Monticello, Utah

While we were in Monticello this last weekend, I started to really ponder about this probably being our last time to visit this great little town.  Darin's parents will officially move from their in June, but Darin will be entering the "deployment" phase of our life.  So I wanted to capture every moment, I wanted to reminiscence, I wanted to share with my children the history and the beauty that this little town holds.  So I tried to capture Monticello in images, images that will bring back memories and help Monticello to always be a part of our families history and legacy.

Silver Scissors Beauty Salon

Grandma's "Beauty Shop"  The girls absolutely love to go to work with Grandma.  They have the best time playing "beautician"   Grandma always makes them feel like they are not in the way, and wants them to enjoy her "space" and have fond memories of spending time in the beauty shop.  I think Grandma also enjoys "showing off" the grandkids to many of her patrons!

"I want to be just like Grandma when I grow up!!"

Aliyah loves practicing on the mannequin heads.  This girl could do this for hours!

Ammon even wanted to get in on the action.  Helping Grandma sweep up the hair.  I was just thinking, I wonder how much hair Connie has swept up over the past 30 years...I bet all that hair could easily fill the beauty shop...good thing she didn't keep it around!!

The beauties hard at work!

Connie has been doing Lavern Young's hair for 30 years!!  Lavern said, "When I first started coming to see Connie, I would say, 'Connie, make me look sexy' - and she did.  The years went on and I said, 'Connie, make me look beautiful' - and she did.  Now I come in and say, 'Connie, make me look presentable' - and she does! So many in this small town have been made beautiful - on the inside and outside, because of the hours they have spent in Silver Scissors Beauty Salon with Connie Allred as their dedicated stylist!

Darin and his younger brother Chance made these mirrors.  They made 4 to create the 4 working stations that have been used over the years.  They designed, constructed, and finished these at the local Monticello High School wood shop.

Dad even let Aspen practice her skills!

Grandma and her girl.

Wagon Wheel Pizza.

This is major tradition, to eat at Wagon Wheel for lunch.  I think this establishment and business have almost been around as long as Connie has.  All 3 of the older Allred children worked at Wagon Wheel Pizza while they were in high school.  Darin still has not come across a pizza that can beat Wagon Wheel, there is something about that homemade hand-tossed pizza crust.

Waiting for that yummy pizza.  Darin is also very fond of the chicken sandwich, and I LOVE their calzones! 

Darin with his former boss, Suzie.  She is definietly a Monticello Icon.  I don't think I have ever been to Monticello without a trip into the Pizza joint on Main Street.  There just isn't many business's and business owner's like this anymore:(

Main Street

A walk down main street.

The Monticello Mercantile.  Another one of Darin's former employers.  This was also "the place" in town to register for wedding gifts when we were married.

I think Darin worked at all the major establishments in town, Blue Mountain Foods, another business that helped fund his new baskeball shoes each year.  I love this picture, with the "Horse Head" in the background.  If you are not from Monticello, you may not understand, but now I can't look at this mountain without seeing the visible Horse Head.

This particular day, we ended our walk down Main Street at Veteran's Memorial Park.  Darin's parents purchased engraved bricks to have permanently layed at Memorial Park.  The bricks are to honor those that have and our currently serving our country.  What an honor.  It made for a very cool photo op, Darin and his Dad down on their knees, woking together to lay the bricks that would honor Darin and his older brother Dain, for their service, sacrifice, and dedication to serving our country, to taking care of the wounded men and women that are on the front lines.

Eddie's place of employment for the past 25 years. 

Aliyah in Grandpa's black truck.  I'm sure this truck is well know in town!

Small towns are so fun and creative!!

A couple of the famous street signs in town.

The Allred's HOME SWEET HOME for 30 years!

Here's a view of the back...

And this is the view from their kitchen window and dining room table...

Can you believe the amount of snow fall they received this year?  Connie and Eddie said this has definitely been a winter to remember...I guess they had to leave with a bang, as they we will be moving to Arizona and won't have to deal with this white stuff.  (The palmer's house)

We stayed in this fabulous cabin for the weekend, as Connie and Eddie have already moved out of their home.  I think we all agreed, if we ever reconvene in Monticello, we will look to stay at this wonderful cabin just about 10 minutes outside of town.

I had to include a few of my favorite pictures of my little man over the weekend.  He will probably be the one that remember Monticello the least.  But I hope we will share our memories, express our love for this small town that brought about so many big adventures and experiences, and hopefully the images I captured will help to tell the story...

25th Annual Blue Mountain Triathlon

What a weekend!  It will be difficult to put all my thoughts, emotions, memories, and outstanding events that took place this past weekend into words, but I will try!!  We had the the Amazing opportunity to go HOME to Monticello (yes, I do consider this small town --HOME...it took a while, but I can honestly say that I feel that sense of belonging, that excitement when I return, and love I feel for this quaint little town in Southeast Utah!)  This weekend caused those feelings to be intensified, and there will always be a place in my heart for a community and people that embraced the Allred family, that gave them oppotunities to fulfill their dreams, encouraged and supported them in raising an incredible family, and rode the ride of up's and down's of life that created and molded the people they are today. 
So, when we began to realize that this would be Eddie's (Darin's Dad) last year to put on his annual triathlon, we agreed that we would have to pull together a family team!!  That is just what we did, we signed up for the 25th Annual Blue Mountain Triathlon.  Chance (Darin's younger brother) took on the 4 mile cross country ski, Darin biked 20 miles, and I ran 5 miles.  This is a very unique triathlon, in fact, I don't think there are very many in the country that do a SKI, BIKE, RUN.  Eddie had the vision, 25 years ago to test the waters of the ski, bike, run, considering the amazing part of the country they live in, and that all 3 of these events would be possible!!  So here it is, 25 years later, and he still has a group of participants that have been coming to Monticello every year to participate in such  a great event.  I should also mention that these individuals do not participate in the event as a team (like we did), but they "solo" the event...now they are my heros and inspiration (many of them 50 years of age, plus.) 

