Spudman Triathlon

After my marathon last year I set my sights on a new goal. A triathlon. My good friend was planning on doing the Spudman Tri in Burley, ID and said she would love to have me do it too. So all summer long we have been getting up anywhere from 5am to 7:30am to do our various exercising. The day finally arrived. We went up the night before and had a nice relaxing evening. We were one of the first to get our packets, so the wait wasn't very long. Then we got a good spot for our bikes, and had a good meal. We sat on the docks and just talked with our hubbies while we waited for our other two friends to make it up to ID, and get their things. Then we headed to an aunt's home to crash for the night.  

Here we are the night before after we were branded. 

Here we are ready to go. We were in wave 3 so we had to wait and hear the start of 2 other waves. Talk about nerve racking. I was ready to go when our wave finally came. 

This video shows some of the swimmers in my wave. I do not think any of them are of me though. I struggled through the first half of the swim. I think it was a combo of nerves, asthma, and just eating a banana. No more bananas before races for me. The second half of the swim I calmed myself down and got into my rhythm. Then before I knew it the swim was over with and I was a little sad. The swim was the part that scared me the most, and it ended up being the part I liked the best. 

Here is our transition to the bike. Awkward, yes. It didn't seem like anyone knew when to get on and go. But we made it. 

Here is our second transition marker. With hundreds of bikes it was nice to have the bright pink undies to show us where we were at.  

The bike and the run went well. The 6 mile run went by really fast. We had a strong finish. 

We made it!

My tracker didn't get my swim time or my run time over the finish line. So I'm glad I did it with a friend so I could see our time with her tracker. I'm glad I did it with a friend for my first time doing a tri. I am already looking forward to next years tri. and can't wait to see what I can really get. 

I loved this triathlon and am looking forward to doing more in the upcoming years. I may have found my favorite type of race! 

24th Celebration

 We watched the 24th fireworks in Logan again this year with RB's family. The kids had fun playing at the park. The girls came back from their cousin swap and they were excited to see us again and visa-versa. We had a good time chatting, and watching the booms. 

Ms M did really well during the fireworks this time. She claimed the popcorn tub hers and she chowed down. 

Good times!

Ms M is 2 Years Old

Ms M is two years old. Now she has acted like a two year old for quite a few months now. However, now she is truly two. The first picture is of her on her actual birthday. Since her sisters were with cousins we waited to celebrate till they were back. Ms M didn't seem to care, imagine that. 

On her first present she didn't really know what to do. She whacked it a few times and then sisters help her out. She was fine after that. 

I love this progression of pictures. 

Biting is not an option. Full fledged face shoving is what works best. Now to get that frosting out of the nose. 

Happy Birthday Ms M. We love you tons! 

Ward Party

So we were going to be out of town for the ward party, but because we changed our plans we were able to go. We had a good time. Dinner was good. We had never had dutch oven lasagna before. The kids had fun playing and us adults clucked-clucked. 

The only bad part about the camp-out was the sleeping part. It was a nightmare! This was our first camp-out since Buddy and Ms M have been born. MJ and Lil demanded the air-mattress which was fine because it has a slow leak in it. That put RB, Ms M and I on the ground. Yes, the hard, hard, hard ground. So uncomfortable! RB tried to go home but the gate was closed, so he slept in the van. Then about 5am I stole the sleeping bag the three were laying on so I wasn't freezing anymore. From 5-7am I slept really well! Needless to say we learned a lot from this camping experience and I'm glad we were close to home and didn't have to worry about cooking any food. 

Breakfast was just as delicious. RB took the older kids on the night hike and the morning hike. I stayed with the two little ones. After breakfast they had water games for the kids. It started as just a water slide. Then we got a game of kick ball going. We all went home soaking wet. Lil wasn't doing the slide at first, but then she joined in. I'm glad she did. 

By the time we got home, most of us felt like this. 

Overall, it was a pretty good overall experience. Meet some new friends and had a good time with some good food. 

Cousin Swap, Cabbage, & Dancing

Every year we have our two nephews over for a few days, and then the girls go to their cousins for a few days. This year we took them to the splash pad. They had more fun playing at the playground than the water, but that is okay. They still had fun!

Buddy was very impressive with his climbing skills. 

More water fun, while they were at the cousins home. Thanks for the pics!

MJ came home at the end of the year with a cabbage plant and a paper telling her how to care for it. She was supposed to take care of it for 10 weeks, take a picture, and send it in to their website. We made it 7 weeks and decided we better take a picture of it before it died. This picture looks a lot better than what it does now. 

We were shooting off fireworks at our home when we had some debris fall from the sky. Of course MJ had to get hit with some of it. Just her rotten luck. Not too bad, but now she is very cautious of fireworks, near or far. 

Ms M will sometimes join in on the Zumba fun. 

Here is Ms M enjoying the music on our drive. 

Hope you all have a great day!

More Swim Lessons

Last year we didn't do swim lessons because they were doing construction on the Nat. This year there was no choice, they had to do them. RB and I are adamant that they learn how to swim for a variety of reasons. The last day of swim lessons, was so impressive. MJ's backstroke looks amazing. We still need to work on the crawl stroke, and endurance. However, she is swimming on her own in deeper water. Lil was still holding onto the teacher and having to get help whenever she left the edge of the pool. However, on the last day she swam to her teacher with no help! I was so impressed! Then she needed help to get to her back and the backstroke is still hard. We need to work on floating with her. However, I was so happy to see these two weeks of swim lessons pay off so much! They improved and gained so much confidence! I am very proud of them! 

I know the video is far away, sorry. This one is of Lil swimming out to her teacher and getting help back with her back stroke. 

Here is MJ doing the backstroke back to the edge. 

After we went to the Pie Dump for breakfast. We had never eaten there and wanted to try it out. 

Way to go girls! You are doing great!

MJ is 9 Years Old

It is hard to believe that my oldest is 9! Before I know it she will be a teenager. Since she had already had her party her birthday was kind of low key. She still had a good day though. She opened her presents before her grandparents had to leave and go home. Then we had cake that night. She was happy with her gifts and knew what to expect with some of them. Since Lil got a stretchy she had a hunch that she would get one too. Smarty pants. 

Ms M has clammed this walking, barking dog as her own. She loves it. She plays with it more than MJ does now. 

Poor Lil has already forgot all the good things she got for her birthday. She was upset by all the cool things MJ was getting. We had to talk to her and remind her that she got the toys she asked for too. 

MJ wasn't picky about her cake. She wanted chocolate cake and then she wanted to try all the different  flavored frosting's that we had. Everyone was happy as they could pick their favorite flavor, or color is you were Buddy Boy. 

Happy Birthday MJ! We love you tons!