A Time for Goodbyes

Rinar's grandmother passed away on Thursday morning. She was 94 years old. Over the past ten years her whole world has been closing in on her. By the time she died, she couldn't see, couldn't really hear, and couldn't remember anything. Death was such a release for her.  But still, knowing that this is really a good thing, it still makes me sad to know she is gone. We really loved her. She was such a rock for Rinar's family and for the community in Laie, Hawaii. Fortunately, the funeral isn't until the end of the month, so Rinar should be able to go and say goodbye.

We went to St. George this weekend. I really wanted to do a mini vacation but we ended up doing the same old stuff. Oh well. The little kids stayed with Nordel so that they could play together. I stayed with my grandmother. Raef and Zach joined me. And then Rinar stayed at his mom's house with Noelle. Margaret was visiting Linda, which was why we split up into so many groups. 

I was able to have a nice visit with my grandmother. She is getting very old and very frail very quickly. It was hard to watch her try to stand up. Her poor body just makes her miserable right now. There is absolutely no bend in her feet, toes, ankles...nothing. She has a very hard time moving around at all. But grandma is as sharp as ever, although her voice does not always agree with her.  I felt myself getting a  bit teary watching her struggle so much. I know that my time with her is very short. I am really going to miss her when she is gone.  I have been so blessed to be able to spend so much time with her these past 20 years. I cherish all of the time and hope I have a little bit longer before she passes away and joins my grandpa on the other side of the veil.

Rinar and I were able to go to the St. George Arts Festival for a little while on Saturday. Linda and Noelle also came. It was really fun. They had live music that was enjoyable and the art was fantastic. We watched a group of 5 siblings perform on violin while they danced and clogged and sang. They were quite a bunch of performers. I was really impressed. Although the music was not terribly difficult to play, their stage presence was outstanding. After the festival we met up with Nordel's family for some bowling. Our kids had a blast and Harry was adamant that I watch him while he bowled. He told me that he wanted me to watch him forever. Oh, my heart.

On Sunday, we ate dinner at Lyf's house with all of his siblings. It was a lot of fun catching up with everyone. We ate elk roast with potatoes and carrots and played card games. The kids were able to spend a lot of time with their cousins.

I had hoped to go to Bryce Canyon National Park today on our way home but I checked the weather and it was supposed to be cold and windy. We were not prepared for those conditions. Instead, after a slow start we stopped in Cedar City to watch the movie "Cinderella". It was okay, but the kids seemed to enjoy it. Actually, everyone except Noelle enjoyed it. She was super fussy. Rinar held her in the hallway and she ended up falling asleep on his shoulder. That worked out okay, I guess. I suppose bad weather was good because it enabled us to have a wonderful visit with Rinar's cousin Jenny. She lives in Parowan and is deathly ill. Jenny just found out that she has cancer and it is spreading at a horrendous rate.  She found out a few months ago, but as a few weeks ago the doctor told her she has about a week to live. But after two weeks, she is still here. What a blessing it was for us to be able to visit with her. She seems to be in really good spirits. Maybe this is why she is still here. Her mother Carma is with her and she has had tons of visitors. Rinar's family is truly amazing. I don't think any of my family would do what they have done for her. I am in awe. We took this picture right before we left and said our goodbyes. I know that we will see her again.

I guess this past week has been a time for goodbyes.  Goodbye Jenny and Grandma C. We know we will see you soon. God be with you till we meet again.

A Hot and Sleepless Fourth

Once again for the Fourth of July, we found ourselves down in St. George. I have no idea why we go to St. George in July. It is freaking hot and really not the best time ago, but whatever, I guess. Rinar was in Las Vegas for work, so he just drove up on Wednesday night and spent time with his mom. I met him on Thursday at the water park next to the Tabernacle. After a four hour drive, my kids really needed to get out and play and fortunately the city has a wonderful splash pad and mini-river that is perfect for a wide age range of kids, which is what I have.

