I was minding my own business, a few Saturdays ago and glanced out the window to see Lainie down in the arena on a horse. Luke and his boss ride Saturday mornings and then the kids get a turn when they return. 
When we are together...it's sure to be a good time. Whether it's riding cardboard boxes in the back of a truck on our way to Colorado City, tunnel running in Zion, traveling in the back of an over crowded car from Missouri, doing the plig jig in some back wood dance off, collecting Christmas Trees off the curbside, playing b-ball, celebrating Holidays, playing games with Uncle Melvin on our minds, playing dodge ball with Uncle Dusky or just plan ol' visiting.
There is just something special about a sisterhood.
Anyhow...happy 19th birthday Bug.
(if I am 21, then your in luck...that makes you 19)
Love you and miss you mucho, lil sister
It always took me back to when my kids were younger....like yesterday, younger.
that my little Creed has smashed a full banana all over himself, the carpet and one of his blankets. After being on the phone for over an hour with some guy who couldn't help me because he kept telling me how smart he was..I had, had it. After cleaning up this mess I thought it was time to show what Lil' Creed has been up to lately.
Green Tole Paint...this happens so fast I was amazed at how far his war path went. (aug 08)
These bottles break ultra easy when dropped on tile floor. Also requires mopping. (Feb 08)
My neighbors gave me a bottle of her famous BBQ Sauce. This stuff was so good, I didn't like to share it. (feb 08)
The girls waxy lip gloss...actually I think Creed was the canvas for his older brothers creations. (Jan 08)
This was the stickiest.....good Ol' Pancake Syrup. (dec 07)
Yesterday, I finally investing 5 dollars on a fridge lock!
I know my cake says 21...I was reminiscing and they were the only candles I had. I couldn't put 12 on there, now could I?
I was thinking that a Sunday birthday might be uneventful, which is was.
Ruby. We had such a wonderful time with her. She is so missed! She brings out the craziness in me and I love it. She came in from Honolulu the end of June and was able to stay for about a week, not nearly long enough. We made a trip to the local Bahama Bucks and it never tasted so good. A swim at Mimi's was enjoyable and the time at the Ranch was very fun.
On the 3rd of July we had an amazing monsoon storm hit us. It rained for nearly 5 hours and we loved it. The next day the clouds were present and it tempted to rain the entire day, but didn't. The rain come about 1 hour before the party started and left us with cooler weather and a beautiful sunset. We were Little nervous that they would have to cancel the gathering and fireworks...but just when we needed the rain to leave...behold...it did. Which allowed Luke to put on an amazing firework show for us that evening. what a great relief for all the kids that had been planning on them for weeks.
We spent the week getting to know the area and then I was off to utah for a few days all by myself.
This is an amazing thing that happens every 4 years... coming together as a world to do what we do best. It's been interesting to see how other countries welcome or react to another country. There have been fears mentioned on the tv of possibility people booing or being anger towards others because of the state that their country is in at the moment. It seems to me that most of the people are in good spirits and have forgotten about the hostilities that is taking place at home.
decided to do it in a location that was some where in the middle of most of us. So, it turned out to be Flagstaff & Sedona Arizona.
Of course, you have to see downtown Sedona if you are that close. It's a pretty cute little town. We also ventured to a local park for the kids to play and adults to rest.
I had heard of a church that was built into the side of a mountain...so we had to see that. 
We woke up, ate breakfast and then headed to the Snow bowl, the local ski resort.
It was such an amazing drive. It sprinkled the whole way up the mtn but stopped once we parked the car. If we only knew that it was coming back in full force, we might of been more prepared. Since we didn't know...we headed up the mtn on the ski-lift. We, all 28 of us, got on the ride sitting 3 to a seat and headed up to the top. 
I have some talented family. The nieces and nephews weren't shy about performing and even some of the parents participated. 
Okay, back to Mary, this strong young lady who happens to be my 8 or 9th great grandmother. After listening to that song and thinking about her enduring to the end of her trip across countless miles of water...I knew I could finish 100 blasted miles on my flippin bike.
