Lucy's travels

I have been extremely bad at keeping up our blog the last few months.  I will try to re-cap what has been going on.

University of Virginia football stadium

Labor Day weekend, we took Lucy on her first road trip to Charlottsville, Virginia.  It was a four hour drive and she slept the whole way like a champ.  The game was extremely hot and muggy and Lucy was very uncomfortable so we walked around the stadium a couple of times. Then, a lightening warning was issued and the game was delayed about 2 hours.
After the rain, the weather was perfect.  Lucy was snuggled in the Baby Bjourn and was very content.  After seven hours of BYU football (due to the delay) the Cougars ended up losing a game which should have been easily won.

Monticello

The next day, Sunday, was spent touring the home of Thomas Jefferson.  John Hill, one of Johnny's good friends, accompanied us.  Monticello is comprised of lush green gardens and a very intriguing home.  Besides the intense humidity, it was a great day for sight-seeing.  Later in the afternoon, we attended church and ran into a good friend of mine, Jenni.  All in all, a successful trip.


In September I had the opportunity to go home for about 2 1/2 weeks to visit my family in Utah.  Johnny had to stay in West Virginia and keep doing rotations at the hospital.  It was Lucy's first time flying and she did wonderfully.  She mostly slept, but cried a little with the air pressure change.  We had a three hour lay-over in Chicago, which made our travel time almost 7 hours.  Upon arriving to Salt Lake, Lizzy, my sis, picked us up.  Traveling is really hard on children.  There is a two hour time difference between West Virginia so Lucy fell asleep about 6pm and woke up the next morning with a terrible cold. 
Besides her little cold, everyone was excited to meet Ms. Lucy.  My mom was the only one in my family to have met her, so needless to say everyone wanted to hold her. 
We were able to attend my cousins wedding dinner and ceremony the following day.  It was wonderful seeing all my extended family.  Lucy had the chance to meet several of my friends with quite a few lunch dates.
I had made a list of the delicious restaurants I wanted to visit while in Utah.  Zupas was on the list, so I ate there with my Murray girlfriends.  I also had to get Nielson's Frozen yogurt with Aubri.  And of course Cafe Rio was a stop that I needed to make.  Sarah, my sister was recently spin certified, so I had a private spin class with her and Lizzy.

One weekend we headed up to the cabin.  Lucy had her first encounter with snow.  We took she and Esther on a little hike, it was pretty cold, but very beautiful.  Lucy and Esther were bundled and warm.  I miss seeing the beauty of the Rocky Mountains and the fresh, dry, air. 

Lucy and Esther are 10 weeks apart.  It was the first time they met and I think are going to be best friends.  Luckily, for me, I have a sister I adore so our girls with hopefully be just as close.

Lucy, Esther, Sarah, mom, dad and I arrived at the cabin first and played cards.  Once, the rest of the family arrived we ate delicious shish-ca-bobs (spelling), played more games, told stories and laughed a lot.  The cabin was a little chilly, but I had Lucy in about 13 layers of clothing to the point she woke up sweating.  I have been told the paranoia of being a parent wears off with each child.  Poor Lucy has been my little guinea pig. 





Lucy got to meet her great-grandparents in Ogden.  It was a delightful afternoon of just talking and watching our little girls play.

The last weekend in Utah was spend down in St. George.  Lucy and I were so excited to see John because it had been two whole weeks without him.  He rode down with Taylor and Lizzie.  My sister Sarah drove me down.  The following morning at 4am, we caught the buses up Snow Canyon.  The wind at the top of the canyon was biting.  We stood around bonfires waiting for the beginning of the race to happen.  John and Ben took off running about 7 minute miles.  I just wanted to finish the race (since my training was not the best due to just having had a baby). 

I started running 10 minute miles and gradually increased to a 9 minute pace.  Lucy was about 11 weeks old when I ran the race.  Overall, the weather could not have been better, my body cooperated, and it was pretty fun.  My favorite part of running is the race atmosphere.  Runners are so positive and enthusiastic and motivational to other runners.  The idea of seeing Lucy at the finish line kept me going.  I ran it in 4:05 and Johnny did it almost an hour faster with a pace of 3:15.  One day we will qualify for the Boston Marathon, but it felt good just to complete another marathon.  Another great thing about running marathons is the amount of delicious food awaiting you at the finish line.  Also, food is much more satisfying after running such a long and exhausting race.  Cafe Rio had never tasted so good.