Tour de Summerlin

It came. My big 80 miler came and I did it! It was great. Friday night we went to a team dinner at Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe, one of our sponsors and filled up on carbs. Bill and the kids were all able to join me and Livi even prepared a little speech. Melissa, from Candlelighters, who we were riding for, had asked if Livi would stand up and say "Hi" to all the riders who were going to be at the dinner. Livi wanted to say a little more. She sat down at the computer and typed this out, with little help from me, and with that only on spelling. For future references I want to stress that the ideas were completely hers.

"My Name is LIVI and my brothers Name is Aaron he is very funny. I try to teach him things like time. And the special thing is he helped me with my cancer. I appreciate all the things that Candlelighters does to help the cancer kids. I appreciate how you are helping Candlelighters raise money for the cancer kids. The money that you raised helps families like mine. When I was sick, Candlelighters paid for my TPN. It was the food that went into my port. They also gave money to my family for gas and food while I was in the hospital for a long time. I’m so glad that you are all doing the race together. GOOD LUCK!!!!"

Unfortunately she froze in front of the crown, about 40 people large, so I ended up reading it for her. I started to cry at one point and was reminded at how real the last 2 years have been. (Lately with things going just fine, the "craziness" of it all has been tempered.) Everyone was very gracious and thanked her for her words.

I was nervous getting to bed that night. I wanted to make sure everything was ready to go for the morning. I had gone shopping earlier that day with Aaron to get all my nutrition for the ride and Bill picked up some Gatorade, so I was set. Alarm was set for 5:30, a friend, Joel, from the team, got to the house at 10 til, we loaded up and drove out to the start in Summerlin. The two of us had decided to ride together as it seemed that our riding levels were closer to eachothers than the other team members. It was very cold to say the least, but with the forecast calling for mid 80's by noon we knew we wouldn't want any extra clothing so we dealt with the cool morning temps.

The ride started and we were able to make it to the middle of the pack. Neither of us had ever ridden with a group before. We couldn't figure out why everyone was going so slow. We were on the downhill part of the course and COASTING! Why are we coasting when this is where we can make up the time of the more strenuous climbs later on the route? I didn't think my odometer was working correctly because no way were we going 25 mph on a slight downhill grade COASTING! Well, come to find out, that drafting thing is quite amazing. I pulled out of the pack, alongside, and quickly lost my place. We met up with a gal that I had met through my riding buddy Rhonda Cook, and yes my computer was working properly. In a group of about 70 riders, there is a serious draft. We enjoyed it for the first 10 mi or so and then stop lights separated us out. The first 4-5 mi we had police helping us through the lights but after that we were on our own. It was a fun atmosphere, and I ended up riding more with Tammy than Joel due to miscommunication but I was more than happy with my performance. I hit my target time of 5 hours and kept my avg speed at 15.5.

Bill and the kids met us at the 35 mi mark to give Joel and I full drink bottles. It was fun to see

them and I was grateful that they put the effort into coming. They left from there to take Aaron to his opening day of soccer. They were to run drills and get the teams figured out. After his soccer they came back to the ride, I had just finished and was getting my lunch. They had Qdoba Mexican Grill cater for the riders and their families.

The kids ate ice cream. I enjoyed the tacos and started to relax.

That night was the Elders Quorum BBQ at the park so not a lot of down time was acquired. It was a good turn out but I was more than happy to be home.

I felt really good about the ride and didn't have any problems except that my legs felt... tired. My muscles weren't sore or anything. My saddle was a little sore, to be expected I suppose, but my legs were soo tired. By Tuesday I felt fine.

In addition to meeting my physical goals, I exceeded my donation goals. I raised $1040.00 thanks to all my friends and family who gave and even pushed their friends and family to give. And yes, I am doing it again next year.

Welcome to the Donation Page of Rachel Ellison

Thank you for your involvement! Enter Donation Amount Here: *Currency shown: US Dollar $ My Fundraising Goal: $1,000.00 Money Raised to Date: $1,040.00 If you are unable to donate online, please print out a donation form. ... because Candlelighters helped us fight. I have signed up for a challenging fundraising initiative, called "Riders for Candlelighters Kids". This is a team of beginning to intermediate cyclists who are training for 14 weeks for the Tour de Summerlin bike event on April 24th. This event is an 80 mile bike ride throughout the streets of Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada. This charity allows us all to give a little to make the suffering from childhood cancer less and living life a real goal. I wanted to take this opportunity to help an organization that helped us through Livi's battle with Cancer. Our whole family struggled with the effects of cancer and were given much support from Candlelighters. Many services, treatments and other expenses were covered thanks to all the hard work that this foundation does. Please help me give back! I will be counting on Mom to push me from behind on my 1st 80mi. ride.

