World Culture Club - Half Marathon

So I did it! I actually ran 13.2 miles in a real timed race. The good news is I finished - the bad news is - it took me 2hrs 15min and 45sec. I was about five minutes off my goal pace of 10 minute miles. I was hoping to finish in 2hrs 10min. All in all, the good news WAY outweighs the bad news... finishing was GREAT!

My cheering section consisted of Sheri's younger sister Sara and her kids Pierce, Halley, and Brook - Sheri's older sister Judy and most of her kids, Krista, Jake, and Jared - Sheri and our kids Callie, Caden and Tyler - and Jessica and baby Layna... (14 people cheering me on). They were a great support, and had to get up really early to be there to see me run.

The race started at 6:30 a.m. and was almost an hours drive from our house. I got there about 30 minutes early, and the cheering section arrived a bit later.

As the race was winding down - between miles 11 and 12 I got to the top of a hill and could see the whole family down there at the bottom waiting for me... it was a really cool feeling and gave me a nice boost of adrenalin. Some of the pictures below are of me running towards them, then some of the kids running with me. The last pictures are of me crossing the finish line.

If you click on the link to see the stats of the run - it should be noted that the whole back side of the course is all hills. I was either running up or downhill from mile 3 through mile 11 - which I'm sure contributed to my increased time...

I realized during this race, that I'm not a runner - I run, but I am in no way shape or form an actual "runner". Runners make a life out if this... I've made a goal out of it. Runners wear the perfect clothes and appear to make a hobby out of running. Until now, the only times I'd run was if a coach made me, or a dog was chasing me. Now I run... but I don't think I'll ever be a "runner".

Next up - a full Marathon... I'm glad that it's not until October - because at the end of this race, there is no way I could have gone on for another 13 miles and lived.

Link to see my stats during the race:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8027745

As always - click on the pictures to enlarge...

Tyler's 7th Birthday

For Tyler's birthday party - he had a few of his lil Pirate friends over for a treasure hunt... check it out!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This is the Birthday montage my Dad put together for Tyler's Birthday - its a great walk down memory lane!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Woman at the Well

A few weeks ago our ward had their Relief Society commemoration dinner. This time Sheri decided to do "The Woman at the Well" as the theme.

About ten sisters put on a beautiful program - singing and speaking - about the Savior, and His love for Women in the scriptures, and today. The program was very well done, and you could tell the Sisters were touched. I wasn't the only one crying during some of the musical numbers...

For the decorations Sheri had several water fountains going, which really added to the "Woman at the Well" theme. The center pieces and the colors on the tables all had a watery look about them. We hung a parachute from the ceiling with a home-made chandelier (hoola-hoop and icicle Christmas lights) hanging in the middle to create the false ceiling. Sheri had a lot of Sisters come out and help her with the decorating. I've noticed over the years, that the people who come out and help set everything up are really fed twice by the Spirit. The friendship, sisterhood, and support that develops between the Sisters as they work together on something is pretty special to watch unfold.

It was another wonderful evening! I'm so proud of Sheri and the great job she does. She really takes good care of the Sisters in our ward.

I know several of you out there have been waiting for the pictures. I've posted a few below. You can get a bigger view by clicking on the pictures. I didn't downsize them at all, because there are a few who wanted to download them. So if you click on the picture to make it big, then you can save the big picture to your own computer.


This is one of the wall's on either side of the gym




This was the other wall.






This is the table setting - the center piece was made from
those glass blocks they use in some bathroom windows.
We cut a hold in the bottom of the block, so we could put a
flameless candle inside the block - turned out really cool




This is a close up of the center-piece I described above.




In this picture you can see the parachute false ceiling
and a little bit of the home-made chandelier.




This is the whole gym - fun transformation isn't it?




This is the food table - Sheri put a running fountain
in the middle of the table, and the food all around it.
It was really cool looking - one of the neatest parts of
the decorations.



This was the other fountain - at the back of the gym.
The running water sound during dinner was a nice
touch, and I didn't notice too many Senior Sisters
having to run to the bathroom, so I guess there were
no side effects...



These next three are of the stage where the program took
place. Sheri's friend Michele did all the planning and decorating
for the program. It turned our really well.






This is during the program - kinda dark and blurry, but you can
get an idea of how they used the stage for the program.

Fair to Middlein...

Saturday was the regional Pinewood Derby here in Tucson. Cade, Uncle Steve and I made the drive to North Tucson - about 45 minutes from home - to the Foothills mall. We got his car weighed in, and grabbed some lunch while we waited for the Wolf races to start.

Each race featured three cars, and you were awarded points based on what place you came in. One point for first, two for second and three for third. You race three times, and the scout with the lowest score wins. We ran middle of the pack every time. There were over 30 cars racing against each other. Even though we didn't win, we sure had a great time...

Pics from my phone - sorry for the poor quality.

Running for my life...

Over Christmas my Sister-in-law Sara challenged me to run a Marathon with her this year. I have not committed yet, but I have committed to give her an answer by April.

We are going to try to run the St. George Marathon - registration is in April - so I figure if I can get up to 13 miles before the end of April, then I will register and try to run it in October.

I have been running for about a month now. I run four days a week, and rest three - roughly following the schedule below:

When I started, I weighed about 227 - today I weigh about 220.

My average heart rate when I started was about 179 - now its about 163.

