Top of Utah 1/2

Saturday I ran the Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon. It went well. Not great. But good. I'm so glad when I do a race, but also so glad when it's over. This is the second race I've done this year. I got roped into running the Epic Cache Teton Relay with some neighbor ladies kind of at the last minute as an alternate two weeks before this 1/2. It was lot's of fun, but I kind of like getting a race done early in the morning and not having to do the whole overnight thing. I didn't take a camera on that one, but once I get ahold of some pictures, I'll post some of those.


Some of our great supporters! I can't tell you how much it means that Rett comes to these races. Even though we all know I'm not going to win one! But it's so nice to see him and the boys at the finish line. It makes me have the energy to continue walking instead of just dying after a race!


Megan and TJ after she finished!


Here I am with my cute family! Love them so much! Especially after 13.1 miles!


Megan & I. Megan, for any of you who don't know and are wondering who this cute girl is, is my brother-in-law TJ's fiance. She's super cute and such a good sport. I'm not sure what she thought of this whole thing, but she did it and was awesome! I'm so glad she did it and even though we didn't train or run too much together, we were able to make some fun memories and get to know each other better! I'm hoping for lot's of runs together in the future, but it may be too soon to ask her again!


Holly Sorensen, myself, and Kolbi Sorensen. These cute sister-in-laws were in my old neighborhood. We ran on a team together on the Wasatch Back. They are super fun and I'm so glad they were there and waited for Megan and I to get there even though we were late to ride up together on the bus. Holly and Megan ran most of the race together and did great, especially for their first 1/2. Kolbi, who I can't decide if she's crazy and stubborn or just really strong and amazing! She suffered a stress fracture in her foot during training, and took a ton of time off from running but stayed in good cardio shape with her elliptical and bike for hours a day! And still ran the race and did so well!


I'm so glad I got to run this race with these cute girls! I have so many good friends that I've been brought closer to because of running. There's just something about running, sweating, getting up early or staying out late, going in the heat, cold, or rain, dealing with injuries, and getting to chat that brings you closer with running partners! I wish there were a bunch of other girls there too, but I'm glad I got to run with these superstars!

My Country Singers

So, my boys may not have real aspirations of being country singers, but they sure learned this song well. It's super cute! Grandpa Kip and Debbie taught it to them. I had to get it on video before they got any bigger!




My Home's In Montana ( I don't know who the author, artist, or anything is....Sorry!) Also, these words could be a little off...

My home's in Montana, I wear a bandana
My spur's are shiny, my pony is grey
My luck never changes, as I ride the ranges
One foot in the stirrup, I gallop away.

Little Rockers

Crew in his tent that Grandma Fishy gave him. It's been set up since we brought it home. They love to play in it.


Drakey hiding in a tube tent thing.


My sister Jolene gave the boys this guitar. It's funny. They love this little guitar. And they love to dance to it. Thanks Aunt Jo for such a fun little gift! Crew wanted a video of him rocking out, so here it is! And typical Drake got mad about something so he quit dancing half way through!

Little Buckaroo Rodeo

We entered the boys into the Little Buckaroo's Rodeo in Grace again this year. Last year Crew did the stick horse barrel race there and it was such a fun rodeo to watch. This year Drake got to do the stick horse race and Crew rode another sheep. They had a lot of fun. Plus, this one they had a cheering section so it made it a little more fun. When Rett asked Crew which sheep ride was better, he said this one because of the crowd he had just for him! He was super excited to have Grandma Teresa, Grandpa Kip, and Grandma Debbie there to watch! Not to mention they helped me out with cameras, so thanks tons for that, otherwise I wouldn't have these super cute videos and pictures!


We don't get very many family pictures taken, and I've been working on some real ones for a while, but we can't seem to get them done. So this picture will work for now. I love it! Even though Drake was angry because Rett tried to make him put his dollar bill in his pocket. There was a money chase where the kids could try to get money off a steer or sheep and of course we didn't quite keep up with the big kids, so Grandma Teresa fixed the problem by giving them both a dollar afterwards. You just can't make Drake do anything he doesn't want to. He's definitely a stubborn child! This was the best of the pictures that we took because he wasn't super mad at this point! But it was a beautiful sun set and I'm so glad we got to spend a great, fun, and safe night together as a family.


Here are the boys walking up to the rodeo. Super cute and super excited!


This one's of my boys watching the mini bull riding. So cute to see them get so excited about it and ask Rett all kinds of questions about it!


Drake and I walking out to get ready for the stick horse race. He is so funny. The days before we set up little barrels to get him to practice. He was all fun and games, and didn't really want to practice seriously. He would go around all three barrels in one big loop, or jump right on top of our fake barrels and say the horse was crazy and knocking them down. I'm not sure he did it right more than a couple of times. Rett said he would be busy with Crew and the sheep riding, so I had to take Drake around the barrels. And the plan was for me to run with him because during practices he didn't know what he was doing. Right before I asked him if he wanted me to run with him and he said no, he wanted to do it all by himself. He has quite the sense of humor. Apparently he'd been fooling us, because he did great all by himself! We were so proud of him. And you've got to love his little gallop! TOO CUTE! Way to go Drake, we were so glad we got to be there to watch you!