In the evening we headed out to Lyf's house because that is where we were going to stay for the weekend. It was a rough night for Noelle. She just could not fall asleep. She was a little bit sick from getting her shots and it didn't help that we were not home and that she was over-tired from only taking a 30 minute nap for the whole day. I had to hold her to sleep from about 1:30 am to 2:00 am before she finally gave it up. 

Rinar took the kids to the parade in Hurricane while I got some sleep Friday morning. And I thought that Noelle would sleep a little longer, but alas, she was awake bright and early. It is tough to find things for the kids to do in St. George when it is so wretchedly hot outside. After hanging out at Lyf's house in the morning, we then went over to Nordel's house and hung out there and tried to get Noelle to take a nap while the kids played. But she was not cooperative at all. Grrrr! By about 5 pm we were a bit desperate for somewhere to go, and ended up at McDonald's because of the indoor playground. I swear I would never go there if it weren't for the playground.

After killing an hour or so at McDonald's, we went to my Grandma N.'s house to get ready for the fireworks. I once again tried to get my little baby to go to sleep. She had only slept for a few really good hours for the past few days. How was she functioning? I thought I was successful at getting her to bed and left her on my grandma's bed to sleep until it was time to leave late that night. However, it was not to be. After about 45 minutes, she was awake again! Holy smokes!!

So I took her outside with everyone else.  Here is Grandma all ready to enjoy the festivities with Eli, Julia, and Harry.

We did sparklers this year. It was a big hit!

And we had ice cream cones. Nordel and Brooke's family came along with Brooke's brother and mom and all of their families. It was a nice crowd. Karey, Eric, Dallin, and Ian came like always and it is nice to be able to see them and catch up.

There is that stubborn little baby with Grandma and Auntie Margaret. She did really enjoy the fireworks and was mesmerized by them.

 Eli is hanging out with his cousin Brielle.

And Harry, with his cousin Tru, really loved the fireworks. He made sound effects as he watched them explode and was trying to freeze them in the air. It was darling.

On Saturday, we played at Lyf's house for a while and finally hit the road at about 4 pm. On our way out of town, we paid a visit to Lynn. His headstone is in place and it looks beautiful.

This was a precious moment I captured of Noelle with Grandpa.

Fortunately, with a little help from a night-time cough medicine, we were able to get Noelle back on her sleeping schedule and all is right with the world again. And we made it back to cooler weather...thank goodness.

St. George Half Ironman Weekend

We went to St. George this weekend to cheer on the Ironman athletes, but more specifically Bart W.  I have never been able to make it to one of these and I just love watching races.  It was the US Championships for the half Ironman. 

We stayed at Nordel's house and left the kids in the morning to try to go see the swim transition. Unfortunately, the road was closed so we had to settle for watching them come out of Hurricane on the bike. Luckily, we were able to spot Bart. Well, Rinar saw him. I would have missed him completely!

As we were driving back to St. George, Rinar was telling me about the course. And then it dawned on me that Rinar actually did the race last year. I was seriously clueless and didn't realize that he had competed in it.  I mean, I knew he did at some point, but I guess it did not sink in. This is what happens when you are pregnant and have moved to a new state I suppose.

We saw the competitors and Bart at several spots on the race course.  And I really wanted to be there at the finish line to see the winner come in.

And I did! Here he is...Jan Frodeno from Germany. He looked pretty stoked. When they interviewed them, he said that there were no uncensored words to describe the bike course. It was the hardest thing he had ever done. So, I guess when Rinar complained about the bike course there really was something to that.

The women's champion was from San Francisco...Meredith Kessler. I remember seeing her running out at about mile 2. She was in second place and I even said that she looked really strong. I guess I was right.

A few minutes after she finished, look who ran by...Bart.  He was giving a thumbs up to Rinar. Rinar was chasing him with his ipad, taking pictures. Bart got his best time by a few minutes. 

It is always an inspiration to see people do this kind of race. But still, I have no desire to do a triathlon. Could that change some day? I don't know. Maybe, but not likely.

The Fourth in St. George

I am going to kindly remind myself never, ever go to St. George in July while pregnant. Like, ever.  Grrrr.... It was so hot.  

