It's 2015... and that means a new Star Wars movie!
It's Christmas Eve... and that means new pajamas!
Put them together and you get...
Adele, Dawna, and Hannah in Pink Rey and BB-8 jammies.
Zoey, Xochitl, and Jade sporting gray and white Rey and X-wings
The whole crew! Aaron and Em, Heather and Rob, Paul and Becca, and Jon and Deeb kids... and what's that? Nana and Papa magically found Star Wars PJs mixed in with their grandkids! Everyone looks great!
PS: Jon and I also got matching R2-D2 jammies. And yea, we did wear them to the movie!
We finally come to the last stop on on Goodbye July series. We ended our vacation in a most beautiful and unique place: Glacier National Park. A year or more of planning came together for this week of family fun. Our family, along with Heather and Rob and mom and dad Severson arrived a day early to Glacier River Ranch, a mystical location that apparently Google Maps could find, but Siri could not... so my siblings with iPhones had a heck of a time figuring out where we all were. Only a location beacon from mom or dad led the Reeves to the right turn... Everyone arrived eventually by Monday afternoon and we all got settled in to the cabin and guest house. We were going to drive the Going to the Sun Road, but when we started Eva, there was a funny noise and a funny smell... not a good thing when you're on a road trip. Rob took a sniff and a glance and said he was pretty sure it was the alternator. Yippie. Then we got to play the odds of "Can the almost broken down car make it to the shop?" game. Odds were in our favor and the car made it to the shop. Great start to our last stop... After taking the car in, Rob drove us on the Going to the Sun Road. We took in the sights and found our starting place for our Heaven's Peak adventure.
Monday night, for our opening Family Home Evening, we enjoyed "Singing with the Seversons," a name that tune game celebrating the Seasonal, Silly, Situational, Spiritual, and School Play songs that we have enjoyed over the years. At the end, Heather, Abbie, Emma, and I sang a song we wrote...well, a song we parodied... the "I Lava You" song from the Pixar short became "Memories of Love with our family..."
Tuesday was adventure in Glacier day! Our family divvied up and took the extra seats in other family's cars (remember Eva is stuck in the shop with a bad alternator...). We hiked out to Avalanche Lake, loving the scenery and enjoying playing in the water... and the mud! I had to re-create the mud club from Larry's field trip :) Even Nana joined in the fun by striping her cheek with mud from the lake! The fishermen got carried away with the beauty of the mountain lake and stream and almost missed lunch!
After a lovely hike, we drove the Going to the Sun road again, all the way to the Logan Pass closure. We caravaned with the Reeves and stopped at some points of interest and learned about the road and the people who lived in Glacier during its construction. Yes, it gets chillier the farther you go up the mountain...
Tuesday night, Matt put together an evening of, you guessed it! Seversons Sing Along! Apparently we are a singing family... shocker...One of my favorite moments of the evening was when everyone started singing the Phinneas and Ferb theme song and Nana just stared in amazement that we all knew a song she didn't :)
ALL the little boys LOVED Uncle Rob!
Wednesday was the day of crazy insane adventure! That was the day we hiked up Heaven's Peak. There is no trail up to Heaven's Peak. There's kind of a stream that goes some of the way up the mountain, then there's some beautiful meadows, then there's glaciers, then insane scree fields, then a looonnnggg ridge leading up and out to the peak.
We started the day quite early with Rob, Jon, Abbie, Emma, Hannah, Dawna, Matt, Luke, and myself. Our merry party of nine parked and scurried across the river, stashed our water shoes in the bushes, and began the long journey up the mountain. It was a beautiful piece of nature practically untouched by people. Apart from an occasional cairn by the river, there were no signs of people at all! Walking, then climbing along the river, then fighting though brush... on and on the hike went. Several times, Uncle Rob had to get out some webbing to assist us less confident climbers up over a ledge. Finally, after several hours, we got to some beautiful meadows and the hiking was much easier for a time. There were wild onions all along the river, which we enjoyed picking and munching along the way.
Somewhere around 1pm we finally reached the glaciers that were melting, creating the mountain streams that we had followed up the mountain. The location was beyond description beautiful. Nature so pure and beautiful. Ice, rocky ridges, and pure water streams. We played in the frozen wonderland and enjoyed a little lunch there. Matt and Luke decided to turn back at that point, but Jon and Rob really wanted to push forward to try to summit.
I was doubtful, but agreed to push forward a little longer. We reached the scree fields and tried to scramble up them. It was successful for a time, but soon, we were sliding three feet backwards for every step forwards. Rather unsettling... We called this part "Sketchy #1," meaning that it was a little frightening and we were a little unsure that we could traverse it safely. Jon and Rob went ahead and secured a rope at the top of the scree field, then threw the rope down to us girls and we then we all made it to the base of the crevice that would lead us to our final ascent! Jon and Rob scrambled up the crevice like two lithe and limber mountain goats, but Abbie, Emma, Hannah, Dawna, and I just sat watching and shaking our heads. That was Sketchy #2. Atop the ridge, the boys found that it was quite narrow and steep and were a little nervous about bringing everyone up there.
