Cascade Springs

We had a magical Saturday when there was not a ton going on.  Anna was itching to go for a hike so she would wear her backpack.  We decided that Cascade Springs would be the perfect place to go.

Anna was so excited to hike and pretty excited just to wear her back pack.  Which is the cutest thing ever!

One thing I love about Cascade Springs is that even though it is not a big place to hike, there are so many things to see and lots of paths to choose from.
We taught Anna about looking at the map.

Then we let Anna pick which way we would go.

And off she would go!

Nicholas loved seeing everything.  I am glad we brought the stroller.  I could just imagine him jumping right into the springs.

I am not sure how long we were there for, but it was a good long while.  The wooden paths make it so fun to cross over the springs and there are so many fun bridges.

I am sure Devin could have taken some awesome pictures, but here is what you get when Julie uses her little camera.

It was great fun! You know your kids had a good time when they both are out cold in the car on the way home.  Nicholas looks really comfortable.

 Anna...not so much.

Garden 2012

We have been very busy in the garden this year.  After last year Devin decided that he wanted to put a spicket out in the garden to make watering easier and to take full advantage of the irrigation water.  So Devin spent many fun nights digging a trench out to the garden.

We also decided to try and do our own tomato starts, since the ones Kyle gave us last year did so well.  We enjoyed our little green house in our bathroom for a good long time.

Then we were talking with some neighbors and we decided to go in on mulch for our gardens and planters.  Long story short we ended up getting a HUGE dump truck full of mulch dumped infront of our house.  Nicholas was very excited to watch the dump truck.

Thanks to our friend Allen Walker and his little tractor we were able to get the mulch to everyone who needed it.  The kids loved watching the tractor.  They were so happy to just sit on the porch and watch.

We tried really hard to keep the kids out of the mulch.  They had fun pushing the shovels around.

At the end of the first day the pile looked like this.

We were able to finish the rest up in the morning.  But it wasn't all gone before Anna got her way and spent some quality time playing in the mulch.

The neighbor girls loved playing with Anna in our planter boxes.

Before the mulch came, Devin was nice enough to expand our garden a few more feet.  So this is what our garden looked like before we planted this year.

We planted tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, cucumbers, peas, beans, corn, pumpkins, and cantaloupe.

 Here are more pictures from a few weeks later.

And this is what our garden looks like now.

Our peas did well.  Our pumpkins, cantaloupe, and beans are going nuts.  Our tomatoes, corn, and peppers, are not doing so well.  Thanks to Dr. Pam, they are starting to look better.  Funny we have never had trouble growing tomatoes and peppers before.  I guess we all need a little dose of humility.  Here's hoping I can still get enough tomatoes to make my spaghetti sauce for the year.   Maybe we could trade people beans and pumpkins for tomatoes if things don't work out. :)

American Fork Canyon 1/2 Marathon 2012

The American Fork Canyon 1/2 Marathon was the weekend after Ragnar.  If I didn't love this half so much, I never would have run it the weekend after Ragnar, but it is a fantastic race.  Of all the races I have run this is the most organized race, for the best cause, and has an amazing course. The weather was perfect!!!  I am so glad that the start time was 6am, because when it isn't cold up the canyon at 5am, you know that it is going to be really hot when the sun comes up.  

It was a great race.  I love having pacers when you race.  (People with little signs that have a time.  If you keep up with that person you will run the race in the time that is on their sign.)  Because this race is all down hill, it is easy to get going really fast.  I really wanted to run a 1:45 race.  So when I caught up to the 1:40 pacer I decided that I should just park myself behind him.  I could have passed him, but I knew I couldn't keep up that kind of pace.  

One thing I love about the race is that it is so close to our home.  Devin and the kids stopped at a few places along the race course.  Anna was so excited to hold up her, "GO MOMMY GO!!!" sign.  

Before the race started I saw our kids' pediatrician.  We love Dr. Wilcox.  I am not sure how we got talking about running at one of our visits, but we always have our little running chats at the end of each exam.  I didn't see Dr. Wilcox throughout the race, but the last 3 miles we were running right by each other.  I am glad that I had someone to help me push it the last three miles.  

So in the end....I ran the race in 1:41:51.  I was SOOOO excited!!!! I never thought I could run a race that fast.   Another great perks of the race was that Kneaders was doing all the food at the end.  Thank you Kneaders for feeding my family breakfast! 

If you look really close in this picture you can see Dr. Wilcox just behind me. (Not the kid in the blue Pepsi shirt, but just behind him.)  Anna was SOOO excited to see him.

One last perk of the race...the coolest running shirt.  LOVE the color and design!

We can't wait until next year!