Snow Canyon Half Marathon and 5K

Bill and I ran the Snow Canyon Half Marathon in St. George November 5th while Gabe ran the 5k. With the help of my pacer (Bill) I was able to get a PR (personal record). Gabe also ran really well coming in at 25:03. Bill and I ran 1:56! Bill hadn't really trained for this race so he dedicated his time with me. That was very nice because it really helped to have someone to run with. And what a great running partner. He even let me out sprint him at the end.

It was very cold at the start with snow on the ground and the west wind blowing. It felt okay during the race, but afterwards we thought we were going to freeze to death. James was our fan for the day. There are more pictures and results at http://strideracing.com/2011/november/snowcanyon.html and www.zazoosh.com/events/searchPhotos/498?evtId=498&query=749&x=33&y=18

Guster

We're not talking the music group or one of our favorite characters on "Psych". We are talking about our new puppy, Guster or Gus for short. We finally broke down and got another puppy. Poor Scout is just not doing very well. He has some sort of lung ailment. He's practically skin and bones. We cannot get him to eat much. He doesn't know what to think of Gus. He's not too fond of him. In fact, Gus got a little too close to Scout while he was eating and Gus got a little nip in the neck.

He's a very cute puppy. He stayed in the house the first few nights and had many "accidents". But now he is happily living outside in a little home with a stuffed snake. We are looking forward to taking him on runs next spring. He is a Boxer and Australian Sheppard so I guess that makes him an Auxer.

From Oakley

Gift Idea

Hey everybody! Here's an idea for Dad's birthday, if you're interested.

I love Nevada

In June I took a little solo road trip home and I stopped by the Baker "Archaeological" Site. Not quite what I was expecting, but it was beautiful none the less. Here's some pictures from my little stop:

melt my heart!

You guys are going to love this video. Oakley is a sucker for goofy noises, which is something Dave excels at. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwOIObNY8QA

the many faces of Oakley

Oakley is a wiggle worm! She has a chapter book full of facial expressions. I love to just sit and let her entertain me with her cuteness. Here's a sampling of the many faces of Oakley.

Because I'm a genius

I had a pretty awesome summer and I have actually been documenting it. But most of that documentation has been via dad's film camera and those pictures, though awesome, do not turn out so good once put through a scanner and digitalized. But the other day I just learned how to get pictures from my fancy pants phone to a computer. So here are some pictures from my summer.

Waking Oakley Divine

There's a movie called Waking Ned Divine...... hence the wierd title. But it really has nothing to do with this post.

Anyway...... Oakley loves to stretch when she wakes up. It is soooooo cute. Here's a pretty great video of her doing just that.... including the famous "face scrunch." :) Maybe you'll get to watch it...... if it ever finishes uploading!!

Well, it's not going to work.... so you'll just have to click on this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKcQXQDZBGQ

We "Tried"!

Color Country Triathlon (Cedar City, UT) 400 meter swim start. Rocky and I decided to wait until the crowd took off before entering the murky water. Bill is standing with his hands on his hips. I'm in the blue top and black shorts at the edge of the picture. Thanks to Gabe our photographer for the day. Thoughts going through my head during the first 100 meters of the swim were; "I don't think I'm going to survive this swim." "What if I have to signal one of the kayaks to save me." How am I going to explain to everyone that I whimped out 50 meters into the race." "Could those kayaks even get to me before I go down?" "Why is this guy next to me flailing his arms and hyperventilating?" "He is really freaking me out!" "Oh my gosh, this seaweed is dragging me to the bottom of the lake!" After the first 100 meters I finally got into a rhythm and decided that I was going to survive the swim. By the way, the guy who was flailing his arms and freaking out also finished the swim. Turns out, he was one of Rocky's friends from Ely.

Bill emerges from the water and runs down the carpeted runway to the transition area to get his bike.
This is one of Gabe's "artsy" photos of me leaving the swim for the bike.
Pre race set up of the transition area. This was a total learning experience. We practiced our transitions at home many times even deciding which socks were the fastest to put on. Believe me, transitions are a science. We borrowed some smoking fast road bikes from friends.
Yeah! It's the finish line!
We are now triathletes!
Showing off our beautiful triathlon tatoos. We also had a number on both arms.
Our triathlon group, Bill and I, Rocky, and her nurse friends from Ely.
Bill finishing his triathlon. This was actually a minor miracle. Bill had seriously injured his calf on Thursday in P.E. class. I'm talking a calf muscle tear. He wasn't sure he would be able to run at all let alone do as well has he did. He wrapped it good that morning and felt okay to run so off he went. Swim=400 meters Bike=10.5 miles Run =5k. Bill finished in 1:16 I finished in 1:31. It was a pretty tough course with a serious climb in both the bike and run. I would describe a sprint triathlon in one word. FRANTIC You swim as fast as you can, you transition to bike as fast as you can, you ride as fast as you can, you transition again as fast as you can, you run as fast as you can without passing out. And then it's over. It's totally crazy. I was wiped out the rest of the day. Would I "tri" it again? You bet!

Oakley's big adventure

We had such a great time in Utah! Oakley was a champ on the plane and in the car and the three of us made it to Salt Lake and back to Iowa City all in one piece. Here's a smattering of pictures from the short, but awesome weekend.

Oakley's first plane ride. She's thrilled, as you can see.

Shaha + Harris

Great Grandma Harris. This picture is beautiful.

Great Aunt Jill and Great Grandma and Grandpa Guipre. So many greats! You guys are great!

Grandpa Harris! Yep, GRANDPA. :)

GRANDMA Harris :)

Uncle Gabe the babe

Uncle James. I think this is the only picture I got of her being awake. Way to go James.

Aunt Brita. This picture is so cute. Oakley is totally making a Dave face.

I love this picture of all the Shaha cousins. They'll get a kick out of it when they're older.