August Rushed

Mayflower and I were on our way to our annual Stake Birthday Bash last night to volunteer at the cupcake walk when she commented on how fast the summer seemed to fly by. She then stated that they were only going to keep going by faster.....
I agreed, but secretly thought, "Really!?! You are only twelve! How do you know this?"
I have intended to post our August activities oh, for about 3 weeks now, and really only have the excuse of working lots and being busy, just like everyone else. So! No more excuses! Here's the lo-down.

August 6 - My Birthday! I took the day off work and went for a fun little hike with my Rock, Mayflower and nephew, Parker. White Pine Lake near Tony Grove was beautiful! I got a fun surprise upon coming back to the trailhead. Our friends, Joe & Cindy from St. George, were there at their family reunion, so we had a quick chat and a big hug:) Then we headed to Crystal Hot Springs and enjoyed a nice soak.





School started! Mayflower headed off to junior high with a spring in her step, new contacts in her eye balls and best friend by her side.



After making a practice run the week before to see how long it took, Shematite and Michex were extremely disappointed and frustrated when they learned that it doesn't take 30 minutes to ride UTA to Weber State. It takes a freaking hour and a half! To this day, we try not to talk about it. But! The great news is that they both like all their classes, Shematite thinks her astronomy professor is The Bomb ( his name is Prof. Armstrong! How cool is that!) , Michex has a costume construction class that seems super fun and it's just fabulous to see them enjoying their higher education experiences so far:)

Scout made it back from her summer camp counseling job at KAMP KOHUT in Maine. Her new friend she met there, Ashley, lives in St George and they planned to travel home together. Ashley made the flight reservations, unfortunately, from Portland, Oregon...not Portland, Maine. This was discovered as they were leaving camp and arriving at the airport in Portland. Needless to say, reservations had to be canceled and re-made at the last minute and they got to ride a bus to Boston and spend about 20 hours at the airport people-watching! When asked if she would work at a camp again, we got a resounding YES! But, maybe not that camp. She would prefer something away from the humidity of the east coast:)
The last weekend in August, we headed down to Dixie to see Scout, take her a vehicle and do a little bit of hiking in Zion. Mayflower passed the Canyoneering 101 class by going through Keyhole with Scout, Karli, Makenzie, and her dad.




Even though it is not officially August any more, we had some fun on the warm Saturday of Labor Day weekend floating in the Great Salt Lake with my sister Kira and her boys ...




...and then hiking Ben Lomond Peak via Inspiration Point on the cold Monday. I had never actually floated in the lake nor set foot on the peak before, so these were some of the highlights of my summer. JT, Little T, Parker and Em joined me, Rock and Mayflower on a breathtakingly beautiful day! A little nip of fall was in the air as we first made our way up the dirt road and then hiked the ridge to the peak:) JT then treated everyone to milkshakes in Brigham City at the Peach City drive-in.










For those of you who have read this far- everything above this line in my post inadvertently got published before I was done adding all the photos and finished writing and editing. I had minimized the computer screen Sunday morning to get ready for church and just came back to finish it at about 4:30 pm and found it published with 2 comments already! I thought I had clicked 'save as draft' , not 'publish post'. Sigh...Oh well:)

August 21 I ran my first ever 5k race! I signed up Rock, Shematite and Michex to participate also and I had so much fun running with my family! After spending all spring training for the hike into and out of Havasupai in June, I really did not want to lose momentum and the fitness level I had gained, so I started running a little bit back in June, and yes, it hurt. But I imagined it hurt a lot less than a heart attack would, so I kept going, slowly. After believing for so long that running was "bad" for my body and hating the pain and fatigue I felt every time I tried to do it a little bit, I was really happy with the change that was brought about in my attitude, perspective, beliefs and my stride by reading the book Born To Run. I can't continue preaching to my family about health and cardiovascular fitness as a crucial part of provident living if I am not willing to do what I want them to do. So, in spite of working 8-10 hours a day, I decided I needed to set a better example and prioritize. After all, my honey works way more hours than I do. And guess what? I now belong to the CAN camp and not the CAN'T camp any more- which, in my mind, answers the rhetorical question, "what good does it do to be able to hike across the Grand Canyon but not be able to run for help if needed?"... Plus, I feel happier and healthier than I have in years. And...running doesn't hurt any more:)
I am now looking forward to my favorite season...Autumn! Enjoying a crisp evening outside, being able to almost smell the leaves changing color, and making homemade caramel and dipping apples makes me want to take a big, juicy bite out of life and savor every moment! Thanks for making my life richer and sweeter!