Memorial day "camping"

Thank goodness Clay was keen on checking the weather report for the 18 of us before we headed to Kolob for the weekend - seems we would have gotten snowed-on all weekend. So, luckily "Grandma Honey" was gracious to let us come stay at her house in St. George instead. My brother Scott, sister Jen, their families and Watsons all headed down to So. Utah to have some fun. Saturday was jam packed with fun in Snow Canyon, which I highly recommend for anyone with little kids. There is so much to do! We went to the lava tubes in the morning (picture with Lucy standing in the bottom) and Clay set up a top rope for all of us to kill ourselves trying to climb. Uncle Martin was awesome to spend most of the afternoon with the littlest kids in the sand dunes. What great uncles/dads they have! I was belaying Claire for an hour, but it was totally worth it to see her make it to the top. She wasn't going to give up for anything. I wish I had that kind of tenacity!

That night we went to In-N-Out Burger, which is now open in St. George for all you So Cal peeps out there. It's as good as I remember, just not as big! You gotta get the cheese burger with the grilled onions...so good! Sunday was spent out in the middle of nowhere digging around an open gypsum mine. Pretty cool to see a shiny pile of rocks.We then went to Red Rock nature preserve where we went on a hike up a little narrow canyon. We had to carry, push and pull kids up some sketchy rocks to get to some more sketchy rocks. We all felt a little adventurous with all these little kids. We got back to Honey's house in time to make a quick trip to the new fountain in the city center to splash around in and then for some homemade lasagne from Grandma Wilson. (I think she makes it real hard to live up to the precedent she is creating by doing stuff like that - I mean, who sends dinner for 18 people to a party they can't go to? I don't think any of us could be as involved and thoughtful as she is as a grandparent! Thanks, Mom) What a fun weekend! "Camping" at Honey's house is the best!

Young for my age?

Last night I went running with my friend Jess. She's 26. I'm 35. I was commenting on how I feel like I'm falling apart. I did the Salt Lake Century ride (100 mile road bike ride) with Melanie on Saturday and had a blast. I was proud that I wasn't even sore, except for some unmentionable places. But on the whole, my legs weren't really fatigued and I felt great. My ankle started hurting on Monday, however, and I was having a hard time walking, let alone running. So, as I was complaining about my ankle, Jess said, "You are one of the youngest 35-year-olds I know". Now, I know she totally meant it as a compliment, but it didn't feel necessarily like a compliment. I mean, how old am I supposed to act at 35? I had another friend ask me my age, and her reply was "You're THAT old?" Again, I think she was trying to complement me, but I AM THAT old. It is the beginning of the end, I guess. All the young kids are gonna start calling me "ma'am" and stuff. The senility is setting in and I don't know how to stop it! Hopefully with age, wisdom might show up...if I'm lucky. It is true that we think we're younger than we are. Just ask my 85-year-old neighbor. He always asks me when looking at pictures of himself, "Do I really look that old?" I guess we really do!

The End of Soccer, yea!

This has been a learning experience for Clay and I. We thought it would be fun to have Will (5) and Lucy (7) in soccer this year. AYSO is a great program. It would be even greater if our kids actually LIKED playing soccer. We thought Lucy would enjoy it more the more she played. But even in the final game, she was still picking flowers and skipping up the field. C'mon where's the fire? It's all bursting out her hair instead of her feet. Will, on the other hand, has plenty of fire...it just coming out his fists. Hence, the video of Will's karate-soccer. Needless to say, Clay and I are happy to have our Saturdays to our own now.

Now I am cool too

The other night I was visiting with my good friend Jan at their brand new beautiful house and she was telling me how cool I could be if I too started a blog. She was so gracious enough to help me start this. The problem is now I just have to do the hard part by keeping it up. I don't suppose that I will be witty or intellectual by doing this, but hopefully I will be able to keep in better contact with friends and family, let alone maybe keeping a journal for my own family.