HTC! Me Hulk! Me Running! Me had FUN!

Wooo! Hooo! Hood to Coast Relay! What a fun and intense race! It was quite an experience! The best part was bonding as a team! Look at these cool pics! We had a crazy blast together! That group pic is our whole team! Wooo - I love them! We were the Incredible Holt's (my mom's maiden name, it was most all my mom's side of the family on the the team). The Hulk was our mascot.

The 197 mile race started at Mount Hood (OR). Van 1 started us off at 8:00 am Friday, Aug. 24th. We had two vans - I was in Van 2 - we split the team in half as we all ran different sections of the race. We each ran three different times. I ran section #9, which was the longest distance out of all the sections. My first Leg was 6.8 miles, which I started at about 3:30 pm. It was on a paved trail the whole time which was nice. My second Leg was 5.0 miles, which I started at about 2:30 am. This was easy, yet annoying. The whole run was on a decline, so it made it very easy, but the entire run was on a gravel road and all the vans from the other teams were passing us runners, which made it very dusty. I had a paper painters mask, which helped, but also felt restricting. But it was the Leg that I ran the very fastest - 8.55 min mile. COOL! The third and final Leg for me, was 7.8 miles. I was pretty nervous leading up to it, because after running 11.8 miles and having my longest Leg last, I was not sure how my body would do. But, it turned out great! I kept a steady pace and ran the whole Leg, along the beautiful country of Oregon. I ran it in 8 minutes less than I anticipated. My leg muscles were pretty tight after, but not too much limping.

Then we all waited at the finish line while Marie - my aunt, and our awesome team cpt., ran the last Leg to finish our relay! We finished at about 5:30 pm Saturday. Then we all joined her for a run across the finish line! It was so damn fun! I hope I get to do it again some day soon. The race ended at Seaside Beach, where booths were set up and lots of free stuff. It was great to be with all the team at the end! Truly - such an emotional bonding experience!

I loved seeing our other team mates from Van 1 and hugging them and cheering eachother on, at the Van exchanges. My greatest experience was on my runs, knowing that my team in my van would be waiting for me with water or what ever I needed along the run! I loved seeing them as I approached different points of the run. Each of the other people had their spouse their running on the team, and their to take care of them. Yet it was so touching for me to have almost everyone in my van each time, there waiting to cheer me on, and get water or gatorade or a towel to me. I want to thank each one of them for showing their love in such a perfect way. It was tough not having Scott there (not that he didn't want to be), but my team was there and it was perfect!

SO GREAT! I am so glad we did it! I love my team!

Lasting memories of camp! SO FUN!

This is a picture of Jeff crossing the monkey bridge he helped make up at Camp!
Jeff had a lot of fun at one of our staff party's the week he stayed with us at Camp!
This is our beautiful lake! We loved taking a row boat out together and fishing! (w/o Zephyr :) )
We loved our cabin! It was built in 1930, very rustic, little one room, with a tiny loft! No plumbing or water to it and no electricity. Its like sleeping in a big wooden tent. The way it looks on the outside, with the big logs, is exactly how it looks on the inside with a wood, deck-like, floor. It's very cool. We laid pieces of carpet down to make it more comfy.

AAHHHH!

Can my life get more insane? We are finally back from camp. . . But now I am off to see my family in St. George before Cami leaves for school and then off the run the Hood to Coast relay this next weekend. AHHH! Well, I will post more pics later. Love you all.

One more week! We've had a blast!

We have one more week to play at Camp Steiner! It has been quite an incredible, crazy summer! Scott and I have mixed feelings about it. It was very hard and busy a lot of the time. However, we absolutely loved being in the amazing beauty of those mountains. It has been so fun staying in our little one room, authentically-rustic cabin. Hana, Conrad, and Zephyr have their beds set up on the main floor and Scott and I have a little bed up in the small loft. Scott has only intensified his passion for fly fishing, as he has been able to go out in a row boat and fish 2-3 times a week. The kids and I love going out the in the boat with him every once in a while. When ever Scott catches a fish he lets the kids touch it, then he releases it. Then each time, Conrad spins around to me and says, "Mo! Mommy! Mo" as he also does the sign for "more" with his hands over and over again. He loves the fishy's. Hana has been Miss Independent. This is her 3rd summer up there and she knows her way around like it is our second home - which I guess it is. She lets me know where she will be and reminds me matter of fact "I have to follow the buddy system to be safe, Mom."

I decided to participate in the Polar Bear plunge this week. The Polar Bear plunge takes place at 7 am every morning. You have to jump into the freezing cold lake, and holding the scout sign, repeat one of the scouting promises, such as the Oath, Law, Motto, or Slogan. It is different each day. Then the Aquatics Director throws tennis balls out for us to swim out and retreive (yes, like a dog). Speaking of dog, Zephyr likes to do the plunge with me as well. Its fun. So each morning this week I did it and when I return next week I get a cool Steiner mug as the prize for doing it each day. Silly, but a fun memory.

Jeff, my bro, is here playing with the kids. He is spinning both kids around on our broken computer chair. Hana is saying "Hey mom look at us!" and Conrad is repeating "Us! Us! Us!" Man, they are such cuties!
Jeff joined us at camp this week. This was his first experience at a scout camp. It was really his first experience with the Boy Scout program. He absolutely loved it. He completed 6 merit badges and he will complete his 7th as soon as he completes his other wood carving project. He got to learn cool lashings and knots, shoot a bow and arrow, shoot rifles and clean them, and map and compass stuff. He also got to do lots of fishing. Also, a little black bear decided to hang out around our camp all week. Jeff saw it climbing on the boulders by the lake while he was fishing on Thursday. Scott was so jealous. Scott wanted to see the bear so bad, but seemed to always miss it by just a couple minutes. Anyway, it was a blast having Jeff up there with us. It was cool to see him accomplish and learn so many cool things. We are going to see if we can find a really good, exemplary(spelling?) troop in St. G to get him hooked up with.

So that is a quick up date. I will include some pictures as soon as I can.