Golden Gate Bridge

Took the boys to ride bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge today. It was a beautiful day. Couldn't ask for better weather. We had a great time! We arrived about 12:30 and unloaded the bikes. The marine layer was blowing through the parking lot and on the beginning of the bridge. As we road along the sun came out and it was shining brightly. We all actually got hot from riding. Lots of people walking, running and riding bikes over the bridge. Beautiful scenery and lots to see. The boys really enjoyed it. After we left San Francisco, we headed towards Oakland and checked out Michael's Grandmas place that's up for sale. Just around the corner from there is a really cool park called Joaquin Miller park. So we stopped ate some dinner and then took some really nice pictures.

My first TRIATHLON!!

http://results.active.com/pages/displayNonGru.jsp?orgID=218713&rsID=70137

Check it out I'm # 730 for over all results

So I came in #720 for my age group and my finish times was 1 hour and 47 minutes. YEAH!

Running my legs off! Even though I look like I'm walking in this photo
SUPER JANE (WENDY) I FINISHED! 1 hour 50 minutes I think? Still waiting for them to post it.
Me, Julie, Dena, and Heidi. At the finish line
Proud of our medals!
It was great! I would definitely do it again!

Pictured with SUPER JANE!

I did it! My first Triathlon Today

So I went to bed at about 9:30 last night to assure I would be well rested. Woke up the next morning at 5:00 am to be sure I arrived at the race on time since it was in Pleasanton. The race officially started at 8:00ish, but there was lots to do before the race. I met 3 other friends there, Julie, Heidi and Dena, they went up the night before. #903 was my tag number to put on my shirt and they gave us electronic chips to wear around our ankles to keep track of your time for each event and total time for the race. I learned that with these chips that the time doesn't keep running during transition time, which could really add a lot of wasted time especially if you don't know what your doing(like me). To start the race off we swam 400 yards, they had us go in waves(what they called it) by age groups. First of all I thought they had closed Shadow Cliffs off to the public for unsafe water (I grew up going here for the water and water slides). So when I entered the water I was deceived by thinking I was going to continue walking on sand, and before I knew it I was up to my knees in SLIME! GROSS! Every 4 minutes they started a wave, my age group was somewhat large and when they said go I was a taken by surprise of being kind of trampled on, over! So I just waited until I had a clear path and took my time with the breast stroke and back stroke. I would have to say the swimming was definitely the hardest for me, and I can swim just not competitively. So after the swim was the 11 mile bike ride once again I was slow and stead. I kind of felt like I was in the Olympics, all along the way they had the police patrol traffic to clear the roads for us, it was awesome. All along the run they had water stations and people cheering you on and tell you which direction to go. So I headed for the finish line where everyone was cheering and they said your name and number over a loud speaker. My friends finished before me so they were on the sidelines cheering me on! Again way fun! When you came thru the finish line they awarded you a medal that said SUPER JANE! Hence the name of the race was See Jane Run! My friends took lots of pictures I hope to get soon, so I can post them here on my blog. I am not exactly sure yet but I believe my time was 1 hour 45- 50 minutes, I am waiting for them to post it. So over all I would definitely do it again, I would probably train a lot more in the swimming department next time though. Two times of practice didn't cut it. I will post my correct time when I get it. Check out the website and you can see the map of the race. http://www.seejanerun.com/ then click map.

LOOK WHO'S BIRTHDAY IS COMING

LOOK WHO'S TURNING ?? ON TUESDAY!

AND IS A SMALL DUNDER AND MIFFLIN FAN! If you get a chance make his day and wish him a Happy Birthday!

