Friday, October 12, 2012

Roller Coasters!!

Good times!! We went up to VA for a fun Saturday on the roller coasters.  A great group went and Collin and I got our annual photo, I have one like this from last year, I need to find it and put it up as well (found it). 
2012 Trip
2011 Trip

Backpacking!

These pictures are from our second backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail.  This was shorter than our first 70 mile trip, we went about 25 miles on this trip in the Mt. Roger's area.  We climbed the mountain during our trip.  The weather was perfect once again and we got to see the wild ponies.  Daniel's mom was nice enough to shuttle us from our ending point to where we started.  I am so grateful to have such great friends who have the time and desire to participate in these very enjoyable adventures.  I look forward to many more in the future.  














We ran into some girls from NC that we know, we knew we would both be on the trail at the same time but we did not know if we would run into one another and sure enough our final morning out, we saw them as we were leaving our shelter.  They had just camped about 100 yards down the trail from us, so fun!

During the summer time, my mom and I had a chance to take the kids camping for four days and we had a blast, even with the onslaught of rain that we received.  I think the kids had a great time and it will be a memory they can have forever.  We did some hiking, fire building, lots of eating, bike riding, running, game playing, and even a quick trip to Bristol during the rainstorm! I guess we cheated a little but it was worth it.  We could only handle so many hours in the tent during the rainstorm.  David, Mary, and I had a chance to bike from White Top to Damascus one day and then Mama and David did it again the next day. It was tons of fun and David and Mary did amazing biking the trail on bikes that do not have gears. 



These next several pictures show what Mama and I did during the rainstorm vs. what David, Mary and Sarah did during the rainstorm!! =)



David got my camera and the kids had lots of fun taking pictures of themselves while we took a short nap!



We tried out a dutch oven recipe from a friend and it was delicious - Daddy got to come up and join us for the evening activities. 

Wonderful camping trip and hopefully there will be many more in our future!

Cold Mountain, NC

The weather has proved to be amazing this Fall season and we just had to get out on the trail again for a wonderful weekend adventure.  This time Rachelle joined Camilla, Scott and myself.  We took our backpacks and feet to Cold Mountain, NC in the western part of the state.  We did about 19 miles in two days and it was a great trip.  We watched the sunset on top of the mountain and I was once again reminded of the beauty that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have created for us to enjoy.  The leaves were barely beginning to change and we got to see a few yellows and reds.  There were lots of beautiful flowers along the trail.  









Updates!

My blog seems to have a familiar track record to my journal.  I am always playing catch up because I tend to not keep it up to date.  I was gently encouraged this past week from a good friend to post on my blog about my latest comings and goings, so I will try and get you guys up to date - quite a bit has happened since the last time I posted!  I think I will go from most recent and see how far I get back to catching you all up!

This past weekend, I competed in my first ever triathlon and it was wonderful.  I had been training some - lots of running, a little bit of biking and swimming - to prepare for the event.  I have always wanted to do one but am always a little anxious doing new activities I have never previously tried.  My parents came to the race with me to be my support team!! It was great having them there with me.  The race was in Lousiburg, NC starting at 8 am on October 6! It was a gorgeous Fall morning, the weather could not have been more perfect for the race.  We started off swimming 500 M in the lake, followed by a 15 mile bike ride along country roads surrounded by cotton fields, and finished with a 3.1 mile run! I fared fairly well in the swim but was passed a ton during the bike portion (lots of room for improvement there), and finished strong on the running, passing 20 people in the process.  My goal was to finish in 1 hour and 50 minutes and not come in last!! I succeeded at both. My finishing time was 1 hour and 46 minutes and I did not come in last!! =)


They wrote our age on our right calf muscles, it was fun seeing the ages of all the participants.  There was one little girl 13, she beat me!


 My two greatest supporters!




Transitioning from the swim to the bike - it was nice having a short breathing break!