Las Vegas Ragnar Relay 2010

Finally getting around to publishing my Vegas Ragnar Relay photos. No race report here--My journal list already received it--plus others on my team have posted some on their blogs.

Van 1: Blaine, Aaron, Cami, Raylene, Annie, and Me.

And we're off! Aaron starts our first leg.

Annie demonstrating proper safety protocol. Crossing the street without a flag was a no-no.

Hydration was critical. Aaron filling up on his first leg.

Our van (Aaron & Blaine)

Other, less appropriate vans

Annie with Lake Mead in the background. Raylene giving liquid & moral support.

Raylene with her signature bandanna.

Blaine leaving The Valley of Fire behind him.

Me on my first leg (#6) with Aaron in tow providing GU & water

Nobody took pictures during our second leg in the middle of the night, so here are some from leg 3.

Raylene showing excellent form and stretching technique.

Cami passing off to me for our van's final leg of the race.

Batman.

Me & the cactus

And with a blistering welt to my brother's wrist, our van was finished. I can't tell you how happy these next two photos make me. My dad and I have been the only two runners in our family for some time. Then a few years back, a couple of my sisters and in-laws took up the call. My brother Dave is the newest recruit, and I couldn't be happier. We don't have a ton of things in common, so it's nice to have a newfound shared interest in running. I hope it lasts for decades.

Look at him go!

Sorry Dave, we took a team photo while you suffered through your 10 mile leg.

Running as a team to the finish line at the Red Rock Resort in Vegas. This is what pure joy looks like.

Jule, Blaine, Dave

Blaine, Annie, & Dave

The Finish Line

A final team photo

The sweet medal

We ended up 112th out of 257 overall, and 98th out of 220 in the Coed Division. Not too shabby.

The 2 vans finally got a chance to mix n mingle afterward.

Raylene & Annie with Albert, our flamboyant waiter at Denny's later that night.

Okada

One more quick Vegas post before moving on. We went to dinner at Okada at the Wynn our last night. It's an incredible Japanese steak house, however I opted for sushi this go round. There's so much food that I did get to sample a bit of everything else too.

I started with a subtlety delicious Japanese cucumber and seaweed salad.

The old onion volcano never gets old

Delectable sushi

Fine cuts of seafood and beef

Joe & Scott

Vegas Trivia Bowl 2010

I hosted our third annual Trivia Bowl on our way to and from Vegas for our NCAA basketball opening weekend guys trip. Hosting trivia games is something I've enjoyed doing since I was a kid. I don't know why.

Anyway, this year's players were the same as last: Scott, Dave, and Joey.

I broke up the competition into two segments: "To Vegas" & "From Vegas".

In To Vegas, Joey proved to be untouchable, winning 3 of 4 games. He was awarded a pair of Skullcandy headphones for his win.

From Vegas was a different story. Dave and Joey picked up a game a piece, but it was Scott who dominated with 3 wins. He walked away with a new golf shirt for his prize.


[Shane is available to host trivia games at your party or special event. Call for rates.]

Madness 2010 - Thursday

Thursday in Vegas was pretty good. My bracket suffered some serious damage, but at least BYU made it out of the first round. We are set up at the Wynn this year. Life is good.

The BYU game went into double overtime.

Everyone was on edge until the win was official.

Victory!

Snacks

Heading to the food court for lunch

***Funny picture removed per spousal request***

Vegas Christmas

This is a bit late, but here are some photos from Christmas in Las Vegas. I stole most of them from Ashley's blog. Thx Ash!

We watched the BYU Cougars decimate the Beavers in the Maaco Bowl

Cali & Ash's dad rented this little place for the week. It was ok :)

We spent a lot of time at this poker table playing games.

Or sitting here playing Wii. It's been over a decade since I've had Nintendo thumb.

Christmas Eve Family Talent Show

I think 25% of the trip was spent taking pictures, posing people for a pictures, or getting on special outfits for pictures. In this instance, a good hour was spent trying to get the kids to look at the camera. I captured the moment from upstairs.

The Earl Family. I acted as photographer on such occasions. By my count, there must have been 32 of us staying in that house. Thanks Earls for allowing me to share Christmas with you, again!