triathlon

well i did it! and it was amazing-i finished the RUSH triathlon...
i swam 1/2 mile in 38 minutes: it was more like a sideways doggie paddle. and if you notice i don't look like i'm swimming, but that's as professional as i get... i can't stick my head in-i wore the cap because i thought it would keep my hair dry. i can't even put into words how much this stinkin' swim has been on my mind or how hard it was for me---but i did it!

i biked 14 miles in 58 minutes: this was my favorite part, i have learned to love bike riding...my friend kris and i were able to do the bike part together and that was so fun to talk the whole way just like a training day :)

i ran 3 miles in 31 minutes: the run has never been as hard as it was this day and i even had to walk a little up the hill, which i never have had to do---but i did it! (total time: 2 hours and 13 minutes)
i have said from the beginning that i am a completer not a competer...and i just wanted to do it and i am so happy i did, i had to keep telling myself-i can do hard things.

my favorite part about these kind of events is the atmosphere, it's so positive and it just brings out the natural cheerleader in me!

this is shelley, lis marie, kris and i after we all finished...it was so fun to encourage each other and be there at the finish line together. i also have to say i loved the body markings on my arm and notice on the back of my calves-it made me feel very cool!

but i think my most favorite part was all the training we did up to this day...i loved working-out outside, talking everyones ear off. i even can say i like (not love) running if i can talk to someone.

i have to also say that doing this just reassured me of the goodness in people. eventhough in an event like this; it is a race, i never felt like that: not from friends, not from strangers, not even from my very competitive gym teacher...everyone was so helpful and kind. all i ever heard was a genuine want to help and encourage each other...amazing! so i have said that this was my one and only triathlon, but we'll see what next year brings?

AMERICA!

"and now we face a danger

greater than any of the (12) wars we have faced...

to honor the constitution and to honor freedom

is a sacred duty for all of us."

-President Packer

my sister Christy has inspired me to read through the constitiution, bill of rights, and declaration of independence recently. shamefully, i have to say i didn't know any of them very well. and embarrassingly, i don't understand some of it. but i think it's important to know what our country was founded on and if we don't, then we don't know what to fight for! i'm very proud to be an american and i love living in the promised land-i am blessed.

harry potter

"And now, Harry, let us step out into the night

and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure."

-Professor Dumbledore

clear back in december kara and i had planned to go to the Harry potter 6 movie together since she would be in rexburg for swim camp when it would be released. so we decided that we would go all out and be total freaks and dress up and everything. it was very fun to think of who to be and find our costumes(cheaply). i decided to be tonks, a not so major role in the movies-but i think she sounds so cool in the books! kara was hermoine, but she informed me if we do this for #7 she is going to pick someone older-it's hard to play a teenager. kaden of course was the one and only-harry potter. and brenden was his best friend, ron weasley. kelsi really wanted to come but said she wouldn't dress up with us, so she was going to be a muggle but at the last minute she caught the harry potter spirit and went as loony-i mean luna lovegood. by the time i got to the movie theatre to buy our tickets they were all sold out for opening day...the only ones that were left were the VIP tickets which were $20 a piece-yikes! but after kara and i talked we decided to do it as a birthday present for brenden and kaden-so we got midnight tickets for the show on wednesday. we were so excited. we went to swim camp the monday before that but planned on just traveling back for the showing on wednesday at midnight. well anyone who knows me well knows i am the worst at days and times, i get them wrong alot. so wednesday morning about 10am kara comes into our trailer with a sick look on her face and says "i think we missed the midnight showing" and i said "why?" and she said "think about it-wednesday at midnight would actually really be like right after tuesday night." we just stared at each other. i didn't say much because kara looked like she was on the verge of tears and i said "well i hope not." but i knew she was right:( so we finished the lessons for the day and headed for rexburg like we had planned, we decided to go talk to the people at the theatre and see if there was anything we could do. i thought i was all under control so i told kara i would do the talking so she didn't start crying(yes it runs in the family). well i was directed to talk to the manager and as soon as i tried to tell our story, i just totally started crying...well he was so nice-it was about 3:30 and he said all the shows were sold out but that they hold about 10 seats open just in case and that he would even honor our VIP tickets and let us go in first and get our food too but we had to be back by 5:15. well we were really wanting to dress up so we made a mad dash for my house: hurried like crazy and threw on our costumes which weren't even all the way completed. we were sewing, painting, dying hair, printing off the computer...we didn't even have time to take pictures before the show. so here we are at the theatre...
i'm sure there were lots of people at the midnight showing dressed up but we were the only ones at the 5:15 showing!
it was so much fun and i didn't mind people looking at us. side note: kara looked just like hermoine after her potion didn't turn out in the movie.