We decided to go to St. George for the Fourth and spend time with our families.  Since we sold our van, we actually rented a car to make the trip. I have learned something very important from not having the van.  Our family really does not need a DVD player in the car. All of the kids did great for the trip. They each had a bag of toys and played really well. We listened to satellite radio, which was a nice luxury and the kids were surprisingly very pleasant.

As soon as we got to St. George, we headed over to Aislinn's house. She just got remarried to Dave in February and we went over to his house because he has a pool. Pools are a nice commodity in that town and the kids had a lot of fun swimming for a few hours. 

Then we went to pay a surprise visit to my Uncle Ron. He lives in Bloomington and is a widower.  It was really wonderful to be able to catch him at home and we sat with him for about an hour or so and talked.  

Then it was off to my Grandma's house to catch the fireworks. Her condo is right next to the field where they set off the fireworks and it is really neat to see them that close. The kids were in heaven. They just loved it. I was a little worried about getting stuck in traffic, as we had to drive to Hurricane to stay at Lyf's house. But it was no problem at all. Traffic was a breeze heading out the way we did.  Lyf and his family were out of town, but they graciously let us stay there while they were gone.  

And then on Friday, we had dinner over at Nordel's house. It was a fun surprise to see Linda and her brother Richard and sister Carma and Bruce.  I was a lot of fun catching up with them, and of course give them a little concert before they left.

Besides the horrific heat, it was fun to be with family for the Fourth of July.

Hoover Dam Tradition

On our return trip to Reno, we drove through Las Vegas. I just had to get a picture at the Hoover Dam.  What can I say? It is a tradition.  I can't believe how much my kids have grown.

The next time I get back for a picture, Raef and Zach are probably going to be at the top of the seal. And this time, instead of being intolerably hot, it was quite chilly. I think it was in the 30's.

We then headed up to St. George to stay the night. St. George is not really on the way home, but I had a little chore to do.  I met with Lyf to get the elk meat that was processed from Rinar's successful elk hunt in November. We stayed at my Grandmother's house. It was probably like a whirlwind for her, but she was incredibly kind to put up with the chaos.  We even ate black-eyed peas and rice for the New Year. I was surprised to see that the kids actually really liked it. Harry especially liked the black-eyed peas.

Nordel met us at the park before we left and the kids were able to play for a little while. Nordel is holding his son Boston, in this picture. What a little cutie.

The drive home was very long, but uneventful.  Thank goodness for that.  I was elated to be back on home turf, sleeping in my own bed. Hallelujah!

Mizpah and Ash Springs

We decided to go to St. George for Thanksgiving. I didn't want to go the same old way because let's face it, the drive is dreadfully BORING. So we went a longer way on Wednesday afternoon, down south through California. When we got to Mono Lake, we made a left turn. The drive was so beautiful. I only wish it didn't get dark so early in the evening.

 

 

We got to Mono Lake at sunset and the colors were spectacular. The road that connects from here to Nevada is a real gem. There is one stretch that is exceptionally hilly and quite exciting, like a roller coaster. And that would not be an exaggeration.

 

Instead of trying to get to Utah in one stretch, we stayed in Tonopah this time at the Mizpah. It was a fantastic hotel, fully restored to its turn-of-the-century glory. I didn't realize this when we made the reservation, but the hotel is even haunted. But I think the ghosts were visiting family for the Thanksgiving weekend. We did not see any.

 

Of course, we weren't sure if the ghosts would make an appearance or not, so we told the kids about the haunted status of the hotel in the morning. I value sleep too much.

 

 

After a breakfast at McDonald's, we hit the road again. But this time, we made a stop in Ash Springs. This is a one gas station town about two hours from Tonopah. The great thing about this place is that there is a (free) natural hot springs hidden off to the side of the road.

 

And the kids had a blast. The water was warm and the weather was ideal. They swam for at least an hour. No one wanted to get out.

 

When we got to St. George, I really wanted to eat a Thanksgiving dinner at the Golden Corral.  But alas, when we pulled into the parking lot, the line was crazy bananas. Apparently, everyone else in St. George wanted to eat at the Golden Corral as well. What a bummer!  Since Rinar's family does the Thanksgiving dinner on Friday, we had to find somewhere to eat that was open.

