I had my birthday this week and can’t believe I’m actually 30?!? What a fun birthday adventure! Tom & I went to the Giants game (love being at AT&T park right on the water!) vs. Florida even though we lost in the 9th we spent the rest of day in downtown San Francisco. What a fun city and oh so beautiful! Snickers cheesecake was yummy. I’ll post pictures when I get them off of my phone!

So they say getting older is mandatory but growing up is optional so I choose the later. I don’t act 30. Maret and I are starting a 30 at 30 (hers is a 30 by 30) list…..so my next post will have my 30 new things for the year to come!

 Run Like The Wind…
Well, it’s over and all the hard work paid off. I posted my best time (although I’m not sure the official time), but it was great! I was starting to feel pretty tired at mile 11 and by the time I hit mile 12 it was just a gut-race. It was so much fun, though! They said we weren’t allowed any headphones during the race, but being the American public that doesn’t read or regard most of what they read, about 99% brought them, and luckily I brought them just in case my reasoning paid off. It was a pretty run down American Fork Canyon and along Hobblecreek Golf Course (when I saw the golf course, I wished I was playing instead of running because it was so pretty!) It ended at Mapleton City Park, where I saw Conrad right before the mile 13 marker and then raced into the finish line to see Sarah, Shannon, and Conrad. It was good to be finished. All finishers got a t-shirt and all the women finishers got a flower. It was just a fun day. Afterwards, we went to lunch where I threw caution to the wind and got the fattening pot-stickers. Hey, I had just burned over 1,000 calories so it was well-deserved.
Siobhan, my word of advice as you run your half marathon is, train well! You will enjoy it if you are ready for it, otherwise, it will be brutal. I don’t think I’ll be able to do the Monterrey one, since I’m hanging up the shoes and going to stick to smaller runs. I love doing them, but I think 3 is enough for me and I can concentrate on something else that’s easier on the knees. Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement!

All this for a shirt!

Sweaty girl!

No shower for 3 days? Can Heather do it, you say? This last weekend, I went backpacking to the high Uintas about 1.5 hours outside of Salt Lake for an all-girls get together. It included good friends Jen, Melanie, Polly, Angie, and Jen & Melanie’s sisters. We hiked in about 5 hours, with everything we needed for 3 days on our backs. It was beautiful! The Naturalist Basin has beautiful lakes in the area and the second day, we hiked around to see 5 of the many. It was pretty cold off and on, as the sun would hide behind the clouds and then the wind would pick up. At night, we had frost on our tents and water dripping into the tents from condensation. It was SO cold!! I slept with handwarmers (saved my life!) to stay warm, since the temperature dropped below freezing. I couldn’t get out of my tent to go to the bathroom because it was so cold (and I was afraid I would get eaten by a bear in the dark). Luckily, I had a hunting knife and we avoided all confrontations with scary animals. We saw a few deer here and there, and plenty of bear droppings.

We had to hang our food in the trees since animals will find any food you leave around your site, and will try to get in your tent. We sat around the campfire and told scary stories (our scariest/worst dating stories). It was hilarious!!

There are a couple things I love about camping: no make-up, dehydrated food never tasted so good, and the chance to get away from phones and ipods! I’ll attach pictures when I get them, so you can appreciate the beauty of Utah.

Hampton Beach
Friday, August 01, 2008
We went to Hampton Beach in New Hampshire (the Santa Cruz of NH) last week with Jared and Caroline. We were supposed to go to a church function, but plans changed and we were already in the area, so we just stopped by to play for a while and have lunch. Right before we were about to leave, we got the kiddos some ice cream. Here is what happened…..

Kenna’s First Pigtails!
Friday, August 01, 2008
OK, since McKenna has been born, she has had great hair. There was a lot on top since day 1, so we would always do a curly mowhawk. Then, when it got too long, we just kinda twisted it back and put a clip in it. But, she has never really had hair on the back of her head (or anywhere besides the top). Just last week I thought she might have enough hair for pigtails and tried it. Here is the outcome…..

Just Golfin’
Friday, August 01, 2008
As most of you know, Chris loves to golf and is really good at it, so it wouldn’t suprise you that Beckham loves it too. Yesterday I told Beckham that after his “nap” (or playing in his room for 2 hours), he could go golfing with Dad. So, for 2 hours Beckham carried around his golf clubs waiting for his Dad to come home. Here are a couple pictures and a video of Beckham hitting balls at the driving range. *Notice his tongue is out in all the pictures (you may not be able to see it, but trust me….it is)

It’s Been So Long…….
Friday, August 01, 2008
Hey everyone,

Sorry it’s been so long since I have posted anything, but we were in Utah for Chris’ sister, Shannon’s wedding. We forgot our camera and were using my Mom and Dad’s for the trip, but I forgot to download the pictures before I left and now I don’t have them! Which is killing me because I want to post them and show everyone. Some are really cute. But, I will see if I can get my Dad to burn me a CD soon. So, hopefully you can expect Utah pictures soon.

Southern California. The Newport Beach Temple. Palm trees and sunshine. And spending time with Paul’s family. His youngest sister, Laura, married Dave Garner, whom she met at BYU Idaho. Dave’s family lives in Rexburg, but is originally from Texas, which accounts for the reason we like them (wink). Laura took out her endowments in Newport Beach and Paul’s cousin, Kristi, had her new Chinese daughter, Ruby, sealed to their family right afterwards.

 

The wedding and reception were fantastic – Laura looked even more beautiful than ever, if that is possible, and everything went smoothly. The reception was outdoors in the courtyard at the Civic Center in Rancho Cucamonga where most of the Wright receptions have been held and as the sun set, Japanese lanterns and twinkling lights in the canopy of trees made a beautiful scene. Will post photos to the photo gallery soon…

 

It was so fun to see all of the extended family. Paul’s cousin, Greg’s daughter and I celebrated our birthdays together (she turned two and I turned…twenty-five…) with the help of about fifty hamburgers from In ‘n Out.  That alone was worth flying to California for.

Such a fun visit! But there’s no place like home…

Sarah

Conrad’s dad’s family had a reunion on Saturday in Provo. I went to their reunion last year and had no idea that I would be permanently a part of the family!

We’re loving the Olympics. If you didn’t see the men’s 4 x 100 freestyle swim, watch it online at www.nbcolympics.com. It was INCREDIBLE!!

We gave talks in our new ward at church yesterday. I guess it was good to get that over with!! The people there are really friendly. We had a lot of people come up and say how much they enjoyed hearing from us.

We’re settling into life as a married couple…it’s been a lot of fun. Please keep in touch!!