Half Birthday and First Triathlon

We like to celebrate half birthdays in our house. Paul is exactly 6 months older than I am. His birthday is my half birthday, and my birthday is his half birthday! So sometimes we get each other half birthday presents and I am always looking for an excuse to have cake! This entry is late but Susie turned 3 1/2 a few weeks ago! We made a half birthday cake to celebrate. It was fun! 

Susie and I like to make funny faces at each other. She will tell me, "now make a scary face" or a happy face, or a sleepy face. Here she is making a mad face and a scary face. She is such a silly girl! 

I have been so excited to do my first triathlon. I started training for it right after we moved to Flagstaff in June. I decided to sign up for the Sprint Triathlon which is .5 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I thought those distances sounded pretty easy. As I was training I figured out that it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be! We bought a membership at the aquaplex so I could swim laps and Paul took his bike in to get tuned up so I could practice on that. I am completely new to swimming and biking. I think I made a lot of progress (especially with swimming) but I have a long way to go. I read that race day should never be your first time swimming in open water so I went to Lake Mary to practice swimming there a few times. Lake Mary is really brown and has lots of crawfish. I sliced my foot open on something sharp the first time I went (I'm hoping it was a rock and not a crawfish) but the experience made me really squeamish of swimming in lakes. I didn't like putting my face in the water and seeing all brown.. gross. 

I was pretty scared the morning of the race. Especially for the swim part. I came down with a cold 2 days before so I said lots of prayers that I wouldn't be too anxious and that I would feel up to doing the race. I drove up to Utah and stayed with my sister Tiffany in Kanarraville on Friday. I woke up really early the next morning and drove down the Sand Hollow Lake. I felt pretty good but I was still so nervous!! My dad drove down and it was so nice to have him there. It really helped my nerves.

They start swimmers at different times based on the division you sign up for. I signed up in the beginner division and we went last. We jumped in the water and then counted down. The lake was beautiful and I loved the swimming part of the race! It was so fun! The hardest part was steering. I wasn't used to "sighting" because I swim in a pool. I kept having to realign. At the pool I can swim a half mile in less than 20 minutes and the swim portion of the race took me 26 so I was happy with that. It's pretty slow compared to most people but I will keep practicing. :) 

The bike portion was next so I got out of the water and dad handed me my flip flops and I ran to the transition area. I got my gear on and took off. The bike portion was the hardest for me, which is funny because when I signed up for this I was sure the biking was going to be the easiest. Riding a bike is easy right? I'm not very good at biking. There were lots of hills. One of the hills is so miserable they call is "Nemesis." It is 6% grade uphill for a mile. Eh. A lot of people were walking their bikes. I was able to push through it but barely! It took me about an hour to do the bike. (Again... really slow I know).

Last was the run. I run a lot so I was able to pass a bunch of people that passed me on the bike portion. It was so fun to see my dad at the finish line cheering me on. He says he is going to do the next one with me!! How cool is that!!? I'm not sure when I'll do another but I definitely will. It was so fun. I'm not very competitive but it's just fun to try new things and be outside. I really loved it! 

And we're off! 

Can you see me? 

This is me looking back to make sure I wasn't last ha ha! 

Running to get my bike

 Finishing the bike race

I met so many nice people at the race! This is Taylor. She is from Logan.

 After the race I went to my Mom and Dad's and showered. Then my dad and I went out to lunch. It was such a fun day. I drove home that same afternoon because Paul needed to work the next day. This was the sign that I found when I got home. :) 

1st Birthday and a Special Visit

Braden turned one year old! Paul had work off on his birthday so we got to celebrate all day as a family and that was great! We explored downtown Flagstaff first. We found a sweet shoppe and everyone picked something out. I got a homemade twix which was gone in seconds. Braden and Paul shared a carmel apple, which Braden sucked till it was gone. Susie picked the most colorful thing she could find- sprinkle covered marshmallows on a stick.

We went to the aquaplex, too. We love it there! It's always fun when Dad comes with us. After we got home I made dinner and we had yellow cake and Braden got to open a present. He didn't think much of the cake. I think it's just too sweet for him. But he sure made a mess!