Here are the big boys getting ready for the sheep ride. Unlike last time, right before he rode, Crew did have some reservations. But Dad did good, and told him it was a little too late for those, and got him on just fine. Crew did great! Although, I think the judge this time was a little stingy on points. All that really matters though was that he had fun and didn't get hurt. We were so excited to see him doing something that made him so happy! Way to go Crew!

YAY Zink!

Zink has had two 2nd place finishes the last two weekends. That puts his Derby Points up to 27! We're so proud of him! YAY ZINK!

Dreams Come True!

Last night at the Preston Rodeo Crew got to ride a sheep. I always said I would never be a parent who waited in crazy long lines for my kids, but I got up a few weeks ago at 5:30 am to go wait in line for the mutton busting registration! I am so glad I did! Dreams came true last night! Seriously. Crew said it was the best day of his life! And I don't think he was kidding!

The night before, he started asking, "Is it bed time yet?" He couldn't wait till his rodeo day came! So, when it finally did, he was up and dressed in cowboy get up at 7am. Unfortunately, we still had to get through our last session of swim lessons, I had a line of sprinklers I was going to get done, we had a lot of yard stuff to do, and the rodeo didn't start till 8:30pm. So it was a long day of questions about what time we could leave.

We finally got there and Crew could hardly stand it. He was so excited and had this crazy high. It was so stinking cute. They called the mutton busters over to the chutes and I brought both my video camera and a still camera and had already asked someone sitting by me if they'd shoot one of them for me. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten a memory card from my little video camera, so I shot video with my nice camera and didn't get any still shots. I'm so glad I got it on camera though. When they left, poor Drake was so sad. He kept saying "I want to ride a sheep with Kangaroo". And when I'd respond that he was too little, he would say "NO, mom, I'll be tough". HOW CUTE IS THAT? At this rodeo there is actually no age minimum, so we could have signed him up, but sometimes he gets really scared, so we decided we would wait at least another year. He was super sad about it. But loved watching his big brother ride his sheep!

Rett said he was probably more nervous than Crew behind the chutes. Crew was excited and had no fear or reservations at all. He asked Rett if he could say "Let's go boys" like Lane Frost did when he bucked out! He did lose his boots in the chute before he even left though. He had a ton of fun and was so excited! He won a bandana and a little belt buckle that had a sheep rider on it. He's so proud of it!




I had to post this picture. I think it is so cute. Rett really makes a great cowboy! I'm a little biased, but I think he's super handsome and hot! And it reminded me a little of how he was rodeoing when we met and gave me a little butterfly about how much I love him and how grateful I am to have such a wonderful husband who lets his kid do things because they wants to, even though Rett doesn't want him to!


Another great part of the night for Crew was that one of Rett's high school buddies, John Lewis, was a pick up man at the rodeo. Behind the chutes, Crew told Rett he wanted to shake a real cowboys hand. So he shook Johns. Then John gave him a little horse ride. And later, John came over to where we were sitting and told the boys if they didn't fight over it, they could have one of his ropes. Crew was so excited. He didn't let go of the rope all night. When I put him in bed, he didn't want to because I'd left his rope in the living room! Thanks Uncle John for being such a great friend and helping make our little guys night complete!

I honestly think that Crew felt like his life was going just the way he wanted it to last night. He was so excited that we got in the car, buckled up, and he was out cold from all the adrenaline of the day. One second Rett asked him if he blacked out when he bucked out of the chute like Rett used to, and the next second, he was out! Rett and I have talked a lot about the boys rodeoing. He says that back in the day, he would have loved having a little cowboy. But now that we're a little older, we are almost hoping he grows out of the cowboy stuff. It is so scary, expensive, and demanding. I don't know what will end up happening. I do know though, that it seems that the cowboy in Crew is totally bred into him, and I doubt if it will ever change. He is definitely more cowboy than Drake. Drake only wants to dress cowboy and do stuff at the rodeos and because Crew is. But Crew thinks about it non stop. Unless he's with his cousins, and then it's maybe only half the time. The honest truth is, we will let him do whatever he wants to do and support him in whatever it is he chooses to do. I can't imagine how poor Teresa felt having a kid ride a bull growing up. It makes me so nervous to even imagine it! But again, his dreams are all that matter! And I am so glad I was part of such a sweet night and seeing how truly happy and excited our little Crewser was!