Our Saturdays lately

So our Saturdays have been pretty full lately, so I thought I would log what a typical Saturday for us is. Cameron and Garrett are playing Fall Ball (baseball) so there are always at least 2 games if not more. They start anywhere from 9:00 to 2:30 in the afternoon, so when they start at 2:30 in the middle of our day, we don' t get to much time for other things. Yesterdays were good, 9:00 and 11:30. Mike is coaching Garrett's team with a couple of friends and they got to choose there teams name, which of course for them would have to be the A's! Cameron is doing well but not playing for his favorite team the Yankees, but is dealing just fine with being on the Pirates. From the pictures above you can see that Morgan and Dallin just hang out and play in the dirt a lot! When we are done with baseball we come home to take care of some chores, like mowing the lawn, wash the dogs, laundry, clean house a little, haircuts. In the evening Michael and I, sometimes Cameron we do our training for the 1/2 Marathon. Last night Michael and I ran with some friends of ours! WE RAN, I RAN 9 MILES IN 2 HOURS!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. After the first 3 miles I can actually say it wasn't bad. Other than feeling somewhat sore today, it felt good to say I did it, because I honestly didn't think I could do it. Michael kept saying I could! So we ended our day with that run at about 8:00pm. We were pooped to say the least! It was a good day, to add to our day I forgot to mention Cameron & Garrett both won there baseball games yesterday.

GO BYU!

GO BYU! ON A WINNING STREAK!


YAP, BYU FANS HERE AT OUR HOUSE!!!!

Training!

So last week I did 6 miles in 70 minutes, Michael did about 8 miles. In our training we have running days and then cross training days which is anything but running or walking. Well this week, actually yesterday was suppose to be a 9 mile run. I ended up not be able to run so Michael took Cameron with him. WOW, was I impressed, Cameron ran the whole 9 miles at the same speed as Michael and didn't stop once! I think Michael runs fast or at least faster than me. You might think I should run the same speed as him or maybe even faster with my longer legs, but I'm NOT! So Cameron and Michael were gone for about 1 hour and 45 minutes and I thought for sure Michael would say Cameron couldn't do it, but I was wrong. Talk about making me look bad, I have had to work up to all these miles little by little and he walks out the door and just does it. So because I missed my training yesterday I will have to do it tomorrow ug! I have been enjoying this incentive to run and look forward to our race, which I think will be in November. My triathlon is in 2 weeks that I really want to participate in but that same weekend is a youth conference that Cameron and Michael would both go to and a baseball game I need to get Garrett to, not to mention that I would have to find someone to babysit Morgan and Dallin at 5:30am if I go. Minor problems hopefully I can get them worked out so I can go. Michael and I both will also do a 10k my first 10k Michaels 2nd or 3rd in October. Just trying to build up that endurance. Well thats my update on how the 1/2 marathon training is going, a lot harder than I thought. 13 miles is a lot ground and time!!!!!!!!!

2 months now

So it's been almost 2 months now since we adopted Beau, I think we have all adjusted . He has lost about 10 lbs or more by running with Penny and I at least 3 times a week, little slow but getting faster. Him and Penny have adjusted to each other, either that or Penny has come to the conclusion that he isn't leaving and I better make friends! They don't play like I thought they would, I think Beau is somewhat of a shy dog. He will bark and growl at you or a dog when he first meets you but then he is so sweet and friendly. Like just the other day he met our neighbors dog, which is a schizu(spell??) little tiny dog right, he ran up to her all tough and mean, she froze while he sniffed her then she moved and Beau jumped out of the way and ran away from her as if she were going to attack. He kept doing this every time she would get close to him. Well he does this same thing to Penny, except only when Penny starts acting like the alpha dog! Like if we are around and we pet him not her or Penny thinks she needs to protect us from him. A little jealousy I think! Anyway we are working thru that, but for the most part Beau has turned out to be the sweetest, obedient dog. He likes to sleep right by our bed at night and hides out during the day in our backyard by the kitchen window where it is cool in the dirt. Glad we adopted him, he's great!

Labor Day!

This last weekend we went up to the lake for some fun in the sun. The weather was actually just right, not to hot! We finally were able to get Dallin to try the Horse shoe ski. After a little bribery, he got on the ski and tried it two times. He wouldn't stay standing up though, whether he understood the concept or just didn't want to I don't know. But we got pictures and I was glad to see that he did something besides sleeping in the boat. We went up to the lake with some good friends of ours, they also had some good luck with their children wake boarding and knee boarding for the first time. A couple of our adult friends also wake boarded for the first time, I was very impressed.


This is Dallin on the horse shoe ski, to help the kids get up on it, both sides of the board are held while we wait for the boat to go.

We didn't get a picture of him actually up because someone got in the way of the photographer. This is me and our friend Aaron helping get Dallin up. Mike is driving the boat and Garrett I believe was taking pictures.


