Deseret News Half Marathon

I heard that the Deseret News Half Marathon was a great course, so I signed up for another half. I thought I'd do great and possibly get another PR. I THOUGHT I was prepared for the race, but I wasn't. I went out too fast and wasn't prepared for how flat and hot it got at the end. I got my worst half time every. It's not a terrible time by any means, I just thought I'd do better. I finished in 2:00:49 for a 9:17 pace. Although I don't like the course, I'll sign up for it again with the sole purpose of beating my previous time. :)

Jamie and me at the beginning

Ron, Emily and me

Rachel ran the fill marathon and I waited for her at the end. She always amazes me. 

Steven's Scout camp

I just remembered that I still need to get the 2016 pics from Mike for his camp that year. As a recap of 2016, we gave him $10 to spend at the scout store if necessary and he spent it all on Coke and Oreos. (His leaders thought we allowed him to drink Coke) That made for a very energetic (more than usual) Steven. They got what they deserved. ;)

This year I volunteered to go with his troop. It was a lot of fun. We played Quiditch (I rocked), painted things, they drove dangerous go carts and shot bb guns. I gave him money and he immediately spent it on things he didn't need. I guess that's a kid thing, but still... ;)

Hiking in Big Cottonwood Canyon

Mike and I have realized there are a lot of hikes and national parks in Utah we haven't been to, so we've started to knock some of them out. We get a lot of ideas from Utah's Adventure Family. We found this post about Waterfall Hikes nearby and chose a couple up Big Cottonwood. We did the Hidden Falls and Mill B South Interpretive falls. The boys favorite part is always climbing around on the rocks and trying to get stuck. ;)

Camping at Mirror Lake

We wanted to go on another local camping trip, so we went to Utah's Adventure family again and found their post on Things to do on the Mirror Lake Highway. We decided to camp at Mirror lake and drive to some of the hikes nearby. It's such a beautiful area! 

They recommended eating at Hi-Mountain Drug store, and it was delicious. Just a tiny ma and pop place, but they had really good burgers. We spent a ton since we had to try a little of everything. :)

Our first day there we set up camp, ate and Hi-Mountain, and did some fishing. The kids each found their own spot and settled in.

Sarah caught the first (and possibly only) fish of the day

We stayed comfy in our nice pop up trailer. 

Our second day at the lake it was still chilly, but much nicer. We did some more fishing.

After fishing we decided to go on a short hike to a couple of different lakes. As you can see by the sign, both lakes were only a short walk. It was a beautiful day, and should have been perfect for some easy nature walks. In the spirit of keeping things real and honest, I'll ask that you not be fooled by all of the perfect pictures and smiles. There was a lot of whining and bickering going on. One of our kids was not happy being "forced" to go on a beautiful hike, so said kid got angry at rocks and sticks that seemed to get in his/her way and we only made it to the second lake. Despite the need for a lecture from us, it was a beautiful hike.