Stars, Stripes & Maple Leaves

Saint George Marathon

2010-10-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

I ran my 6th marathon this weekend - 3rd in St. George. It's been my goal the past two years to run fast enough to qualify for the Boston marathon and I finally did. It was warmer than ideal and a lot of people there seemed to really struggle with the heat but I was able to make my time goal and finish in 3:14:51. The St. George course has nearly all of the harder/uphill miles in the first half so I ran somewhat conservatively until about mile 20. This was the first time in a marathon that I felt I had plenty of legs left at the end and was able to make up several minutes over the final 10k. I finished 343rd of the 5700 that finished the race.

My splits:
Mile 1 - 7:26
Mile 2 - 7:35
Mile 3 - 7:20
Mile 4 - 7:08
Mile 5 - 7:21
Mile 6 - 7:04
Mile 7 - 7:09
Mile 8 - 8:24
Mile 9 - 7:58
Mile 10 - 7:55
Mile 11 - 8:11
Mile 12 - 7:39
Mile 13 - 7:19
Mile 14 - 7:25
Mile 15 - 7:07
Mile 16 - 7:06
Mile 17 - 7:15
Mile 18 - 7:44
Mile 19 - 7:41
Mile 20 - 7:34
Mile 21 - 6:58
Mile 22 - 7:24
Mile 23 - 7:15
Mile 24 - 6:59
Mile 25 - 7:16
Mile 26 - 7:08
Final 0.2 miles - 6:05 pace

Pam with friends Julie and Amy that we met up with in St. George.

Thanks to all who made it a great weekend.

Cute Kate

2010-09-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Kate keeps getting cuter and cuter - not that I'm biased.

Backpacking with Blake

2010-08-22T12:00:00.001-07:00

Blake and I tried something new and exciting and went on a backpacking trip to the Inyo National Forest. My uncle Larry organized the trip with the goal of fishing for Golden Trout in the high Sierras.

Blake and I drove through Yosemite and down past Bishop with Allen, Michael, and JD to the trailhead. We slept at, and started hiking the next morning, at about 10,000 ft. The altitude was fairly unforgiving for several in the group.

The first day we went about 5 miles in the heat and sun up to close to 11,000 ft. It was a tough day for everyone and we arrived at the lakes pretty well spent. After some late lunch, Blake had recovered enough that we climbed a smaller peak surrounding the lakes we were camping out and I took this next photo of him. Mount Langley is above his head in background.

The next day we woke up to frost and several in the group were still feeling the effects of the altitude and thought there would be no way they'd be able to traverse the 12,000 ft pass to the next campsite. We put our heads together and scrapped the loop plan for the trip and decided to stay where we were for the day.

Since we had a open day a few decided it would be great fun to summit nearby Mount Langley. Langley peaks at 14,042 feet and is just south of Mount Whitney, which at 14,500 ft is the tallest in the lower 48 states. We had a long climb up - none of it technical - and eventually summited late in the afternoon. Blake was dragging for portions of it but definitely got a bump from the single GU I had brought as we approached the final ascent. On the way back down he commented that he had, "really built some character" that day by making it all the way to the top. For me, it was the highlight of the trip, and really, the summer.

On the summit with Mt. Whitney in the background

Our summit group - Me, Blake, JD, Jon, Rob, and Abbie

We finished the next two days with a bit of hiking and fishing. Blake enjoyed reading in camp, looking at stars and exploring. In all, it was a great trip and something that I'm very happy that Blake and I could do together.

Summer Family Fun

2010-08-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a fun end of the summer with several more family get-togethers. My mom celebrated her 60th birthday and all the kids surprised her by sneaking into town and we met her and my dad for an early morning hot air balloon ride. She was completely caught off guard and we enjoyed a fun day and also had a new family picture taken.

The first week of August we went to the Oregon coast with Pam's family. Our kids love the beach and ocean and they spent lots of time collecting shells and building castles. The cousin and family time was super. Also while in Oregon Pam met up with my grandparents and Severson cousins

Family reunion time

2010-07-04T15:23:00.000-07:00

We just enjoyed our bi-annual family reunion near Mount Hood in Oregon. The theme was generations and all four present had the spotlight on them. The weather was cool but nice. A few less people were able to make it this year but was fun even so. A few highlights were zip line, soccer, and game show night. Charlotte put together a compilation video which was also super and a great walk through the years since Grandma and Grandpa were kids. Of course, the best part is chatting and catching up with everyone.

