What are you thankful for? I am thankful for you!

This is the first Thanksgiving I have been home in 5 years. I have served with VIDA in Mexico the past years working at an orphanage and building a home with Mexico's Save the Children FAI-Sonora. I was sad to not serve this year but it was nice being home with family. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Halloween '09

My parents went to Fruita, CO over Halloween. The kids had a ball!


Peace, Love, and Happiness!



I went to a party with my friends at Noah's for Halloween. It was a 25-40 dance - I didn't know that. I thought it was a house party at Noah's home. The dance was okay but definitely not my thing. I think there were a few people over 40. I felt like there were people my parent's age. Awkward!

SYTYCD

Amy, Mom, Celeste, and I went to the SYTYCD concert at the E Center on Saturday, November 7th. The top 12 dancers from season 5 performed group, trios, duos, and solo dance numbers. I was so overwhelmed with joy and talent I was smiling the whole night and even shed a tear or two.

The concert was never-ending. They talked a little to introduce each number but other than that it was full dance.


Top six girls who danced at the concert were Randi Evans, Caitlin Kinney, Janette Manrara, Jeanine Mason, Kayla Radomski, & Melissa Sandvig. The top six guys were Kupono Aweau, Brandon Bryant, Phillip Chbeeb, Jason Glover, Evan Kasprzak, Ade Obayomi & Jonathan Platero.

Run For Your VIDA - 5K

Saturday, October 31 VIDA organized their 2nd Annual 5K on Halloween. All of the effort and proceeds will be donated to the VIDA Mexico Housing Project. This year Marcia and Lindsey really worked hard to make this race happen. We as a board-helped with donations, runners, and volunteers. This year we earned $1,000 for the housing project. We still have a lot to learn about putting on an event but we are learning and still having a good time! Thanks to everyone who supported the race and donated your time, legs, and/or raffle prizes.

Buckskin Gulch - more than mud meets the eye

Ten of us headed down just past Kanab to hike Buckskin Gulch. Paul, Lindsey, Scott, and Whitney hiked this trail before and never really told us what we were getting ourselves into. The hike was gorgeous but the mud, muck, and cesspools were totally disgusting and well worth it.

The science nerd in me loved the signs of weathering & erosion the whole time. I am currently teaching soils, weathering, and erosion in 4th grade science.

Lindsey's attempt of passing the mud hole without getting dirty...it was a loss cause after ten feet. Scott did try!



I love reaction on Scott's face as he walked through this cold mucky mud water.

After a wash in 6 inches of river water the night before and tasty breakfast burritos we were on the road again heading home.

Ingrid

Saturday Jana, Melissa, and I went to the Ingrid concert at The Venue for Jana's birthday a few months late/early;). The opening singer songwriter was okay but Ingrid was brilliant. She has such a great stage presence. She was funny, got the crowd involved, and sang better in person than on her cds and that is saying something.

We got there early enough to get above the stage so we were not in the sea of sweaty fans. I am short and I hate smelling everyone's pits all night. Dirty! Luckily were on the railing overlooking the stage and enjoyed every moment.

They only crap part of the night was getting two tickets for not registering my car. It is a long story but two tickets. Didn't the other cop see the bright pink ticket envelope on my windshield along with the one he placed there. Add that bill to the list...I need a second job or a roommate. That would solve the problem.

California Craze (cont.)

I couldn't narrow the pictures down to the best so I added almost all of our pictures from our trip to California in these collages. I love Picassa.com! To see the photos bigger you can click on the collage.

We took Makell and Kaison on Tower of Terror not realizing how scary it was. If you can see their faces it is kind of funny. They are shocked and frozen. They did not go on this ride again. We did - we went 2-3 more times!

The night life of Disneyland is simply brilliant. The lights, fireworks, music, and joy just keeps you going. My mom and dad were exhausted by lunch we kept them going! They were great helpers with the kids and they really did enjoy themselves.

After Disneyland we went to Universal Studios. It wasn't my favorite park we went to but the Shrek 4-D made the day worth it! The chairs moved in the movie, it squirted water on us at the right times of the show to make the movie come to life. We even were squirted with air and something touched our legs and feet to make it feel like spiders. It was a creepy but awesome experience. The kids loved it and they loved meeting Shrek and their absolute favorite - Curious George.

