Wednesday, October 26, 2011

October 26—A Toothless Dragon, a Bloodsucker & the Froggie that loved Elephants

After two weeks battling croup we had about 5 days to recover before the stomach flu hit.  It just left yesterday and today we got ready for our annual ward Halloween Party was today.  We spent the day rounding up costumes and cooking chili.  Ian will be a football player on Monday for Trick or Treating, but the uniform he is borrowing has a game on Saturday…so for today he is Toothless the dragon from “How to Train Your Dragon.”  I think he looks so cute (although 8 year old boys don’t want to be cute, I hope he changes his mind and wears it on Monday too.)

HalloweenToothless

(Toothless is not really tooth less, but is tail is missing one side)

Vampire

Miles opted for the scary and wanted to be a vampire.  Later tonight during the  screaming that took place as I scrubbed his makeup off he declared he would not ever be a vampire again. I guess we’ll pull out the fireman coat from last year.

Froggie

This little guy has been absolutely obsessed with elephants lately.  So when I say the cute elephant hat and tail at Wal-Mart I thought I had hit the jackpot.  He wouldn’t even wear the hat in the store so I didn’t buy it and thanks to Aunt Mindy’s costume stash he is now a frog that really like “phants.”

**My chili didn’t win, but it was the first one all gone.**

October 18—Reading with Grandma

Reading with Grandma

After some time at Mindy’s we went to stay with Grandma & Grandpa.  Grandma read to the kids before they went to bed one of my favorite books from when I was a kid.  Ian read with her and both Wessy and Miles were clued to the book to see what the fly that went by was running from…do you remember what it was?

October 19—Superman Takes Over the Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch 1

Pumpkin Patch 4

Pumpkin Patch 2

Pumpking Patch 3

Pumpkin Patch

October 18—Indian Food & Some Freckles

Claire Black & White

So after a two week fight against the croup—three trips to the doctor, two trips to instacare, and one trip to the ER we decided to go see Mindy for some down time and Indian Food therapy.  After a lunch of lamb saag and chicken kurma Claire and her cute freckles posed for this shot. 

September 26—Wessy & His “B”

Wessy in Chair

Nothing as cute as a little boy, just woke up, messy hair, cute pjs, and his snuggly, soft blanket or “B.”

September 20—…and Look Who is 8!

Ian's Birthday

Complete with football themed birthday party, face painting, pizza, friends, and red velvet birthday cake…and no photo’s but the one from breakfast.  Happy Birthday big guy—we’ll get more photos on your baptism day.

September 25—One Reason To Love Year Round School

Ian & Wes ReadingIan & Wes Reading 1

One second grader to read books to the two year old all morning long.

Saturday, September 24—Daybreak Lake

Wes by Water Seventies

Another Saturday out and about to check out some photography locations.  After buying some yummy tomatoes at the Herriman Farmers Market we headed over to Daybreak.  I told the kids they could go play at the park after we scouted out Daybreak.  Little did I know there was a sandy beach where once again Wessy would plop his little bum right down in the sand.  And once again I was not prepared.  It was worth the wet behind though, the boys waded and played in the sand for a good 45 minutes and I had to drag them back to the car.  That Wesley loves the sand.  There is now a towel in the back of my car and yes Wes rod home in his diaper.

Saturday, September 17—A Little Bit of Stink, but a Whole Lot of Fun

 

Okay, it has been awhile.  Ever since Lotoja I have just been stuck in that limbo between post race high and back to the reality of training for the next big day which will be the Legacy duatholon in April.  Mindy my sister will run (thank goodness) and I will ride.  So until then it is spin classes, the trainer, lots of yoga, and hopefully the occasional nice day for a bike ride.

So here are a few posts to catch us up.  Back in September I took the boys out to Saltaire to check out the photo ops.  The lake didn’t stink too bad that day and we only saw one dead bird.  The photo opportunities are great for anyone willing to brave the smell.  My three boys of course did not even notice the smell and were happy to chase bugs and throw stick in the lake for hours.

Saltaire 3

Saltaire 4

Love how Wessy went straight for the dirt and sand.  Look for his sandy little behind in the other photos.  And no his mommy did not bring a towel or even a package of wipes to clean him up before he got into the car.

Saltaire 8

Saltaire 5

Saltaire 7

Guess who the leader of this bunch is?  I just love how you can see Miles and Wes off to follow Ian.  Notice the sandy butt.

Saltaire 11

They are like the Three Musketeers or as Miles says the Three Men in a Tub—Ian’s the Butcher, Miles is the Baker and Wes is the Candlestick maker. 

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Saturday, September 10—Two Guys & a Girl on a Bike—LoToJa 2011

 

Dad & Mike

On Saturday I rode in LoToJa with my dad and my Uncle Mike.  LoToJa is a 206 mile 1 day bike race from Logan, Utah to Jackson, Wyoming.  My dad and my uncle have rode in it before, but this would be my first year.  After driving support for 3 years I knew that even as a relay team we would be pushing it to finish especially if the elements—namely the wind was not in our favor.

