A couple of weeks ago, right after Man vs. Mud, Shannon and I went to their family cabin in Island Park. It's one of my favorite places to go - and we got to spend with weekend with her cool parents Wayne and Lola.
It was a great weekend filled with relaxation (after our strenuous mud run), a hike, 4 wheelers and, of course, s'mores.
So, when Jordan was a freshman, she met a really cool kid named Aaron who is from Scotland. I am sure he has appeared on this blog before, but it's been a long while. I haven't seen him in over 2.5 years and I get to see him tomorrow! I'm so excited!
Don't you just want to fold him up and put him in your pocket?
Speaking of Jordan, I came across this photo in my phone today.
We were at Costco last year sometime and my mom was looking at glasses. Jordan found these gems...man, Gloria Vanderbuilt does great things.
(I so wish I could take credit for this photo, but I got it here).
Yep, the rumors are true, I participated in the 1st annual Man vs. Mud 5k in Logan, Utah on 9/3/11. It was all Shannon's idea and Cade and Krystal joined the fun too. It was such a good time! The photos don't really do it justice, but here they are anyway.
The Mucky Mucks!
This was the first mud pit.
No big deal.
However, they did get worse...
and worse...
And, I'm pretty sure it wasn't only mud in there...
So, for the finish line, we came back around right next to the starting line and had to go down a HUGE (and yes, painful) slip 'n slide. It was brutal, but fun at the same time. There was a jump at the end, then you landed in a mud bog. Good times.
We all had such a good time but it was absolutely disgusting! After the final slip 'n slide, we had to army crawl through mud, then have a group picture taken, then there was a snack table with juice, granola bars and bananas. Uh, I didn't even have a clean spot on my body to wipe the mud out of my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was try to eat something. Disgusting! I did take some juice though and, instead of my lip making a lipstick mark on the cup, there was a mud mark. Yum!
I think this is going to be an annual thing for us!
So, today marks the 10th anniversary of probably the worst day in America (at least in recent history). It's definitely a time to count my blessings of health and life and amazing family and friends. Also, I am so thankful to be an American. This is the greatest country and I am so blessed to get to live here. Yeah, the future (leadership, economy, etc) is a little scary, but I have to trust that it will all work out.
On Friday, as I was driving home from work, a song came on the radio. It's a 9/11 tribute song and it's so great.
Grab a Kleenex:
Sad, huh? I pulled into the Walmart parking lot right as the song was ending. I had to sit in my car for 10 minutes just to stop crying and settle down enough to go into the store. Then, on Saturday, I was driving all around doing home photos and listening to the radio. This song came on 3 times throughout the day and I sobbed each time.
So, there has been so much talk the past couple of days about the events of 9/11 and where everyone was and how they found out and reacted to it. I flew through New York on the way home from my mission at the end of August of 2011. I remember looking out the window of the airport at the city to see any recognizable landmarks because I had never been to NYC before (I still haven't been...I need to go!) Literally, the only buildings I recognized were the Twin Towers (and The Empire State Building, of course). So sad that just about 3 weeks later, the terrorist attack would happen.
I was living with my parents on 9/11 and had taken work off to attend the funeral of a great lady from their ward who had died of cancer. My parents didn't have cable for a lot of years (now that they're empty nesters, though,they have 2 huge flat screens and all the cable you can handle - rude!) So, I got to the Sun Valley church mid-morning and my dad met me in the hall and asked how I was handling everything.
I thought he meant the funeral, so I told him that I was sad, but that I knew she was in a better place. He said, "Oh, you don't know." Then he proceeded to tell me all about the events of the morning. I was so shocked! It was such a tragic event and I pray for the families and loved ones of the victims of that awful day.
This is, hands down, the best picture I've seen of New York...ever.
