tRiAtHlOn

Well, the Valley Rookies survived the Gold Nugget Triathlon!

I am very excited to say that I completed (without feeling like I was dying) my first triathlon! It was also my first 5k run ever too... then just tag on a 9 mi. bike and a 300 yd. swim on the front and you've got yourself a FUN race! I honestly had so much fun training, getting ready, and racing with these women. We're all game and ready to try again next year with faster times!

Here we are the night before setting up our bikes and gear for the race. We had to leave it all out the night before and weren't able to touch it until we ran out of the pool soaking wet ready to jump on our bikes the next day.

We actually had 13 women on our team... but we didn't all set-up at the same time that day.
I was nervous even then!!!

Lined up on the pool deck waiting for our turn to take the plunge. Don't we look so tough with our numbers on our arms? :)

Thanks Dad, for all the great action shots! (and you too, Kep)

Ready to ride! Drew was trying to catch up to me for a high five. The bike portion was really fun and would have been my favorite minus my brake slipping off and me running into the drink lady at the 1/2 way point and me being lame-o at shifting bike gears... I just learned a couple weeks ago and I still have a lot to learn. I can't wait to get better at that part.

These ol' legs were a tad wobbly off the bike heading into the run. Ooh, that was tough!

But it got better after the first mile. Thank goodness!

WE MADE IT!

What a great day. Don't you like our orange matchy-matchy orange shirts courtesy of Old Navy? It was so cool to be able to so easily recognize our teammates on the course. The bike and the run both had a turn around point, so I was able to see all of my team members during each event. I love that Lynnetta, our triathlon guru, was so encouraging and persistent that we all could do it a couple months ago. I thought it was way too much for me, but that I had to start somewhere after all this work I've done all winter... and she was right. I was commenting to Jeremy afterwards, about how there was no way I could have done this a year ago being 3 months post-partum and that unless I had worked my booty off (literally) all winter I still couldn't have done it. It has really made it all worth it and such a tangible way for me to see progress and time well spent even when it was hard. So goodbye 22 pounds... I don't miss even one ounce of you.

Writer Mama

I came across this book last weekend at Barnes & Noble and it is by far the best book on getting started in the writing business I've come across this year. And it's written just for me! Their tagline is: "How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids" Perfect.

Writer Mama by Christina Katz

I HIGHLY recommend it if you're interested in writing and you're a mama.

Summer is a beautiful thing

A few nights recently, we've been enjoying frozen berries from last summer's harvest in smoothies! Annika was enjoying it and kept stealing my straw...

We have an ant hill in the middle of our driveway and the kiddos were checking it out.

ba ba time

my big sweetie girl

Wow, Space Junk???

This computer generated image, supplied by NASA, shows objects that are currently being tracked in Earth's orbit. Approximately 95% of the objects in this illustration are orbital debris, i.e., not functional satellites. The dots represent each item. The orbital debris dots are scaled according to the image size of the graphic to optimize their visibility and are not scaled to Earth. This image provides a good visualization of where the greatest orbital debris populations exist. The space shuttle Atlantis is flying at about 350 miles above Earth, an area littered with more dangerous space junk than the lower orbits where shuttles normally park at the international space station. (copied and pasted from Yahoo! news)

Wow, I guess I'd never really given space junk much though... but YEAH, were have all those old satellites, rocket debris, etc. gone?? Well, there ya have it. Oh yes, and did I mention this "junk" is flying at 20,000 mph?

April Fool's treat

What can I say? I'm way behind in posting this... this was our attempt at April Fool's this year. At least it ended in a real yummy surprise!!! Gotta love crumpled-up-napkin-ice cream.

Triathlon Mamas

In 6 days, this gang of women, plus 1,400 more will be competing in an all women's triathlon!!! We are on a team of 14 gals most of whom I'm friends with (some I have yet to meet!) and have been working hard to get ready for the big day!

