The Red Rock Relay

September 4th and 5th I had the opportunity to participate in the Red Rock Relay. The Red Rock Relay was 180 mile race with a 12 person team through the red rock country of Brian Head, Cedar Canyon, Kolob, Zion, and Snow Canyon in St. George. I was part of the team Rooster Running. Andy Gartz was our captain and the team was named after his new restaurant in downtown Provo, "Rooster." I was runner # 10. I had a blast with our team. In our van was Courtney Gartz, Andy Gartz, David Gartz, and Emily(joined the team Friday morning, staying at same hotel as the Gartz' and had a chance meeting), along with Connie and Bethany Gartz as support and volunteers. I had so much fun participating that Scott and I are going to join the team next year.


Team 1's van.
At the transition from van 1 to van 2 up Cedar Canyon. Neil ended and Emily began running.




These 3 pictures show the beginning of the section named Red Diablo or the Devil's stairmaster. David, Andy, and myself each had a leg to run in this section. The road rises several thousand feet in only a few miles. I had the last leg of this section, the last 3 miles.
This is the overlook where my leg began.
Waiting for David to finish and I will start running.

Beginning my run.

Up, and up, and up the mountain I go.

Sprinting to the transition. That wasn't so bad. I passed 5 other runners (who were actually walking).
Elevating my feet after the run. Courtney insisted that it speeds recovery. She was right. I try to do it after all my runs now.

At the second transition from van 1 to van 2 at Kolob Reservoir. Courtney came in to finish and Aaron went running out.

Somewhere in the back country of Zion National Park. These are the members of Van 2.


Getting ready for my midnight run. My second leg was at midnight around Sand Hollow Reservoir. It was a very fun leg to run. It was so dark. A full moon did come peaking out from behind the clouds a few times. There were thunder and lightning storms going on around us in the distance. It made the run very exciting.

The marks on our calves show the legs we run. Two are colored in showing that I have completed two legs and have two or 1 1/2 to go. One of our runners was unable to make it and so those legs were split between some of us in the van. I took half of one of those legs. Here I'm getting ready to take over for Andy and begin my final leg from Vejo to Snow Canyon. In the background you can see one of the BYU triathlon club runners. We have been around this team for most of the race. They ended up taking first place.

I have completed all my run. I had much better running time than I expected. It was so much fun. At this point I'm still wired. Later the exhaustion sets in.

This is where the team gathers and we all run to the finish together. Thanks for the great memories team Rooster!!

Kids can sleep anywhere

This morning Scott took the kids to the park to play. He totally wore them out. But they had no problems falling asleep in the Chariot.

The Bishop's puppies

At the end of August our neighbors, the Bishops, had some puppies. We would go over every few days to play with the puppies. Eric's favorite was the little white puppy. Some days he would carry it around for about an hour. The puppies also love the kids and when we come over know it's time to get out of their pen and play.

Eric's Obedience Chart

Eric was having some trouble with being obedient. So we came up with the "Obedience Chart." When Eric does something that we ask him without fighting about it he gets to put a sticker on the chart. He also gets to put a sticker on the chart when he brushes his teeth. When he earned 9 stickers on the obedience section, and five for brushing his teeth, he earned a special prize. Eric got to go on a date with his mom and get a toy and a Bob the Builder movie.

On our date we went to Artic Circle for a treat and played on the their playground. We then went to the Hobby store and played with some Thomas the Train play sets. We watched some men working on and running electric trains. Then we went to Border's Bookstore and read books together and looked at all the cool toys there. Every time we drive by Artic Circle now Eric exclaims, "There's our date!!" A few more stickers and we will get another date and special prize. We also need to add a section for using the potty.

Girls Weekend

Now that Rubie is one I feel like I can finally leave her for extended periods of time. (Yahoo, its about time!!) During August I went for a weekend with the girls. Finally! I went with Sarah, Courtney, and Brenda to Ogden Canyon. Sarah, Brenda, and I enjoyed a great mountain bike ride on Friday night. We biked some trails just below Snow Basin ski resort.


Our bikes of choice are treks.

We set up camp in a beautiful little spot right off the trail.

It rained really good on us through the night and early morning. The rain delayed our plans and kept us in our tent until 9:00am. By that time half our day was gone.

But we woke to find everything soaking wet. We had made comfy beds with foam mattress pads, quilts, and sleeping bags. Everything had to be dried out.

But the cold, wet weather didn't stop us. The four of us donned our running shoes and ran up the road from our camp to the ski resort. After a quick brunch we broke camp and headed to Pineview Reservoir. Sarah and Brenda swam and did a quick run while Courtney and I found another up-hill trail to run on.

Courtney and I went down to the beach after our run. Courtney took a dip to cool off, and Sarah made sure I did too. Watch your back when you are with Sarah around water.

The trip finished off with Sarah, Courtney, and I spending an hour at Midas. As we left the mountain the X-terra was acting kind of funny. After some conversation, debates, and finally calling Roger Gartz, we decided to get it checked out. Turns out that some little critter had decided that some wires inside the engine might be good for chewing. He was probably seeking shelter from the rain. That critter cost us time and money.

But we had a great time. I don't know if I can say the same for Scott with the kids. As soon as I walked in the door he just said, I'm going for a run and a bike ride. That is usually exactly how I feel at the end of the day.

Continued summer fun in August

We continue to enjoy the hot summer days of August. The kids enjoying the fountain/pond at Nielson's Grove Park.

Rubie with Aunt Dellitt at the Lockhart reunion. The reunion was actually held on Rubie's birthday, 8 August. The reunion was at Camp Williams. The weather was not very enjoyable that day. At Camp Williams it was very windy and chilly. We actually ended up not staying very long, but it was nice to see everyone for a brief moment.

Eric loves Lightning McQueen and is proudly wearing him on his face.

Eric is very good at taking care of his Teddy Bear. Here, Eric makes sure that Teddy Bear is comfortable while they watch TV.

Eric is spending time on the potty. He insisted on sitting on the potty like his Daddy does (with a magazine).

Rubie is One Year Old

Rubie turned one year old on 8 August 2008. She is 20 lbs. 2 oz. and 30.5 inches tall. She has such a cute personality. She loves animals. She loves to identify all birds, dogs, cats, trees, butterflies, and the moon that she sees with her hand signs. She also loves to look at books and identify animals and other objects in the pictures. She identifies facial parts on her doll by pointing and then identifies the same part on herself. She is also trying to make animal noises. She tries to moo, oink, bark, and meow. She also makes vehicle noises. She is getting better at being able to play with Eric. Eric still is working on sharing with Rubie, but Rubie is becoming possessive of certain objects as well. The item she is most possessive of is her little doll she is holding in the above picture. But if Eric happens to take from her something she is playing with, she sure lets me know. She has quite a scream. Rubie loves playing outside, going to the park, she loves the swings, she likes to climb up to the highest slide and then we slide down together. She loves to play with other kids. We love Rubie, she is such a joy and so sweet.


We had two birthday parties. One with the Jeppson family and one with the Wilson family. Rubie was fascinated by the candle on her cake, but didn't want to have anything to do with the birthday cake. Although she discovered she likes ice-cream.

Grandma Jeppson had lots of presents for Rubie to open.

Rubie lost interest in opening the presents really fast, but Eric was there to help her out.

She loved all the attention and cute clothes that Grandma Jeppson got for her.

A beautiful dress and cute shoes that Grandma Jeppson got for Rubie.

Grandma Wilson had a doll with a pacifier for Rubie. She likes to identify its eyes and mouth.

Rubie in one of her cute outfits from Grandma Jeppson.