It's Baby Boy Time

I just got the call from Charity and I hope she doesn't mind but I'm announcing that he's on his way! She went for her check up today and found out that he was breached. So she's going in less than an hour to get him flipped around the right way. Then they will induce her and hopefully we'll be welcoming our new little nephew by tomorrow. :) I'm so excited!

I Like to Eat, Eat, Eat...

There's something about Aine's feeding time that draws out the camera. I don't think either Spencer or I can resist taking a picture of Aine with a face covered in food.

Oh and I love surprise visits at work by Spencer carrying Aine with evidence of her latest meal on her cheeks!

Fire... Or is it?

The fire alarm went off at my work today. It's shameful how long it took us to decide to listen to it and exit the building. Even more terrible is that only a handful of us knew how we were suppose to do it. It wasn't too long after we made it out of the building before the fire truck arrived. The firefighters gave a skeptical glance at the smokeless building, took a quick tour inside and gave us the go ahead to head back inside. A nice distraction for the day. Kudos to the quick response of our fire fighters. It makes me wonder if they were on high alert for September 11.

I've Got Teeth

This one is for you, Charity. Although, this image is blurry, there are little, baby teeth in there. They first came in on Labor Day evening. I got a sharp bite from these lovely chompers. Oh and yes, I did say teeth... there are two. They both came at the same time and I wouldn't be surprised if another few will be making their appearance soon.

P.S. Charity, you won't believe how difficult this picture was to get.

P.S.S. Yes, that is baby food on her nose. I guess I missed a little when cleaning her up.

Emma Smith

Picture Source and Emma Info

Last night I was able to attend our ward's Enrichment Night in which Bill Rowley came to speak to us about Emma Smith. I have to admit that overall I have known very little about Emma's life, except for the stories I have heard in church and such. I am humbled by her life, what she had to go through and what she was able to do. While hearing about how she dealt with the deaths of 8 loved ones within 7 months and all recently before being called to serve as the first Relief Society president, I felt so foolish for the many times I have given into self-pity. My life and all the responsibility it entails felt like nothing when compared to sweet Emma's. I often feel so down because I can't be home with Aine, but instead go to work to support Spencer while he finishes school. But that is nothing in comparison to Emma's support of her husband while facing many hardships, like the loss of her children and moving around so much. I complain about having to live in an apartment instead of our own home and in just the years she was married to Joseph she only lived in her own home for so few. She was at the mercy of others so often. I have promised myself to remember her example when I am feeling overwhelmed by what is going on in my life. I know that it was through the support of Heavenly Father that she was able to go through so much and I know that He will also support me as I struggle. I will try to be an uncomplaining support to Spencer, Aine and anyone else I can serve. I know that God will bless Emma; she truly is a dear and special woman, An Elect Lady.

Park City Vacation

The week that Faith and I have both been looking forward too. We spent a week up in Park City staying at the Mountainside Marriott. We left Friday afternoon and checked in our room around 4pm. I ran the marathon the next morning. It was great to have family come up and cheer me on. Later on in the evening Faith's sister Charity and her family came up and we had dinner together. A couple hours later Faith's family came up to see us and they all congratulated me on a great race that I ran. Monday we went up to the Olympic Park and got a tour of place. We went to the very top and saw the different winter sports events. We learned that the skeleton is the number one safest winter sport and the luge is number one dangerous sport. Tuesday we traveled up to Heber Valley and rode the train to Provo Canyon. Aine enjoyed the ride up, but coming back it was a different story. Wednesday we hung out around Park City and went swimming and walked around. Thursday we went hiking. Friday after checking out we went to Deer Valley and caught ride up to Bald Mtn. and what a beautiful view it was. You could see MT Timpanogas. The Jordan lake and saw a lot of mountains. We then traveled up to Midway for the Swiss Days. We walked around the different tents and looked a lot of fun stuff. We came home. Overall it was a fun week to be together as a family and enjoy each others company. Sorry we did not take any pictures of our vacation. Yes we are that bad. We hope you will forgive us.

MARATHON #10 Goal Accomplished

On August 23, 2008, I ran my 10th marathon in Park City, Utah. The race started at 6:30am. I started out running with the lead pack for the first five miles. Slowly but surely the front runners started pulling away and I was by myself at about the 8 mile mark. I looked to see how many people were behind me and there were no runners in sight. I concentrated on my pace. I kept right on trucking. The race route was mostly on dirt or paved trails. The only time I was running on the road was going up to Deer Valley which was the highest point of the race. 7400 ft elevation that is. It was fun running through all the little shops in downtown Park City and running on the ski bridge too. The last 5 miles of the race were the toughest. I ended up finishing 6th overall with a time of 3hrs 2min 42sec (6:58 mile pace). I placed first in my age group. Out of all ten marathons I have ran, this is the toughest one of them all. This marathon in my opinion should be listed as a Cross Country Marathon due to all the trails you run on.

The following is a recap of the 10 marathons that I have run.

1) St. George Marathon (1990)

2) Deseret News Marathon (1991)

3) St. George Marathon (1991)

4) Deseret News Marathon (1992)

5) St. George Marathon (1992)

6) St. George Marathon (1998) 2hrs 59min 26sec

7) Logan Marathon (2004) 3hrs 3min 10sec

8) Boston Marathon (2005) 2hrs 59min 59sec (My favorite)

9) Deseret News Marathon (2008) 2hrs 53min 53sec

10) Park City Marathon (2008) 3hrs 2min 42sec

I'm done running marathons with school on the horizon. My main focus is to put all of that hard work and dedication towards school. Somewhere down the road I do plan on adding to my list above. Thank you all for your love and support.