The ring leader of this whole thing is Lynnetta... (the tall one of us in all black)

she started convincing some of us this winter at MOPS that we could do it, and should do it with her! She's amazing, by the way... she'll love me for this: She finished 69th out of 1,400 last year! And it was her first one. She rocks. SO here we are testing out the bike course a week ago.

It's a 300 yd. swim, 9 mile bike, and 3 mile run! I know I can make it, but I really want to feel my best doing it... so here goes this Mom of 4 along with some good buddies making memories and maybe a new tradition! We start in the pool as a team, so we'll mostly be racing together, except for Lightning Lynnetta.. she'll be smokin' us.

But she'll boost our team score, so GO GO GO! :)

And, ahem... please pray for us next Sunday!

At the 1/2 way point in the bike portion... testing it out.

You'll notice one team member on the far right that just doesn't belong! That's our Senior Pastor Larry! He got the best of us in a sermon a couple weeks ago... and we paid him back by making him come on the trial run with us! He's a great cyclist and coached us along the way. You're awesome, Larry and a good sport!

Drew's Baptism

A week or two before Easter, Drew decided he'd like to be baptized! He said he was ready for the world to know he was a Christian. Catch the video below of Drewy taking the plunge! We are so proud to be your parents, son.

As a side note... throughout the video the little voices you hear are Gavin and Morgan desperately wanting me to pick them up so they could see Drew actually go under the water. "I need to, I need to, I need to..." And I love how at the end they were standing there so proudly waiting to welcome their brother back. Enjoy!

Summer days are comin'

Since I have some major blog catch-up work to do, I thought I'd start with a picture from this week! We spent a morning at our neighborhood park last week, and the swing was a hit with Annika! She laughed big belly laughs the whole time. This shot was taken after I stopped the swing so I could get a decent non-moving one! We had a beautiful week, with more sun on it's way!!!


For blog catch-up pic #1, I chose this one that my nephew Zach took while Annika and I were in Tennessee a few weeks ago. I love it because it captures here still walking with help. She is getting really close to stepping out on her own for good. She took a record 11 steps today!!! GO Annie-Bananie!

A few weeks back, I posted a quick picture of Morgan and I at our first Mother Daughter Tea, and here's more from that morning we spent together. Above, we were competing a a Look-a-like contest! We made it to the final round. :)

Morgan and her best buddy Megan!

The two cuties scoping out the room together. They are inseparable. They are 3 weeks apart in age and her mommy Allison and I played together as little girls. It's amazing how God allows our lives to come full circle like that. I would have never imagined.

nothin' like the South

Well, I've been back almost a week now and still haven't downloaded all the rest of my pictures. I will soon... but for now some fun tidbits about what I saw there.

So unlike in my neck of the woods, folks in the South are more open about their faith and it seems to be just part of the culture there.... We were in a restaurant my last night in Jackson and two things caught my attention:

1. There was a group of 3 college students sitting in a booth together. One girl piped up in her cute southern drawl, "Ya'll wanna hear my blessin' today?" It has been way too long since I've been in the presence of younger women sitting together sharing the great stuff in their lives. And sadly, you just don't hear that out in public! Granted, I know a bunch of awesome, amazing, together young women that I could totally see doing the same thing... but there was just something about hearing "Ya'll and Blessin'" in one sentence that struck me.

2. On the wall, they had a grouping of 2nd grade student's depiction/drawings of "Christ's Passion." (Christ's death) Amazing!! Never, ever, ever have I seen that outside of a church, especially not in a restaurant.


Then there's the sweet tea. Need I say more? I know I could make it at home, but I don't. It's my "visit my sister novelty." I had sweet tea at Chick-fil-A and Mo's... yum yum. Oh, and of course my other fave, Cherry Limeade at Sonic. I love and miss you! hee hee


Okay, and my last day in TN on the way to the airport, we ran through the drive thru at Chick-fil-A (thought of you Leigh) and there was a cop sitting outside at 11:30 am. Jen said that he's there everyday directing lunchtime traffic at the most popular spot!!!! He was there early just in case. He actually gets out of his car and keeps the peace between all those flocking to the home of the yummiest chicken sandwiches. My camera was buried in my carry-on bag or else I would have snapped a pic. It was too much!


