Breaking Tradition

Three years in a row now the Smith Family has gone to Moab over Labor Day Weekend. This year that tradition was broken. At first we were all talking about going to Capital Reef for a change of scenery, but looking further into every body's schedules (especially Jesse's), going far away wasn't going to be an option. So Mom did some research and found a condo in Eden that they could trade their time share for.

 

We all met at Pineview Reservoir late Saturday Morning (Aug 31). The afternoon was spend paddle boarding, canoeing, playing in the sand, hanging out, eating lunch and enjoying each others company.

Very few and far between do Jesse and I get to spend more than 24 hours together. So we were looking forward to a few days together. It'll be so so nice to have him around more once he finishes Paramedic School. November will be a welcomed month. So far 2013 has brought us quite the adventure. It hasn't been easy at times, but our goal is to come out of it having become better than when we started. I am blessed and I am grateful for the challenges and trials to help me learn and grow. And I am grateful to be by this man's side every step of the way. He's strong, diligent, smart, hardworking and motivated. All the while looking good while he does it all. How Does he do it all? I'd pass out from being overwhelmed. And he acts like it's nothing. I need to take some lessons from him.

 

Pretty sure I'm the luckiest girl to have landed a mother-in-law like Heidi!

Tyson is still young at heart. Playing in the mud with the three grandsons. A boy's dream!

After several hours in the hot sun the boys (and the adults) were pooped. So we headed up to the condo to get dinner going. I had to giggle at these two cousins. They were having a blast jumping on the beds like little monkeys. We all comment how much fun it is to see these two grow up together. They are only 6 months apart, so I feel like they are going to be buds for a really long time.

As the night goes on we slowly start to see each of our sunburns. Poor Emily, I swear anytime we are ever in the sun she gets REALLY sunburned. This time it was really funny because you could see exactly where Andrew had sprayed. He gave her zebra legs. 

The plan for the rest of the weekend was... Nothing! Which is fantastic! Sometimes it's nice not having anything to do. We were all lounging in our cozy clothes all day. Playing card games, chatting, munching on goodies, laughing and just enjoying us all being out of reality for a split moment.

The Big K

I'm officially a mother of a Kindergartner. It's kinda cool! Several people have asked me if I am emotionally OK with it? I hear that a bunch of moms cried when their first one went off the Kindergarten. Maybe something is wrong with me, but I didn't. He's so excited about the whole thing I can't help but be excited with him.

 

Yesterday was the first day of school, but Kindergarten technically doesn't start until Thursday. So maybe that's part of the reason I'm not feeling super emotional about the whole situation (even though that isn't really my personality). Ryker will be attending Bountiful Elementary this year. His teacher is Miss Wilkinson. She's brand new to the school. So it'll be good. She seems very sweet. I'm sure Ryker will love her. He thinks the world of everyone.

First things first... The Flag Ceremony!  It's pretty cool that Ryker knows the pledge of allegiance (Thanks to his preschool teacher, Miss Eggett). He quoted it word for word.

 After the flag ceremony, the Kindergartners got to meet their teacher and explore the classroom. While he was doing that I was signing up for the time he'd do his Kindergarten Testing and days that I can volunteer in the classroom. I signed him up to do his testing Tuesday. Then Wednesday he doesn't have school. So the first few days are quite the cake walk. He's eager to go on Thursday.

We are excited about this coming year. It'll be fun to learn and grow with him. I'm so proud of him! He's such a sweet boy!

Christmas in August

Our 2nd annual Christmas in Park City Girls weekend came to pass this last weekend. Heidi started this tradition last year and we continued it this year. We went to dinner Friday night. It was a beautiful night and we were able to sit outside. 

 We found this restaurant last year and loved it so much that we came back for more. This was the first place I found that I would like Sushi. I'm still really picky about it, but I'm getting better. I still struggle with the seaweed so I have to ask for rice paper.

 I'm still not OK with the raw fish laying on top of it. I struggled getting that one down. But the other ones were really yummy.

 After dinner we went over to cold stone and again sat outside. We were all able to just relax and talk about whatever. What I love about this weekend was hanging out with three amazing woman I wouldn't have been able to meet if it weren't for Jesse. I'm a lucky girl. Very few people can say they love to be with their Mother in law and Sisters in law without the husbands being there.

