Memorial Day Pics - Lava Hot Springs, Idaho

Between A Rock And A Hard Place: Book Review

9. Between A Rock And A Hard Place

This book tells the story about Aron Ralston who went hiking and rock climbing in Blue John Canyon in Southern Utah. He was climbing down through a smaller portion of the canyon, and a very large stone fell, pinning his right arm up against the side of the canyon. With no way of escape he endured 5 days of being trapped. He ran out of water, drank his own pee, and in the end figured that his only chance of survival was to cut off his arm.

He used leverage against the rock to break both bones in his arm and then used an old multi-tool to cut through the rest. After he was free he still had to rappell down a big drop in the canyon, hike 7 miles, and was finally rescued by a chopper.

It is an incredible story, worth reading. There are a few parts where he goes over some previous expeditions that he has done, and they get a little bit long, but overall a very good book with an incredible drive and a good ending.

Gotta Love Church Signs

Understanding The Book Of Mormon: Book Review

8. Understanding The Book Of Mormon: Book Review

I picked up this book at our last Intermountain West District Conference. It was written by a Pastor in our District, and I think that he does a very good job of explaining what the Book of Mormon is all about without bashing the LDS Church or people who believe that. It is a very quick read, but very informative. The author was raised mormon, but converted to Christianity later in his life.

I would reccomend reading this if you have any interest in the Book of Mormon and the LDS faith. Sheds a lot of light on what and why they believe the way they do.

This made me laugh

Mark Of The Grizzly: Book Review

7. Mark Of The Grizzly

Great book that recounts different attacks of Grizzly Bears. Some people walk away unharmed while others perish. Very informative as well, and gives tips and advice on how to live in bear country and how to avoid being attacked if you come in contact with a bear.

I've never seen a bear in the wild yet, but I'm guessing that I will sometime soon living around here. This book made me appreciate bears more, and also took away some of my fear because it presents the information in a way that isn't "American Myth" that all bears will instantly kill you if you see one. More people die from bee stings than bear attacks.

Pastor's Retreat in Estes Park... last few days

I'll just give you a summary of all that we did while we were in estes park, co. The second morning we hiked up to a place called Bible Point, where you can overlook the YMCA campground, they have a cross up there, and also a mailbox where people can write letters to God. After that we had our morning session, and then had time to explore and find God in nature. I took off by myself for a little hike, followed a creek and climbed up Eagle Rock for some really cool views of the mountains. That afternoon we swam in the pool, then had our evening session.

On Wednesday Audrey and I went for another early morning hike, and I showed her where I went the day before to Eagle Rock. We had our morning session, and then we went on a 2 hour horseback ride through Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a really pretty ride and fun to be on horses, but the wind was blowing about 24 mph and made it pretty chilly. We saw quite a few elk and some mule deer on the ride.

It was a great trip and you can see some of the stuff we did with the pictures below!

Pastor's Sabbath Retreat in Estes Park Day 1

We rolled into the YMCA of the Rockies about 3:oo p.m. on Monday, got checked into our room, then went for a little run to check out all of the facilities. The weather was perfect about 70 degrees.

We found these mule deer while we were running, they weren't too afraid of us, pretty sure they are used to people being around all the time.

Our first session was at 7:30 p.m. and Dave talked about Clergy burnout and used Elijah as an example. When he was at a low point God told him to 1. Get some sleep 2. Eat some good food 3. Get some exercise. We are doing all three while we are here.

Then we had some time to hang out, they made espresso's for everyone, and then it was off to bed to get up the next morning for a hike up to Bible Point!

Smithfield 10k Report

Audrey and I woke up at 4:00 a.m. to get around and leave by 4:45 a.m. We drove out of Kemmerer in the darkness, and headed west towards Bear Lake. It was a nice time to drive because nobody else was on the road.

The drive to Smithfield is one that goes through National Forest, and we got to see some elk on our way through a canyon. It was pretty awesome. We arrived just in time to grab our numbers, change into our running clothes, and head to the start line. It was a brisk morning with about 230 other runners there.

Audrey and I are both inured at the knees so to speak. We took the course slowly and just enjoyed running together. It was an out and back going uphill the whole way out, and you guessed it downhill the whole way back.

We finished in around 56 minutes about 9 minute miles. Needless to say we didn't win, but we now have cool t-shirts and got to run in a new place!

10k Race In Smithfield, UT Tomorrow

Audrey and I are planning on running a 10k (6.2) miles in Smithfield, UT tomorrow morning. The race starts at 7:30 a.m. which means that we are going to have to leave at 5:00 a.m. because it takes about 2 hours to get there.

This is the second race that we will have done in Smithfield. The first one we did was back in November for a "Turkey Trot". I am hoping that this one will be warmer.

Wish us luck!

Back Home... For A While Anyway

Here are a few pictures of our motel room when we were at the IWD Conference in Boise. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We also got to go to Cabela's, Plato's Closet, and a really nice mall.

This Saturday we are running a 10k in Smithfield, UT. The race starts at 7:30 a.m. so that means we have to leave Kemmerer at 4:45 a.m.! But it will be a gorgeous run and should be warm!

We are headed to Estes Park, CO this coming Monday for a Pastor's Retreat. We are looking forward to that, and we get to go on a 2 hour horse trail ride up into the mountains!

Life continues to be good & busy!