Utah Half Ironman

I weaned Taylor 2 weeks before the Utah Half Ironman in Provo so I could go watch Tige race. My kind parents kept all 3 of my kids. I enjoyed having some time away and tagging along with Tige & his friends. We had a nice (and blissfully quiet) drive up without the kids and we went out to dinner and stayed at a hotel.

Tige's brother, Kirk, surprised him Saturday morning as he also drove up just to support Tige & watch him race. I snapped pictures in amazement as Tige swam 1.2 miles, biked 56 miles, then ran 13.1 miles. I was very proud of him. Last year he ran this same race for the first time and finished in around 6.5 hours. His goal for this race was to finish in under 6 hours. He finished in 5:55:11. He's pretty amazing. Getting ready for the swim.

After swim transition.

end of bike

starting his run.

Oops. Forgot to take my stinky, sweaty bike shorts off before starting to run. Here, Julie, hold these sweaty shorts for me while I run. Yuck!

Tige was about 6 minutes ahead of his friend Cathy when starting the run. So when she finished her first loop and we hadn't seen Tige yet, I immediately got that stomach punch feeling that something was wrong. I said "where's Tige?" She yelled "puking!" A few minutes later, he came by. Kirk ran by him for a minute in encouragement. I said to Kirk "it's ok if he doesn't finish." He said "no it's not." Apparently I don't understand the athlete mentality. Anyway, he kept pushing through and finished (puked 6 times on the run).

I'm amazed he could push his body to do this, and I'm proud of him. I'm glad I got to be there to watch.

Southern Utah Tri Club

Kason's Fashion Sense

Kason got dressed today in red/white/blue plaid shorts and a white shirt with maroon and yellow horizontal stripes (the shorts had a tiny yellow line on them too). When I saw him our conversation went like this:

“Kason, your clothes don’t match at all. We need to pick something else.”

“Sure they match mom, stripes and stripes!”

“The colors don’t match.”

“Sure they do. White, white. Yellow, yellow.”

"And maroon?”

“2 out of 3 mom!”

How to argue with that? I love this kid! and off he went to school.

Cabin with the Cables

Do you have best friends that you don't see or talk to very often, but when you get together, it's like you were never apart and you pick-up right where you left off and they're the best friends ever? That's how we are with the Cables. We lived next to them 11 years ago in NSL. Kason is named after them. We were so excited when they came down for the weekend to my parents cabin. We had such a great time together. Tige & Jason took the kids fishing while Kristy and I just visited and hung out. When we got home, I realized I didn't take a single picture. Tige snapped a few fishing. That's what happens when you are with your best friends I guess!

Jason & Cole
This was Kason's 3rd or 4th time fishing at Panguitch Lake, and he FINALLY caught a fish. In fact, he cought TWO! He was so excited.

McKenzie. She little sweetie was only 2 when we lived by them.

Kason & Cole

This is what a super FUN weekend looks like when you are 7!

Rolly Polly bugs and Potty

The other day Abby comes into the house with a hand full of this...

Gross. Rolly Polly bugs. She's not afraid of anything (unlike her mom). I told her to get outside with them and gave her a little cup to put them in. A few minutes later she's crying hysterically. I go outside to see what's the matter, and she says she spilled the rolly pollies. They are all over in the GRASS and she's devastated. So I kneel down and help her pick them all back up. Hmmmm. Didn't know picking up rolly polly bugs out of the grass was one of the things I'd be doing when I became a mom of a little girl.

Made this cute potty jar for Abby for her treats. So far, it's worked like charm. The jar has starbursts in it (her favorite), and when she goes #1 or #2 she gets one. For the past couple of weeks she's been going to the potty about 5-6 times a day to get a treat. She'll squeeze one little poop out, then an hour later go in and squeeze another little poop out. She's so darn funny! But she mostly still pees in her diaper. She's the opposite of Kason and any other potty training kid I know. She pees in her diaper and poops in the potty! But hey, we'll take what we can get.

2nd grade

First day of SECOND grade. Can't believe I have a 2nd grader. He was sooooo excited for school to start and could not wait to get out the door. He's been a super big brother this summer playing with Abby and Taylor. We will all miss him while he's at school.

Gooseegg!

Now THAT's what I call a goose-egg! Abby was running around the house. She tripped and hit her head on the coffee table. Tige picked her up and watched the goose-egg appear instantly just like it does on the cartoons! She cried hard for just a few minutes, but then calmed down. I held her while we iced it. Good thing Tige was here because if he hadn't been, I'd have taken her to the ER. I was pretty freaked out. Within 20 minutes she was running around again and acted as if nothing happened. It took 2 weeks for the bump and bruise to disappear.

Jumpin Jacks

About a week before school started, I asked Kason "is there anything you wanted to do this summer that we haven't done?" His immediate answer was "JUMPIN JACKS!" So we grabbed our cousins, left Taylor with dad, and went to jump to their heart's content. This was Abby's first time, and she had no problem keeping up with the big kids. That girl isn't scared of anything.

Family Pictures

Last month at my family reunion, my cousin Valerie took some family pictures for us. I was so excited to get an updated photo done and the kids were suprisingly cooperative. Here are some of my favorites: