Our "Marathon" Trip

It was a "marathon" trip for a couple of reasons. One, it was a full weekend where we did a lot without much of a break and two, we saw my brother Jeff run a marathon!!

So, on Friday the 5th, Jeff, Lydia and I drove with my Grandma and Grandpa McClellan up to Cedar City, Utah where my aunt Sharon lives. It was a pretty good drive and Lydia did wonderful!! She has become such a good little traveler. I must admit, when she was first born I was worried, because traveling with her was absolutely NO FUN!!! We got there in the evening and Sharon, as always, had a wonderful dinner for us. My parents were already there as they had flown in to Las Vegas from Washington and then drove to Sharon's house the day before. Jeff (my brother) showed up within a half an hour of us getting there and we sat down to our wonderful meal.

The next day was the St. George Marathon which my brother was running. We got up bright and early (the race started at 6:45am) and drove (the hour drive) to St. George to see Jeff complete the race. Because of the way the race is run, the only really good spot to see the runners is at the end (or near it at least). If you try to go to earlier spots to see them, there is a possibility that you won't see them at the end (depending on how quickly the runner runs it). So, when we got the finish line we were surprised at the clock, because judging by what we thought it should be, the race had started early! We were glad that we went straight to the end! Soon we saw the head runner, and gradually more and more runners came through to complete the race. The 25th runner was my brother! Yay!! We were so proud of him. He finished in 02:33:30. I know I am bragging, but we thought that was awesome for a first marathon!!

This is Jeff after he had finished the race. For having run 26.2 miles, he looks pretty good!! However when he walked, he walked like an old man. It was pretty funny!!

Here are some of the fans who cheered Jeff on during the race!!! :)

After the marathon, and Jeff had cooled down, we proceeded to drive back to Cedar City. On the way back, we made a quick side trip to Zion National Park (don't we love our National Parks Pass!) and drove up along the Kolob trail. It was beautiful!! It was so fun to feel the crisp cool air and see the beautiful fall colors. That is something that I have definitely been missing down here in Arizona- the colors!

While we all enjoyed the colors, Lydia fell asleep in the car, isn't she a darling!

The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. We were able to watch General Conference and hear from our wonderful apostles and prophet. I love General Conference. I was especially touched by Elder Wirthlin's talk. Maybe not exactly what was said, (although that was wonderful too), but by Elder Nelson's firm arm, helping his dear friend finish his talk. How I love these men -and women!- who lead us. They are so inspired. Anyhow, it was wonderful to listen!! Aside from conference it was nice to just visit. We hadn't seen my parents and brother since our trip up to Utah in August. Lydia did recognize my parents which was awesome. It was so funny to watch her fall over on the floor and laugh and wait for my mom to come and tickle her!! She had a blast. However, Lydia is still a momma's girl through and through. It will be interesting to see what happens when this new baby comes!

This is Jeff wearing his medal and shirt from the St. George Marathon. He is laughing because my mom told him to pretend that his girlfriend, Kimia, was standing next to him!

Here Grandma is reading a book to Lydia. My mom and dad definitely loved seeing their granddaughter!
This is who we spent the weekend with: My parents (Don and Beth), Sharon and Zurl, Grandma and Grandpa, and my brother Jeff. Then of course is me and Jeff and Lydia. :)

Bright and early Monday morning, Grandma, Grandpa, Jeff, Lydia and I left to head back to Mesa. Jeff had class in the afternoon, so we were trying to hurry back to get him back to class. We made it back in time for class, but we were all pretty tired. It had been a long weekend, but a very fun one!