kelsi ended up being such a good sport dressing up-she wore the radish earrings, butter beer cork necklace and even tucked her wand behind her ear like luna. of course you don't have to give kaden an excuse to dress up, he used to be in his room reading his harry potter books with his whole costume on-i loved it!

this ended up being such a fun experience and we even have a wacky and silly story to go with it. i can't wait until #7 and i won't be in charge! oh, i forgot to say how i liked the movie, kara and i had just both finished the book again before we watched and i think we compared a little too much. but after it settled in, the only thing i really didn't agree with was the end-i hated that they didn't have harry paralyzed when dumbledore dies...there is no way that harry could of just watched as he died. and i kind of think ron weasley stole the show in this one-he totally cracked me up. i know, i know i'm such a geek!

swim camp

well our second year of swim camp and it just keeps getting better-i really do love this week and my kids look forward to it and start talking about the next year as soon as we're done. kelsi didn't do actual lessons this year because she took the highest class last year.
but she had fun keeping everyone busy with hikes, daming the river, bugging kara, and she loves to swim and she's pretty good at it too-alot better than her mother.

kaden was pretty challenged in his class, he was always tired and hungry by the time his 2 sessions plus dive class were over. he learned some neat things and i really should think about taking this class. i don't know if you can tell by the picture but they learn how to jump in with clothes and make floaties out of their pants. he really got stronger and learned some necessary skills in life saving. kaden has always been a pretty good little diver and his teacher last year told me he would be the dive teacher this year and to put him in the class. it was hard for kaden i think because it was right after his second session and he didn't think he was doing very good at some of the harder dives, but the last day they had their dive competition and the teacher judged them on 3 dives: one that they could do well, one that they improved on and one that they just liked to do. and kaden got first place-he was so happy...he won a reeses peanut butter cup, a green canyon swim pass, and a green canyon special burger.

kaden called it "meaty, cheesy goodness".

this is koys class it was pretty big and i was nervous but the teacher was the owner and he was wonderful: he called himself superman. i like how everyone is listening intently except koy-typical!

and i just had to get this picture, koy just can't keep his hands to himself...he's always pinchy pinchy to someone.

but he really did learn alot and has turned into quite the "koy fish". both him and brooke can jump off the diving board and swim to the side of the pool. i love to watch them enjoy the water so much, they seriously hardly ever tire of it. the minute we're done eating they're wanting to get back in...oh, i wish we had a pool here:(

brooke is so very good in class-she is so attentive and where she should always be. she would wait outside the pool like this until it was her turn...i loved her little ball:)

it was a perfect week(except the harry potter thing) and i can't wait until next year!!!

july in review

calendar quotes:

"those of us who have been entrusted with precious children have been given a sacred, noble stewardship, for we are the ones God has appointed to encircle today's children with love and the fire of faith and an understanding of who they are." -Elder M. Russell Ballard

recipe for life: faithfulness and a pinch of fun! -Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer

..........................................

