New Shutters

Luke put new shutters on our house this weekend. It is hard to tell from the photo,but they are ceder shutters. It dresses it up a bit more, and I think we will also be adding them to the other windows.

Brynlee's first dental visit

I had some down time at work this week so I figured I would take Brynlee in and try her first dental "Happy Visit." Being the daughter of a dental hygienist I was hoping that she would do good and let me touch her teeth. At first when she saw the dental chair all covered in plastic she wansn't sure what to think, but as soon as I turned on the t.v. to cartoons, she didn't care what I did. I am happy to report that it was a successful visit, she let me remove the plaque, polish, and even let me give her fluoride, which most kids hate. Way to go Brynlee!

Fall Updates

Luke accomplished a major goal this running season- He ran the Bear 100! He did an amazing job as well. He ran 100 trail miles in 21 hours and 55 min. The race went from Logan to Bear Lake and had a ton of vertical climb and drop. I can't remember how far exactly, but it was a lot. He finished 4th overall in under 22 hours. The crazy thing is that only 9 people ran 100 miles in less than 24 hours. 99 runners completed the race and most of them did it in 30+ hours. This photo of Luke finishing was taken at 3:55 in the morning! What a fun and super crazy event! Nice job bud.

The Allred family reunion was again at Medow Lake. We lucked out this year and had really good weather. It was really fun to have the family together and it was very relaxing. Brynlee is getting older and loves camping and spending time with extended family. She also had a good time telling everyone what to do- you know, as a 2 yr old would.

Brynlee and Pappa Allred on the lake with a mighty squirt gun.

Brynlee and Uncle Jake fishing. She wasn't sure if she really liked the fish or not.

Brynlee and I were lucky enough to make it to my dad's grain harvest in Rigby in September. Brynlee enjoyed riding with Uncle Casey in the big grain truck. She was a little shy and did not want to ride in the combine, but maybe next year she'll be ready.

Brynlee and Mommy hanging out in the grain truck.

Brynlee and Pappa Allred watching the grain on the farm. Brynlee has a sad look on her face because she had only a few hours eariler received a very short hair cut from Grandma. So long hair. We are crossing our fingers that it will grow back soon and that Brynlee will stop twirling it and breaking it off.

Brynlee and Uncle Casey driving the grain truck.

I spent a little time this summer finishing those projects that never seem to get done. This is a dress I started making for Brynlee last fall and finally finished it this fall.

Luke and Brynlee's first day of school. Luke headed off to his first day on PA rotations and Brynlee started back into full time school at ELC. (So sad that summer is over).

Keiko, a friend from work, and I ran the Pocatello 1/2 marathon this fall. I ran it in under my goal time so I was happy with the results. (Now we'll think of running further next year). It was fun...well kind of. I was glad that I did it, but running on the road really isn't that fun. I am realizing that I am becoming a trail runner and that my body doesn't hurt as bad after running on trails.

25K El Vaquero Loco Trail Race

This weekend Luke and I ran a trail race in Afton Wyoming with a few friends from Pocatello. Luke ran the 50K race last year and loved the course, so when it fell on my birthday I thought it would be a great way to celebrate by running the 25k. The other reason why I wanted to run the race was for a race sweatshirt. Usually I get a t-shirt that I don't wear, but with this race you get a sweatshirt and a hamburger and huckleberry soda when you finish.... (yes, it was awesome to have at then end of the race).

I had never ran 16 miles before and the only trail race experience was on the 4th of July running a 5 mile Kelly Canyon trail that did not gain much vertical. The Vaquero gained over 4,000 vertical feet and reach 10,000 feet twice so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Kathleen, a friend from Pocatello, agreed to run it with me which was great because we saw amazing mountains, waterfalls, creeks, and wild flowers along the way. It was a great experience and I hope to run it again.

This past week we were de-compressing from a great week vacation and Brynlee learned a new trick. She can now stand on top of her dresser by climbing up the front. She was very proud of herself, but I hope it doesn't continue.

Summer Vacation

New Mexico here we come.....

Luke had one week off for summer break between his didactic and clinical year, so we decided to get away and not think about school and work for a while. We headed to New Mexico to see Luke's parents in Cimarron (Philmont Boy Scout Ranch). It is a 14 hour drive that we spit up in 2 days. Our first destination was Cortex, CO. We drove through Utah, which made the drive go by very quickly. (last time we drove across Wyoming and it seemed to last forever). We camped the first night in Cortez and then got up early the next morning and went through Costa Mesa National Forest and went on a tour to see ancient cave dwellings. It was very interesting to see and quite amazing to see how people set up their homes in the side of a canyon wall.

After Cortez we headed down south to New Mexico.

It was good to spend time with Luke's parents. We went on an early morning bike ride, drove around to several camps, and hiked to the top of Mt. Baldy. Brynlee was great on the trip, she was quite a "big girl." She rode a pony named Butter scotch, and did amazing. She is usually a bit scared around animals, but she did great. We really enjoyed our time in New Mexico and were sad when we had to leave, but Luke had a race in Park City, Ut. On the way home we retraced our path, but this time spent time in Moab at Arches National Park. It was amazing to see the huge arches and rock formations. It was quite impressive.

We arrived in Park City after a week of being gone from home. Luke was able to run the Jupiter Peak 16 mile race representing La Sportiva. He did well and placed 8th overall against very talented runners. Finally, later that night we made it home to finally see first hand our newly painted house.

Painting House

Luke and I decided to have our house painted. It was looking a bit shabby from the weather, plus getting tagged didn't help our curb appeal. We hired our friend Todd - and what a task he had. It took over a week to finish the work, but I think it turned out nicely so far. We are going to add cedar shutters and put up a new flower box to add more character to the house. In the future cedar shakes will go in the eve above the window and we will add a new front porch. It looks a bit plain right now, but over time I think it will come together nicely. We really like our small home and hope to stay in it for many more years. Here are a few photos of the house in the phases we were here for. (We left on vacation to New Mexico before any of the paint went on the house- so I was a bit worried to see what we would come home to find).

4th of July

Summer finally came, well sort of...

We are excited to have a break from all of the rain. We have been getting outside and are loving it. For the 4th we were able to get away early with my dad and headed up to the cabin. It was so nice to leave and see the gorgeous mountains and see how green and lush everything was. We relaxed on friday and took a short boat ride between the rain showers. Saturday Luke and I ran a trail race at Kelly Canyon. Luke took 2nd overall in the 10 mile race, and I took 1st women overall in the 5.5 mile. It was a ton of fun, and I pretty sure I am getting turned into a trail runner. Sat. afternoon we headed to Jackson Hole Wyoming and we watched the fire works and enjoyed walking around to some of the shops. We finally headed home on Sunday after a great relaxing weekend.