Sarah's trip to Colorado

A couple weeks ago Sarah flew solo to spend a week with my parents in Colorado. Although my mom had plans to keep her all to herself, she did share her with my sisters and their families a little bit.

Dropping my seven year old off at the airport for an unaccompanied flight was harder that I thought it would be. It was a non-stop flight and I knew my mom would be waiting for her at the gate, but I was still a little sad. Her brothers cried after she left because we all instantly missed her.

Here they are at the airport and in front of my parents Christmas tree.

My parents rented a cabin at Eldora Mountain Resort for four days so they could have a skiing vacation. My niece Angelina, that is a week younger than Sarah, joined them for the mini vacation. The girls slept in the loft, which they thought was really cool.

My parents put the girls in ski lessons each day and by then end of their trip Sarah went on a blue run. Two of my sisters and their kids joined them on the mountain. We look forward to taking her skiing next year when we're back in Utah.

On Monday they attended the Justin Bieber/Carly Ray Jepson concert. My sister had gotten them tickets for their birthdays and this was the main reason for the trip. They made a cute poster to take inside but they weren't allowed to bring it in.

The girls had matching outfits, did their own makeup and hair and off they went. (don't you love Sarah's bright red lipstick?) ;) It was Sarah's first concert, and she was a little overwhelmed by it. She only knew three of Justin Biebers songs before going and they ended up leaving early. They still had a blast though and I'm glad they got some good cousin time.

I'm glad Sarah had more fun, and I was more glad the day we got her back. :)

Frostbite Half Marathon

I realized that I forgot to make a post about the 1/2 marathon I ran on January 26th. Since I will most likely never run another one, it's important that make a record of it for my posterity. The most important fact is that I survived and crossed the finish line. :)

I have a great group of friends that I run with, and we were able to do this one together again. As soon as the race started most of us spread out and ran at separate paces, but here are our before pictures.

(Dena Owen, Me, Lindsey Isgett, Rachel Jolley and Vikki Sears) 

Here is our after picture

Mike took a picture of me running, but somehow my shirt had gotten tucked into my pants and it looked weird so I told him to delete it and he did. Oops! :) Here are a couple the event photographer took. This hill was at mile 11. Not fun. :)

Me coming into the finish line. After running 13.1 miles I can't even imagine doubling it and running a marathon.

My official time was 1:55:11 which was enough to earn me 2nd place in my age division.

Two ladies I run with, Vikki and Rachel, ran it in 1:40, which is amazing. They took off and got 2nd and 3rd overall for the women. 

http://www.och.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=280&Itemid=280

Georgia Aquarium and Coke World

Another few days off for Mike meant another mini trip somewhere interesting in the South. We chose to drive five hours to Atlanta, Georgia to visit the worlds biggest aquarium and Coke World, the worlds biggest propaganda marketing tool. ;)

The Georgia Aquarium was amazing! A lot of other people in the area had the same idea as us, but it was so big the crowds weren't overwhelming. They had a really cool dolphin show, but we weren't allowed to take pictures. It was great!

This tank was the main attraction. It is the size of a football field and contains 6.5 million gallons of water. They have the only whale sharks outside of Asia. 

Oh no, Sarah is caught underwater! ;)

The next day we visited The World of Coca Cola Atlanta. (we already visited the Vegas location a few years ago) Since Mike drinks more Coke than water, it was a must see for us. Although I'm glad we went, I was completely soda'd out after our visit. It was also the biggest marketing tool ever. Did you know that Coke will make you happy? I heard it a dozen times while I was there. :)

In the tasting room they have over 60 different soda flavors from all over the world. They aren't just different versions of Coke, they are unique and sometimes gross concoctions. The Beverly from Italy was bitter without any sweetness. A very odd flavor. Mike and Sarah got through all the flavors other than tea and I had 20-30. 

This is apparently the vault where the secret recipe is kept. 

On our way home we made a detour to visit the Atlanta, GA temple. It was cold, so we didn't stay long, but it's nice to visit temples around the country. 

Another fun trip and another southern must see crossed off our list. One other highlight of the trip for the kids was the hotel swimming pool. They are pool junkies! It was small, but the perfect temperature.