Monroe's 24th Celebration

I absolutely love living in Monroe, Utah.  The city does a great job with its celebration of Pioneer Day.  The celebration kicked off on Saturday, July 21st with a 3 on 3 basketball tourney.  Brooke and Brin participated this year.  They did a great job and had a lot of fun.

Brooke going up for the rebound.

 

Brin playing some defense.

The next event was the Children's Parade held on July 23rd.  Chloe was the only one that wanted to be in the parade.  She dressed like an Indian girl and rode her scooter or as she calls it "her 'tooter".

The Thornock girls with our neighbor's girls waiting for the parade.

The funny thing about this picture is that Chloe was suppose to be back in the back with all the bikes and scooters, but somehow she wiggled herself to the front of the parade.  That's my girl.

After the parade, there was a community BBQ.  But I was so hungry that I didn't even take a photo of that event. My mind was solely on the food.  It was so good. 

The next morning, there is always a 5 mile run, 5k, or 1 mile run.  I have never participated, but I woke up at 5 am that morning to go place our chairs on main street for the parade and I couldn't go back to sleep.  So as I laid in bed not being able to sleep, I made up my mind to go run the 5k. I am in great biking shape, but haven't ran since January.  

What do you know? I came in 19th overall and 3rd in my age group.  Not too bad for not running.  I biked 107 miles on Saturday and didn't feel sore at all.  I ran this 5k, and I can still barely walk as of today.  I won a prize for coming in 3rd in my age bracket.....$2.   Love it.

My bro-in-law Jeff was pulled by his daughter Nova in the 1 mile stroller division.  She came in 1st!!!

Nova was all tuckered out after the big race and huge victory.

Wait what is behind that blanket?  Nova fell asleep grasping her Gold Medal.  How freaking cute is that?

Jenna ran the 5 mile race.  Again this is after she rode 107 miles with me on Sat.  She ended up winning her age group and coming in 2nd Overall of all the women.  Pretty amazing!

They had a raffle and I won this M&M hat.

Then we were off to the 24th Parade.

My girls with the neighbors.  They all wearing these cute cute headbands made by my talented wife!

Before the parade started, Chloe was dancing away to the music.

Our seats for the parade.

Carson got to ride in the parade with the rest of the South Sevier Baseball All-Stars.  He had a ball....(Get it?)

That afternoon, Chloe and I went swimming in our swimming pool.  Here we are laying out getting dry.

 That night we headed up to the Middle School Football Field for Fireworks.  We went up around 8 pm to socialize and listen to the live band.  They have a big raffle.  Julie ended up winning two tickets to the movie theater.  Her brother Jeff won a Mary Kay beauty kit. Haha.  The fireworks were great.  It was a great celebration.

Desperado Dual 107 Mile Bike Ride

Jenna and I after the race.

On Saturday, July 21, Jenna and I road the 107 mile bike race starting in Panguitch, Utah.  Jeff, Jenna and Nova will be moving to San Antonio, TX in 3 weeks, so Jenna and I decided to ride one last century together before that happened.   It was a perfect day for a ride.  It was cooler than normal and overcast. In fact during the last 8 miles it rained on us hard, but boy did it feel good.  Jenna had rode this ride before.  She set a goal to do the race in 6 hours.  That is 37 minutes faster than she did two years ago.  Jenna went out like lightening.  She was in great riding shape.  We worked together so well, drafting off of each other when one would get tired and needed a break.  Jenna and I ended up finishing in a total time of 5 hrs and 46 mins.  She ended up knocking almost an hour off her time.  I have rode this ride now 7 times, and my best time has been 5 hrs and 38 mins.   Congratulations Jenna for crushing your goal. 

Manti Aquatic Center Fun

On Friday, July 20, Julie and I took the kids to the Manti Aquatic Center.  It isn't a very big place.  It does have a water slide that was pretty fun.  The day started out with sun, however after a couple of hours, a thunder storm ended our day as the rain drove us away.  We had a great time while the weather lasted.  Wish Monroe would get something like this.  Enjoy some photos of our outing.

 

As the weather turned windy and cool, we huddled under our canopy

Probably not the smartest move by me, but it was fun to film.  Haha.

My Pulled Pork Craving!!

Last week I was craving a good pulled pork sandwich, so I acted on it on Saturday, July 14th.   It was a perfect day to smoke a pork shoulder because the temperature outside was cooler than a normal day in July.  I enlisted the help of my son Carson for the day.  It actually helped him pass of a cub scout requirement, so it was awesome.  We woke up at 6 am to start our preparations to satisfy my craving.  I have to give a shout out to my brother Shane for teaching me this skill. 

First we got our coal chunks nice and toasty!

We soaked our mesquite chunks and chips in water for at least 30 mins.

The coals are almost ready.

Here is our pork shoulder with the dry rub already applied.  It set in the fridge over night.  That was a good tip Shane, thanks.

Finally our little smoker reached temperature and it was time to place the pork shoulder on the grill.

We smoked it around 225 - 250 degrees, until the pork reached an internal temperature of 165.  However this is a loooooooooong process.  

This is our little secret.  Every 45 minutes, we spritzed the pork with homemade apple juice.  It added some great flavor and color.

The two cooks that day.

And we waited, and we waited.  It took almost six and a half hours to get the internal temperature to 165.  Then we wrapped the pork in aluminum foil and continued cooking it until the internal temperature reached 200 degrees.  Then it would be pull apart ready.

Finally after nearly 12 hours of slow cooking, the pork had reached its temperature.  Now we had to let it sit for another 20 mins.  What a painful process!  It smelled so good.

Meanwhile, we made some homemade coleslaw. While I was making the coleslaw my Brooke asked me what I was making.  I told her.  She looked at me in disgust and said, "Isn't that old people food?"

It was finally ready!!!!

The pork all shredded

Here is the final product that we slaved 12 hours for.  So good. MMMMMMMM.

Better than the sight and smell was the taste!!!!!

 Thanks Carson for helping me satisfy a craving!!