Once we had our fill of ice cream and chatting outside, we all headed over to the hotel to check in. We stopped at Walmart to get some goodies and playing cards. We stayed up really late just laughing, munching, and having a pleasant time with one another.

The next morning we all got ready to go, ate breakfast and headed over to the Tanger Outlets.

 Mom gave each of us $100 bill to spend on whatever we wanted.

We all had such a good time finding clothes for each other and getting giddy over the good deals we found.

I love these three girls So much. Technically I shouldn't get along this well with my inlaws. But we all agree that we are lucky and very easy going.

Rinse, Ride, Run, Repeat

I've been holding off a few days to post this one because I have been waiting for the results to be posted online. I knew my time right after the race, but I couldn't remember the exact time.

 

Saturday I got to participate in Layton's 5th Annual Triathlon. It has a little twist on it. Not like the others ones I've done this summer. This one was Swim, Bike, Run... then Swim, Bike, Run again. Hence their logo..."Rinse, Ride, Run, Repeat". The only difference for me was the races I've been doing consisted of 350m swim, 12 mile bike and a 5k. But this one was Swim 300m, Bike 5.5miles, Run 1.5 Miles and Repeat.

 

Before the race I was feeling a little grumpy about the idea of splitting it up and having to get back in the pool again. Also that I'd be swimming more than I was used to. But turns out I really liked it. I want to do it again next year.

 

The options for the race were the Mini Sprint and the Sprint Distance. The Mini Sprint meant the participants raced through the course once and not repeating it. The "Mini" racers got to go first, while the "Sprint" racers waited by the pool watching them all get in one at a time, every 15 seconds.

 

While I am waiting, I'm just talking with the girls around me and looking at their legs. Why? Well our ages are written on our calves, so I could size up my competition. And I see one girl that looks about my age and I got this vibe from her that she was some serious competition. I see that she's 26 years old and I was right. She was in my age bracket.

 

Finally the sprint racers can start. I swim my 300m, transition into my bike and while I'm riding that girl catches up with me and passes me. GUH. I'm trying to keep up and for some reason I just couldn't. But she doesn't get too far ahead of me. I could see her the whole ride.

 

I make it back into the transition area and felt like I had a really fast transition. When I run out to the road I realize why my transition was so fast... I STILL HAD MY BIKE SHOES ON!!! Gosh! You've got to be kidding? But there was no way I was running back to change. It was too late. I missed my chance. So I ran with my bike shoes on. Not very fast. But half way I couldn't take it anymore and I ran the last half in my socks. I actually have a good pace once I took those silly bike shoes off. People were probably wondering why the heck I was running with shoes in hand and only socks on my feet.

 

I get back into the pool after my first 1.5mile run and I actually catch up to my competition girl and passed her in the pool. I could tell the second time swimming I was feeling more tired than the first. But I knew I could make up any slowness I had during the swim, on my bike and on the run.

 Once again that chicca caught up with me on her bike and passed me. I couldn't figure out why. But all I could do was push it as hard as I could. During the bike ride I was repeating in my head all the things that I needed to make sure I transitioned into. #1 was running shoes.

This time my transition was perfect. And the best part was that I got out of the transition area a little before my competition girl. We were pretty much running side by side the first half. Which I was ok with, but I knew near the end I needed to pick up the pace even more and I couldn't allow her to finish before me.

(About this picture...Jesse and the boys came up to support me and cheer me on. I love this picture because The three of them were lined up ready to give me high fives. Cy was the first. Jesse was a great photographer and a great support. Right after I passed him on the run he says to me "Last part you're almost done, push hard". With the boys echoing "push hard" as I ran by I felt stronger knowing they were there to support me.)

 The last half of the run this girl (which I found out was Stephanie while we were running side by side) started to fall behind. But not much. I knew I had to keep this strong pace. As the finish line approached I gave everything I had to finish strong. You can see in this picture that Stephanie wasn't too far behind me.

 Kuddos to Jesse's phone photography. I cropped it and adjusted the coloring on it. But I love this picture. It just shows "That moment" of crossing the finish line just perfectly.

