Today I turned 26. I don’t know why 26 feels so much older than 25, but it does! Maybe because I am now closer to 30 than I am to 20… wow. I did have a wonderful birthday though. Thanks Lacey for the cute birthday gift in the picture above! I love all of it! You even did a wonderful job wrapping it with glue…lol

The night before, Tom ran around the house making sure everything was cleaned up so that I wouldn’t feel the need to do any cleaning on my birthday. Then I woke up to delicious whole grain waffles that Tom cooked for me! After he left for work, and I went down stairs, I found little pieces of paper all over the house from Tom. It was 26 reasons why he loved me from the last year. I loved coming across them all day. I’m still looking for the very last one. It makes it kind of fun that it isn’t over yet.

For lunch, Lilah and I drove to Tom’s work and we had leftovers at his office. I just wanted to be able to spend as much of the day with Tom and I could. He really makes me feel happy and special. When Tom got home from work we went out to eat together as a family. We decided to go to a new restaurant because we’d heard such good things about it, but it ended up being pretty horrible! lol We decided that we won’t be trying anything new for birthdays from now on. After dinner Tom took me to Nordstrom Rack and I got to pick out some really fun running gear.

At that point we drove home, put Lilah to bed, and my sister Lacey and her boyfriend Travis came over. They listened for Lilah so that Tom and I could go back out for a little longer. We decided to drive up the canyon and build a camp fire. This is definitely one of my favorite things to do with Tom so I decided that this would be a perfect way to end my birthday. It was pretty chilly, but our fire kept us warm and we had a great time. We just wished we were really camping and could spend the night!

Thanks to everyone for all the sweet messages, cards, calls, and birthday wishes! I really appreciated it and felt very special!

We decided to take Lilah to rock canyon park on a Sunday afternoon. After getting there I decided to try and teach her how to roll down the hill. I didn’t really expect her to do it, or enjoy it, but she did! She did it over and over again! I felt dizzy from just demonstrating it once for her! We had a great time enjoying the warm weather, that I know will not last long. Here’s a video from the afternoon:

Tom has been visiting Cape May since he was little, and Tom’s Dad actually visited all his life as well. So it is quite a family tradition. This year I was more excited than normal because I knew that Lilah would actually be able to enjoy the beach. I was excited to see the look on her face when she experienced so many firsts. She did not disappoint! Just a warning…this might be the most pictures I’ve even put in one post….non-family beware!

The thing that I was most worried about were the flights…Lilah doesn’t do very well when she’s confined or sleep deprived. What 14 month old does, I guess? The flight to PA interrupted 2 nap times and her regular bedtime. Lilah is the kind of baby that wants to be set in her crib—by herself—when she is tired. She puts herself to sleep, and always has. Flying is one of the times when I wish she would let me rock her to sleep. Of course I tried—but that just made her more angry. I really shouldn’t complain about the flight out to PA because Lilah really did well (the flight home was a different story).

This is Lilah waiting for a flight and I thought she looked so cute with her monkey back-pack (sorry it’s blurry).

We flew in late on a Friday night, and were very excited to hit the beach first thing in the morning on Saturday. Here are a few shots of Lilah’s first experiences with the water. Her face says it all…we love these pictures that Nana took with her new camera!

She would hang out and play with shells and rocks while she waited for the waves to come. She didn’t mind getting wet at all…even when she first got in, which must have felt a bit chilly!

We spent a LOT of time at the beach. We rode boogie boards, played in the waves, read books, dug holes, made sand castles, and just enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Here’s Lilah and I on our way to the beach. It takes us about 1 min to walk to there from Uncle Jim’s house.

Andrew and Nana Rita

The boys dug a hole deep enough for Andrew to kneel down and get buried in. It made me claustrophobic just to watch…lol.

This is what we would do for hours…sit and look for different rocks and shells…and wait for the waves to get us.

I thought the waves were perfect this year. Pretty calm, but still fun. Tom and Andrew would have probably enjoyed bigger waves, but they still had a blast.

Here’s a video of Lilah having a ride on the boogie board with her dad.

