First Day 2011

Feels so good to be back to our routine! We loved all the fun that comes with summer. But the kids were all excited to be back in school and all the excitement that goes along with that. They were excited to see all their friends again too. Simone and I are enjoying our quiet house together. It stays so clean! Jared can work without so many interruptions. It is a good feeling.

Grand Teton Relay

Jared and I ran another relay this summer. It was the first ever Grand Teton Relay.

http://www.grandtetonrelay.com/

I think this video pretty much summed up our experience! LOL.


Our team came in first of the ultra teams, although technically the race people mixed up our time and we were really a minute behind the first place team. This quick time was a reflection of the amazing runners on our team, with the exception of Jared and I. We were just along for the ride and I'm pretty sure we brought down the average pace quite a bit.

Lane did 47 total miles in about a 27 hour period. That is pretty amazing and it was fun to watch him. I've always wondered about ultra teams. I wondered how mental my finish line fatigue is after these relays. I'm always exhausted by the last third leg. Is this just because I know I'm almost done? Or am I really just out of juice. This relay, I did 24 total miles, and I really wasn't that tired at the end. Just a little sore too. I felt like I had another five in me at least. So maybe sometime we'll do a true ultra and share more of those 180 a little more equitably. I suspect that the exhaustion I typically feel at the end of three is partly because I pushed myself harder during the first two legs than I did this relay when I knew I'd need to pace myself better at the start. But I think a lot of it is also mental. It is fun to push the limits and reframe the distances in your mind to find out what you are really capable of. For me, long distances are more fun because although I'm not a fast runner, I have pretty good endurance. So I think it would be cool to put that to the test in a 50 mile race someday.

Jared didn't run much at all before the race. I think a two miler was about it. So we were both a little nervous for him. He did great and finished 15 miles without walking or stopping at all, although he was really sore afterwards!

It was fun to have an "ultra" experience, even if it wasn't exactly a true ultra since one of our runners picked up so many miles. But it was fun. We had a 15 passenger van and we got to experience the race nonstop with no breaks. This would be very difficult with a Ragnar type very big relay because traffic is so terrible. But here it wasn't a problem. There wasn't much along the way, so our only food stop was a little gas station. Dr. Pepper and Sour Cream and Cheddar chips never tasted so good!

We loved the incredible Teton views, Mesa Falls, and seeing a moose on the side of the road.
The relay started in Ashton, Idaho, went up through Island Park and curved back down around to finish in Teton Village near Jackson. It was a beautiful course. I was lucky and got some of the easier legs. It was a fun weekend with friends!

Grand Teton Relay Race 2011 from Lane on Vimeo.

Summer Injuries

Wow, we have had a busy, FUN summer. The kids outside pretty much all the time, thanks to the mild weather. They jump on the tramp for hours a day. I was just telling a neighbor how lucky we were that we'd never had a trampoline injury. I should have knocked on wood. The very next day Miles split open his forehead.

Each of the kids had emergency dr. visits this summer. We are lucky enough to rarely need to go to the dr. So I guess we were about due. Miles got stitches from the trampoline, Simone got a hyperextended knee from the trampoline, Monet was almost stitches from a friend's trampoline, and Elise had weird eye issues that totally freaked me out. (any diagnosis with the word "dystrophy" can't be good.)

Monet's story was actually kinda funny. She and a friend thought it would be a great idea to jump from some rocks onto a beach ball on the trampoline. I thought she was my cautious one! The cut was bleeding quite a bit and looked pretty long and deep. So I took her to the Urgent Care but it was closed. I was exhausted, and she seemed fine, so we just went home and I thought we'd figure it out in the morning. I braided the hair together around the cut, and it closed up nicely and she didn't need stitches afterall. So I guess my braiding skills saved us a couple hundred dollars and kept Monet's status as the only kid in the family without stitches in tact. That was her main concern. She didn't cry a bit when it happened. Only when I said she'd have to have it stitched.

We are thankful for insurance! Thanks to Obama, children can no longer be declined for pre-existing conditions, so Monet is finally insurable. We may not agree with all of Obama's politics, but we are grateful for that.

Rachel and Jeremy's Wedding

We've been looking forward to my little sister's wedding for a long time. I love weddings! I love seeing everyone all dressed up, and just having the whole family together to celebrate the beginning of a couple's journey through life together. Sounds cheesy, but that is really what it is and I really loved every second of it.