 

Rinar's parents joined us and we naturally went to IHOP! Nothing screams Thanksgiving more than pancakes, if you ask me.

St. George Marathon

The marathon journey has finally ended and I am breathing a huge sigh of relief.  I look back and marvel. Wow! I ran two marathons this year.

 

Why in the world would I do such a crazy thing?

 

Well, ummm, I really have no idea.  But I did it.

 

We left Raef and Zach in Reno so that they could play in their football game on Saturday. It was just Rinar and the little ones for the weekend in St. George, Utah.  Rinar's brothers were both gracious enough to take Eli, Harry and Julia the night before the marathon so that we could concentrate on running. After a wonderful dinner with Rinar's triathlon buddy Bart and his family, we headed up to a cabin in Pine Valley, which is very close to the starting line.  Fortunately, Jason J. was running the marathon as well, and it was his great Aunt's cabin.  He let us tag along with him to share accomodations. This was convenient because it afforded us an extra hour of sleep.  And I love sleep.

 

I had decided a month previously to run at least the first part of the race with my friend Johanna. She lives in Vegas and after discovering that we were both running about the same pace,  we thought it would be great to have a running buddy.

 

I wanted to do well in this race and I was a little concerned because my foot had started bothering me on Monday.  It was rotten luck, as I had done a prodigious amount of running all year and hadn't gotten hurt at all and then the week of the marathon, my foot starts acting up!  Sheesh!  It didn't matter. This was my last marathon. I really wanted to run this race and even if I had to crawl, I was going to finish it.

 

I am grateful that my prayers were answered and I didn't have too much trouble with it. 800 mg of Ibuprofen doesn't hurt either.

 

The weather was absolutely perfect in every way.  Johanna and I started out strong, about 9 minutes after the starting gun. It was crowded and it required a bit of weaving on our part, but we didn't mind. We talked a lot and were cruising along. Johanna is a great conversationalist and it made it easy to keep my mind occupied. After about 5 miles, I caught up to Autumn and Amy from my ward and then soon ran up to Rusty and Rachel. That was fun and gave me a little boost right before the dreaded Veyo hill. We didn't talk going up the hill. All energy was on slaying the hill.  Luckily, I actually practiced hills quite a bit and I was able to keep a steady pace throughout and didn't stop at all.

 

In fact, I was so afraid of my foot falling apart, I didn't want to stop at all. I figured it would just hurt more to have to start again.  Johanna let me run with her for about 9 miles and then she was nice and warm and left me in the dust.  I just pulled out the iPod and cranked up the tunes.  I put myself on cruise control and put one foot in front of the other.

 

I was really proud of myself because I kept a positive attitude for pretty much the whole race.  It is hard to keep a steady stream of positive thoughts  when the road is long and endless, but I did it somehow.

 

I even ran the farthest I have ever run without stopping: 22 miles.  Finally, my body stopped almost involuntarily.  My time was good and I was hoping to break four hours, but it soon became apparent that it was not going to happen.  So I probably walked about 3 times for a good stretch, maybe for about 5 minutes total.  Diagonal Street was where it was the hardest. I walked there the most, but somehow, I started running again with about 1.5 to go.

 

It was funny, but when I was on 300 West I saw some kids that were about Raef and Zach's age and then there were some very inspirational signs along the way. (Not to forget that Nordel and Lyf had both put a bunch of signs up the entire course for us, which was so incredibly thoughtful.) But anyways, I don't remember what the signs said on 300 West, but I almost started to cry.  I was overcome by my emotions, but I held it in.

 

When I finally made the turn onto 300 South the crowd was roaring and the finish line was in sight. I scanned the crowds and saw Nordel holding Eli up to say hi, and then Aislinn and her kids were at the finish line as well.

 

And guess who gave me my finisher's medal?

 

 

 

Do you recognize this guy?  If you are a football fan, you know it is none other than legendary coach Lavell Edwards from that team down south.  I thought that was pretty darn cool.

 

 

My official time was 4:06:18.  It is my best time by far, my third marathon and a great way to end it.