We visit the same small branch on Sunday every year, and it’s been fun to start recognizing people. It only takes us about 20 minutes to get there and I’m always grateful for the reminder that the church is the same no matter where you are in the world. We almost feel like regulars. Here we are after church.

After the beaches close, we usually head out on our bikes to experience the town. Cape May has a very magical feel to it, and even though it’s not huge, there always seems to be something fun to do. Some of our favorites are visiting the boardwalk/arcade, Morrows Nut House, sampling fudge from the Fudge Kitchen, walking around the outdoor Washington St. mall, Mango Tango smoothies, dinner at the Dry Dock, biking around with no place to be, looking at the beautiful homes, and just enjoying our own little piece of paradise.

Lilah with Grumpy walking around downtown.

Lilah on a ride at the arcade. She looks so serious, but she was actually really enjoying herself.

Our little family on Washington St.

Lilah and Wicky at the Dry Dock. We have a very similar picture of this from last year. Lilah has changed so much!

At the Blue Wave Burrito… a new place we found this year (and one I’m sure we’ll return) to. They had great music playing the entire time we were there.

Here’s a video of Lilah dancing:

Although we had a lot of fun out on the town, we also had some great times back at Uncle Jim’s place. One night in particular we decided to try and get some funny pictures…my stomach hurt from laughing after about an hour of this.

We had a fantastic time again this year and hope we get to go back again next year. The only thing that would have made it better is if we’d been able to catch up with Aunt Cathy…our Cape May trip just isn’t the same without her!

And last of all, many thanks to Uncle Jim, for letting us stay in your beautiful vacation home.

Tom just completed his first half Ironman! This event consists of a 1.2 mile swim, followed by a 56 mile bike ride, and finishes with at 13.1 mile run. Back in 2009, Tom did his very first sprint triathlon and has toyed with doing this distance ever since. This weekend he got his chance! The race took place in Boise, Idaho which was quite convenient since my family lives up there. We drove up to my parents house on Thursday night and spent the weekend there.

Friday afternoon we headed downtown for the race registration. Grandma Tanner so helpful with Lilah while Tom and I waited in line to pick up information and supplies. During registration, we found out that Lucky Peak Reservoir (the location of the swim) was only going to be 53 degrees on race day. Tom had his own wetsuit, but it was the sleeveless kind, and I was worried about him swimming in that freezing water. Luckily, we were able to find a swim shop downtown that still had 1 long-sleeved wetsuit available for rent. Big relief!

After picking up the wetsuit, we met up with Nathan and Kendra. Nathan and Tom headed up to Lucky Peak to drop off their bikes at transition 1,  while the rest of us headed back to my parents house. We all had a fun family dinner together and stayed up a little too late making race plans and getting prepared. Everyone seemed excited and a little nervous, even those that weren’t competing.

The boys got up earlier on Saturday morning than the rest of us and left for downtown. They had to catch the shuttle bus to the starting line. Each bus ticket was $8 (plus you would be stuck up at the lake until everyone was done swimming) so we decided to cheer the boys on at different portions of the race instead of watching the start. Nathan and Tom’s wave started at 12:45pm, so we left for Boise around 1:30.

We first stopped at the Boise Institute building, where my mom works, and made that our home base. We set up our pack-n-plays and put the 2 kids down for their naps. Then my mom, listened for the kids while Kendra and I set out to cheer on our boys! (Thank you Mom!!) We were able to see them finish the biking portion of the race and watch them transition to the run portion before having to head back to get the kids. Both boys looked good at that point!

After seeing them we ran back to the institute building, grabbed the kids and we all headed out again. We only had to walk about a mile from the institute building to be right down in the action again. Kendra headed to the finish line and Mom and I picked a portion of the running trail where we could wait for Tom. We had a great time cheering people on and being inspired by all their hard work. Lilah actually started cheering and clapping for people too! It was really cute. It sounded like she was yelling “guay guay!” then she’d clap and yell every 30 seconds or so… I don’t know what she was trying to say, but she was definitely cheering for the runners.

