Los Angeles Temple

We finally made it to Cali. I did alot of reading on the way and the kids played their DS's or watched movies or slept. Rich did most of the driving today.
We decided to drive through the city since it was the kids first time seeing it and they really wanted to. We drove down Hollywood Blvd. and Alexa was sure this is where she belongs. We decided that we would come back during the week so we could get out and do some shopping and sight seeing.

We stopped at the Los Angeles Temple to walk around for a bit. The weather was so perfect. It was about 6pm and in the 70's with a slight breeze.

 

 

 

We had a few photo shoots and walked around for a while glad to be out of the van.

It surprised me that there was so much traffic on Sunday. I know that there is always traffic in LA but it was pretty ridiculous for a Sunday evening. We finally made it to our Hotel in Anaheim and got checked in.
It wasn't the nicest place we've ever stayed but after the Motel 6 last night it was awesome!! We have a microwave and fridge, breakfast every morning and plenty of room. There is also a free shuttle to the park which was a big selling point for me.
We made sandwiches for dinner and caught the Disneyland fireworks in the parking lot. Road trips are pretty exhausting and so we went to bed anxious for tomorrow!!

ROAD TRIP!!

We all went to Barry's for lunch (except Rich) and then we sent Max home with Monica to stay the week up in Logan and we went back home to get ready to leave on our ROAD TRIP TO DISNEYLAND!!!!

We hit the road at 3pm. We don't really have "set" plans for this vacation. We are just kind of going with the flow. We stopped in St. George to do a little shopping and we ate dinner at Chuckarama.

We made it to Las Vegas and decided that we better call it a night, it was almost midnight. I didn't want to go "into" Vegas so we checked some hotels right off the freeway. It was late and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a room so we ended up at:
Motel 6!! We should have just saved our $60 and slept in the car!!
The room was tiny and pretty dirty and the sheets had stains on them. We watched TV for a while and then went to sleep. Sometime during the night I woke up and thought I was going to die!! I was SO HOT and I didn't have any covers on. I thought the a/c was broken because I could hear the fan running...Rich had just turned the fan on but not the a/c, I was pretty upset with him. It took me a long time to get cooled off and back to sleep.

We didn't waste anytime getting out of there in the morning!!! Usually Motel 6's are pretty decent but not this one!!

We hit the road again...next stop, California!!!

Speedy Spaniard Road Race (10k)

This year there were over 600 runners and it was a great morning for a road race!! Rich, Monica and I got up at the butt crack of dawn, 5:45am to be exact! I believe it is my 6th Speedy Spaniard. Rich and I have done it together every year since we got married and we plan on keeping up the tradition. I don't have any pictures, sorry.

OFFICIAL RESULTS:

2009 Speedy Spaniard 10K
Spanish Fork, UT
July 24, 2009

Men's 10K

Overall Bib Name Age City State Division Time

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1. 1604 Spencer Hanson 16 Spanish Fork UT 1. Men 15-19 33:24.1
2. 1497 Austin West 16 American Fork UT 2. Men 15-19 33:41.4
3. 1603 Carl Hanson 45 Spanish Fork UT 1. Men 45-49 35:42.0
4. 813 Tyler Shepherd 32 Salem UT 1. Men 30-34 36:10.7
5. 859 Rich Cope 35 Spanish Fork UT 1. Men 35-39 36:19.0
6. 1241 Travis Condley 26 Spanish Fork UT 1. Men 25-29 36:40.0
7. 1554 Scott Randall 17 Provo UT 3. Men 15-19 36:42.2
8. 1160 Spencer Vance 18 Spanish Fork UT 4. Men 15-19 37:49.5
9. 1564 Daddy Hoosier 28 Draper UT 2. Men 25-29 38:13.0
10. 1454 Nelson Orton 18 Spanish Fork UT 5. Men 15-19 38:13.8

Rich got 5th Overall and was 1st place in his age division and he is the "Speediest Spaniard!!" They had a "locals" category and he was the fastest runner from Spanish Fork!!! He got $40 cash and a medal for first place. I am SO PROUD!!!

