July 2012

June 29 we drove to Utah for about a month of FUN!!! Except the real fun wasn't going to start until AFTER our big triathlon on the 30th. As usual, we left Rapid City at 3:30 in the morning so that we could get to Bear Lake around lunch-time and have some time to relax, eat, and have fun before we had to head over to pick up our race packets. This is some of the fun we had in the meantime...

Sam and I got to wear styling wet-suits for the race (thank you to Bonnie for picking these up for us). Sam's parents and sisters and brother and wife joined us for some fun at the lake as well....and to offer us support and encouragement during the race!

These wet-suits were actually AMAZING!!! Not only was the water FREEZING the next morning, but they provided much-needed buoyancy.

This was the crowd from Rapid City, SD doing the Mountain Tropic half-ironman triathlon.

Some before and after pics...it was a BEAUTIFUL day - no wind, thank heavens! But the sun was very bright and right in our line of vision on the way out for the swim. And then it just got HOTTER and HOTTER!

Sam coming out of the water from the swim. He did really well on the swim. He finished it in 33:09! He was proud of that for a 1.2 mile swim

I had a little harder time on the swim...that cold water really took my breath away every time I put my face in and my I couldn't see worth beans because of my goggles...anyway, my time was 41:06...but that was about what I had expected...oh well.

Sam did great on the bike until about 1/2 way through...then he says he bonked. His bike time ended up at 3:28:39. It was HOT and flat...we did most of our training on hills (hard up, but you get a break on the downs)...and there were no down hills to rest on in this ride. But it was beautiful...

Coming out of the swim-bike transition...my legs were already cramping up from the swim....

My bike time says it was 3:18:27...I seriously doubt I was faster than Sam. But it also says that my transition time was only 3:13, when I know for a fact that it actually took me like 15 minutes on that first transition....whatever! I felt pretty darn good on the bike, especially when I would cruise past everyone on the hills (I did most of my training on hills towing 3 kids behind me)...but then those same people would fly past me again on the flat....so then I was a little deflated. I bonked about 3/4 of the way through the bike. I should have taken in more fuel. And I was really just SOOOOO sick of being in the saddle and my arms being in that position....I was ready to cry toward the end of the bike actually....and seeing a glassy Bear Lake the whole ride that I wished I was skiing on made me want to cry also...

But it did eventually come to an end. And you can tell by my smile below how happy I was to be OFF my bike. Running is something my body is much more accustomed to enduring for long-distance.

A couple bike-run transition pics....

Then...the run...SO HOT!!!! First I was wearing a sweater of sunscreen, which didn't help. And then there was NO shade on the run-course. And it was noon!!! I just dumped water on myself at every aid-station, which were every mile, and was able to stay plenty cool. I felt pretty bad when I caught up to Sam a little after the half-way point on the run. His knee started KILLING him about a mile or two into the run, so he was walking most of the time. I stayed with him and just started asking EVERYONE we saw (other runners, boaters, bikers, cabin-dwellers...anyone) if they had any ibuprofen or anything, until we found one lady who was on a boat just getting pulled out of the water that had an 800mg ibuprofen!!!! Sam stopped to go to the bathroom, so I kept going. And apparently the ibuprofen worked because he ended up coming in just a few minutes after me! When I came across the finish line the picture guy wasn't paying attention and missed it. So he asked me to go back and come across again for the picture....hence the cheesiness of the pictures below.

Sam's finish-line photos are genuine though. He did great on an injured knee eh?

The extremely happy and exhausted couple. Happy that all that training and time is finally over...we DID IT!!! WE FINISHED! And exhausted because well....we did it!

Our final times were 6:29:54 and 6:41:49......not awesome...but a time!

So glad it's over!!!! Now we can get back to living life and having fun without feeling the need to exercise and train all the time.

And then we relaxed and played and slept and relaxed at the cabin for the rest of the day. And on Sunday we went to church and then packed up and headed to the Evans' cabin for some horsin' around!

Can I just say how much I LOOOVVVEEE the family I married into! Thank you for having horses and a cabin and property in just about the most gorgeous place on earth. And thank you for providing my children with the childhood dreams that I never got to see come true (but having those dreams come true now is great!!!)

Every one of my kids is just as in love with horses, if not more, than Sam or I could have wished for. LucyMae was so proud of herself being able to ride Darrell all by herself. She held the reins and horn. Sam just had a lead rope tied to her in case Darrell did anything dumb....but of course she didn't. Sam's horse was dumb a couple of times and caused Sam to lose the rope, but Darrell was awesome and just stood there and waited for Sam to come and get her again. THANK YOU DARRELL for taking such good care of my little girl!

