Family Pictures

I recently scanned some of our family pictures, and thought it would be a fun blog post! Kev & I never officialy got a family picture taken together before we had kids. Once Bailee came along, we would get one at least once a year.
Here we are in 2003: (I love how excited Kev looks!)



2004:


2005:



2006:



2007:



August 2008:


December 2008:

Spring Sprint Tri

I did my first Triathlon of the season today, the Spring Sprint Tri at the Utah Olympic Oval. It was right by my house. I just rode my bike there! Kevin had a scout meeting this morning, so he wasn't able to come. I had no cheerleaders! *sniff*sniff* :( But it was still fun. The weather was pretty darn cold though. I think it was just in the 40's. Good thing the pool was heated! I shot this picture of the sky on the way down to the Oval. Thought it looked pretty cool.....

Here's the steam coming off the pool in the cold morning air. Brrrrr!

And here's the transition area before the race. I didn't get any pics of me during the race, since no one was there to take them!
But here I am after I finished! Kevin came after his meeting, but I was already done. Oh well.

I think this is the first year they've done this tri. Not too many racers. And the bike course was HARD. It had SO much UPHILL!! I felt like I was just dragging. I was passed by SO many people on the bike. But the run course was great. I ran along the streets I'm used to running on. I even ran right past my circle! It felt kind of wierd.
More numbers you might not care about:
Number of finishers: 120 (45 females, 75 males)
Overall place: 79th
Place in my age division: 7th out of 14
Place in my gender: 22nd out of 45
Swim (400 meters): 10:29
t1: 2:28
Bike (20 Kilometers): 59:29
t2: 1:54
Run (5 Kilometers): 25:16
Run pace: 8:09
Total race time: 1:39:34

SLC Marathon!!

Well, it's over with. I survived, and I beat my time from 2006. I have to give a disclaimer on the timing thing though: The time it took me to actually RUN the 26.2 miles, was 4:03:47 (see picture below), however, I stopped my watch 3 times during the race whenever I stopped and STOOD IN LINE for porta-potty's. Is that fair?? I can't decide. That part was frustrating. One of the stops I stood there waiting for 8 minutes. Ahhh! But I HAD to go, so I HAD to wait. So my chip time, (the time I crossed the starting time to the time I crossed the finish line), was 4:15:18. So I spent 12 or so minutes total waiting in lines and going to the bathroom. NOT that any of you care about that. I just have to have it down on record, so I can remember! I'm just a little OCD when it comes to timing :P

Anywhoo, here's some fun pics. This is the crowd on TRAX riding from the Gateway to the starting line. It was packed.


I just had to get a shot of this amazing lady with ONE leg! Hey, if she can do it, anyone can. SO inspiring! I hope she didn't mind me taking her picture. I don't think she knew.


Here are the news helicopters hovering right before the start. SO cool!


Here are the crowds & the porta-potties at the starting line.


Me & my brother, Shane at the starting line. He was training for the full marathon, but missed 3 of his long runs in training, so he switched to the half. He did awesome! Finished in 1:50. And this is the first time he's EVER run in an organized race! He said he loved it, and felt great almost the entire time. Great job, Shane!

This is the moment I've been waiting for since 2006! To finish another marathon. It is like no other feeling in the world! During the race, I just kept thinking it would never end, and I just wanted to jump in a car and ride to the finish line. MAN that's a long way to run, and SO tough MENTALLY as well as PHYSICALLY. But SO worth it in the end!


My girls ran across the finish line with me! Ryker went to Grandma Myrna's house so Kevin wouldn't have to wrestle with/keep track of him in the crowds.



They put the medal around my neck, and Trin LOST it when she didn't get one too. So I gave her mine & she wouldn't stop crying saying, "I want my own!"

Here are Shane & I after the races.


And here's my "proof?" I guess.


Oh, and at the race expo the night before, I went to pick up my bib # & race packet. I saw this guy, and kept staring at him, thinking, "WHERE do I know that guy from? I know I've seen him somewhere before!" And I even considered going up to him & asking him, "Do I know you?" But I didn't. It wasn't until after I got home that I realized it was Blaine from the Biggest Loser! I looked for him at the starting line, but there were thousands of people. No luck. Does anyone know his last name? I want to look him up in the results, just to make sure it was him, and to see if he did the full or the half.

So here are some more fun numbers:
Number of miles I ran in the 20 week training, since December 2008: 347.79
Number of marathon finishers: 1,067 (Males: 685, Females: 382)
Number of half-marathon finishers: 4,125 (Males: 1,581, Females: 2,544- wow!)
Place in my age division: 33rd out of 87
Place overall: 494th out of 1,067
Place female: 123rd out of 382
Number of toenails lost: 1

Milestone....

Ryker has reached his 18 month milestone! He's growing so fast, I can hardly believe it. He's just turning into a little boy, not so much a "baby" anymore. I still consider him my baby though. I love to just sit with him in the rocking chair & cuddle with him & his blankie. I hope he doesn't grow out of wanting to do that anytime soon! This Sunday will be his first full time in nursery! I've taken him in there a few times here and there for 10 minutes or so, and he LOVES it! Doesn't ever want to leave. So I think it will be an easy transition for him. And it will be SO nice for me & Kev to not have to chase him around the church!

He LOVES to chase the "doddy" around and give her loves, sometimes just laying on top of her. He loves to look out the window and see the birdies. He gets all tense, looks up, and whispers really quick "ba da" (that means airplane), when he hears the airplanes fly over the house. He eats anything and everything. Just last week Kevin taught him how to play peek-a-boo. We just say, "Where's Ryker?" and he'll cover his eyes with his chubby little hands. It's SO cute! And lately his favorite game is to find a ball, which he can say, but forgets the "L" sound at the end, he throws it, gets all excited and goes and gets it. And he just says "Baaa" in an enthusiastic voice over and over.
He's such a cute little devil!

Baby Shower

For all of you who are related to, or are friends with Brianne, (my sister), this invite is for you! You might have already gotten an e-mail invite from me, but I'm putting it on my blog as well for those of you who's e-mail I don't have.

Easter pics

Side-by-side

I'm part of a photography blog that has homework assignments. This one was so fun that I thought I'd post it on my personal blog as well. The homework was imitation, so I took this picture of me in 1979, when I was about 2 years old, and put Trin in the same positions. (even though she's not 2, she's actually 4 1/2. This would have been more fun had I done it a couple of years ago). By the way, the girls wear this nightgown all the time. It's SO old and faded!

Happy Easter!

Photography

Lately, I've been learning new things almost every single day, about photography and editing photos. It's almost becoming an obsession! I've joined a blog (thank you, Mindy!) where other photographers have taught me so much! It's a great place to ask questions and learn new things. There's even a homework assignment each week. This week it was color enhancement, and this is my first attempt at it:

We even got together for a photo shoot at Gardner Village. We had models and everything!! It was freezing that day, but it was so much fun to meet the other photographers, and they taught me so much! Here are a few shots I took of the models.

This is such a fun hobby! But now I need more models. If you are interested in letting me practice my skills on you or your family, let me know! I want more practice!