FIRE!

New Year's Eve I was looking forward to taking down Christmas decroations and returning items we got for Christmas that we didn't need. As we were getting ready to head out for some lunch and returns, in the distance we could hear fire sirens and they were close. Come to find out they were next door to our complex. There is a carpet business just to the south of our complex and it was on fire. In fact we could see the whole thing from our office window. We opened the blinds and Stu kicked back in the chair and watched the whole thing (he told me it was better than a movie). Anyways this building continued to burn to the point where it was not going to be saved. The carpet fibers were so flammable that it was no use to try and put them out. The fire dept just stood by to make sure the fire did not spread. Stu was curious about the fire so he headed out to see it up close (only a fence and a parking lot separated the fire from our complex's driveway). I went to join the fun but Stu told me I had to go in because the fumes were really bad and he didn't want it to effect our unborn child. (No fair).
The fire started at 11:30AM New Year's day. We had plans that night so around 6:30PM (the fire is still burning) Stu found out we could leave (before no one could leave or come in) but we probably would not be able to get back in. We took the chance, we had been indoors all day. So we went out to our New Year's Eve party.
When we got home around 12:45AM the fire was still going but we could drive into our complex (WHEW, I didn't want to walk through that nasty smoke).
As it turned out the fire burned for about 36+ hours. The building was a totally loss but there were no causalities (except the owner's 20 yr old cat). Thank goodness for the quick response of the Fire Department and thank goodness the fire did not spread.

From our backyard view point. The building was only a hop skip and a jump away from our complex.

The fire burning out of control

The entrance to our complex. The whole main road was blocked off for about 10 blocks because of the fire trucks and the hose lines. Can you see all the smoke. YUCK

Front view of the one of the buildings windows. You can see the fire raging inside.

6:30PM as we were leaving for our party, the fire was still burning

Christmas 2009

Christmas was BUSY this year. Stu had to work Christmas Eve into Christmas morning so as soon as he got home Christmas morning, we did Christmas at our house. It was rushed but we had to hurry so we could get to the Nicholls house by 9AM to do presents there. After opening gifts and eating breakfast at the Nicholls (by now it is 11AM) I took Stu up to his parents house to get some sleep. He was only able to sleep till 3PM because we still had to do Christmas at the Reeder's and that started at 4PM. After presents we had dinner and talked and played. Stu, Blue and I didn't get home till 1:30AM (talk about a LONG day). Isn't Christmas suppose to be a chill day?

As many (I hope) know-Stu and I are expecting in August 2010. We told our families on Christmas morning by giving our mom's each a jar of Prego spaghetti sauce. They both had the same reaction when they opened the gift "yeah a jar of spaghetti sauce". As you can see from the picture below I added words so I made sense, but it still took the mom's a few minutes to catch on. It says "Stu and Sarah are... and then the Prego is already there"

Mom Reeder's reaction when she opened her jar of spaghetti sauce

Mom Nicholls reaction when she opened her jar of spaghetti sauce

All the other family members are super excited since it is the 1st on both sides. We are just trying to absorb the details of just what this all means

Merry Christmas to all!

Last HOME Game of the Season

Today was Utah's last home game of the season. We still have the "HOLY WAR" next Saturday but that is down in Happy Valley this year. This was the first game of the season during the day that we had been too. The weather was clear and cold. We came prepared with hats, gloves, blankets and hand warmers. The great thing about this game was that Amanda was in town and came with us to the game. This was her first Utah game (even through she graduated from the U).
The U was killing San Diego State so we ended up leaving after the 3rd quarter. The still ended up winning 38-7.

Amanda, Sarah and Stu

Amanda, Sarah, Kyrie, Stu and Josh

New Moon

Friday morning (Midnight) we had our tickets to see the 2nd sequel to Twilight..New Moon. We have had our tickets since you could buy them (a few months now) and we were so excited. For the movie this year we had: myself, Leah (my sister), Liz and Liz's Mom and Liz's 3 nieces. (Stu didn't want to see the Midnight showing so I went to see it again Friday night with Stu)

We all got together early to eat pizza and watch Twilight. Liz made us each a gift bag (that included our favorite candy and drink) which was so cute and then we headed to the movie theatre around 11:30. I could not believe how many people there were at midnight. But I was even more surprised to see how many people there were when we got out of the movie theatre at 2:45AM. It was PACKED. We had a good time and we are so excited for June 30th when the 3rd installment comes out.

Sarah and Leah. We didn't get shirts this year so Liz put paw prints on us since we were Team Jacob!

Sarah, Liz and Leah waiting for the movie to start

Black out Game

Happy Halloween!

Tonight the University Utes played Wyoming in their 2nd annual Black Out Game. I missed last years Black Out Game due to the Marathon so I was excited to go to this one. In case you have not figured it out...all the fans wear black instead of red and the Utes wear their black uniforms instead. The night was not that cold about mid 50's (I hate that mid 50 is not cold anymore). We missed Josh and Kyrie for this game (since it was Halloween) but had Melissa and Allen join us instead.