Kate with cousins Grace and Brooke

Our happy baby Kate

The week before our reunion was Blake's first scout camp. No photos of him there but here he is trying out his pack before leaving. He had a great camp and reported enjoying the merit badges and getting to know some of the older boys.

Happy Father's Day Daddy

2010-06-22T16:10:00.001-07:00

At the end of the day when you're tired and through,
At the end of the day when you're down and you're blue,
At the end of the day when you've finished all you do,
We're there for you, at the end of the day.
Happy Father's Day Daddy! Love us.

Swim Team season start

2010-06-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

It's summer now and swim team is now underway. We had our first swim meet yesterday and I snapped a few photos and video. Of note - this was Josh's first competitive meet and he has made a lot of progress in his confidence in the water. Abby and Meg are in the 9-10 year old division now so swim 50 yards (or meters) with a turn in the middle. It takes a lot more endurance for them and they're trying to get down their flip turns. Abby also swam butterfly yesterday for the first time. She'd never raced it the last two years in the 25 distance and was very concerned going in. There were some tears but she put her cap and goggles back on for it and our theme after she finished was "I can do hard things."

Josh Backstroke

Abby

Megan

Abby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMOsr10TRBQ

Josh

Burney Falls

2010-06-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

My family has been going to Burney for vacationing for over 50 years. Recently, we've been going over the Memorial Day weekend for some great fun with family. We arrived late day on Saturday and mostly set up camp and enjoyed some conversation and let the cousins play. Sunday was church in the meadow, a bit of exploring and a visit to the fish hatchery. We left Monday after a trip to the falls and some ice cream treats at the general store. It was a short, but very fun, adventure.

Kate with her Great-Grandma Frances

We found a salamander and Josh and Blake enjoyed holding it

Blake with cousins Michael and Levi

Blake as Michael in Peter Pan

2010-05-15T11:27:00.001-07:00

So, I don't care to brag-I just don't have the time. But we really had fun watching Glorietta Elementary School's latest dramtic production of Peter Pan. Blake was cast as Michael Darling with cousin Talyn Severson cast as John. Everyone in Blake's cast was fantastic, and the pianist even did a super job!(a plug for Ralph) I don't think I've ever seen Mr. Ron Pickett so happy. Our Peter Pan, played by Lauren Bond was outstanding. I was behind the scenes changing scenary between acts, and then depositing all the money at the end. We just had such a great time, I think we'll encourage Abby and Megan so we can do it all again next year!

Moraga Triathon

2010-04-24T16:51:00.000-07:00

After doing a fair amount of running and races the past 3 years, I decided to give the local triathlon a go. I'm not too sure what I was expecting but I really had a good time. I've never been a strong swimmer - or every enjoyed swimming but that's started to change since last summer. I was doing some fairly regular (once a week or so) swimming and it was, if not good, at least tolerable. I finally got a bike this past September so have started to do a bit of riding as well. After running a marathon in mid November, though, I've been in full "off-season" mode as far a serious exercise. So going in, I wasn't too confident in my fitness level.

In the end, I did better than I thought I would. The swim was slow and steady. The bike proved that I need to ride more since my legs were burning on every hill and in the higher gears. The run was good and I passed a gob of people but my legs felt like jello after biking.

I think I'll keep doing this local tri but not sure I'll ever venture out to other or longer ones. We'll see. I do enjoy mixing in a bit of variety into my running though.

Spring Break-Can't Wait for School

2010-04-11T15:15:00.001-07:00

I can honestly say this wasn't my favorite Easter/Spring Break. This was Kate's first Easter, and hopefully she won't recall what really happened. Our General Conference weekend was mixed with the baseball draft and a rainy-day Easter egg hunt. Blake was so disinfranchised with the egg hunt that he found eggs then gave them away to on-lookers. This photo is of our kids plus cousins in Grandma and Grandpa's sun room.

The cousins left, and we spent the next two days cleaning and organizing the house. Chris worked the entire Spring Break overnight, which left me calling insane asylums looking for vacancy.

Friday the younger four kids and I went to the Jelly Belly Factory. I would have enjoyed the trip if I hadn't had to hold a hungry baby for an hour in line. Saturday we went to the San Francisco Zoo, which was beautiful. Chris asked me how the Tiger cages were looking as this is where a Tiger escaped and killed a teenage boy a couple years back. The cages were looking fairly sturdy, and the Tigers were looking pretty docile. I guess this was the point of the week I enjoyed the most.

Kids and Kate

2010-02-15T16:37:00.000-08:00

Well, only at certain points in your life you get to have your photo taken with all your siblings. Your wedding, graduation, and infancy if you're lucky. So who is lucky? We'll let you decide.

