Photos By Ella

Jake and Lora got Ella what she most wanted for Christmas: a camera of her own. It's a High School Musical one, too--nice touch! Following are some of the (few) pictures rfom our trip to the zoo that were actually in focus. I am particularly fond of "Still Life with Pumpkins and Old Christmas Trees".

Bundle Up, It's Zoo Time

The day after Christmas we, including my Aunt Kris and Uncle Bill, wrapped ourselves up in many layers and headed to the Oakland Zoo. Due to the cold, we pretty much had the zoo to ourselves, which is always nice. The elephants roamed happily, the gibbons swung from the treetops, the tortoises had lunch, and the crocodile floated alarmingly close to the window.

For the first time ever Livy was tall enough to go on more rides than just the carousel. Despite the fact that we call her Midge, she does appear to be growing!

Aunt Kris, Ella, and I shared a sky basket. Ella and I coached Aunt Kris on how to sit down on the thing, and Kris won the prize for spotting the elusive bison from the air.

Ella took some marvelous pictures with her new High School Musical camera. (Photos to follow in next post.)

The Hottest PJs in Town

Seriously, so hot. So hot that no normal adult could possibly sleep comfortably in them anywhere outside Siberia. However, since the point of the matching PJs was not so much to sleep in them as to take pictures in them, they were a roaring success. Doesn't Grandpa Ricky looked thrilled to be a part of the whole hoohah? We like that he wore PJs and boots.




That's Rick and Kathie; Jake, Lora, Oscar, and Olivia; and Greg, Katie, Ella, and Natalie

Worth 1000 Words

I was going to get a picture of just Nat with Santa. THAT didn't happen! (She recovered quickly, don't worry.)

Willdens and Browns, Together Again!

While we were in California for the holidays, we were able to spend some time playing with our good friends the Browns. We had a lot of fun touring the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. The "seasoning" area was the coolest--stacks and stacks of trays filled with every color bean imaginable. We got to taste beans from each stage of production, from just the jelly center to the shiny, delicious finished product, and I think it is safe to say that the samples were the kids' favorite part. Oh, and the keen hats!

We spent an entire afternoon at the park without even one incident of hair-pulling or head-locking! (Ella and Scott have a long and storied history together.)

Ella and Scott took an adventurous hike up the hill together, and it was so sweet to see these old pals in action again.

Little Willdens and Browns: Natalie, Ella, Tali, Scott, and Ada

Rock On

In December Greg's parents Gary and Joan came for a visit, to see the new house and spoil the grandkids. We drove out to Enchanted Rock State Park to go for a hike. You can see the rock behind us in the picture, and if you look really close you can see the little ant-people wending their way to the top. When we arrived, Natalie was asleep, so I stayed behind while everyone else began the hike. 10 minutes later she was WIDE awake and I was stuck in a van with a toddler and no cell phone reception. Rats! So I threw on the baby backpack, which I had previously not had any intention of using because I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it to the edge of the parking lot, much less up that hunk of granite. Oh, and when I say I "threw on the baby backpack" in oh-so cavalier a fashion, I mean I set it up on the ground, stuck Natalie in it, spent several minutes figuring out the intricate system of straps and buckles, then sat down in front of it, strapped myself to it, and somehow managed to stand up with all these pounds of kid on my back. Long story short (WAY too late, I know) Natalie and I made it to the top, a little sore in the calves but no worse for wear. By the time we got there, though, the rest of our group was nowhere to be seen. Rats! No witnesses to my awesomeness, and no camera to Kodak the moment. So we made our way back down the rock, only getting slightly lost along the way, and took some pictures when we all met up at the bottom. Good times!

P.S. Enchanted Rock is 425 feet high, and the hike to the top is around half a mile, so my awesomeness is all relative.

My First Ultra-marathon (Bandera 50k)

So last Saturday I ran my first Ultra-marathon, any race longer than 26.2 miles. In this case it was a 50 kilometer race, or about 31 miles. It was at the Bandera 100k/50k/25k. The last two years I have run the 25k option and the fun just ended too quickly. This year I almost decided to do the 25k again because I was having a little nagging pain in my feet, but I ultimately decided to go for it.

I've been reading about ultra-running for quite a while now and I've wanted to give it a try. The last link there is the blog for Sean Meissner. He lives in Oregon and posted that he would be coming down to run Bandera. I talked to him briefly just before the start and again after I finished. He was really nice and appreciated that I've been reading about all of his adventures. It was cool to meet someone I've been reading about online and in magazines.