Goodbye training wheels!

Only 1 year ago, in March we had taped Aaron's feet to the pedals of his bike so that he could learn to pedal without breaking. Now, look at him go! (While Dad and Aaron practiced, Livi ran along side up and down the street to get her exercise. She never complained once about Aaron using her bike. And that's how they do it. They cheer each other on, don't get bummed when one gets the next best thing. We are blessed.
The video says it all.

Sweet Treat

I could be talking about either thing, Cathy or the fruit. I guess in this

instance, I am talking about both! My friend (I guess I should say "our" friend), Cathy, from Chicago came to visit Las Vegas. She arrived in town with friends on Wednesday and extended her trip by a day to stay with us Saturday night and attend church with us "again" on Sunday. I laughed when she asked me if it would be okay if she came to church "again". As a "thank you" for letting her stay she had this SPECTACULAR Edible Arrangement delivered to us on Friday. It came only a couple of hours before we left for camping, but I can assure you it didn't look this pretty for long. I called Cathy to thank her, she gave the go ahead and the kids

couldn't slow down. Yummie! The kids both agreed that they should call her Aunt Cathy because she loves them so much.

Saturday, when we got back from camping, the kids and I picked her up from Aria (Bill was doing a run). She too enjoyed the goodnight button and the comfortable bedding. Cathy enjoyed it so much that she even ordered their pillows! Olivia set up a restaurant complete with entertainment, violin and a song that her and I sang. Cathy treated us to a fun dinner at Red Robin. She had never been before but remembered it from our birthday blogs. She understood why we did kid birthdays there.

Sunday, after church Livi and Aaron put on a sock puppet show complete with scenery. Aaron practiced riding his bike without training wheels, and Bill got smacked with a swinging tennis

ball while trying to pose for a picture. The weekend ended way too soon and I had to take Cathy back to the airport not knowing when our paths would cross again. We both feel very fortunate to have had these two visits so close together (she came in December 2009). I hope for Bill and I to go back to Chicago in the next year or two and catch a Cubs game in the spring. Thank you Cathy for loving our family. Oh, by the way, glad I was finally able to give you your Christmas present. We love you!

Warm Springs

Friday, late afternoon, we took the opportunity to go camping with some friends to a campsite 1 hour away from our house owned by the church. It's a very large camping grounds owned by the church and for a minimal fee you have access to all the amenities. Camp sites, volleyball, pavilions

at each site, restrooms, a creek/warm spring that you can "hike" through, and a pool that is filled once a week with the water from the hot spring. It was a lot of fun to be there. We have only done an overnight camp out once or twice before, and it was a lot of fun. We made tinfoil dinners as a dry run for our Claycamp Campout this year. Pretty tasty with chicken, pineapple, bell pepper, red potatoes and onion. The next morning we

opted out of pancakes, too much work, and snacked on eggs, bacon and donuts! YUM!

This pic is Aaron, Livi and Ashlyn Wood(Dad, Jason, in the red shirt.)

Livi, Caitlin and Andrew Hogan(Dad, Barrett, in the blue shorts with little sister Lacey.)

My most favorite part, and probably the rest of the family would agree, was the river hike. We did it twice and both times the kids had a blast. Mike Scofield, the gentleman on the right with the swaggered pose toured us through the property as his parents had served a service mission there for several years. (The current was pretty strong and at some points we had to grab hold of the kids to keep them from being swept away. Most definitely somewhere I want to go back to.

Aaron was cracking us up. He would NOT let me get a picture of him. He was having such a blast and for whatever reason didn't want me to capture it. So this is his, "I don't want you taking my picture" face, not to be confused with his "I'm not having any fun" face.

Meanwhile...

... our credit card company is starting to worry as they see purchases up and down California as well as purchases in Washington DC then Prague in the Czech Republic and then in DC again. (When Bill got home and had to explain our recent travels, listening to him on the phone I started to laugh. It did sound comical.

I liked this one of confession, so not what I'm used to.

The cathedral.

Very gothic looking.

Gretchen said that when she was there, everything was very old looking. That did not seem the case to Bill. A lot of revamping and restoration going on.

This is one of the postcards Bill got. Its the calendar in a clock.