i love summer! but boy it goes fast...we started the month out by going to fillmore for the 4th of july. so much fun! we went to the community pool and swam, well the kids did-i forgot my swimsuit. they love to be in the water inside or outside.
then the night before the 4th of july parade they have a little bike parade-the kids had alot of fun decorating their bikes...
kelsi pulled her cousin allie in the wagon.
brooke was looking a little wilted by the end!
kaden really got into decorating his bike.
koy of course was leading the pack-i think he went around three times in the time it took the other kids to do one lap:)
then the next morning we all pile into the pickup to get our spot for the parade-kents dad always parks a few cars the day before, so we always have great seats! it's about a perfect length parade not too long not too short, with plenty of candy(and a little too many popsicles). then after the parade it's over to the park.
koy and kadens favorite part is to be in the dunk tank-they can't wait to get dunked and this is the most patient i ever see koy, he even did it 3 times...and then i said no more.
they are always surprised when they drop, no matter how many times they do it!
every year todd gets a good ol' water fight started and i don't know how he still tricks us into it- but i even joined in this year...after i was already drenched i realized that i hadn't packed another bra, so i had to dry all my clothes when we were through. i absolutely love this picture-this is the look we all get when we see todd coming for us:] run for your life!
diane brought stuff to make swords for everyone this year too-these water noodles were perfect because you could hit as hard as you want and they don't hurt...we have had so much fun with them over and over too.
this is everyone-i think it's so neat that everyone takes the time to get together like this, i know it's hard to match schedules but it's so enjoyable when we're able to.
we usually go to church when we are there but diane & todd had mentioned they were stopping by temple square on the way home, so we did too. and i'm so glad we did. it's such a neat place to visit-especially with your family.
well we made it back to a favorite summer spot(only once this summer)...but it was such a fun day-i love rigby lake! i kind of was mad when i heard they were charging to get in and i said well i'm not going if i have to pay. but some friends who were training for the triathlon wanted to swim, so we went along too. and i have to admit-eventhough i hate paying for anything, it really was worth the $5. and they have made some fantastic improvements to the lake too.
friends + water + sand = happiness!
and these two sillies-jake asked me if i wanted a mooshy gooshy picture...what a nut! we stayed for 6 hours and i think most of us were rushing home because we hadn't realized how late it had got. oh, i forgot to tell the only bad part of the day-i found out that i can't swim, i had a slight panick attack in the middle of the lake and it really scared me(for the rest of the summer).
the kids have been doing lots of rehearsals for a play that they are going to be in "seussical" the musical. it has been a blast-all my kids go around singing these fun dr. seuss songs. and my friend lisa marie is in it and she has did the majority of the driving to practice, so that has been awesome(she is awesome!).
well koy has had all the normal summer pets he usually does: lady bugs, grass hoppers, worms, spiders, snakes, crickets, water skippers...but this is a new one. kent moved some wood and killed a mouse and then realized it had babies-and koy of course loved them, he let them crawl all over the trampoline. they only lasted a night-phew!
kaden turned ten this year-double digits.wow, i remember when he looked like this...
what a cute baby if i do say so myself;) kaden has always been so so sweet, i can literally remember forgetting where i sat him down because he just hardly ever fussed(and i was usually chasing kelsi). kaden was my fastest and worst delivery. he came in about an hour and fifteen minutes total, my water broke at 6 in the morning and i had him at 7:17-it sounds pretty easy but i hated it, i felt out of control the whole time and i yelled and screamed and cried and yelled and screamed some more. there wasn't time to get my doctor, so the closest doctor was at the sports and fitness center and i can remember the nurse calling dr. crouch on the phone, he must of asked if he had time to finish getting dressed and she said no you need to come in your bare feet! i was pretty panicky by the time he got there, because the nurse informed me that i wouldn't have any time for medication. he was wonderful, i remember at one point he said just look in my eyes the whole time, if you lose it we'll have to take this baby c-section. so i kept it together as much as i could. later he said that he can tell when a person is going to pass out by their eyes and he said i was on the way, so i'm glad he remained calm and nice for me. i remember after i had him they put him on me and i said "get this baby off me." i think i shocked everyone, most new moms want that but i felt so shaky i thought i was going to drop him. i'm sure everyone thought- what a nice mom! then the nurse said to me, "happy birthday" and i said "thanks" and dr. crouch said "thanks" at the same time. we all looked at each other and laughed, so the newspaper came and did a little story about kaden being born on my birthday and the doctors-that's kind of fun. i'm so glad to be kadens mom, he is an absolute joy!
this is kelsi(with the purple cymbals) in the 24th of july pioneer parade, advertising for the final performance of "seussical"-she made alot of new friends and loved being with her (bff) makyla.
whenever we go to the parade in st.anthony we go in the back way and you have to cross this bridge and i just love this osprey nest...every year it is bigger-and the picture doesn't do it justice! it's so colorful with all the bailing twine sticking out, i love it.
and last but not least, brooke lost one of her bottom teeth...what a cutie!