Kate the Great

2010-02-10T18:54:00.001-08:00

So, This is Kate at three months old. I haven't taken a lot of photos of her because I think this is when babies look a little funny. But, I tried to catch her in her element-the exersaucer. Work it baby, work it. Her head is finally pretty stable despite her disdain of tummy time. But show me a baby today who sleeps on their back and enjoyed manditory tummy time. They are all just functions of the system!

Winter in Orinda

2009-12-07T14:38:00.000-08:00

I never imagined having a snowball fight in the backyard, but that's what happened this morning. Every couple years we'll get a dusting on the surrounding hills. I remember it snowing once as a kid but I'm not even sure that was snowball worthy.

Blake and I took a bit of pre-snow time on Saturday morning running in the local Bah Humbug 5k. We both ran personal bests: me at 19:10 and Blake about 35 minutes. I had a great photo finish sprint to the finish with a high school kid, outpaced the 60+ guy in the last 1/2 mile, and ended up 2nd in my age group. Blake had a fun time and is pleased to have a new t-shirt to add to his school rotation. He continues with his sprint, walk, sprint approach but I think that just means I need to get out with him on a few slow paced training runs.

Racing Weekend

2009-11-18T19:20:00.001-08:00

After Pam's big week, the rest of the family, sans Josh, got in some exercise as well this weekend. With a little encouragement from grandma - who organized the first time NorCal Kids Triathlon- Blake, Abby and Megan participated in their first triathlon. Megan swam while Abby biked as part of a team with their friend Emma. Blake, although hesitant at first, had a great time doing all three events. Pam was there in great 5 day post-partum form to help assist. The kids all enjoyed themselves and it was definitely a big success.

Really steep hill

Abby headed for for the finish

I missed the event while up in Folsom running a marathon along the American river. Pam had encouraged me to get one more marathon in this year - hoping to earn us a trip to Boston in the Spring. While a Boston qualifying time was not quite there (missed by 3 minutes), I had a great race posting a new personal best of 3 hours and 18 minutes and finishing 8th overall. I was lucky enough to have a friend meet me and run me in the last 6 miles and, finally, keeping up a steady pace with my slowest mile only about 35 seconds slower than my fastest. It was a max effort kind of day so if that's the fastest marathon I ever run, I'm pleased.

Kiss me, Kate

2009-11-11T22:25:00.000-08:00

We were thrilled to welcome Katherine Paige into our family on the 9th. She arrived without incident and weighed in at 6 lbs 14 oz and was 19 1/2 inches. After having very eventful deliveries with the other four kids, it was refreshing to avoid such nasties as forceps, chest compressions, ICU stays, etc. We feel very blessed that Kate has arrived healthy and in perfect form. The kids are loving her up and taking turns holding her. Two days ago while Kate was at the hospital, Megan was busy nesting here at the house. She set up the pack and play crib with full bedding as well as the car seat all on her own.

Caught her with the eyes opened

Ready to travel

The girls put in a lot of work this week but are looking great.

I love grasping reflex

Faux smile

Long Time in Coming

2009-10-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed a great birthday this week. It was a day of spending a lot of money on myself followed by stuffing myself with a large sundae at Fenton's. After about 18 months of consideration, I finally made a bike purchase. Really, there were too many choices so I chose "none of the above" for the longest time. But, I'm really happy with the bike I ended up with and got a quick picture with some yummy ice cream as well.

The other thing that's been long in coming is baby #5. Not that we knew baby #5 was on the docket until about 33 weeks ago, but it's still been a while since having an infant around these parts. Pam dutifully posed for a picture tonight.

Summer Wrap Up

2009-09-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a full and exciting summer. We've made trips to Canada, Oregon (twice), and Seattle. Now that the kids are back to school I have a few minutes to post some pictures.

Pam with her mom and sister Jackie up in Portland for her wedding reception. This was trip #1 to Portland. Short but sweet.

Death in the family. Megan brought home "Tippy" from school at the end of the year. He, unfortunately, smelled rather strongly and was banished to outside dwelling. We had some very hot weather a few weeks later which he did not survive. Funeral services were held that night and he was interred under the Japanese Maple that we were planting. In lieu of flowers please send condolences to Megan.

Fun visit in mid July of Melissa and Laura. The kids loved their time with their cousins.

After visiting Brooke's baby blessing in Seattle we drove down to Oregon for visit #2. Dad dragged the family off the main highway to take in Mount Saint Helens. The before and after mountain is amazing as is the changed landscape over 25 years later.

