Fall In Utah

FALL is my most favorite time of year. I like the warm days and the cool hint of change in the evenings. Ben and I met in the fall and so many of my first memories of us is hiking and biking with the colorful surroundings. I love the smell of the wet leaves on the ground and watching them whirl after a bike goes down the trail.

So everyfall we do our best to capture and many moments as we can, cause we all know the lustre doesn't last for too long. This year we spent a few evenings up South Fork, we did a couple lift rides up at Sundance, and of course rode our bikes when ever we could.

Happy 30th Ben!

Ben's big 30th Surprise was a hit thanks to all of you! I truly was a surprise and he had a lot of fun. So thanks to all who came and thanks for all the videos, and thanks to all who helped put it together...

It was Jesse's and my mom's birthday too, so they all got presents and cake.

Jesse's big surprise. Like father like son.

Steph brought Italian Sodas

I'd love to win...

One of these! Click on the link to check them out.



Perfect for carting the kiddos to the park.

Marathon a Success!

Everyone has been asking how the marathon went, and now 3 days, a football game, a busy Sunday, a little boy's 5th Birthday Party, and a big boy's surprise 30th party later, my own birthday to enjoy I finally have time to reminisce.

We (Ben, myself, and my sis-in-law Lisa) drove up

to Logan Friday evening. We got our

packets, roamed around the expo for a minute and then went to check into our hotel. Lis and I laid out our clothes, got our numbers pinned on straight, got our breakfast ready to go and then tucked in early for a 4am wake up. I was so nervous about the whole thing that I hardly slept a wink. Maybe getting a total of a hour and a half.

4am jumped out of bed, got our gear on and headed to catch bus up to the start line. During the long drive all I could think about was "Holy Crap, we have to run this whole way back!" We got off the bus. Went to the bathroom twice. Met up with friends and worked our way to the start line.

The gun went off and away we went. Sun was coming up on a nice cool fall morning. The leaves were in full color and the scenic mountains were enough inspiration to get me going. Not to mention the excitement and adrenalin that is always full on race day.

I was running fast and feeling good, then mile 6 I had to pee--bad. I took one firm step and almost lost it. So I ran behind a bush. All was good until I stood up to pull up my shorts and jet off again and all of a sudden my hernia popped out. So while trying to push my intestins back into their regular spot and get back on the road. I realized that my hands were too frozen to quickly pull my shorts up and tie my drawstring and tie my untied shoes. But eventually I managed to put myself together with out exposing myself too much and head back down the road.

Miles 6-15 were uneventful. Lis and I were talkin and having a good time. Knees where feeling it, but they didn't hurt nearly as much as I thoug

ht they would. 15-18 weren't bad. Tired obviously, but I felt good. Then about 19 I had to pee again and there was a 5 person wait at the porta potty, so I decided to detour into a Maverick. I was quick and efficaint and able to pull my pants up this time. At this point I realized I was now running farther then I ever had, which is always invigorating, but then I realized that 18 miles(my longest run before) is really only about 2/3 of a marathon and I started to realize how far I really had to go.

Running in and our of Maverick

19 everything started to get really tired. 21 everything started to lock up and hurt. I tried to walk through the aid station and everything seemed to lock up, so I knew that if I slowed down my body would seize.

22-25 I thought I might die. I

(The old man on my right--this was his 247th marathon. The girl in white behind me, only has one leg--if that's not inspiration)

was all of a sudden unbearably hot and nausous. If I looked up ahead of me I felt like I would faint. So I just kept looking at the ground and focused on not puking. Every aid station I would grab as many cups as I could and just pour the water on me. I hit mile 26 and that last .2 never seemed like so far.