LucyMae is seriously SOOOO proud of herself in this picture....can you see it at all? We just got back from a serious ride...no little dinky walk around the road. We went up to the Spring and everything.

Now this kid....man does have a temper and a stubborn streak (I wonder where he got that from?). He is obsessed with horses and sitting on them. And if you try to get him off, or even touch him to help him slide back up into the saddle so he doesn't fall off, man does this kid get mad! He will growl and scream and swat your hands away. He wants to ride his horse dang it! I am glad he loves horses....but we have to get him in some anger-management classes I think:)

Can't you just see the pure glee in this kids' face? I love the unadulterated joy my kids still have....I just pray that I don't stamp it out with all my seriousness and impatience and grouchiness.

And you can see the true love of Amy for her daughter, Ava, and for her husband! Amy does not love horses and is perfectly happy to remain on the ground with her own two feet. But her husband, Andy, LOVES horses and wants his kids to love horses as well. Ava had scary experience with a horse in Iowa not too long ago, so Ava had some fears to overcome this time. And Andy was away doing rotations for his medical school...so it was left to Amy to help Ava get used to horses again. Not Amy's favorite place to be - on a horse. But she did it, and by the end of their time up at the cabin Ava was a on a ride without Amy, with grandpop!

Samantha loves uncle Joe! I adore seeing how sweet and kind all of my kids' uncles and aunts are with them. But there is something special about Samantha and Joe's relationship. She really loves that Joe.

And it was so nice to go on some rides without kids too. Sam and I went on a nice, long ride with Joe and Shelby early one morning. It was so beautiful and fun! Man, I am going to miss that place...until we can go back again.

Don't these 3 fit nicely on one horse? Ben's face is priceless no? I'm not really sure what Samantha is doing. But LucyMae sure is doing a great job holding everyone eh? Such a good big sister.

That little tongue of his is going to get bit off someday....it is ALWAYS between his teeth out the the corner of his mouth....man this kid is AWESOME!!!

Ava even got comfortable enough to go with Hannah! Such a brave girl on the horse after her fear!

LucyMae was quite proud of herself for this one too. She asks to see this picture frequently:)

Every grandkid has to have a turn riding with grandpop! THANK YOU EVANS!!!!

We finished our "EVANS FAMILY REUNION" (deny it all you want Clair - that's what it was!:)) with the tradition of the Oakley Rodeo on the 4th of July. It was a good rodeo this year. I'm still kicking myself for not getting a picture of everyone (with Amy and Ava and Joe and Shelby) in front of the cabin with Nana though! Who knows when we'll have that chance again!? So mad at myself.

And then it was back up to Bear Lake for more fun with my family. Man I do love that Bear Lake. Does it get much better than that? Ahhhhhhh......(that's a sigh of relaxation)

Party-time on the boat...love those boy cousins

Despite the chilly temperature of the water, Ben is in heaven. This kid LOVES swimming. He loves just about everything that is awesome and fun!

Cosmic Orbiter....I love this thing! And I love how cute LucyMae and Clark were as they got to know each other better. So fun to play with cousins - especially when you're 4.

Sparklers apparently bring out the seriousness in all kids....check out their concentration!

Cousins hanging out on the boat....and luckily nobody got sunburned too bad!

Tube time....this was after the crazy ride Don took us on...I specifically recall Don saying he would be really nice driving, but I was deceived. He took us on a wild and crazy ride. But we survived. To be funny, and to make a point about the crazy ride I did yell to Sam "We should have gotten life insurance!" It was funny at the time, and probably would have made a great commercial for life insurance. I do love that husband of mine!

Beautiful little red-head

Clark is excited to meet his new little sister

Samantha and Cannon were not having quite as much fun on the Cosmic Orbiter....

Despite the rocky beach....we had some fun swimming and playing at the beach.

LucyMae is turning into a little fish. She is seriously getting so good at swimming. I think all those swimming lessons are paying off!

And what's better than tube-time with daddy? Isn't Sam the best? I and my kids sure think so!

My cousins' families were at Bear Lake at the same time for a couple days. Both Noah and Ben have little girls age 4 with names that start with L! They were pretty fast friends. Lyvia, Lyla, and LucyMae!

And these fellows all share names in common: we have 'Ben'jamin Dean, 'Ben'jamin Neville, and 'Ben'nett Richard.

LucyMae and Lyla. This picture just makes me wish they could have spent more time together. They were fast friends and would have had a ball together at Bear Lake!:( Let's get them together again soon Noah and Kristi!

A sort of picture of our family reunion. Don's taking the picture, so we're missing him, and we're missing all of Brittani's family, and Rennie, and Paul! But we were all together as much as we could be.

