Fragile

Dave says: It was a fun weekend, but as I'm sitting here, the only thing I can think of is the tragedy that happened to our friends, the Ellsworths. It makes you stop and think for a minute. You ponder and ponder but are at a loss. This is like 9/11 for southern Utah. Everyone has a connection to what happened. Yet like 9/11, I have no doubt that it will bring out the best in a community full of outstanding people. At the times that matter most, the thing that matters is the gospel of Jesus Christ. You find out what families really are like when things like this happen. Things like Marie writing a post titled "Families can be together forever" and I hear Lynn Ann is a pillar of strength pulling everyone together during this tragedy. This is an amazing family and I owe them a lot. If Dr. Ellsworth hadn't come to Cedar City to start his medical practice, my family never would have moved there as well and my life would be completely different today.

Our home teachers came over today. The lesson was President Monson's Ensign message: "May We So Live." They didn't really know anything about this tragedy, nor did President Monson when he wrote this article, yet his words about death and ressurection are powerful and real. "May we so live that when that final summons is heard, we may have no serious regrets, no unfinished business, but will be able to say with the Apostle Paul, 'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.'"

Lagoon

Alisha says: We spent Saturday at Lagoon with Amber, Devin, Richard, and Brittany. We got there right when it opened and headed for the best ride in the park Wicked, which we rode twice before hitting any of the other rides. Our whole morning was very productive as we pretty much walked right onto all of the rides. We got totally soaked on the Cliffhanger and then headed to Rattlesnake Rapids while we were still wet (Devin didn't even have a dry spot on him to dry his glasses on). My least favorite ride was Wild Mouse. As the hours passed the lines grew and the temperature rose. By about 4:30 we were spent and decided to call it a day. It was so fun hanging out with family, even waiting in lines isn't so bad when you have family that you can chat with. My favorite part of the day was hearing my family members laugh and scream as we were riding the rides. It is always worth it to take time to hang out with family and I want them all to know that we love and appreciate them.

In other news: We finally got the flier in the mail that they are going to do spring clean up (ya, it's the end of August so not so much spring as almost fall). We were glad nonetheless because we have been wanting to do some clean up around the house. We have a bunch of trees that are a little out of control so Dave bought a pole saw and went to town with it. I think he might have had a little too much fun playing with the saw as you can see in the picture. It is funny how many people have came and took stuff out of the pile in front of our house (an old bathtub, an old washing machine) and then left other stuff. Dave starts his second year of law school on Tuesday.

Mill Creek Pipeline to Wasatch Crest

Dave says: With only a week to go before school starts, it was time for another epic ride. Zach and I met Mitchell and Robbie at the start of Mill Creek Canyon and headed up rocky Rattlesnake Gulch to the Pipeline trail. The Pipeline took us up Mill Creek clear to Elbow Fork where we caught the paved road for a couple miles to reach the start of the Wasatch Crest trail. It was classic mtb action in the woods at high altitutude as we rolled out to Desolation Lake. Mitch and Robbie split to head down to Big Cottonwood while we booked it back down to Mill Creek. On a ride this good, even things like ripping a small hole in my front tire, running out of water, and spending three and a half hours in the saddle couldn't lower our spirits. Next time I'll even bring my own camera so I won't have to steal generic Wasatch Crest pics off utahmountainbiking.com.

Snowbird

From the Tour of Utah downtown:



Alisha says: Snowbird hill climb was a 10 mile race up little cottonwood canyon with 3500 vertical feet of fun! The start was a little crazy as they started all category riders at the same time. It was pretty grueling because once you start climbing you don't ever really get a rest. I felt great for most of the race but faded some towards the end. I held on for the fastest female with a time of 50:26. As it was a mass start Dave told me grab his wheel and hold it as long as I could. Ya, that lasted about 45 seconds and then he was off racing with the main pack. Dave's effort of 47:45 placed him second in the cat 3's. We both won some cash so we celebrated with delicious signature sandwiches from Hogi Yogi for lunch. It is so fun when we get to race together, Dave is such a great support and I love him so much!

Dave says: Great job Alisha! Perhaps we've been inspired by hours and hours of Olympics watching. Phelps and Lezak have even made me a swimming fan (unless it involves synchronization or a diving board). I'm also a big volleyball fan this year and America has been throwing it down on the sand. We also got to check out some sweet Tour of Utah cycling action as the pro circuit came through SLC. We went to the downtown criterium on Friday night and stood right behind the finish line as some seriously good riders circuit raced at 30+ mph (Alisha won a cool Tour of Utah jersey for her victory at Snowbird). With some time off school, I've also been cleaning up the yard and made it up to Mueller Park in Bountiful on the Shoreline trail for an epic mtb ride in the woods.

ICUP Finals @ Evanston

Dave says: This weekend was the Intermountain Cup Series Finale in Evanston, Wyoming. It was a full carload with Alisha, Kurt, and Tyler (two U of U road racers who are getting into mountain biking). Unfortunately, it was not my day as I was still recovering from the stomach flu, struggled on the rough course, and wrecked on the rocky wolverine ridge descent. The good news is that I finished and got enough points after twelve races to get third in the overall Pro Men's category. After the race, we headed over to the hospital where Tyler got his nose glued back together after a nasty crash (he still finished and got third in singlespeed). By this time, the rain was coming down in buckets. We headed over to the awards ceremony party under a big tent for some post-race fun. It turned out to be a great season for me despite some illness early on and a bit of fading near the end.

Since it's the end of the ICUP season, it's time for some shout-outs to some awesome racers this year. First, Kuhl/Scott has been an outstanding team with a ton of talent. Thanks to Ryan K. and Taylor for bringing everyone together. In Pro this year, Alex Grant was the man to beat with all around talent in every race he was at. The other legend on wheels is Bart Gillespie who will absolutely destroy the field when he's on. Rising star Mitchell Peterson rounds out the triple threat but was over in Europe racing for much of the season (Also watch for his young prodigy Robbie Squire, the fast new face on the scene). Then, we've got guys like Chris Holley, BZ, and my teammate K-Day with a ton of skill and experience and who know how to throw it down in the rough stuff. I could keep going because there was a ton of talent this year, but I'll leave the commentary to the best bloggers of the year: Chris Fox, and MTBRaceNews.

Family Reunion

Alisha says: This last weekend we went camping for a family reunion up in the mountains above Richfield. It was fun to sit around and visit with family that we haven't seen for a while. Besides doing lots of visiting we also went on a fun ATV excursion, hiked around a little bit, played with all of the little kids and ate lots of food. My Grandpa and Grandma Christensen sure know how to dutch oven for a crowd.

Summer Break Finally Begins

Dave says: Today is my first day of real summer break. I've completed two summer school classes and an internship with the Guardian ad Litem's office during the past three months. In my Lawyering Skills class, we learned practical skills such as interviewing, counseling, and negotiating. In Decision Making for Deals and Disputes, we took the skill of negotiation even farther. The class was co-taught by a by a business professor and a law professor and was particularly interesting because it was like being back in business school again.

My internship at the Guardian ad Litem's office was also very interesting. When kids are victims of abuse, are involved in messy custody battles, or have delinquency problems, the court appoints a Guardian ad Litem to represent the best interest of the child. Although Guardians deal with kids in tough situations, the job is rewarding because the Guardian is the one who steps in and fixes things. During my internship, I got to know a dozen different attorneys. Most of them were also young and they were great about letting me be involved in whatever I wanted. I attended trials, hearings, meetings with law enforcement, interviews, mediations, and more. I was lucky to get this internship compared to many of my friends who had internships doing legal research and rarely interacted with anyone.