Abby and Megan enjoying some beach time with cousin Grace. We had a super time spending the week there with Pam's family.

Pam and the kids.

Joshua putting on a big smile. Our kids love nothing more than digging in the sand.

The summer ended with a first time boating excursion with the family. Here I am trying a bit of wake boarding. Blake was able to get up but not stay up on the wake board.

The kids really had fun the the pulled tubes. They got to try "Molly" here as well as the "Rock Star" which Blake flipped on several times. In all a great time out in the sun together as a family with the Carvers who let us come with.

Finally - back to school. Joshua has been SO excited for the start of kindergarten. After years of being the little guy, he's finally feeling like he's made it into big kid status. The only problem for him was that his first day was only one hour with mom and a few other kids as orientation day. He was trying to decide what to bring for lunch that first day and the older kids were giving him a hard time about it. "You don't need a lunch for one hour, Josh." Needless to say, he's now pleased that he's staying longer and bringing a lunch. He's even stayed afterwards for the 50 minutes until Abby and Megan finish since that's what some of the other kids do. Now, he's been asking when he gets to ride the school bus. He'll have to wait for a field trip for that.

Swim Team Summer

2009-08-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

We had the kids do another year of swimming. They, mostly, loved it. Abby and Megan were on the 7-8 year old swim team with hour long workouts. Joshua did "Minis" with a couple of lessons a week while Blake 4 weeks of lessons not with the swim team. It's a big time commitment to do the swim team for Abby and Meg but they really have become very confident swimmers. They're not even close to the fastest around but the exercise and personal skill improvements have been tremendous.

Megan mid breath in breast

Abby ready up on the blocks

Josh swam in one meet at the end of the season. Here he's "diving" in on a medley relay team race.

Jackie's Wedding-who are the real Canadians?

2009-06-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

June 4, 2009 our family hopped on Bart to the San Francisco Airport headed to Canada. The kids were really excited because they hadn't been to Canada since last August. Once we arrived, we got the grooviest vehicle-a Ford Flex. So we grabbed our rental wheels, and started for Cardston. I don't think the kids planned on 10 hours of travel, but we made it.

The next morning Chris and I attended the wedding of David Gipson to my sister Jackie Glenn. David and Jackie had all of their siblings, several friends, and extended family members in Cardston. We took a bunch of photos, then David and Jackie took off to Waterton to take more photos. I was a little worried about the weather, because we got rain and hail on the way back to Calgary. But Jackie said they had the perfect weather in the mountains. The reception back in Calgary was lovely. I think the kids enjoyed running around with their cousins. By the time we left, it was really raining.

To our surprise, we awoke the next morning to three inches of snow. Wow! Snow on the sixth of June. I had to make sure the date stamp was set on the camera, so I could prove the date to myself. The kids were SOOOOO excited. I think Chris was pretty disgusted. We had planned to go to Banff so Chris could do a final high-altitude run, and we went despite the crazy weather.

Celebrations

2009-01-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

We've enjoyed some wonderful celebrations the last 6 weeks.

We drove to Portland for Thanksgiving and to celebrate Gabriella Wood's baptism. I, actually, wasn't part of the "we" and flew up Thanksgiving morning after some late night work. The kids had the whole week off so we took advantage. 2008, among other things, will be the year that the Severson family finally learned to take travel in stride. Sure, a few "are we there yet's" and minor scuffles in cars and airplane this year, but as a whole we move pretty effectively. Big breakthrough.

While in Portland, we visited my grandparents and the kids all took turns riding on Great-Grandpa's tractor. Blake was super thrilled to have even taken the wheel.

"Mary" Megan

We've enjoyed a magical Christmas season. I was fortunate to have a very favorable work schedule and, for the first time ever, was able to make every Holiday gathering as well as Christmas eve and morning. The kids love their new Wii and do a great job of playing it all together but, I think, they also appreciated Christmas for Christ and time spent with family more than ever.

On the 28th, Blake celebrated his 10th birthday. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since Pam and I gathered up our things for a trip to the hospital. Most of a day later, Blake arrived and has been a source of joy since.

Sledding Fun

2008-12-30T18:56:00.000-08:00

Pam and I have questioned if this would be the year we take all of the kids skiing. Instead, we took a one day trip up sledding. Pam's sister, Jackie, was a good sport and went up with us. I wasn't exactly sure where to sled but thought we'd strike out up Highway 50. About 15 minutes outside of Placerville, we came upon a gas station with about 200 sledders on the hillside and we joined the revelry.