Then I as I turned the last corner I saw all of my family that surprised me and came to cheer me on. Then I saw the finish line and I just about started to cry. Ben and Sarah ran me in the last few hundred yards. I heard the announcer say my name and everyone cheering and it was just what a needed to make it those few more steps. I crossed the line and it It felt sooo good to be done. I think I just stood there for a few seconds--maybe it was longer and it seemed like a foggy dream everyone's clapping and yelling at me, but I was too spent to repond or move. Finally I realized I should move out of the way and my body no longer worked. I had to hobble through the crowd to get some food and find friend and family. Thankfully my brother Matt (wearing his Wasatch 100 shirt of course) snuck into the racer's area and I was able to lean on him and get out of the crowd.

I met up with family and friends and they all gave me, "Way to go's" "You did amazing" "Good Jobs" And it all felt good.

So after all it is all said and done. It was such a great experience and so much harder then I imagined. I have been as exhausted on my bike before, but I have never had to work through not only exhaustion, but also pain, tightness and nausia.

But it felt great to accomplish something so hard. It has made me so much more aware of what an amazing thing and a blessing body is and how capable it can be if we use it. I don't have an excuse of babies slowing me down or ruining my body. Now I know I can push through hard things even though the odds are stacked against me. It made me feel young and strong. I have learned some serious self discipline and self will. I know I had very specific prayers answered. I know how nice it is to have people to lean on for help and advice. I couldn't have done this on my own.---So if you need a pick me up--Train for and run a marathon.

So thanks to Ben for letting me spend so many hours on the trail. For taking care of the kiddies and always encouraging me. Also big a big thanks for following me the last 10 miles during the race and bringing me whatever I needed. Thanks to Lisa for letting me tag along on all her long training runs and for running it herself. I wouldn't have dared to do it without her. And thanks for all the advice and words of wisdom from family and friends.

p.s. My official time was 4:16:31, but my watch says 4:14--I don't know how that is, maybe my watched auto paused when I peed? My watch also said it was 26.5

Top Of Utah Marathon

Is in less then 4 days and it's pretty much all I can think about.

Pre-race Goals:

Don't get sick! (Everyone else in the family has a cough right now)
Don't get hurt on my 3 mile run tomorrow.
Eat healthy, Drink lots.
Sleep well

Race Goals:

#1--To finish-- no matter what. If I can walk, I'm finishing.
#2 If I am feeling good, and no injuries along the way--Come in under 4:40
#3 To enjoy it--let's face it, I may never do another one again
#4 Start and stop my watch on time!

Wish me luck! I'm going to need it.

12 hrs. Of Sundance

Yesterday Ben raced in the

12 Hours of Sundance

he did awesome and looked awesome the entire time,

despite saying he felt like crap.

He rode for about almost 11 hours straight, did 10 laps, and came in 8th!

I am a very proud wife and enjoyed being his pit crew.

Maybe next year we'll do a co-ed team.

Donner 2009

Every other year we have a Hoopes Reunion at the Hoopes place at Donner Lake. It really is such a beautiful place. We all have a good time despite living on top of each other for a week. We don't get to see a lot of Hoopes cousins so my kids love to get to spend time with some "new" cousins.

I didn't take much pictures--lazy mostly. But on the drive home, we had the highlight of our trip. Grandma Marne drove out and back with us. During the trip she told a lot of memories of her life growing up. They lived in Elko, for just a short time during the depression years and when they were there her little sister died just after a day of being born. Marne had heard her father tell of how he took the child up to the cemetery to bury her. They didn't have the money for a site, so he just buried her outside the cemetery. As he finished, it just so happened that a man with a wheel barrow full of cement came by, looking for a place to dump his left over cement. Her father poured it out and smoothed it, and just with a stick that was nearby, he etched, "Dora Melissa Whitaker" Grandma Marne was just told, what happened, but never saw the grave. I think they moved really soon after. So when we headed back through Elko we decided to see if we could find it. It was easy. Luckily the funeral home had record and we were led right to the site--which is now just inside the cemetary.

It was great to be able to share this moment with Grandma.

While we were there we tried to take some family pictures, but this is about the best we could come up with. Naughty, wiggly kiddos.

One of the best things this year was being able to go on e few bike rides. It really is so beautiful there which made it some of the most fun biking I've done.

On Donner Summit with the lake in the background,