds fun right?!

Totes excited about this race!!  The fact that it's just the street meant that I could sleep to a decent hour.  4:45am is decent for a race day.  Yes, it is.  I got ready, quietly left the house and after a quick stop at the sev for my monster and donut, headed south to the gate entrance to Camp Williams.

I met up with my WRC girls and after a potty stop, some warm up and a little chitchat, it was time.  They fired the cannon and away we went!

Millie, me and Gibby

Wouldn't you know it that within the first tenth of a mile, my right shoelace came untied.  DRAT!  I pull off to the side and tie it.  Pick up again, and try to get back in the crowd where I was before.  Just as I do that, I feel my left shoe lace slapping at my ankle and realize it also came untied.  Double drat!  I pull off again, to tie that one and think to myself "how does this happen?  I tie shoelaces all freakin day long?"

I was able to pick back up in the crowd and hit a comfortable stride.  Yes, we were climbing but it wasn't too steep and I really thought maybe I had overestimated how steep I was told it was going to be.  I even got cocky.

Then.   We turned a corner and it was now light enough for me to see ahead.  Holy HANNAH!!  Are you freaking kidding me?  The steepness of the hill cannot be adequately described.  I told myself I would run it.  If nothing else, I would at least run it, no matter how slow.

Yeah.  Like THAT could happen.  It was literally so steep that NO ONE was running it.  It was more of a steep hike.  The kind where you lean forward and press on your quads for strength.  The kind where if you stand upright, you could likely tip backwards.

We climbed and climbed and then appeared to have hit the summit.  Whew.  Only to look ahead and see that while we crept down a bit, we then turned and climbed AGAIN.  Just as steep if not steeper.  At this point, all I could do was laugh.  It was unreal.  I could hear some guys talking behind me so I listened to their convo for a little while discovering that it was the one kids first trail run ever.  SNORT!  This is a beast of a one to start out on.  I didn't dare turn around to look at them or talk because I would have fallen down.  Instead, it was eyes down, lean forward and climb.  At one point I snuck a look at my garmin and noted that I was on a 20 minute mile pace.  GAH!

Finally at about the 5 mile mark, I reached the last and final summit.  Had to stop and look backwards to see what I had accomplished and to check out the sunrise.

seriously, how beautiful is this?

As I turned to move forward and continue on I noticed the sun hitting the mountains on the west and had to snap another picture.

looking to the west and the morning light hits the mountains

I started fueling, and drinking water and began the descend.  How wonderful it was to go downhill.  Of course it was steep (not as steep as the climb up) but it was enough that I could pick up some speed.  I leap frogged with another guy for a mile or so and through the aid station, but for the rest of the race, I was pretty much solo.  Not until the final mile did I start to catch some other runners that had gassed right out.

For me though, it was like I was just getting started.  I felt strong, I felt fast, and I felt like I could keep going.  My ankles were sore from the shifting ground and my shins were beginning to ache, but overall, I felt fantastic!  The trail was beautiful, the sun shining and the perfect summer morning!

I made my way back and under the bridge back on base.  I passed two National Guard soldiers who cheered me on as I turned the final corner and headed towards the finish.  Just seeing the cannons and sign got me fired up and I found a little more in me to sprint.

As I crossed there were my WRC girls cheering me on, and as I hit my garmin to record my time, I was certainly pleased.  Yes, I had hoped for 2 hours or less, but after surviving such a brutal first half, and having the energy that I did the last half, I was certainly more than a little happy.

Another post race picture, some stretching, chatting with customers from the store, an ice run, and watching some of the 30k runners come in and then it was time to go home.

Congrats Millie!!  Second woman overall!

What a stellar race!  So well organized, fun and absolutely beautiful.  Who knew that Camp Williams could be pretty?  Once we got on the back trails, it was gorgeous.  Nothing like enjoying a run, on a summer morning, with the sunrise and some trail.

The finisher medals and shirts are pretty cool too.

Why these loaded sideways, I have no idea....

Definitely this is going on to my "must do again next year list".  Maybe I'll even get braver and do the 30k.  For now, this year was perfect.  Loved it.  Happy with my results and 3rd in my age group is not too shabby.  I'll take it!

Thanks D, his wife, and all the others who made the race possible - it's a new mCat favorite!!

Deseret New 1/2 Marathon 2013

Okay, I KNOW!  It's only been almost a whole month, but sheesh - life gets in the way.  And right now, I have so many blog posts lined up that if I don't get on the ball and get memories documented, well......then it's never gonna happen.  New goal:  Post more.

So my cool boss at Wasatch Running Center thought it would be a fun thing for all the store employees to run this race.  Oh yeah, I'm down for that!!

I've always done the 10k, but this year they added a half marathon and we all know how much I love a half!

G was kind enough to book a couple of hotel rooms close to the bus loading area so that we didn't have to get up in the middle of the freakin night just to drive and park.

(my ever lucky NYY blankie)

(Gibby, me and Millie)

Instead, we literally met in the lobby and trotted down to the loading area.  Nice little warm up.

We managed to meet up with each other - just missing Jon in here.

(l-r Gibbs, Val, G, Me, D, Aaron and Millie)

And when I wandered down to drop my bag in the truck I ran into another running buddy!

Love Dan the MAN!

Next thing you know, we are on our way!  Gibby and I stuck together pretty much most of the course.  So fun to have a running pal that keeps pace with you and even better pushes ya just that little bit more.  She is stellar at that!  Love my Gib girl!

The course was beautiful, the sky a little overcast and the temp was perfect.  As we hit the gentle uprising east towards South Temple, I dropped back a little and Gib's went ahead.  I could keep her in my sights so that became my goal.  As I rounded the corner onto State street, I saw Aaron.  He's a sprinter that isn't used to this many miles and he was not happy!

Once on state street, the fun begins!  The crowds, the people, the cheering just give me that extra little push.  I caught back up to Gibb's for a minute and then sagged back again.

That last stretch up to Liberty Park is my least favorite of all!  GAH!  It's ever so slightly up hill, the crowds aren't as loud and cheering as on state street, so this is where I look for my favorite Cahoon's.  I know where they usually camp overnight and I am in desperate need of just a little extra push.

I look, I look, I look and I can't see them anywhere.  I'm left to my own power and oddly, feeling pretty good actually.  The finish line comes into view and as I start to kick for the home stretch, I hear my name and there is my cute Splenda Daddy cheering and taking pictures.

My man.  Always. There!

I came through the chute and hit my garmin.   I didn't have a chip in my packet so I had to rely on my own garmin for my official time.  I was told I could give it to the timing trailer and they would add it into the results, but that's never happened.  HOWEVER, if it had been official, I would have been 6th in my age group and for that I am happy.

Overall, it was a great race.  I felt good.  Sure, I wanted a 1:45 but still pretty pleased with what I came away with.  We lingered in the park trying to find our whole group for a picture but it never happened.   Instead, I got me and Gibb's at the store later.

So, another 1/2 in the books.  A great day, great race, great friends and co workers to run with.  Hoping that G decides to make this a store tradition cause it was FABULOUS!