Boise Trip!

We made our fall trip to Boise to celebrate Bailey's 20th birthday, and to catch a BSU football game. It was a fun weekend! We got there on Friday, and took Bailey and Mason out to Tucanos for a birthday celebration dinner. Yum! We all ate way too much!

Bailey wearing her birthday crown at work.

She got spoiled by her friends and co-workers on her birthday. Lots of treats and love. She also had a fun date with Mason on her birthday.

Celebrating at Tucanos!

Presents!

She got AfterShokz Bone Conducting Headphones, and loves them.

Happy birthday song and dance!

Saturday morning we went to breakfast with the Freeman clan, and Kerri and her husband Kirk. It was so fun to catch up!

Seth-Cathy-Sami-Cris-Kerri-Kirk-Duane-Mark-Tricia-Mason-Bailey

 After breakfast we hiked Tablerock. It wasn't a very clear day, so the views weren't great, but still a fun hike.

Mason, Bailey, and Mark with Tablerock in the background.

A picture from the top.

We ended up with perfect weather!

The graffiti caves.

That night was the BSU vs. Wyoming football game. What a game! It went into overtime, and was so exciting! The Broncos pulled out the win! We've been to two games, and both times, they were intense, and right down to the last play. So fun!

Pregame fun! We got to high five the coach and all the players. I got really excited when Hank went by! :)

Let the fun begin!

Bailey and Mason sat in the student section for the first half, and then came up with us for the last half.

We had breakfast together on Sunday morning, and then we had to head back home. Quick trip, but super fun. I can't wait till we go back for a basketball game.

On the way home, Mark and I stopped at Malad Gorge State Park. He watched an Idaho documentary about it. It's right off the freeway, and we had no idea. We literally drive right over the top of it every time we go to Boise. We are going to stop again in the spring or summer when the water is running more. Cool place though.

The pictures that we saw of this waterfall look really awesome when the water is running a lot. Can't wait to go back and see it again.

Moab Trail Marathon

Mark and I went to Moab to run a trail marathon with some of the other Idaho Falls Trail Runners. We left at about noon on Friday to drive down. We got there at dark, and drove straight to the starting line, so we'd know where to go early the next morning. We parked at a campsite right down the road and slept in the back of my car. It was freezing! We woke up at 1:30 to go to the bathroom, and there was ice on the inside of the car. Brrrr!

 We were up bright and early the next morning for the race. There were so many people that they had to start us in waves. We started in the 4th wave, which was a mistake for me. I should have started in the 3rd, because I was frustrated for the first 6 miles. So many people, so you basically had to go slow whether you wanted to or not. I'm not real fast, but it was sooooo slow! The course was incredible though! It was so beautiful, unique, and fun. To be able to run a marathon on the trails of some of the most beautiful red rock landscape in the country was awesome! I highly recommend it! The course wound through canyons, went along crazy ledges, went through sandy washes, up big hills, over fun slickrock, through caves, along the Colorado River. Towards the end, we had to use ropes to climb up and down slick rock walls. I loved it all!

It's crazy how a season of trail training has toughened me up. I wasn't even phased by this race. The distance and course weren't even hard for me. I didn't run it fast, but it was still 26 miles. I had lots left in me at the end, and I feel like I could have kept going for another 10 miles. I didn't get one bit sore, and when I ran my recovery run on Monday, I felt great. My legs weren't even tired or heavy. If my back could handle it, I think I'd be up for trying a 50 miler next season.

We already have a different race picked out for that area next year, and I'm so excited about it!

Twenty degrees at the starting line!

This was taken in the first 3 miles. This line of people stretched on forever. It was kind of cool to see.

After mile 6, we ran along the coolest ridge. It was a little crazy when we dropped down off the ridge. We had to climb down some stuff that was not meant for my short little legs. We eventually ended up on the road you can see in the picture.

On the road you could see in the picture above.

We had a really cool out and back section up a narrow canyon.

This was the start of a pretty big 2 mile climb. Mark wasn't a fan of this part. Once we got to the top, the view off the other side was amazing! It's the same area you look out at from the end of Dead Horse Point. 

Still climbing the hill!