Anyways, Bill's trip to Prague was great. He enjoyed seeing the sights and he did get some great pictures. He didn't necessarily know all the time what he was taking pictures of, but I'm happy he got pictures. He even got one of himself! Gretchen had been able to go there after her senior year to sing in various cathedrals with the school choir and so Bill wondered if the cathedrals he saw were the ones Gretchen had sung in. I had done some asking around and researched some online to find what to do/see/buy while in Prague. Bill thanked me for it and actually used my found data. (I will definitely be doing that for him from now on. While Gretchen was there she had bought me a marionette. I thought it would be really neat for the kids to have them too. So Bill got each of them a "traditional folk" marionette and me 3 hand painted eggs. Perfect, just what they're known for. He also brought home a couple of postcards (can't always rely on the mail service, we learned that from trying to send postcards home from Cancun) and of course, the magnet.

Overall, I asked Bill how he liked it. He said that he would like to go back with me sometime. Not a place to have as a destination, but definitely a place worth spending a day.

Redding

The car ride was actually a lot like running or riding my bike for any great distance. The first couple miles are always the worst. In this case the first couple hundred miles were the worst, but once we really got into it, it was great. Annie only threw up twice. Once on the backside of the console and onto her bed, the 2nd time I was able to catch it in her puke bucket. Yes, my dog has a puke bucket. Luckily, with the sedative on board she was finally able to relax and drowse through the drive. The one disconcerting thing was that she didn't pee the entire trip. A dog with a possible full bladder is very... worrisome. The kids, like normal, never complained and found the stops to be full of excitement. We never were able to quite figure out the best way to let everyone get a potty break "legally". I would leave one of the kids in the car with the dog while I took the other to the bathroom. A few times I let the kids escort each other while I gave Annie a long break. The kids also enjoyed some of the freedoms I used to enjoyNeedless to say Heavenly Father was watching out for me and my little family. We did stop for a picnic lunch in Bakersfield at a nice big park and let everyone run. (Still, Annie didn't pee!)

In Sacramento, about 9 hours in we stopped for dinner at 2 different fast food places. Livi wanted Taco Bell and Aaron and I got In and Out. Annie was IN my lap drooling while I paid for the meals. She hadn't eaten since the previous night. The kids and I decided to do a last minute drop in to Sam and Nikki's house in Natomas (a suburb of Sacramento) and eat dinner there. It was a lot of fun to see Livi, Aaron and Josh all playing together. It was 8 or later so Cody was already in bed. It was great to catch up and at one point I was very tempted to take their offer to stay but knew if I did it would take forever to get going the next day. We forged on and pulled into my dad's driveway at 12am, 13 full hours later. Excellent timing with all our stops. Like the many times my mom had driven all 5 of us kids across the deserts of Nevada to visit our cousins in Utah I was able to pay it forward and take my kids to see their cousins in California. It was a good feeling.

The week was FABULOUSLY FUN! I even had a chance to get in a good ride while I was there. The cousins all had a sleepover at the Reasbeck's and played everyday together. Dinner with Papa T. and Grandma. Kite flying with Grandpa and Nana. And the baptism... wonderful. Olivia cried, hysterically at times, throughout the baptism. I couldn't figure out if she was missing Granma or it was because Daddy wasn't there??? After the baptism ended she was able to collect herself enough to say, "I'm just so happy Cody made the right decision." Wow! That's our spiritual one, right there!

On Sunday, the drive home was uneventful, thankfully. Annie did well, still didn't pee; the kids were fantastic. The next day was Monday and back to school. I'm so glad we were able to go. I'm thrilled I was able to follow my mother's example and make that sacrifice for my kids. It was a sacrifice, but to see the joy that my children experienced that week enveloped in the joy of COUSINS... I would do it again in a heart beat. Oh yeah, we are doing it again in July, but that time Bill will be with us.

If Mom could, so could I!

