Phoenix Marathon and the Gilbert Temple Youth Cultural Celebration

We have had a crazy week this week!  Dave and I (along with Uncle Richard and Aunt Mary Ann) ran the phoenix marathon on Saturday.  It hasn't rained here in months, but decided to roll in on Friday night (well at least the clouds) the rain came just before the marathon started!  It wasn't too bad, just mostly light sprinkles through the first few miles then not much the rest of the race. I told Dave that I have run all my marathons in the rain!  He laughed at me and said, "All 2 of them, right?"  I replied that that was true, but it was still ALL my marathon experience!!

Mary Ann and I stuck together most of the race.  By mile 23 I could tell that she was feeling MUCH better that I was, so I told her to go on without me.  My quads had started feeling really sore and tight by mile 9 or 10 but just getting progressively worse as the race went on.  She did only after I promised I would't be mad at her (we had made a pact to stick together).  I knew that I would finish and so I didn't mind breaking that pact!  She finished in 4 hours and 54 minutes.  I finished in exactly 5 hours (our goal was 5 hours).  So we both felt like we had met our goal!

Dave and Richard finished with about the same distance between them.  Dave finished first and then Richard. They were both under 4 hours and I think Richard was THRILLED.  Dave was happy to have done decently since he hadn't had nearly as much training as he would have liked (as you know he had to stop running for a few weeks because of his knee and then that nasty flu he had took him out for a couple more weeks...overall he lost about 5 weeks of heavy training). So in reality he did AWESOME!  He was a little frustrated because somehow his chip timing did NOT work and the race had NO official time for him.  He emailed them and they had video of him crossing the finish line and so they will post a time for him online.  It seems important to be official on the race results!

Dave & Richard after finishing the marathon!

Yes, that is me making my way to the finish line.
It looks like a slow shuffle and that is what it felt like too!
I had NO kick at the end, just happy to be DONE!!

We DID it!!!  Can you believe that we are still smiling?

Me and Dave

As soon as we finished the marathon we hurried home to take showers and go help at the Youth Cultural Celebration for the Temple Dedication at Discovery Park.  

It is funny how the marathon and the cultural celebration seemed so separated.  Almost like 2 different lives...not really worried about the rain for the marathon, but extremely concerned about the rain for the celebration.

I needed some rest so I am sitting down ready for the kids to come for snacks!
Just don't ask me to get up because my quads were not allowing it!

I told you last wee that we had so much dust!  We have been without rain for about 2 1/2 months (which is an unusually dry winter).  It was crazy!

So, fast forward to the middle of the next week.  What do we have in the forecast for Saturday,  RAIN!!  A little on Friday and maybe some on Sunday, but 100% for Saturday!  We have been praying for rain, but not for the one day that we didn't want it!  How many times do you see 100% in the forecast???  The Executive Committee asked all of us to pray that the elements would be tempered.  Dad said, "It's in the Lord's hands now."

The rain came and went a bit in the morning, which was great because it settled the dust.  It seemed like everything else was skirting all around the celebration.  

Can you find Paige and Amber (among the other kids from our ward?
Paige is second from left and Amber second from the right.
Look at those smiles...and they stayed even through the RAIN!

The final dress rehearsal went really well and when it was over, it started to sprinkle a little (which we could handle), but there were some big black clouds heading our way.  The youth were upbeat and excited. We fed the youth dinner and sent them back to the field for the performance.  20 minutes before the performance was supposed to start, the rain came down!  The kids were on the field waiting for the Prophet and President Eyring to arrive.  Needless to say by the time everything got started, EVERYONE was drenched!! (even the audience!). 

The Farr's and Dave under the tarp (trying to stay dry as possible)

Me under the tarp.

This was our view.  Can you see the rain in the lights?  Those are the kids out on the field waiting to get started!

But the show went on! The youth smiled through the WHOLE show and had great attitudes!  Discovery Park is a RETENTION basin (the location of the event), so you can guess where all the water went!  By the end there was at least an inch or so of water at various places on the field.  Kids were slipping down the hill as they went to go onto the field for their parts of the show.  I am sure there will be lots of stories to tell!

It was fun to watch their excitement (despite being drenched) as President Eyring and President Monson arrived!

President Moson and President Eyring waving to the youth, who were waving and screaming with excitement!

It was certainly an event that NO ONE that participated in will EVER forget!  Even when it was all over and the kids were freezing they were still smiling and laughing and enjoying the craziness of it all!  Paige and Amber got to participate and I think that they will say that it was a truly memorable experience!  We talked about how the pioneers probably experience similar conditions, especially on the trek to Salt lake, but then had to pitch tents in the mud and sleep in wet clothes.  We got to go home and take a nice hot shower and hop into a warm bed.  

Take a look at all that water!

