Missionaries

Having grown up in Utah, we never really got to have the missionaries come over for dinner. In Arizona we are not so lucky. If you go to the library on Monday you see about 20 missionaries on the computers. Those ones aren't even 'our' missionaries. Each set of missionaries have to be fed every night, so it was our duty to feed them on Wednesday. It was quite exciting. I kept hoping that they might forget about dinner, but no such luck. They showed up right on time. Luckily they seemed to enjoy what I fixed and really liked the ice cream we made in our blender. They weren't the most talkative of people, but Jeff made up for that by telling them all the cool things our blender can blend. We were told not to try it at home, but for those who don't know we have a blendtec blender. Just go to willitblend.com to see how cool it really is.

LeeLee's Oriental Store

Jeff and I were supposed to go to the physical therapist today, but the physical therapist was stuck in traffic, so we went to Lee Lee's Oriental Store (or something like that). I had heard about this store and had looked up some reviews online. I thought I knew what I was expecting: bad smell and bad organization. It did smell bad, but you got used to it before you left, and the organization was way worse than bad. They organized some of the aisles by countries and some by certain items, and then mixed them all around so it was very difficult to find anything. After a long search we did find what we were looking for. Tapioca pearls, passion fruit drink syrup, and large straws. These items are used to make and drink Boba drinks (Bubble tea).  Boba originated in Taiwan and has since spread around the world. You can find Boba tea shops all around. The drinks are kind of expensive so we decided to get the stuff and try to make them ourselves. After dropping Jeff back at school, I attempted to make myself a boba slushy. You blend the syrup with ice and water, add cooked tapioca pearls, add a large straw and enjoy. And if I do say so myself, my first attempt was quite tasty!

Jalepeno Popcorn, Anyone?

After the chocolate tour, we found that they sell Jalepeno Popcorn. It was pretty cheap, so Bethany and I decided to get it. It actually is pretty good. It is just a little spicy. When Jeff got home from school, we decided to give him some. Only we told him it was Green Apple Popcorn. He grabbed a huge handful and tossed it in his mouth. Now remember, Jeff doesn't handle hot, spicy food too well. Needless to say, he thought it was the nastiest green apple popcorn ever.

Chocolate

Bethany is still here, so while Jeff was at school we decided to go visit the Cerreta Candy Co. It is a mostly chocolate company in Glendale that gives free tours. The tour was not as informative as we would have liked, and a little crowded, but they did give us two pieces of chocolate. Too bad one was a vanilla cream, and the their best selling french mint. We happened to be the only 'adults' there with no children. So when it came time to make a breakfast of "bacon and eggs" we expected to be left out. Fortunately the tourguide felt sorry for us and gave us a plate to share. Here's Chel pouring on the eggs.

And here's Bethany showing off the finished product. As you can tell we have four pieces of bacon (pretzels), and two eggs (white chocolate with 2 yellow m&m's). It is also the only kind of eggs we can handle eating if the eggwhites are still a little runny.

They then let us pour white chocolate into molds. This job was for the adults, but it was really slave labor as we didn't get to have any.

We just had to have a picture next to the chocolate cactus. You can't tell, but that cactus is actually quite a bit taller than us. We just couldn't get to close because of a barrier.

Jeff's Present

Thank you Mindy and Lance! Jeff got his birthday present in the mail, and I decided to install it. If you can't tell from the picture, it is a radio toilet paper holder. It works quite well, and we enjoy being able to listen to the radio in our bathroom. Actually, I put it up while Jeff was at school to see what his reaction would be. He laughed, and now we use it while getting ready in the morning. 

Jeff is Officially Retired!!

Here we are before the St. George Marathon.  Becca, Dad, Erin, Chel, and Jeff. After a couple of hours of little sleep we had to wake up at 3:15 am (2:15 Az. time) to get to the race. This picture was taken right before we got onto the bus. We felt overdressed at this point because it was very warm. Unfortunately that was just the heat wave before the storm. After our 26.2 mile bus ride, we sat around the staging area. We had a couple of hours to wait for the start of the race. I don't know who's smart idea is was to be on the first busses to leave for the starting area, but it did give us plenty time to eat breakfast, go to the bathroom, drink hot chocolate, go to the bathroom, sit around the fires, go to the bathroom and get ready. There were huge lines for the bathrooms because people were sitting in there to stay warm. It was kind of chilly up the canyon, until the wind started blowing and then it started to rain, then it was freezing. As the rain started coming down heavier, we were given black trash bags to try to keep dry. At the start of the race it was still raining, and it was hard to see the other runners who were around you because everyone was still wearing black trash bags. I have never seen so many people running in plastic bags, it was kind of funny looking. The bags were good and bad. The good: they made great tents to cover us girls, so we didn't have to wait in the 1/2 hour lines for the port-a-potties. The bad: as soon as you started sweating you got wet anyway, and made it feel muggy. It wasn't as cold through the first part of the race, but we continually ran against 20 mph winds, in the rain. The prediction of freezing came true. Everyone was soaking wet and cold. I was freezing and soaking wet. In fact i had to put Icy Hot on my legs to try to stay warm...and it worked a little. THe first several miles everyone avoided puddles, the last half of the race your shoes were so wet it didn't matter. We never once saw the sun, and the race planners weren't very prepared for the cold and rain, we got ice cream at the finish line. They also had a cooling mist set up, which no one went through. We also would have loved some tin foil blankets or hot chocolate. Dad finished the race first, taking 28 in his division. Jeff and Chel finished in 4:02. Here we are at the finish line. At this point our clothes weighed 30 lbs. more than normal and we were able to squeeze water out of them. 

We were smarter than some people in our running attire. There were a few girls who wore white running bottoms. Not the best mix with rain and striped underwear. There were also tons of guys who had problems with bloody nipples. Luckily no one in our group. It was fun to see cousin Frank cringe when he saw them. These pictures was taken to show just how wet it was. Our shoes were puddles. Notice the wrinkly toes? Yes, it really did rain on us the whole time. We heard that it was the first time it has rained during the St. George Marathon since 1983. And we were lucky to get to run in this historic down pour.

You can see that there are also a couple of blisters along with wrinkles on those toes. We had the most amazing group, as we all finished the marathon, and Jeff, Erin and Becca finished their first marathon ever in horrible conditions. Way to go! It was also nice to have a cheering section.  We spent the weekend with my cousins Kim, Frank, and Marissa (Thank you for sharing your house and time with us! It was lots of fun.)  They cheered us on along with my Mom, Gabriel, Thomas, Erin's girl Cyprus, , Bethany, Jeff's Mom and Dad, and sister in law Kari. It was fun seeing everyone at the finish line after a long, wet 26.2 miles. Now we are just a little bit sore. I am so sore (I think from freezing and then shivering after the finish), that I tried to get Marissa to let me use her crutches. Apparently she thinks it is harder to walk with a broken ankle, than with sore calves. Jeff is now retired, and Chel has decided to take up 5k's. 

1 day, 20 hours, 32 minutes, and 46 seconds

Until we run our marathon. I haven't been nervous at all until I checked the weather report. There is a 40% chance of rain with a high of 65. The start of the race is supposed to be about 48 degrees. I thought it was kind of chilly out this morning...and it was 76 degrees. Now I am worried about what to wear. Especially if it is raining. I am gonna freeze!