Practice makes.....

On Saturday, Doran and I along with Hillary and Sherrie set off for a practice run on the first part of the Top Of Utah Half Marathon we are going to run in two weeks.

We set the alarm for 4:45 am to get up in time to get ready and for the drive over. (Ya folks, this is a Saturday when we could sleep in.) We parked Hillary's car at the 10.5 mile mark knowing that her and Sherrie will finish WAY before me and they can come back and pick me up at the 9.5 mile mark. Then we drove on up to the Start. I only planned on running 9.5 for my 9 mile run but I ended up running 10.6 with the best of them (Doran, Hillary & Sherrie).

It was a BEAUTIFUL run!There were several other runners out too. It was fun seeing them. There were some that went flying past me and there were a couple I passed (at a turtles pace, of course). You know what made me feel better about my slow and steady pace? There was one guy that passed us about mile 2 or 3 but by time we got to mile 6 I saw him running then walking. By mile 10 I passed him. I guess it's true that speed at the first isn't always better than turtle speed all the way.

When we got home Doran and I did yard work until 6:00 pm. We were trying to smooth the dirt and haul the big rocks and green waste off. We finally got in the shower and I didn't think I would ever get clean. I scrubbed and scrubbed my legs especially by my socks. It looked like I had a definite tan line. But I couldn't get the tan line to go away and realized I DID have a tan line. I also got a little bit of a sun burn on my neck. Thus making me a Red Neck?

After we showered the party began! (Insert all the wonderful fun pictures I didn't take, here. Good thing too because I refused to put a face on or do my hair. Our poor guests had to suffer through.)

Chelsea, Jason and the kids came over. Cortney came up from Provo. Camri was there via the front room and Ben and Sarah came. Bishop and Sis "No Bawlin'" jumped the wall to join us. Nathan and Hillary Savage and their 3 little ones came over. Eric and Joni Olsen along with Lyle, Jake, Kayla and Kristi came. The Olsen will be moving to Tennessee in a little over a week. We will so miss them. They are a great family and wonderful examples not only to our family but to our Ward Family. Lyle and Jake will be moving to Logan for school so hopefully they will make it back for Sunday dinners with us. Mom and Stan were camping so we missed them. We enjoyed good food and good conversation. Thanks all for coming.

The following is why we will be eating Top Ramen for the next few months or maybe years. This is only the front part of the yard. We also have a patio by the back door. We can't wait until we get some sprinklers put in (after all the donations come in from family and friends), and down at the bottom of the sidewalk we want a friend of ours to build an arbor. (Send in your designs, please.)

And the Trumpet Vine is something we are considering putting on the arbor.

Since neither one of us has a creative bone in our body, all ideas and suggestions are welcome. Oh and figure out how we are to "create" our fire ring too.