Lazy Sunday afternoon

 This Sunday afternoon was spent eating snacks and coloring.  I love how big the tutu's look on the chair.

 These girls were so good today.

 

4th of July

 Our Fourth was pretty relaxing this year.  I woke up and ran a 5k.  I was going to run more, but my legs were still so tired.  I didn't realize they were still sore until I started running.

 For lunch we headed down to Zac's Uncle's house.  The kids had so much fun there!  He had sprinklers set up under the trampoline, a wading pool and a hose with fun sprinklers attached.  They played outside for hours.

 Lily and Jennifer spent most of their time in the wading pool with cousin Jack.

 

 

 The kids loved chasing the dogs around the yard.  Cory set a chair up in the yard, and Lily pulled the chair she's sitting in next to him.  Eric told Zac's cousin Katelyn that she looks like the meanest teacher in his school.  She told him that she was really nice, and Eric just shrugged.

 It was actually almost 9 pm when we started our little firework show.  It looks so light out on our pictures!  Jennifer and Lily were so tired though, but wanted to see the fireworks.  Eric got to light some of the fireworks this year.

After our little show, we put Jennifer and Lily to bed, then headed out to the back yard.  We were able to see the Thanksgiving Point firework show from the backyard.  It was so nice not having to drive there and fight the crowds.  Perfect, relaxing Fourth.

Top of Zion - Leg 3

It was so cold on our last leg.  I was wearing sweats and a hoodie.  My run went great.  I was so glad it was over.  Zac's run was even colder.  About mile 2 into his run, he could feel his muscle straining really bad.  Then at mile 3 he felt it cut loose.  He was really hurting but he finished.  Devin took off for his last leg, and the sun was finally starting to come up.  All three of us ran on dirt roads.  Devin finished strong and Jordyn took off. 

It was starting to get hot with Jordyn. Once the sun was up it warmed up really fast.  She was doing great!  We saw her at mile 1.  We were going to stop at mile 2.  We were driving and driving and couldn't see mile 2.  Then we saw mile 3.  Crap.  We totally missed mile 2.  Her run was 3.4 miles.  So we went to the exchange.  When she finished and Steph took, she told us she needed us to spray her so bad.  It got really, really hot.  I still feel terrible that we didn't stop sooner.

Stephanie had this BIG hill she had to climb for her last leg.  She did awesome.  She was so glad when it was finished. 

Jason's run was all uphill.  He only had us support him a couple times.  He did so good.  It looked like a terrible course.

We got to the last exchange and saw everyone.  Because Steve had rolled his ankle, he switched runs with Heidi because she had a shorter run.  He still finished his leg.  Wow.

Jason doing the last exchange to Heidi.

Van 1 - we are finished - are TIRED.

Once at the finish line, we were able to take showers.  It felt so nice again to be able to shower.  We ate the BBQ that they had.  It was gross.  The beans were crunchy.  Jordyn even complained, and they just gave her money back, instead of making some edible beans.

COUSINS!

VAN 1

It was so windy!  The finish line kept on blowing over.  One time it blew over as a runner was trying to cross it.  He jumped over the top of the finish line.  The medical area was starting to blow away.  We hopped up and tried to hold on as the wind came through.

Someone from Devin's friend's team got severe heat exhaustion.  They drove their van straight through the finish line looking for medical.  It was a 47 yr old woman.  Her body was shaking and she was going in and out of consciousness.  They tried to get an IV in her, but she was so dehydrated they couldn't get the needle in.  Luckily, one of the runners on another team was a nurse.  She was able to get an IV in her thigh.  An ambulance came and took her to the hospital.  What a horrible way to end a race.

I love Zac's Magnum PI pose.  Perfect.

 CROSSING THE FINISH LINE!!!!  We were so relieved when we heard they were here.

 Team photo with our mustaches, headbands, flower leis, and shirts.

 

 They had really cool medals.  The middle of it spins.

 Someone with a video camera had us all turn around and "chant" our saying.

 So happy it's finally over.

Van 2 killed their times every leg!  I was always so surprised at how fast they ran, especially in that heat!  They did so good!  I wish we were able to talk more with them and hear about their experiences.  We only had 5-10 minutes at a time to see each other. 

 Van 2

Van 1

After the finish line, we needed to head back up to Capitol Reef to get Jordyn's car.  We used the gas station outside of Zion, and somebody stole our debit card information!  We had 4 charges in Arizona by the time we got home.  Bummer.  Our bank has worked it out with us though.

It took us 3 - 3 1/2 hours to get back to the start line.  I was relieved Jordyn's car was still there.  There was a little part of me that thought that it might have gotten towed.  She was able to hop right in and take off.

We were all so hungry, so we stopped at a little shack for some hamburgers and milkshakes.  They tasted so good!  We were all so tired!  Our eyes were so heavy.  Jason drove most of the way home.  There were so many deer jumping across the road.  I lost count after 15 deer. It wasn't a very restful drive home.