Let me back up just a minute and write how this whole idea started. This bike ride idea all began about 4 or 5 months ago. My mother had a wild hair pop up when making a list of her 2008 goals. She had this brilliant idea to take a bike ride with all her daughters to show us how powerful and strong we all are. Her and my dad picked a route and set this goal into motion. She passed out an itinerary and prayed that we could all make it. Of the 4 daughters and 2 daughter-in-laws in the family....5 were able to make it, which is simply amazing. I thought about how I feel when my sisters get together, because they all live close and I am 9 hours away. I knew I would of felt sad if I couldn't of made it. I decided to take the 6th sister with us...via the computer printer. I printed a photo of my SIL, Nicole, so she could at least be in the pictures with us. So watch for flatNicole in the following slide.
I will give a run down of the trip.
JUly 20th...we stay in Hatch Utah at my SIL parents house. The house was beautiful and warm...and the view was amazing. They have 3 acres of gorgeousness that looks over a beautiful river, green fields and the pink tops of the Red Canyon Mtns. They feds us and sent us to bed. However, when we all get together...sleep tends to take a back seat. We all knew that we would be getting up at 5am and riding 50+ miles, but sleep was not finding us. I slept with Sisalee in a room next to Robbie and Helayna. We like to, well...I like to...take pictures of my sisters while their sleeping with some piece of food. This trip I decided the object would be flatnicole. Of 
course after my failed attempt...Bug and Rob had to try the prank on me. But like I said...sleep was hard to find....so they were surprised when they came into my dark room, (me pretending to be asleep) them pointing their camera in my direction and snapped the flash. When the picture came back on their screen for review there I was smiling at them. IT's all crazy to those who might be reading this...but to me, it's hilarious. And of course lack of sleep makes everything a bit more comical.
July 21st came bright and early....we woke at 5am, packed our bikes and belongings up and headed off to our drop off site. We began our ride at the "Y" by Ruby's Inn in Bryce Canyon. We had a prayer and started our journey. We pedaled about 15 miles to a cemetery named Widsoe. It's a small cemetery where we have many family members buried there. We stopped and did a 
Geo-cash under a tree. I never knew what a Geo-cash was until about 1 month ago. It was fun! We left whatever we had in our bags that reminded us of someone that was buried there. I left a bottle of pink finger nail polish...for my Gram Allen. She always had her nails painted pink. I left a nickel that was dirty like wood...because Gramp Allen and Gram Allen would always tell us to "not take any wooden nickels". Then I found a used Popsicle stick in my bag. I left that because I love them and I thought my little nephews would of shared them with me, if they had been there. Others sisters left objects that meant something special to them. We took a few photos and off we went again. We were moving right along and at some points we would get separated from each other. At those times, I was glad to have my ipod handy. It was nice to have some tunes playing in my head rather than the buzz of the tires on the long stretch of road. There were a few times that some where deep down in side of me...my inner drill team star came out. It was strange when it would happen...it was always in front of a captive audience.....COWS! I would be pedaling and my hands would come off the handles...shooting in the air, my elbows would bend and swing my arms around...I was a Tigerette on a bike. It was fabulous. although I would be dancing and singing out loud and then turn my head to 50 head of cattle just staring at me. Talk about deer in a head light.... I then found myself talking to them, because their was no applause or cheering after my dance..I told all those cow "YOU STINK, But YOU TASTE REAL GOOD". Then I just laughed at myself as I was cruizin down the road....by myself. I wish I could of got into those cows heads.
A fun part of the 1st days ride was flying down Black Canyon just north of antimony, Utah. It was fun. ...and didn't require any pedaling.
About 15 miles out from our stopping point....I had just about had it. I knew exactly where we were and knew how much farther I had to go. There was a point at 48 miles or so that I remember looking on the shoulder of the road, seeing nice yellow dried weeds and thinking.
We pulled in to the local town hall in Kingston Utah to the smell of dutch oven potatoes. My dad was preparing a feast beyond feasts for us. My mom had invited all of my aunts and girl 
cousins to meet us for a luncheon at the Park. That was a fun event..we ate, ate, visited and ate some more. Then later we ate the leftovers!
My mom had a massage therapist come down from SLC and give all of us some well needed attention. That was so necessary, for me and my legs.
This night...we all slept like babies! Wah Wah
July 21st....was such a different day. The time and miles flew by on this day. My younger sister and I decided at the beginning of this day that we would ride 10 miles at a time, together. We would finish 10 and then go on. We were absolutely going to ride the entire 50 miles but we were going to make it with a smile on our faces and be able to walk away from the experience with something learned. Right off the bat....my seat is jacked up and her chain falls off twice. So, we are miles behind the others. But...that was a great lesson for me! I focused on what was right in front of me and tried not to worry about anything or anyone else. I needed that. I do this to often in life and it was time for me to narrow the vision to what needs to be done, right then. Which were hills after hills! But like I said before...I got to a point in my brain that I was enjoying the hills because of the feeling I got when I was done.