Swim Lessons

We had the boys in Swim Lessons for a couple of weeks. Crew was excited because his buddy from preschool, Trayce was in his class. It was Preschool Level 1, so it was pretty basic. But they did great. Crew was a great student. Drake wanted to play in the water more than anything. But they both passed and learned a lot! And more importantly, had a TON of fun! They can't wait till next year to do it again.

Weekend in Lehi

Last weekend Tiffiny blessed her baby Michael. Rett had to stay home to be on the trouble truck, so the boys and I went down without him. Friday we were able to go out to Cedar Fort and visit with Grandpa and Grandma Cook. Then we got to go to a really fun concert with Teresa. The boys have never been to any kind of concert before, so it was fun to see them dance and stuff. It started a little late, and they got sleepy pretty quickly. But I am so glad we got to see Grandma Teresa and Grandpa and Grandma Cook even though it wasn't for very long.

We went to this random event in Lehi called Foam Days. Strange. The fire trucks shot foam all over in this park. My boys didn't really think it was that amazing. It kind of smelled funny and didn't feel good in your eyes. Besides the fact that there were so many people that it was a little overwhelming. But I guess we chock that up for a new experience we've never done before! This is Jarom Jones trying to decide if he should give a thumbs up or down and Crew a little foamy in the background.


We were missing my brother Jedediah and his family, so a couple of the cousins aren't here. But those that were there had a blast! We had Mahonri Jones, Drake Sage, Jarom Jones, Magdalena Frederickson, Crew Sage, Michael Frederickson, Samuel and Gabriel Frederickson, Emilynn Jones. The other two missing are boys as well! Girls are a little outnumbered in this cousin group!

We did have all the sisters in our family there again, which is great fun. We're a little crazy and all have that huge Wheeler smile. I'm so glad I got to spend some time with each of my sisters. They are all amazing! Jennifer Sage, Tiffiny Frederickson, Tierra Gallego, Janae Jones, Jolene Wheeler.

And Crew was the instigator of this huge water fight that started right as we were going to come home. It put us way behind our original plan to leave, but he had a blast, so it was ok. Here are Crew and Drake and Uncle Josh Jones. It started out with little squirt guns, but turned into cups and buckets and hoses.

I am so glad we were able to spend some time with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins that Crew and Drake rarely get to see. I am glad we were able to see family that we do get to see more often. Family is so important to me and I am so grateful to have so many good family members in my children's lives. I feel blessed to know that they have great influences who would stop anything to help them with a problem, and who support them in their endeavors.

Grandpa Stark Wins!

On Friday, the 23rd I ran a 5k with my Grandpa Stark. He's my mother's Dad. It was the Pioneer Day Classic by run 13 in Provo. Also running were my sister Janae, her husband Josh, my brother Josh, and my brother in law Brian. It was a blast. I ran right along with my Grandpa. Who out there can say they ran a race with their Grandpa? I was so excited about it. And he did so well that he won his age division! YAY for Grandpa. We ran it in 28 minutes, which is around a 9:05 pace. For a 70 year old, you have to give some props for that!!! There were some fun parts of the race that I can't forget to tell. My brother Josh, who's in a wheel chair, is and has always been a little crazy. That's what made growing up so fun. In fact, my Grandma was just telling me a story about how she used to watch us while my mom and dad went to girls camp, and she was always so scared of us getting hurt. That was just life with a brother like Josh. So, in the race, when he was being a little silly and weaving all around on the road and tipped his chair over face forward on the asphalt, we all laughed while other runners gasped in surprise. They probably think we're super mean, but he knows how much we love him. I had to go help him back up, and he finished the race just fine. My sister Janae and her husband have just started running again recently. It was cute because Janae and I started off with Grandpa, and the others stayed back a bit. Janae jokingly said her only goal was to beat her husband. Well, I hadn't seen him the whole race, and all of the sudden right at the finish line, he came flying up by us and smacked her on her butt and they both starting sprinting as fast as they could. I think he beat her by half a step. It was really cute. We told Janae though that she won, because she looped back to run with him for a few minutes, and then caught back up to Grandpa and I. What a fun race though. I'm so glad we were able to do it and that we all had so much fun.

Yard Work

We've been working our tails off on our yard. It's coming...Slowly! I will tell you this much, we did not know how lucky we were to have the yard we did in our Saratoga Home. When we bought it the landscaping was completely done. And it was nice. But we will appreciate the sound of the sprinklers here a little more. Because we are working super hard to get them in ourselves! We rented a trencher and got the trenching done Saturday. And that was probably the easy part. Now we're working on the sprinkler pipe, valve boxes, and all that fun stuff.

We got some cool giant rocks hauled in and have some plans for where they will end up eventually.

I was super excited to see things start blooming in my garden. I have one squash plant with a blossoms, tomatoes, and peppers. It makes me happy inside to see something happening in the garden! YAY!



We're excited for one day when it's more maintenance and not so much install. But for now, we're getting some good calorie burn in! At least that's the positive we'll try to find :)