I finished in 1 hour 8 minutes. I tweaked my knee at girls camp and haven't run all month. I was pretty happy with the result. I can't remember for sure but I think my best time was the first year I did it and I finished in an hour. One of these days I am going to start being more serious about running.
Monica finished in 1 hour. She did awesome!


We went home after the race to get everyone for the parade. That is another tradition I could do without...honestly it is SO HOT and parades are pretty boring. Melanie and Monica weren't loving it and the kids weren't either!

After the parade we hung out at my house for a while and I made some cookies and then we headed to Harry's Ranch for Rich's family party. The food was delicious and I thought Melanie and Monica would object to going to Rich's family party but they had a good time. The kids all had fun on the canoes and paddle boats and playing in the sand. We stayed there a few hours and then headed back to our house.


We went to the mall and ate dinner at the food court, then just hung out at my house all night!!!

Orem Owlz

Since we have Jake and Kenzie here for the week we are trying to do fun things. Monica and Amb met us at the Owlz game, the first one of the season for us. It was a great night for baseball.




Hootz is Max's favorite part of the game. He is always looking around to see where he is. Hootz was kind of a show-off tonight and Max loved it!! The game itself wasn't the best...not much action and the Owlz lost but a good time anyway.

We made our traditional stop at Krispy Kreme after the game. Mel and her kids got to our house pretty late but we are so glad they came for a sleepover!!

Carnival

We got pizza and ate at the park and then walked over to the carnival. It is family night and the rides are $1 each. It is the only way to go...except for the craziness of all the people also taking advantage of the good deal.
I didn't get any pictures of the big kids because they took off. Max wasn't a huge fan but he went on a few rides. He was more interested in playing the games to try to win the toys, not why we come to the carnival.



I thought they were open until 11pm so we were just kind of taking our time but as we were in line for a ride the lights started going out and it was obvious they were closing. I guess I was wrong and they closed at 10pm. We had quite a few tickets left and I was pretty bugged. I hope I never have to go back to the carnival again...that is one tradition I am willing to let die, but I am afraid that my sweet Alex would never speak to me again so I am sure you will see the same old post again next year!!!

FHE...Grotto and Weenie Roast

For FHE we decided to go to the Grotto up Payson Canyon for a nature walk to the waterfall and a weenie roast and s'mores. One small problem, we didn't take any matches or a lighter so we were hoping that one of the "eagle scouts" could get us a fire going. It didn't happen so while we went on our "walk" to the Grotto Rich drove back down the canyon to buy a lighter.
There were several times that we crossed the water on these logs. I was a little nervous about all the little ones that we had with us but they all did really well.
This is our group. We had the Rogers, Anderson's, McKell and Josee and us. Kenzie and Jake are with us for the week and they were glad they got to come with us.
It really is just a short walk and then you get to this waterfall with a pool of water. It isn't very deep but it is cold.
Here are the big kids. Jake and Alex got really wet but the girls kind of wussed out and didn't get that wet. Jake was freezing!!
The little kids had more fun throwing rocks in the water than actually getting wet. They were having a great time playing together.
Dustin told Jennifer that he would take her to Olive Garden for dinner if she put her whole face in the waterfall...and she DID!! She said it was totally worth it!!!

 

I made the kids all stop on the bridge for a quick photo shoot. They were really posing it up!!!
Rich already had the fire going when we got back. We weren't as prepared for this little outing as we should have been. We should have brought more chairs but it all worked out and we had enough food which is really the only thing that matters anyway...right??
We got a great fire going and there is nothing better than a bun length BarS weenie roasted over an open fire!! Delicious...don't believe me
just ask Max...looks like he is really LOVING his.
Kenzie was trying to roast the "perfect" mallow but unfortunatly that title was all mine. Grandpa Hansen took his marshmellow roasting very seriously and lucky for me he taught me all his tricks. I really do know how to get the "perfect" mallow!
Alex with his mouth full!!
We finished up all our delicious food and then we got the fire out and headed back home.

