Savannah (and Cameron) are here.

They arrived late Saturday night. Just a few photos of the fun around here.

A sleightly belated birthday party for the one year old.

Dinner-time fun!

Savannah is ONE!

Happy first birthday to Savannah Noelle!

Happy Birthday Emma!

Emma is FIVE years old today!

Happy birthday, Emma!

The End of the Beginning!

As Mom and Dad have posted previously...I finished the 2007 Honolulu Marathon. Not in record time, and definitely not in the time I had hoped to finish. An hour over what I had hoped to finish it in, actually. But granted, there were factors contributing to my late finish-time and reflecting back on those, I say, "I freaking did it! I finished and that's ALL that matters!" And, of course, that's one more state crossed off my list of marathons to run before I die. If nothing else, it just gives me something to look forward to on working and improving as I prepare for each race after this.
I woke early on Saturday morning in order to fit in a quick two-mile jog to keep my muscles warmed up and limber. I finished packing up my gear and my roommate Sherry and I made our way to the Kaua'i airport. The entire time I was anxious and stressed due to jumpy nerves, a lot of butterflies and sick feelings in my stomach...and poor Sherry had to put up with my irritableness!

We had an enjoyable trip to Oahu regardless. After landing in the busy city of Honolulu, and finding out that a single taxi ride to the Hawaii Convention Center would cost us a mere $32...just the one ride, yes, and we had several stops we had to make...we decided to check out how much a rental would cost for a day. We arrived at the Dollar Rent-A-Car, and I asked the lady at the counter, "What's the cheapest ride you got?" She replied: "Well, ma'am...hmmm...let's see...we've got a convertible for $40.00." So I slammed my fist on the counter with a great big grin and said, "We'll take it!" A bit of paperwork, and not long after I had keys in my hand that belonged to a silver Chrysler Sebring. Naturally, I HAD to call Mom up and let her know. :)

We somehow managed to make our way to the Hawaii Convention Center, through heavy island traffic and a few wrong turns, where the marathon expo was located so I could pick up my running bib and timing chip. We spent some time looking at the booths that were set up and I got myself a pink Nike sweatshirt that has the 2007 Honolulu Marathon logo on it (I had to get a souvenir...and I only brought one sweatshirt with me to Kaua'i, not knowing it actually DOES get chilly here!) Sherry and I had a go at swinging around some Poi balls. It's harder than it looks, but I didn't hit myself with them as much as Sherry did. :)

We decided that we would drive around to see if we could find the Cheesecake Factory and the International Marketplace. I've been to both...Sherry had been to neither. I was a fan of both, so off we went driving the streets of Waikiki in search of the goods. I was so happy to be in a city, with highways and everything! Kaua'i has ONE highway that goes all the way around the island. Not a fan. With my innate sense of direction (maybe the girls in the family have the great sense of direction that you may lack, Natch? Eh? Mah ha! JK, JK....) we found the Cheesecake Factory AND the International Marketplace! So off we went to find a parking garage...
We tried pulling into one but gasped when the toll booth attendent guy told us it would probably cost us over $15 to park for just a few HOURS, so I smiled sweetly and asked, "Where would YOU recommend we park?" I batted my lashes a few times, and I could tell that even though he was sitting, his knees knocked together and he reluctantly pointed us in the direction of a parking garage that charged only $8 for a full 24 hours. So we made our way down the street to the Waikiki Banyon Hotel, parked our sweet ride, and walked down to the boardwalk of Waikiki Beach. We stopped in a few of the high-end stores, like Coach and Chanel, but that cheesecake was calling our names.
Despite the hoards of people standing around the restaurant, we only waited a few minutes before having a chance to sit down, relax, and enjoy a good meal. What did I have as my pre-race dinner? The Bang-Bang Chicken! YUM. And for dessert? Caramel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake. Only half, cause I didn't want a tummy-ache for the race. I just couldn't resist. Like YOU could. Geez. :)
After dinner, we walked over to the International Marketplace to get our bargain shopping on. I just bought a silver plumeria flower bracelet because the one I bought four years ago when I was there broke and I was oh-so-sad. Now I am oh-so-happy.
After Sherry finished up some bargaining with an old Asian lady, I called up our friend Marty so we could find the Del Sol store in Waikiki so we could meet up with him. We were lucky to have our Del Sol University buddies Marty and Eivind welcome us to Oahu and let us stay with them for the night so we wouldn't have to shell out hundreds of dollars for a one-night stay in a hotel. Yes, we stayed with BOYS. Dun dun dun! Hahaha! They were perfect gentlemen, and they let us sleep in the bedroom while they slept on the hide-a-bed and couch in the other room. And get THIS...with my innate sense of direction, we parked at the hotel the lived at! I'm so good.
We stayed up talking until midnight, and I had to get up at 3am. It felt as though my head had just barely hit the pillow when my alarm went off. I rolled out of bed, got myself ready, ate some breakfast, got a "good luck!" from Sherry, then was on my way. I had to meet the busses at the Honolulu Zoo that were taking the racers to the starting line, and it worked out that the zoo was a short two block walk from the hotel. Of course, I didn't take into account that it is the rainy season, so two seconds after I set foot outside of the hotel, it starts to downpour. In Hawaii, it doesn't sprinkle. It doesn't mist. It pours. And pours. I was soaked as I climbed onto the bus, and was relishing the warm heaters that were blowing. Soon after, they dropped us off at the park where we would begin the race.
I didn't know where I was going exactly, but I figured if I just followed everyone else, I'd get to where I needed to go. During my short walk to the starting line, I passed groups and groups of Japanese, all wearing the same t-shirts and chanting things in Japanese. All I could think was, "Those Asians are cah-razy!" :)
I found my way to the sign that read "Estimated Finish Time 4-5 Hours." I stood there, huddled with all the other runners, stretching and getting ready for the gun to shoot off. The rain had subsided by that time, and soon fireworks were being shot into the sky.

