Ogden Marathon May 2011

Tessa and Bryan, Heather and Tom, and Me decided to try our hand at the Ogden Marathon this year. The weather was beautiful (for a change) and the scenery was equally so.

I ran the Half and the rest did the Team Relay although many ran much further than their leg.


Here I am looking chipper the night before the race.



A little less chipper after the race.



Heather and Tom coming into the home stretch from the Half starting point.



Tessa was kind enough to stop for her picture after 26 miles.



After the finish line with the coveted medal.



The whole gang ready for another race (someday).



It was really a great experience. I am very proud of everyone for toughing it out.

Zion in March

Recently, we were in St. George and I availed myself of a hike to Observation Point in Zions National Park. The weather was more spring-like, but made for some nice pics and a great experience. I was on the trail early, being probably the first. If anyone doubts the wisdom of the govt. going with the shuttle system in Zions, just go there a couple of weeks before the shuttles start. (yes, I am paying the US Govt a compliment for this insight.)

So, if anyone is missing the scenery, here you go. For those that would like to take a hike . . . let me know.

E. Caribbean Cruise

Pat and I had a great time on our recent cruise during the first week of March. We spent a 7 day cruise with stops in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.



We cruised on the Carnival Dream, the company's newest and biggest ship. 4200 passengers; 1500 employees.


When we stopped at Nassau, Bahamas we were parked by this "tiny" little yacht owned by some prince out of Saudi Arabia. Nice to see you gasoline purchases are going to a good cause.



Here we are at the huge Atlantis Resort in Nassau.




Of course, there are always a lot of fun things to do on the ship!



The Atlantis Resort from our stateroom.



This is the view from our stateroom balcony.



In St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands), we took a catamarran excursion to Buck Island for a snorkeling adventure. Pat with her sister Sandy and her husband, Jim.



The gals are snorkeling in the Caribbean not a swimming pool as it appears.



Strolling through St. Thomas.



The harbor was congested with cruise ships and very expensive yachts.



In St. Maarten (the Dutch side. The other side of the island is owned by the French.



Sue and Gary Hughes.



Our St. Maarten excursion took us snorkeling again and unto a beautiful beach. These beaches are as nice as we have seen, including Hawaii.



The bathing beauties waving.



I had to take a picture of this yacht which is much bigger than the picture appears. When we were coming up to it on our catamarran, Patty and her sister thought it was another cruise ship. According to our captain it is the largest yacht in the world, costing $1.2 billion. Equipped with its own inboard submarine. Owned by some Russian dude (where do you suppose that money came from?) and he only uses it to shuttle himself between St. Maarten and St. Barth (a distance of about 7 miles)



We had fantastic servers in the dining room from Bali (Ni and Goosey)

The Holidays 2010 (and the first week of January)

We had another exciting Christmas Eve day celebration with lots of good food, games, fun, and, of course great company. It was great to have the Springer's with us this year. We missed having the D.C. Stewart's, the Dalpias' and the St. George Klarman's, but some day we will have everyone together.









Before New Year's, Patty and I went to St. George to thaw out a little (and hopefully play a round of golf). Well, Mother Nature did not cooperate in that department, but we always enjoy ourselves there. The snow with the red rock is truly beautiful. Here is a shot of our home with the evidence of a snow storm in St. George.



On January 4, I had a management meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I told Patty that if she wanted to book a flight (thanks again, Robert) that she could truly warm up while I was in my meetings. We both left at the same time from SLC (Patty through Detroit, me through Phoenix) and we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale within minutes of each other.

We were due to come home Friday, but I felt slighted somewhat in not being able to enjoy the great weather and surroundings so we stayed another day. We came home yesterday (Saturday). Temps were 75-80 degrees. Very lovely.

DC in November 2010

Patty and I made a quick trip back to DC just before Thanksgiving. We did a little pre-birthday celebration with Tennyson and Jeremy. Overall, just had a great time as we visited the Eastern Market, the National Mall, the "Great Falls" of the Potomac, etc. Some of these pictures were too cute not to share (Tennyson happens to be in most of them. He is a very busy little guy). Enjoy.