Brian Head

While I am waiting forever for the video to upload I will share the latest news. David is counting down the days to Disneyland and has been for a couple of weeks. Each time I see him he tells me how many days left. We planted some carrots, beets, and cabbages in the garden. Hopefully they will do well. We are still at the stage where we are spending a lot on supplies but not getting much out of it. Mutter had all the old trees chopped down and has now had two planted which look really nice. It was especially nice since they came and dug the hole. I'm sure I would have killed the trees anyway. I don't know what I am thinking off doing a garden. I end up killing all my plants.

Shakespearean Festival

The students put on a free pre-show and do a good job. Need microphones but other than that it was fun.

Shakespearean Festival

We saw the Comedy of Errors at the Shakespearean Festival. It was so much fun and the actors did a terrific job. I would hate to have to memorize Shakespeare. It was really funny and nice weather. My mom purchased Tyler 8-10 copies of the plays and on the way home he was reading MacBeth. So proud - how many kids want to read Shakespeare. Now that we have gone I think we will make this an annual event.

Brian Head

While in Cedar City we checked out Brian Head, ski resort. I had never been there but it looks like Tyler will have the best of both worlds enjoying warm weather activities such as rock climbing and kayaking and skiing and mountain biking. Tyler and Michael didn't take jackets so we had to stop in the gift store and get some sweatshirts and it was cold in the mountains. Tyler of course collected shot glasses from the school, Brian Head, and the Shakespeare Festival.

Cedar City

Eating out and Michael and Ty watching TV at the hotel. They were both texting on their phones but I didn't click the photo fast enough. We had a lot of fun on the trip.

SUU - More Pics

SUU

We decided to go down to Cedar City for the Shakespearean Festival and Tyler suggested we check out Southern Utah University. It is one of the schools he is considering after graduation. We loved it. It has a great academic program and has a great feel to it, plus small enough to actually enjoy and far enough away from home to be on your own. There are tons of clubs he can participate in, an olympic size pool for triathlon training and plenty of places to bike and run. Also, tons of outdoor activities. After the tour, we decided "This is the place." We are going to apply for next year and defer it for his mission. So happy for him.

Yellow Belt

Tyler passed off his form and got his yellow belt. He has his first competition next month and we are waiting anxiously for it. Even though he just got his yellow belt that is what he is going to compete under.

Video of Start

Insane - One of the benefits of walking is I could take a camera with me and tie my sweatshirt around my waist. One of the disadvantages - it took longer to warm up. My fingers and toes were numb almost the entire way. We did it in 3.23 but I think we can take 10 minutes from the time because of the start. We were at the back and took a while for us to cross the line.

23 Miles

Just kidding. We saw the sign for the marathon @ mile 7 and took a picture.

Marathon Pics

My pics are not showing so I can't see to type under them. One is the traffic, all participants coming down the hill. Who else would be out this early in the morning? One of the buses which takes us up. One waiting to get on the buses. Always a made scramble. The rest at the start.

Provo 1/2 Marathon

Linda and I walked the 1/2 marathon for the second year on Saturday. It is my favorite run. You start at the top of South Fork, where they drop off the horses. If you have ever been up there you know where I am talking about. I left at 4:45 a.m. to pick up Linda. For once I was on time and we headed down to the shops at the Riverwoods to park and get on the bus. We got to the top of South Fork and it was really cold. We got to the top @ 5:45 a.m. and the race didn't start until 7:00 a.m. Our toes and fingers were numb and it took me until around mile 9 before they warmed up.
Last year they had us go out on the road between Vivian and Bridal Veil because part of the trail was closed because of fires. Linda and I would cheat and walk past the security tape in the mornings. We almost got caught once but the officer didn't say anything. Liked it better this year when we could stay on the trail.
There were two girls that were running and walking. I don't know how to say it politely but they were heavy and had big seats. That's as polite as I know how. There was no way they were going to beat us. We passed them early on at the first park up South Fork. So we are going along, talking as usual but picking up our speed for the race and holding about a 15 minute mile pace. We get down by Bridal Veil and you can see the other runners across the river heading up the road. There are also a couple of bridges that you can sneek over but if you are running 13.1 miles why cheat. We get down to Bridal Veil to make the turn and start heading up the hill and we see those two girls. Cheaters! They didn't even head up the hill but crossed and headed down. They cut out over 2 miles. One said something to us about being confused - yea, whatever. We saw them again at the finish but don't think they completed the race. Last time we passed them was at Timpanogos Park.
Same thing happended to us last year. There was this girl who we were determined to beat and we were way ahead of her and towards the end there she was in front of us. So we had to race to pass her again.
It was a great walk and I felt really good. Not a bit sore. We did run into the finish line, which felt kind of funny. My legs didn't know what was going on with that. We are hoping to do it again next year. I'm busy trying to recruit more people from the office.