So, I guess Michael doesn't want me to forget that I set his sunglasses on the top of our car and then drove off with them still there. I went back to retrieve them and
TO LATE! Another car got them before me! Oops! Good thing Michael's birthday is this month, I know the exact thing to get him.
Surprisingly, it wasn't busy at all that day! As you can see in the picture, no other boats to be seen!
So, he didn't sleep on the boat, but he did fall asleep in my lap. I think he slept for a good 2 hours!
Yeah, nice picture, I know! Michael had this genius idea to wear nose plugs while riding the air chair. Sometimes when you fall, a lot of water goes up your nose, so he bought some nose plugs and then so that he would not loose them when he fell he tied curly ribbon from a balloon around his neck on to the nose plugs. So this is what he looked like with his contraption on. NICE!

I know, I know, he's HOT, I know! Sorry ladies he is taken! Look at those GUNS! Cameron's getting a kick out of it! Don't laugh so hard Cameron!

Don't forget to leave your comments!
I like to hear from you!

Triathlon and 1/2 Half Marathon

Michael and I have decided to take on a 1/2 Marathon, hopefully in about 6 weeks. We started training for it about 3 or 4 weeks ago, so far it hasn't been to bad. We have a schedule that we got from Fleet Feet and yesterday I ran for 60 minutes and I measured the distance afterwards and did about 6 miles. I think I really need to speed up my running or I will be taking the amount of time it takes to do a full Marathon. We both are enjoying the challenge and it's great to have something to work towards other than just running for exercise, great incentive. Not that either of us plan on taking place in the race or anything just to finish will be great. I also was just asked to participate in a triathlon at the end of September with some friends! It's just for woman, it's 11 miles of biking and 400 yards of swimming and 3 miles of running. The only part that I am a little nervous about is the swimming, I can swim but I don't know about do it in a race. Again not worried about placing, just finishing the swim part before they finish the race without me. In other words swimming isn't my strongest point! Anyhoo, excited to do both! We are still trying to find a 1/2 marathon that's not on Sunday here in Ca, I guess a lot athletes don't go to church on Sunday? I don't know! I think we may have found one in Big Sur very beautiful scenic view but it might have to many climbing hills, I would like my first 1/2 to be all flat road! Anyway wish me, us luck heaven knows I will need it!!!

the ABC's of me

The ABC's of Me:

A. ATTACHED OR SINGLE? Attached

B. BEST FRIEND? Michael

C. CAKE OR PIE? Red Velvet cake

D. DAY OF THE WEEK? Sunday

E. ESSENTIAL ITEMS? PROPEL TO DRINK AND SOME FRUIT

F. FAVORITE COLOR? Green

G. GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? worms

H. HOMETOWN? Livermore, CA

I. INDULGENCE? Ben and Jerrys Cookie dough icecream

J. JANUARY OR JULY? July

K. KIDS? 4 boys

L. LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT? My family

M. MARRIAGE DATE? Feb 6th

N. NUMBER OF BROTHERS AND SISTERS? 4 sisters, 0 brothers

O. ORANGES OR APPLES? definitely apples

P. PHOBIAS OR FEARS? FEAR-NOT BEING A GOOD PARENT

Q. QUOTE? PRIDE IS CONCERNED WITH WHO IS RIGHT, HUMILITY IS CONCERNED WITH WHAT IS RIGHT

R. REASONS TO SMILE? HAVING 4 BOYS

S. SUPERMAN OR WONDER WOMAN? WONDER WOMAN ALL THE WAY

T. TAG 5 PEOPLE? SHELLY, SUZI, JULIE, JENNIFER C., KAREN

U. UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME? MARRIED SHY OF 19 YEARS OLD!!!

V. VEGETABLES? ALL OF THEM - MY MOST FAVORITE RIGHT NOW TOMATOES!

W. WORST HABIT? NOT FOLDING LAUNDRY OR CLEANING THE HOUSE OFTEN ENOUGH

X. X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? I WOULDN'T WANT NEITHER, MEANS SOMETHINGS WRONG DOESN'T IT?

Y. YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? POPCORN

ZODIAC SIGN? ARIES

Waterskiing this weekend

Sooooooo, I remembered the camera and got some pictures this weekend of the boys. Finally got Morgan wake boarding, he's getting to be so good at it. And here are some pictures of Garrett, Cameron and myself on the AIRCHAIR. This Airchair has really become and new challenge for our family who can get the highest, go out of the wake or the best jump... Michael is the jumper in the family. I have already put pictures of him jumping in earlier blogs. My parents are here visiting us this week so we took them out on the boat to show them what the boys newest skills are on the water.