Leaving Salt River Pass

These photo’s are out of order, but here is me getting ready to leave from the top of Salt Creek pass.  I rode into Afton and touched base with my Aunt Connie at the feed zone and then took off for Alpine.

Lotoja

My dad jumped back on the bike in Alpine and we rode up Snake River Canyon together.  I was glad to be with him because I’m a lot more comfortable pulling with him because we have done a few rides together.  We pulled the guy in the orange and blue for awhile, he was from Ogden.

Lotoja 1

Here we are passing our support team—mom, my sister Mindy, & Dave.  It was so fun to have them stop and cheer for us—it really kept us pedaling.

Lotoja 2

This is me going through Star Valley.  I pulled with a group of guys from Highland most of the way.  They kept me going fast and this was by far the fastest pace I have kept all season.

Mike Cools Off

This is my Uncle Mike cooling off at the top of the King of the Mountain climb.  He was so tough and just kept on going.  Some guy stopped and told him he needed a coke and gave him a cold can to finish on the climb.

Necklace

My good friend Nora got me this necklace for my birthday when I finished the Cache Valley Century.  I wore it on race day and as I was coming of Salt Creek Pass I could hear it jingling.

Ready to roll

My Uncle works for Stryker Orthopedics—if you need a hip give him a call.  So, our team name was STRYKER.  I loved the jersey and must say I felt very official to be all decked out in team gear.

008

This is not a sign you want to see on race day.  Just outside of Preston after Mindy about ran over a flagger lady we got a flat tire on the car.  Thanks to my husbands many skills we had the donut on in 7 minutes flat.  We drove back to Preston and fortunately found a place open at 8:15 in the morning and were back on the road pretty quickly.

050

Here is the group of guys I rode with through Star Valley.  They were such great guys and even slowed down for us in Jackson trying to get us to the finish line, but we had already turned in our time chip and were so happy with our ride (plus it was pitch black) that we stopped at the Jackson sign pictured below.

077

074

The ride up Snake River Canyon was so pretty and dad and I kept a pretty decent pace.  We kept picking up riders and trying to help them because we were not as tired as the individual riders.  We picked up this lady and when she kept telling us we only had 15 miles left we finally had to break her heart and tell her it was more like 26.  After that she kind of went delirious.  We saw her at the Jackson sign riding with her support car behind her for light.  I wonder if she made it to the finish line.

I will post my dad’s recap of the day because he is a great story teller.  It was a great day, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning the whole time I was on the bike.  Next year I want to do the “big” king of the mountain climb and hoping my mom will not see this I do plan on riding the whole thing in 2-3 years after I can build up some strength on the bike.  And just putting it out there to the universe who keeps thinking my family can not lick this race—I will finish!

Here is my dad’s version--

LOTOJA 2011

Well, for any of you that are interested, here is the blow-by-blow account of LOTOJA 2011. For those of you that may not know what this is, it is a one-day bike race of 206 miles from Logan, Utah to Teton Village near Jackson.

For the past three years Mike’s family and my family have been involved in doing it together. It has turned into an annual party, and I do mean party.

This year it started on Friday September 9th when Mike and Connie rolled into to town to register. Mike and Brady drew out a ticket for the race and Dave did not. I met Mike at the registration to see what I would have to do to be able to start with Mike on Saturday morning. When I got there Bradey and Alli were there getting shirts. We visited and Bradey showed me what the bike numbers looked like. Mike got there and we visited and discussed RACE STRATAGEY. As I said, we are really into this.

Mike and Connie came out to our house for dinner. We had a great visit. We carb loaded on spaghetti, beans, salad and our SPECIAL apple pie. Connie can tell you about this if you are interested. It has special ingredients.

After dinner we visited and they went back to their hotel. They usually stay at the luxurious Anniversary Inn, but this year had to settle for the less palatial Marriott.

Mindy is the driving force behind our team and keeps us together and entertained.


Robyn and Dave were coming up also and Robyn was going to ride with us also. They got to our house after we had gone to bed. We were getting up at 3:45 to have a good breakfast before the race. We got up, had breakfast, and were at the starting line at 5:30. Mike was there with his bike. He had ridden over from the motel.

I had to go around the corner to start with Mike because I didn’t have a ticket. I tried to get one, but they only give out so many. Anyway at 6:00 we started and were on our way. It was still dark but we had headlamps and the temperature was perfect, unlike last year when it was on 38 degrees.

We went out through the fields and were making really good time. Riding with Mike is a treat. He gets out in front and just leads the pack. I did fine until outside of Preston Id., when I had to stop and go into a cornfield to answer nature’s call. That put me a ways behind Mike, and I lost the pack of riders we were with. I finally caught another group and rolled into town a little behind Mike. It is about 31 miles Preston. We got into Preston about 7:45.

