Weekend Date to Portland

We laugh sometimes because we don't plan many dates these days! Our kids have so many events.  We love attending those and we spend so much time together.  Still, this weekend was so fun and was a good reminder that we really do need to plan to spend some time just the two of us.  Thanks to Monet for having this race so we could go.  It always reminds me of why I'm so glad that I get to spend my life and eternity with my best friend.  I am so glad for his humor honestly he keeps me laughing all the time.

Trailblazers vs Lakers!  Jared's dream come true.

Lebron is HUGE.

We got to take Kali and her comp to lunch!  SO much fun.

This was kinda funny!

Powell Books and I'm going to need to purchase this

Multnomah Falls!  Just before heading to the airport we drove out here and it was beautiful.

Monet's Nike Cross Nationals NXN!

Monet was on cloud nine at the Nike Campus and with all the cool swag and fun recognition.  Lone Peak is only the second Utah girls team to qualify for this race in 16 years!

Nike flew the whole team to Portland and put them in a hotel with all the other athletes.  They had motivational speakers tours and events planned for the weekend.  Even a dance at the end.  They had each team submit a team picture and ours was fun and creative!  I took the photos, and one of the dads is really good at photoshop and made it look super cool.  The girls got a little shoutout on Milesplit which was fun.

I read a bunch of comment boards before the race with predictions on who would be in the top.  It was kinda fun to see!  I have no clue on how we stack up against national teams.  We know that we came in first at NXN with multiple good states attending.  So I figured we would be up there, but I didn't know where.

The girls ran the course the day before the race.  It rained all week and it was wet and muddy conditions.  It isn't a fast course really, especially in those conditions.

The part Monet was super excited about was all the swag!  Jacket, shoes, shirt, pants, the works.  Everything!  So fun.

Race morning was soooo crowded and wet.  Jared and I stayed in the car as long as possible then we ventured out to the course.  It was so fun to see the excitement of the start line.  Our girls were given orange singlets so it was easy to spot them.

There were a lot of mud and big puddles on the course.  But they did great despite those conditions!  Just like in previous races, they started out with patience.  Then moved up.  Our fastest runner got a little confused about the course and unfortunately didn't realize she was at the end until right about 100 yards left!  We were a little bummed for her because she could have gone faster and made All-American.  But she's amazing and I wouldn't be surprised at all if she runs this race again next year.

Monet felt good about her race.  Her time wasn't close to her best, but in light of the conditions she did well!  She came in 5th from Lone Peak.

Lone Peak finished 4th!  We didn't know what to expect but that was a good feeling to finish 4th.

Reagan and Eliza are both such fast runners!  I love seeing the teammates supporting each other.  

What an awesome experience!  I am so glad Monet got to run this!  What a dream come true!  Thanks to the teammates and coaches that worked hard to get here!

I LOVED how Jared's family and mine were all tuning in to watch the race.  We have the cutest most supportive family!

Christmas lights...fire light?

**Elise's letter from 12/4, I accidentally posted it here instead of her mission blog but I'll leave it because I like seeing her posts mixed into our family ones.**

I've started to only have dreams about missionary work and teaching lessons so I guess I'm officially a weird missionary. Unfortunately, my cooking has not developed in the same way and I lit our oven mit on fire this week and almost burned my little thumb off, but other than that this week was great!!

Treviso goes ALL OUT for christmas, and I'm happy to say that after two months  we are no longer the only people in Treviso that have our christmas lights up. Sadly, that same excitement does not exist for Thanksgiving because it doesn't exist here, but we did get to eat Thanksgiving dinner at McDonald's with our friend Victor and honestly nothing is better than that. We taught him about the temple and after we cleared up the fact that we don't dunk dead bodies in the water to baptize them he was ready to catch a train to Rome right then. We tried to continue with the lesson but he kept cutting us off and saying, "yes that's very good but how do I get in to the temple?" It was pretty amazing to see. 

This week I think I spent every minute of free time I had reading the scriptures, which is super nerdy but I'll embrace it. I read a quote by Joseph Smith that says, "The first principle of the gospel is to know for a certainty the character of God..." So that was the goal this week and will probably the goal for the rest of my life because holy cow I have a lot to learn. I think my two favorite verses are Alma 26:35 "my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name. 36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation." and Moses 7:28 "it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept." 

I love these verses because there's a huge contrast, he's all powerful and created everything but he also weeps for us. Knowing this makes the goal of knowing him seem a little smaller to me, its always going to be something I will work toward and try to strengthen but it is also shows that we really can have a personal relationship with him and I just love that a lot. Anyways love you all a ton!