I did it a 10k July 4,2008

I did it!!! Yes I ran a 10k which is 6.12 miles. I have never been a runner and would actually rather walk but some of the girls in my ward talked me into running. So since Febuary I have been training to run a 5k. My goal for the summer. When I started running I don't think I could have run 1 mile without stopping. It was a really slow start but I finally learned somethings about running and then I started learning things about myself that I am much stronger than I ever thought. The first time I went running I ran about 1.5 miles then I worked up to running 3 miles without stopping. It took about a month then when I was running 3 miles 3 times a week I decided that a 10 k was my next hurdle. So then I trained for a 10 k then the week before this race I ran 10 miles with the girls in my ward. I could not believe it but I did it! So now I was training for a half marathon which is 13 miles.I decided that I needed to run a race before I ran the half so while we were at Marks family reunion Hunington City was doing a 10k so I decided to run it just for the experice. They took you up Hunington Canyon and dropped you off 6.12 miles from the finish line.I had no one to run with me so it was just me and my Ipod. I ran the race in 1 hour and 7 minutes which is about a 10.8 minute mile. This is incredible considering in high school I could not run the mile under 12 minutes to get a good grade. I was so proud of myself. My kids and mark met me at the finish line and were cheering me on ! I took third place in my age division and even got a medal!!!!!
After I stopped running though I could not walk very well it hurt really bad. So I limped around until Saturday and went to the doctors and I pulled by syatic nerve in my back. I am getting better and I hope I can get back to running in the future.

June 30 - July 5 2008 Alger family reunion

Marks mom side of the family does a family reunion every other year. This year we went to Price Utah. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Price. On Monday we left about noon and we drove to Price which is about 3 hours from our home. When we arrived we got settled into our hotel and at 5:00 we went to a Price park and had dinner which was Cafe Rio salads. It was wonderful. We got to see all of Marks family that we had not seen for a while. Just a funny note Matthew decided he had to take his Ipod. At one point in the evening Matthew told mark that he had lost the Ipod somewhere. So Mark's uncle Norm decided to have everyone hand in hand lined up across the field so we could cover all of the field to look for the Ipod. After about 5 minutes Mark had a feeling to check his pockets. Guess what he found it in one of his many pockets in his shorts. After dinner we went on a tractor hay ride to a lady's home in Price and she has an amazing backyard with a fire pit, a play house and a huge play area. We did smores and the kids played for a couple of hours it was Great! On tuesday we went to the Helper Railroad and Mining Museum. Marks grandpa worked in the coal mines and his Uncle Phil and Uncle Norm worked there as well. It was fun to here the stories they had to tell about grandpa and we very infromative for the grandkids. In the museum there is a picture of Mark's grandpa with the men he worked with in the mines. That evening we had sandwiches and salads in Elmo where Marks mom is from and where the family grew up. Each of the children told stories about there time in Elmo and there memories of Grandpa and Grandma. It was a very spiritual experience and we all felt that we had inherited something great! After dinner we went to the Elmo cemetary for the grandkids to see where grandma and grandpa were buried and Kent. Marks moms brother that has died. It was very intresting Marks mom had taken flowers and spray bottles and rags for the kids to wash the gravestones and put flowers on them it was very touching. After that we went out to Great Grandpa Algers farm. We were able to get on the property and have Marks mom tell us about it and what she rememberd from her childhood. Wednesday we went to the Clevland LLoyd Dinosaur Quarry. You can actually go looking for dinosaur bones or fragments on the property and there are quite a few hiking trails you can go on. That afternoon I took the kids swimming at the hotel while mark studied. Then for dinner we went to a little drive in diner that you ate out side that we had hamburgers and shakes. The kids and mark also went and saw wall-e the new disney movie. Thursday all of Marks immediate family went to do a picnic at Old folks flat up Hunington canyon. While we were cooking Marks dad insisted that he wanted to go hike Pole canyon. He promised Marks mom that he would hike up for an hour and then turn around and come back. Mark took all the kids except for Jonah and I stayed with his mom to help cook. We cooked and played with a few of the kids that did not end up going with grandpa and we waited and waited and waited and none of them came back. Finally Brian marks brother went looking for them and come to find out Marks dad had fallen off the mountain and his nephew John and his wife had to help Ted down the Mountain. We ended up having to take him to the hospital but they said he hopefully will recover in time. That evening we went to a cousins dinner where the Grandma 's and Grandpa 's watch all of the grandkids and the adults get to go to dinner. It is always fun to go and talk like adults. Friday I ran a 10 k down Hunington canyon. We also had a family dinner and family pictures and games. Thanks Norm and Lauri and gang for the very fun reunion.

June 2008 Father day

I am kind of behind in my blogging but I guess it is better to do it now then never. We celebrated Father's day with Mark by going to church and then spending the afternoon with Mark' s parents. I think I have the very best husband in the world. He loves are children with all of his heart. He loves to play with them. He has shared his love of reading with all of the children and his love for nature. Mark likes to camp and to fish and go to any amusement park he can go to. Mark likes to vacation with us and he loves the gospel and wants to share his love of it with us all. Thanks Mark for all you do and we love you!