Dear Friends and Family,

Spencer has informed me that our team name is bad because it sounds like swearing. But it was exactly what each of my team-mates were thinking this weekend! My other favorite team at the relay was team "#@*! I thought this was a 5k!". The Ragnar Relay was this weekend that I have been training for, for several months. It is a 188 mile relay from Logan to Park City made up of 12 people in 2 vans that each run 3 legs. I ran with 2 of my neighbors in our van plus 3 guys, one of their wives and one of their cousins and we all got to know each other very well. It was a tough race where the combination of heat, sleep exhaustion, driving in cars for hours and having to run without your body being able to recover all takes its toll. It was also a ton of fun, more extreme than anything I have ever done and already I want to do it next year but be in better shape for it. Our team started running at 10 a.m. Friday but our van didn't get together to pack up and go until 12 up in Layton. One of the tough parts was getting all psyched up to go, driving up and feeling like you are at a rock concert with people running in costume, cars decorated up everywhere, going through safety training and then sitting around in a field for 3 hours till your turn is up. 1000 teams ran this relay with staggered start times from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday. I ran 3.4 miles at 5 p.m. and it was really hot and dusty but I beat my goal time by 1 minute per mile so I was quite happy. Ran again at 1 a.m. for 7 miles and it was really cool to be running through the canyons, slightly downhill, music blaring, headlamp on, stars overhead, a chilly 40 degrees. Beat my goal time by 45 seconds per mile and walked away feeling good. My last leg was 6 miles at 12 p.m. uphill and I tanked. I was 50 seconds slower than my goal per mile and ended up walking for short periods. I was just super tired and dizzy. So next year I want to do better on that last leg. We had 2 breaks of 4 hours but only half of that was spent catching naps as the rest was spent driving to the next site and getting all ready. It was a lot of fun and I was happy at how far I have come in my running abilities and amazed at the athletic abilities out there. And I was so glad for the runners on our team who took all the tough legs. Running steep switchbacks up the mountains of Park City on a gravel road at 90 degree temps is just amazing.

While I was gone Friday and Saturday Jeremy and Meredith and a babysitter kept kids busy and happy. Jeremy took them to the Strawberry Days parade for our city and they collected tons of coupons and candy from the floats. Meredith took them to the pool for the afternoon and then to top it off Jeremy and kids got the office cleaned so I wouldn't have to do it. I came home, ate, hugged everyone, showered and crashed.

Thursday the kids and I spent the day at 7 peaks, a local waterpark. We met up with a friend and her children there and brought Allison's friend Kambry with us. So Spencer and Allison each had a friend to play with and I just got to hang with Robyn. Allison and Kambry tried every scary slide there was multiple times. I couldn't believe it. Usually Allison is my timid one. Robyn even did slides with Charise and me sitting in the middle of the double tube. We had such a great time and it was pretty deserted as until 3 it was on the cool side. We had such a great time that we got back later and Jeremy missed a photo event. Seems like he gets it in the chin a lot lately. I had a nice sunburn at my hairline all around my face from where I stopped rubbing sunblock on. Lesson learned for next time.

With being gone essentially Thursday through Saturday for the second week in a row the rest of my week was spent getting everything in order - laundry done, grass mowed etc. Robyn had a birthday party for a friend at Chuck-e-cheese and now thinks that is the best place ever. Spencer has started guitar lessons and practices whenever possible. Allison had a cooking class at the rec center and made strawberry scones, floats, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Its no wonder they schedule these classes around lunch time! Taylor started back for summer school for 3 days this week and was very reluctant to get back to work. We did a mammoth shopping trip to Costco and my kids re-discovered samples much to their joy. Kids and I went to the free Strawberry Days concert in the park while Jeremy had to go to a condo owner meeting for Lauri's place. At the concert they give out cups of sliced strawberries and cream for free. Spencer proudly stood in the long line for us and brought back a box of cups for his girls. The box was soaked with cream and little droplets in the cup were all that was left but the strawberries tasted so good that no one mentioned the lack of cream. Kids favorite part of the concert is just running wild around the park with friends they find.

Love to you all and can hardly believe that I get to see my family in just 2 months. Let the count-down begin!

Heather
One of my friends made us all truffles in little treat bags. Ate ours at the end and they were so good.

At the beginning before we head out.
Found I did take a picture of Robyn at her first t-ball game. Games were canceled this week for Strawberry Days but start up again this week.