We got to see Nathan run by, but hadn’t seen Tom yet after we had been there for about an hour. We decided to head to the finish line since we weren’t sure where Tom was. Sadly we found out later that we had probably just missed him before getting there and missed him coming around for his second lap pretty soon after we left for the finish line.

At the finish line Mom was so nice to walk around with Lilah in her stroller while I watched for Tom. We were all so excited to see him when he came around the corner! He still looked great and crossed the finish line strong. We had a fun little reunion before he headed off to grab his food. After he’d gotten through the food line he started feeling really sick. We gathered up his bike and transition bags, but by the time we got to the car he was feeling pretty sick.

Saturday night was rough for Tom, but he was still quite positive and very happy that he had been able to finish. He woke up Sunday morning feeling good and we were able to enjoy going to church with my family.

After church we had a delicious dinner, and then Mom and Dad spoiled Tom and Lilah with gifts for their birthdays. It was really fun to see Lilah learn to open gifts for the first time. She did pretty well, especially when she could see that there was something she wanted inside. I think her favorite was a doggie book…she didn’t even know what to do with herself, she was so excited! She also got some adorable clothes and a little purse with bracelets in it! (You’re so thoughtful and fun mom! Thanks again!)

Mom also picked out a really nice polo shirt for Tom and bought him an awesome T-shirt from the race! Tom had just been talking about how he wished he’d bought a shirt. Then my Dad surprised us by giving Tom his very own, old-school BYU sweatshirt! Tom has been a huge admirer of that sweatshirt ever since we first met. We had a hard time accepting it, but Dad convinced us that it would make him happy to see Tom enjoy it so much. (Thanks again Dad!)

We had a really wonderful weekend, and we’re glad we all made it back home safely!

This year I was invited to help out our local Boy Scout troop on their annual Klondike camping trip. It was held at Maple Dell (up Payson Canyon). Even with the nighttime temperature of high teens/low 20′s, we still managed to enjoy ourselves thoroughly. I really love camping, and can’t wait for Lilah to join us this summer.

This was my dream run.

For over a year now, Kristie’s cousin Nathan and I have been contemplating a trail that begins at Big Springs Park, climbs over the Cascade Saddle, and supposedly ends at Rock Canyon park in Provo. We heard rumors that the trail exists, but couldn’t find any definitive documentation of its course, elevation or distance. Google Maps made it look plausible, but certainly didn’t inspire any confidence.

We tried on several occasions to reach the Saddle in 2009, but each time had to turn back due to darkness, fatigue, or some combination of both. With each trip we got closer to what looked like the peak, but it always seemed just barely out of reach.

So fast-forward to late August, 2010. One evening Nathan calls me out of the blue from a business trip in South Carolina to suggest that we finally set a date to conquer the mountain. Since I was totally out of shape this year, I requested mid October to give me a little time to train. We settled on a Saturday, the 16th and immediately into my phone calendar went the entry “Epic Run.”

Two weekends prior to the day and I had only ran twice. One weekend prior I was out with a cold. I sent Nathan an email letting him know that I might have to bow out if I couldn’t get over an awful cough. Instead of letting my illness decide, what does he do? Immediately call Kristie’s phone and invite her to run it with him instead.

I called him a traitor, but knew that it was a good plan. Despite having had a baby four months ago, Kristie was in killer shape, and could run circles around me. The only advantage I had over her was that if we got lost in the wilderness, I had more reserves to survive on. That, and I’m better at fighting bears.

But when Saturday rolled around I was feeling about 90%, so the three of us decided we were in. We couldn’t have attempted it without Kendra, who was cool enough to hang  back with James and Lilah. As a triathlete herself, I knew it was hard – but I promised her I’d swap roles the next time we got something on the calendar. We left one car at Rock Canyon, and Kendra dropped us off at the trail-head, so this time there was no car to return to. It was Rock Canyon or bust.

We hit the trail at about 2:30 pm with a bottle of water each, and an iPhone 4 to map our GPS coordinates. The trail commenced with the familiar, unrelenting climb that would carry us past Big Springs, through the changing tree lines and ultimately (we presumed) to a point where we could crest the elusive Cascade Saddle.