Here is Eddie and Connie with some of their Veteran racers.

The local newspaper, the San Juan Record had an incredible article about the Blue Mountain Triathlon, in which they really honored and captured the last 25 years. It is an amazing article, and really gives you a glimpse into this small town hero, that had a vision, instituted sports and recreation programs that changed lives, encouraged commuity life, and gave individuals and teams opportunities to excel and challenge their minds and bodies. Here is the Link.

Eddie in action.  Giving instructions to the racers, and making preparations for the whistle blow to begin the race!

The skiers making final preparations.

The starting line!

Here is our skier.  Go Chance!  Go team #100!!  A little funny story about Chance...he had not cross-country skied since he was 14 (when he did his dad's triathlon as a Scout).  But, he is an excellent downhill skier, and definitely in shape, he just hadn't been on those thin cross country ski's in 16 years.  He had a quite a few falls, in fact, on one occasion he nearly suffered a concussion, and ended up with some ugly scraps and bruising, he really took it for the team!! But, he held his own, gave it everything he had,  and put us in the "middle of the pack", with a time of 26 minutes!

 

The tag!  Darin is off...get on the bike and get going!!

The exhaustion.  4 miles on cross coutry ski's is intense!!

 

and he's off.  See you after 20 miles on the bike.  An extremley hill-y course.  Oh, and these brothers must think alike, because Darin had also not put many miles into training, in fact, he hadn't been on his bike since the last triathlon in November. 

he returns.  and the first words out of his mouth, "I'm going to kill my Dad".  You see, just a couple of weeks before the race they had to change the course, due to the massive amount of snow fall this year.  It was just too snowy to bike off of the mountain (much more downhill).  So they headed out of town on the road that increases drastically in  elevation and has some LONG hills.  He made it, and held our position in the middle of the pack.

Returning from the 5 mile run.  It was tough!!  It was entirely uphill the first 2.5, so coming back was definitely easier, but I struggled.  And, yes, unlike the other two, I did train!  But considering the elevation change (Vegas- 2028 ft. above sea level, Monticello -- 7,070), I was feeling it!!  I also had not prepared for hills, so not my fastest race, and did not feel like I was at peak, but I made it, and pretty much kept our position.  I think our team came in 33rd out of 60 teams/individual participants.  But, it was not about me, it was about doing it as a family and supporting Eddie in his amazing journey and his final bow.

Here's the timing crew, and the finish line crew!  Tori (Darin's sister), Connie (Darin's mom), and Aspen. Connie has also been instrumental in creating and maintaining such an incredible race...helping things run smooth, also in charge of the timing, helping with awards, and developing the comradery, respect, and admiration that this event deserves.

Grandpa Allred with baby Paisley.

Giving out the awards.  Eddie always has pottery and medallions made from Cedar Mesa.  These awards are given to the top 3 finishers in a variety of divisions.  And, yes, the Allred's came away with an award, because we had a little pull and favoritism.  The Allred's finished 4th in the family division (oh, I guess I must mention that there was only 4 teams in the family division...hey, give us a break, we were actually competing against true triathletes:)  Our official time: 2 hours, 41 minutes.  I could not stop smiling during the award ceremony.  Aspen thought it was so great to help grandpa Allred, she was so excited to read the names and times of those top finishers.  She enjoyed the entire day, she was invloved and wanted to help at every turn.  I think she too was proud of her grandfather and the amazing event he established and carried on year after year.  During the award ceremony some of the Veteran Racers took time to say some very nice things about Eddie and Connie, it was a real tribute to the many years of hard work and dedication to this event, to the city, and to the communtiy!  I just wish I had the camcorder rolling.

Our team. Our family team!  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  It was the perfect ending to a glorious road.

45th Wedding Anniversary

Our wonderful grandparents came to Vegas to celebrate their 45th Wedding Anniversary (also wanting to see the grandchildren, and help Mom while Dad was away in San Antonio...I tell you, they are my complete salvation...I needed them this week!!)  We had a wonderful week, and capped it off with their 45th Anniversary celebration.  The kids and I transformed our house into a restaurant, where we greeted, seated our guests at a table with candlelight, took their order, served their entrees, and provided some comic relief!  Our restuarant was appropriately called --THE 45th.  We had bread and salad for appetizers, steak, baked potatos, and carrots for their main entree, and chocolate cake for dessert.   We had the best time, and I'm pretty sure my mom and dad enjoyed the evening as well.   I really wanted to do this, as I have fond memories of doing this as a child.  My brother and I created a similiar atmosphere for one of my parents anniversaries many, many years ago. 

The girls had fun decorating the sign and making a memorable evening for their grandma & grandpa.

Thanks to my amazingly talented sister, we were able to run our restuarant in style.  She made us these cute matching aprons for Christmas (actually mine was for my birthday).  We love our aprons, and appreciate the love and hard work that went into something that we will treasure for years to come!  Hopefully my parents had a great week as well, on Saturday night they had the privledge of seeing Jersey Boys and enjoying dinner at the Grand Lux. Another little bonus of visiting family in Vegas, where there is plenty of amazing entertainment and food to enjoy!  Thanks Mom and Dad, you make my load so much lighter, and the kids and I can't even begin to express our love and appreciation!!