Off to the Races

LOTOJA 2010:

Chris competed in the Lotoja Classic bike race (a 206 mile jaunt from Logan to Jackson Hole) along with his brother Al and other fellow Red Burros. Chris did awesome with a finish time of 9 hours 14 minutes which was nearly 40 minutes faster than the first year he did the race. Al also did great with a finish time of 9 hours and 1 minute and set the course record. Chris really enjoyed the race, especially riding with his brother. I'm sure he also loved having me as his support, especially when I got stuck in awful traffic and missed him at the feed zone in Afton.

The chilly morning before take-off.

Al coming into the finish (their start time was a 12 minute difference from the clock). I missed getting a picture of Chris coming across the finish because a chaotic swarm of riders were trying to cross the finish at the same time.

A bunch of sweaty Burros.

I also competed in some races this summer. Running races that is. I wouldn't survive the first 10 miles of Lotoja. I ran the Wasatch Back in June with my sister Alison, sister-in-law Myndi and their friends from Vegas. It was a really fun race but I was so glad when it was over. I also ran my first half marathon in August. I ran the Provo River Trail Half Marathon with Chris and had a finish time of 1 hour 43 minutes and 21 seconds. Chris had a finish time of 1 hour 28 minutes even when he accidently ran an extra mile. I felt good enough after to actually sign up for another one in October.

Lucky Ladies from the Wasatch Back 2010.

Halloween Half here we come!

Family Reunion 2010: Bear Lake

The Bailey family reunion was held this year in Bear Lake. We stayed in this really cool renovated lodge that had once been a market or something. Leave it to my mom to go over the top with treats and fun activities. We went to the lake (little too cold), watched movies with lots of treats (seriously, my mom bought boxes of full size candy bars and we had our own concessions), played capture the flag several times (Thanks Darren for dragging me when I clearly had a hold of the flag), and played with water balloons. It was also a nice place to go running and out for a bike ride too.









We are already looking forward to next year!

Memorial Day in Moab

Chris and I went down to Price for Memorial Day weekend and made a day trip to Moab while we were down that way. We hiked to Delicate Arch and Double O Arch. Actually, we ran most of the trails rather than hiked unless I complained because Chris thought it would be fun that way. Running actually bought us more time to see more arches so I can't complain too much. This was Chris's first time to Moab and mine that I can remember.

Delicate Arch was alot bigger than I thought. That is me under there if you can't tell.


Chris has always wanted to see petroglyphs or pictographs...whatever they are.


This is the Landscape Arch on the way to Double O Arch.

This is Double O Arch. That is Chris on top of it. I decided to stay below. Someone had to take the picture right ?!?


Chris stopped a falling rock with his superhuman strength. :)

And so did I.

Boston Revisited

Back in May, Chris and I went back to Boston for Chris' work. Since it was so chaotic at the finish line of the Boston Marathon back in April, we made sure to snag a picture by it this trip.

Buble, Birthday, Boston, Beach

The past couple of months have been busy but fun. We went to the Michael Buble concert at the end of March. The concert was our Valentine's gift to each other and it was a great show. The opening act was an a'cappella group called Naturally 7. The only accompaniment to their music is their own voices making the sound of the instruments. They are pretty amazing so look them up on youtube sometime.



We celebrated the second annual Birthday Week for Joanna. We ate yummy food at Francks that evening. It was really great when all the waiters and waitresses including Franck himself came and wished Joanna a Happy Birthday. Franck even made Joanna her own chocolate dessert. And to top things off...a birthday isn't a birthday without ice cream cake.

A little over a week later we were on a plane to Boston with Joanna's sister Alison and her husband Darren. My brother Al and his wife Myndi also came out. Alison, Al and I all ran the Boston marathon on April 19th. The race was amazing, the best race that I have ever done. I posted a 2:56 which I was happy about. We all had a very fun time together in Boston.

The three nervous racers the morning of the race.


Joanna nearly missed seeing me at mile 21 at the top of heart break hill but she saw me just in time to cheer me on.


The post race feast started off with pastries and root beer. Later we had pizza and more desserts. Sometimes eating to your hearts content is worth running 26.2 miles. Ask Al...he could tell you all about it.

The crew at the pizza place. We had a great time spending the race with all the Vegas friends.

All the runners: Jen, Al, Chris, Mike, Brenda, and Alison. They all did great in the race.

The weekend after Boston we went to Southern California to participate in the SoCal Ragnar Relay. Joanna ran so good, she's inspired to do a half marathon now (she signed up for the Provo River Trail Half in August). We had a great team and made a lot of new friends. After finishing our portions of the race, we headed off to the finish line (after a shower, Golden Spoon, and big gulps) at the beach which made all the running and little sleep worth it.


We enjoyed the seafood and relaxation during our time in California. It's good to be home. Despite the fun places we have traveled to, we still love it here in Utah. Utah has a great community and beautiful scenery we enjoy so much.

Waiting for Spring

I decided that I haven't blogged in awhile because I really don't like winter, especially January and February. I enjoy the cold up until Christmas, but after that, not so much. Plus, we don't really have any recent pictures, despite the awesome camera we got for Christmas. Chris and I spent Thanksgiving in Vegas and New Years in Park City with his family and Christmas in Price with my family. We sure enjoyed the holidays with family again this year and wish we could go back to Price and eat yummy food and play fun games. Until next year...


My sweet Grandma passed away last week. I dare say I have one of the best Grandmas in the entire universe and am so grateful for her example and all the time I was able to spend with her. It is times like these that I am so grateful to be a member of the church and to know that I will be with all my family again someday. Love you Grandma!

The Washington Times

Chris and I recently took a trip back to Washington D.C. because Chris has always wanted to show me his old stomping grounds in Alexandria, VA where he grew up. We spent 5 days out in Alexandria and D.C. We enjoyed beautiful fall weather while touring the sites, especially since there are so many trees.

First of all, no trip would be complete without visiting two of Chris' favorite food places from his childhood: Brenner's Bakery for the infamous elephant ears and Bugsy's Pizza for some delicous pizza pie. Let's not forget the multiple trips to his neighborhood 7-11 for big gulps- a favorite past time (and current practice) of Chris'.


Our most favorite part of the trip was visiting Mt. Vernon where George Washington lived. We toured the mansion and the grounds of the estate. It was so beautiful. I can see why Washington chose to live here.



Wouldn't this be the most awesome view to have from your window everyday?!? Chris grew up about 1 mile north of here along the Potomac River.


We also visited the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum out near Dulles Airport. They had tons of different air craft from a Wright Brothers model plane to the Enterprise space shuttle.


They also had the actual Enola Gay on display.


A trip to Washington D.C. is also not complete without visiting the monuments and Smithsonian museums. We spent a day at the Holocaust museum, the American History Museum, and the Air and Space Museum (different than the one at Dulles Airport). The next day, we put on our running gear and ran from monument to monument starting at the Lincoln Memorial, down to the Capital, over to the White House and back making sure to catch all the other monuments in between. It was a fun way to see the monuments.


We made a stop at the Lincoln Memorial at night because we knew we wouldn't have our camera the next day while running. The Mall really looks beautiful at night with all the monuments lit up.


We both loved our time in Virginia together. Chris would move back anytime without question. He truly grew up in a beautiful, idyllic neighborhood. We hope to make it back soon!