Sunday was the dedication of the Temple. There were 3 sessions and we ended up going to 2 of the three.  They were all different (including the talks and the choirs).  We were privileged as family to get to be in the actual temple ( Grandma Garner also received a ticket and came with us) for the last dedication session. We were wishing that Samantha were there with us, but know that she was where she needs to be and are so proud of her! The tickets were given by the Stake Presidencies and ours gave our to us for our work with the Celebration and Grandma's stake president just felt inspired that she needed a ticket. 

It was wonderful to listen to the words of the general authorities and President Monson (he spoke in the first session for a few minutes).  In the last session one of the Seventies that spoke talked about how some may wonder about their faith because even though they had prayed that the rain would be tempered it had come anyway.  He likened it to the Lord wanting to pour out his spirit on them.  I know that despite the rain, and maybe because of it, those youth (and adults) will have a special place in their hearts when we think of the temple cultural celebration and dedication!

We were seated in the temple marriage waiting room. (Just a side note, it is on the 3rd floor and we had to climb all those stairs, up was not so bad, but down...that was another thing all together!  My quads hurt so bad by this time that I had such a hard time trying to stand that Dave had to help me get up and it took so long that we missed half the Hosanna shout)  All the furniture had been removed and chairs placed in all the rooms.  The ushers said they were able to seat 1850 people in each dedication session.  Because we were at the last session we were able to see President Monson and President Eyring leave the temple and drive away.  What a wonderful way to end a wonderful weekend!

Waiting in line to be seated for the dedication session.

After the session was finished, on the South side of the temple.

A brief sighting of President Monson.

It's about time to start blogging again!  Tomorrow morning I send my oldest child off to a country that I have never been to before.  I am excited for her to start this new adventure.  I love that she has chosen to serve a mission for our church.  I am thrilled that she gets to practice her Spanish (a language she loves).  We will miss her a ton but know that she has made a wonderful choice to serve.

Kanab 4th of July 2009

July 3, 2009

While I was growing up in Cedar City, Utah our family would often go to Kanab around the 4th of July. You see my Grandpa Jameson's birthday was on the 6th and we would help him celebrate. In the beginning we would go to Lake Powell around his birthday, boy did I look forward to those trips! As the years went on the the tradition changed a bit. When I was about 15 years old, my grandparents decided (actually I am not exactly sure how it all came to be, this is just my version) they were going to drive my Grandpa's 1950 something Chevy in the parade and the grandkids (most of us anyway) would follow beind in a golf cart type vehicle (it was bigger than a golf cart, but I'm not sure what to call it. At the time I called it a "Surrey" because it reminded me of the song from Oklahoma where it talked about a "Surrey with the fringe on top". The only similarity was the fringe:)!). That one time in the parade has taken on a life of its own and now nearly every year we go to Kanab for the 4th of July and participate in the parade. This year we had over 70 people there. It has turned into a reunion and we love it!

This year we got to Kanab on Friday, July 3 and we jumped right in! My dad will sometimes take everyone on a hike around the beautiful red hills of Kanab and this year was no exception. An hour or so after we arrived, Dad got us all together and we went hiking! We went up the canyon near where they shoot the fireworks off from.

Here we are at the base of the hill, getting ready to go. We had all ages and abilities come along.

As we were headed to the top we took a moment for a picture:).

What a beautiful view!

Here is Dad pointing out some "famous" landmarks.
I think he is showing us one of our former hikes.

You couldn't ask for a prettier hike:). We got started a little late and still needed sunlight to work on the float, so we headed back down sooner than we would have liked. Another year we will spend a little more time.

We all headed back to Uncle Richards house and started helping put together the floats. It is a good thing that the Lea Family head this up...or it probably wouldn't happen!

Me, Christy (Karl's wife), and Jamie (1st cousin...she designs our t-shirts every year!)

The kids were busy making their own masterpieces while
we worked on the floats (mostly we just did what they told us to do!).

Lindsay LOVES to draw and color!

We had a fun evening visiting and then headed back to the motel to get some rest before the BIG day! We stay at the Perry Lodge, which is a whole story by itself!

The 4th of JULY!!

The morning starts out with a few shots from the cannon at 6am to let everyone know that the day has started. Then the town hosts a 2 mile "fun run". Dave and I decided to run this year and guess what, we both took 1st in our age divisions! That was a first for me! Of course there were only 5 women in my age group of 40-49 year olds. In Dave's age bracket there was a whole page of names! Nevertheless the victory was sweet, even for me!

1st Place!

This is a long day to say the least, but very fun too. We start out pretty early. We have to get in line for the parade. So once we get there we have some time to hang out and wait for the start of the parade. It was really hot this year! Sometime I will remember to bring something to entertain us while we wait!

Lindsay loves sucking her thumb and twisting her hair with her other hand. She claims that she doesn't really suck it anymore, but it is such a habit...she does not even realize it is happening.

