Yay! I am finally feeling well enough to work on this post. I've been working on this since Sunday. (It is now Friday.) Last weekend was our VaLlEy Of FiRe relay. We had so much fun! And it was extra special for me because I got to run it with my hubby. We left Thursday evening and slept in Mesquite. We actually beat the Mangum's and Brown's down there, so we decided to play a little joke on Uncle Gary. We spoke with the lady at the front desk, and convinced her to tell Gary that he had no reservation, and the hotel was booked up for the night. We (Parker, Ryan, and I) were hiding in a small room right by them recording the whole thing. We got a kick out of it! Fortunately nothing got out of hand. Gary actually didn't act up at all. We were hoping he would make it more enjoyable for us to watch.
Van 1 had to leave bright and early to make it to the start line. Our team started at 8 am. People in Van 1 were
Jordan Brown
Parker Smith
Natalie Pettit
Gary Mangum
Kim Brown
Jen Chunat (Mangum)
They did great starting out the team! We met up with them around 11:30, and Jen handed the Baton off to us shortly after. Matt did AMAZING! He kicked butt. He wore the cape the entire time he ran (His first leg). We stopped a couple times to cheer him on, and give him some water and try to cool him off with the spray bottle.
Mike was our next runner. Here we were able to catch step by step his first Kill! Far left picture, if you look closely, you can see the victim in the distance. Top right corner, here he is passing her. Then in the bottom picture, he's leaving her in the dust!
Ryan was after Mike. Here he is in some pictures stretching out and warming up. His first leg was 7.7 miles. It was about 2pm. Dead hot. It was 85 degree's outside, plus with the heat of the cement it was I swear 100. (That's what it read in our car). About 3.5 miles into it, Ryan started throwing up. The heat got the better of him :( Drew stepped in for two miles, which he ran in 13 minutes, so Ryan could cool himself down, and finish his leg strong. Thanks Drew! Unfortunately Drew threw up too right after he got done running the 2 miles. It was a tough leg.
In the bottom left picture, Mike is handing the Baton off to Ryan, and in the bottom right picture, Ryan is handing it off to me.
My first leg was 6.1 miles, so not nearly as bad as Ryan's. I was only too happy to give the baton up to Drew. I ended up running with the spray bottle in my hand, so I could cool myself off every 2 seconds. Smartest thing I could have done!
After we all ran, and Greg handed the Baton off to Van #1, we figured we gotta get some sleep. We found a nice little park and crashed! It went by too fast. I swear just as we fell asleep, we got a text saying we're almost up. So we packed up the car, and were on our way.
We were finally running at night. Which was a good thing, and a bad. The good thing was that we didn't have to deal with the heat, the bad thing was that EVERYONE and their neighbor was getting lost. Matt was the first. He was running on a trail the whole time, so we couldn't stop along to way to make sure he was going the right way. Luckily we dropped Mike off at the exchange, then went and looked for Matt where he should have come off the trail, and started running through the neighborhood. I guess he stayed on the trail the whole time, and ran an extra mile to the exchange. By the time we got back to it, Matt had already finished, and Mike had started. I guess there were girls running out of the sagebrush with their legs bleeding and they were just bawling. It was scary.
While we were driving through the neighborhood looking for Matt, we came across this MANSION. It totally did not belong in this neighborhood. It was like a mini hotel. It was huge. This picture we took doesn't do justice. We were guessing how many elevators this place has.
First picture, Jen just finishing her scary leg on the trail, 2nd- Matt starting his leg, 3rd-Matt waiting for Jen,4th- The boys hanging out- Parker, Greg, Gary, Jordan, Drew, Matt, and Ryan, 5th- the Mansion, 6th- Matt running.
Ryan ran on a trail the whole time too. Luckily he didn't get lost. His second leg was 4.0 miles. He made awesome time. When he passed the Baton off to me I think it was about 1:30 in the morning. My 2nd leg was 3.5 miles and most of it was on a trail. Since I did not get lost, it was kind of nice being on a trail and not worrying about any cars. I felt like I ran pretty fast! This one was definitely my favorite leg.
1- Ryan getting ready to run 2- Greg and Matt hanging out waiting for Ryan 3- Random picture of the time. 4- Drew running his second leg.
Here we are waiting for Drew to finish his leg. His second was over 8 miles and his feet were KILLING him. He got a blister on his first leg, and had medical wrap it for him. They ended up wrapping it too tight, and cut off his circulation. You know when something is wrong with Drew when he doesn't care that people are passing him. He's the king of Kills, and will not let people pass him.
1- Greg and I hanging out on the "corner" waiting for drew 2- Me getting so excited that our van is almost done for the night! 3- Drew passing the Baton to Greg.
Sad story about this corner. Exactly one hour after we took this photo, a drunk driver came and hit and killed a runner that was standing on this corner waiting for their runner to finish. My condolences go out to the family.
Here are pictures of our van and team.
My nickname was Kinki. And the boy's nickname was "Scrotum Slapper's". I'll take my nickname any day over theirs!
Good ol' Greg entertaining us. He let me do his hair!
So our last leg's were done in the morning when it was already hot. Everyone woke up not feeling very well. Drew's feet were gone. There was no way he was going to run his last leg, so we helped him out and ran it. Without meaning to, I ran his first mile. My last leg was only supposed to be 3 miles. It ended up being 4, and they didn't warn anyone about it. I wasn't too happy about it. I feel like I could have done better if I knew ahead of time I was running 4 not 3. Oh well! So then Matt ran the next two miles, and Mike ran the last 3 miles of Drew's leg.
1- Greg peeing. 2- Ryan and I hangin out. 3- Greg coming back from giving someone water 4- Drew hanging out in the back.
Greg finished the race for us strong! Yes, you see it right! He is wearing a cape AND Superman underpants that says "Man of Steel".
(There is also a random picture of Mike jumping a cone on his first leg)
The Finish line!!!!! It was at the Red Rock Hotel.
It was so much better than the finish line for Wasatch Back. Probably because there was still a party going on! We finished at 12:15. I am so proud of our team! Way to go everyone!
At the finish line, Ryan and I were able to enjoy massages. I was in Heaven! It was Ryan's very first massage, and I know he enjoyed it. Now I need to treat him to a nice, more relaxing one. Afterwards, we went and crashed by the pool.
A huge thank you to Gary Mangum. Thank you for sponsoring us and making this happen! Good luck in the Del Sol race!
This box here was full to the brim. We used SO many ApPlEs!
The apples are boiling. We're a step closer!
We all had to bring our babies with us. Here is Brie with her little girl, Claire.
Checking the apples!
Once the apples were soft, we put them in this AMAZING strainer that separated the core, seeds, and skin from the good stuff. Boy, was this an arm workout! This is our friend Emily.
Now it's time to can! We're getting the air bubbles out.
And the finished result! I am so proud of myself for attempting this. If you would've asked me a year ago if I would do such a thing, I would've said . . . In your Dreams. . . 
After visiting the family, we came home and attempted to pass out candy. Sadly enough, we only had 4 different groups of kids come to our home. Oh well! More candy for us.
Here are some of the other o's for the Home
