Yesterday I was sitting in my room and remembered a conversation I had with my friend, Necia, MONTHS ago. She told me about this "temple to temple run." You run from the Provo Temple to the Provo City Center Temple. It is roughly a 5K (how convenient). How many places can you run from one temple to another? Not very many. I remembered this conversation and wondered if I was remembering the right date? Yes, it was indeed the very next day on the 24th. How nice that I so randomly remembered on the 23rd....maybe not so random. My aunt Tess had sent me a picture of her race number bib last year. There is a spot where you can write who you are running for. I remember getting her text last year and she had written Eli, among other loved ones....(although I can't remember if it was his actual name or just baby at that point?) I was so touched. We had only known about Eli's condition for 9 days and everything was so fresh and raw. The fact that someone had stepped back and seen how appropriate it was to write his name on there was so needed for me.
So, yesterday, I decided we should do this. I registered our family at 3pm and picked up the race packets at 5pm. Unfortunately, Jason couldn't come with us because he had to work. I guess giving him 90 minutes notice isn't sufficient to get the following day off? I was so happy to have something to do with my kids today. I feel like we choose our traditions carefully. I have gone to plenty a BBQ because there was nothing else to do on a certain holiday, but I much prefer doing something that helps my kids learn about the actual holiday and helps us make a meaningful memory. I'm not totally against BBQ's, but I do have a soap box on the subject. My cousin, Lindsay, was sweet enough to help me with my little Gause-lings, while Tess ran. I think she beat us by 45 minutes. I had to dig the stroller out of storage. Ok, Jason dug it out....but he literally dug. We don't exactly have a child that fits in a stroller anymore (which is pretty obvious when you see the pics below), but Jason strongly encouraged that I take it "just in case." Ya, we needed it. It became more of a rolling throne in the end. Every kid sat in it at some point and usually requested snacks while in the throne. And just to make sure the kids knew what the holiday was for, I talked plenty about how the pioneers traveled (and it wasn't with a stroller and water stops and nice shoes and snacks at the end of a downhill, paved 3 mile walk). It really was a great time, though. So happy we have something to do on the 24th now.