Krieg (War)

My father translated this book from German and has had it published. It is available for purchase at Barnes & Noble beginning August 28th.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Krieg/Michael-L-Sanders-Sr/e/9781589825116/?itm=2

Moroccan White-Bean Sliders

I made these again last night because Tyler really likes them. I'm not vegetarian but I do like to have some meals which do not include meat. Usually that is pasta so this is something a little different but good.
1/2 red bell pepper, quartered
3 scallions, quartered
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 tsp each ground coriander and cumin
1/2 tsp each harissa (never been able to find) & salt
1 (15.5 oz.) can cannellini, rinsed, drained
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (I just use regular)
1 large egg
3 tbsp olive oil
8 Small (4 inch) pita breads (couldn't find any so used tortillas)
1/2 cup light-may plus 1 tbsp harrissa (made yogurt sauce instead)
Lettuce leaves and tomato slices
We usually add mozzarella cheese on top.

1. In a food processor, pulse red bell pepper, scallions, cilantro, garlic, coriander, cumin, harissa, and salt until finely chopped. Add beans; pulse until beans are coarsely mashed.
2. Transfer mixture to a bowl; add breadcrumbs and egg. Mix with hands. Shape into 8 burgers. Place on paper-lined plate and refrigerate 30 minutes.
3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Cook 3-4 minutes per side.

Herbed Yogurt
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
salt & pepper
Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.

Chicago cont. again

Chicago cont.

Chicago

Tyler and I went to see the group "Chicago" on Tuesday with work. We met up with some others before the show for dinner at Chili's. I had never been to Red Butte Gardens before but it is a nice venue located at the University of Utah. It is a non-profit and everything goes back into the venue. Once the sun goes down there is a nice breeze coming down the canyon. We were able to sit in the VIP section where they had chairs out for us. We had good seats too.
They allow you to being in coolers and I don't know what was more interesting. Watching the drunk women in front of us (I wasn't the only one who observed their behavior) or the concert. Plus one of them looked like she was in her 60's (although trying to turn back time) and it was pretty funny.
Although Chicago is not as good as when Peter Cetera sang with them we still enjoyed it. Tyler said he had never seen a band with so many instruments before.

Chives

I just made comfort food for dinner last night; meatloaf (got recipe off Food Network), mashed potatoes, and green beans. Tyler tasted the mash potatoes and said they were bland so I told him to go out to the garden and cut a couple of chives which we added. Turned out really good although I probably should have added more. My herb garden is struggling a little because of the heat.

My Sweet Boy

Michael gave me this picture last night of Tyler. It was taken on the Salt Lake Temple grounds at Kirsten's wedding. He was a cute little boy.

More Pics

Leslie emailed me last

week. She was in town for a geneology conference and we were able to get together on Saturday. We have known Leslie since our singles ward days. She was always a lot of fun to be with and nothing has changed. We had fun reliving old memories, although none of use could remember all the names of people, talking about geneology (especially with Michael & Mutti as they have been working on my mom's German line for @ 15 years)and just catching up.

She brought her daughter Anna with her and we had a great time with her. She is a really cute girl with a fun personality like her mom's. She loved being teased by David and especially liked his Donald Duck voice, playing with the cat and dog and watching Snow White. She also like all the Disney snow globes and sand along with the tunes. She apparently likes to sing because I would always catch her singing something.

Hopefully we can get together again on Leslie's next visit to Utah.