03 January 2010

We had a pretty good 2009. We're happy, mostly healthy, love each other as much as ever, and have the gospel, but I think we're just fine saying goodbye to 2009. Here are some of our highlights and happenings of the year:
  • Red Rock Relay – 173 mile run with a team of twelve! The hardest thing we have physically ever done, and we are so proud of the accomplishment! Our knees are still recovering…
  • Minneapolis Trip - the National American Planning Association Conference. Steve went to a Minnesota Twins game, the Mall of America (which has an indoor amusement park with roller coasters and all), and touched the Mississippi River.
  • 1st Mumford Family Reunion – Sun Valley Idaho (Bike Ride through Sun Valley all together taking turns on the Tandem and pulling the kids in a bike trailer, Countless board and card games, A trip to Red Fish Lake, Craters of the Moon, and Everyone getting violently ill.

Josie’s Gymnastics classes

    Josie in Preschool – she can’t stop doing her homework, she loves it!

  • Car wrecked – bought a new used second car. We now own two Nissan Altimas

  • Thanksgiving with almost all of the Krohns

  • Living Planet Aquarium, Toadally Frogs Exhibit, Museum of Ancient Life (the Dinosaur Museum), The Bean Museum
  • Housing Candi’s sister for several months and then a soon-to-be sister-in-law for another couple.
  • Second ever camping trip with the kids. They were too excited to sleep
  • Two 5K races – One we ran together

  • Candi’s first ever Triathlon in Pleasant Grove!
  • Halloween – Steve & Jackson were Pirates, Candi & Josie were Rainbow Princess Fairies / Guitar Hero Rocker Fairy (Candi).

Thanksgiving Point, Hee Haw's, and other Fall fun.

  • First ride on FrontRunner & more trips on Trax
  • Steve swallowed a camera…literally
  • Grandma took the kids on the Polar Express
  • Lights at Temple Square
  • Moving Candi’s parents from Seattle to Provo. Now our kids have all their grandparents within about 35 miles
  • Got a kitten – Swiper the Fox

  • Candi wrote a song for her brother Nik to sing at his wedding. It was performed wonderfully by her and her brother sang awesome! Definitely a highlight.
  • Remodeling the house – we added beadboard (the individual boards), chair rail, baseboards, painted, etc.
  • Candi won a Biggest Loser competition put on by her friends
  • Jackson insists that getting his first ever train set was the best thing that happened to him this year.
  • Our kids are growing up and are just as cute and wonderful as ever!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

10 December 2009

Red Rock Relay 2009

Candi and I were a last minute addition to a team of friends from the ward. That meant that we didn't get to train very much - really just a month or so. Not good. Anyway, we were excited to do our first ever relay race, and also a little worried, since we both didn't grow up running through life.

The Red Rock Relay is a 180-mile race through the beautiful red ro
ck country of southern Utah, starting at Brian Head Ski Resort, going through the Dixie National Forest, Cedar Breaks Monument, Zion National Park, Sand Hollow Reservoir, through St. George, and Snow Canyon. We ran in the middle of the night (with headlamps and reflectors), through rain and hail, up and down hills, on dirt trails, on busy streets, while being followed by a team of runners in a van.

I was the first runner, and the first 20 minutes of my race was a nice ride up the ski lift (it was freezing, but scenic). The 3 mile trail run was a lot of fun, and I passed two people!
Candi was the fourth runner, and she started with a doozy - 6 1/2 miles! She was all set with the water belt, the ipod, and sunglasses. She did awesome, of course, on a very roller-coaster leg (lots of ups and downs). We saw some fantastic scenery while waiting for runners. We can't support them all the time! This is the whole team (except for Candi, as she was the runner through Cedar Breaks National Monument). They definitely have floods in southern Utah - look at this bridge, torn apart above a river bed.
And, of course, Zions National Park was amazingly beautiful. We actually drove through most of it (with our crazy friend driving like a mad man to try to knock off a couple of minutes from our time). The roads being narrow, and it being a holiday weekend...kind of made it more dangerous to run through...so we sped through instead.The rain always seemed to pour just a couple runners before me. We even had some really bad hail that gave Shantel bruises. Anyway, interesting weather patterns. I got to run in the rain a little bit too. Kind of fun when its hot.
This was one of the few people I passed during the relay...worth a little celebration! This was my second leg - absolutely beautiful, next to the reservoir, passing ponds, waterfalls, etc. It was a nice steady 6 miles. Still takes everything out of you though.We didn't get any pictures from my third leg or Candi's second leg, as they were both in the dark and we were all exhausted. Candi ran a huge leg (about 7 miles) on a very dark road, sporting the vest and headlamp the whole way. It must've been about 85 in the middle of the night too! Made for a tiring run. My third leg was through Saint George, about half of which was on a trail in the darkness. Kind of spooky, actually, as I couldn't see a thing and there were no runners anywhere near me. It was about 6 1/2 miles.

Then Candi finished up with a 3 1/2 miler, running along with a group of 5Kers. Kind of funny. She finished strong!
Well, 30 hours later we made it to the sweet finish line. Actually, our team finished our last legs, then we went back to the hotel and tried to sleep a bit (not very successful at the sleeping), then went to meet our team at the finish line. We all ran across at the same time! Actually, most of us limped across...as our knees were done for, as well as our feet (blisters aplenty). The whole race was 180 miles, a drop of 8,000 feet in elevation, and a ton of fun. What an experience!

Random Josie and Jackson

Just some random pictures of Josie and Jackson. They're definitely kids.



Fun with Nikon

Well, these were obviously not taken in December. It's about time we posted some pictures from the summer! This was mostly just trying out my new camera. It's just a Nikon D40, but it's been a lot of fun, and is a great starter camera. The blog pictures don't do it justice, as the quality is compromised when uploaded. I need to figure that out. Anyway...we have such cute kids, always posing for the camera.