Those that can, bring bikes to ride in the parade. Some even get decorated!

Here is most (we are missing my sister's family the Wagner's) of the Hugh Family.
We (the Garners) are on the left.
Kent (my oldest brother) and his whole crew are next.
Then come Grandma & Grandpa Hugh (where it all started:)).
On the right is Karl (my other brother) and his family
with a cousin (Christy's nephew from Indiana).

Wow, my girls are getting taller. Next year I am sure that they will pass me up!

Grandma and Grandpa Hugh make this such a fun event! We hate missing out!

Lindsay and a couple of cousins.
Just waiting....

Samantha & Paige...more waiting!

Kent has his spot picked out and he stuck with it the whole time!

Karl explains the finer points of life to Dave...more waiting.

Jamie and I thought that Kent had a great idea...so we copied...more waiting!

Yeah!!! We finally get to go!

There is the big float!

We did win "Best Family" again this year!

We even had a little competition.

We had our own drum brigade!

Dave captured the parade from the street view.
I got to ride and capture from my comfy seat:)!

We went for a cool treat to Denny's Wigwam and a little shopping after the parade.

Later in the day it HAILED!!! It was CRAZY!

Then the weather cleared up and
we had a fun evening just eating and enjoying each other's company!

Dave and Samantha went shooting with a few others.
Aaron Jameson, who is in the Marines,
brought some of his guns and took a few out to check them out!

Uncle Kent, helping Samantha get the right feel!
Man that is a big gun.
It is probably good that I didn't go with them.

Of course we have to have the family "talent" show!

The fireworks were great! Lindsay wasn't even afraid this year!

Sparklers and our own fireworks ended the evening and
we were all thoroughly exhausted!

2nd half of June 2009

Monday June 22 we were up early and on our way to take Samantha up to Flagstaff for EFY.




Samantha was soooo excited! I can't believe how grown up she is getting! Thank goodness it was only for a week and not off to college for real! She had many friends that were at the same session she was in, including a cousin, from Mesa, who was a counselor. She also had a cousin who was there from Utah. I met my brother (who was dropping off his son) and picked up a couple of his other kids. Christy (my sister-in-law) was the Stake Camp Director for girls camp and it was this same week, so we offered to take their kids. We were excited to have cousins come and stay with us for almost a whole week! We started off our adventure with a stop at Slide Rock on the way home. Now that was quite the experience! Wish we would have had water shoes to help with the slippery rocks. They call it slide rock for a reason! Everyone got a little banged up, but it was fun nonetheless!





We were talking about Slide Rock just the other day (it is now September) and Lindsay said, "Oh yeah! That place hurts!" We spent a lot of time on our knees and bottoms. Our advice: Take water shoes or wear shoes with soles that don't slip and you don't care if they get wet!

Now with these cute cousins staying with us, I tried...heavy on the tried, to have some fun plans to keep us busy. I thought that the cousins would entertain each other pretty well, and they did for the most part, but unfortunately we had a little (okay a lot) of homesickness. I was feeling really bad until my brother told me that they get home sick when they are at their home with Grandma Hugh babysitting them.

The last day was the biggest hit though. We went to the rec. center in the morning and spent a few hours there and then on to the Cavenee's pool. Thank goodness we ended on a high note!












I'm still not sure if they will ever want to come back and stay with us without their parents again, it was pretty tramatic. Hopefully they will because we loved having them come!

Early (really early) Saturday morning we headed back to Flagstaff to take the kids back to their Grandparents (Christy's folks) and pick up Samantha.

I decided that since we were already on a trip that we should make an outing of it and so Dave planned a hike to the top of Mount Elden right there in Flagstaff.

It all started out great, but slowly deteriorated.

By the time we were 2/3rds of the way to the top we had nearly run out of water and the kids were ready to DIE. I thought Paige was going to have a full on heart attack right there on the side of the mountain (okay I really didn't, but she honestly thought and acted like she was on death's door). The best intentions don't always work out the way that we would like them too, but we tried! It will probably be one of the memories that our children will bring up later to prove that we were really out to torture them.

On June 29th it was time for the performance of the Cinderella play that Amber played Cinderella. Mary does the performances right there in her home. She was very complimentary of Amber and the heart and soul that she put into her character. I was so happy to see her come alive in the play and really display some talent. I know she has a lot of drama in her (I see it everyday:)) and I was glad for a positive place for her to display it!

Amber even got to sing a solo! She did great. I am so glad that most of my kids take after Dave in that area and can actually hold a tune!!

Amber looked beautiful and really shone. She loved every moment of the spotlight. We recorded the whole thing and I am sure that she would love to show it to anyone who asks. We have seen it several times already!

There you have the highlights of June 2009 at the Garner's!