I'm starting to feel so much better. I average 10 min. miles, and as I start to get in better shape, I'm hoping to bring that down a bit.

I wear a Garmin running watch and a heart rate monitor that tracks everything I do. On the side of my blog page I've put a little link block where I'll give you an update on each run, and a link where you can click and see all the statistics of that day's run.

I'm hoping that knowing that some of you are following what I do will help motivate me to keep on going. There are days when I really just don't want to run, but so far I have been able to get myself out and going pretty consistently... It's going to get harder as the runs get longer, and take more time. I'm not as worried about being able to run the distance as I am about carving out several hours of my day to run.

For those of you that are pro's at this - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Wish me luck! And health...

Cade's Pinewood Derby

Saturday was our Cub Scout Pack's Pinewood Derby.

The Cubscout Website has this cool little design feature, that lets you pick out the design you want for your car, then you can print it out. So Cade picked out his favorite car, and we went to work.

Like anything else, when I'm at a loss, I turn to the Internet for guidance and advice... I found all kinds of Websites where you could buy special axles, wheels, designs, weights, etc... that would almost guarantee you a win at your Derby. I was less concerned about winning and more concerned about not being embarrassed come race day. So, I stopped by a local Hobby Shop close to my office, and bought a few tools that I would need, and some extra weight and graphite for the axles.

Uncle Steve helped Tyler build a ROCKIN Batman car (Tyler is too young to participate in Scouts, but because his Dad is the Wolf leader, he pretty much does everything Cade and I do), and Cade and I built an AWESOME red black and yellow racer, #25 for his Mom's old basketball number.

Come race day - Cade had to race his car at least eight or nine times because of the way the brackets were set up. At the end, he came in second place overall, and first place in the Wolf Den. Which means he gets to go to the regional race, and represent our pack against all the other Pinewood Derby winners in the Tucson area. So sometime in March look for another post to see how he fares in the big leagues...

Congrats Cade! Well done my son!


The little workshop in the Garage where all the magic took place!

Cade was Super excited about his Trophy!

Second place - not bad for a Pinewood Derby Rookie...



The Father-Son Bonding time was great too!

Christmas Part III - Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning were incredibly special this year! The kids had so much fun, and were so well behaved. Christmas experienced through the eye's and facial expressions of little children has to be one of the greatest joys in the world. There was a very special feeling in our home. Having a new convert family (Troy and Terry Mickelson) with us I'm sure contributed greatly. I hope the montage I put together gives you at least a little glimpse of how we felt, and the fun we had.

Joe

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Christmas Part II - The Lights

There is a neighborhood/subdivision in Tucson called Winterhaven (fitting name eh?) where almost all the houses decorate their yards, trees, roofs, etc... with thousands of lights and other decorations. The police "monitor" all entrances to help with traffic and safety, and literally thousands of people go every night and walk or ride in horse drawn hay-wagons around the neighborhood. There are some really spectacular houses - and the pictures below just can't do justice to the real life version.

http://www.winterhavenfestival.org/index.html

We went there on a surprisingly cold rainy evening with the family. Despite the weather, losing a child for a little while (scary feeling by the way), and the drive into Tucson - we all had a fun time. The kids even enjoyed it, and we got a few good pics of the family outing...

As always... click on the pics for a better view

Curious George has some helpers!

In front of Santa's Farm

This time with a few more animals...

Halle in front of the Disney Prince and Princesses yard

Grandma & Grandpa with the Grandchildren (minus Brooke)

Santa under the sea

Away in the Manger

the poor baby is awoken...

Walking and walking and walking and walking...

The grand prise winner... wish the picture could do this house/yard justice

The trees to the left, and all the lights were just BRILLIANT and Beautiful!

THE END!

Christmas Part I - THE SUNS GAME!

Sheri's Sister Sara her husband Jared and her family, and Sheri's parents Cal and Sandra arrived on December 17th and 18th to spend Christmas and New Years with us down here in WARM southern Arizona.

Sara decided to get her husband Jared tickets to an NBA game for Christmas. She wanted to surprise him, so she asked me to help. The best date, and game I could come up with was Suns vs. Denver Nuggets on December 20th. It looked like it would be a great game, against two really strong teams. I started looking for good seats, and good deals back in early November. Since Cal was also going to be here, we all pitched in money to get him a ticket for Christmas too. I ended up getting us three seats kitty corner from the goal post in row five. We were right down there on the floor where we could see the action up close and personal. When we arrived at the arena, and found our seats - I had to call Sheri and tell her that we were so close that I could spit and probably hit the floor (I didn't test my theory, but am still pretty confident that I could have if I had tried).

It was incredible. I was amazed at how HUGE these guys are. Especially Shaq. He is enormous. On TV Steve Nash looks like this tiny little guy - in real life HE'S 6'3". That's four inches taller than me, or the same height as my brother-in-law Steve. But, when Nash stands next to Shaq... he looks TINY.

The other thing that amazed me, is that because of their size and athleticism - a full sized regulation basketball court ends up looking and playing like like those tiny courts we play on at church, where the three point line almost touches half court.

Jared and Cal loved their Christmas presents, and best of all, the Suns pulled out a WIN in a really close game. It was exciting, and intense, and loads of fun. What a great start to our Christmas and New Years Activities!

Click on the pictures to see them up close

BEFORE THE GAME DURING WARM-UPS

DURING THE GAME!

US AT THE GAME