On Saturday we attended the Running for Risa benefit marathon and had a blast! Risa Whitaker is an 18 year old girl who recently lost her battle with a rare cancer and she's a part of an amazing family we know. All of the proceeds from the race went to her family. The race was awesome! There were a total of 386 runners doing a marathon, half marathon, 5k and fun run. It was the most gorgeous perfect clear day ever and being at Haag Lake was so pretty! Jayson got there super early to help set things up and we arrived later and prepped for our race. I ran the 5k along with Karen, Madison, Ashley, and Natalie. Clarissa did the half marathon and was awesome! There were a lot of other friends and people we knew running and it made for such a fun atmosphere. I was a little nervous because I hadn't prepared as well as I could have, but it was great! Yes, I did walk a bit on the up hills - there were some good ones! - but I ran most of it and made a time of 35.06. I'm happy with it as it was my first 5k ever! It was fun hanging out with the family and enjoying the atmosphere and especially remembering Risa and supporting her family. Awesome day and a great experience. Kind of makes me want to do more runs! We'll see...
Getting ready to run
Coming into the finish line!
Karen had a great finish!
So impressed with Clarissa finishing her first half marathon! She did awesome!
Have to pose on the finish line...
The boys were kind of bored but did great hanging around.
After the run, we went home, cleaned up, took a short nap and then went to a friend's house for an Easter egg hunt! They have a couple acres and invited a few families. The boys had a lot of fun playing with friends and finding eggs. Dallas was content to hang out at the treat table and eat lots of chips and salsa! (The scrape on his nose happened at the run when he took a nose-dive off his bike!) He also had tons of candy from the eggs that Jett found. =)
Later in the evening, we left the kids with some friends and attended Risa's funeral. It was incredible! Karen did the eulogy, which was so perfect and wonderful - then the Encore youth choir performed a few musical numbers, her brother read from her journal, more singers and the whole thing was so great. She was such an amazing girl with a very powerful testimony of the Savior and the gospel and her funeral was a great celebration of her life and legacy. It was quite a day and one we'll always remember!
Coming into the finish line!
Karen had a great finish!
So impressed with Clarissa finishing her first half marathon! She did awesome!
Have to pose on the finish line...
The boys were kind of bored but did great hanging around.
After the run, we went home, cleaned up, took a short nap and then went to a friend's house for an Easter egg hunt! They have a couple acres and invited a few families. The boys had a lot of fun playing with friends and finding eggs. Dallas was content to hang out at the treat table and eat lots of chips and salsa! (The scrape on his nose happened at the run when he took a nose-dive off his bike!) He also had tons of candy from the eggs that Jett found. =)
Later in the evening, we left the kids with some friends and attended Risa's funeral. It was incredible! Karen did the eulogy, which was so perfect and wonderful - then the Encore youth choir performed a few musical numbers, her brother read from her journal, more singers and the whole thing was so great. She was such an amazing girl with a very powerful testimony of the Savior and the gospel and her funeral was a great celebration of her life and legacy. It was quite a day and one we'll always remember!
