80 Days of Summer - Days 56-61

Morgan Marathon

Busy week at work getting a new classroom placed, reports completed, and a board meeting. Closed the week with a family gathering at my brother John's house in Morgan.

Dad (Jim), Joe (Me), Brett, Bryan, Daniel, Dave, John (Dad), and Eric

I ran the Morgan Marathon with  my brother John. This was his third marathon, and my eighth. Brothers Dave, Brett, and Eric wisely dropped down to the Half Marathon. They all had a good race finishing within 7 minutes of each other. John and I ran at a slow pace and chatted constantly the first 20 miles. The miles were easy and passed by quickly. However, around Mile 19 we both started to feel the heat - it was 75 degrees at the start in the dark at 5:30 am and just got warmer from there on. It was in the 90s by Mile 20, and we slowed down considerably. At Mile 21.5 he told me to just go ahead and started walking a lot. I ran ahead, but the heat soon got to me, and I slowed down, too. I stopped at every aide station and soaked down in the misting set-ups. I also flagged down a medic and asked for a frozen towel which I draped over my head. My body doesn't do well running in the heat. John actually finished just 4 minutes behind me, and we were glad to be done. After the race, Eric was on the massage tables at the finish lying on his back with the masseuse sitting at his side. I slipped in behind her and ran my hand all the way up his thigh. His eyes bugged out and he stared at the lady. She goes, "That wasn't me!" and I poked my head around her and said, "Hey." I then walked over to John who was on his side with a towel over his head while a masseuse worked on his hip. I slipped behind her and grabbed John's butt. Without hesitation, he goes, "Is that my brother?" She said, "I sure hope so." Good times. Bryan and his wife Bobbie came in from Texas for the week, so with my mom and dad, we also had 7 of the 8 brothers there. While I was running, I couldn't figure out why my ribs on the right side were hurting so bad. And then I remembered, the night before, it was me and Eric versus John and my dad in this frisbee game where you had to tap the throw and let your teammate catch it. We were diving all over the place. Landed on my elbow at one point and bruised my ribs. I showed this picture to my friend - our bishop actually - and he said in all seriousness, "Oh, that must be your dad" and pointed to my brother John in the yellow shorts. I was cracking up. My dad is on the far left.

Daniel overhead this conversation the night before the race between my son James (8) and his cousin Luke (6) as they lay in their sleeping bags with all the cousins. He posted it on Facebook as follows:

Just overheard: Luke, whispering to cousin James as they lay on the floor to sleep for the night: Luke: "I love you." James: "I don't. I only love girls. I just like boys." Luke: "Your supposed to love everybody." -- James, a few minutes later, whispering, "Luke, I love you."

 Another pic from the mud volleyball last week in Wyoming. This was after they dunked me in the mud.

 Moving the second half of the portable into the schoolyard. 

 Registered the car this week, and took this picture of Moab down at the city offices. We live to the right of the dark green river delta along its edge where the city meets the dark green. The river bends around the delta. I duck hunt the marshes and ponds all through the delta.

 Busy week at work getting this thing in place and all that goes with it. I've got a hectic 3 weeks ahead trying to get the school ready for kids August 22.

Finally found a replacement for the wedding ring I cut off when I broke my finger in June (that finger still hurts). Silver must have gone up in price - this one cost me $28! Back in 1996, it was only $13. 

Emmy and the cousins spent hours hunting and catching crickets in the fields around John and Sunni's place in Morgan. For some reason, I didn't get any pics of the kids that weekend.

The girls recently read Jane Austen's book, Pride and Prejudice. This Sunday afternoon, they're watching the Pride and Prejudice films we have. They started with Keira Knightley's film, and now they're watching the Bollywood version called Bride and Prejudice - it's a musical that is pretty good. Anyway, it was a good week. Good day at Church today. Felt the spirit and enjoyed the lessons and talks.