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At Saguaro Lake in Arizona with some friends that would include my future, genius husband. Yep, you guessed it! I’m 18 years old in this picture too. |
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A priceless moment: Emma reading “Ten Little Ladybugs” with her Great Nana. Only a 90 year difference but the best of friends! |
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Zachary on the day he learned how to ride his big 2-wheeler bicycle. |
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My two little party animals Summer of 2002 |
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My darling angel 3 months old |
Young Family Fun Pages |
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So I really liked being 18, who didn’t? :) |
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All you ever wanted to know about Karen… & more! |
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I grew up in the beautiful desert of Tucson, Arizona. I have three brothers who have all grown taller than me. I graduated from Sabino High school as Karen McCown. I attended Pima Community College for awhile, lived in Mesa for 6 months attending Mesa Community College then got married to Troy in the Mesa Arizona Temple in March of 1997. We have two boys, one spoiled little princess, and another boy who I can’t put down cuz he’s so cute. What I like: I truly LOVE my parents, my in-laws, and my own family. Sadly, not everyone can say that. I love to see snow on Christmas Day and smell blooming flowers in the spring. I feel I’m a religious person and try hard to become closer to my Heavenly Father. To learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a.k.a. the Mormons, please visit www.lds.org or www.mormon.org. I enjoy sewing fun things for the kids and making memory quilts (see the Quilt Scrapbook page). I also enjoy reading and love to visit the library almost every week, kids in tow of course (scroll down for book list). I did my first 5K at the SLC Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer run in May 2005 with 12,000 other people. It was a blast so now I do it every year. I ran my first Half-Marathon in St. George in January 2006 with my cousin Amelia. My parents drove up to encourage me and take pictures. Thanks Mom and Dad! :) I also ran the Inaugural SLC Half Marathon while 4 months pregnant. My only goal was to finish and I did. I ran up until the day I delivered my fourth child, Nathan. It made the delivery and recovery much easier. In November 2005 I road in EL TOUR de TUCSON on my gorgeous new road bike, a Scattante. We did the 67 miler. I would’ve tried to do the whole thing (109 miles) but it was hard to train for my first Half Marathon run and the bike race at the same time. The training schedules overlapped a bit. It was so much fun and very well-organized and of course, the weather was perfect. In November 2007 my dad, brother Mark, husband and I rode the whole 109 miles in El Tour de Tucson. I love racing for good causes especially when T-shirts and medals are included! My other goal for 2007 was to do my first TRIATHLON. So in the fall, I did a reverse sprint triathlon. Jeremy did it too but at a separate time. I’m so proud of him! I don’t think I’ll do another real triathlon though until I take some serious swim lessons. Also in 2007 I did my first DUATHLON on Antelope Island and my second one end of May. (Duathlon’s are bike/run races). And the last thing I like... digital cameras! I also love to SCRAPBOOK all the pictures I take and have a separate room just for that purpose. :-) That’s another story though... |
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My Favorite Things to Do in “Mormonland” If you ever have a chance to visit, here are some things you won’t want to miss! Liberty Park—if only I had known about this sooner… Tracy Aviary, a famous bird park, is great. They have a bald eagle and every other bird you can imagine there. Also at the park, a huge all-abilities playground and a carnival area open during the warmer months and what’s really fun is the water area, it’s made to look like the Salt Lake Valley. It’s knee-deep water allows the kids to float balls down from the different canyons and into the Great Salt Lake with downtown blocks and State street running all the way thru. Pretty cool! They also have a wide running path all the way around, only 1 mile, but the park feels much larger. 900 South and 600 East is the north entrance. Temple Square—There’s always something going on downtown. We usually take TRAX, the electric train, and the gardens are always outstanding and the mirror pool in front of the temple is beautiful. You have to go during Christmas just to see the lights. Family History Library, Church Art History Museum, Conference Center (awesome tour info), Joseph Smith Memorial Building (great views and two delicious restaurants) and the Lion House restaurant (to die-for rolls) are all right there as well. Church Art History Museum—They always have great exhibits and their Children’s section is fun to play in and educational. The Gateway—Just to play in the Olympic Plaza and see the water shoot up to the music. Great for summertime play. Discovery Gateway formerly known as the Children’s Museum Utah. The kids absolutely love it and it’s interesting for adults. Hogle Zoo—this will give you a little workout if you’re pushing a stroller. It’s a big zoo with awesome bird shows, has a newly remodeled playground area and a mini train you can ride on for a nominal fee. On the far east side of Salt Lake City near the mouth of Emigration Canyon across from This is the Place Heritage Park. *And that’s just Salt Lake City!!!! :) Can you tell I love it here? After 7 years, we finally went to Lagoon and I took the big boys skiing for the first time at Beaver Mountain. :) Here are some more ideas we’ve done recently: Early December we went to Festival of Trees and now we plan to go every year. It benefits Primary Children’s Hospital and there are fun crafts for the kids, amazing decorated trees and gingerbread houses and other crafts you can buy and yummy food of course. My cousin Marla and I went to Scrapbook USA Expo in Sandy and I’m already planning on going again every 6 months. It felt like Christmas, it was astounding! My newest thing is finding when the local museums offer free days! Search it out in your area! And oh my, what beautiful mountains we have here. I bought a backpack carrier for Nathan so we could go hiking. There’s a great book we borrowed at the library that’s called “Best Hikes for Kids in Utah” or something along that line and has all the distances, routes, what to look for, etc. in it. The kids loved hiking up to Cecret Lake and finding a mountain of snow in the middle of summer! |
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My Favorite Running Music List:
Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband—”Banjo Boy” and “Hey Hey Hey” Erick “More” Morillo – “I Like to Move it!” from Madagascar UB40 – “Can’t help falling in love” Vangelis – “Chariots of Fire” Van Halen – “Why can’t this be love?”, “5150”, “Jump”, “Can’t stop loving you” U2 – “Where the streets have no name”, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” Depeche Mode – “Enjoy the silence” and “Just can’t get enough” Cure – “Friday I’m in love”, “Why can’t I be you?”, “Pictures of You” Modern English – “I Melt With You” Murphy Brown vs. Captain Hollywood – “Axel F” 2 Unlimited – “Get Ready for this” Smiles after 13.1 miles! The Knack – “My Sharona” Real Life – “Send Me an Angel” Escape Club – “Wild, Wild West” Sting – “Every breath you take” Beach Boys – “I get around”, “Good Vibrations”, “Surfin’ USA” Queen – “Another one bites the dust” and “We will rock you” Aerosmith – “Dream On”, “Sweet Emotion”, “Walk This Way” Smash Mouth – “I’m a Believer” and “All Star” Boston – “More than a feeling” Billy Joel – “We didn’t start the fire” Bruce Springsteen – “Born to Run” Hootie and the Blowfish – “Hold my hand” REM – “It’s the End of the world” Cheap Trick – “I want you to want me” Lindsay Lohan – “Ultimate” from Freaky Friday Melissa Etheridge - “I run for life” (song for Race for the Cure 5K) Kenny Loggins – “Footloose” and “Danger Zone” Joe Satriani – “Always With Me, Always With You” Rascal Flats “Life is a highway” Sheryl Crow “Real gone” and “everyday is a winding road” John Mayer “Route 66” Erasure “I love to hate you” Rihanna “SOS” - heard it in a spin class and now I like it No Secret “Kids in America” Savage Garden “I want you” and “Truly madly deeply” Bon Jovi “Have a nice day” “Eye of the Tiger” techno version The Best of the Gypsy Kings 1994 album (Latin) “Sweet Home Alabama”
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