HAPPY BIRTHDAY FERNASH

Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter! Hope it's the best one ever!

St. George Marathon 2011

Saturday I finished the St. George Marathon for the very.last.time.
Why? (not why I ran it, but why I won't do it again)

• Hottest day in the history of the marathon.


• Due to a last-minute errand (dropping off our clothing retrieval bag) started way behind everyone else, and never found my friends I was planning to run with.


• Forgot to bring my salt pills, which keep my electrolytes in balance during long runs.


• As a consequence of two of the above, had severe muscle cramps in my feet sometime after the halfway mark and my feet contorted and turned in, tripping me. Ended up having to walk the rest of the marathon in order to keep my feet longer on the ground to control the spasms.


• Decided to forgo the long line for the porta-potty at mile 7 to save time, but by the time I got to mile 9 (they are spaced conveniently every 2 miles along the course, just a few feet off the road) made a mad dash for the potty, and in my haste forgot to lock the door. Someone else with equal urgency opened the door and there I sat in front of a herd of runners.

*My apologies to anyone I may have made fun of in the past for not being able to complete a marathon in less than 5 hours.

So why DID I run the marathon again? Because Poodle wanted to run it with me. She did GREAT, running a 4:14 for her first marathon, on that hotter than HECK day.

And in spite of above complainings we had a GREAT time! We stayed at Jerry and Diane's and they were a blast! Poodle's friend Katelyn came to run with us and Laura to cheer us on.

Here we are the night before feeling pretty spry.


We laid our out clothes and took a picture of them - a tradition in Katelyn's family.


The pre-race bonfires, which are usually welcome relief from the cold, not so welcoming the morning of this race.
After race relief -



Jerry and Diane gave us a grand tour of St. George.


Congratulations, Poodle! so happy for you. so grateful you're doing better!

NASHVILLE CATS

We took a trip to visit the Nashville cats for labor day. The weekend flew by way too fast, but we were able to enjoy being with the Funks. The best things about Nashville

The State Capitol is cool - on top of a grassy hill (that's fun to run down)


The Adventure Science Center - best hands-on science museum I've ever seen for kids (or adults) with blood vessels you can build yourself, a slide through the intestines that poops you out with a sound like passing gas, and a moon walk bungee anti-gravity walk.

The Pancake Pantry - with awesome sweet potato pancakes and even more awesome hash browns.

Country Music - free concert in the park - as a matter of fact, there are free concerts everywhere you go, including the airport!

Opry land hotel - one of the nicest convention centers I've seen.


but the best thing about nashville -

The Funks! Carrie, Shawn, Caroline, Devin and Graham - thanks for a wonderful time. We miss you!

Dear Ryan:

Thank you for lending me your camelback hydration pack.
I almost made it to the end of the driveway.
Love,
Mom
p.s. the salt tablets worked wonders, though

Great run - kind of

Beautiful long run saturday morning
Ran into six deer in total, one mother with three little fawns following her across the path, and another taking a drink out of the bayou,
wild boars, squirrels, and a few snakes.
Beautiful wildlife!
The run, on the other hand didn't go so well.
Let's just say complications arose.
Definitely not ready for the marathon!

Fun with Poodle

I just spent a fabulous week in Washington D.C. with Poodle. We had many great adventures, (one of them being my driving.) Poodle was a perfect hostess. She let me borrow her blow dryer, toothpaste, and buy anything I wanted.

Good thing I remembered to bring my camera so I could share all of my great photos!

Here are some of the highlights:


We went house hunting.
and hosted a baby shower. (Of the eight people present at the shower, four of us attended the same elementary school in Holladay, Utah! Small world)


Poodle and I drove out to the country to pick raspberries.


and of course, we had to make a stop at Georgetown Cupcakes. MMMMMMM

But my favorite was kayaking on the Potomac River. As you can see, one of us did most of the rowing.

Thanks for the fun week, Poodle! You're the best!

Happy Anniversary

Beautiful flowers
Romantic dinner at Parry's Steakhouse
a gorgeous new rug for our bedroom
=
Best Anniversary Ever

Thanks, sweetie

35 YEARS
AND MANY MORE TO COME

Summer in Houston

and what's so great about summer?





ICECREAM, that's what!
first of the season - homemade raspberry
Yeah, baby!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to my baby. . .

the shady one. I LOVE YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to my beautiful daughter.

I love you, Bethy!

I WON THE LOTTERY!

So did Poodle and Katelyn.
Which means we will be running the St. George Marathon on October 1st.
Anyone want to come cheer us on?

Sarah's Wedding

We were in Utah this weekend celebrating the wedding of Sarah Brown and Jordan Hansen. President Eyring performed the sealing. It was beautiful! Here are some pictures of the beautiful couple, and other family members.
Sarah and Jordan leaving the temple
the happy couple and grandparents
the beautiful Browns

beautiful flowers at temple square
some of my family

Everything was in full bloom in Utah!

Easter 2011

I'm a little behind. Not unusual. We had a wonderful Easter enjoying our family in person and via telephone.

We are so blessed!

our back yard . . .

(the part that we don't have to mow.)

Finally

found my camera . . .









Reed Family Reunion 2011

Happy Birthday Bex!

Happy Birthday Bex

Best.Teenager.Ever

also super mom. . .

and wife . . .

and daughter.

.

Got trash?

The moving in process is almost complete. We have been through countless boxes - sorting, organizing, and sometimes just throwing out to the curb. Yesterday I heard Mike talking in our dining room. Since he was speaking in spanish, I went to see who our guests were. He was giving them a tour of our house and offering them some discarded items. Since I assumed they were the workers he had entertained during our rennovation process I joined in the fun and offered them some of the nicer items we had decided to discard - a very nice portable oven, space heater, etc. It wasn't until after they left that I found out he had never met them before. He saw them rummaging through our trash and told them they wouldn't find much there, then invited them into the house to continue their "shopping."

Itinerary

Just so everyone knows:

While Bex and Shawn are here (Wednesday through Sunday) everyone is invited to eat breakfast and dinner with us in our newly rennovated (almost) kitchen.

Menu: (tenative)
Wed: Breakfast - Breakfast tacos, fruit, OJ

Dinner - Hamburgers on the grill, salad, guacamole and chips

Thurs: Breakfast - Muffins, berries,

Dinner - Shish-ka-bobs with rice, salad

Fri: Breakfast - Begnets, Fruit, Bacon, Hash browns

Dinner - Lupe Tortilla

Sat: Breakfast - Shipley's donuts and kolaches - before pictures

Dinner -BBQ and birthday cake

Sunday: No breakfast - fast sunday

Dinner - Shrimp linguine

Please let me know who will be attending what days.

Bad News

Remember when we decided to move our furniture back from Mexico?
And the moving company told us it would be here in two weeks?
(plenty of time before Bex and Shawn were to arrive)
OK, maybe you don't remember, but I sure do.
Turns out, they lied.
What they meant to say was that it would take more than a month.
So . . . my stuff is still stuck in Mexico, and will be for quite some time.

Not to worry, Bex. We're making the necessary accommodations.
No hay problema!