We spent a night at my mom's house in South Jordan. The girls LOVED taking a ride in Grandma Michelle's convertible! They are seriously fascinated with "cars without a top!"

And Sam left for New York the next morning. But I stayed an extra 2 days so I could go to my great friends' wedding shower. And in the meantime, I took the kids up to my friends cabin. Aubrey was kind enough to join me as my substitute spouse to help with the kids. And it was so good to hang out with Laura and Andrea and families again. Man, I miss all my Salt Lake friends.

The Ball cabin has an awesome zip-line that we all got to try. I was very impressed with LucyMae. She is turning into a fearless little monkey!

Love these ladies! Someday we'll live close again so we can hang out all the time! Someday....but in the meantime...COME VISIT ME!!!

And then I took all the kids and their stuff down to the Evans household. They graciously agreed to watch all our kids for like 9 days or something. It was a long time! But my kids didn't even want to turn and blow me a kiss when I was leaving because they were having so much fun!

And I got to attend Ashley Lawrence's wedding shower the night before I flew out. Look at all my gorgeous high-school girlfriends! These ladies are the best! I can't believe how old we are all getting, but look how amazing everyone looks. LOVE YOU LADIES!!! And so happy for Ashley. She found an amazing guy that is made just for her!

And then I got on plane and flew to New York...well really New Jersey I guess. I met Amy at the airport. Andy was doing a rotation in New Jersey at the time, so we decided to make our trips coincide so we could hang out while our husbands worked. We spent a day bumming around New York by ourselves, shopping and having a blast.

One night, the New York Phil was playing a concert in Central Park. It was awesome! And there were fireworks afterward. That was a night that Sam and Andy were there too.

And we had fun with our husbands bumming around New York on Saturday. Sam was there for business - starting their sheep-studies. But we got to play on Saturday. And may I just say that the break from motherhood and the constant demands of that  was AMAZING! Love my kids, but I really needed that little break.

And after a few days in New York/NJ, we drove down to Philadelphia. Sam's boss was there too. The point of the trip to Philly was to look for locations for their business to set up when we move (which was supposed to be sometime this summer). We spent a couple days driving around looking at places. We also spent a bit of time looking at housing for ourselves - checking out neighborhoods and stuff. We actually found some great places and were getting super excited about moving! This is a cool city! And the suburbs are nice and not too crowded. It was probably good that we came here right after New York because it felt like wide-open spaces compared to New York City. After all our looking around we had one day to do some sight-seeing in downtown Philly. It just happened to be the hottest and most humid day of the year. We had fun, but we were completely miserable in the heat and humidity.

Can you see how hot I am?! This will not be my favorite place in the summer - that's for sure. But at least we know that is the worst it can get (fingers crossed).

Sam LOVED seeing these historically famous places. I had been here before, so was more apt to complain about the miserable temperatures. But Sam was much more positive. This city really is full of so much amazing American history.

 Where the declaration of independence was signed

And then we were in the airport trying to get home. But we volunteered to bump, and did!!! So we got $800 in vouchers! But had to hang out in the airport for 7 hours. Luckily there were some distractions, like this awesome band.

And then we finally got home!!!! It was 10:00 at night - and midnight before we actually got to the Evans' house. But we woke Ben up to say hello, and man was he happy to see us, but particularly his daddy! He LOVES Sam. And then we had fun bumming around, going swimming, and having fun for a couple more days before we drove home to Rapid City.

Oh, and we drove up to Salt Lake to check out the new downtown. We were impressed and had a great time

And we got to go see our new niece/cousin. Tenille had her baby girl - Ana. And boy is she a doll. Look at all that hair! All my kids were captivated by her. Even Ben.

And then there was goodbye! Sad:( Thank you for being so awesome Evans!

And finally back home, we jumped right into enjoying the things that make Rapid City so awesome in the summer. Storybook Island is a favorite.

Hiking in the gorgeous Black Hills is another. I am still amazed, every time we go, at what an awesome little hiker LucyMae is. She did this one entirely on her own - 3+ miles, and not a complaint from her.

This hike is called Lover's Leap - and a has a great view of the Black Hills at the top. And it was beautifully shaded most of the time, and not too difficult of a hike for the kids.

On our way down though, Samantha decided she wanted to walk for a bit and took a pretty good spill. She cut her head open a little bit just above her eyebrow...but it is healing up ok...might have a good scar though:(. She is my adorable little limp noodle - slightly accident prone. Love her. Oh...and on our way down, we discovered we were about 10 feet away from huge buffalo at one point. But he was just munching away on the grass and was completely disinterested in us - thank heavens.

Well....that's pretty much all the pictures. I'll have to double check if I have any videos and get them uploaded if I do.