Camping

We decided to take Ashlyn and Maddie camping this last weekend. We thought we would stay somewhere close, so we went up Big Cottonwood Canyon to the Spruces Campground. We didn't know that dogs weren't allowed up the canyon (some 'watershed' crap). So we dropped Maddie off with Stef's family (thanks, Colleen). The weather was perfect, and we had a great time. Ashlyn didn't really want to sleep much, so we stayed up a lot of the night playing in the tent. Actually, I slept while Stefanie stayed up playing with Ashlyn. Ashlyn thought the chipmunks were kittens, so she meowed to them and wanted to give them kisses. She was fascinated with the fire and the stars.

Running

Stefanie has been running a lot more this year, and she has had some great races this summer. Starting with the Salt Lake 5k in 21:33. Then she ran the Murray 4th of July 5k in 20:10. Deseret News 10k in 39:16. And then the Dart Challenge 5k in 19:18 (placing 3rd overall). I am still working on convincing her to run a marathon.
I have not been racing as much this summer, but I have really been enjoying the training. I hope I can survive the Wasatch 100 in 2 1/2 weeks. I am more scared for this race than I have ever been in my life. I guess just because it is unkown running territory for me. The most I have run is 31 miles - at the Wasatch Speedgoat 50k back in July. I am not sure what is motivating me for the 100, but I am anxious to see if I can finish. It is definitely something different for me.

Cousins

Ashlyn has been able to spend a lot of time with her cousins lately. On Stefanie's side she was the 1st grandchild, but within the next year Finn and Hayden were born. Finn is Preston & Linden's son, and Hayden is Kyle and Adrienne's. Ashlyn loves both of the boys, and she is going to be a good older cousin.














On the Talley side of the family, Ashlyn has 5 girl cousins and 1 boy cousin. It seems like the girls just keep coming and coming and there is nothing we can do about it. Grandpa is losing faith in his sons' ability to pass on the family name, but he likes to spoil all of the girls. It has been nice to have Spencer and Mayra and their 2 daughters, Ali and Anna, visiting from South Carolina. It will be nice when they live closer and Ashlyn will be able to see them more often. Justus and Kyrsten have a beautiful little girl named Izzy. And Luke and Kelly just had their first daughter, Gabriella. Emilee and Alec (Darcy's kids) probably aren't sure what to do with all of their baby cousins.
Ashlyn is definitely blessed with a lot of great cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents :)

Pictures of Ashlyn

Since we just began keeping this blog, and Ashlyn is 15 months old, we have a lot of favorite pictures of her that we would like to share. So here she is from birth to 15 months:

Wasatch Back Relay

The 2007 Wasatch Back Relay was probably the most fun relay yet. It doesn't mean I want to run it again anytime soon, but we did have a great time. Our Weber State Alumni team beat the BYU Cougar team (first time since 2004). We had 7 alumni (Me, Jason Schoenfeld, Mark Jolley, Joel Atwater, Jed Johansen, Kenneth Richardson, and Trent Hooper) and 4 current Weber runners (Bryant Jensen, Dave Olsen, Jace Nye, and Steve Sheppard). We were 1 runner short of a full team because Trevor Ball dropped on us a few days before the race.
Brad Anderson was our driver for the 2nd year in a row, and he was huge key to our success. Check out his race summary and some pictures at www.andersonfamilyrun.blogspot.com.
The first van (the young guys) ran outstanding and gave us a huge lead from the start. BYU did get lost on the 2nd leg, but it only accounted for 6 or 7 minutes of our 19 minute lead after the first 6 runners. The stud of the relay had to be Bryant Jensen. He ran against Kyle Perry - who was probably more focused on his current legal issues with the "mop attack". Bryant ran strong on all 3 legs and really lengthened our lead. Each time the 2nd van was running we lost time to BYU, but not enough for them to get back into the relay. We kept just enough time to "pad" the lead for Jed. I think the closest they got to us after the 2nd leg was about 10 minutes. Our finishing time was 17:40.40. Probably not as tough as the 2004 or 2005 team, but definitely fast enough to win this year, which is good enough for me.
They put us on Sportsbeat Saturday for about 2 minutes. Jed, Mark, and Kenneth answered all the lame questions that Rod came up with (seemed like on the spur of the moment).
Thanks to Stefanie and all the other wives for letting us party for a night. I know I was pretty wasted for a few days after the relay, and Stef has been very patient and helpful during my recovery. Maybe it is because I got sick, or the extra leg I ran, or the foot injury that is still bothering me a week later, or maybe just because I am getting older, but I am having a harder time recovering this year than in years past. Still, I am sure that we will get a team together again next year. It is worth it to spend the time with all the guys.

June 2007

We have been busy taking a lot of pictures with Ashlyn (as usual). In the last month we took her on her first camping trip to Green River, Utah of all places. We also flew to Oakland to see Kyle, Adrienne, and Hayden (Ashlyn's new cousin). We stayed in a beach house in Bodega Bay - where 'The Birds' was filmed. The beach was nice, but it was windy and the water was freezing. We still couldn't keep Ashlyn out of it. We also spent a quick afternoon in San Francisco at the Pier.



Hiking near Green River






























Mom, Dad, & Ashlyn at Goblin Valley










Ashlyn at the Bodega Bay










Adrienne, Kyle, and Hayden








Ashlyn with Grandma on the plane












Mom, Dad, & Ashlyn