Thankfully the Utes pulled their heads out of their uniforms and won the game. It was a little touch and go for awhile.

Sarah and Stu at the Black Out game
Final Score

Sarah, Stu, Allen and Melissa

All the fans in black

Birthday Weekend for Stu

For Stu's birthday we headed to California to take advantage of Disneyland's offer of getting in free on your birthday. Melissa(Stu's sister) birthday was the 23rd and Stu's was the 26th. So we hit up one park (California Adventure) on Melissa's birthday and the other park (Disneyland) on Stu's birthday.

We arrived in sunny California on Friday the 23rd. After landing and getting the rental car and lunch we headed to California Adventure. First ride was Tower of Terror. Stu had never been on that ride. This ride is one of my favorite for sure.

The gang in front of the Tower of Terror

Soaring over California was another ride Stu had not been on. Here we are...soaring

Can you see Francis eating the candy corn? We just happen to be standing there when he came out to eat.

We hit up the Grizzly Rapids right before we left the park. Stu HATES to be wet in his clothes. Guess who got the most wet on the ride??

One thing Melissa wanted to do for her birthday is go to Mikey's Treat or Treat Party. It was an extra $30 but only those that had tickets were allowed back into California Adventure. They had the rides open and trick or treat stations. I felt like a little kid again. I wish we would have dressed up. There were so many awesome costumes to see. Here is Stu and I with our trick or treat bags. All the candy stations were marked with this Mickey ghost.

On Sunday Allen wanted to see Channel Island. We got up early and headed to Ventura to board a boat to take us to Santa Cruz Island. The Channel Islands are a National Park. Here we are on the boat.

Here we are on the island. We picked the wrong activity to do that day. We hiked, we should have snorkeled. It would have been much cooler
We had to make sure we documented the occasion
Here we are on the top of one peak. We hiked up to this point for about 2 1/2 hours. No shade. It was really warm!

Monday was Stu's birthday. After we woke up and got some breakfast we headed to Disneyland. First order of business was to try and get a reservation for the Blue Bayou restaurant- (No luck). Second order was to get to Splash Mountain. Stu has never been on this ride. It was always closed when he went. It just so happened that while we were next in line it did stop running for about 5 min. Stu was freaking out. He thought "here we go again" but luckily it started to work and he got to ride the ride. Since it was his first time we put in him front. He got SOAKED!

A picture of the picture that was taken of us. Stu's face is my favorite!

And after the ride. Stu was so wet. So was I. In fact my sock didn't dry out all day long

Us with the Evil Queen from Snow White

Captain Hook was about ready to take Stu's head off

As it turned out. We were able to get into the Blue Bayou after all. I think it was because it was Stu's birthday. Here is the chocolate moose they gave him for his birthday. It was really yummy, Stu shared with all of us.

Here we are at the castle

We had a great time. Good company, good food and 2 great birthday's. I hope you had a great birthday honey! I love you and can't wait to celebrate many more with you!!

I am a WINNER

How many contests have you entered with the hope that you might win something? I...like you...do the same thing. I enter contests, I never win. Until Saturday night, I became a winner! I would like to say I won a Million Dollars or even $500, but I did win a prize valued around $250-$300.
Saturday night the Reeder clan got together to attend the annual Warren Miller movie at Abravenel Hall. This was the first year we hit up the 9PM movie instead of the 6PM (maybe that is why I won). The cool thing about attend this movie is that for $18 (the price of the ticket) you can register for a free pass to The Canyons ski resort a value of around $50-$65. So it is totally worth it. You also enter into a drawing for a GRAND prize (trip to Chili this year) but this GRAND prize winner must be drawn from each Warren Miller location (about 20) and then one will be drawn from that 20. The odds are totally stacked against you. But enough about that (I didn't win that prize I won something else).
Let me set the mood. The 1st half of the movie just ended and I decided to hit up the ladies room and to grab a drink at the drinking fountain before heading back in for round 2. While I was at the drinking fountain the kid in front of me kept getting squirted by the fountain. The water pressure was off so it would go low and then really high. Since I was right after him (and I watched him wipe his face off with his sleeve) I thought "I will be careful". I came away clean and walked with Stu into the auditorium for Act 2. Before the movie starts the host tells everyone they have a few more minutes to get their ballots in for some prizes he is giving away. Most people filled out their ballots before the movie started and put them in boxes outside, but there a few stragglers. You have to imagine that there are probably close to 700+ ballots in this large container that some kids will be pulling names out of. As is turns out that one of the "kids" that are pulling out the names is the same one that was in front of me at the drinking fountain (fate?? I think so). The first 2 prizes were for clothes and then the prize of a 2 free passes to The Canyons resort and a lunch for 2 was up. The kid grabs a name...gives it to the host and he says "this person is from West Valley" and my heart stopped and then he said "Sarah Reeder". Seriously??? I just won something?? We were with a group of 10 and they all cheered with me..LOUDLY.
So after the movie I went to get my free ski passes. This was the best gift EVER. Stu and I could not afford to buy passes this year from any place because we are working on getting out of debt, so I guess paying tithing works and we got these free passes. ROCK ON!
Needless to say, the next time I win something will be in about 50 years, but don't give up filling out those contest entries. You never know-You might win!