It was apparent early that Nathan and Kristie were in much better physical condition, but they encouraged me when I struggled, and helped to keep me plodding along. Occasionally we’d pause running to take pictures of our beautiful surroundings, which offered a temporary respite for my leaden legs.

Upon passing the furthest point that we’d previously reached, the peak began to look like it was right around the corner. After the fifth or sixth time I caught myself believing this, I decided that it would be mentally advantageous to pretend that there wasn’t going to be a top. At least that way I’d be less crushed every time I saw a new wall of mountain facing me.

Eventually we did make it, and it was awesome.

We took a few pictures at the top, and then, with empty stomachs and water bottles, hastily commenced the long, pounding decent.

About 2/3′s of the way down I remember wanting it all to be over so, so badly. I was feeling good for a while, but the loose rocks and endless switchbacks wore me down and became increasingly infuriating.

By the time I reached the car I could barely jog. My quads were shaking and I felt physically ill. Nathan and Kristie, who had beaten me ther, were exhausted as well–but we all felt a little elation for having completed it. In total we ran 11.8 miles over a mountain pass.

Nathan's dirt tan

We piled into the car and I drove us to a supermarket, where Nathan jumped out and bought chocolate milk for a post-run replenishment drink. He actually had to drive from that point on, since I was feeling (let’s just say) a little worse for the wear.

But we did it, and it was about as hard (harder?) for me than the St. George marathon. Here are few things that put it in perspective:

Today Kristie and I decided to go for a hike to see if we couldn’t dislodge this baby of ours a little bit. Destination: Y mountain. During the 1,100 feet of switchbacks, almost everyone we passed reached out to Kristie–conveying everything from words of admiration, to unsolicited tips on other labor-inducing techniques. I think she’s reached the point where people that see her being active assume it’s labor-inducing activity, and not her daily routine. Ha.

No baby yet!

This area had gotten out of control–and we want to plant it–so I rented a roto-tiller from Home Depot to tear it up. I think the tiller had too little horsepower though, cause it tore me up. I was at it for hours and hours…that grass had some seriously deep, fabric-like roots. I pulled out so many clumps of weeds I’m surprised there’s anything left in there. Like the shades?

Note: Do not try this at home. Baby tossing was performed on a closed course by trained professionals that never slip.

Note 2: Don’t worry Kristie. I won’t ever do this with our little girl.

The Wagstaffs (family friends of the Tanners) invited us up to their beautiful cabin at Solitude ski resort this weekend. Being the ski bum that I am, I was beyond excited for another opportunity to get out this season. So Friday night we picked up Houston and made our way up a snowy Big Cottonwood Canyon, arriving at our destination just after dark. It wasn’t long before we settled into deep couches to watch the Vancouver Olympic opening ceremonies with a big group of family and friends.

The next morning a bunch of us struck out early to the lifts, hoping to get in as many runs as possible. It had snowed a bunch the evening before, and it snowed the entire day…so conditions were perhaps the best I’ve ever skied. Since Denny had been coming to Solitude his entire life, he and his son Drew were able to take us directly to the best stashes of thigh-to-waist deep powder. I decided to forgo lunch and ended up skiing for seven straight hours. Pure bliss.

Kristie “I Don’t Want to Squish the Baby” McConnon wasn’t feeling quite up to skiing, so she decided to run 9 miles at their home gym and play with Therese’s adorable nieces back at the cabin instead. That night we watched moguls, short-track, luge, biathlon and a bunch of other awesome Olympic competitions, taking a few breaks to play Scatagories and some other fun games. Watching Apollo and Kearney take silver and gold respectively were certainly highlights.

[check out that gnarly curling iron burn on Kristie's neck. That has to be some kind of record, poor girl]

On Sunday we went to church at the Brighton Branch, which was literally at the base of a ski hill. It was one of the prettiest churches I’d ever attended. Later on we had a big family dinner and dessert, complete with a Valentines Day party put on by the little kids.

We were planning on heading back that evening, but one of Kristie’s client’s rescheduled and I didn’t have work, so we didn’t have to take off till this morning. All in all it was a wonderful weekend escape with great skiing, great activities and really great company.