Spectrum 10K

I tried to sign up for the St. George Marathon last year and did not get in. If you are not a Washington County resident, there are very few options other than putting in for the lottery which gives you a 50% chance of being selected for entry. One of the options is the Utah Runner's Series, where you have to participate in 2 Utah runs during the year, and if you do then you get automatic entry in the St. George Marathon.

I entered the Runner's Series and the first run I needed to complete was this morning. It was the Spectrum 10K, which was held in Ivan's Utah, which is right outside of St. George. I drove up last night with my second oldest and we stayed in a hotel. Amazingly, this was the artwork on the hotel wall.



My friend Chris Jolly has in-laws who live in St. George. They were gracious enough to watch my daughter while I ran the race. The race directors bussed the participants to the starting line in the canyon. We ran through the canyon, into Ivans, through the neighborhoods of the town, and ended up finishing at the Church on Main Street (how small town is that?). I set a goal for 50 minutes, which would require 8-minute miles for the entire 6.2 miles. Chris' 11-year-old son ran with us. They set a goal of 56 minutes. I crossed the finish line at 47:46, and Chris and his son came in at 53:30. Chris' son (who again is only 11) took 3rd in the 11-14 age division. He could not have been more happy. Everyone was very pleased with the times they turned in. Chris says he is going to enter the Spectrum every year. After today I think I may join him.

Here we are soaking up the glory after the finish.



After the run I went back to the hotel and changed. Then ate at my favourite place in St. George, a little Mongolian BBQ spot. After that I took my daughter to "Fiesta Fun" for a ride on the bumper boats and a round of miniature golf. I think my daughter will drive Tiffany crazy with requests to go there every time we pass through St. George (which is something we do several times a year).

Great way to end 2008

Our family had blast ending our 2008. The day after Christmas we trucked down to Arizona to a little vacation rental in Queen Creek. From Friday through Wednesday we hung out with Tiffany's family. All of Tiff's siblings, together with all of their children, met together for the weekend. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we had a get together with Tiff's aunts, uncles, cousins, and lots of other family. It was wonderful to hang out with everyone. As each day came more family arrived. The Saturday and Sunday gatherings were at Tiff's cousin Jeff's place. Here is a picture of all of Tiffany's siblings with their respective spouses, and all of their children together at one time.



On Monday we met at a park in Mesa. The kids got to feed the ducks and play basketball, wiffleball, and soccer.



On Sunday I attended my home ward from when I was 13-18 years old. It was almost 20 years since I had been in that building. I talked to my old Bishop and got the chance to thank him for all the time he spent helping me learn how to be a husband and father. I also got to see my High School Speech and Debate coach, who had moved into my old ward several years ago. In Priesthood I was asked to introduce myself. After I sat down the guy next to me said he knew my father. He introduced himself as "Brother Smith" and I asked him "are you Karla's dad?" He said yes and I told him that he and I used to be home teaching companions.

We were having so much fun I suggested we stay an extra day. The drive home Thursday took a long time because the Hoover Dam traffic was backed up over two miles with California folk heading to Vegas for New Years.

Once we got home I took two of my neices to "Partyland" to get New Years party favors. We also picked up a bunch of "over the hill" decorations for Tiffany's sister (my neices' mother) Janelle. We gave Janelle an inflatable walker, a sash that said "40 and fabulous", an "over the hill" pin that had flashing lights, and a couple of books (we had to throw in a few real gifts). Janelle was a good sport and wore the gear all night. When midnight came we toasted with apple cider and we watched the fireworks on TV. It was a fun ending to a neat year for our family.

Christmas 2008

It is a wonderful Christmas morning in the Sampson home. We have Tiffany's family visiting with us. Janelle and her children arrived a few days ago. Her husband, Ed, flew in yesterday. Last night we had a fondue and gormet dinner, with a chocolate fountain as an extra treat for the kiddies (all 9 of them). Sydney gave a wonderful dinner prayer that made sure the "Guest of Honor" was a part of our Christmas festivities.

