My trip to Keltson's Run

Oh, I had such a good trip. I made all kinds of arrangements for the kids and all their bazillion activities and I hit the road by myself in the suburban. I picked up my sister-in-law S, my mom, and then had lunch with my family for my sister's birthday. We enjoyed pizza, the yummy salad bar, and the best rootbeer and ice in the world. (see the cake, it's the same one I made but my mom has cake skills unlike me)

We bid farewell, and headed on our "girl trip" just the three of us. I had promised S a "really fun" trip. We kept laughing about that promise as we cried together several times throughout the drive. We met up with some of D's extended family for dinner and had fun visiting while loading up on our carbs at Johny Lingo's, no Johny Noodles, no Johny something Italian. I'll have to look into that.

We headed over to my friend's to visit her. It was so good to see her again. I was excited to see her but a bit nervous knowing that it would be different this time. Her son, Keltson wouldn't be there.

I sat there listening to her share pictures, letters and stories about the loss of her son. She told of miracles, of support, of anger, and really stressed "the good" that they've seen in the last eleven months. Actually longer. They now look back and see all kinds of things that the Lord had a hand in prior to his leaving. I witnessed a strong, courageous, faithful, and virtuous woman sharing these neat things with me. I mostly listened. She needed to share, and I so wanted to hear.

Over the last few years talking to my friend, I've seen her grow. I've heard her tell me numerous times how the Lord has been "good to them" despite many trials and hard times. With the loss of Keltson, she's shared many neat things with me. She's told me how she and her husband go to the temple weekly, how they communicate, how they're there for each other. It was very touching that evening as I saw them together. I watched a couple that has survived this together. Actually, trying to survive on a daily basis. A couple that has grown together and has leaned on each other. You could see the support, you could feel it.

We said our goodbyes eager for the next morning's race where we would meet up again.

Our ride back to the hotel was different this time. We weren't being silly or crying because of our own stories. We just shared our thoughts on the evening spent with my friend and her family. We talked a lot. And then we didn't. There was so much to think about. So many feelings to share with each other. But one thing was for sure. We all saw and felt the unity between my friend and her husband.

Just a few short hours later, we jumped up out of bed (it was just like that) and threw on our running clothes. Actually, S had her ipod, her garmin, her shades, and whatever else a serious runner has for a big 5k. It was fun giving her a hard time about that.

We arrived at the 5k early that morning, where we were assigned to make the cracker and fruit table beautiful. That we did. Hey, it's really hard putting fruit and crackers into baskets.

Check out how pretty Herriman is.

Keltson's favorite color was orange, so everything at the race was too. As I headed down the first big hill in the race, I saw a long stream of orange runners ahead of me. I then realized what this really meant to my friend. This was the day that we could all come together and truly celebrate Keltson. A day that we could plan for. A day that we could smile together. A day to celebrate their son. A day for Keltson.

So, how did I do on the race? Well, I didn't get a medal but I finished. I won't ever say that "Anyone can run a 5k" again. I can't believe I'm going to admit this, but...I had to walk part of it. Hey, it was really hilly!

A news channel showed up and interviewed my friends. As I stood amongst the sea of orange tee shirts, I watched my friend talking into the camera. I never would have imagined that to have been my friend standing there. But...she and her cute husband stood their holding hands with their fingers locked together. I had a smile on my face as I wiped away the tears in my eyes. There it was again. The thing that touched me so much the night before. The couple that was surviving this tragedy together.

Just minutes before we left the race, we hugged each other where we were sobbing and telling each other how much we loved and appreciated the other. I am so glad that I got to go. It was good for me. I love you A! Sorry about the closed eyes, but it does show off your pretty eyeshadow. (Way funny story... when we pulled into S's house last night her kids were waiting up for her. She told them about our trip and explained why we went up there and the reason for the 5k. She was cute telling her kids about the height difference between my friend and I. She said, "she's not like 'Little People, Big World', " refering to my friend. It was so funny I fell back on my bed laughing my guts out. I love you S, that was great. I love you my short 4'11" friend. (of course it's all relative)

When we got back to the hotel, we had 45 minutes for all three of us to shower and then check out. We let S go first so my mom and I snoozed a little. S thought it was a fix.

After showering and loading up the car, we had some lunch at Mimi's and then headed over to the mall. Oh I had fun. I got some great clothes for myself. Clinton and Stacy would be so proud. I'm now wondering why I got such an amazing skirt and blouse since I work in the nursery. Waaaa

I got the girls some more cute hair clippies from Gymboree.

My mom got sucked into having her hair curled at one of those kiosk things. The curling iron was on sale for $150 instead of $250. Crazy. S and I were giggling at the thought of my mom's two inch hair being curled by one of those curling irons that does spirals in long hair.

I got me some Spanx at Dillard's. Yes, I did just go there. I also got some new perfume. I smell so good. That's for you S. I'm serious. I smell so good. I love it.

As we're heading towards home, we see IKEA. Time for a detour. (We could do that you know since we didn't have any kids or spouses in a hurry to get home.) I had never been there before so I was anxious to see what everyone's been ranting and raving about. Well, it had some fun ideas and a couple of lamps that I thought I needed. Don't you love this?

But I was truly in IKEA heaven once I laid eyes on these little play pans, dishes, cups and silverware for kids. I had to grab a set of each. Needless to say, my bag got a little heavy but I was grinning from ear to ear.

For the next four and a half hours driving we had a good time giggling and laughing about all kinds of things. We talked about serious things. I about wrecked when I heard my mom say something funny about a certain something. I can't give TMA.

After dropping off my mom, I decided I better stay the night at S's house and make the rest of the trip this morning. I crashed as soon as I hit the pillow.

This morning when I walked into the house I was greeted by a dump. The "old" me would have had a fit and been a real joy to live with. But, I bit my tongue (didn't even mumble) and I was glad to be home and glad to have a supportive husband that let me go.

It was a great trip. I had great company. We had great food. I was grateful for the time with my friend and the celebration for her son Keltson. I had fun shopping. I learned a lot. And, if I can just one more time...I smell so good!