An Amazing Race

Last weekend was the annual Wasatch Back Relay race. It is a unique race with teams made up of 12 members. Each member runs 3 legs and each leg ranges from 3 to 7 miles for a total of about 187 miles, beginning in Logan and ending in Park City. It takes the teams about 17 - 30+ hours to finish which means running through the night in a variety of weather conditions.

Five of us Sano's participated in one way or another. AJ ran the race with his relay team called the "Heavy Hoofers". This was their second year to participate. Jared drove one of the support vans for his friends on the "A- Team".

Frank, Katie and I volunteered at one of the exchange points from 8 p.m. - 1:30 a.m. All five of us had a BLAST!!! Here Frank checks off team numbers as the runner comes in to the exchange point and passes the baton to the next runner.

We took our dog, Fred, with us and it turned out that he was quite the popular fellow. Being a friendly guy, he was quick to let some of the runners take a turn rubbing his belly.

The line of support bans was pretty constant throughout the night as runners were dropped off at the exchange points, or went into the High School for dinner (which was served until 4 a.m.!), or took a shower at the High School or slept on the grass. It is hard to explain the incredible amount of organization and coordination that takes place by many, many people! It is a great experience in team work!

This photo was taken by Jared at about sunrise (5:30 a.m.) of one of the runners on his team. It captures the solitude, beauty and peace that running must bring to so many!

What an incredible experience it was!! For more information about this amazing race click on the following link: http://www.ragnarrelay.com/ragnar

A Brand New Bathroom in Randolph

Our new bathroom is 99% done!! It is a BIG improvement from what it was! This is the only photo I can find for a "Before". The original bathroom was added to the house in approximately 1960-ish. It measured 4 ft wide by 9 ft long. There was a tub/shower and a toilet (which you can see in the corners of the photo). No sink. This photo shows what we found when we ripped the wall off. The dark hole under the tub is where the plumber had to crawl to change out the sewer pipes and add drains for the new sink and shower.

Here the room is starting to come back together after we gutted it down to the stubs with the help a talented friend of ours. He put in new walls, new flooring and installed a new shower. The walls shown here are water-proof "greenboard".

After 3 days of prepping in the walls with drywall compound, sanding and sanding some more, we primed and painted the ceiling and walls. Then primed the floor and laid the tile. Then the plumber completed the install of the sink and toilet.

More photos. All that's left is to place the molding on the ceiling and floor.

It feels so good to complete a project, especially one this major. Thank you, thank you to all who helped!!!

Month 8 Newsletter

Dear Bridgie Boo,

Once again Mama is a day late, sorry:)

You've had an interesting month. You have become very, very clingy. The cute aspect of that is that you have started to reach for us, which melts our hearts.

You are really good at scooting backwards. You have crawled forward but it's not your favorite thing to do. You love buttons and anything that makes noise.

You LOVE being outside. Grandpa Dearden likes to take you out back and to sit under the shade. You had your first ride in a swing.



And you give us you biggest smiles when your bouncing on the trampoline at Grandma & Grandpa Dearden's.



Daddy loves having you lay in the hammock with him.


You've started to notice when daddy leaves and you don't like it. You're becoming quite a daddy's girl. You even sleep in the same positions as him.




Mama thought this was cute because daddy often has his leg bent like this:






You have 2 teeth which seem to fascinate you. You are always playing with them. Unfortunately, this resulted in your first diaper rash.

You had a bad cold this month. It was hard for mom & dad to watch you go through it but you passed on your cold to them so they could understand your pain better.

You're more challenging now but your also more fun. You still bring a smile to us every time we look at you.

Love you,
Mama

More Fun with Remington

Grandma and Grandpa Sano love it when Remington comes to town.

We had a great time visiting with Remington and Candice. There is nothing quite like a smile from Remington to melt the heart! A new game.....knuckle knocking!

Haircut time! He sat so still while Grandma Sano cut his hair. This is the second time she had the privilege of doing so and this was a much happier experience!! Actually there was no crying at all and we are still friends!!

It was sad to say goodbye at the airport. Candice is amazing and was able to "man handle" two rolling suitcases and a baby stroller! She is amazing!! Thanks for coming for a visit. We love you both!!! Come again soon!!

Remi Visits the Utah Kin

Candice, Remi and I took a drive down to Provo to see Great-grandpa Clawson. This was their first meeting. Being the gentleman that he is, Remington was very generous with the handshakes and smiles.

The sun came out and shone beautifully while we were at the park. After a week or more of rain with even more in the forecast, it was a very delightful surprise.

We stopped by Frank's office, and got to see Great-grandma Brown. Once again, Remi was a well behaved little man and shook hands with one and all.

Grandpa Frank keeps some fun toys at his office. Remi hardly know which one to choose, there were so many good ones!

A love for button pushing brough Remi and Grandpa Frank togther at the laptop.

Cousin Bridget and Remi share some time and toys. It is great to have Candice and Remi here for a visit. We are enjoying every minute we get to spend together. We love our Texas kids!!!!

Happy First Birthday to Ty!!

We celebrated Ty's first birthday on Sunday. It was a wonderful, wild, noisy celebration with cousins and toys and yummy cake!

I was slow with the camera and got this shot after Ty was somewhat cleaned up. He was covered from head to foot in cake crumbs.

Cami's parents, Ron and Portia, were there to celebrate, too!

Ty's biggest brother, Dallin...

His silly sister, Mia.....

And fun big brother, Ethan. (This boy keeps us in stitches! "Fredward" is the name he uses for Grandpa Frank's dog, Fred.)

Cousin Remington happened to be in town and was able to help Ty celebrate!

Lazy, hazy, crazy days of Summer

Ahhhhh! There is something wonderful about a hammock in the shade on a warm, sunny day! Fred doesn't seem to mind keeping Frank company while he takes an afternoon snooze.

Funny, Funny Ethan!!!

Cute little Ethan-man!! He loves this Army hat and knows that it makes his ears stick out extra far. I caught him tucking his ears in but then took off the hat and announced, "I like to wear it this way!" Good for you, little man! Wear it your way!! We love you!

Gotch Ya!

Bridget smiles so cute but every time I go to snap a picture the blinking red light of the flash seems to make her stop smiling and look inquisitively at the camera instead. Oh, well! This shot gave us a good peek at her first tooth. Can you see it there on the bottom?

It won't be long before she takes off crawling. She can almost get up on all fours. She does a good "scoot" going backwards.

Yellowstone

After living all these years just 5 hours away, the Sano's finally get to glorious Yellowstone National Park. Jared, Katie and their friend, Dave, spent three days over Memorial Day weekend enjoying the park.

Old Faithful was a must-see!

Buffalo abound and Katie stops to "pet" one of them! (not really).

It was bear season and they got to see one at a safe but clear distance.