Summer 2009 #6: Rachel Rachel and more Rachel

The summer isn't over yet...and we still have a few more activites planned. Until then here are some "rachel being cute" photos that we took over the past couple months....enjoy!

Summer 2009 #5: The Half Marathon

So I finally did it, I ran my first Half Marathon. The day before my birthday I got to take an item off my bucket list. It was a great time, there were even 6 people from my Ward that ran as well. It was a little harder than I thought. Especially since we started at 8,000 feet. Granted we finished at 7,000 feet so you would think that going downhill would make you fast but the opposite is true. The declines were very steep and there were a whole bunch of up hills...I mean we are in the Rockies. All in all I am glad I finished it, though I didn't get the sub-2hr time I wanted (2:02) That's ok though as I already signed up for another one on Labor Day. What the heck has gotten into me....

Summer 2009 #4: Gramsy Comes to Visit

My mom came out for a week in August to visit and hang out with Rachel. Rachel had a great time with Gramsy and loved to show her how she rules this house. Here are some family pics that we took.

Summer 2009 #3: Wellington Lake Camping

We got together with some friends to camp at Wellington Lake in July. I didn't snap too many photos but did get one of Rachel and I hanging out in the lake on my surfboard....I know I know...I just haven't been on my board in 7 months and thought it would be fun to paddle around.

Summer 2009 #2: Our Wedding Anniversary

This year Teresa and I got away, sans child, to explore Beaver Creek. We landed an insane deal on a hotel suite up there and had a great time. It was overcast the first day but that made for some sweet pics on the way up the lift. We had a nice dinner the first night and even got some dancing in. The following day we hiked up to an alpine lake. We love Colorado!

Summer 2009 #1: The Zoo

We took Rachel to the Zoo for the first time in June on Teresa's Birthday. She had a ton of fun especially at the Monkey cages. She has a fascination with monkeys and probably would prefer to live in a cage filled with monkeys and dogs. It's a good thing we started with the monkeys because by the half way point she was over it. Maybe in a couple more years when she "gets it" we will buy some season passes and hang out there more often.

Bolder Boulder 2009

It took me 31 years, but I finally have gotten myself in shape enough to run. I have been addicted to running ever since Jan...don't ask me how and don't ask me why, as it's still puzzling to me because I HATED running prior to that. Today was my first race, a 10K at the BolderBOULDER. I won't lie, I had a hard time sleeping the night before and I was nervous coming to the starting line but with my brother Josh by my side and and a goal in my mind I was set to go.
In Feb when I signed up my goal was to just finish the race, by April I wanted to be under an hour and as of last week I wanted to beat 55 minutes (I may have thrown out there 50 minutes but that was the Big Hairy Audacious Goal). The run went well, started very fast but kept an 8:30-8:50 pace for the whole race, of course there were some slow periods like the "cattle herding" going on as you enter the stadium but with all that, I finished at 54:31.65 (8:47 Pace). I was so stoked and it looks like we have started a new memorial day tradition as the rest of our family felt the bug and committed to running next year. Here are some pics to of the days events:











...next stop, Aug 8th 2009, Idaho Springs Half Marathon