As we were trying to decide what to do, some large dark clouds began pouring over the edge of the peak. No way we wanted to be out on that peak if a lightning storm was coming through. And that was Sketchy #3, at which point we called it and began heading back.
Silly me, I thought with a 5 hour ascent to nearly the top of the mountain that going back down would certainly be faster. Little did I know the hardest part was yet to come...
The descent started off easily enough. Abbie and I hunted for white rocks and built a little temple high on the mountain top:
After passing the meadow, the slow arduous descending began. Around every edge was another waterfall and another cliff. I kept thinking I would recognize the terrain we were passing by, but I never did. It felt like a completely different adventure on the way down. Somehow, we had to bushwhack through some pine trees, after which Rob had to straddle a waterfall to help the rest of us across. While we were still stuck in the trees, we heard Rob slip, splash, and scream. All us girls feared that we had lost Uncle Rob over the edge of the waterfall!! But then we heard him shout, "AWWGH!!! My foot is wet!" Whew. Just a wet foot, not a lost uncle.
All us girls were at out wits ends by the time we arrived at the last waterfall, so we took a celebratory dip:
Almost there... now we just had to go through the old growth to get back across the river to the car. Unfortunately, we veered a little too far right and ran into a LOT of thorny underbrush. Yick. Just when we thought we were finished, we had one last thorny pokey push and reroute. The hike down took about 6 hours in all. We were cold, tired, hungry, and SO ready for a shower by the time we got back. But at the end of the day, I think I would like to go back someday and try again to summit.
Thursday was rafting day! We went rafting in two sessions because of the size of our group. Jon and I and our three older kids were in the second group, so we spent the morning doing monkey fists and carving soap and soap stone. Then we had an enjoyable float down the river and it felt good on our sore muscles to jump in the cool water. By the time we floated back to the cabin, Sarah and Ben had the best dinner of the week ready for us! Roasted pork and and carrot and chick pea salad. So yum.
Friday, the group split up. Most people went into the park to explore a little more, but between my sprained ankle and extremely sore muscles, I didn't want to go anywhere. Jon headed into the park to run, I stayed and did more crafts and got to witness Dawna and Hannah each catch a fish! Lucky for us, Emily was there and cooked up the fish and we all enjoyed a couple bites apiece. Those fish may or may not have been legal to keep. They may or may not have been a very rare species of fish protected by Montana law. Nobody can prove anything because the fish have been consumed :)
Saturday was just a day to pack and clean and say teary good-byes to our dearest uncles aunts, nieces, nephews, and cousins. And then Rob cheered us up by treating the rafters like monkey bars. Nice finishing touch.
We drove away from Glacier River Ranch about 10am. And we drove and we drove and we drove and we drove. We kept thinking maybe we'd stop... but then we drove a little further... and then around midnight we were already in Redding, so we just finished up the drive and arrived home around 5am. We all rolled into bed and slept the day away.
Thus ended our Goodbye July. What an adventure. Now I am completely ready to stay home, get into a routine, and never leave again.
After hitting four stops in under two weeks, we were ready for a change of pace. Our next stop was in Lehi, UT at my sister's house, and we were going to stay there for two weeks... yesssssssss! We had more than a few fun times in our weeks there, including but not limited to:
Backyard Microadventure! One of the first nights at the Reeves, the kids embarked on a microadventure sleeping outside on a tarp. Everything was going wonderfully until about 3am, when the rain began to fall... from the basement where I was sleeping, it sounded like a stampede when all five girls came barreling in with their sleeping bags and mats. At 5:30, Heather bounded through the house remembering that the sprinklers were still on, right past the sleeping mass on the living room floor. It wasn't until after the sprinklers were safely off that she realized they could have gone on anyway... quite the adventurous night it was...
Visiting BYU museums! In one day we hit all three museums on campus: the dinosaur museum, the MOA and the Bean Museum. Bones, art, and wildlife all in one day!
...not to mention the Eyring Science center... Look out! 10,000 Ohms!!! <>
Hiking the Y! Super awesome family night activity... and apparently lots of people thought so... even at sunset, the trail was extremely busy and the parking lot was totally full. The girls and dads continued past the Y to Mouse Rock while the moms and boys headed home and made dinner, which was eaten close to 11pm. Epic FHE!
And then one day, the dishwasher started to smell funny. Heather started a load while I went to pick up Emma from band, and when I got back, there was an exciting story to tell... Electrical fire from the control panel, water spraying out of the dishwasher, Jon on headphones, breakers thrown, black thick smoke... I missed all the fun, but I got to hear about it many times. So, it was dishwasher shopping date night for Jon and I and Heather and Rob :) After seeing every dishwasher on the Wasatch Front, they finally decided on one and we got it installed on the very last day in Lehi!
Out with the old...
In with the new!
Food Adventures! We learned that Emma is very particular about organizing her chopped tomatoes...
