3 Men and a Hat

When we went on a family hike up to Cecret Lake, Heidi had a little hat for Gavin. Matt and Adam decided that they also look good in Gavin's hat and that I needed to document it for posterity.

A New Tradition: Biking Hidden Peak

Owen and I decided we would try biking to the top of Hidden Peak this year. We spent the summer training and decided to conquer the mountain on Monday. The first 1 mile or so wasn't to bad. We rode on the rode towards Alta and then accessed the service rode that led to the trail.

We were riding along and I was thinking that I could do this and then we hit our first hard hill. Holy Moly, it was tough. I thought we are not going to make it to the top.

We decided that to brake this daunting task into chunks. We would ride up a hill and then rest, then ride and rest. There were a couple of spots that were either too steep and you felt like you were going to fall of the bike or that were to rock or sandy.

Owen pushing through the pain to get to the top of this hill

I love this picture of Owen because you can tell he is working hard and you can see what he has already conquered.

When I was looking up at this hill I was not sure if I could make it to the top, but some how I did.

This summer I spent a lot of time working out on the spinning machine at the gym. There is a video workout with a spinning "master" named Josh. The video does help me to push myself during a workout and throughout the ride I could hear things that Josh says.

For example, "The mind needs to be tough so the body can follow." Or, "The hills getting steeper, can you come with me? Add some resistance." To which I always answer "Yes" and add the resistance. "Like my coach always says the race doesn't end at the finish line." Or my personal favorites, "YOU...ARE...AWESOME! and Let yourself out of the cage." It is cheesy but when you are riding up a hill like this, it keeps your mind on something other than the current lactic acid build up in your thighs.

Well, by the time Owen and I got to the top we were more worried about staying warm and resting that we forgot to get pictures of us coming up onto Hidden Peak so this picture is a reenactment.

It took Owen and I 3 hours to get to the top. We started at 8000ft and rode a little over 5 miles to end at 11,000ft. I am really proud of us both. When we finished I thought I don't think I will do that again, but now that I know I can do it I just might try again next year.

5 of my favorite people

I had a great time at snowbird playing with my niece, Greta, and my nephews, Adam, Matt, Evan and Gavin. We went swimming, played the Wii, hiked, went Temple Square, ate lots of sugar, broke the sound barrier on the Alpine Slide, rode the red and blue tram and had a great time.

Why walk when you have Holly and Owen to give you a ride. Now how did I end up with Adam, the heavier child?

Holly and Evan at Temple Square. We decided that we would both wear yellow that day.

"Holly, we have been on the Alpine Slide a hundred times, why are you so scared?"

Gavin on his first hike to Cecret Lake. Gavin is such a happy baby with the cutest smile.

Derek, Greta, and Holly walk back from the Snowbird Center for lunch.

I love this picture. I think it shows how much the cousins enjoyed each other. I love being Auntie Holly.

A Snowbird Tradition: Hiking Hidden Peak

As we do every year, a few of us hiked to the top of Hidden Peak. The beginning of the trail is at 8000ft and it is 4 miles to Hidden Peak which is at 11000 ft. My goal each year is to make it in under 2 hours. This year I hiked with my cousin Mark and his wife Stacia. We hiked in about an hour and 50 minutes. We were the only ones on the trail and the first ones on top of Hidden Peak that day (except for Snowbird employees). It was a great day to hike but windy up top. Alexis started about an hour after us and ran to the top. Then Derek rode the tram up with Evan and Greta to meet us.

Greta, Derek, Evan, Alexis, and Holly

This is part of the trail is in the Peruvian Gulch.

A shot of the SLC valley

Greta was so kind to carry my backpack for me.

Breaking the Sound Barrier on the Alpine Slide

"Oh yeah", "Holy Mamasitta", "Whoo-Hoo" are three phrases that could commonly be heard as Matt and I went speeding down the Alpine Slide. There were a couple times that Matt rode with Robert and I was by myself...It is was boring.

Evan the speed-demon and Uncle Owen come cruising down the slide while Matt chases after.

Greta feeling the need for speed with Uncle Owen.

Old man Owen making his way down the slide.

Leaving behind him traces of smoke, Adam set speed records on the slide. Since Adam is now 7 he no longer needs to ride with an adult and he did a great job on his own.

The Alpine Slide was definitely one of our favorite things to do at Snowbird. I lost count how many times we rode down. When Owen and Heidi told me it was time to go and make dinner I said okay. But two minutes later, I asked "Can I go down it just one more time."

Estes Park, CO

Grandma Ruth was visiting so we took her up to Estes Park for the weekend. It was a nice and relaxing weekend. We even got to ditch church.

When we first arrived, I was parking my car when I noticed what looked like an Elk. I thought it was a ceramic elk, a very large ceramic elk at the time share. I was looking at it when I noticed that its ears and then head thus realizing that it was not a ceramic elk. He was just relaxing before he check into his time share.

Another friendly creature. The butterfly just landed next to me.

Dad, Susan, and I enjoying the hot tub on a day that begins with S and is not Saturday. Derek and Alexis are rubbing off on us :)

Grandma Ruth, Susan, and Dad near a waterfall in Rocky National Park.

Can you guess whose sexy legs those are?

Rocky National Park

Prefontaine

Over the 4th of July, Derek, Alexis, and I went to the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. It was really cool to see professional runners compete and to feel the fans' energy. Although, I am not a runner, it was fun to observe this culture. Some of the pictures you may have to click on to see the image I was trying to capture; my zoom is pretty poor.

A long jumper taking flight.

Mariya Savinova winning the 800m. I remember watching her in the Olympics.

Women's Steeple Chase

Tirunesh Dibaba winning the 5000m in 14:34.07. Amazing, I am just finishing up my 1st mile in that time.

Men's 1500.

Another Long Jumper

Walter Dix just beating Tyson Gay in the 200m. He ran it in 19.72 seconds.