Oh, and then there are the bows. Bows, bows everywhere bows. I love them. And I can't help but mention the Jon Jons. These little suits also come in lavender for boys are all around in the south. These two little babies pictured cost $66 & $68 bucks! Out of the two Sundays I've been at church with my sister, I saw at least 2 little boys in them. They also had the white knee high socks and white leather shoes too. Wowsers. We prefer the cargo pants and collared shirt look... but whatever floats your Sunday boat! In their defense, we have some strange customs too. Oops, did I say it was strange?



Well, that's my tribute to the South. I love it, I really do. My sweet baby's curls looked like perfect ringlets there. I got a great (and painful) sunburn that is now turning toasty brown and is peeling. I got to see my 3 nephews and neicey and got to spend time with my sister Jen and my great-at-helping-with-a surprise-bro-in-law Kris. For now, I'm gonna snag me some black tea at the store next time and perfect my sweet tea recipe.

sweetie girls

I love these brightly colored cuties sitting in the Sam's Club shopping cart. It was raining yesterday and today so we spent it indoors and added some more shopping to the mix. The picture below is one of the first times Molly let me hold her without crying. We actually made it all the way from the van into the store and took some pictures and she never cried for her mama. A rare treat! The girls are adorable together. Annika has the gift of gab for sure, and Molly just sits back and takes it all in.

Here ya go, Grandma Marla Kay! The girls wore their matching dresses today to church that came all the way from Alaska for them. They're even cuter without the little jacket, but it was raining on the way to church. Annika also tried her hand at a smallish Tennessee bow in her hair. ha ha Man, those girls wear the bows around here. On the bigger girls they can get as big as a saucer! I love it. Jen got Annika her own set of bows with a headband to stick them on... she'll be wearing them soon! She doesn't have enough hair to wear it like Miss Molly does.

We leave Tuesday afternoon, and are treasuring each day we have left! Oh, and Jen does have boys as most of you know... I'll snag some pics of them too!

Our first time...

Last Saturday was our church's annual Mother Daughter Tea! I've been waiting since Morgan was born to take her to one of these like I went to with my Mom and Sister years ago. She had to be 4 years old to attend, so this was the year! It was a special morning just with my 4 year old clone. :) There are more pictures to come after I get home from TN, and I'd love to share Drew's baptism with you all! He was baptized on Easter night. Thank you, Pam for this picture. It is a treasure to me! :)

Day 3... Girls Day Out!

One thing I love to do with my sister is SHOP! Today we hit lots of favorites and squeezed lunch at Olive Garden in the middle. The babies were so good, we just gave them a bath and they're ready for bedtime. Each of them only got a 15 min. nap all day!!!! They were real troopers for their shoppin' mamas. It was around 80 today, but we missed sunnin' weather because we were inside all day. Kris kept calling telling us he was getting a tan and we weren't. :)

Sweet Molly lounging in her shopping mobile.

the surprise moment

I forgot to upload this the other day! It's just after Jen walked into the airport and saw us!

Day 1... baby cousin time!

Molly is such a dolly! She came across Annika's pacifier and thought it was pretty neat. She had it in her mouth all different ways.

Bathtime!



Molly takin' a dip in the bath. I couldn't believe how she just laid down in the tub to wash her hair!

Jen and I are going out in a bit to the other side of town to help out in an after-school ministry to kids! Jen posted about it a few weeks ago...

Then tomorrow we're hitting some shopping with the girls! That's what we do best!

WE MADE IT!

