Red Rock

I have to say one of our favorite things about Las Vegas is being so close to the mountains.  Red Rock is only 15 minutes from us and it has provided some great entertainment and exercise.

  There are so many different trails to hike, we have only scratched the surface, but we have found one that we love.  It is pretty vigorous, including some serious bouldering up rocks to get to the peak where you can see out over the

 whole valley, including the Strip.  It is surreal to be in such a serene environment, yet so close to society.  We have taken many friends and

 family, at least to drive the 13 mile loop.  Here are just a few great pics.   Isn't it gorgeous.  Come visit and bring your hiking shoes.

One Bad Apple

We got our iMac about 18 months ago, and think it is quite fantastic.  Ever since we got the Airport extreme wireless router, funky things have been going on with the computer.  We have taken it in, wiped it clean, reinstalled, and still quite often it will freeze in the middle of something important!  To boot, Danny's MacBook Pro has had some issues too, so I think I am 100 emails behind, and haven't blogged for a month.  So not only do we have one bad Apple, but we now have two and it's spoiling the whole bunch girl!  

The Dreaded Black Boots

With some hesitancy, but some prompting, I have to share this story. I was recently shopping for the perfect black boot. I was at the mall trying some on when my phone rang. It was Danielle, and we had been playing phone tag for a week, so I answered it as I was zipping up a cute pair of boots (the exact ones as the above picture. Cute, right?). As we were talking, I realized that these boots were a bit too tight on my "walking calf" as my sister says, so I tried to unzip, but the zipper got stuck right at the thickest part of my calf. I couldn't go up, I couldn't go down. Since I was talking on the phone, I couldn't really use both hands, so I sat nonchalantly on the bench chatting on the phone. After hanging up, I tried with all of my strength, but that darn zipper was so stuck on the lining. I swear I worked at it for 10 whole minutes before I had to go ask the clerk (quite sheepishly) for help. We were able to slip off the boot from my prickly leg (actually slip is too kind of a word) and then the guy was able to get the zipper down.
Now that is humiliating enough, but the story does not end there...oh no. About a week later, I was at a different mall...though same shoe store, again looking at boots. I tried on a really cute pair and realized I had tried these on before. Want to know when I realized it? Yep, you guessed it. When it got stuck halfway up my blasted walking calf! I had to laugh to myself because of my stupidity.
Needless to say, I decided against getting black boots for this year.

Photos

I am so bad about getting pictures off my camera and doing something with them. Here are a few great shots from Christmas. Our very quick nativity...our sheep had wandered off. My sisters and I showing off our bling. Isabelle is so glad to finally have the same number of girl and boy grandkids in the Pett family. Such a darling picture of all three of them.

Fantastic Christmas

We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas Holiday. We got to spend a few days in Caliente with the Youngs, then go up to SLC for a week of WHITE Christmas. The kids were thrilled to play in the snow, and they did! We enjoyed the first ever Pett family talent show...quite hillarious. Had a great turn out at our Boxing Day open house, where we got to see the DeLongs, the Flittons, my dear friend DanaLee, and a lot of our family friends.

My new neice Lucy is so precious, we all took turns holding that tiny bundle of sweetness.

The rest of the week was filled with cards and games (especially our new Catch Phrase and Scene It) Our visit to the DeLongs new clinic and home in the Layton area was so fun-especially because they let Danny and I both shoot the moon in Hearts! One highlight was the crazy out of the blue run in to the Koeppens at IKEA as my sister and I were going in the out and they were checking out. I wanted to cry when I saw Nancy there, looking fabulous as ever. I am sure it wasn't just coincidence.
Of course I don't have any pictures on my computer yet, but I promise to have some soon!

Death Valley Half Marathon

So I started training in May...not really believing that I would ever be able to run more than 6 miles, let alone 13. My fabulous Omaha running partner, Danielle, and I made a valiant attempt at training, but the heat, humidity, and upcoming move to Vegas dampened our efforts. I found out right away when moving here, that there are LOTS of runners in our neighborhood, they even have a Mountains Edge (our master community name)Running Team. I found a fantastic group of 4 other girls that invited me to run, one in particular (Christa Watson) that was exactly my tempo. So we started really training in September, running at 6 AM 4-5 mornings a week. Slowly we inched up our mileage and when got up to 10 miles one morning, I finally had confidence that I would finish the race.

8 girls from my area drove down to Death Valley (about 2 1/2 hours away) last Friday. Danny and the kids came to support me. We carb loaded the night before, then ran the race Saturday morning. It was BEAUTIFUL weather. Cool enough to start out. There were more hills than I expected, but overall it was a great course. Christa and I kept our normal pace, and actually beat our estimated time. We came in at 2 hours 13 minutes and felt fantastic about it. I can say now that I am addicted, and I am already planning a few big races for next year...anyone want to join me?

Welcome to our blog

After much prodding, we decided to start a blog! We are so far away from so many dear friends, and so much is going on, it is hard to keep up. Our December so far has been busy. The kids are off track from Thanksgiving to New Years. It is nice to have a break from our daily school routine. Danny is almost done giving finals, and then will have a month break from classes...doesn't mean he won't be working from home, though.
The weather has been amazing, above average they say, but we can't complain. We get to wear shorts and t shirts one day, then put on a sweater the next. The kids really want to go sledding, so we are planning a trip to SLC for Christmas. The whole Pett clan will be together, so we are excited.