We went to Craig Haymore's wedding on September 20th. The wedding took place in St. George. The ceremony and reception were held at his new uncle-in-law's house. It is a $3.8 million dollar home that has all of the upgrades, including a pool with a window between it and the media room in the basement. The wedding and reception took place from 10:30 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon. The cermony was done very well. The bishop that performed the ceremony said all of the right things about the responsibilities they now have and the importance of preparing to enter the temple.
The best part of the ceremony was the ring bearer. Andrew was wearing his tuxedo and did an excellent job. While he performed his duty, I could hear people commenting on how cute he is and how he was stealing the show. In fact, so many people were paying attention to him that only a few noticed that Craig had put the ring on Whitney's right hand. OOPS! It was so hot that we had to constantly retreat to the shade and drink a lot of water. It is no fun sitting in the St. George sun in a suit. Luckily, the ceremony was quick.
We only spent two days in St. George. We were able to find some great deals at the outlet stores and had a lot of fun swimming at the hotel. To cap it all off, BYU beat Wyoming 44-0. All in all, it was a good weekend.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
September 4, 2008 Day of Caring
Today I spent the morning with a large group of co-workers helping with the United Way Day of Caring. My work encouraged us to get out and help. We went to an elderly woman's house and cleaned up her yard, etc. We took out multiple trees and trimmed up others. We repainted her deck and porch, mowed the lawn, built a sitting patio, built lawn furniture, painted her fence, and did general cleaning. The yard was bad enough that we filled four or five of the large construction dumpsters used when houses are built. The yard looks completely different. The woman is a Holocaust survivor and really appreciated the help. It was exhausting work, but it was a lot of fun.
September 10, 2008 In-laws
With a title like that, I bet you expect to read a really negative posting. Well, I am sorry to dissappoint, but this is not going to be a bashing. Shandi's parents have been building a home and just closed on it today. I am not very excited about moving all of their belongings, but I am certainly willing to help. Their new house is located two doors down from us. Yes, my in-laws are going to be my neighbors. Really, I am fine with this. We get along very well and my children love the idea of being able to see their grandparents all of the time. It will also make it very nice for holidays. We will be able to go to both parents' houses in a matter of a couple minutes (now I just need to get Dad to move closer). We will be moving Shandi's parents over the next few days. I am going to be worn out, but it is good exercise.
September 10, 2008 Basement
Shandi and I have been working very hard on our basement. We have competed all of the framing, including all of that darn sheetrock backing. We have also completed about 95% of the electrical work. Shandi's father helped me hook up the wires to the circuit box last night. Shandi's cousin has been over putting in the fireplace the past couple days and should be done today. Next week we will have the 4-way inspection and then put up the insulation. The following week will be a great one because we are hiring out the sheetrock and mudding. It is going to cost us, but it will save us a lot of time. I still need to hang the doors, but I am excited to do that part. All of the basement, except the bathroom, will be completed. The only real obstacle we have left is to save up enough money to pay for the carpet. Hopefully, we will be able to do so by the end of the year. Shandi has been a great help in the basement and has been especially helpful keeping the upstairs in order so that I feel like I can spend the time in the basement. I have a great wife!
September 10, 2008 Utah Half Results
Overall, the race did not go as well as I had hoped, but I made it. Here is a recap of how it went:
Shandi and I arrived at the Utah Lake State Park at about 5:45. It was dark and cool. The mosquitos were out in swarms. That spells trouble for me as I am a mosquito magnet. The little buggers would not leave me alone. I finally got brave enough to put on the wetsuit a friend let me borrow. I still have a hard time believing that I fit in that tight, little thing. At about 6:50, we started the swim.
I lost my nose plug at the beginning of the swim and really struggled to get going. The swim consisted of two long laps. I think the first lap took me over 30 minutes and the second lap took me just over 20 minutes. I was able to relax some on the second lap and just went for it. Unfortunately, I had to keep my head out of the water since I cannot swim with my head under the water without my nose plug. The velcro on the back the wetsuit really scratched up the back of my neck and it is was all raw. It was good to find out that the swim was 200 meters longer than it was supposed to be (at least it made me feel better after the fact). My time on the results page on the tri website are not accurate because I forgot to get my time chip until after the swim.