 My finishing time was 1:23:51. Which put me 3rd OVERALL in the woman's category. And even though I finished before Stephanie she got a time of 1:23:23. She was 28 seconds faster than me. I was 28 seconds away from 2nd Overall. It's almost painful how close that is. But in reality to place OVERALL is pretty cool.

For placing in the overall category they gave me this plaque. Pretty sweet huh? Since I placed overall then they pulled me out of my age group. In which I placed 2nd in my age group. 

 

 

 

 Ryan and Sarah Dayley also raced. Sarah took 2nd in her age group for the Mini Sprint. Ryan also took 2nd in his age group for the Sprint. Top Gear Team did well!It's been a joy to by on the Team. We aren't professionals by any means. But I have made new friends that are pretty awesome people. Inside and Out. I have so much love and respect for them. It's only been a short while that we've become friends, but they treat me like we've been friends forever.

Some more stats about the race. The first half (lap 1) my time was 42:41 minutes (3rd overall). Lap 2 was 41:09 (1st overall). I was happy to see that I was faster the second time around. I was worried I'd be out of gas and just be alot slower the second time around. I could blame the first half being slower on my bike shoes issue.

Anyway! That was my fun weekend! I have to admit I was on a high for a few days afterwards. It always feels good to place in your division, but to plave overall.. Man it felt good!

Pioneer Day

Traditionally for Pioneer Day the Smith Family gets together the night before and camps out in the backyard. But this year Tyson, Tayler, Andrew and Jesse all had to work. So Emily and I were the only two that slept over the night before. We both weren't feeling in the mood to set up tents without our hubby's around. It made us chuckle that we were there for the Smith Family get together and the only ones that could come were daughters in law. Goes to show who the devoted ones are. Haha. No I'm kidding. Everyone else is devoted to their jobs and were doing the right thing.

 

Luckily Jesse got off at 8;00am in Ogden and came out to his parents as soon as he got off.I went for a run before he got there and when I got back we all ate breakfast together and then headed over to the pool. Strangely it was very overcast. It's been in the 100's for days and the one day that we were playing at the pool it wasn't sunny. Cy got cold fast, but he didn't care one bit. He kept playing like he wasn't bothered one bit. He's tough because I would have been begging to get out if I was shivering as bad as he was.

 

That kid has no fear. Not afraid to jump in the pool when no one is around. So we decided to put the arm floaties so he would be safe and I thought it would give him more confidence. Surprisingly it did the opposite. Jesse let go of him while he was in the water and he sat there frozen with bug eyes. He didn't like that one bit. He'd prefer to hang onto someone or the side. 

 This last Christmas Mike and Heidi gave Ryker a snorkel set because that summer he was using Mike's adult set. So this summer Ryker has been able to use his own. And he just LOVES it.

 I hadn't seen him snorkel yet and I was shocked at how well he was at it. He is a natural. Watching him swim all over the pool makes me really want to take him to the ocean to actually see some fish.

 I have to soak up EVERY moment I have with this guy. He's doing all that he can to keep his head above water. I see him sacrificing so much right now I wonder how he is doing it.

 After the pool we all went back over to the house for lunch and naps. Jesse was exhausted from his shift and the boys were sleepy from playing so hard at the pool. Once everyone was sleeping I went up on Mom and Dad's deck and read by book for a few hours. Eventually I too fell asleep. it's nice to have those relaxing days every once and awhile.

That night Tyson and Tayler came over for dinner and Emily had to leave for work. After we ate we then did fireworks. The boys were in hog heaven. They just love it.

 Cy kept saying "more-n" every time a firework would be over.

 Kind of a dark picture, but I thought it was cute of Cy sitting on the edge of his seat watching our own firework show.

 It's nothing too exciting but all that matters is that the boys like it.

 Last year aerial fireworks were legalized. So Tyson had a couple that he let off. Kind of fun. Especially when the neighbors are doing the same thing. We get to enjoy their big fireworks too.

Fun mid week holiday. Nothing too exciting but I loved that about this day. Very laid back.

