Freedom Run 2010

The Freedom Run in Provo is one of my favorite family traditions. The race is crazy -- there are way too many people involved (they estimated about 4,500 runners participated in this year's race), but it's festive and fun and gets me in shape every summer. This year I ran the 10K with my sister Mary as a 1/2-way point to our 1/2 marathon training (I'll be running the Provo River 1/2, and Mary will run the Top of Utah). We had a good time running together, and Mary and her slick GPS watch with built-in pacing/heart rate/calorie/everything-you-could-possibly-need monitor kept us at a decent little pace ... at least until that dreaded uphill last mile. Overall a great run (don't mind my ginormous iPod that decided to poop out on me before we even hit the start line ... bummer).

My favorite part of the race this year was seeing people running in costumes -- my awards for best costumes (sorry, no pictures) would go to the Teenage Mutant Turtles foursome (I now have a new use for foil turkey roaster pans spray-painted green) and the group of Vikings, who literally ran the race, grunting the whole time (maybe they got confused and thought they were cavemen?), in furry loincloths, horned helmets and giant spears. Awesome.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the event:

Me and Mary. Best running buddy ever. The crazy girl is trying to talk me into running the Ragnar with her ... I said I'd think about it. Could be great fun (or it could just be really hard).

I love this picture of Mary. Yes, cheesiness "runs" in our family.

Mary, me, and our cousin Becky. This was Becky's debut 5K, and she rocked it! We love it when more family members join in!

All of my family that participated this year -- Mary and me on the left end, next to Grant's sisters Tori, Melissa, Lisa (yes, they're twins), and Gaylyn, who is holding Eliot, and my cousin Becky.

Random shots -- my race chip (official 10K chip time = 55:34) and Gaylyn with Eliot checking out one of the hot air balloons that landed right near the finish line.

Celebrating Grant

May was a big month for Grant. Not only did he graduate from law school, but he also turned 30! With such big milestones happening so close together, we had to celebrate in a big way, so I threw him a "surprise" birthday/graduation party the Sunday after we returned to Utah. The surprise factor kind of fizzled when Grant's grandpa and uncle "just showed up" as house guests a few days before the party, and Grant got suspicious. He may have also been tipped off by the quantity of homemade ice cream I was making the entire week to be included in his surprise gelato bar. Surprise or no surprise, it was a great party, and we're so glad so many family and friends were able to celebrate with us!

The happy birthday boy/conquering graduate!

Grant's dual-purpose cake. Turned out a little girlier than what I asked for when I ordered it, but still so yummy!

The gelato shop I could not have been prouder of! I openly admit I stole the idea off my friend Erica's recipe blog. Erica's one talented little cook and super creative, and when I saw her post about a homemade gelato bar, I knew I needed to do that for Grant, who LOVES ice cream! I'm not going to lie -- the 20+ flavor ice cream bar was a bit of work (no, I didn't make it all homemade, but most of it ... I know, I'm insane), but it was SO worth it! It was a huge hit and Grant was sincerely surprised about that element of the party. It's a toss up as to whether or not he or the little kids at the party looked happier when they saw a blissful all-you-can eat ice cream and topping spread laid out for them! It really was a lot of fun and such a great way to celebrate Grant turning thirty and graduating from law school.

Top favorite flavors at the gelato bar:

1. Butter pecan ice cream

2. Marionberry frozen yogurt

3. Ghiradelli chocolate ice cream

4. Mango sorbet

5. Tillamook mudslice ice cream (that one we bought, courtesy of the brand new Winco that opened in Orem ... we're so happy we don't have to go without our favorite Oregon flavors!)

Congrats again, Grant! Now off to conquer the bar ... this week! Once you're all done and passed, we might have to party again ...

Grant's Law School Graduation

Grant's graduation was one of the happiest, proudest days of my life. It's my new "happy place" -- when I need a mental escape, I think of Grant's graduation day, and I'm instantly happy and filled with joy and warm memories. Such a huge accomplishment and such a happy moment for our family!

The venue: outdoors in the middle of campus, under an enormous tent. The ceremony was amazing and the weather was picture perfect! The setting was just right -- dignified but not too stuffy (people had dogs on leashes on the perimeters!), relaxed and family friendly -- very representative of our Willamette experience.

Attendees: all but one of Grant's sisters and her husband and son were able to come, along with my parents, oldest sister, Sherri, and my sister Mary, her husband, and daughter Maddy!

One of Willamette's great traditions -- bagpipers escorting the graduates in and out of the ceremony. Super cool, but not to Eliot, who bawled through the whole loud production. Poor thing, after a long week of vacationing, packing up our place, and then the loud ruckus we put him through, graduation was a rough morning for him.

Okay, the video, oh the video ... we went through so much grief to get this to post because it wasn't the right file format ... blah, blah, but anyway, you'll notice that the audio is fine but the rest is on "fast forward" ... probably fine for most people who don't really care about the processional of people they don't know anyway, but the idea was to give you a taste of the bagpipers. Maybe a little more silly than amazing like it was in person (it makes me giggle to watch this version), but hopefully you get the idea ...

Willamette University President, M. Lee Pelton (left),

and Dean of the law school, Symeon C. Symeonides (right)

We think our conquering graduate stands out in the crowd!

Being hooded, which was a bit of an ordeal since Professor Tornquist, who hooded Grant, isn't especially tall, but Grant is!

One proud little family!

Our proud parents: Grant's on the left, mine on the right. We're so thankful they could join us for Grant's big day. They were such a support to us throughout law school; we couldn't have done it without them.

Our family that was able to attend: (Top) Grant's parents and siblings, minus sister Brenda (middle), (Bottom) Grant with my parents and sister Mary, her husband, Louie, and daughter, Madelyn, and my sister Sherri (bottom).

Congratulations, Grant! We are so proud of you! So much hard work, dedication, and diligence made this big accomplishment possible! You did it!!

Willamette University

It's crazy to think that only about four years ago, we didn't even know Willamette University existed, let alone how to pronounce it (Will-AM-ette), and now it has become such an important place in our little family's history. Willamette University, located in Salem, Oregon, is the oldest University in the west, and looks like an east-coast school planted in the middle of the beautiful Northwest. Here's a taste of Willamette campus for family that weren't able to come to Grant's graduation and for those of you who have wondered what Grant's school looked like. We think it's pretty beautiful.

Above, the mill race in the center of campus where Eliot and I would go to see the ducks. Below, the state capitol, which is located literally across the street from campus, and a view looking up from in between the "star trees," a formation of five gigantic Sequoias that make the shape of a star when you look upward. Campus lore says that if you kiss under the star trees it means you're destined to be true loves ... so of course we did!

The Law School. Below, all decked out for graduation!

Above, Eliot finding daddy in the WUCL 2010 class picture. Below, the Lady Justice statue in the law school foyer and rows and rows of legal books. I know that Grant and his peers rarely even used these books since virtually everything is online now, but I still love how they look.

The law library, where Grant lived ... well, until he decided his assigned carrel outside the men's bathroom was not for him, so he overtook one of the former law review offices as his private study space. He kept photos on the desk and everything; the janitors even asked him if he wanted them to lock it up for him over Christmas break. Who does he think he is, anyway?!

Beautiful campus, we will miss you ... kind of!