A good cause

My 2nd 5K was yesterday - a fundraising race for my friend Nicole's family. Her son Karsen was in an accident a little over a year ago (shortly after Steve lost his job). As a result, Karsen lost his left leg about his knee just a little after his 3rd birthday. It has been such an emotional, physical and financial trial for their family - time in the hospital, surgery after surgery, a "transformer leg" and then problems, more surgeries and then a new prosthetic limb. Things were looking good as they approached the 1 year mark. They had gone to New York and gotten a new leg and he had learned to walk for the 3rd time in his life (once as a baby, once with the first "transformer" leg and then with the prosthetic) ... until he fell off of a toy at the park and broke the bone in his left thigh. Body cast - above belly button to below knee on both legs for 6 weeks. Nicole is one of the Mary Kay directors I work for and lives in Salt Lake. Watching her go through this trial has truly inspired me, reminded me to count my blessings and to rise above my challenges. On days when I'd start to feel sorry for myself due to Steve's job situation, I'd read a comment on Facebook or her blog and just be grateful for my challenges. She took the high road and has an amazing positive attitude and is very optimistic about things. When I've been down, I remind myself life could be worse. This challenge shall pass. Nicole will face this challenge every day as she raises Karsen and Karsen will face it every day of his life and yet, she is grateful it wasn't worse. She has taught me so much.

Anyway, this weekend they held a 2nd annual Run Karsen Run 5K fundraiser. I was honored to participate and support her family and her desire to "pay it forward". They donated a portion of the funds to Shriners who has been such a blessing to them during all of this.

Karsen rode in a bike stroller which his dad pushed the first block or two and then Nicole pushed him the rest. My girls and I went to the race. They rode their scooters while I ran (most of if). I was still pretty sore from my 5K last week and walked a bit (including when I had to loop back to meet Alyssa who had gotten my sweatshirt stuck in the wheel of her scooter). Thanks Nicole and Karsen for inspiring me! And thanks for letting us be part of a great cause and reminding us to "pay it forward" and count our blessings.

Karsen will get his cast off in about 2 weeks. If anyone else wants to donate to this cause (or read their story)... visit her blog at http://www.karsenmery.blogspot.com/ ... just be prepared to cry because the story is tear jerking.

My First 5K Race

So I told you several posts ago that I had started running ... Originally, my friends Robyn and Dallas tried to convince us to run a race in May. I said no way. But as I watched Steve prep for a later race, I realized I needed to do something to get healthier and back in shape. I wasn't going to go to the gym, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I signed me and the girls up for the CougarRun Homecoming 5K at BYU. A first for me and for Jess and Tay.

While we waited for races to start, Jess and Tay had tons of fun running around the bleachers at the track and field complex at BYU.

First time racers ... me and my little two (Alyssa was off playing).
The goal for the day ... no walking. Jessica at the starting line. She ran with 5-7 year olds and she met the goal... no walking for her entire 400M (1/4 mile). So proud of her.
Here she is finishing. :) She finished 14th and did it in 2:24 which is a 9:40 min/mile pace. Not bad. And she had a ton of fun.
Taylor ran with the 7-9 year olds so she was tiny compared to almost everyone. Here she is at the start of her race with our friend Kylie. Taylor also met the goal - no walking and she ran her entire 800m (1/2 mile). She finished 13th with a time of 4:24 which is a 8:51 min/mile pace. She was pretty nervous but was fine once Kylie lined up behind her. Her little legs just ran and ran .... pink socks over top of her black leggings and all. :)



Alyssa realized her race was longer this time - last race she ran 800m, this time she was up for a whole mile! She raced against kids 10-12. She also met the goal of no walking ... so proud of her! She got cold mid-race and asked for her sweatshirt back ... she ran with her arms inside the body of the sweatshirt and then took it off again just before she finished. She finished 8th in her age group with a time of 9:40 for her mile. Way to go Alyssa.

Steve ran the 5K with me to cheer me on. I really appreciated it. As we got to the field, he took off ahead of me - and really ran the last 1/4 mile. Thanks Steve - not sure I could have done nearly as well without you.
This race was really fun- a lot of energy from the crowd. Our route was basically the Homecoming Parade route. We started at 9:30 and the parade started at 10 so there were a lot of people along the route that cheered us on and little kids wanting to give us a high five as we ran by. It was fun to draw on their energy ... Steve ran the whole race with me and really pushed my tempo. There were times I wanted to stop, but I wasn't about to give in. My goal was to not walk and to finish in under 40 min. When I ran my practice 5K on Monday before the race, my time was a little over 41. As I came toward the finish line, I saw the clock. It said about 36:20. I know my whole face probably lit up, I was so excited to have beat my time by so much. I pushed hard the last little bit and finished in 36:52 (11:51 min/mile). It felt so good to achieve the goal to run the entire thing and to beat my goal was really fun. Oh ... what a feeling! Finished! Thanks Karianna for watching the girls while we ran and for being my photographer at the finish line. Thanks Steve for running with me and believing in me. Your support for this goal has been huge!
I was glad to not finish too close to the end ... there were about 165 entries in the women's 5K ... of course, being on campus there were a ton of college runners and local high school girls too so the top times were really impressive.
Our little family of runners - who would have ever thought we'd be taking this picture! So, goal was met - no walking from anyone in our family during the races! Wahoo!

Until the next one!

Ghoul's Night Out

My friend hosts a witch party every year ... "Ghouls Night Out". What a fun night. We split into two teams and did a scavenger hunt - taking pictures at different locations.







Then we exchanged witch decor gifts. Oh and can't forget the yummy soups, appetizers and desserts. Thanks Jenny - it was a blast.

Final Picnic in the Mountains

With fall here and winter coming, the canyons are chilly and it won't be long before the higher roads are closed due to snow. So, we opted for a final picnic and campfire up in the canyon. While we got the campfire going, I told the girls they could go for a little walk up a trail ... but to stay on the path and not get too dirty. ... Here is Alyssa's idea of staying on the path and after they came down ON their bums, you can imagine how perfectly clean they all were. :) If there is dirt to be found, Alyssa can get it on her.


We went with our friends/neighbors - the Meeks, so these pics include Alyssa, Jessica and then Anna, Faisal and Taelynn Meek then Tay.
After this we had hot dogs, salad, chips and of course s'mores for one last time roasted over the campfire.

I love the mountains

One of my favorite things about Utah is the majestic mountains. There is something so amazing about the mountains that tower over us every day. They are truly beautiful and the fall is my favorite time. Every year we go for a drive through the canyons. This year we went for a drive the first weekend in October. The lower part of the canyon - near Timpanooke Campgrounds - didn't have a ton of color changes yet but the it was still beautiful with the greens and yellows.

Then we went to Cascade Springs where the colors were at their peak.









Just above Cascade Springs, we saw this black spot on the mountain and as we watched we realized it was a big moose. He was headed down the mountain.