Sea World was a wet day. We got soaked at Shamu, at the Seasame Street 4-D movie, the river rafting ride wasn't that thrilling but it sure get us wet, and the favorite ride of the trip was Atlantis. Kaison went on that ride 5 times or more.

I love Quinn's face in these pictures. He is so curious and amazed by touching the sting rays. He loved touching the rubbery & slippery wings. Makell wouldn't even get close.

The San Diego Zoo and the Animal Safari Park were on the City Pass. We decided to go to the Animal Safari Park to try something new. It was just okay. There wasn't much to see and everything was pretty dull. I was definitely recommend the zoo to others. We did enjoy a bird show and a tour around the park but nothing compared to the Hogle Zoo and the zoo in Omaha. This was our fifth day of walking around and seeing this...that could've made this park's experience not top notch too.

The green bird above on Kaison was a neat exhibit. We didn't buy the nectar is was $3 but a lady gave us a little bit that was left. The birds would land on you and eat the nectar. The kids who had a full cup had a dozen or more birds on them. There was a little kids who got scared and was crying bloody murder. It was pretty funny! Kaison and Quinn were amazed and loved it! I should've bought the nectar to get a better picture but they did enjoy themselves.

When we were at the Animal Safari Park and at the beach Makell asked if we can go back to the hotel pool. She is a little fish and loves to swim but didn't like the salt water and waves. Kaison is swimming really well too. He felt comfortable with a noodle in the pool but there were times he would push the noodle away and swim to it. He is going to be as strong of a swimmer as Makell soon. They are both little fish!

California Craze

My family and I went to California for a week with the kiddos. We didn't stop having fun! We went to Disneyland, the beach, Sea World, Universal Studios, San Diego Animal Safari Park, and the beach again.

The kids were amazing troopers. We dragged them up, down, through, and through Disneyland. They rode almost every ride and stuck with us. The tye-dyed shirts sure helped us keep track of them!


The beach was gorgeous and comfortable. It was perfect weather both days we went (at least for me).

We took Makell to breakfast at Arielle's Grotto to meet all of the princesses. She had all of them sign her crown. She was in heaven!

The Pixar parade at California Adventure was brilliant. The kids loved it! I did too! (More pics to come.)

Brandi

My friend Ben introduced me to Brandi a year or so ago. I recently started listening to her music even more. She is brilliant!!! If you get a chance - check out her vocals and lyrics.

Epic Film Festival - Ben Cook's film of Wheeler Peak

A group of hikers make a daring journey up Wheeler Peak in Nevada. Complete with frolicking in a meadow, eating pine cones and a dance party at 12,345 ft. Does it get any better?

Lake Powell in September (cont.)

I finally uploaded the pictures from my dad and mom's cameras. Here are a bunch of shots that captured our adventures on the red sand and lake at Powell. I can't thank my family and friends enough for making each vacation a party! We always get along and have a good time.

On the other side of our camp there was a golf ball terrain for the kiddos to play. It was like a race car track but they used golf balls. They played with it for hours and I did too...maybe;)

We couldn't get enough wake surfing, air chairing, skiing, and wake boarding!

The air temperature wasn't as hot as in August so the little tykes played a lot more on the beach and on the house boat. Kaison and Quinn loved going out with Krehl, my dad, and Gary to fish. Makell and the girls played on the tube above water and on top of the houseboat.

My sister, Amy, and I really got the hang of air chairing this trip. Way to go us! Maybe next time we'll attempt a back flip on purpose.

We found some drift wood and made a great fire. The smores were tasty! These smores were left over from my trip to the Great Basin. Thanks traveling crew for letting bring the smores goodies.

Braden and Quinn were the cutest together. They played along the shore all week. They also pulled each other around with a jump rope. Most of the time they played fair but once in a while one would run too fast and the other would start crying.
Check out Krehl's almost back flip on the air chair - sweet! Krehl was getting some good air jumping the air chair and landing. He continued to backflip too. The above picture is one of the attempts that was pretty close. He'll get it!

Until next time...

Online Race Results

Daybreak Tri Sprint Individual September 19, 2009 in Salt Lake City, UT

Valery Gines

bib number:	696
gender:	F
location:	Sandy, UT
overall place:	287 out of 329
division place:	36 out of 43
time:	1:48:53
pace:	0:
swim:	16:32
t1:	3:46
bike:	50:07
t2:	2:31
run:	35:59

I am definitely not a competitive tri athlete. I have a lot of training to do before I get to that point. I need to get my butt in gear but this was a start!