A “delicate” affair

In honor of Free National Park Week, we decided it was time for the Wallace family to take a quick “day-cation” down to Moab and visit Arches National Park.  You see, even though Seth is in Moab at least once a week, and he takes the kids there quite often, we have actually never been as a family. So, we figured it was time.

Road trip!  Don’t they look excited???

We made excellent time getting to Moab and our first stop was a picnic lunch inside the park.

The kids had a fantastic time crawling around on all the nearby rocks, as usual.

So, after lunch we were talking about what we should do with ourselves for the afternoon.  There are at least a billion great options in the area, and several hikes we were interested in, but we were mainly discussing Delicate Arch.  Which brings me full circle to the last time Seth and I hiked Delicate Arch. (This requires some back story.  Sorry.)

You see, we were brand new newlyweds.  We were coming up on the first long weekend of our married life & trying to think of something fun (and cheap!) to do and Seth suggested camping in Moab.  Did I mention it was the 4th of July?  Oh yes, and I think it was the hottest July on record (at least that’s the way my brain is choosing to remember it).  Anyway- we went on a great trip and backpacked around, seeing several different state and national parks- really a great trip overall.  That is, except for the dreaded Delicate Arch hike.   Its only a 3 mile hike (round trip!), with mild to moderate terrain, but we must have left around one in the afternoon and I kid you not, it was 106 degrees outside that day! Let me just say that Harwards are not known for their ability to process heat.  I turn a terrifying shade of purple and things go quickly downhill from there.  So, needless to say, on this hike I was a mess.  I kept stopping to rest and chug water and Seth was looking at me like “I can’t believe I married this…..”.  At one point, we were passed by an 80-year old man carrying a child in a backpack and I was mortified, but seriously, I couldn’t go any faster in that heat!

But somehow, some way, I made it to the top in one piece.  Barely.

Seth to this day gives me grief about this hike and how utterly pathetic I was.

Fast-forward 13 years.  I have to admit I was a little bit nervous. What if I did awful again?

It turns out, it is actually a super easy hike.  We practically raced up to the top.

However, this experience has given me cause to stop and reflect a little bit.  Seth and I just celebrated our 13-year anniversary, and looking at these two pictures of our family “then” and “now” really makes me realize how much has changed and how far we have come in those thirteen years. Everyone thinks that their bodies were so much stronger when they were younger, but I beg to differ. I think 5 kids, 4 mortgages, 9 moves, 2 college degrees, 6 jobs and one trusty dog later, we are sooo much stronger now than we were then.  That 19-year old girl with great legs had no idea what hard is.  3 miles in the hot sun? Puh-lease girl.  Get up. This time I carried a four year old up the trail and it wasn’t really even challenging.  (Ok ok.  I suppose I can admit that the fact that it was FIFTY degrees cooler this time around had something to do with it……. but for now I’m choosing to believe it was almost all me :)

Yes, I weigh at least 10 pounds more than I used to. And yes, my once great legs are now covered in stretch marks.  But I wouldn’t trade this body for that one for anything.  THIS girl is strong. THIS girl is determined.  And THIS girl can FINISH.  (remember my “word” for the year????).  Amen.  Hallelujah.

What we are up to

I think I am in need of just a general update on life.  Sometimes I don’t blog about the little things and I’m afraid I’ll look back & regret it because sometimes those are actually the big things, right?  So here is just a recap of what’s goin on in the Wallace house.

Where to begin? Oh, yes.  Smurfy has been learning to ride his bike.  It didn’t start out well.

As soon as he noticed I had let go he would wobble all over the place, which inevitable led to this.  I think he just needed his Daddy.

Yes, that’s much better.

He is an old pro now, but it was touch and go for a while there. Sheesh that boy is stubborn!

In other news, Kenni has won yet another contest here in the Carbon County area. If she keeps this up, I think her head might explode.  She has started telling people “I always win things”.  Ummm…. not sure how I feel about that.  I think I’ll have a family contest that she can’t possibly win, like a “who can keep their room clean the longest'” contest, just to deflate those sails a little bit.

Anyway- other than the cockiness, I am really proud of her.  For the competition, the kids were asked to design a poster for the “Shake it Up Utah” campaign (the earthquake drill Utah had last month).  Kenni’s design won 1st place and her prize was $75.  She was over the moon.  It meant that we had to sit through another city council & school board meeting to receive her recognition though, and man those meetings are dull!

