{sAn FrAnciScO}

San Francisco is such an amazing city. There is so much personality everywhere and the shopping! Oh, Oh, Oh! There are so many great stores, and lots and lots of cute shoes. Also the food is fantastic.


Unfortunately we stayed in the bad end of town. Everyone said don’t be out on Market Street between 5th and 7th at night. There are lots homeless people there and blatant drug dealing. However, I was more scared during the day in those areas then at night. The other bad part was their language. I was so glad that my kids were not there to hear some of the awful things that were said.
I’m sure I probably walked a good 50 miles in those few short days. I am happy to report that their public transportation is great (trolley and bus). We also ended up taking a taxi once because we were going to be late for our airport shuttle. He was nice until the end, then he was rather rude.

I did some of the tourist things: Fisherman’s Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, and Coit Tower.

As always the highlight was visiting with family. It was great to see Adrian & Tane and also my Grandma. My grandma is 90 years old. She’s amazing!

My cousins Adrian & Tane came to rescue me for an afternoon! They took me on an insider’s tour of the city. I was able to meet some of their friends and they helped me discover my new favorite dessert, ginger cake with pumpkin ice cream. It was divine!

The entire country and Canada’s Team in Training got together the night before the race for a pasta party. We had pasta dinner and some motivational speakers. Every team was assigned tables. Our director and coaches decorated our tables. It was nice. It was also the first chance we had to see our whole entire team together.

{My TEAM UTAH}

The night of race day they had a Victory Celebration. I would have been ok skipping that. They feed us turkey and potatoes (of course there was other stuff also). I was just tired, sore and not really up to it! There was lots of walking involved to get there.

All and all, this was an incredible experience. I had no idea I could accomplish such a thing. Thanks to everyone who has supported me in this.

{cRaZy dAys}

Life has been absolutely crazy around here. I think that today I am overly nervous for my upcoming race. I board an airplane in a few hours and set out for San Fran. I guess I think that if I blog that I'll relax, we'll see! :)

Some of the highlights from the past week:

I got to help pass out treats at lunch for Red Ribbon Week. They had to dress up for different days (red, crazy socks, hats, backwards) and if they did they got a treat. Nearly all the kids on put a "cap" on drugs day wore a hat and they loved it. Then on "turn your back on drugs" day Ally wore her shirt backwards. When she came home she looked kind of funny. Then I realized she had her jeans on backwards. Silly girl! She said that she turned them around at school.

***

The other day Landon and Rob (our neighbor) were throwing a ball at each other. When they were done Rob said, "here's your ball back". Landon says, "It's not my ball" and throws it in his yard and runs off. When Landon went to bed last night he finds the ball under his pillow. Landon groans, "He wins..." But then this morning, Landon runs the ball over to Rob's front porch. This time with a sticky note that says, "Ha Ha I win"

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As far as Wednesday night youth activities go, I think this weeks activity has been the best so far. We went up to Timp Lodge to serve, eat & dance! We hauled wood, then had a great dinner. Of course, the dance was the best part. Josh Nichols brought up his sound equipment and was our DJ. Katie Williams came up and offered some dance instruction (Cha Cha). Some people were a little worried about having a dance with just our ward. I figured that the kids all knew exactly what we were doing and they still showed up. It was a great success and hysterical too! :)

***

Oh to be young again! Here's Ally and friends. It reminds me of when I was little and we'd all roller skate. The wheels have changed (Heelys now), but the freedom of flying down the street will never change.

{hOoRaY fOr mE}

I'm so excited! Today I had my final check-in with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society over my fundraising. I official made my goal of raising $4000. Thank you so much to everyone who helped me do it. Obviously, there is no way I would of ever been able to do it without you.

My race is in a few short weeks. Last week I survived my first 20 mile run. I even have cuts and bruises to show for it. Yes, I'm a klutz and had a little tumble down a cement hill. Now we taper our runs. I think tomorrow is only 10 miles and the next Saturday is 6 miles and the week after that is race time!

Running a marathon does not sound like any fun to me! It's going to be a huge challenge. Everyone keeps telling me that the last 10k is the worst. I believe it. However, I will finish this race, even if I am crawling in on all 4's, and I will be so happy to say,
"Yes, I've run A marathon!"

{oH tHe jOyS oF a nEw sChOoL}

Last night after 9p.m., I'm driving Sam home and we pass by the school. There are several cop cars and a fire engine on the east side and the back corner. The fire engine has it's ladder stretched up to the top of the school. I'm thinking great they must of had some kids up there again and they were too scared to come down. All the neighbors around the school have been asked to call the the police if we see anyone on top of the school. They have already had problems with this.

About an hour later the school bell goes off and then we hear an announcement over the intercom, ...the building is surrounded...the police dogs will be called in...please find the nearest police officer. I look out the window and sure enough the building is surrounded by police cars. The one on our corner had his spotlight on scanning back and forth. Chris and I go out and sit on the porch and wait. I was worried that it was going to be some of the youth from my ward, and thankful to know that my kids were all home.

After about 20 minutes, I hear on his radio that they have the suspects and about 10 minutes later he drives away and officers start coming out of the school. I never did see who it was. They must of found them around back.

Moral of the story (for my kids): Stay out of anything that is not yours.