Looking back down the hill we were going up. This shows how far we had climbed so far, and we still weren't to the top.

So pretty!

I wish the sun would have been in a better place for this picture. It was so red and looked awesome!

The top of the hill! You could see miles of red canyons with the Colorado River running through it.

 After the hill, we started down the coolest trail, and ended up on a maze of slick rock. I loved this whole section.

We had to squeeze through that! It was tight!

This was the coolest little arch along the trail.

This whole slick rock section was amazing, and so fun to run on.

This part was cool too. We were coming down a ledge that overlooked the Colorado River. I took this section nice and slow, because one trip and they would have been fishing me out of the river.

Veronika, Johanna, and cute little Ellie greeted at the finish line.

Mark finishing!

Yay!

That night all the IFTR went to dinner. Veronika, Jason, Mark, and I had already run. Georgina and Angie were running the next day. Good times, with great people! 

That night we drove up the road about an hour and found a place to park and sleep in the car again. We layered up our clothes way better, plus in was 4 degrees warmer, so we slept better. 

I'm really bummed the trail running season is over. I'm going to try to run more through the winter this year. We'll snow shoe a lot too, but I'm gonna try some snow running.

Happy Trials!

Halloween Fun!

The Haunted River:

We went to The Haunted River for our annual haunted house date with Keith and Jenni this year. It was so good! The atmosphere was awesome, the costumes were amazing, and every detail was so well thought out. We'll definitely go again in the coming years!

Frightmares:

Bailey and I had the idea to go to Frightmares for Halloween this year. It's the perfect way to celebrate with older kids. We had a fun filled day of rides and haunted houses.

Bailey and Mason drove from Boise to meet us there.

Mason-Bailey-Tricia-Mark-Noah-Sawyer

We love all the little photo places they have around Lagoon during Frightmares.

Noah, Mason, and Mark on Samuri. It spins too much for Me, Sawyer, and Bailey, so we stayed off to watch. We were laughing so hard! You could hear Mark screaming like a girl the ENTIRE time!

The trees were amazing at Lagoon. They were in perfect fall form, and I loved it! Right after I took this, we went on the Rocket and Re-entry. From that high in the sky you could see all the fall colors in the park. So pretty!

We got pictures of everyone in the coffin. We all tried to look dead, or just smiled, and then there's Sawyer. Hahahaha! Never a dull moment!

They're the cutest!

Oh wait, he's the cutest! :)

There was one extra picture square, because I was out taking the picture. Don't worry, Sawyer was talented enough to put his butt in one spot and his head in the other. 

It was Noah's first time at Frightmares, so we made sure we read all the headstones.

The train ride!

Again, we laughed our heads off at these three on this spinny ride. Mason was laughing so hard, Mark was screaming, and Noah was just trying to keep them off of him. So funny!

Hahahaha!

I told Sawyer to stand next to Bailey so I could get a picture of them under the spider. He just wanted a picture of his butt. Check out Bailey's face!

Since Sawyer wouldn't cooperate, I tried for a picture of Bailey and Mason under the spider. Mason did the same thing as Sawyer. Gotta love the difference in Bailey's face! :)

The costumed people walking around weren't as good this year.

I loved how red this tree was!

This was on the pirate ship. That is seriously my favorite ride! I laugh so hard. I come clear out of the seat!

The swings were freezing, but oh so fun!

We got in the park right when it opened, so we got on a ton of the rides before it even got crowded. We left by like 9:30 because we had already done most things. Good times!

I love that even though Mark isn't a big fan of the scary stuff, he knows that I am, so he does it all with me anyways. Haunted houses, Frightmares, and scary movies all month!

Halloween Night:

Halloween night was kind of boring. Mark and I dressed up to hand out candy, but we didn't get near the amount of trick or treaters that we normally do. We had a crazy cold front come through, and had the coldest October on record. The single digits scared the kids away. I did do a couple Halloween group runs dressed like a hot dog, so that was fun!

My 5:00AM run dressed like a hot dog.

We had a great sunset on Halloween night.

These two LOVED answering the door when the trick or treaters came. They got lots of pets and loves from the little kids.