After dinner we gathered around the Christmas tree and read Luke 2. Then everyone opened one present from their secret Santa. I got Wii Carnival Games. Tiff scored with a copy of The Four Agreements and The Last Lecture. After that we listened to Christmas music, hung out, and made trips to the chocolate fountain again (and again and again). The younger kiddies tracked Santa's progress on the NORAD web site.

The Montenegro family came by with their two dozen kids (alright let's be fair, they only have one dozen kids, and one of them was adopted). They sang Christmas carols to us and hung around for a little while.

Ed and I took on Janelle and Tiff in Wii bowling. It is always a lot of fun when adults play video games.

As things settled down our children tucked into bed and Janelle's family gathered around the Christmas tree and read stories together before falling asleep in front of the tree (which meant Santa REALLY had to tip toe around to drop the gifts off). As they fell asleep I baked an apple pie so it could cool off in time to be enjoyed. Tiff and I stayed up till about 1:00 a.m. taking care of things before I about passed out from exhaustion.

We woke up this morning just before 7:00 a.m. and came down to open our presents. Everyone seemed to have a great time. When the gifts wer all unwrapped Tiffany started baking crepes for everyone. Daryl and I took off at about 9:45 a.m. to give my friend Gary his car back. Gary had loaned it to us while my truck had its fuel pump replaced. Daryl was just sick he had to follow me in the Porsche while I drove Gary's Pathfinder back to his house.

It is coming up on noon right now and everyone is taking turns playing Wii, X-Box, and snacking. I am hoping someone will join me for a run sometime today. It is a little overcast so I may choose to hit the gym instead. All in all it has been a wonderful Christmas 2008.

Santa Run

My nine year old, my seven year old, my three year old, and I ran the Opportunity Village Santa Run 5K yesterday (ok, the three year old rode in the stroller, I am not sadistic). The run happens in downtown Vegas every year. It is an annual attempt to break the world record for the most Santa's in one place at one time. Last year our entire family ran it (the photo from last year is below) and we broke the record, but it was broken again a few weeks later in Great Britan.

This year we had more participants than last year, but I have no idea if we broke the record again or not. The girls did great. We carried bells with us. I strapped a boom box to the stroller and played Christmas music throughout our run. People started running with us, commenting on how they appreciated the music. My daughters complaned the entire last mile that they would not be able to make it to the end, but as soon as it we crossed the finish line my girls begged me to take them on a walk of the Freemont Street Experience to gather all the freebie gifts and handouts that were available from all the sponsors of the event (as well as go into the blow up jump house that was set up on the Strip). They had a great time. Guess they had a few miles left in them after all.

It was a wonderful experience.

Camping in Pine Valley

Our family spent the second half of this week in Pine Valley. We camped in the South Juniper camp site. It was a pretty good set up. We rolled in Wednesday night and got set up at about 10:00 p.m. Thursday we got up and spent the day relaxing. I took my oldest fishing at the resevouir. The fishing was so so there, but down below the resevouir where it emptied in to the creek the fishing was AMAZING. There were two small pools at the base of the outlet that were both very hot. I would cast into one pool and get a strike, then cast into the next pool and get a strike. We were stricktly catch and release per Tiffany's orders.

Thursday night my oldest was attacked by mosquitos all night. She got over 40 bites!

Friday I ran 6.75 miles, which was no small feat given the altitude and the mountain roads I had to climb. Our family drove into a small town for supplies. We showered in a make shift structure of a tarp with some rope tied around three trees. Tiff set up a solar shower that got hot when left in the sun all day.

Friday evening a storm hit that dumped rain on us. Turns out our tent is pretty water tight so things were ok, but Tiff and I missed out on an evening in front of the fire that we were hoping for.

Saturday I did another 6.5 miles. We packed up and trucked back to Vegas.