We got to the park and ride in American Fork about 11:45pm.  Jason's wife came shortly to pick him up, then we headed home.  I have never been so happy to sleep in my bed!  I got woken up at 5am from Jennifer asking me if I slept in a hotel. Her face about 5 inches away from mine.  Kids.  You can never sleep in.

Top of Zion - Leg 2

After our 1st leg we headed to Escalante High School and took a shower.  It felt SO GOOD to take a shower!  We were able to head into the commons area and attempt to sleep in the high school.  I wasn't able to fall asleep, but it was nice for some down time.

My sweet Aunt Renee and Uncle John came to support us during our 2nd leg!  They came up from St. George on their motorcycle.  It was so fun to visit with them for a little bit.  I thought they were going to be there for maybe an hour tops, but they stayed until Stephanie finished her 2nd leg.  It was so great to have them there!  I love our family!

We were waiting at the exchange for Van 2 to come.  I thought I would have 10-15 minutes by the time Van 2 showed up before I had to start running.  They parked the car, and I hear Becky yelling that Ryan is right behind them.  Sure enough, there he was!  I wasn't nearly ready yet!  I took off fast.  My water bottles immediately fell out.

Then my head phones kept on falling out of my ears.  They have never done that before.  I just could not keep them in!  Then the Garmin stopped working right.  Zac gave me a bandana, and it kept on flopping and hitting my chin.  When I got up to the van, I threw everything at Zac.  I couldn't handle any of it.  It was still 108 degrees outside and nothing was working right.

Then my legs hit me.  They immediately felt like jello.  I hit the dreaded wall.  I felt like I couldn't even walk another step.  I was so embarrassed and mad.  I did so awesome on my first run, and I could barely make it mile by mile on this run.  I don't know what happened.  I just felt like crying.

I didn't even attempt running past everyone.  I took it as an opportunity to walk and get sprayed with a lot of water.  I drank SO MUCH water during this leg.

I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I was when I got to the exchange and handed off the slap bracelet to Zac.  Worst. Run. Ever.

 

Zac did great again on his run.  We all were starting to get pretty tired and didn't take as many pictures as earlier.  He finished his leg pretty quick.  

Devin did so amazing on this leg!  He didn't even walk once.  His run was all uphill again, and a steep uphill at the very end.  He ran up the entire thing.  I was so proud of him.  It looked so hard!  I was fighting back tears, and turned and saw Renee with tears in her eyes.  I am so glad they were there and realized what a big deal this was.  I love that we had people who loved us there watching and cheering us on.  It meant a lot.

Jordyn did awesome again on her run.  It was starting to get dark now.  She had to use the lights.  When we were taking pictures, the Sheriff pulled over to lecture all of us about where to run.  Yep, we know where to run.  We don't want to get hit by a car either.  Thanks Sheriff.

After Jordyn's run she took a ride on the motorcycle to cool off.  Before Jason joined our team, I had invited a French guy who was going to be in Utah for 2 weeks and was looking for a team.  He already joined another team.  His team was next to us during the 2nd leg.  When he saw John's motorcycle he got excited and hopped on to take a picture.  So random.

 

John and Renee would drive ahead of us and let us know what the course looked like.  They would also drive back to the runner before they made it to the van and make sure they were still doing okay.

It was too dark for pictures with Stephanie and Jason, but they both did great.  We finished this leg around 11:30pm.

Steve is waiting for Jason to come for the exchange.  

Here is Jason and Steve doing the exchange.  As soon as Steve took off, he rounded a corner and there was a hole between the asphalt and the side of the road.  He rolled his ankle!  At the beginning of his run!  AND he FINISHED his leg!  What a rock star!

We headed straight for the next exchange so we could try to get some sleep.  When we showed up at the church, we saw sprinklers on the far end of the grass.  Zac was worried that they might continue to cycle and turn on us.  We saw the cement on a pavilion and decided to set up camp there.  Justin Coole came with us, and he had van 2's air mattresses.  He needed to have them set up for van 2 anyways, so we used them. 

We found a plug at the pavilion.  It was about 12:30-1:00am.  Again, there are runners everywhere with head lamps, etc.  Zac turned on the motor to blow up the air mattress.  It was loud!  When he finished the first one, a girl runner yelled, "thanks for that, we all appreciated it!"  Zac yelled back, "you're welcome, we have one more."  To which she replied, "are you *&^*& kidding me?!" Zac began to blow up the 2nd one.  Then Justin came up and and said he found a third one.  Oh man.  That girl was so mad!  Then about 2 am, one of the air mattresses deflated and Zac blew it up again.  About 2:30am, the sprinklers came on and got that girl and everyone sleeping on the grass wet.  About one hour later, they came on AGAIN.  Haha. 

We didn't get much sleep.  At about 3 am, we heard that van 2 was on their last runner.  So I got up and got ready to go.  They didn't show up until about 4am.  Ryan came so fast last time and I wasn't ready, so I wasn't going to make that mistake again.  I couldn't rest.