I rode from Preston to Montpelier by myself. Well, not really by myself, because there were 1500 other riders on the road. The wind picked up and we had a head wind all the way up Immigration canyon and into Montpelier. It is about 45 miles or so to Montpelier. Immigration is 23 miles of uphill riding. I got to the next stop and was glad to leave maybe the hardest leg of the ride to Mike. My feet were killing me and I was tired!!!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Mindy, Les, Dave, and Robyn had tried to drive off the support route and the flagger lady had really got them. Then they had a flat tire. The tire was ruined so they had to go back into Preston and get a new one. Luckily they found another route around the crazy flagger lady. Dave set a record for changing a flat and buying a new tire.

Mike took off from Montpelier and rode Montpelier Canyon and Salt Creek Canyon. This section of the ride is a tough one. Montpelier is gentle up to the reservoir and then it gets really steep. Mike was great. He went over the top like a deer. We caught up with him in Salt Creek Canyon and leap frogged with him to start of the King of the Mountain portion. He asked me how long the climb was and I told him it was two miles. Actually it was 3.2. You are tired and hot and it is really tough. We went to the top and waited and waited. No Mike. Come to find out, some guy in a car thought Mike looked like he needed a Coke so Mike pulled over and had refreshments with some stranger. He said it was a guy, but it was most likely some biker babe from Sturgis. This is a really tough part of the ride and Mike did a really good job. While we were waiting for Mike we decided to send Robyn on ahead to Afton. Mike got to the top, refreshed himself with a bottle of water to the face and off he went. We caught up with him out of the canyon and he had a tailwind and was hitting between 27 and 28 mph at times. He was flying. This leg of the race is also about 45 miles or so.

We got to Afton and Connie had sent Robyn on ahead. She was going to ride from Afton to Alpine. We waited in Afton until Mike got there and then we went to find Robyn. She was flying and was almost out of the county when we caught her. She had braided her red hair into two braids and was quite a sight with the braids flying behind. We had her stop and we put the timing chip on her leg and got here going just in time to catch four guys flying along. They had her jump on with them and because she was fresh she really made them work. They were nice guys and LET her pull some of the way.

Mike and Connie decided not to go up the canyon into Jackson. We weren’t sure how far we would ride so it was easier for them to break off at Alpine. We really missed them. They were so fun and Mike is just a super rider.

At the elk refuge outside Alpine I got back on the bike and when Robyn came through, minus her biker buddies, I jumped on with her. We didn’t stop in Alpine just busted on through. The Snake River Canyon was gorgeous. It was cool and there was no wind. We stayed at about 16, 17 mph hour all the way to Hoback Jct. In the canyon there was this crazy girl who decided to ride with us. She got on our wheel for a while. She kept saying we only had a few miles to finish line when in reality it was still a long ways. I think the sun had affected her. At Hoback we pulled over for a minute and this crazy girl started yelling at us about her support team. We tried to help, but she didn’t want to listen. We headed for Jackson and she stayed with us for a while. We slowed down to help her but the guys Robyn had been riding with caught us and we jumped on with them and took off. They were great and we were flying. They dropped us outside of Jackson and Robyn and I rode into town at about 8:15. I know the pictures make it look like it was still really light, but it was almost pitch black.

Mindy drove Robyn into a service station for a pit stop and we waited by the sign for them to come back. In the mean time the crazy girl came by with an SUV behind her with the flashers on. Last we saw of her.

We had a great day of riding. Mike and Robyn were simply awesome. The weather was perfect. Mike and Robyn rode two legs each and I was able to do three. We are already planning for next year. Get bikes and come and join us.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

September 7—Look Who is “Cool”

Miles First Day 1

So, Miles was off for his second year of pre-school today and can you tell he was just a little bit excited!  A new backpack and the knowledge that Benjamin was in his class was all he needed to start planning this day weeks ago.  He loves Teacher Lici and I love that he actually listens to her.  This summer I have been trying to teach him the rest of the sounds he needs to learn and every lesson is accompanied with numerous threats and a bit of loud talking.

Miles First Day

Upon picking him up from his first day I got the full report…Animal crackers for snack, a stamp on the hand for cleaning up, a new friend named Connor and apparently someone thinks Miles is “cool.”  I agree, look at this cool 4 year old off for one more great year of school.

Monday, September 5, 2011

September 5—Scavenger Hunt Sunday (A Few Airplanes, a Park & One Big Smile)

 

These photos are all from our weekend out and about.  We spent one day at the park and the other at the airplane museum.  The kids are now sleeping soundly completely tuckered out after their exciting weekend.

1.  Clouds

Airplane Clouds 1

Clouds behind a really, really big airplane.