The only incident (and every sledding trip has at least one) was Blake getting struck by a "human missle" from behind while retrieving his sled. Thankfully, no injuries.

Joshua refused his coat

Angel Meg

All that Glitters is not Gold

2008-11-16T22:00:00.000-08:00

The kids had Veteran's Day off of school this week so we took a long anticipated trip up to "Gold country" east of Sacramento in the little town of Coloma.

A bit of history: We learned about a few members of the Mormon Battalion working their way back to Utah who had stopped to help build Sutter's Mill late in 1847. While digging to divert part of the river in order to power the water wheel, James Marshall, the foreman, found a pea sized piece of gold. On January 24th, 1848, two of the Mormons recorded the date and finding in their journals. Word spread quickly, for the times, and soon the "Gold Rush" was on.

We made quick stops in the museum and blacksmith shop before heading down to pan for gold and strike it rich on the banks of the American river. We had, unfortunately, forgotten our pans but were able to dig through the silt bottom for treasure. Abby was convinced we'd be filling our pockets with gold in no time and was quickly disappointed. The adventure was salvaged when Pam and I started helping, though. We found pyrite (not that the kids cared - it glittered) and some gold as well. Our total haul was a bit less than what you'd collect from running your fingernail along the edge of your Bible but that's just details. The point to all involved was that we came for gold and we found some.

Our last bit of fun for the day was spotting a bunch of geese in a field. I suggested to the kids we sneak up on them and give them a scare - which we proceeded to do. The geese weren't too skittish, though. Locals walking by laughed and told Pam (who was uninvolved in the mischief) that they'd been chased before. The geese mostly ran from us until they, reluctantly, took flight. The point - like the rest of the day - was the adventure, not the magnitude of success.

"No pictures, please"

2008-11-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween 2008 started out with Joshua parading with his pre-school class and telling Pam, "No pictures, please." Not sure how he decided that but it's an instant classic.

It was a bit rainy so the crowds were down a bit. We had about 250 come to the door, down from a more typical 350. Good times were had, of course, by all.

Indiana Jones

Snow Queen

Cleopatra

Orinda Family Science Night

2008-10-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

Last March I was tapped to organize the Family Science Night here in Orinda. This would be the third iteration that has happened every three years. I was greatly helped by Andy Sorenson and Sheila Yeh who had helped pull it off in prior years. We put together our steering committee and started to line up scientists to come and put on demonstrations for the local community. Beginning in September we intensified our efforts and were able to hold a great event on the 16th of October. We had about 1200 people there and about 30 scientists. Among other things, the kids made ice cream and slime, dissected (cat, heart, and eyes), and star gazed.

Saint George Marathon

2008-10-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Saint George on Thursday full of optimism and energy. We left Saint George Saturday damp and sore. There for the big day with me were Pam, Jonathan Tanner, Heather Callister and other more extended family members. The weather was far from ideal for running with a stiff headwind and rain throughout. In the days leading up to the run I was actually encouraged by the weather reports calling for cool weather and 10-15 mph South winds. Since the marathon course runs generally southward, I thought that meant the winds would be pushing us along. It was a sad moment when I learned from a friend that wind conventions tell you FROM which direction the wind is blowing, not to. Needless to say, it was a challenging day for more reasons than just the 26.2 miles to be covered.

I was running my third marathon and Pam had finally relented and was joining me for her first. She had told me that she'd never be able to run that far. My mantra, though, is that it's not any harder to run 26.2 miles than to run, say 5, but just takes longer. She continues to disagree with my line of thinking, but did cover the distance in around four hours. She had to fight through the conditions like everyone did that day but also with a stomach aliment the last 12 miles. Even more important than finishing, though, Pam impressed me with her months of training.

My day started off with a 3 hour 15 minute goal to finish in. I started off well enough, although spent more energy in the first seven miles due to the wind than I would have liked. I spent the next five miles running up the hills at just under a 3:20 finish time pace. At mile 12 I decided to carpe diem and accelerated to get down to my 3:15 goal. The winds were too strong for me that day though and I could feel myself slowing my mile 18. By mile 23, people were passing me in droves and it was all I could do to hold on to the finish line. My hubris in the early and middle miles ended up braking me by the end. I finished in 3:26:36.

