Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Last Saturday, October 13th, I ran the DAM 1/2 marathon here in the Heber Valley. It's been about 4.5 years since my last 1/2 in Washington D.C. Pretumor diagnosis I was signed up to run the Moab 1/2 marathon in March. My surgeon told me no running after I was out of the hospital for awhile. I relented to running the Moab race, but signed myself up for this DAM race. I knew it was months away and had faith that I would be able to run it by October. I found a training plan for beginners, convinced my friend Jessica to register and we trained all summer for the big day. The unique thing about this race is we were able to ride the Heber Creeper Train to the start line by the Deer Creek Dam. The conductor happened to be a man in my ward.
 
We left the train depot in Heber at 6:45am. The train really "creeps" along and we arrived at our dropoff point by the dam at 7:30am. The race didn't begin until 8:00. Cody had a free dental lecture he was able to attend Friday and Saturday so he dropped me off and I informed him how I was doing by text throughout and after the race. He made a really nice facebook post about me. "A big shout out to my wife Lisa! 9 months ago she was having her brain tumor removed, and today she is running a half marathon. Even though she is still in the middle of her chemotherapy and feels like crap somedays, she is out there fighting and running. Congratulations babe, I love you." So sweet.

Jessica and I on the train. We sat right in the front next to the coal heater. We were nice and toasty on the ride over.

The sun peaked out from behind the clouds for a moment before the race began. It snowed the night before on Mt. Timpanogos.

Ready, Set, Go!
 Jessica's husband and kids met us about mile 7 on the Deer Creek trail. The race ran the length of the trail, about 8 miles and then finished with 5 miles winding through Midway and ending at town square.
My Mom came up to help watch my kids during the race. They were watching for me at the last corner of the race. Tucker and Aubrey are always asking me when they can run with me, so I told them to join me and cross the finish line.
 This was by far my slowest 1/2 marathon, but I finished and so did Jessica. I told myself throughout the race that I wouldn't leave her behind. I'm glad I didn't. My time ended up being 2:31. Average of about 11:33 minute miles. My fastest 1/2 was about 2:03, but considering the year I've had, I really am just happy that I finished. I start my next round of chemo today and I'm grateful the race fell on a good weekend.
 We received awesome beer mugs and railroad nails as our medals.
 No one wants to see feet, but I wanted to show my blisters I began forming while running. My toes are all pretty now with my sparkly glitter toes I received yesterday. I'm already looking forward to next years race and any others I can find. I signed up for our local Turkey Trot this morning and am contemplating running the Snow Canyon 1/2 marathon in 3 weeks. I love to run! Thanks to everyone for supporting me!

Elk Hunt 2012

Two weekends ago we went on the annual Elk Hunt. Cody's family has hunted above Strawberry Reservoir for years. This year was no different, except that now that we don't have a trailer, I didn't spend the night with the kids. Freezing temperatures with kids who don't stay in their sleeping bags is no fun. Cody took a couple kids up past Aspen Grove campground to the open country to pitch a tent Thursday night. He wanted to make sure we got a spot. Friday afternoon Cody's parents drove up with their 5th wheel. Cody woke up bright and early Saturday morning and drove up to meet his Dad, uncle and cousins for sunrise or whenever that magical time is to be allowed to shoot your game. About 9:30 am I received a text saying that he shot his cow elk (Cody had a cow and spike tag.) Tucker had his last soccer game and we were in charge of team treats so we didn't go up to meet him at the camp until lunch. Apparently the elk he shot got away because several hunters saw the elk go down, but no one could find it in the woods. I spent the afternoon and evening with the family and then brought the kids home for the night. Cody stayed and tried again Sunday morning. He was able to get another shot at a cow elk along with his Dad. I drove the kids back up to be with the family. They hauled up his Dad's elk up the mountain, but Cody's was so big that they were trying to find other solutions to get it. My Grandpa's horses weren't shod, so Cody finally got a hold of a friend with horses that drove up and helped them out.
Mickey's elk about to be deskinned.
Cole and Tucker on a little horse ride.

Parts of Cody's elk.

Campsite.

I never would have thought, ever, that I would be going on elk hunts yearly when I was younger. It's been a tradition throughout Cody's life and now it is with our family. Everyone must have some redneck in them.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

BYU vs Hawaii

I purchased a Cosmo Kids Club membership for my kids a couple months back when there was a City Deal for $25. It included a tshirt, 4 football tickets and 8 basketball tickets, plus whoever is wearing the shirt can get into volleyball and soccer games for free. I mainly bought it for the football tickets. We chose the BYU/Hawaii game to attend.
 Cody's brother bought one too and I picked it up for him and got us seats fairly close together. Carson and two of his boys flew into town last Thursday for the weekend. I let Tucker miss 1/2 day of school on Friday and all of us drove down to Provo. Cody's dad didn't know they were here so we surprised him at lunch at Burger Supreme.
I don't know how to turn my videos upright. Sorry!
After we ate we went over to campus to walk/shop around the bookstore. It's been 10 years since I began school at BYU. Cody and I were dating and got married while we were there.
 My cute cousin Lindsey is a sophomore there and she met up with us on the quad.
 Cody and I played around with the panorama settings on our cell phones. This is the best I could get. We had a fun afternoon/evening with family and visiting our alma mater.
Cody and his parents

Fall Colors and Birthdays

The pictures will be in random order, but at least they are getting in. My 31st birthday was on the 24th. My chemo sickness set in after I completed my 6th round of chemo, and I was very sick the 23rd and 24th. I felt well enough to go out for dinner though. After my birthday dinner at Tarahumarah, we went for a family drive up Snake Creek canyon to see the fall colors. We live in one of the most glorious places on earth.
Cody and me. My hair is the perfect fall color. : )
 Mid September we took the Guardsman Pass drive from Midway to Big Cottonwood canyon. The maples were in full color.
Looking back into the Heber Valley.
 My Grandpa Foster's birthday is the day before Tuckers and my Mom hosted a family party at her house. I volunteered to make the cake. I wanted to make it like my Grandma used to. Two round cakes frosted in between with chocolate frosting. It was very good, not as good as hers, but I don't know the family secret!
 On our way home we were blessed to see this beautiful sunset.
 Tucker's birthday was the 17th and I made him another cake and we had ice cream with the Calderwoods. Tucker really wanted to eat at Subway for his birthday, but I convinced him that we could go to Subway before his soccer game the next day. Cody was given a moose roast and he cooked that up for us instead. It was very juicy and tasty.
 This 7 year old is extremely addicted to Pokeman these days. I picked up the Angry Birds hat from a vendor in San Francisco.
 Cody bought me some gorgeous flowers for my birthday and my Mom and sister came up to visit and brought me my favorite dessert, Turtle Pie from Baskin Robbins. I've tried the store bought and Cold Stone versions and they aren't as good as Baskin Robbins.
 My children can be found cutting small pieces of paper and creating their own Pokeman figures these days. The mess drives me crazy, but they are entertained and using their imaginations.

Mom, me and Heather
Aspens near Strawberry Reservoir. Cody took the kids for a drive one of the days I was feeling lousy last weekend.