5th of July trip to Lagoon

The Richards gang descended on Lagoon for my Mom's birthday on July 5th. We were lucky enough to have Jeff along for this trip. He was able to spend almost two months in Utah this summer. Jeff and I took Seth on his first Skycoaster ride. In his own words "I enjoyed it thoroughly." He hadn't been to Lagoon in years so he also had his first ride on the Spider, Wild Mouse, and Wicked. A good time was had by all.

First Drive In

Seth and I took Emily to her first drive in movie on July 9th. We had promised to take her to Toy Story and this little girl never forgets a promise. When we got to her house to pick her up she was bouncing off the walls with excitement. She was already in her Disney Princess nightgown and had her Dora the Explorer backpack ready to go. Once we got to the drive in, she was quite anxious for it to start. She loved snacking on popcorn and licorice. She also liked the movie but remarked several times that it was really long. Her favorite part oddly was when Buzz, Woody, Jesse, and the gang were in the garbage incinerator.

Emily fell asleep during the second feature (Prince of Persia) and then had her first sleepover at Aunt Suzy's. She cried for her mommy for just a few minutes. I was able to distract her by talking about all sorts of random things and she fell fast asleep.

The next morning Amy threw me a bridal shower. Emily came along and enjoyed the mini cupcakes that Amy had ordered. I think she was able to throw down at least 7. This little girl has spunk.

One Week Anniversary

Today is our one week anniversary. The last week has been a blur...we got married, packed up a trailer, spent 3 nights in Park City, 1 night in Laramie, 1 night in Lincoln, 1 night in St. Louis, 1 night in Nashville, and are currently in Memphis. It has been a whirlwind but I believe that our "Happily Ever After" has just begun. More details to come soon...

Bridal Photos

My bridal photos are back. Stacy at Three Winks Studio did an amazing job. I am having a hard time deciding on one to print for the wedding reception. I need your help. I have narrowed it down to my 13 top picks. Please vote on your favorite. P.S. If any of you were counting just 15 days until Seth and I tie the knot.

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Independence Day

The Fourth of July is absolutely my favorite holiday. I love BBQ, pool parties, hiking, root beer floats, and fireworks. Last year I was hiking Cinque Terre in Italy. This year I was hiking behind Ensign Peak. (Technically it was July 3rd because Utah does not celebrate on Sunday) Seth and I invited Jeff, Tawnya, and Beth along. Our plan was to get over the ridge so that we could see the fireworks in North Salt Lake. We didn't quite make it that far and at the last minute stopped at the 3rd Radar Station so that we could watch all of the fireworks in the Salt Lake Valley. We probably saw about 10 different shows. My favorite part was the little picnic that Seth packed in. We had sparkling white and red grape juice, cheese, crackers, tarts, artisan bread, and licorice. If we are in Utah next year, we plan to make it all the way over the ridge.

Hairy Breeks

Just wanted to give an update on the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay that I participated in a few weeks ago. My team was the Hairy Breeks. What is a Hairy Breek you ask...Ragnar Lodbrok the Viking after which the race was named had the nickname of "Hairy Breeks." He gained this nickname while courting his second wife, a Swedish princess. He suppressed an infestation of venomous snakes while wearing hairy breeches. We didn't run in hairy breeches but we did find some snake tattoo sleeves to wear.

I wrote about the Ragnar back in March while I was training. I have to say it was an experience. Several times over the 30 hours of riding in the van I thought to myself "I signed up for this" and "I paid to do this." Given a couple weeks of perspective I am happy to say that I am a Ragnar Participant.

The picture above is of my first leg 3 miles with a 900 foot climb followed by .7 miles down hill. Chelsea and the rest of the team were there to give run Gatorade and water across the road to me and to cheer me on. My favorite part was reaching the summit and being able to start the downhill portion of the leg.


Here my team is at the end of our first leg (Me, Christian, Chelsea, Kellie, David, Tyler). I think we had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into or what lay before us. We headed to the pit stop and tried to relax and get little fuel in our systems. I got a little sick and thought I wouldn't be able to finish the race. But a couple of hours on the lawn of a junior high helped me regain my strength.

There were so many people on the road. Runners, teams, volunteers. Here are a few statistics:

1,500 Ragnar Teams
18,000 Runners
3,000 Vans
4,500 Volunteers

This was not your typical running crowd either. People were dressed up as super heroes, fairies, and vikings.

Here we are preparing to start our second leg. Once night hit we were all required to wear reflective vests for safety. I started my second leg around 3 am. It was an unsupported leg so my team members could cheer for me from the side of the road but were unable to cross to give me Gatorade or water. I ran around Rockport Lake up by Wanship. Running in the dark was something I wouldn't mind doing again.

Here Chelsea and I are sharing a pancake stack for breakfast. Pancakes never tasted so good. After the pancakes we drove to Heber for our second pit stop. I paid two dollars to use the restroom facilities and to shower. It was the best two dollars I have ever spent.

The final leg was brutal. Christian and Tyler rocked Ragnar hill. Then I ran down from Deer Valley to Park City. For the first part I was on pavement but then they turned us onto a narrow trail. I kept looking at my watch and thinking I must be close to the next exchange but each time I asked a volunteer the mileage to the exchange it seemed to stay the same. After the race I found out that they added a mile and a half to my leg due to some obstacles.

Here my van is at the finish line. Unfortunately we were unable to see David cross the finish. It took us about an hour to drive from Park City to The Canyons. We came in 263rd place with a total running time of 30 hours,51 minutes, and 23.7 seconds.

Attack of the Mosquitoes

Last night I had my bridal photos taken. We headed down to Memory Grove and were literally attacked by swarms of mosquitoes. I have 13 bites on just my left arm. I have to be around 50 all together. Besides the bites the photo shoot went well. I've spent the last couple of weeks helping my parents with a rental property, researching our move to South Carolina, planning the wedding, and running the Wasatch Back. I'll give you a full update on all soon.