My Garmin:
Mile 1: 8:21 (Avg Heart Rate 153)
Mile 2: 8:01 (167)
Mile 3: 7:21 (167)
Mile 4: 7:18 (166)
Mile 5: 7:19 (168)
Mile 6: 7:02 (166)
Mile 7: 7:09 (169)
Mile 8: 8:25 (170)
Mile 9: 8:05 (170)
Mile 10: 7:47 (168)
Mile 11: 7:54 (171)
Mile 12: 7:34 (168)
Mile 13: 7:23 (166)
Mile 14: 7:33 (166)
Mile 15: 7:10 (162)
Mile 16: 7:04 (163)
Mile 17: 7:30 (162)
Mile 18: 7:45 (157)
Mile 19: 8:10 (159)
Mile 20: 7:37 (159)
Mile 21: 7:37 (152)
Mile 22: 7:59 (156)
Mile 23: 8:20 (151)
Mile 24: 8:34 (140)
Mile 25: 9:30 (143)
Mile 26: 10:12 (125)
Mile 0.2: 9:04 pace (143)

Even though it wasn't the day that Pam or I had dreamed of, I'm thankful for the opportunity to have the experience. Our health has been excellent and thanks also to my parents who watched the kids while we had our little fun.

Back to School

2008-09-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

Ahh, guilty pleasures. For some it may be chocolate. For me this year, it was having the kids head back to school. We had lots of fun as a family this summer including trips to out family reunion in Oregon and to Calgary. We had fun swimming and just hanging out. But, for the first time this year, the summer seemed a week or two too long.

As you can see from the picture, Megan now has a pair of glasses. She'd been complaining the end of last year that she couldn't see things sometimes. I tested her around the house and found that she couldn't read letters as well as I could so we decided to take her in for an eye checkup. We had a good time and she did the full eye evaluation and Dr. Sorenson, in our ward, thought that she might like the extra help of glasses for a while. For the eye minded around, her prescription was for +075 on the right and +50 on the left which, apparently, is not very much. Since she's starting 2nd grade and working to improve her reading we agreed and she got to pick herself a pair of frames out at Costco.

Abby is joining Meg in 2nd grade - although in different classes again this year. Blake is starting 4th grade. Amazingly, he's back in the same class as his friend Bryan. They've done 1st -4th together now. Josh was very excited to be headed back to St. Mark's for his 3 day a week preschool. He's feeling rather grown up and told Pam the first day back that he was going to skip the project and play until it was time for gathering.

Blake and Josh are playing soccer this year as well, Josh for the first time. We don't have a picture of Blake yet but I think Josh is looking good here.

Canada Trip

2008-08-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

We're home now from a great trip to Canada. Pam and the kids flew up a few days before I did. I was stuck back at home working which is never as fun as vacation. :) We try to make it up to Calgary at least twice per year and have been about that for the past few years. The highlight, of course, was visiting with family and watching the kids enjoy playing with cousins. There was a lot of swimming to be had, too.

Josh having fun with cousins on their water slide

Another highlight of our Canada excursions is a trip up to Banff National Park. We love to hike and enjoy being out in God's country. The mountains are majestic and there are lots of lakes to see and throw rocks into. Joshua was keen to find plenty of sticks along the trails. We spent one night in Banff, too.

In the village of Banff there is a candy shop that we never miss either. I'm not much of a candy or sweets person - but as you can see from Megan - most in the family are.

The Bow river runs through Calgary and Banff. We took an afternoon to have fun on the river with a canoe and paddle boat. Blake did some great rowing, the girls not so much. There were a lot of ducks out and about. Abby and Meg loved the little babies.

We all arrived home safely early this week. Pam and kids a day after me - again that work thing. The kids did well (I hear) on the return flight sitting two and two across a row with Pam behind. This week we've been able to enjoy more cousin time with both Aimee and Melissa in town.

Swim Summer

2008-07-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

One of our big events for the summer has been swim team. I never liked swim team as a kid. A lot of that probably had to do to starting as a 13 year old. That was way too late and especially so because I probably was 10 year old size. I only lasted that one summer. So ..... beginning last year we had Abby, Meg and Josh swimming on the team.

Josh is actually a "Mini" which means he has lessons and is now swimming. He refuses to swim anywhere except the shallow end where he can touch, though. Monday we were at the pool in the evening and we were the only one's at the pool ( so no one could hear the screams). Being a big meany, I tossed him into the diving part of the pool and he swam his way out. He wasn't pleased but now reports that he can't walk in 9 feet but he can swim in 9 feet.

Josh with Mini coach Dexter

Abby

Meg

Abby and Meg have also been getting more and more confident this summer. Megan missed nearly all of last year with her broken arms but has been catching up to Abby this year. Last week at their swim meet they both set PR's in both free and back. Abigail is at 29.57 in the free and 29.25 in back. She loves backstroke and it's actually kind of odd to be faster in that. Megan did 32.27 in the free and 33.93 in the back. By comparison, last summer Abby was about 45 seconds in the free and Meg about 1 minute so they've made a ton of progress.