Bill left and took the camera, this was the last picture I was able to take before his trip. I definitely wanted pictures of Prague as opposed to my week at home. I made this bunny cake for Easter dinner that we were having at the Hogan's house. Friends from church were kind enough to invite us and still let us come even though Bill had to back out. The kids and I watched morning session of General Conference together and then headed over to watch the 2nd session at the Hogan's house. The Holladay's and Allred's also joined us for dinner. This cake started my theme of, "If my mom could do it, so could I." I remember Mom making this cake but never liking the marshmallow creme frosting??? So I used cream cheese frosting. The kids all loved it. I also made Frog Eye salad, Mom's specialty. I had never made it before either. And much to my dismay... I should've listened to the little voice that had been haunting me ALL week! "Check the Acini di Pepe!!!" Yeah, I looked at it, it was in my cupboard. The same box that Adam used 2 years ago to make it for Easter dinner at the apartment. So, Saturday night, after the cake is done, I go to make it and low and behold... not enough Acini de Pepe! I could've died! I remembered 5 years ago, Easter in our Sacramento home when Mom and Dad had come down to join us with the Williams. I had searched all week for that stinkin' blue box from Rozonni... I don't quite remember who ended up finding the little balled noodle. I drove to Smith's ready for this to become a whole night quest. NO LITTLE BLUE BOX!!! UGH. I stood there staring for at least 3 minutes, which of course felt like eternity. What was I waiting for. Like by staring could actually make something magically appear. Mom must have been whispering in my ear because I decided to check out the "specialty" rack and there it was tucked behind some orzo... a little brown bag of Acini de Pepe. It wasn't Rozonni but I know mom would've approved. WHEW, crisis averted. And well worth the stress. The Frog Eye was a huge success. I loved watching the adults as they all tasted it for the first time and rolled the little bits of pasta on their tongues, with a look of, "What the heck is this ball?"

(Side note: Annie had been giving us problems. We had been trying to retrain her to do her duty in the rocks in her soon to be dog run on the side of the house. The beautiful grass wasn't quite that anymore. Well, you can teach an old dog new tricks, just be ready for starting from square one. I had put her up in the laundry room with the baby gate, like normal, before we left for the dinner. I came home to check on her and let her out about 4 hours later. A time totally doable by her, if she had been going to the bathroom regularly. I walked in and was smacked in the face with the smell of... we'll leave it there. All over, ALL OVER the kitchen floor. And a pee puddle the size of Lake Mead! But where was Annie? She was back in the laundry room behind her baby gate! NASTY! Got it cleaned up and back to the party. That's THE first time I've shared that story.)

We ate dessert. The kids had the bunny cake and we adults ate coconut cream pie and then we went our separate ways. I had decided to do it!

We got home and fervently started packing for Redding. A 12 hour car drive with just me and the kids and a dog who gets car sick.

The reason behind the insanity... my brother's son, Cody was getting baptized on the following Saturday. I had been lamenting for months about not being able to go. Bill said to me, I'm going to be gone, the kids can miss a week of school. They would love to see their cousins and it's important to you to be at the baptism. I was so scared of the drive that when I called to tell my dad I was coming I started crying. I kept telling myself, if mom did it, so could I. The previous day when I had my 60 miles ride I kept thinking to myself, "This is hard, but I'm doing it. I CAN do hard things." Much like the car ride ahead of me, I knew I could do hard things.

Livi had a chemo appointment the next morning. Dan, a good friend from Bill's work, hung out with Aaron and Annie in the parking lot of Dr. Bernstein's office while I went with Liv to her appointment. An hour and a half later, after a quick prayer that Livi's port would start working, Dr. B's mighty push to get the blood draw, and we were on our way to Rdg.

Connections with the Easter Bunny

As typical with Bill's job instead of planning for a holiday we plan for Bill going on a trip. Of course we can never be sure if he's leaving or not we just wait for him to call and let us know. This time he called us on Thursday to tell us he was leaving Sunday morning for Prague! (That was actually more warning than we have had in the past.) Cool for him. Cool for us too. I took Aaron out to lunch to celebrate the extra bit of cash flow, all the cool pics and the neat treasures he would be bringing home. Being that he was going to be leaving Easter Sunday we told the kids about his special connection he has with the Easter Bunny. He would call Big Ears himself and have him come to our house a day early. So, Friday evening, Bill came home a little early and we colored eggs. (Getting a picture with only 2 kids looking at the camera is hard enough, I don't know how my mom did it with 5!) The kids were both pretty adamant about doing Easter at our house this year, which in all, is only the 3 time we've ever had it at our house since we've been married. I was glad we did it at our place. It was fun for the kids and it makes memories that much more real.

(I don't get it!? NOT ONCE CAN THEY BOTH LOOK AT THE SAME TIME! It's quite comical.

(This picture was when Aaron discovered a Reese's chocolate egg in his basket. Officially our entire family's favorite candy!) I was

training for my big bike ride so that morning I rode 60 miles and got home much later than had planned due to my riding partner getting a flat. I got home and while I got cleaned up Bill took the kids to get the oil changed. While they were gone the Easter Bunny came and hid all the eggs and left baskets full of goodies. It was a BLAST watching the kids discover their basket goodies and find eggs. They were SOOOO EXCITED with every egg that they found.

Immediately after the last egg was found Bill brought two packages in from the mail. Grandpa and Nana had sent Aaron and Livi Easter boxes. How much more excitement could two kids take?