I was extremely relieved to finish the swim.
The bike was much better. I had a great first half of the bike where I know I was going at about 19 miles per hour. About one third of the way back to the transition point at the State Park, I started to cramp in my legs. I had been taking my electolyte pills and drinking more water than I usually do, but I guess it was still not enough. I made it back pretty well, but I was slower than on the way out. I still averaged around 18 miles per hour.
The run (or should I say walk) ended up being very hard. I was able to run some, but my legs would cramp, and I was forced to walk. I did okay for the first 7 miles alternatively running and walking, but my legs gave out for the last 6 miles. It took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to walk the last 6 miles. I was happy when I finally made it to the end.
After a good night's rest, I felt much better. I had told Shandi that I would never do anything like this again, but she didn't believe me. Now I am thinking that I need to figure out a better way to get the proper nourishment to sustain myself on race day. I had the energy and the desire to go hard to the end, but the cramping would not allow me to. It was very frustrating to want to run and feel like my heart and mind were still up to finishing strong, but not being able to do so. Anyway, now I feel like I need to try again some time. It is crazy how that works.
Thanks for your support and encouragement. At least I can say that I made it.
Shandi and I arrived at the Utah Lake State Park at about 5:45. It was dark and cool. The mosquitos were out in swarms. That spells trouble for me as I am a mosquito magnet. The little buggers would not leave me alone. I finally got brave enough to put on the wetsuit a friend let me borrow. I still have a hard time believing that I fit in that tight, little thing. At about 6:50, we started the swim.
I lost my nose plug at the beginning of the swim and really struggled to get going. The swim consisted of two long laps. I think the first lap took me over 30 minutes and the second lap took me just over 20 minutes. I was able to relax some on the second lap and just went for it. Unfortunately, I had to keep my head out of the water since I cannot swim with my head under the water without my nose plug. The velcro on the back the wetsuit really scratched up the back of my neck and it is was all raw. It was good to find out that the swim was 200 meters longer than it was supposed to be (at least it made me feel better after the fact). My time on the results page on the tri website are not accurate because I forgot to get my time chip until after the swim.
I was extremely relieved to finish the swim.
The bike was much better. I had a great first half of the bike where I know I was going at about 19 miles per hour. About one third of the way back to the transition point at the State Park, I started to cramp in my legs. I had been taking my electolyte pills and drinking more water than I usually do, but I guess it was still not enough. I made it back pretty well, but I was slower than on the way out. I still averaged around 18 miles per hour.
The run (or should I say walk) ended up being very hard. I was able to run some, but my legs would cramp, and I was forced to walk. I did okay for the first 7 miles alternatively running and walking, but my legs gave out for the last 6 miles. It took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to walk the last 6 miles. I was happy when I finally made it to the end.
After a good night's rest, I felt much better. I had told Shandi that I would never do anything like this again, but she didn't believe me. Now I am thinking that I need to figure out a better way to get the proper nourishment to sustain myself on race day. I had the energy and the desire to go hard to the end, but the cramping would not allow me to. It was very frustrating to want to run and feel like my heart and mind were still up to finishing strong, but not being able to do so. Anyway, now I feel like I need to try again some time. It is crazy how that works.
Thanks for your support and encouragement. At least I can say that I made it.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Big Race
The big race is coming up on Saturday (August 9th). I am nervous and excited. The picture here is of me running in the Wasatch Back Relay in July 2006. It was a 175 mile relay race. There are 12 members per team. My section of the race was 17 miles. On Saturday, I will be racing in the Provo Half Iron-Man. I will swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and then run 13.1 miles. It is going to be fun, but exhausting. Wish me luck. I will let you know how it goes.
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