 

 

Rinar worked really hard to train for his first marathon. I am sure there will be many more for him.  He did so awesome and I am very proud of him.  He really had a desire to beat all of his friends' best times and he accomplished his goal: 3:39:42. And Johanna kicked some major booty with a great time of 3:49:20. She smashed her time from last year. The girl rocks!

 

After the dust had settled, the pain really set in. Whoa. I know I pushed myself as hard as I could with the time and abilities I have.  I feel very satisfied with my accomplishment and marvel that I could even do it at all.

 

That evening we went with Grandma Linda to the waterpark and the kids had so much fun playing and getting wet.  We then went on the wonderful new carousel the city has installed in the downtown complex. It is so cool.  St. George is just a neat town.

 

 

 

Now I am home, still recuperating. I hope tomorrow will allow a normal gait once again.  And  I think about this marathon journey. It is hard.  But it was definitely worth it.  A marathon should be on every single persons bucket list.  It is a hard thing to achieve and the process is absolutely brutal. Sometimes I doubted myself and I shed many tears along the way. There was no one out there to do it for me..  I had to dig down deep within myself and vanquish the doubt, overcome any fear, and just hold on like hell.  I know without a doubt that I am a lot stronger than I ever thought I was. I have proven that to myself...twice!  Who knows, somewhere down the road of life, I may need that strength when it really counts.  It is a gift of strength I have nurtured within myself. No matter what challenges, trials, hardships are awaiting me, I can look back on this year of my life and know that I can endure just about anything. I hope I don't forget.

 

And as my friend Tracy has so eloquently put it, "I can do hard things!"

 

And believe me, if I can do this, so can you.

A Family Thanksgiving

We decided at the last minute to go to St. George for Thanksgiving. We had to drive on Thanksgiving day because my children's choir had a performance at an Interfaith meeting in the city.  Therefore, we woke up super early and hit the road by 5:20am. It actually worked out really well. The kids were fairly docile for most of the trip, so we didn't have to stop very much. 

On Friday, Jamie, Leah, Catye, and Mike drove down together from the Salt Lake area to spend the weekend with us. It was a lot of fun. We ate at Frostop, played games, did a little bit of shopping, and then they all went bowling before our big Thanksgiving feast on Saturday at Grandma Wilma's house. I stayed home with the babies for a couple of reasons. First, the babies were taking a nap and second, because I can't stand bowling. I also started cooking dinner while they were bowling. It worked out really well.

But the kids has a ton of fun. Especially Eli...take a look at his delivery...

 I think it is called the upside down delivery special.  Nordel and Tru also joined them for an afternoon of fun. Eli was able to spend some time with Tru on his own on Friday while Rinar played some golf and he had a lot of fun over there. Tru and Eli are buddies.

It was a lot of fun. All of the kids really enjoyed my siblings and their spouses.  

Maybe we will be able to do it again next year!

St. George Triathlon

Rinar is hooked on triathlons. He even has his little triathlon group.  It is a lot more fun to do races like this when you do it with other people. He completed on May 22nd in St. George, Utah. It was a perfectly beautiful day to race. I went with him early and while he was setting up, I went for a nice run.  Then it was time to take some pictures of them in action.

Bart, Rinar, Rich, Johanna, and Scott gearing up for some friendly competition.

It is time to swim. Every other person was wearing the same wetsuit. It is hard to pick someone out of the  crowd when they all wear the same thing.

39 and under Olympic men started the race first...Rinar, Rich , and Bart.

Let's just say that it is Rinar out there swimming...oh, close enough!

Transition!

Rich came out of the water first, but Rinar's transition was much faster.

Girl power! Johanna even posed for me as she got on her bike.

Bike is done.  Now it is time to get the run on!

Rich was feeling pretty good when he started to run. He was a few minutes behind Rinar.

Rinar has about .8 left to go.  He looked a lot better than his first tri in August on the same course.

Raef and Zach came at the end to see the big finish.  Way to go, Dad!

The big finishers.   Bart was overall #1 for their little group. Now it is on to the Boise half Ironman in June.