So after 3 weeks of planning to surprise my sister, the day finally came!!! We had two amazing flights to TN, Annika was an angel and slept lounged across my lap. We had a great day traveling together! Our flight got into Memphis about 15 min. early, so I knew I wouldn't be able to film us walking out of security because they probably wouldn't be there yet. So we headed down to baggage, and I had my camera on all ready to video incase they came around a corner. I got busy helping Annika when they came walking into the airport through the very door I was standing by!!! So I wasn't able to video the moment we saw each other! So here we are, the baby cousins meeting for the first time! They are instant friends, as you'll see below!!!

I love how they're both in their footie jammies! Annika wet through her whole outfit on the plane from Anchorage. (and through my jeans, might I add) But thankfully I had her jammies with me from that morning. I'm SO glad to be here!!!! Jen and I just sat out in the warm sun for and hour and a half while the girls were sleeping. It's the life!!! For you friends in AK, it feels like the warmest summer days there. Ahhhhhhhh

If you haven't seen already, my sis posted the day I was traveling, that she was missing us. And has a picture of Annika and I!!! See it here... we sure surprised her!

gaga for goggles

We've been swimming a bunch lately, and decided to get goggles for the kids! The second they came out of the package the other night, these two wanted to get in the bath to try them out...

action pose

poser girl

trying out her standing/climbing skills in high places

Showing all 4 teeth at once!

playing dolls

As I was feeding Annika in her highchair the other day, Morgan brought out her doll, highchair, and dolly dishes. Drew snapped this shot of us feeding our babies.

Then, Morgan asked me if I'd watch her doll for her while she ran to her room.

Annika immediately reached over to grab her....

and tried out her bottle. It just wasn't the same.

Then she reached over for the rest of the goods...



Morgan came back and saw her kidnapped doll and decided that her sissy needed her own doll. So she ran and grabbed Annika's baby doll and the bottle with "macaroni juice" in it! It really does look like that sauce that sits in the Mac 'n Cheese pan. And all were happy.

And I treasured this first dollie playdate with my girls!

5 things...

5 things I was doing 5 years ago

* We moved into our new home in April of '04.
* I was pregnant with Morgan!
* I was mothering a very challenging 3 year old Drew.
* Life back in the Valley was all new after 9 years of living away, and I was building friendships and was happy to be back. Having my sister and family back here too was SO fun!
*I was attending MOPS for the first time and loving the camaraderie I found there.

5 things on my to do list for today (It's the end of the day... but how bout 5 things I did today?)

* Worked it at Cycling class this morning
* Jeremy and the kids met me to go for a swim
* fell asleep for 10 min. on the couch sitting up (I was a bit wasted after the combo of cycling and lap swimming)
* watched "Bolt" as a family and treasured watching my kids double over in laughter! (well, us too)
* spent some time petting and snuggling our last pup Butterball

5 things I would do with a million dollars

* Open our home and hearts to children who need us (fund adoptions)
* Build a larger home and a large chunk of land(see above)
* Travel outside our bubble with our family and see the world beyond
* give our missionaries mondo bonuses
* furnish the above home with lots of bunk beds, couches, barstools, one loooong table, and beanbag chairs


5 places I have lived

Spanaway, WA
Anchorage, AK
here!
in a motorhome for a while until we found a home in AK
in a dorm with crazy drunk neighbors banging on my door asking for help from their R.A. (me)

5 jobs I have held

Pizza Hut hostess (age 16)
Subway (age 17-18)
The Little Gym instructor
Nordstrom (3 summers)
UAA (all over campus)


5 things I want to be doing in 5 years

* be even more active with my kids
* Teaching my kindergartner, Annika! Along with a 7th, 6th, and 3rd grader. GULP
* Continue to be gloriously happy with Jeremy
* impacting the world in one way or another
* freelance writing regularly

5 people I am tagging

how bout J's this time?
* Jen H.
* Jessica C.
* Jessica D.
* Julie P.
* Janeen (ya know you wanna do it)