Before

Mid-Way

Now

Fallen In Chocolate 5K

Saturday I ran in a 5K benefit race for this girl. She ran on Jake's UVU track team.  He left at 6 am to go up to the race which was up in Cottonwood Heights.  He and his track team set up the course.  I knew he would be there and the whole team would be running or helping but I was not expecting the emotion I felt when I entered the park where the race was to be held and saw all of them there dressed in their warm ups.  Not only did the track and cross country teams come from UVU but also the golf team, the softball team and the wrestlers. Her dad coaches at Bingham High and there were alot of runners there from that school and 

also Riverton High, all dressed in their school uniforms.    

I read her blog and she is just so cute.  One blog post I remember about her is when she got her port and also had a surgery that left her with a scar on her stomach,she sat at her dining room table and made her  stuffed money a port and an incision.  She loves monkeys and chocolate and so the race was so cutely named after her blog and had a monkey on the shirts and all the traffic cones had the signs on them so we could follow the course.

This is the start area.  I was so nervous.  She came on the microphone and thanked us for coming and was so surprised that so many people turned out.  I was looking for Jake every time I saw UVU people standing directing traffic but I missed him in the crowd. He says he saw me run right by him.

As I was about halfway through, the road I was on was higher and I could see the runners coming in for their finish on a lower road. Kim had told me that the track runners would do it in half my time.  The first one I saw was a boy in  a BYU tank top and right behind him was a UVU runner, then a boy in a blue shirt and then 2 more UVU runners.  I was so proud of Jake's team. 

  There was a steep hill right at the end.  I knew not to stop because I would not get running again and I was glad I did not because as soon as I crested the hill there was the finish line. 

The girl who the race was for loves to run and has run everyday since her treatment started.  She ran this race today in 25 minutes.  She is amazing.  Jake had 2 friends who were coming in at the end and trying to beat each other and elbowing each other and did not realize that they passed her, at her own race....they were sad they did not hold up and let her by.  It's funny how he tells it.

Jake and some of his UVU friends and teammates.  They were amazing today.
 ***** I ran it in 36 minutes and I was 9th out of 20 in my age group*****

Oh, the places we've been!

A local favorite, a true- live drive in from the olden days.

We sat and visited about the day.

Watched the sun go down.

A mouse was in the bushes waiting for our crumbs and not necessarily for us to leave, EEK!

Best chicken you will ever eat.

Oh, the things you'd do!

 The first sighting of Bear Lake.

 So pretty.  Reminds us of Washington.

 Bear Lake is huge.

 Coming from Washington and Oregon we know about this Oregon Trail. 

 Our kids learn all about it in school.

What a nice familiar sight.

 Area is famous for it's raspberry shakes.

So many places to choose from.

We chose the one with the shortest line.

 Sign behind us says No Parking so we put our chairs there.

 Love this picture.  We had funny times.

Shake lived up to all the raves.  

We shared and how I wish I had my own.

I think it was my best shake I have ever had.

Oh, the beauty you'd see!

Logan temple sits on a hill and can be seen from almost every part in the valley.

Do we look like a postcard?  Sky blue, American flag, beautiful flowers......and us!

Tabernacle is built at base of temple

This building is amazing.  The walls were thick, it was crafted beautifully.  Our tour guide was the cutest older lady in red shoes.  This building was my favorite part of the trip.

Upper balcony, it went straight up.

Logan and Faith picked out where they would sit if they came to this building, it was a bench for 2 with an armrest and leg room.

Monument depicts 3 things, Faith, Struggle - Sacrifice and Family Unity.

The mother is holding a locket in her hand and in the locket is a piece of hair from a child they lost on their way to Utah on the Pioneer Trail.  This was very touching to me.

This is the view from the statue to the temple. 

Our tour guide told us that they have to cut the trees so the view can remain. 

This is from the the paper that was given us and it goes with the monument.

You are encouraged to look deeper, recognizing yourself in these pioneer figures.  

Are you that different from the Valley's inhabitants of a century and a half ago?  

Have you not traveled your own pioneer trails?

Although your challenges and responses may be different from those of the founding pioneers, has your road been any less demanding and difficult?  

Are you not, in your own right, a pioneer?

Oh, the places you'd go.

Famous burger place seen on Diners, Drive In's and Dives.  

This place is good and always crowded.

Look at sign in town, I hope I never need it.

Faith had a good idea to bring chairs.  There is nowhere to sit and eat there.

We made it into a picnic.

We found a fry shaped like a cross.

Fitting since Kim had to do surgery on Kelsi's burger.  

It had too much stuff on it for her liking.

Beautiful landscape

I know a few kids going to Utah State.

Cheese store in Logan.  

It's been around since 1966.  

A cute window on this place.

Yum, brought home and shredded.

I loved this painting.  It fit the place.

This milk is non refrigerated and could be a good food supply item.

Picking out cheese.

The Joy of the Library

When I go to the library I love to come home with piles of books and read them quickly moving on to the next book and then the next.

 When I received my Kindle, I read slower. I had paid for the book and I wanted it to last. Sometimes I wanted to read fast because the book was so good.

 Problem solved: Faith found a website for Kindle readers that has tons of free books. We put in the authors we like and there they are.

 She texted me and said I found lots of books, want to come over. I headed straight over.

 This sign was on her door. Welcome to the Library.