The Wallsburg Half Marathon

Many of you may not have heard about the Wallsburg Half Marathon last Saturday. It is a very small, yet prestigious race. In fact, it is so difficult to qualify that there were only two runners who were asked to run in it this year. Rode and Heather had definitely earned their place in this race, though. Training was rigorous (ie 4 practice runs during the entire 3 month period prior to the race, including a whopping 6 miler which laid them both up for days). Although the competition between the two was fierce (neck and neck as you can see below), they both performed optimally, even with a cramped foot for Rode from mile 4 to 13. Thanks to Olivia, who was a superb water girl, sacrificing nap time to attend to her duties.

Feeling good at mile 4

Crossing the very official finish line

13.1 miles later

The Real Story: Heather signed up to run the St George Half Marathon, but due to some scheduling difficulties, she decided it would be better to stay home. She was determined not to skip out on her goal though, so she decided she would just run her own half marathon. I graciously volunteered Rode to be her running partner for the 13 miles, and being the good man that he is, he consented. The training schedule was exactly as stated above- meager to say the least. Hez and Den charted a 13.1 mile course covering the entire city limits of Wallsburg. We headed out there bright and early Saturday morning (ie like 9:30, which shouldn't surprise anyone) and off they went. Liv and I delivered Gatorade to them at designated spots, as well as some Ibueprofen at about mile 8. Denver, Liv, and I met them at mile 13.1 with a toilet paper finish line, which unfortunately ripped in the wind before either of them ran through it. I don't think they cared though- they were just grateful to be DONE!

Goodbye Mullet, Hello Pigtails

Liv has been sporting a mullet for quite some time now. It is probably the cutest mullet I've seen, but even still, she is a lady and we aren't living in the 80's/early 90's anymore. It was time to update her look. We tried for pigtails a few weeks ago, but I could only keep her still to put one ponytail in and it looked pretty ridiculous (although she still wore it to church because I was determined). Finally this morning, we succeeded in getting two pigtails. She still has fairly small amounts of hair on top, like someone else in the immediate family (insert Rode's name here), but the ribbon hopefully acts as a distraction from that :) I think she is pretty darn cute.

Happy Halloween from the Pedersen Family Circus

The Greatest Show on Earth

Introducing...

The Lovely and Talented Tutued Tightrope Walker, Mommy

"The Incredible Daddy Rode, Lion tamer Extraordinaire"...

...taming the fiercest baby lion west of the Mississippi.

Celebrating Autumn

I LOVE the fall. It reminds me of home in New England, and inevitably makes me homesick. I decided that even though I couldn't see the beautiful trees in New Hampshire, I was going to celebrate autumn. When I told Anthony that I wanted to go apple picking, he was game although a little confused. I think his exact words were, "So what exactly do you mean by 'apple picking?' Like WE are going to go pick apples off of the tree?" to which I replied "Yeah like you go to an orchard and fill a basket with apples to celebrate the autumn season." "Oh okay, that makes more sense. I was just confused because picking apples in my mind seems like work." And, apparently it seems like work to most Utahns who would just as soon leave it to the farmers as they would to pick their own. After researching and calling numerous orchards within a reasonable driving distance, there was not one that was "Pick Your Own" with the exception of one which my friend reported was 4 rows of apple trees bordering a busy street in Salt Lake. Anyhow, I resigned myself to the fact that we would be "picking our own" apples out of the country store at whichever orchard we visited. That would have to do.

I also wanted to pick a pumpkin from a pumpkin patch, and after a great referral from my sister Kelley's sister-in-law, we went to "The Red Barn" in Santaquin. I think the orchard is Southwicke's Orchard. It was a bit of a drive but well worth it. Aside from the fact that we did not get to "pick our own" it was exactly what I was imagining. After enjoying some delicious ice cream, a divine pumpkin chocolate chip cookie, and some apple cider slush from the store, we went on a hayride through the acres of orchards, to a legit pumpkin patch and picked out our own pumpkin. When we got back to the barn, we bought a few more goodies from the store, including our apples out of the cooler room :) I had a perma-smile the entire time. Sweet, sweet Anthony just smiles and lets me appease my New England desires.