At Braden's check up he weighed 22 lbs. He is in the 21st for weight and 83rd for height. He isn't saying mama or dada yet. Well he says dada a lot but he says it for everything. We are working with him to learn how to point to things and obey simple commands like, "bring me the ball", etc. He has a great love for macaroni and cheese. He loves cheese of all kinds actually. He also likes applesauce and smoothies and homemade rolls. He will eat what I make for dinner about 75% of the time. He stands up and walks around furniture but isn't walking on his own yet. One of his best qualities is that he is an excellent snuggler. He loves to snuggle with Mom and Dad. He gets so excited when Dad comes home from work. When he hears him come in the door, he crawls over to him at lightning speed. That kid can move! The other day we were at the store and stopped at the Pharmacy to say hello to Dad. Paul can usually spend a few minutes with us but they were really busy so we just said hi and walked on. Braden was heartbroken. He cried when we walked away! 

 Olivia came to visit us!! We had SO much fun with her here. The kids love their Aunt Livy. We did lots of fun things while she was here. We went to Chick-fil-A of course. Olivia and I are both big fans of Chick-fil-A. We had a blast at the aquaplex going down the water slides. I took Olivia to the lava cave, too. She thought that was pretty cool! We went on a date, dinner and shopping, which was a blast. We made muddy buddies and had movie nights at home. We also rented a canoe from the Lake Mary Country store. That was definitely an adventure. Believe it or not, we ratcheted that huge canoe on my car all by ourselves. Yes it was difficult! We canoed around the lake and I did a little swimming. It was a fun adventure. I just loved having her here! She is going to BYU-Idaho next month and I'm so excited for her!! 

A Fun Visit

Michele and her family drove up from Phoenix for a visit. We made some fun plans to celebrate. One of Susie's favorite parts of the weekend was definitely the ginormous bubbles they brought to share. They were huge! I love the kids' faces in these pictures. Whoa!! Look at that bubble!

After dinner we had a movie night- The Lego Movie with mint chocolate chip icecream. I'm not sure what Susie was more excited about.. having Sam there, staying up late, or eating ice cream! It was sure fun. 

We wanted to take our visitors to do something fun in Flagstaff. I have been dying to check out the huge lava cave so we headed up there. I read on the internet that it was a "kid friendly" hike. Um. No. Maybe if your "kids" are 18 and are equipped with heavy duty boots and ultra bright flashlights. We wore our tennis shoes. And carried Braden in his carrier. It was an adventure.

 The cave was SO AWESOME though! I have been in some cool caves in my time and this one rivals for the most awesome one I've ever seen. It was amazing. I can't wait to go back. Without children. :) Let me add however, that I was amazed at what good sports they were! 

The cave entrance

Love Sam's face. He had just run into a rock. So he was injured. I love Susie's face here too. She doesn't know where to look for the picture. We turned off all our flashlights before taking pictures and just had to smile and guess where the photographer was. Looks like Susie guessed wrong.

We had a picnic outside after our cave adventures. Then we hung out at home for a little while before we had to say good bye. We have missed them so much and it was great to spend some time together. 

And I Thought May Was Busy!

The last couple months have been very full....

Paul graduated from Pharmacy school! His wonderful parents came down to celebrate the occasion. I have great in-laws.  I've been so grateful to know they are always there, steadfast and solid and supportive. They cheer us on and love us and our kids. It means a lot to me. I get a little weepy thinking about it sooo... I'm going to move on.

We moved to Flagstaff! There are lots of trees and it always smells like we're camping. Paul has really enjoyed working here at the Walmart pharmacy. 

We were sad to say good bye to so many wonderful people that we truly love. We threw a little swim party before we left with some friends in the ward. 

Most trying this last month has been seeing my mother get so sick. She went from healthy and active to in critical condition within a day. I'm not sure how it all even started but her insides just all became infected. She had a bladder infection, and kidney infection, and her lungs became infected. She had pneumonia and one of her lungs collasped. The infections spread to her blood which is called sepsis. It was serious and scary to think we might lose her. I was able to spend some time in Cedar City in the hospital with her while Paul watched the kids at home. After she came home from the hospital the kids came up and stayed with me at Grandmas. We took care of her for about 2 weeks and now we are home. She is getting better every day and I am so thankful! I had so many people text or email or call me to ask about my mom and send their love. It really touched me. I'm so grateful for so many friends and family members who showed their love. 

Now that we are home we are enjoying being together as a family again. We had a fun 4th of July together and are looking forward to getting to know people here in Flagstaff. 

I hope everyone is having a great summer! 

Here are some pictures of the latest: 

Our first meal in our new home: 

Playing at the park (in June!?! crazy!!!) 

Dad's first day at work. We are so proud of him! A real life pharmacist!! 

Father's Day Fun 

4th of July (we got rained on while waiting for fireworks)