Playing Catch-Up

I can tell that our crazy schedule is finally catching up with me. It's very unusual for me to fall behind on my blogging. But the past month and half so many things are going on that I haven't found the time to update. I will just to give a few highlights from the last month to get us all caught up.

 

Middle of June I got to go on a little girls trip with my Mom, Manda and Chantel. Our Destination was Dominican Republic, but we went a day before to New York and spent that time walking around downtown NY. The highlight of that day was going to see WICKED on Broadway. It was amazing. We were all so tired from our Red Eye Flights from the night before so we all struggled staying awake during it.

While we were in Dominican we took every chance we had to play in the ocean and lay on the beach. 

My favorite part of the trip was our snorkel trip. We had a photographer taking pictures of us. So we got a TON of really good pictures. I wish I could post all of them so you could see how amazing it was. But this will have to do.

This was the first time I felt comfortable enough to dive down. I usually just like to stay on top. But not this time. I was having the time of my life. Only thing missing was Jesse. He would have been so proud of me. I remember on our honeymoon just staying on the beach while he went out and snorkeled by himself. I had no interest in doing it. But now I would love to get scuba certified. I've come a long way.

 

I love this picture in the middle of the ocean. The water was so warm and clear. I could have snorkeled all day.

On our last day we hiked waterfalls.That was pretty cool. We walked through the river/stream and when we'd come to a waterfall we'd either slide down it or jump off.

I didn't get too many pictures of us while we were hiking it because my camera was in a water safe bag. It was difficult to get a picture while it was inside, and I was nervous to take it out. This picture was taken from inside the bag, so that's why it's hazy. But you get the idea.

Our tour guides were really funny. The one in the middle just LOVED Amanda.

After coming home from Dominican I was slammed at work and with all the house work and kiddos. With Jesse being gone 80% of the time I literally feel like a single parent. Things like yard work and blogging have been put on the back burner. I don't know how single mothers do it? I've been trying really hard not to say "I can't wait until Jesse is done with School"... but I just can't help it sometimes. :)

A little over a week ago we finally broke down and bought a new truck. Jesse has been driving a 1998 Toyota Pickup for years. It has no power windows, no power steering,  and no AC. It is as Raw as any truck could be. But he has just dealt with it. Now that he's driving all over the valley in this 100 degree weather he needs AC. So we called my dad and we bought this Beauty. Jesse is pretty excited about it.

Days after we bought it we took the new truck on a little Road Trip to Keystone, CO for a Bohm Family Reunion. The best part about the trip was that Jesse had a break from school and was able to get trades for his shifts at Ogden. I have never been more excited about just driving in a car.

Our first day there Ryker lost his first tooth. He was freaked out and excited at the same time. I can't believe that he is big enough to have this happening already. It feels too early. He's growing up too fast.

 A few people from the group went on a 12 mile bike ride down Vail Pass. It's a easy beautiful ride.

 Oh you have NO idea how happy I was to have him for 24/7 six days in a row. I felt like an annoying girlfriend following him around where ever he went. I wanted to be with him every moment. This was the most time I've had with him in the past 6 months combined. Man it was nice to be with him.

One of the nights we were there, we rode the Gondola for free up to the top. The boys got a big kick out of it.

Classic picture at the top.

Here's the whole group.

Our last day there a handful of us went on the Soda Creek Mountain Bike Trail. The first part of it was uphill. According to Andrew's watch we climbed 700ft in elevation. Pretty Crazy. 

 Back at the truck. We had a blast! (Robbie Bohm, Mike, Andrew, Jason Degering, Jesse and I)

That night Christian had "Minute to Win It" Games for the group to play. It was so funny to watch everyone do these funny tasks. Such as... bouncing ping pong balls out of a tissue box strapped to your behind.

 Getting an Oreo from your eye to your mouth without touching it.

 Balancing 7 oreos on your forehead for 7 seconds.

 Stacking dice on a butter knife while the knife is in your mouth, then holding it for 3 seconds.

 Throwing cheeseballs at someone with shaving cream on their head to see how many will stick.

The entire week was just a blast. It was so awesome so see everybody. Some of them hadn't even met Cy yet because at the last reunion (three years ago) I was barely pregnant with him.

Phew... How was that for a quick recap?