Family Reunion

2008-07-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

The first week of July we spent some time in Oregon at our biannual family reunion. Back in medical school and residency we missed most of these gatherings so it has really been a treat to go the last few times. We all had a great time and no one got sick (which has happened in the past.) Our drive up and back was uneventful and as a bonus we got to stay and visit with Pam's sister Jackie.

Blake reports his favorite part was riding his bike around everywhere. The week before, Blake had gotten a new bike for his birthday (only 6 months late). It was a big step up as he's never had hand brakes only and gears to shift. We did a bit of practice on the sport court before leaving but he really came into his own at the reunion. The first day there he did a somersault down a short bushy hill but was unhurt and I think that gave him a bit of confidence.

Classic

Joshua loved playing with sticks and hanging out with cousin Bradley. Meg's favorite part was swimming. Abigail liked everything. One of the days the kids had a treasure hunt and we had to take some pictures.

One afternoon we couldn't find Joshua. We had seen him wandering off but now didn't know where he was. Pam and then I took turns on Blake's bike riding all through the camp but couldn't see him. Finally a cousin happened upon him asleep in their cabin and I had to take a picture. Their cabin was right next to ours so it looked like he got mixed up while trying to find his was back to take a nap.

Disneyland for the day

2008-06-29T16:26:00.000-07:00

Quick trip down to Disneyland for the kids. I was working so Pam and the kids were accompanied by my mom and Kellyn with Drew Larson. They reported having a great time at the Happiest Place on Earth. It was a long day, though, as they were walking around the park until late into the evening.

Rock Walls

2008-06-26T21:23:00.000-07:00

With the house down and junipers out, we're delighted with our new rock walls. We decided to go with a lighter stone which has turned out very nicely. It looks like it was just hewn out of the quarry and dropped off in our front yard.

As a side note, Orinda just isn't the same town as I grew up in. A new group of teens has surfaced and I've recently dubbed them the PP gang. I haven't decided if I like the "Porta-Potty" or "Potty-Pushing" name better, though. For three weekends in a row, our porta-potty was tipped over by this nefarious group. We seem to have outsmarted them for the moment, however, with a few stakes holding it down.

Yosemite Get Away

2008-06-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

To celebrate our 12th anniversary, Pam and I decided to hike Half Dome. We'd heard of a few other people doing it and we definitely thought it sounded like fun. Back at BYU, we'd climbed Mt. Timpanogos twice - summitting once - and enjoyed the climb-a-mountain-at-night adventure.

We left home Friday afternoon on our way to Yosemite and stopped in Modesto for some dinner. Driving a bit blind, we wandered around Modesto until until getting the bright idea of calling our friends who'd recently moved from there. We got some nice restaurant ideas and had some of our best nachos ever before driving the rest of the was to Fish Camp. I had only started looking for hotels about 2 days before and everything in Yosemite valley was booked so we ended up at the Tanaya Lodge.

We had planned to get up at about 4am but after getting upgraded to a suite when we arrived (they were about full as well) we felt like we needed to enjoy our room and "sleep in" until about 5. Pam and I reached the trail head parking lot about 6:30 and took a quick picture at the base of the Merced (I think) river before heading up.

We took about 3 1/2 hours up and another 3 1/2 hours back down and got a few fun pictures on the way. The final climb up to the summit is assisted by some cables placed in the mountain side. It's quite steep and my favorite part was coming back down the cables. There were a few others on their way up so I had to stop a few times but otherwise I ran down the whole section. Fun, fun.

Here we are a the two falls we hiked past. Vernal falls is the picture above and the "Mist" trail passes close enough to get sprayed like a light rain. On the right is the higher up Nevada falls.

Deconstruction

2008-06-09T14:42:00.001-07:00

Just after Memorial day we started our ambitious home addition and remodel. I'll leave the talking to the pictures. Estimated time frame is 10-12 months.

Before, with the Junipers that Pam "loves" so much.

Getting started building a road on the side of the house.

Bye bye Junipers

Deconstruction fully underway

Human Race of Silicon Valley 5k & 10k

2008-05-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

We had a super fun day with some more family running. We woke up early to drive down to Mountain View and the Google campus for the Human Race of Silicon Valley. Pam and I were joined by Laura and Jonathan for the 10k race. We also had our son Blake (9) run in the 5k with his aunt Kellyn. My mom and dad came to watch our other three kids while we were running and to cheer us on.