I didn't even hear the gun go off, but soon the herd began to move, people started shouting, and not long did I cross the start line. And so it began! I was feeling great, excited even. Within the first mile, however, it started to rain again. Pour, I mean. Puddles were everywhere, and it made me laugh when runners tried to avoid them so as to not get their feet wet. Well, when it's raining that much and that hard, I don't know how you can keep your feet DRY! I was worried my camera, phone, and iPod would be ruined, but I tucked them safely into my Camelbak and prayed they'd make it out okay. :)
Things were going great, and I was running up until around mile eight. Then all of a sudden, I began feeling intense pain above my left knee. Knowing how things have gone in the past, I knew it wasn't going to go away and if anything, it was going to get worse. And it did. So I sent text messages out to my cheering squads, and got lots of wonderful encouragement back. I wanted to give in so badly, I wanted to quit. Everytime an ambulance passed by, I wanted to put up my thumb and hitch a ride. But alas, I decided I had come this far, I needed to finish. So with all of your help and endless encouragement, I pressed on. And I thank you all for that! I kept up, well, at least kept GOING. I stopped to take a few pictures during the course.

I walked a lot, but even had I felt great with no pain, it would have been hard to achieve a PR with so many people running. It was like a bottleneck the entire race...usually it just happens at the very beginning of a race. I was dodging people left and right, all the way up until the end. As I came to mile 25, my friend Marty texted me to tell him when I got there. I didn't have service, but all of a sudden I see this guy running UP the hill. And it was him!

He came to run the last mile with me, and he encouraged me the rest of the way to finish strong. I had to stop to walk a few times, but I sprinted with him across the finish...and then it was over! I was congratulated with a shell lei, and stumbled to the showers to rinse myself off. Standing still, my muscles were spasing out, so Marty walked with me to find Sherry and Eivind, and he went in search of water, gatorade, and nourishment for me. I got my t-shirt and finisher's medal, and we all walked back to the apartment so I could shower off and rest for a bit. As I was cleaning up, Marty proceeded to wash my shoes - by hand - of all the dirt and mud that had accumulated on them during and after the race. Eivind was sick, and yet he was still there to cheer me on at the race. These are what I would call "top-shelf" guys!
We couldn't stay long - our rental car was due back and so we said our thank-yous and goodbyes and went on our merry way back to the airport. We managed to find an earlier flight back to Kaua'i, and I passed out on the short half hour flight back to the little rock.
I was stiff for a few days after, but now I'm feeling great and ready to put my running shoes on again. I think my knees and muscles are fine, so when I get back to the mainland it's time for training again. Next race? Fort Collins, CO Marathon, May 4th 2008!
Thanks again for all your love and support. I couldn't have done it without you!

Mindless Post

I got lost today.

Mondays or Tuesdays I pick up 2.5 gallons of goat milk for a family in the neighborhood. The goat farm is located near work and therefore makes sense for somebody who is down there to pick up the milk and bring it home after work than it is for the family to pack themselves into a vehicle for two hours for a special trip each week.

