Mammoth With the Nowlins

We spent President's weekend in Mammoth with the Nowlins. We're trying to make this trip an annual tradition. It is quite an adventure with five little boys together! Mark was wondering what it would be like in ten years....teenage boys eating us out of the house! Kevin and Zach liked having "baby Caleb" around though, at least until he started begging for their food. It was very cute to see how they were treating him. Angela watched Kevin and Zach on Saturday morning while I went out skiing with Garrett and Mark. Garrett and I had fun watching all the boys on Sunday. We even managed to take them all sledding. No pictures of that though because couldn't manage to take a camera with us!

Snow What Fun!

We've been enjoying Mammoth again this year. The boys took their first skiing lessons in December and loved it. They keep asking when they are going to go again. Hopefully we will put them in again sometime soon! Here are some pictures from our December trip. We also took Raven to the snow too, which was an adventure. She loved bounding through the snow banks. Zach suggested we just trade our Valencia house for the Mammoth house......I think the boys like it there!

More pics from our Mammoth adventures last weekend coming soon.....

A Perfect Run

Two years ago I ran in my first race. The Redondo Beach Superbowl 10K. It was raining and windy, but I was committed to running so I went out and did it. It was then that I realized how fun a race could be and how fun it could be to run in the rain! Yesterday, two years later, I skipped the 10K and went for a nice 18 mile run. It wasn't raining hard, but enough of a sprinkle to keep me cool. I ran it in my best time ever and today I'm barely feeling sore! I was wishing that it was marathon day yesterday, because I was feeling like I could've kept going.

I've been thinking about how I just sort of jumped into this long distance running, out of the blue, and wondering what it is that I like about it. It's true that I like the sense of accomplishment, but more than that I like being outside and being on my own (or with Raven) for a little while. I know what my Saturday mornings are going to be like and I look forward to that time. My sister-in-law, Tina, was asking me what type of program I am following and if I am keeping track of my heart rate and all that. I tried that for the first marathon and found that I didn't think it was helping, so I stopped all the reading of books and searching for the best way to run. For me, I just needed to do what felt right. If my heart started beating too hard, I slowed down. If my knees started hurting, I ran less. This time around I am feeling pretty good. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think this L.A. marathon is going to be a lot of fun!

Here are a few shots from a 10 mile run that Raven and I went on a few weeks back. It's been different training this time of year rather than the summer. More rain and cold weather and I'm finding that it's easier to run in this weather.

Our normally dry creek bed in the background.

If you look really close, you might see a rainbow.

A Celebration of Life

Naomi Ruth Graham Trettin

I had blackberries on my yogurt this morning and this made me think of my grandma.

My Grandma Trettin passed away on January 7th, a day before her 94th birthday. This may be part of the reason my blogging has been postponed for so long, I knew I wanted to do a post but not sure what to say.

My Grandma lived a long life, full of hard-work, family, friends, and love. She lived through the depression and based much of her life based on the way her family lived in order to survive. Most of my memories are of visiting my grandma and grandpa on their farm in Oregon. Just about every summer we would go up for at least a week to visit. We'd also head up for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I always loved the occasional Christmas that it would snow. I have memories of "playing" the piano they had. I had no idea what I was doing, but my grandma always let me bang around on the keys. I also enjoyed picking blackberries and eating cobbler with homemade ice cream. At the funeral, most of the grandchildren share these memories of helping out on the farm. I'm thankful that I was able to bring Kevin up when he was about 2 to visit and we were able to go over to the farm to pick blackberries. Although I know he wont remember this, it is special to me that he was able to do it.

My cousins and I on the farm many years ago

Kevin and Nana picking blackberries (and eating them!)

Grandma Trettin and Kevin on the farm 2003

I enjoyed being a part of the celebration of my grandma's life. We have such an extended family that a lot of my relatives I'm not able to see often. I'm so glad I was able to make it. Being surrounded by family is important to my life. I enjoyed listening to everyone's stories and memories. I think it was pretty unanimous that my grandma was hard working and frugal, but also gave all that she could to help those that she loved. She showed her love through her work and I think that has passed down to me. It's not easy expressing myself outwardly, but it fills my heart to give to others and do what I can to help. I thank my grandma for this lesson, although I continue to work on the expressing it outwardly too. :)

Here's a picture from after the funeral. We all went back to my Aunt Sharon's house and had time to talk/listen with all of the family. It's not often that we all get together but it sure is nice when we do. I hope that there will be another reunion soon (not a funeral though....). :)

How Long Has It Been??

Well, I guess it's been a while! I was thinking of stopping this blog all together but then I thought I will want to some day look back over all the things the Rileys have done and relive the memories. I planned on writing a full post today, but it's getting late and I haven't got my pictures uploaded yet. So for now I just wanted to let you know that I am back and will catch up soon.....I promise.