Roadtrip to USA's

Tuesday afternoon around 1:00pm we found out that Chris and Bob had been accepted into the USA Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. It was too late and far too expensive to buy plane tickets out, so instead we opted to road trip it all the way to Iowa.

I quickly packed while Chris drove home from work in Salt Lake, we swung by the store to stock up on food for the trip, and then we set off around 5 pm.

Loading up the poles on Bob's truck

The 1,080 mile trip

We stopped in Cheyenne, Wyoming that night and the only hotel room that was available was a room with 2 twin beds at the Plain's Hotel.


On Wednesday we saw this for about 8 hours all the way from Cheyenne to Des Moines
Nebraska really is just one big cornfield


After we got into Des Moines we met up with the team at Cheesecake Factory. It was Dustin's birthday, and we also ordered a piece of White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake to celebrate Chris' birthday a few days early

This is the world record in the polevault

6 months of marital bliss

Yesterday Chris and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary.

We tried going to Tucanos to use our birthday coupons, but it was over an hour and a half wait; so instead we got Pizza Hut. We went to the Temple and did the initiatories on the family cards we have been wanting to get done. Chris did 9 names and I did 8.



We finished the night off trying to be "healthy" and went for a run along the running path on University Ave up by Provo Canyon.

This has been the greatest 6 months of our life!

NATIONALS

On the plane on our way to Oregon!

Tuesday night we went to dinner at Beppe & Gionni's with the McClurkin's, Clark's, and Angela. The restaurant was very busy, and the owner Beppe gave us our own table out in a heated tent. The food was very good! Chris ordered shrimp and scallop pasta and I the "Bishop's Hat" pasta which were handmade raviollis.

Wednesday the 9th was my birthday!
For breakfast we went out to The Original Pancake House.



I got my haircut that afternoon at a little fun, quirky place called I Run With Scissors. We thought the name was very fitting for Eugene.


We went over to the track to watch the prelims in the running events and watch Ada try to high jump in the rain. What a miserable day for a track meet!

After the meet we ran back to the hotel and hopped in the hot tub to warm up before dinner. We met up with Chris' family and went out to dinner.

P.F. Changs. Mmmm, my favorite.

All in all, a great birthday! Minus the rain.

Thursday

A Double Date

The first Saturday in June our good friends TJ and Krista invited us on a double date. They were very generous and invited us to help them spend a giftcard to P.F. Changs.

We had a fabulous time eating lettuce wraps, Mongolian beef, lemon chicken, honey shrimp, and of course, the Great Wall of Chocolate.

We rode our bikes down the Provo River trail from Vivian Park to the mouth of the canyon. The sun was setting so it gradually got dark and was gorgeous. The only problem was the bugs. I had a few splat on my face and got three in my eye. But other than that it was a great evening!!

1st Day of Work and Memorial Day

Chris left bright and early this morning for his first official day of work.

He is very excited to start working. Unfortunately, his office is past the Salt Lake airport, so it is a big commute.

To celebrate Memorial Day we headed up Diamond Fork Canyon for a BBQ and campfire with Erik & Nicole and Dustin & Jill. Chris bbq-ed hamburgers and hotdogs and we ate lots of good food. Erik made a raspberry and peach cobbler in the Dutch Oven. We had a great time relaxing and being outside.

The boys watching Jill fly-fish

We're Going to Nationals!

Chris did it! In the 110 degree heat he qualified for Nationals in June.

We both left early Wednesday morning for Austen, Texas. I ended up flying through Oakland to get to Austen; a round-about way, but eventually I made it.

That night we met up with Chris' parents and sister at a fun, very fresh Tex-Mex called Vivo.
On Thursday we scorched in the bleachers all afternoon watching the women's polevault, but it was worth it because Kari qualified.
That night Greg, Karina, and little James drove in from Dallas. We went to a very nice Italian restaurant in downtown Austen, and then spent an hour and a half on a wild goose chase trying to find a Coldstone. Four Coldstones have gone out of business in the Austen area in the past year. Finally, we ended up at McDonald's for the $1 sundaes because it was the only place we found find open.

Friday was the big day!
Afterwards we went to Rudy's to celebrate. We saw Prince of Persia that night.

Saturday was a fun lazy day. We played in the pool for a couple hours. Then we went and got pizza, and we did find an ice cream; Amy's. Saturday night we watched some fun races at the track. The 4x400's were very exciting!
Before heading back to the hotel I wanted to go see UT's football stadium. We got there about 11:45pm. The front gates were open so we walked right in. It was huge and I loved it. That is how a football stadium should be! We almost got trapped in there. As we walked out, security guards had just locked the big gates. Luckily, they were still close by and came and opened the gate for us.

The best word to sum up our week: HOT. But it was very fun!

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures.

The proud fam

Little James playing in the pool with Uncle Chris