Well, suffice it to say, I left work at 5:00, went to the bank (the milk costs money and they don't accept credit cards and I forgot the checkbook) to pick up some cash, and on my way I went. In the past, I have often picked the milk up during lunch and several times have picked it up late in the evening because of my silly work schedule I sometimes have. In those times, I don't have to cross three lanes of traffic onto a private lane that is not lighted very well in an inconspicuous area. Just three lanes without traffic without light. Much easier.

Another long story short, I have old contacts that need to be replaced, and therefore things are very blurry now. Not bad enough to not drive, just bad enough to have a hard time seeing when a cars lights are blaring at me.

So there I am, on a busy road and blurry eyes during rush hour traffic and I could not find the private lane for the life of me. I ended up turning off, pulling out the trusty blackberry, finding my location and to my surprise, found that I kept stopping my search and turning around just before I came to the private lane. I consider myself a master of directions. A force of cardinal intuitiveness. A savant of cartography. But yet I got lost.

I thought I wasn't supposed to lose my sense of direction until I got old.

I mean, c'mon, I'm not 30 yet!

Cheers!

look,its emma clause

Emma is getting dressed as Santa clause . (this day was when we were getting are Christmas tree ready) she has an elf in back of her and i bet you would want to tickle her just like everyone. Dallin

Yeah, she made it!!!!
Here's her time from the Hawaii Marathon website.

Way to go, and go, and go.....

SHE DID IT!!!!

Carrie crossed the finish line of the Honolulu Marathon in 5:57:51.
Though she began having trouble with her knees at 8 miles, she finished the race, running most of it with pain. That is quite the accomplishment.
I'm sure she will have more to say later, when she has had a chance to recover some.
Yeah for you, Carrie!

Less Fred - It's true!!

It is apparent that I have not done a very good job in blogging about my weight loss. I will try again. Suffice it to say that with work responsibilities along with family, church, and civic activities, I have not found the time to write like I had hoped.

But since there have not been many posts recently on here, I don't think I am the only one.

Well, one month has come and gone, and since I only weigh myself on the first of the month, I did so the first chance I had in December, which was December 3rd. I came in weighing a whopping 312.8 pounds! Now, just to clarify, I drank about 10 ounces of water that morning, not thinking much about the weigh-in, so it would be more like I weighed in at 312.2 ounces which is exactly 10 pounds from what I weighed in at on November 1. Not too bad for one month that I only exercised half the month due to fears of sickness or sickness itself.

The battle rages on, however, and I continue to change my habits, mostly. Darcey was out here and we took her out to a Chinese restaurant where I gorged myself silly and then, trying to be the host, took her and Tiffany out for ice cream. Oops. Of course, that was Darcey's fault, I opted for a Jamba Juice, but no, Darch wanted her fill of frozen fat yummies.

So far in the month of December, I have done well except for Tiffany and mines Anniversary. We went to the Roof overlooking the Salt Lake Temple. It was a fun and expensive experience. All you can eat gourmet food. Aside from that, I have been doing good with my intake and have been exercising most days.

Hope all your holidays are going well for you.

Nathan

hi it is me dallin i have a few pictures at reflections and i have a trophy . i was behind a girl i know when they asked the people who had a trophy. first they asked the kindergartners to come up and then the 1st graders (i went up then) then the 2Nd graders(witch is a grade up then me) then the 3rd graders. then the 4Th. and finally the 5Th and 6Th. and then we got ice cream at paces. it was a fun day that day.

dallin.

One more

Oops, I forgot to post a picture from Casa Bonita:

Maybe that machine was broken, right Cameron?

After all, it said I was clammy... as IF!

Preparation H!

No, I am NOT talking about that cream that comes in a little tube. I am talking about Operation Preparation Honolulu 2007!

For the last several months, day after day, I have dragged myself out of bed, run alongside cars driving at high speeds, risked rolling a few ankles late at night on the dark roads where dead toads and fruit lie, waiting to take me down at their expense, and running around this island exploring beaches and jungles all for this one day. All those miles logged, all those days I came home dripping wet from the sweat and humidity (or sometimes dripping wet from getting caught in a tropical rainstorm...) were all in preparation for the big Kahuna...the 26.2 miler!