Snow Patrol

Saturday night Snow Patrol (one of my favorite bands) came in concert in Orem. Liz, Coleman and I went to their concert at Saltair 2 years ago so, when I heard Snow Patrol was coming in concert I called up the gang. We had a blast. We hit up the OG (Olive Garden) for dinner and made it in time for the opening band. The opening band was Plain White T's, who I give 2 cents about. Luckily the lead singer was sick so they only sang a few songs. I thought this would mean Snow Patrol would come out sooner, but alas they didn't come on stage till 9PM and only played for about an hour and half. It was so awesome to see them again. We all agreed the concert rocked but we loved the closeness that Saltair gave us the first time around.

Sarah and Coleman with their matching shirts
Lead singer of Snow Patrol. He was AWESOME!

Haunted Village

Friday night the Reeder clan decided to go to Frightmares at Lagoon. We got a late start and decided to skip Frightmares and we ended up at a haunted house instead. "This Is The Place" Heritage Park had a Haunted Village that has only been open for the last 3 years so we decided to visit there. It was AWESOME. It was the Haunted Forest for adults. This place is not recommended for children under 12. It was scary and just awesome. Complete with a headless horse man, cannon fire, scary dollhouses and paranormal activity. We had a GREAT time as a family (minus Trevor). If you get a chance, take a date and check it out. But wear your coat, the whole thing is outside.

The gang at the the entrance of the Haunted Village
Stu and Sarah waiting in line

The whole group. I was holding the camera and just click and shot the picture. We got everyone in the picture-I think the only thing that is scary about this picture is my chubby cheeks. YIKES

26.2 MILES

Thursday the family left Salt Lake for Sunny St. George so we could run the St. George Marathon.
Stu and I packed the dog and my little brother Cannon and started the 4 1/2 hour drive. We were in a bit of a time crunch since we had tickets to see Aida at the Tuacahn outdoor theatre at 7:30PM and Grandma would have dinner on the table by 6:30PM. We hit some unexpected traffic problems (will we didn't but Liz and her mom and my brother and his girlfriend did). We bypassed the nasty traffic and made it to Grandma's at 6:25PM

Sarah and Stu at the Tuacahn theatre before Aida

Liz, Scott Murdock, Stu and I. Scott is a dear friend that Liz and I worked with at Clarke American. He is currently living in St. George and we hooked up for some lunch and some good laughs.

Sarah picking up her St. George packet

Stu picking up his packet. This is his first marathon!
Matt, Liz, Sarah and Stu at the expo. Matt and Stu were 1st time runners and both nervous about the next day's run.

Liz and I LOVED the 'tattoo' Stu got from LotaJa so we created our own for the St. George Marathon. It is kinda hard to see but it is the words "STG". We thought we were pretty cool. Liz and I actually got comments on it during the race. Someone asked me if it was "permanent". I told him "permanent marker"

4:30AM. All the runners in their 'warm' gear getting ready to leave the hotel room

Stu, Sarah, Liz and Matt at the starting line. It was COLD. Stu didn't bring a sweatshirt so we immediately found a fire and got him warmed up.

Here I am trying to warm up Stu before the start of the race.
Unlike last year when it rained and was so cold, this year was so nice and just perfect. It was cold at the beginning of the race but it warmed up really quick. My goal was the make the marathon in 4 h 30 m. I was on track for most of the way till the end I lost some time. I ended up coming in at 4 h 37 m. I WILL TAKE IT. I was so excited.

Stu did AWESOME for his 1st marathon. About mile 20 the blisters on his pinky toes popped and created a great deal of pain for him. But he pushed through and came in at 4 h 59 m. "Sup 5 hours" he says. It was so awesome to watch him come in and to share this experience with him.


Sarah and Stu after the race

My support group. Cannon, Sarah, Grandma, Grandpa, Coleman, Katie and Stu. My grandparents have seen my race each time I have done the marathon and I am so grateful for them.

An "after" shot of us runners: Stu: 4 h 59 m Sarah 4 h 37 m Liz 4 h 42 m Matt 4 h 19 m

Honey I am so proud of you and all you accomplished. Liz my dear running buddy it has been grand, thank you for all your support. Matt, you beat me and you suck ;-)