As you are probably aware, the country has just gone through a pretty good cold snap. Texas was not immune either. On the morning of race day I got up at 4:30am and made the hour drive out to the Hill Country State Natural Area. It was a balmy 9 degrees Fahrenheit when I got there. I think it had warmed up to 10 or 11 by 7:30am when a race official yelled out, "5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!" I had agonized over what to wear for this race. I generate a lot of body heat when I run. It has to be in the 30s or low 40s before it makes sense for me to even wear a long sleeve shirt and I had never run in temps below 20 degrees so I didn't know what to wear. On the bottom I wore a pair of compression shorts to avoid chafing and two pairs of tights. On top I overestimated the cold and so I wore a short sleeve shirt, for when it would warm up later in the day, two thin long sleeve shirts and a very thin rain shell type jacket plus a hat and gloves. Within the first mile I had to start stripping off the layers. I took off the hat and just left my Buff as a headband and to cover the ears when needed. The thick gloves came off, replaced by very thin ones. The jacket and one long sleeve shirt came off too. All of this I now had to schlep around with me until the midway point aid station (at Chapas) when I put them in a drop bag.

The trail out there is really brutal. Big rocks, small rocks, and steep trails that go straight up the hills (they don't believe in switchbacks in Texas). It really beats you up and forces you to walk up the hills and try not to crash on the way down. Coming up on the first main aid station at 10 miles, I heard this music coming out of the trees. When I rolled into the aid station it was blaring. I picked up a paper cup of water, tipped it back to drink and nothing happened. I had to crush it to break up the ice before I could drink it. At the halfway point I dropped off most of the clothes I was carrying and stripped off the other long sleeve shirt and just went with my short sleeve shirt with gloves. This aid station was wild for a different reason. They were cooking waffles, grilled cheese sandwiches and a bunch of other stuff. I refilled my hydration pack, grabbed some pretzels and kept moving. It was hard to start running again after walking or standing for a while. Gotta keep moving.

The next section to the Crossroads aid station was relatively flat. Then came a rocky 5 mile loop with a few hills before coming back into Crossroads at a little over 26 miles. At this point I was hurting pretty badly so I pulled out my mp3 player, cranked up the rock and put the hammer down for the rest of the run. I knew what to expect and I ran it hard. I passed a lot of people and I just suffered through the pain. I finished in 5:50:28.

I was really sore for the rest of the day but I recovered remarkably quickly. By the next day I was basically fine, walking down stairs, lifting my leg up high. It was great! I'm really happy with how my training got me ready for this race and I'm especially happy with how I ran that last 5 miles or so. Awesome!

For Shannon Hale

If you are not Shannon Hale (and let’s face it, most of you aren’t), let me explain this post. Shannon Hale is a Newbery Honor-winning author of books for adolescents and adults. She also happens to be LDS like me, and like many of you. One of her latest books, The Actor and the Housewife, is the story of a Mormon housewife from Layton, Utah who meets and subsequently becomes the best friend of her biggest Hollywood crush. It is hilarious, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking, and I highly recommend you read it! Ms. Hale announced a contest in conjunction with the book’s release, and the following is the entry that my book club and I came up with. Bon appétit!

Dear Ms. Hale,

We are six Texas transplants, five of us married, four with kids, all LDS—including one Relief Society president (bless her!). Let us introduce ourselves by way of our Readers’ Polls:

Rebecca

Height:

5’9” in her favorite heels

Build:

Working on her Maria Sharapova tennis body

Age:

4^th anniversary of her 29^th birthday

Born:

Ft. Bragg, North Carolina

Resides:

In the “Enchanted Manor” in the heart of Castle Hills (model A3—all 756 sq ft)

Marital Status:

Single; last date was with a man old enough to be her father; still holding out hope her husband didn’t die in the war in heaven

Memorable roles:

Sister Bertha (disgruntled singing nun in her high school musical’s version of the Sound of Music), glorified babysitter and distributor of historical facts at local high school

Best Features:

Shocking red hair and sexy freckled legs

Readers’ Rating (of her Jell-o):

Jiggly Smooth

Katie

Height:

5'5'' on a good day

Build:

Small, but well-padded

Age:

33

Born:

Walnut Creek, California

Resides:

In 2600 square feet of tract home heaven, deep in the heart of San Antonio, Texas, in a neighborhood where opossums eat the cat food on the back porch and deer casually roam the sidewalks

Marital Status:

On the verge of celebrating a decade of wedded bliss

Memorable roles:

Reader of bedtime stories, obsessive shell seeker, and She-Who-Dazzles-With-Baked-Goods

Best Features:

The crookedness of her grin, her Spock ear, and her alluring finger-toes

Celebrity Crush:

Paul Newman (whom she fully expects to meet in the hereafter)

Readers' Rating (of her Thanksgiving pie selection):

Mmm, Mmm, Good!

Mandi

Height:

5’8” (okay, really 5’7 ½”, but does the DMV really check this stuff?)

Build:

Baby’s got back

Age:

34

Born:

Tucson, AZ: the land of saguaros and brown as far as the eye can see, and where mansions and trailer homes share the same street address

Resides:

In a perfect two level home located in a cul-de-sac where the kids can and do roam unsupervised (hopefully they have clothes on)

Marital Status:

Happily married to a very hard-workin’, hot man who saves lives daily (a physician)

Memorable roles:

Gestator. lactator, star main dancer in a modern dance piece when 38-weeks pregnant (in a purple and pink unitard), and She-Who-Can-Throw-Together-A-Children’s-Sacrament-Meeting-Program-In-Her-Sleep.