Hogan Lake 2006 compared to this year

So I was saving pictures to my flash drive and came across these pictures from April to March 2006 of the lake. WOW! This was the year of all the flooding in a lot of areas in California, Valley Springs was one of them. I remember it being nonstop rain it seemed for a couple of months. We had heard that Valley Springs was being flooded and that you couldn't even get threw on one of the main highways due to water. So me and the boys took a drive up there to take a look and of course it was still raining when we went. We haven't been as spoiled with the level of water as we were the summer of 2006. The hike to the water from the barn was a hop, skip and a jump and we could leave the boat in the water if we wanted to go have lunch or just take a break because we were so close. The lake was so full it felt like they added another lake to the lake that was already there. Other areas of the lake like the road to the boat launch were completely submerged, parking lots were completely under water and there is a great bike, running, walking trail along the lake that had parts of it under water as well. This year the water is about where we are use to it being, maybe even a little lower I'm not sure but it is still great to go skiing on.



So right here Garrett would be in water. Just a few more feet when the water did go down a little by summer 2006 we had our little beach area during the day. It seems all or nothing with the rain when you compare these pictures huh.

Who's had the most Stitches? Morgan wants to know

So after Garrett's ordeal this last Thursday, it's been the topic of discussion in our home. Who has had the most stitches or injuries? And they all actually argue who's injury was the worse! Cameron has had stitches 2 different times in 2 different places a total of 6 stitches, Garrett 1 time 6 stitches, Morgan 1 time and 9 stitches. So far Dallin is the winner/looser (depending on who you ask) without injury at this point, knock on wood. I am hoping he will learn from his brothers mistakes. So as I was blogging Morgan asked me to find the picture of him when he was 18 months old, when he got stitches. Story goes, he was in the stroller with his Binkie in his mouth and Cameron was pushing him around. We were checking out an apartment in a retirement facility for grandma at the time. We were on the second floor inside and Cameron was pushing Morgan rather fast up and down this hallway, and of course I told him repeatedly to please stop! Well he stopped alright, after the strollers front wheel caught the wall and flipped Morgan on his face. I lifted him up and looked at him and I don't know if the binkie saved his lip from more damage or made it worse because where the binkie was is where he split his lip really nice. Cameron, Morgan and I rushed over to urgent care and he got 9 stitches across his lip. During the whole process of being stitched up he was screaming "all done, all done" as a 18 month old would say it. There is never a dull moment in our home, but I always try to enjoy every moment even the ugly ones.

So you know how as a parent it's hard to ween your child from the bottle or binkie, well here is a sure but painful way. After this happened no problems with taking the binkie away from Morgan since he was getting close to being 2 years old, A little old for a binkie in my opinion.

What happens when you don't wear a helmet!

So Garrett was home for no more than 10 minutes from baseball practice, and jumped onto Morgan's bike and was riding around the neighborhood without a helmet! Well we live across the street from a parking lot and I guess he was doing tricks or not paying attention...obviously? Anyhoo they have these gates that they close (pictured above) at night to keep loiters out of the parking lot and Garrett thought he could clear it riding his bike underneath the the gates. They are only about 4 feet high. He has given us a couple of stories, he can't seem to remember what happened I guess. Bottom line, lesson learned you always wear a helmet and pay attention when riding your bike! So after 4 hours at the ER, X-rays to make sure his head was OK, 6 stitches, a light concussion, a slightly new hairdo and oh yeah a WHOLE LOT OF BLOOD!!!!!! YUCK! He survived. (For those with sensitive stomaches don't look) BEFORE STITCHES!
After

Thank goodness for pain medicine!
Next day, feel like a new boy! Nothing wrong here other than a bandage around my head!!!! These pictures are all from my cell phone so I hope they post alright.