At the rehearsal dinner and the wedding dinner, friends and relatives were doing toasts and expressing their love and warm wishes for Rachel and Jeremy, and I decided that I'd feel more comfortable writing out my thoughts. There is nothing that makes me lose my words than standing in front of a crowd with all eyes on me.

Rachel is the quintessential baby of the family. She has always been cute. I remember her being Michelle's little accessory. Rachel was fun to take along on trips to the park, the store, the mall.

I used to like to do her hair and take her to the mall with me. That is what is great about having four sisters, someone is always up for a trip to the mall. Rachel and I used to walk to the grocery store too. When I was 16 and she was 11, we ran into some guys when we were out walking about. They thought I was the younger sister. At the wedding, I got asked if I was the MOTHER of the bride. Come on now! How old do I look? I laughed when I was 16, but it wasn't so funny at the wedding. Anyway, we all loved to dress her up. She was just so cute. And now, I just like to claim that we share some DNA. She is beautiful.

Rachel also endured a lot of teasing. Being the baby of the family isn't always easy. Angela was close to college age when Rachel was still little, so she liked to make up stories about another fictional sister, Pam, who had already moved out. I remember us all joining in and pretending to have another sister, Pam, that Rachel just didn't remember. Rachel was very disturbed by that, and of course we all just thought that was hilarious.

And then there are other issues with being the baby. Instead of getting tucked into bed and told to practice your instruments, do your jobs, etc. The babies of the family end up staying up late watching Arsenio Hall with the teen siblings. It really is just a whole different experience.

On one of our trips around the U.S., Rachel got left behind in a few different places. One of which was a deserted beach in Florida. Thankfully some cops showed up and waited with her until we realized she was gone and came back to find her.

All that sibling adoration, teasing, and neglect (just kidding mom), turned out a beautiful, stylish, smart, easy-going, intensely loyal, and very witty sister who has a great sense of humor. Rachel is a L&D nurse and I can't imagine someone who would be better suited for that job.

I loved Jeremy since I found out he liked country music, wanted a bunch of kids, and bought a big house in the suburbs as a single guy, just planning for "someday." Sounds like a catch to me! They went to the same high school, and reconnected a few years ago. So fun. We all loved seeing Jeremy's little boy Cooper in his cute little suit. Cutest ringbearer ever.

We all loved being part of the occasion. Simone and Monet were flower girls, and Elise was a Jr. Bridesmaid.








My kids loved staying in the hotel in Evergreen. Tons of cousins, free all you can eat breakfast, and an indoor pool was so fun for them, Simone wanted to stay longer. I loved having an excuse for another roadtrip. We drove through Vail and some really beautiful mountains to get there.

How to Get Your Competitive Child to Eat more Veggies

A few weeks ago, we were heading back from the water park and I decided on a whim to have the kids get their antioxidant levels tested.

An episode of Dr. Oz recently featured the Nu Skin/Pharmanex biophotonic scanner where they tested the antioxidants of everyone in the audience and had them wear a colored t-shirt corresponding to their levels of carotenoids in their skin. It was interesting and eye opening to see how many of us are not getting enough of the cancer fighting antioxidants.

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/cancer-fighting-antioxidants-pt-1

The test only costs $5/kid, and if you go on a specific week, I think it is the 3rd week of the month, you can even get it for free. It takes only a couple of minutes at the Nu Skin store on Center Street in Provo, and it just requires putting your hand over a special light. Very easy, no appointment necessary.

We've been getting our "scanner scores" since just after Miles was born. It is always a good motivator for Jared and I to eat better since the numbers really do go up and down depending on how much good stuff we're eating. We like to have a little rivalry going on between us. I usually always win by a long shot. ;) He did edge me out one time. My high score was 69,000 (Dr. Oz beat me at 75,000).

My kids are always up for a challenge. So we offered a $20 reward to the kid who could improve their score the most within two months. We explained that antioxidants are found in our fruits, vegetables, and nuts, etc. They are the good guys that circulate in our bodies and fight off the bad guys called free radicals. Free radicals are caused by pollutants and chemicals and they can damage our cells and cause cancer and other diseases.

Monet and Simone were already way ahead, Monet started at 53,000, so we thought this would be fairer than the highest number. Miles and Elise were above average at around 30,000, but they have lots of room to improve.

Since we started the challenge, we've gone through countless bags of carrots. They are sneaking broccoli and eating green smoothies when their siblings aren't around. I love how much more aware they are of the amounts of veggies they are eating.

I am excited for the end of September when we find out who wins the $20. We'll be sure to post it!