And we also helped Abbie with some mission prep by having her try some new foods like shrimp, Mochi, and California Rolls.
We enjoyed swimming at the Lehi Legacy Center and going out to two movies, but most of the time, the kids just had a blast around the house eating sour grapes right off the vine, exploring the gravel pit, swinging and breaking the swings, and finding all kinds of good uses for the stairs:
Apparently, Jade is exactly as tall as the stairs are wide
And then everyone wanted in on the action.
These two boys seemed to love their pseudo-brother time. Sisters just don't appreciate things like cars, garbage trucks, sewer sweepers, and gutters. Larry and Isaac were nearly inseparable the entire time. Once they even did the dishes together...though most of the time if chores were to be found, the boys were not...
And let's not forget the homework. Abbie got me all excited about picking out books for her honors English summer assignments. In two weeks we read Smile and The Secret Life of Bees.Both are excellent reads and hopefully brought some new insights about literature to our soon to be High-Schooler! The other kids all worked diligently on their homework and piano practicing and I continued on with my training. The most fun run I did was running from Heather's house to the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and then back again, covering 12 miles and amazingly, the run was mostly on a trail! Heather biked along with me on many of my runs and I even got Hannah and Dawna out biking with me one day. Suffice it to say we got great use out of the Murdock Canal trail.
Visiting LaNae! One of my darling triplet cousins! I miss this girl so much! It was such a treat to see her with her cute boys in her cute house with two trampolines and a toy room! My kids were begging and making me promise to come back again by the time we had to go.
As you can see, Stop Five in our Goodbye July boasted plenty of excitement, accomplishments, and love, not to mention plenty of rest and relaxation in random places:
Jade hasn't quite mastered eating while sleeping, but she tries nonetheless...
No, Dawna is not sleeping with toilet paper! Those were streamers from Emma's birthday!
The Reeves home is a sanctuary of peace and love. Every moment there was uplifting, inspiring, and fun! Makes me want to make my home a cleaner, more loving, more Gospel Centered place. Many thanks to Heather and Rob for loaning out their basement to us for 14 days!!!
Saturday, October 4... A day to remember forever...
The Goal...
For my 30th birthday, I wanted to train for and run a half marathon
I followed Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half Marathon training program, beginning the first week in July. The program lasted 12 weeks with moderate runs and training during the week and long runs on the weekends, increasing by one mile each week..
I got two crazies... I mean... friends... to run the half marathon with me:
Rebecca Severson! Mother of three, beautiful, brilliant... and very fast...
Jenny: sister of my sister in law...
(sorry I don't actually know your last name...)
Mother of two beautiful blondies, hailing from Merced, CA!
She jumped in the game only six weeks before race day, and ran an impressive race!!
Here we are at the start... looking anxious and chipper in the morning sun...
And then, the race began...
The Pain...
A Half Marathon is a long, Long,LONG way to run! (At least for me it is) My training took me up to 12 miles on the longest run and I felt perfectly confident that I could at least finish with no walking. For time, my goal was to finish in 2:20 or less and hopefully get a 10 min mile pace.
I was really lucky to have great help all along the way...
Here'a a recipe for an excellent race crew:
1 Supportive Husband
2 Affable Brothers-in-law
1 Adorable Nephew
1 Big Sister
Mix well in a mini van and sprinkle generously across the race course. Then the pain of the half marathon dissipates into camera clicks, whoops and hollers from the road, water bottle deliveries, and an entire entourage of runners helping you keep moving when you hit that mile 12 wall...
A great crew like I had would help anyone be able to do a cartwheel at mile 11.5 :)
The Glory!
Most of me is a grown up mom who pays bills, changes diapers, packs lunches, does laundry, and makes dinner... but deep inside there is a little part of me that is still an egocentric kid... who loves the attention you get when you cross a finish line and have a medal handed to you while you name is announced over a loud speaker! Makes you feel like you accomplished something great! (If there were medals and announcers for laundry... more might get done...)
This is the "That was fun; glad it's done" face...
Looking a little haggard, but happy with my medal and car magnet! I worked hard for those, dang it!
I ended up finishing in 2:13 (making my time goal) but didn't quite make my pace goal... Will there be a next time to try again? We're not sure yet...
I finished 80th out of 193 female runners; 23rd out of 51 in my age category. I know those aren't super impressive numbers to brag about, but I feel good knowing I'm just about average :)
PS: Here is ZS demonstrating that there is nothing more delicious than Nesquik ice cold chocolate milk at the end of a half marathon! Heavenly!
Many thanks to Joe and Cheryl for watching our kids that morning; many thanks to my crew boys: Lynn, Weston, and Kobin for keeping it fun; special thanks to Heather for coming 800 miles to see me complete my 13.1; and warmest loving thanks to Jon for encouraging me through training, knowing what to do when the long runs got me down, and for loving me into doing more than I ever thought I was capable of...
I RAN A HALF MARATHON!!!
Now... what will I do with my next 30 years?
.JPG)