We all started off together. Blake sprinted out in 50 yard dash style and Kellyn had to hurry to try to catch up. Blake needed a few walking breaks but did great and finished his first 5k (or really any race) in about 33 minutes. The two courses merged at one point and I got to run past them which was a big thrill for me.

My goal was to run about 42 minutes. The only other 10k I'd done was last September in 46:21 but it was quite hilly and thought I could go faster. Really, though, I've been hoping to qualify for the Boston marathon and beginning this year I need to run a 3:15 marathon. I found on the Furman Institute of Running site http://www.furman.edu/first/2007%20Race%20Prediction%20Table.pdf that at 42 minute 10k was equivalent of about what I needed in the marathon.

No official results yet, but I had myself finishing in 43:20. Despite not being 42, I'm really pleased with my effort and dropping 3 minutes off my other 10k. I'm not sure, but I may be closer than I think. My garmin had the course at 6.39 miles - or the same min/mile pace for my 42 minute goal. I heard other GPS watches beeping off miles at the time time as mine, too. I'll keep my 43:20 but mentally I'll know I'm on track for the Boston time. Like that? :)

My Garmin:
Mile 1: 6:32 (AHR 171)
Mile 2: 6:41 (178)
Mile 3: 6:44 (181)
Mile 4: 6:48 (181)
Mile 5: 7:02 (183)
Mile 6: 6:54 (183)
Mile 0.39: 6:43 pace (186)

Pam started out the morning at about 5. She got up to go on a surprise b-day run for Mark Fuhriman. She put in 3-4 miles with them before coming home to load up to head to the 10k. Her race started out well but about 1.5 miles in her right quad started to cramp up. She ran/walked about a mile but was eventually able to get going again. She'd never had anything like that before so our suspicion is the run, sit in the car, and run again 2 hours later might be related. She finished in about 54 minutes but was buoyed by the fact that she was able to get through the problem and put in good miles afterwards.

The other exciting running news is that Pam, me, Jonathan, and his cousin Emily were all selected to be able to run in the St. George marathon this next October. Pam and I had such a wonderful time this last year running (me) and spending time with friends that we're hoping for a repeat.

I'll let Laura and Jonathan tell their 10k news themselves. http://jonathanandlaura.blogspot.com/

Moraga Treeline Triathlon

2008-05-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Pam completed her first triathlon this last week and did awesome. She placed 9th in her age group and the 14th overall woman (114 total women) with a time of 1:26:26. This was a sprint tri with a 400m swim, 14 mile bike and 5k run. No timing chips for the event so as best we can tell she did:

Swim: 9 minutes
T1: 2.5 minutes
Bike: 47 minutes
T2: 2 minutes
Run: 26 minutes

Highlights were the bike ride where she put in a great time and passed a number of people. Lowlights were taking a caffeine tablet just before the swim and not feeling like she could get any air.

I also participated in the tri but as a relay team. We were the 2nd in, but first relay team, so won that event in 1:09:27. We had Tennyson May swim, Andy Sorenson bike and I ran. Also, as best we can recreate:

Swim: 6min 10 sec.
T1: 1 minute (there was 200m or so from the pool to the transition area)
Bike: 39 minutes
T2: 10 sec.
Run: 23 min 10 sec.

Highlights were winning the relay :) Lowlights were my being directed the wrong way on the run. I knew the route but believed the volunteer on the course telling me to take a left turn. It ended up adding about 0.2 miles but was a HUGE hill with a "bonus" 190 ft of elevation gain. My garmin had me at:

Mile 1: 6:49 (180 AHR) with 214 ft up and 48 ft down
Mile 2: 7:45 (182 AHR) with 246 ft up and 282 ft down - and burned out my legs
Mile 3: 6:43 (184 AHR) with 90 ft up and 207 ft down
Mile 0.3: 6:30 pace (188 AHR) with 22 ft up and 28 down.

In all, a super fun and successful event. We're already planning to do it again this next year. I had planned to do the whole tri myself next year. But, after our victory, might be forced to defend the title. :)

Prologue

2008-05-02T16:21:00.000-07:00

Pam and I were talking this week about that age-old topic of "growing older." We're shortly going to be remodeling our home and have been starting to pack things up. Looking through old pictures and memories, it reminded us, once again, that we're getting older every day and our kids are growing up. I suppose they still have a long way to go to "grown up" but the baby years have already passed on by. So, the answer was to finally start a blog to post some fun memories and share with others.