Best Features:

A huge smile that inexplicably shows more gums than teeth

Celebrity Crush:

Hugh Jackman. Any one who can sing and dance and looks like THAT!!? Ouch!

Readers' Rating (of her Whole Wheat Bread):

Luscious and the Best in the Lone Star State

Jen

Height:

5’3” - “Though she be but little, she is fierce”-Shakespeare

Build:

Petite, or so her mother says and insists she shop in that section

Age:

26

Born:

Orem, Utah

Resides:

In a cozy 1964 red brick home with black shutters, shaded from the sweltering Texas heat by giant hardy oaks

Marital Status:

Considered a 6-year newlywed

Memorable roles:

Best wacky song artist of 2009, family paparazzi, and She-Who-Always- Needs-A-Special-Treat

Best Features:

Her sparkly brown eyes, tiny bony ankles, and the freckle on the tip of her nose

Celebrity Crush:

According to online quiz: Ryan Reynolds

Readers' Rating (of her OREO Shakes):

America’s Favorite!

Amy

Height:

5’7 ½” (but who’s counting that ½”?)

Build:

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice

Age:

3(cough)4??? Already?

Born:

Watonga, Oklahoma

Resides:

In a cute one level 1500 square foot tiled home where peace and quiet don’t exist…

Marital Status:

Happily married to a jack-of-all-trades guy

Memorable roles:

Fastest activity chairman/planner in the west (2 weeks to put on a Christmas dinner), accidental flasher on a cruise ship, blogger extraordinaire, She-Who-Tells-Her-Girls-“Tell-Your-Sister-You’re-SORRY!!”-ALL-THE-TIME!

Best Features:

Her dazzling blue/gray chameleon eyes: they change color in a flash depending on what she wears and by how she feels…. Watch out James Bond

Celebrity Crush:

He’s old enough to be her father, but George Strait has her heart

Readers' Rating (of her photography):

Oooohhhh. . . aaahhhhh. . . gasp. . .

Debbie

Height:

5’9” unless slouching to give husband the illusion that he’s as tall as his wife

Build:

Built to last

Age:

Who’s counting?

Born:

Ogden, UT

Resides:

In a “pointy” (as described by a 7-year-old) 70’s era home featuring a hot pink front door

Marital Status:

Blissfully married and keeping it that way

Memorable roles:

Alto unsuccessfully impersonating a soprano, facial ventriloquist (can suppress a yawn and display captivated interest simultaneously), and yard sale junkie

Best Features:

Smiley blue eyes and crow’s feet to prove it

Celebrity Crush:

Charlton Heston, a man with priorities: wife, guns, and the Ten Commandments

Readers' Rating (of her flower garden):

Lovely and Fragrant!

We all read The Actor and the Housewife and then got together on the only night in November that worked for all of us to eat treats and discuss. We all brought whatever we had on hand for ice cream sundaes and had us a party! The discussion was lively. One friend admitted that if her celebrity crush had asked to kiss her on the steps of the state capitol, she would have said, “Heck, yes!” We loved the character of Becky Jack, a realistic Mormon woman in a real world, complete with bad words, tattoos, alcohol, and genuine trials of faith. The story is fantastical, but the themes are universal: What do you do when you know what is right for you but everyone tells you it is wrong? What is love? What is friendship? How do you balance loyalty to self and to all those who depend on you? We all related to Becky in our own way, and her challenges resonated with each of us. Thank you for writing a book about an LDS character that is neither cynical nor sugar-coated. Thank you for your delightful prose which made us laugh out loud one moment and broke our hearts the next. Thank you so much for letting us see a ward potluck through Felix’s eyes! And most of all, many thanks for creating this contest and giving us the chance to put this together for you. We have had a great time.

Your appreciative readers,

Rebecca, Katie, Mandi, Jen, Amy, and Debbie

P.S. We will be having a follow-up night out to hear about some of the previously undisclosed information in the Readers' Polls--Amy, you seriously flashed someone?!

Beach Camping: The Camping Part

We thought beach camping would be a sandy disaster, but the campground was a dune away from the actual beach, so the sand was minimal. It was nice to sit around the campfire listening to the waves--well, it was nice after Natalie went to bed and we no longer had to constantly keep her from tripping into the fire. The day before, after our Thanksgiving feast, we had made foil dinners with our leftovers: a layer of mashed potatoes drizzled with gravy, sprinkled with turkey, and topped with dressing and one more protective layer of potatoes. We threw them on the fire for our camp dinner, and they came out steaming hot and SO DELICIOUS.

Valerie and Adam Carleton: LOVE the head gear!

Tyler (otherwise known as Mini), Jen, and David Wheat: lovin' the foil dinners.

As waited for dinner to cook we got drizzled on a bit, and the drizzle produced a fantastic double rainbow over the Gulf.