Monday, September 26, 2011

Training Time...

Teresa and I have been training for the Vertical Marathon again...or its real name~"Death to your body".  We started biking everyday at 5:30 5 miles...sometimes more!  Not just biking but biking the major hills around Estrella. They are so big. I LOATH these hills! 
We are kind of like the little train that says "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!" Then when we reach the top and we coast down we yell "I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could.!" 

This is so hard but we are sticking to it...we might die doing it!!!  The other day we saw a coyote that could have eaten us and last week we saw a scorpion (SCARY) that was so big...DJ was driving by and saved us!!  We have heard a pack of coyotes as we ride by an area barking away!  One day we ran into some scary guys...but that was the day we cut 3 minutes off our time...those guys were scary!  There are always a ton of bikers and walkers out...and they don't seem to be having any problems...but not Teresa and I, we've had our chains come off both our bikes (different times of course) during the hardest part of the ride...up that stupid hill!! 

My body may not survive  (every part of my body aches...even my butt...I know too much info but you need to know all the gory details) but so far we've biked OVER 100 miles...it may not seem like a lot to all of you BUT that's a ton...hey we could have been to Gilbert by now!!!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Summertime SO FAR...

This was written back in July but forgot to post it til today...so sorry!!
I guess at times this summers been slow, sometimes crazy, sometimes stressful (most of the time), sometimes dull...so far!

So we started out the first week of summer by moving and we did it with the help of part of our family!  I know ask for help...well we did sort of.  Like I said some of the family was out of town so we turned to my daughters in-laws...LOVE THEM!!!  But you see we did most of the moving during the week...so HELLO, most of you work so we didn't ask for help...DON'T be mad at us for not asking! 

There are some things that we like about our new home and some things we hate!!  BUT as always I guess I'll have to work that out!  Lets hope we do!

The first weekend in our new ward Josh got asked to go to scout camp with them...ONE LITTLE CATCH...They were leaving the next day!  Good thing we had everything he needed to bring.  He was really nervous about going but we encouraged him too cuz they were going to Colorado!  Very cool and very fun.  So we packed him up when we got home from church and the next morning at 5 sent him off with a bunch of people we didn't even know.  Now I feel really bad for the men that we sent Josh off with...you see we didn't prepare them for Josh!  While he's a very good kid, very helpful (which all the men told us when they got home) we didn't prepare them for, well, Joshuas little problem...he puts his all in all into things, you know, goes all for it and well, he gets hurt a lot.  Josh came home to us BLACK AND BLUE!! I'm not kidding.  We needed to take him in for a physical for another scout camp he was going to and we had to wait a few weeks cuz we didn't want the Dr to think we beat the kid!  He could hardly move for a few weeks.  I guess he took a spill on a Diggler, its like a skateboard/scooter on big wheels, that they took down a ski slop...yep my kid did that!  But he had fun!! 

While Josh was gone, DJ, Seth and I spent the week unpacking the house.  Well, Seth went to his grandmas for a day.  Plus during that time my Sister came into town and we had her boys stay for a few days...following that my Sister-in-law came and we had her son stay.  It was a busy few weeks. 

BUT the coolest part after moving in was Stake Conference in my dads stake...We all got to meet D. Todd Christofferson of the twelve and LeGrand R Curtis of the Seventy.  Both of these brethren stayed at my folks house...how cool is that!!! 

Of course we had a ton of Birthdays during June...Cayla, my dad and Josh, plus a few others and July was just a busy with birthdays...Craigs, his moms, my sisters and my sister-in-laws plus some others. 

We are getting settled in to the house and waiting for school to start. Josh is getting ready to head to another scout camp.  But neither of the boys want summer to end.  I think they are nervous about starting at a new school.  I think they'll do fine...well that is if Seth can think before he speaks!

The other night I had a NIGHTMARE...

It was the craziest and scariest dream ever, I must say!!  It started on a Monday...Well, maybe even earlier than that cuz we were given the info that started this Monday dream earlier, I think.  Anywho we were told that our engine in our truck was going...Not a good thing.  The poor trucks lived a long life, almost 200 thousand miles, dealt with 3 kids and their friends, hubby's road trips and our family trips, for over 11 years, so I guess it was NO surprise...BUT UGH, RIGHT!!  So DJ's trying to figure something out and I'm thinking what kind of luck - cuz it was at the beginning of the year that we replaced the engine in our car!!  No one has 2 engines go our in one year!! Well we do!!  DJ gets a call from his dad who once took a mechanics class and made a suggestion, which brought DJ to tearing the engine apart on Monday.  In my dream he worked all day, Until he realized that he needed to lift and pull the engine.  One problem - No lifty pully thingy - so he makes calls and finds one but its being used! So its time to put everything back together.  Once done he realizes a disk has slipped and the truck is leaking some kind of liquid.  So now we are to Tuesday...apart comes the engine, fix the disk - oh and a worn out hose.  But now the truck smells when its driven.  And I'm told to only drive it around my neighborhood! 