2.  Macro

Airplane Macro

Close up of one of the planes.  It’s not very often you can get this close to the outside of a plane, and It made me a little uncomfortable—how do these things not fall apart! 

3. Abstract

Airplane Propeller

Loved the reflection in this really shiny propeller.

4.  Smile

Happy Wessy

Here is my little two year old dare devil who was more then excited to try out the big slide at Liberty Park on Saturday.  He even wanted to accompany his older brother on the Ferris wheel, but he clearly did not meet the height requirement.  He watched his big brother go around and around with big crocodile tears going down his face.

5. Stairs

stairs

We spent Saturday morning at Liberty Park.  We only make it to this park about once a year, but it is a favorite.  The kids loved the splash pad, the big trees, and of course the big tube slide with the colorful stairs.

 

Head on over to Ramblings & Photo’s to check out the other entries.

4795223164_aa1eb66c07_o

Thursday, September 1, 2011

August 27—The Big Ride

Here’s some photo’s from the “big” ride I did last Saturday.  It was a great day.  For a full run down you can read my post on daily mile.

4P3B0167

4P3B0166 copy

4P3B0192 copy

The ride went so well that I still can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that it was 100 miles! Looking forward to LOTOJA in a few weeks.  I have a 32 mile leg from Afton to Alpine.  I was hoping to up my speed in the next few weeks before the race, but my back is still pretty sore so I’m just kind of laying low and hoping for the best. 

Training for the century has been such a great experience.  I have needed something to really get me excited lately—inspire me to “get up and at it” and cycling has done that for me.  It has become my “happy pill” and I hope I can continue to find the time to do it because if mommy ain’t happy, ain’t no one happy.

August 29—The Tornado Turns Two

Wessy Turns Two

My little man turned two this week!  This little guy is the tornado I try to calm and keep up with every day.  His latest antics include feeding the fish half a can of fish food, learning to open the garage and front door, learning to open the car door, and deciding to be in charge of getting his own snacks and lunch.  His cutest antics as of late include yelling bye, bye to everyone, puckering up for kisses, bringing me books and pointing to the chair where I should sit while we read, dancing, sitting on Ian’s lap while watching TV, getting a rag to clean up some random mess on the floor, and loving anything train or as he says “choo.”  Happy Birthday to my happy energetic tornado two year old.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

August 23—One Year Older & Wiser Too

Ian's House

So, I started my 37th year by plucking my chin hairs, yanking out the gray, and wondering if I was hot due to the 90+ degree temps or the early onset of hot flashes. 

No, really it was a good day.  The day started at 6 AM with Miles 1 inch from my face yelling, “Happy Birfday Mommy, I wuv you and I wike you.”  He was more excited then on Christmas morning.  Why you ask, well mommy’s birthday meant lunch at McDonalds for him.  Nora took me out for CafĂ© Rio which we ate at Mickey D’s while the kids ate fries and played their little hearts out on the play land.  What a great present, we came home and both Miles and Wes promptly conked out for long naps.  Then Dave came home with pizza and a babysitter!  Yes he called ahead and got a sitter so we could go out for dinner! 

Now to the above photo.  Upon arriving home from school Ian asked for some glue then disappeared into his room.  About 30 minutes later he appeared with the above creation for me.  What a cool, creative kid!  Who taught him how to make popup cards—maybe Sister Buxton?  That is our house in the background and me and Ian in the front—probably years from now since Ian is taller than me.  Talk about being spoiled on your birthday!  Thanks for the great day guys, I love being taken care of by my boys.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Scavenger Hunt Sunday---Parallel Lines, Monet and Willy Wonka

Haven’t participated in Scavenger Hunt Sunday for awhile and this week is even a stretch.  All of these are from the archive, but I need some incentive to start taking more photo’s so I’m hoping this post will give me some inspiration.

1.  Geometry

Boys on Fence 1

Look at those parallel lines.  I don’t even know if parallel lines would be categorized as “geometry”  but I know I learned about them in math class.

2. Brushstrokes

Brushstroke Lilly Pads

Every year when we hike to Swan Lake in the Tetons these lily pads remind me of Monet’s lily pads.  I took a clean edit and then added  crosshatch and spatter filters at about 50% opacity.  Not near as great as Monet’s, but it does remind me of his famous brushstrokes.

3. Collage

Candy Collage

At our family reunion this year my Aunt really outdid herself with the fun decorations and candy theme.  I think she could give Willy Wonka a run for his money or candy should I say.

4. Hanging by a Thread

Hanging by a Thread

Here is my brown eyed boy hanging by a thread on my sisters backyard swing.

5.  On the Dotted Line

On the Dotted Line

Here is my pre-schooler practicing his writing skills on the dotted line.

Head on over to “Ramblings & Photos”  to check out all the other great entries.

 

4795223164_aa1eb66c07_o