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Phoenix Marathon and the Gilbert Temple Youth Cultural Celebration

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We have had a crazy week this week!  Dave and I (along with Uncle Richard and Aunt Mary Ann) ran the phoenix marathon on Saturday.  It hasn't rained here in months, but decided to roll in on Friday night (well at least the clouds) the rain came just before the marathon started!  It wasn't too bad, just mostly light sprinkles through the first few miles then not much the rest of the race. I told Dave that I have run all my marathons in the rain!  He laughed at me and said, "All 2 of them, right?" I replied that that was true, but it was still ALL my marathon experience!!

Mary Ann and I stuck together most of the race.  By mile 23 I could tell that she was feeling MUCH better that I was, so I told her to go on without me.  My quads had started feeling really sore and tight by mile 9 or 10 but just getting progressively worse as the race went on.  She did only after I promised I would't be mad at her (we had made a pact to stick together).  I knew that I would finish and so I didn't mind breaking that pact!  She finished in 4 hours and 54 minutes.  I finished in exactly 5 hours (our goal was 5 hours).  So we both felt like we had met our goal!

Dave and Richard finished with about the same distance between them.  Dave finished first and then Richard. They were both under 4 hours and I think Richard was THRILLED.  Dave was happy to have done decently since he hadn't had nearly as much training as he would have liked (as you know he had to stop running for a few weeks because of his knee and then that nasty flu he had took him out for a couple more weeks...overall he lost about 5 weeks of heavy training). So in reality he did AWESOME!  He was a little frustrated because somehow his chip timing did NOT work and the race had NO official time for him.  He emailed them and they had video of him crossing the finish line and so they will post a time for him online.  It seems important to be official on the race results!


Dave & Richard after finishing the marathon!

Yes, that is me making my way to the finish line.
It looks like a slow shuffle and that is what it felt like too!
I had NO kick at the end, just happy to be DONE!!

We DID it!!!  Can you believe that we are still smiling?

Me and Dave

As soon as we finished the marathon we hurried home to take showers and go help at the Youth Cultural Celebration for the Temple Dedication at Discovery Park.  

It is funny how the marathon and the cultural celebration seemed so separated.  Almost like 2 different lives...not really worried about the rain for the marathon, but extremely concerned about the rain for the celebration.
I needed some rest so I am sitting down ready for the kids to come for snacks!
Just don't ask me to get up because my quads were not allowing it!

I told you last wee that we had so much dust!  We have been without rain for about 2 1/2 months (which is an unusually dry winter).  It was crazy!

So, fast forward to the middle of the next week.  What do we have in the forecast for Saturday,  RAIN!!  A little on Friday and maybe some on Sunday, but 100% for Saturday!  We have been praying for rain, but not for the one day that we didn't want it!  How many times do you see 100% in the forecast???  The Executive Committee asked all of us to pray that the elements would be tempered.  Dad said, "It's in the Lord's hands now."

The rain came and went a bit in the morning, which was great because it settled the dust.  It seemed like everything else was skirting all around the celebration.  
Can you find Paige and Amber (among the other kids from our ward?
Paige is second from left and Amber second from the right.
Look at those smiles...and they stayed even through the RAIN!

The final dress rehearsal went really well and when it was over, it started to sprinkle a little (which we could handle), but there were some big black clouds heading our way.  The youth were upbeat and excited. We fed the youth dinner and sent them back to the field for the performance.  20 minutes before the performance was supposed to start, the rain came down!  The kids were on the field waiting for the Prophet and President Eyring to arrive.  Needless to say by the time everything got started, EVERYONE was drenched!! (even the audience!). 
The Farr's and Dave under the tarp (trying to stay dry as possible)

Me under the tarp.

This was our view.  Can you see the rain in the lights?  Those are the kids out on the field waiting to get started!

But the show went on! The youth smiled through the WHOLE show and had great attitudes!  Discovery Park is a RETENTION basin (the location of the event), so you can guess where all the water went!  By the end there was at least an inch or so of water at various places on the field.  Kids were slipping down the hill as they went to go onto the field for their parts of the show.  I am sure there will be lots of stories to tell!

It was fun to watch their excitement (despite being drenched) as President Eyring and President Monson arrived!
President Moson and President Eyring waving to the youth, who were waving and screaming with excitement!

It was certainly an event that NO ONE that participated in will EVER forget!  Even when it was all over and the kids were freezing they were still smiling and laughing and enjoying the craziness of it all!  Paige and Amber got to participate and I think that they will say that it was a truly memorable experience!  We talked about how the pioneers probably experience similar conditions, especially on the trek to Salt lake, but then had to pitch tents in the mud and sleep in wet clothes.  We got to go home and take a nice hot shower and hop into a warm bed.  
Take a look at all that water!

Sunday was the dedication of the Temple. There were 3 sessions and we ended up going to 2 of the three.  They were all different (including the talks and the choirs).  We were privileged as family to get to be in the actual temple ( Grandma Garner also received a ticket and came with us) for the last dedication session. We were wishing that Samantha were there with us, but know that she was where she needs to be and are so proud of her! The tickets were given by the Stake Presidencies and ours gave our to us for our work with the Celebration and Grandma's stake president just felt inspired that she needed a ticket. 

It was wonderful to listen to the words of the general authorities and President Monson (he spoke in the first session for a few minutes).  In the last session one of the Seventies that spoke talked about how some may wonder about their faith because even though they had prayed that the rain would be tempered it had come anyway.  He likened it to the Lord wanting to pour out his spirit on them.  I know that despite the rain, and maybe because of it, those youth (and adults) will have a special place in their hearts when we think of the temple cultural celebration and dedication!

We were seated in the temple marriage waiting room. (Just a side note, it is on the 3rd floor and we had to climb all those stairs, up was not so bad, but down...that was another thing all together!  My quads hurt so bad by this time that I had such a hard time trying to stand that Dave had to help me get up and it took so long that we missed half the Hosanna shout)  All the furniture had been removed and chairs placed in all the rooms.  The ushers said they were able to seat 1850 people in each dedication session.  Because we were at the last session we were able to see President Monson and President Eyring leave the temple and drive away.  What a wonderful way to end a wonderful weekend!
Waiting in line to be seated for the dedication session.

After the session was finished, on the South side of the temple.

A brief sighting of President Monson.

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