But then my dream changes.  DJ asks me on Monday to remind him on Tuesday about having to go to court on Wednesday and to take his suit.  So I did! Well that was a BIG waste of time - his court got changed to Thursday at 2.   So he says to remind him to bring his suit Thursday. 

Now in my dream DJ's suppose to go hunting on Friday. Well one problem with my dream - we weren't sure how DJ was going to go hunting...truck engine dying - REMEMBER!! We came up with a plan, I decided that I don't need my car over the weekend, he can take it hunting.  See it has to be a dream - ME WITHOUT A CAR FOR 6 DAYS - THAT'S CRAZY!! But the saying dreams can come true comes into play - WELL, sort of...I have an Uncle James...proof right there that this was a nightmare, my uncle was in it (luv ya James), anywho he lent us his big pickup truck.  Problem solved!  DJ could go hunting and I can have a car!

Well Thursday came- 2:00p.m, DJ shows up for court and waits and waits and waits ( I don't know much about the court system so I imagined all the detail I got in this dream). Finally someone comes out and tells DJ that the county Attorney is finishing up her questions and the Defense will cross exam and then it will be DJ's turn.  So not much longer.  Now this is a murder trial so the Defense gets up and takes forever cross examining the witness.  Asking some ridicules questions.  Finally at 4 they call DJ...One problem- court ends @ 4:30.  DJ starts with some of the evidence and the judge stops him and asks him if he has to do the same thing with each piece of evidence, he says yes and the judge decides to adjourn court til Monday Morning at 10:15- DJ's first on the stand...REMEMBER DJ suppose to be hunting til Tuesday Morning! Not happening - NOT happy!

Now for a bit of comic relief in my nightmare.  So everyday that I'm dreaming about I have these two pesky woodpeckers who keep showing up at my house...30 to 40 times a day!! Trying to pick or believe it or not steal dog food!!  Woodpeckers don't eat dog food (or do they), they eat bugs and peek holes!  Every time I hear it do its call, I jump up either grab Josh's air soft gun throw open the door and try to shoot it (don't worry it wont kill it), or open the door screaming like a made woman trying to scare the dumb things away!!  UGH!! 

So back to the nightmare part to this stupid dream....

Thursday night, DJ gets home from work and starts to load up James' truck.  Everythings loaded and hes ready to go...except, he can't get the beast to start!!  UGH.  So he calls James...its like that car from Back to the Future...theres a trick to starting it and you would only know about it if it was your truck.  SO James shared the trick and slowly but surely DJ was off!

Every mornng at 5:30 a.m in this nightmare (5:30- I know its scary), my friend Teresa and I have been waking up and riding bikes 5 miles up one of the longest hills ever!!  You would have to be out of your mind to ride first that early and second these hills...(I just want to wake from this dream but I can't).  Friday morning I come home and it looks like we've shaved 10 minutes off our bike time from the rest of the week (heck maybe my nightmare is starting to change...wrong...its about to get worst!!)

As I start to get things ready for the boys to go to school, I look out and see Mia (our crazy dog) sitting, starring.  I look out on our patio and see Mickey, our 19 year old dog laying, you know he likes sleeping, only this time he wasn't!  I kept looking just to see if he was breathing and NO breath!

I wont go into much of this part of the nightmare except to say that in it DJ was gone, my dad was gonna be gone, so my mom and I wrapped, drove and buried.  Even in nightmares moms always come to the rescue.  I didn't tell the boys before they left to school cuz I didn't want to upset them!

I'm telling you this dream was all night long!! The next thing I remember is getting a call from DJ after I sent him a text about Mickey.  When he got to his camp site the night before he said it felt like the truck was running low on gas so he changed tanks but when he did that it acted even more strange so he flipped back to the other tank and got to his site.  Then in the morning he was planning to run into town and get gas but when he started the truck it went a few feet and died and wouldn't start again.  He killed the truck!  See these have to be nightmares cuz what kind of people can keep killing vehicles in the same week! 

As the dream progress on - I'm loading up the boys in the car, callin people about some cub scout activity I have the next day to make sure they can handle things and off we go to help DJ cuz remember hes got to be in court on Monday.  James told me a few things to tell DJ to help it start.  I also loaded up the gas cans just in case.  So here we go...We get on the B-line highway and a rabbit runs our in front of me and you guessed it...I killed him!! 

What a dream!!

We reach payson, not much more to go, maybe 30 minutes.  Its about 8:10p.m.  Now the last time I was up there driving to the site, it was light NOT dark, so needless to say I got lost!!  Really lost!  After about an hour I asked someone for directions.  Something I would never do if I was awake.  So I got to the right area, finally!  BUT not to the site.  That took another 2 hours.  I followed DJ directions, but in the dark, I still got lost and drove around forever.  Was just about to give up when I found it.  DJ was out on his mountain bike looking for me but we never saw each other.  It was about 11:15 when I finally got to the site.  What a nightmare.  We got things unloaded and went to sleep. 