Babies

It is so fun to have babies in the house again (my Mom's house that is). We all love holding them and have to take turns.
Korver is getting SO BIG and is really chunky, even more so when you put him next to a new born. But he is so SWEET and JUICY!!
Alexa was loving Nixon and wanted to feed him and just kept holding him and didn't let anyone else have a turn.
Rich also got in on the feeding action. He wishes he could take one of them home!!!
I am just glad that there are babies around, even if they aren't mine. That has its advantages too!!! They are sweet and fun and Max and Owen are going to love to have 2 little guys to pick on and play with in a few years!!

Floating the Canal

Me and Mom went to the Farmer's Market and to some other places in the morning and left the boys home with Dad. When we got back just Rich and Amb were home so we asked where everyone was. Amb told us that Dad, Alex and Max went to float the canal.
We decided to go see if we could find them.
We found them up by the park going down the same little part over and over. Alex was having the time of his life!!
Max went on the tube once but didn't really love it so he enjoyed just waiting on the edge with his feet in the water.

 

Alex was doing tricks and standing up on the tube. He was having so much fun. My dad had a stick that he would grab on so he could pull him to the edge.

I was watching and it was really really hot. My dad suggested that I take a turn. He said it would be my last chance. I am not really sure why it would be my last chance but it sounded refreshing. I hadn't showered for the day yet and thought it sounded like a great idea.

 

I handed off the camera to my mom and asked Max if he wanted to go with me. He didn't. I wasn't sure the best way to get in the canal without getting too wet. The edges are pretty steep and they have black plastic on them so they are very slippery too.
Alex said to hold the tube behind me and just jump in but I probably would have tipped over so I didn't want to try that. I thought I could just go down halfway and then go in backwards. I ended up slipping and got wet to my shoulders. It was COLD but felt good (except for the wet bra). I got on the tube and had a short little float and then dad pulled me in and that was that. Good times!!!

Nixon J. Harris

I finally got to meet my newest nephew...Nixon J. Harris. He is precious!
He was born on Monday July 13th. Amy went into the hospital in the morning to get induced and he didn't arrive until 8pm. He was a little chunky @ 8lbs 2oz. Owen finally has a baby brother!! They didn't find out the sex of the baby so they had a nice surprise when he finally came out!!

State Baseball Tournament

Alex's team made it to the State Tournament. They played in Provo at a pretty nice field. They had their first game at 2:00pm and then they played again at 6:00pm.
Here is my all star in the dug-out waiting for the game to start.
Practicing his swing. They had these cool baseball's spray painted on the grass.
Up to bat. He struck out both times he was up to bat but at least he went down swinging!!!
The best part about this ball field was the cool mist spraying around the building. Max thought it was the greatest and spent most the game running in and out of it!
Me, Alexa and Max came to watch and cheer on Alex and his team. They lost the game and it was pretty dang hot.

We had to take Alexa home so she could go to Young Women's. We had just enough time to drop her off and then had to turn around and head back to Provo.

Game 2
The game started at 6pm and I was sure I was going to roast but it was actually really pleasant. We picked up Wendy's for dinner and ate it at the ball park. Max found the play ground so he was entertained. Alex finally got a walk and was able to make it home and score a point. In the 4th inning the score was 16 to 0 and we were the 0. We were home team so we got to bat last. They scored 10 runs on 2 outs!!! It was a great comeback and even though it wasn't enough to win the game it made it really fun to watch and gave the boys some great experience!!!


He plays one more game tomorrow at 1pm and then who knows from there!!

***UPDATE***
They lost the game but they played well and coach was proud of them. That is it for baseball season 2009!!! WOO HOO!!!