Pumpkin Plethora

I am always a little sad to let go of summer... So much so that it is way into the month of October and I am still talking about it.

However, my consolation comes when I look out the window to see leaves changing colors to bright yellows, reds and oranges and we get to benefit from the bountiful harvest of the Northwest.

So far this fall, we have enjoyed going to apple festivals, onion festivals, hay mazes, corn picking, and pumpkin picking.

Just look at these happy kids!

Saturday we hosted our 2nd Pumpkin potluck party. Last year I think we had 8 people. This year, between parents and kids, we had almost 50 friends join us.

On the menu, we had pumpkin lasagna, pumpkin black bean soup, roasted pumpkin with chipotle peppers, ravioli with pumpkin cream sauce, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin pie, and sparkling pumpkin cider. Yum! Thanks everyone for contributing.

Thanks to everyone who came - we enjoyed having a reason to get together with friends!

St. George Marathon

Jim and I traveled to St. George, Utah last week so he could participate in the St. George Marathon.

We got up bright and early (3:30 am!) so Jim could catch the bus that takes all the runners to the start line. It was about 38 degrees up the canyon at the start line, and they had a plethora of bonfires to try to help keep the runners warm. Brrr....

While Jim was being bussed out, I was making friends with the security guard in the wee hours of the morning at the St. George Temple.

The race began at 6:45 in the morning and I stationed myself at mile marker 7 watching the sun rise and waiting for the runners to come down the road. I passed some of the time huddled up in my sister's car in a sleeping bag trying to stay warm. The little town I was in seemed to be very supportive; they had their school band playing stadium songs as runners came by, local merchants came out cheering and one guy in town with a table of free doughnuts. There were not many runners taking the doughnuts, but there were plenty giving forlorn glances and salivating at the sight.

Finally, I saw Jim coming, but couldn't wake up the camera in time to get a front shot of him, but got these pics of him running down the road with thousands of other runners. Below, he is the runner on the white line.

This one is harder - Can you find Jim in this one?

At the finish line, I muscled my way into finding a place along the fence with other spectators. After 26.2 miles, I watched as runners staggered, fainted, stumbled, and inched their way across the finish line. It was crazy, and the EMT guys kept very busy. Jim came down the road looking strong, and finished with a time of 3 hours, 55 minutes and 7 seconds.

Here is the race by numbers:

Distance: 26.2 miles

Elevation at Start: 5228 ft

Elevation at Finish: 2684 ft

Number of finishers: 5635

Jim's Overall Place: 2200

Jim's Division place (Males age 25-29): 114/247

One perk of running all those miles is the treats afterwards! He snagged me one of the post-race Popsicle and I got him a congratulatory Apple Pie to enjoy.

Being so close to Zion's National Park, I made Jim go with me for a hike for great views of the Southern Utah. Yup, he ran a marathon, then went hiking! Jim logged 30 miles between running, hiking and walking through Zion's. I think the 30 miles he got in that day was to celebrate the big 3-0 coming up on his birthday in December. What a way to celebrate!

Great Job Jim!