It got pretty cold up there cuz did I mention, there was rain, lots of it and it started all night long.  But it stopped just in time for DJ to go out at 5 to hunt for his elk.  He was going to come back to camp at around 10 to work on the truck so when I got up I drove into town and got gas, plus a new pair of jeans for Josh...ready for this, I would normally check the kids stuff that they packed but for some reason I didn't this time...see dream...so Josh got his stuff all together, hes old enough, except for he hasn't worn  his jeans all summer...they didn't fit. He couldn't even button them.  So gas, jeans and PJ pants, cuz the boys brought shorts to sleep in up to the mountains.  I get back to camp and we wait for DJ. 

No DJ still, the boys are having fun shooting the air soft guns, pellet gun and bow and arrows.  But still no DJ.  Finally he comes walking into camp right before lunch...and I could tell he got his elk!  And a bit of good news it was only about a mile away!  Bad news...DJ had ordered a bike tailer for his bike to haul the elk back...it was shipped on the 31st of Aug...well we didn't get it yet.  So that meant DJ was going to haul it back on his back.  He had already carried most of it up from the valley it was in.  Well we decided to make it a family haul and we all went with him.  He took his big back pack but when we got there he realized  he wouldn't be able to fit part of it, so Josh and I came up with an idea.  We got a long piece of wood and tied the two extra pieces on to it and we would carry it on our shoulders.  It worked through the rough part but it was  hard cuz Josh and I are not the same height.  Josh was having a hard time and so was I so I decided to take it all and carry it on my shoulders.  Josh and Seth stood on both sides of me and stopped the elk from hitting my side and we carried it to a trail.  There DJ took the elk from my shoulders and hung it in the tree cuz we were to a point that he could ride back on his bike.  We finished hiking to the camp.  Hung the parts of the elk DJ had and back he went.  By this point my body is killing me.  I don't know how the women of old carried water jugs that way!!  But DJ got his elk.

So after awhile we went to work on the truck.  He put gas in it and did all kinds of stuff and still nothing.  Then he decided maybe the battery need to be charged to.  We charged that for over an hour on my little car.  Then back to trying to start the beast.  IT started.  DJ decided to drive it to town, put gas in it and kind of recharge the battery.  Things are looking up right! 

That night we are around the camp fire have smores (you can't camp without them) when it starts to rain...we have stuff all over the camp.  The boys run one way gathering stuff and putting it under tarps, I go the other and DJ another.  We got everything put up and into the tent we go.  I get the sleeping bags out when I realized the floor of the tent is damp.  I'm thinking water some how got in.  No biggy except during the night when, as its pouring cats and dogs outside, Seth says hes cold.  So we get up to make sure he's covered and you guess it, his sleeping bag is soaked.  The water is only on his side of the tent.  We have him come over and he gets in with DJ and starts to warm up. You would think in my dream I could keep my pour kids warm.  By 5 the rain stops and we get up at around 6.  Spent the morning packing things up, playing on some rope hanging from a tree, shooting the bows and pellet gun. 

Then at 11 we went for a hike.  We came across sooo many different types of mushrooms I've never seen before.  It was crazy.  Josh and Seth ran to old dead trees and pushed them over. I was actually enjoying this part of my dream, that is until we came to a dirt road and decided to cross.  We head a vehicle coming so DJ and Josh ran across the road while Seth and I waited.  As the truck drove by, Seth says that looks like our truck, I looked at the back and realized IT WAS OUR TRUCK...someone had figured out how to start the "Back to the Future" starter and was driving away with all our stuff we had packed earlier.  DJ takes off running down the road, getting ready to pull his gun and shoot out the tire if he had to when the truck pulls over and turns around...It was my uncle James.  Can you say HEART ATTACK!!!  My aunt and him and driven up the night before, just in case we didn't get the truck started again.  Yes we had a good laugh but oh my heck was our hearts pumping. 

We got back to camp and we were visiting and while James and DJ worked on the truck and the end the trip right, it starts to rain.  So we loaded everything up and headed back home.  The truck had terrible gas mileage so it took a lot of gas to get that beast home...and it didn't like the hills at all.  But we finally got home, unloaded, and then returned the truck to James at around 8:30.  Back home for a nice long shower. 

During that day DJ got a e-mail on his phone...remember the elk bike trailer we were waiting for...It arrived!! A little late ya think!!

We did it, we got DJ to court Monday with no problem!! 

THEN I WOKE UP...AND I REALIZED IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE...ALL OF THIS REALLY HAPPENED...AND MORE!!