1 ~ My sister & brother-in-law (Anna & Rob) were kind enough to pick us up from the airport and drive us around and/or let us borrow their car. Thanks again!! It always takes little Sara a while to warm up to us. She hasn't spend much time with Kirk, and I think it really shows in the first few pictures of them together. Don't these photos just scream, "Who is this guy?" ?? =)
On Friday morning we spent a few hours with some friends from Venezuela. They made us arepas and reminded me how much I miss Venezuelan food. I felt bad for Kirk because he doesn't speak Spanish and they only speak a little English, but I did my best to translate or at least let him know what was going on. I got to see an old mission companion for the first time since the mission. That was fun, too. The funniest part might have been when they told me their theory on whether I'm having a boy or a girl. They swear by the "fact" that expectant mothers who will have boys "se ponen fea" (get ugly, basically) while those having girls stay pretty. I'm not so sure I believe this, especially given all the beautiful ladies I know who's recently had boys, but I'm just glad they think I'm having a girl!
Friday night we headed to Provo with Anna, Rob & Sara to check into the hotel (night before the half marathon) and then Kirk and I went to our friends Libby & Kevin's to have dinner and play games. It was so fun to see them again!!
2 ~ We were a little late for dinner, though, because Kirk HAD to stop at the Olympic center and jump of the highest diving platform. There were a bunch of kids, mostly girls, standing at the front taking forever to jump off. I understand that it can be frightening to jump from something that high, but do you really have to wait 10 minutes and cause the long line behind you to get all backed up? I was getting a little impatient, but luckily Kirk went up and talked to the kid to try to speed things up. His strategy: "Will you jump if I jump first?" He wasn't successful, but at least Kirk got to cut in line!!3 ~ The morning of the race I got up early with the runners. Well, I shouldn't really say "got up" because I didn't really sleep much that night. We stayed in what has to be (or at least I hope is) the NASTIEST hotel in Provo. I guess I didn't do my homework very well. It reminded me of the horrible hotel my mom recommended for all our wedding guests. Maybe this was payback =)
4 ~ Kirk did really good in the race! He ran it in 1:34, which is a little over a 7 minute mile pace. His goal was kind of just to beat my dad, which he did, but he still wasn't satisfied. He was upset that around 12 women beat him and he keeps saying things like, "If ______, I could have beaten all of them." I think he's going to run at least one more half marathon just so he can try to beat all the girls. Hopefully he'll realize that there are a lot of FAST awesome women out there and it's okay if he can't beat them all =) One funny thing that happened, in the race results it says I ran a 1:37!! (I didn't run because I'm pregnant). We figured that my chip must have been activated when I leaned across the finish area fence to give Kirk a congratulatory kiss.
5 ~ All the finishers: Kirk, my dad, Anna, my Aunt Anita and cousin Lisa.
6 ~ You'll notice most of these pictures include my niece Sara. That's because she's so stinking cute!! I love spending time with her. This picture is at the Rigby farm, where the Call/Jenson (my mom's side) reunion was. It was all day Friday and Saturday, but we didn't get there until late Saturday afternoon, after the race.
We got there just in time for the auction. Family members were supposed to make items to be sold to raise funds for the next auction. There was a lot of neat stuff. I bought a homemade purse, fudge, and a Christmas quilt. I sold some of my homemade journals.
7 ~ Uncle Derek and Sara
8 ~ Sara had so much fun running around the farm and playing with cousins. I think it was hard for Anna to get her to go to sleep that night.
On Sunday we headed back to Utah for the Bryan reunion, and stopped at Emily & Nate's house in Preston, ID. Emily was my college roommate. She's also my second cousin and one of my best friends. I miss her!! This was the first time Emily has really spent any time with Kirk, and the first time meeting her husband/family. Emily's FOUR (wow!) kids are so cute. I love how social they are. They haven't met me that many times, but were very friendly and wanting to play games, have a sleep over, etc. Fun
9 ~ We made it to the Bryan reunion at Aspen Grove, a BYU Alumni camp up Provo Canyon, late Sunday night. I'm sure Kirk was overwhelmed with all the people he had to meet this trip! Monday morning we did the ropes course. It was a lot of fun. The climbing and repelling were probably the most fun. Kirk liked it so much that he did it again the next day.
10 ~ Sara seemed to warm up to Kirk by the end of the trip, as I think this picture captures well.
11 ~ Family pictures right before we left for the airport.
12 ~ The camp is pretty fun. They had these fun swings and lots of other beautiful places to sit and relax if you want. They also have a pool, tons of racquet sports, a game room, mini golf, softball field, etc. It's a fun place.
13 ~ Grandma Ruth's golf cart. My uncle Joel drove her around a lot of the time. She's not able to get around as easily lately because of her chemo therapy. =(
Overall it was a fun trip, but we were very tired and ready to go home. We realized it was really the first trip we've gone on together, and Kirk even called it our "honeymoon." I'm trying to convince him that we need to take a real vacation, or a "babymoon." We'll see...