 

What else? The kids are all currently playing spring soccer. They are doing well and Seth is coaching the older 2 again.  His team is actually pretty good which surprised us all, but he is really enjoying watching them progress.

(Coach Seth)

 

I am currently training for the Ogden Marathon which is on May 19th.  I’m not sure how I got roped into doing this again, but I will say that the training hasn’t been as hard this time around.  I think I may have finally gotten the hang of long distance running which is perfect because I am about to quit :) (But I guess I say that every year, don’t I?  hmmm……)

Seth is working on his training for the Forest Service Fire Certification.  When he completes the training, he will be able to go on Wild Fire calls, which he is so excited about. It will be nice for our family, too, because the pay is pretty great and I’m sure he will earn some extra money this summer with how dry things have been around our great state.

Speaking of Seth’s work….. we have some interesting developments on that front……

So, you all know that Seth took a job with the Forest Service last year that required us to move to Price, where we are currently hanging out :).  Well, as it turns out, we will be moving back to Mtn. Green here in a few weeks.  We lost our awesome renters (they are moving to AZ), and rather than put the house up for rent again, we decided to move back for now. I am having mixed feelings about all of this.  I am SO excited to go back home & be near my family & friends.  And I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed my neighborhood in Mtn. Green.  There are so many great people.  But it is hard leaving any place and I’ll admit that Price has somehow managed to grow on me.  I just feel like the people here need us and there are so many great people in Mtn. Green, they don’t need us as much.  Does that make sense?   Anyway- its a little bitter sweet.  I have to box up the house AGAIN, and its not even really a permanent thing at this point since Seth is still working in Price, so, like I said, a lot of mixed feelings! I am realizing that our decisions aren’t always neat and tidy like we want them to be.  I feel like I should be able to pray for guidance and receive a clear answer as to where we are supposed to be right now, but the answer just isn’t that clear.   Hopefully things will all work out the way they are supposed to, and if not, at least we will learn along the way, right?

The 2nd Annual Gib Wallace 10k

Somehow 2 years have come and gone since my sweet Grandpa Wallace passed away.  I can’t believe it.  Time really flies.  To signify this- we recently had the privilege of running in the 2nd annual Gib Wallace 10k trail run.  I did a post last year about the first event, that you can read about here. Anyway-to say that conditions were better this time around would be a HUGE understatement.  Here’s a glimpse of race morning last year:

And here:

Yes, I was wearing GOGGLES.  And ski socks.  It was so cold!

This year, we had much, much better luck with the weather.  Race morning looked like this:

Wow, much better, right? This is what April in Utah should look like!

Here we are listening to the pre-race instructions. As usual, I tried to rally as many people as I could to come and support this awesome event.  We have such wonderful friends and family!  Thank you all for coming.  I really hope they are able to continue this event because it is such a great reminder of the contributions that Grandpa made to Ogden’s trails.  He really was the “father of the trails”.   Anyway- to honor all my peeps who attended, I am going to post one photo from the N.U.T.S. website of everyone I know who ran.  Here we go!

Renee & Liz  (congrats to Renee who took FIRST place- man that girl is fast!!)

My s.i.l. Chris & Seth’s cousin Amber (both Wallace’s)

Cousin Travis & Seth  (I give Travis endless grief about his ridiculous shoes.  And he about mine.  To each his own, I guess…)

me & Amberlee

Marty & Lisa (my bro. & s.i.l.- Marty is probably the #1 supporter of this event, and he is not even a Wallace, just a great guy)

Jeremy (Seth’s brother), Dianna (cousin), and Uncle Kim- Grandpa’s only son who was able to make it this year.  Thanks Kim for representing!

Quick note:  N.U.T.S. did not manage to get a picture of Liz’s husband Jason, or Seth’s cousins Marianne & Jeff.  So sorry- but we love you still!

Well, I guess that’s it!  I wish I would have brought my own camera & snapped a few pictures, but I didn’t. I love N.U.T.S.  (Northern Utah Trail Series).  They are the only organization that I know of that takes your pictures during a run and gives you access to them for free.  If you enjoy trail running at all, you really need to check them out.  If you do not enjoy trail running, I don’t really care- you are coming to run this with me next year anyway! Ha ha!  C’mon….. do it for Grandpa Wallace!