Today was one of the most painful days I have ever experienced in my life.

My sweet little sister Krista said good-bye to her husband and soul-mate Keith.

Keith died unexpectedly on Saturday, November 19, 2011.

I have witnessed pain like I have never seen before. I wished so badly I could take some of Krista's pain. She loved Keith so much, and he loved her back every bit as much.

I was able to spend a lot of time with Krista over the last week. Seeing all the things that she was bombarded with, and how strong, yet so vulnerable she was, made me realize what an amazing person she is, and how much I really love and respect her.

Please pray for Krista and her cute little family.

The Great Race 2011

We had planned to go to Kanab for Thanksgiving. Dean and I like doing a race on Thanksgiving morning, and Kanab didn't have one, so we planned our own, complete with t-shirts and finisher medals. (after all, it's all about the t-shirts and finisher medals!)

With Keith's death, our plans had to change. We weren't sure who would still go to Kanab, if the Kanab Jenson's were going to make it up to the funeral, when the funeral was, etc.. Everything was up in the air. Wednesday morning, it was decided that the Kanab Jensons would drive up, and nobody would go to Kanab. So we threw together a Thanksgiving dinner and "Gallop and Gobble" for any family members that could make it.

Got the start and finish lines drawn....

And the race was on!

Dex thought this was the greatest! He is never allowed in the street, he ran and screamed with delight!

Ooops, we started the race while these guys were still in the house.

Amanda, Chenelle, and Dianna

Grandma Jenson, Kory and Dexter

Finally, the van full of the Kanab Jensons showed up. Got them their shirts, and sent them on their way!

Here are some finishers, just as Jeff and Julie start. Dean ran it again to show them the route. (and to see if he could beat Julie)

Strong finish for Grandma and Grandpa Jenson!

Janna giving Dan a little help getting to the finish line.

Braden ready with finisher medals for Dianna and Chenelle.

Jordan, age 4, made it the whole way, all by himself!

Our neighbor G decided to join us. He and his family were out in their front yard to cheer us on as we ran past their house.

Jordan Jenson, and G Jordan Perry. These guys were born about a month apart, and have the same name...pretty cool! G Jordan goes by G, but it's still pretty cool!

Jeff decided to run the "half"...here comes Jeff....

Here comes Brandon.....they both decide to sprint to the end to try to beat each other....

approaching from opposite sides of the finish line...

Jeff dove across the finish line...kind of. It was so impressive, no body bothered to see if he or Brandon actually crossed first.

Jeff made the bigger sacrifice!

Since he only ran the half, he only got half a medal.

Here come Derek, Dean and Julie.

Jordan is at the finish line waiting to award finisher medals!!!

Way to go Cristian!

Everyone that was here did the "gallop".

From the 72 year olds down to the 5 month old!

Time for the "gobble". That will be the next post!

Check out our finishers medallions

We headed down to St. George to run the Snow Canyon Half Marathon and 5k. In order to guarantee a spot in the St. George marathon next year, we have to run 2 Washington county races. This is one of our favorite races to run. Dean and my nephew Derek were running the 1/2. I'm in no condition to run right now, but I have to get my races in so I have the option to run St. George next year, so I decided to do the 5k. It was freezing cold! Snow at the start line of the half marathon. We are guessing around 35 degrees.

I had a great run! Now I'm excited to add a few more miles to my runs and see how it goes.

Here comes Deaner!

Great run Dean!

This was Derek's first half marathon, he did awesome!

Julie has not been able to run since the Top of Utah marathon. She was there to cheer us all on at the finish line.

Of course we have to show off our race shirts and bling!

Speaking of bling....I got my YW's medallion today! I won't tell you how long I've been working on it...but one of the projects I chose to work on for my medallion was to run a marathon. I ran that one in 2009.

Ej showing off her new bling!