How will you know if you never TRI?

A couple of months ago, one of my crazy friends suggested that we quit being "lame moms" and do some things that were physically out of our comfort zone... one of those things being a triathlon. I have never thought of doing one... and wondered if I really could seeing as I never had formal swim lessons. Laura talked me into it and I started training. I have not only learned how to swim (HUGE shout out to my niece Victoria for schooling me in the mechanics of freestyle...Couldn't figure it out till she helped me!) but have learned that probably one of the reasons we fought so hard in the pre existence to come down and have a body is because maybe we would find out how amazing that body could be. My body is not perfect by the worlds standards. But it amazed the heck out of me this past weekend! Also got to do it with some of the most amazing and inspiring women I know. I learned so much from them through the whole process and my friendship with them was strengthened cuz we did this together. Here is Brooke, Laura and I at the Pima Pool before the race.


Nerves maybe starting to kick in a little at the reality of what we were supposed to accomplish!

Brooke lovingly called me condom head...U all know you are jealous of my swim cap. Had to keep my mop out of my eyes just in case I started swimming fast!



Couldn't swim before we started... now I love it! I am not fast but I can do it!! Here I am starting the race.



Here I am trying to transition to the bike after the swim. I thought the bike was gonna be the easy part...



I have to say that the bike portion killed me. It was the hardest part of the race for me. I cried alot during the bike. All of our husbands and kids were at various points in the race to cheer us on. I could see all of them ahead of me and knew that I had to quit crying and pedal hard at least for the 10 seconds that they were watching. The other time on the road when I was alone, I cannot explain the thoughts in my head. But I wondered if I could finish the race. There was a particular part of the bike race where I looked down at my speedometer and realized I was going about 6 mph...usually I can comfortably bike at 15 mph. Up in the distance I saw Mike and Mandy Ajeman.In that moment in the race, I lost it. I started bawling and couldn't breathe and couldn't believe that I have been blessed with such awesome friends. They were there from start to finish along with the rest of my family. It was definitely those moments of making eye contact with Nathan as I was DYING and hearing him say "You can do it! You are doing great!" that made me somehow keep pushing.



I hate this pic of me. But it shows the reality... I was dragging booty!


Brooke and I started in the same heat and so she was waiting for me under a tree when I crossed the finish line. I have a better pic of us than this but this shows how I really felt...



Laura started in the heat after us so Brooke and I walked a little ways up the trail to wait for Laura and run in with her. We thought it would be awesome for her photos if we ran behind her and made it look like she was kickin our trash. This was one of the most emotional parts of the day for me as Laura stopped, looked at Brooke and I and said, "I can't run. I got nothin' left." We encouraged her and then Brooke said, "You can do it. Do it for Carter." (Look for upcoming post about Carter's Angels for explanation.) Laura pushed through and finished. I thought it was freakin awesome that she puked 4 times! I don't knoww if you can zoom in on this pic. She would puke, spit and run a little more. Rocko and Ethan are looking on in this pic.



Here is us at the Finish Line. SO AMAZING!


It was the hardest and best thing I've done in a long time. My kids were all there (including Garett who was there start to finish... he even watched me swim!) my mother in law, (Thanks Jeanne) suprised me and showed up at the finish line. Mike and Mandy Ajeman were there along with all of Laura and Brookes families and parents who cheered for all three of us! We couldn't have done it without them. I didn't get a pic of me with Nathan so this old one will have to do. Let me suffice it to say, his belief in me pushes me to do things that I think I can't do. In his quiet peaceful way, he turns my head and tunes my heart in the right direction. Until I rediscover that I can do all things through my Savior. How on earth did I get so lucky? I LOVE THIS MAN! He rearranged work schedules and helped take care of kids and was my "transition trainer", and cheeerleader all on 5 hours of sleep during a 50 hour period of time! He is amazing! Thank you Nathan! xxoo

Updates coming soon.....

Sorry about the delay... SO MUCH has been going on... beach trips, Savannah's Birthday and Ryan's birthday.....It has been crazy around here so don't quit checking... Updates coming to a blog near you... hopefully it will be my blog! :)

Double Digits Baby!

Savannah Turns 10!! We had a very low key but fun day on Savannah's birthday. She had one of her really good friends, Cambree come over and we went to Peter Piper Pizza. It was really fun!

10 reasons we LOVE and ADORE Savannah... we are so glad she is ours!

1. She is so good with little kids
2. She has an infectious laugh...
3. She is great at sports and gymnastics.
4. She can sing and dance with the best of them.
5. She is pretty organized.
6. She is a great student.
7. She has a great memory and can remember lots of things I say that I have no recollection of ever saying.
8. She reminds us to do the things that are right. Loves Family Home Evening.
9. She knows how to make others feel at ease.
10. She is my only daughter and I am so thankful to have a little girl to dress up and do girl things with. I am the luckiest mom on the planet.

What do you remember about the Easter story?

Found this in my old drafts... shoulda posted it then but never got around to it.... wierd. Thought it was too funny not to share. I promise not to tell on the parents whose kids made these AWESOME comments.


Nathan teaches the almost 6 year olds in Primary. (CTR 6) He had to work Saturday night before Easter and so I told him I would teach his class. After reviewing the pictures and the accounts from the scriptures about the Easter story, we passed an Easter egg around and asked everyone what they remembered about the story. One little boy said, "... I know the erection!" We had to practice saying RESSURECTION several times after that! Another little boy remembered that the three women took stuff to put with Jesus' body so it wasn't smelly. When I asked him if he remembered what "stuff" they took, he said... "Ummmm... Pepper?" I think that was the only "spice" that he could think of!

"It's a chumbucket bucket hat!"

My kids were getting ready for bed the night before Easter after coloring eggs. We had bought these cool sand buckets for Easter baskets thinking we could reuse them in Mexico later. So my creative kids put them on their head and Ethan came up with the name "Chumbucket Bucket Hat" I am sure that it is Spongebob inspired... I don't know. But they thought it was hilarious and I couldn't quit laughing. Garett was not thrilled to take the picture but is always a good sport. Hope everyone had a great Easter.

Cousin Time

My little sister Molli is prego and has had some kidney issues during her pregnancy. Crappy for her... fun for me! I got to keep her two kiddos while she was in the hospital gettin hopped up on some sweet stuff. It was a blast and my kids were thankful to get to spend some time with Brynlee and Brennan.

Playin' out in the backyard


Harriet Potter



Peace My Brutha

Like a mom on crack...

So I think it is the white trash in me that loves to hit the Dollar Tree Store every time I pass it. It is like a drug... Even if I have been there in the last 12 hours, I think to myself that there could be something new and totally in the "that is an amazing deal" catagory. I also love the library... I love to read and I love books! So my friend Laura and I went a couple weeks ago and combined the library trip with the Dollar Tree trip. We thought it was fun and so the next week we invited our friend Brooke. On the morning of the trip, we all ended up with extra kids. It was funny to see all the car seats and all the other kids sort of thinking about buckling up... I know, I know! I am a stinky mom. It was totally my kid unbuckled in the back of Laura's van. It was still pretty funny when we made them pose for a pic outside the library.


Then we talked about attempting the lure of the Dollar Tree and decided that we could handle it...It was still kinda funny when we loaded all of them in 3 different carts and headed in to the store.



There was no amount of caffeine that could cure how dumb I thought we were to take 13... read the numbers people... 13 kids into the Dollar Tree. Ahhhh...the memories!