What a rush!
25 miles was marked at Big Rock Candy Mountain and at this point we jumped on the old Rio Grand and Denver railway. They have takin up the tracks and layed a pathway that is about 7 miles long...along the Sevier River. It was an amazing ride between two tall canyon wall that offered shade for as long as we were there. I could tell that they had rain recently because of the landslides that were over the trail. My mother reminded me of the old Cowboys that use to ride in that canyon...good ol' Butch Cassidy and his crew. It was quite easy to understand why this was one of their stoppin grounds. It's was beautiful and you could see that there were caves and places to hide in.
Once off the railway/trail we hit a patch of dirt, muddy and rocky road. The state was working on resurfacing this road because you could see dirt movers and big water trucks running up and down the road. My sister and SIL were trying to chase one down for a bit of refreshment....but to no avail. I had torn emotions on this road.
1. It was so bumpy with the small tires I had, and having them totally full of air...made for an extremely rough ride.
2. The wet roads made for a fun ride because the mud would flip up off the tires right on my face and up my back...that was pretty funny and cooled me a bit.
3. There was this huge dog that lived at a little home right along this road and it was not happy to see me or 5 more bikers coming up his road. He took after me and at that point I realized I might have more that mud going up and down my back. I just about messed my pants! The owner called him back thrice times. He, the dog, would come after me and then go back to the owner and then again come to eat my leg and then go back to the owner and the last time...I thought for sure I am doing down. He got so close I just about nailed him in the nose with my shoe...but luckily for him, he retreated back to his owner. My dad had just pulled up in his truck and grabbed his collar for the following girls.
We made our way over the dirt road and into a little sleepy town called Joseph. At that point I saw a sign that read "Richfield 15 miles". That was totally do-able, in my mind. It came to my mind how I felt the day before at 15 miles left and so I was bound and determined to make this a better day. I was going to finish stronger. The whole day was a stronger day for me.
I knew that the Walmart at the south end of town was our stopping point and so when the south-side of town came into view I was feeling like a horse that was heading home. I knew I needed to get there and I was going to make it...but I was tired.
I specifically remember a stretch at about 5 or 6 miles out from our end mark. I was feeling REALLY frustrated! I could see 2 of my sisters quite a ways ahead of me. I could see 1 sister and my mom in between me and the lead sisters and then I could feel my other sister breathing on my neck right behind me. I was pedaling to try and catch my sis and mom, but couldn't see any progress made. And then I had this overwhelming feeling that I was holding my sister back that was right behind me. There wasn't much of a shoulder, so she couldn't pass me unless she went out into the road. She refused to pass me which made me even more mad. I wasn't mad at her, but the fact that I wasn't going faster and felt like she couldn't progress because of my slowness. It was getting to me. I remember concentrating on that feeling and trying to throw it off of me. Just getting rid of it. It sounds strange I know...but I felt it leave after about 3 minutes and just then I looked up and noticed something so miraclous. All my sisters and mother had stopped. They decided to stop and have all of us drive to the finish line together. It brought tears to my eyes. I can't tell you how much I needed that.
We formed a line of 6 strong woman and pedaled our way to the end. I could see Walmart and I c
ould see that it was in spitting distance. The problem was we were only at 99 miles for the course of 2 days. The goal was 100 miles...what to do. We pull up into the parking lot, not stopping, and make a quick decision to go around the store. We pass my sweet dad in his truck with a confused look on his face. When we passed him we yelled..."we got 1 mile to go". When I looked in the cab of his truck I could see that he had bought 6 Pink roses to give his girls.
What a sweet man!!
We made our way around the store and saw a road that was obviously a mile or more. We headed up the road and made a quick U-turn to go back again.
On our way back I could picture Mary Chilton smiling and I could picture my mind being molded into something strong and capable of anything I want to do. I knew my mom saw the same thing in all of us, because we were both struggling to catch our breath from the tears rolling down our cheeks.
She is so inspiring to me!
We finally made it back to walmart at the same spot we passed my dad...and there were cheers and clapping and 6 happy hungry woman. 
What an accomplishment for us! I am so proud of my mom and sisters.
I can NOT wait till our next ride!
