San Luis Obispo

This weekend Jason participated in the Scott Tinley Triathlon in San Luis Obispo. Jason's sister Jenny and her husband Jeff came out from Utah to hang out with us and support Jason. It was so fun having them here. Ollie loved all the attention he got from Aunt Jen and Uncle Jeff. We left Friday afternoon after having lunch at Apple. The drive down was long (with a 14 month old anything over an hour is long), and uneventful. We didn't do much that evening, just checked in and put Ollie to bed. Saturday Jason, Jeff, Ollie, and I left early for the triathlon. We dropped Jason off and hung around to watch him start the swim, and then transition to the bike. After that we left and came back for the finish...which we actually missed. It was a fast course and the distances (1.5mile swim, 50mile bike, 9 mile run) on this triathlon were a little different than the others so Jason finished quite a bit faster (4hr 55min) than he usually does. I felt really bad that he finished with no one there cheering him on, but he assured us he wasn't mad.

Isn't Ollie's hat cute!!  My friend Nicole makes them, check them out here.

After the triathlon we went back to our hotel, put Ollie down for a nap, and napped a little ourselves, then we met up with some friends from our Provo days at the Firestone Grill in downtown San Luis. It was pretty delicious food, and it was really fun catching up with the Smiths.

All of us at Firestone Grill.

Ollie discovered himself in this mirror and had tons of fun yelling and making faces.

He also liked sitting in the sink at our hotel, and trying to eat the faucet.

Sunday morning we watched the morning session of conference, then headed to Pismo Beach, where we walked around the beach and the pier. We stopped for lunch and then headed to Hearst Castle.

Ollie loves to swing and luckily for him there was a swing set on the beach.

Family pic.

Jen and Jeff being silly.

Family pic on the pier.

Jen and Jeff on the pier.

Ollie really likes Jeff, they were buddies.

A couple years ago we stayed on the coast and passed the Hearst Castle. We have wanted to tour it ever since. It is seriously the coolest place. You can read all about it here: Hearst Castle

An aerial view I found of the castle.

Jen and Jeff in front of one of the guest houses...it would have been fun to be a guest there.

Ollie got carried around in a backpack...no strollers.

This is a pic of the outdoor pool, it was amazing.

Jen and Jeff with the pool.

Us in front of the actual castle.

This is the indoor pool. All the gold you see is real 24 carat gold flakes.

After our tour we headed home, which took even longer this time because we had to take Highway 1 all the way. It is a beautiful drive but very windy, so between the slow speed and the frequent stops for those who get motion sickness (poor Jen) it takes a while. On Monday Jeff, Jen, Ollie and I visited the Winchester Mystery House here in San Jose. This place was also very interesting. Our friend use to be a tour guide and she believes it really is haunted. One thing is for sure, Sarah Winchester had issues. We walked around a did a little shopping, then headed home for dinner and games. We miss living close to Jason's siblings so it was fun to spend time with Jen and Jeff. Thanks for coming guys!

Big Sur Trail Run

This weekend Jason, his Dad and I participated in the Big Sur Trail Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5 mile run. We are lucky to have parents who all made an effort to come along with us and support us. We left Friday afternoon for the 2 hour drive south to Big Sur. Along the way we stopped in Monterey to enjoy some fresh produce, and some amazing scenery. Friday night we stayed in and made delicious spaghetti in our little cabin.

Race Day: Jason, John and I left a little early to get there and get ready. This is a REALLY small race (limited to only 300 participants) so it was pretty laid back compared to some of the races Jason has done. John and I ran the 5 mile distance, while Jason ran the half marathon. He was slated to run the marathon but opted against it since he is doing a Half Ironman Triathlon next weekend (I think he made the right decision). Jason started the half marathon around 9:25 and we started our race around 9:30am. We were told ahead of time that this is an extremely tough course...ummm understatement of the century. Jason had over 300o feet of climbing on his run and John and I gained about 1,000 feet of elevation on our 5 mile run. It was BRUTAL, for those who have lived in Provo imagine running up and back from the 'Y'. The first half of the run I was cursing Jason's name for not warning me appropriately (although I don't think he really understood either). I had to walk a little which I was disappointed about until I saw everyone around me walking too. The second half was AMAZING. I felt great, and I actually enjoyed the scenery and being outside. It was really nice to finish with my parents cheering me on. It was a great first race. My next goal is a 10k (or 7.3 miles).

I won't post our times here, because due to the difficulty of the course they don't sound very impressive and they are definitely longer than the goals we had set for ourselves. But I will still do a little bragging :) Remember this was a very small race. But Jason is so amazing and came in 7th out of the 170 people who ran the half marathon. He also came in 3rd for his age group, so he will be receiving a medal. John (Jason's dad) came in 7th out of the 50 people who ran the 5 mile race, and he was 1st in his age group. I came in 14th out of 50 and I was 1st in my age group so I get a medal too!! I was pretty excited considering it was my first race. Obviously we never thought we would actually win something so it was kind of fun to do well. I think I will only run small races in the future :)

The fog off the ocean was so thick here, it looked like we were above the clouds. Ollie was SO loved with both sets of Grandparents doting over him all weekend.

Family picture.

Ollie had a lot of fun playing in the cooler.

Jason and I before the race.

All the runners, Saturday morning before the race.

Ollie loves to sit on the couch like a big boy.

Walking up to start our races.

Jason starting.

Ollie sitting on Poppa Wursten's shoulders.

John finishing up.

Ollie napped with Grandma Miller. This is how he was when I finished....so excited to cheer me on :)

Right after I finished (hence the really red face, which I inherit from my Mom, thanks a lot).

All of us at the end, feeling good.

So I am sometimes a little slow and while packing I grabbed two different black flip flops, both for the right foot, I wore them anyway.

Hanging out at the little creek by our cabin.

Ollie loved it (although you can't tell by his face).

On a walk with Grandpa.

Saturday night we went to this cool restaurant with an AMAZING ocean view, it was beautiful and the restaurant had a really cool vibe. After dinner we came back and played Taboo, it was fun, the girls won!

My parents.

The whole group.

Ollie loved playing outside in the dirt and climbing up and down the cabin's front steps.

Leaving Sunday morning. It was a great weekend. A big triumph for me since I am not much of a runner, and so fun hanging out with our families.

Ollie asleep and worn out from a long weekend away. He is such a funny kid.

Phoenix

Over Labor Day weekend we headed to Phoenix to visit some of our favorite people, the Evers family. It was Jeff's birthday on Monday so we were lucky enough to be part of the birthday festivities. Luckily for us it wasn't TOO hot, in fact the first day we were there they had a huge thunderstorm, we loved it.

Ollie playing in the rain, it was still so warm in the rain.

Ollie and Laney

All the kids, it was impossible to get a pic of all of them looking at the camera.

We walked to the park and played on the swings.

Ollie and Laney taking a bath, Laney is so happy, Ollie is so serious.

Jeff and Kelly and the delicious candy bar.

Saturday we ate at this cool olive mill, it was delicious.

Kelly's delicious cheese ball and pasta salad.

Love my hubby.

Kelly's friend made the coolest cake, and delicious cupcakes.

Monday we spend some time at the pool, it was so nice.

Ollie loves swimming. His newest trick is jumping to us, he loves it.

We had a great time with the Evers, and we are never ready to go home. We love them!