Two weeks from this day, I will have (hopefully!) completed my third marathon. Even as I write about it now, I feel the butterflies frantically fluttering around in my stomach. Did I train enough? Did I train WELL enough? Am I going to finish? Will I get hurt? Or will I do better than the last two races? I guess I won't know until that day comes, when I will have to wake up at 3am to be at the bus station before 4am, to reach the starting line when at 5am Hawaii time, the gun will go off. And for the next four + hours, I will be pushing myself to keep going, one step at a time.

My friend and roommate Sherry will be going with me...Kim and I have had some differences and so it will be good to have someone there who is supportive of me and of my efforts. We will fly into Honolulu on Saturday, December 8th and stay with our friends who work at the Del Sol store in Waikiki. I am very excited to have this opportunity to do this race...as nervous as I am I am grateful I get to participate and I want to thank Mom and Dad for supporting me and giving this to me as my Christmas gift. I want to thank the rest of you for always cheering me on...even when you tell me you think I'm crazy, I take that as a compliment. :)

So...two weeks and counting! Here are a few pics of my last two races...looking forward to adding on another one! If I remember right, I was cruising around the website for the marathon and it said on race day, you can track the time of any runner from their website: http://www.honolulumarathon.com/. Not sure where the link is...but all you have to do is type in my name and it'll update my current time, I think. :) Aloha, and mahalo for all your love and support! Miss you all lots and lots!

Towards the end of the Top of Utah Marathon. September 17, 2005.

Morning of the Salt Lake City Marathon. June 3, 2006.

Hot Stuff PROVED!

Just wanted to prove that I've always had the stuff....The Hot Stuff! This was July 1994. 13 years later, I still got it. :) See the below post from Darcey--our trip to Casa Bonita November 2007! Peace be unto you all!

cheese it is made with real chese.

hi it is me dallin.h.oaks i mean dallin.r.miller like the cheese it cracker box it was sure nummy . it would be grate with real cream .

dallin

Fun times at Casa Bonita

Cameron had a brilliant idea of heading over to Casa Bonita before we dropped him off at the airport this evening. It sure is a lot quieter around here now that he's gone! Mom and dad headed to bed at 8pm... am I that boring?

Anyway, here are some sweet pics of our adventures at the Casa. The Bonita Casa.

Christy, Matthew, and mom enjoying the delicious food they serve

Dad, me, and Cameron doing the same

Christy and Matthew going over the bottomless pit in Black Bart's Cave!
Me and Michael Jackson, just hanging out
Cameron is hot stuff!

There are plenty more pics on my Flickr page!

Disclaimer

That last post was written by dad, not by me. Although I certainly didn't stop him from doing so. :)

Thanksgiving fun

We were sitting around waiting for Matthew to show up so we could head on down to Casa Bonita before dumping Cammy off at DIA. Darcey was playing the piano (beautifully) and Cameron was perusing one of our old photo albums. He came across a couple of pics and thought they belonged on the blog. Anybody know where this is? Circa 1993! Enjoy - especially Dallin, Emma & Logan!!!

Someone said, "Scrach and sniff if you dare".

P.S. Remember this is just for fun!

Turkey Bowl 2007 Loveland, CO

A fresh layer of snow blanketed the playing field, a nice crisp chill in the air, My cleats tied on, lucky game socks with the sweet smell of victory, and my game day t-shirt on, oh what a day for some FOOTBALL!!! This year I must have been in better shape than the past few years cause I didn't come out nearly so sore. And with the snow that we got made it a lot more fun to. It was hard to say whether my team won or not cause when one team got behind I was traded over to that team to help them out, hmm maybe its in the genes. It was a blast though. Happy Thanksgiving to ya all!!!

Turkey Bowl 2007

Watch this run!

Look at the Turkey trying to re-live the glory days--hope I'm not sore this year!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVEYONE!

Whoa!

Check out this sweet video! It's about eight minutes long but it's pretty amazing.

"A battle between a pride of lions, a herd of buffalo, and two crocodiles at a watering hole in South Africa's Kruger National Park while on safari."

Come on, people

I'm not sure any of you realize I have an entire other blog, or else you opt to never comment. I would write on here more often, but it seems kinda dumb to post the same thing twice!

So yeah! There ya go!
Gosh.

taking pictures

When we were taking are pictures taken (i think the store was wall greens or target)here are some pictures. one looks like we are a train and looks like we are sitting together and Logan was not happy he got a little scared but he got use to it

dallin

Fun at our house!!!

This is probably more for Dallin and Logan, but maybe everyone will enjoy the pics.
We had been waitng for over 4 months on promises from the builder to fix our driveway.... it finally happened a few weeks ago.







And one last landscape job complete: