Ardura Relay

I had to opportunity to participate in my first bike relay this last Saturday. The race started at Pineview Reservoir and went to Heber City. Covering a total of 160 miles. There were a total of 8 legs to the relay and each leg averaged out to be about 20 miles each. They let you choose between a four man team or a two man team. My cousin Timalee who's idea was to get us four girls together (Sarah Daley, Sue  Bagley, Timalee and me). So she decided it would be cool to do two teams of 2. That way we could have someone to ride with the whole time. So we each got to cover 80 miles.

 

To get ready for it Top Gear Bike Shop let me borrow some demo wheels. They are full carbon and way lighter than your typical wheel. You wouldn't think a wheel would make a difference, but boy oh boy did they ever. Really makes me want to buy a set. 

 Back in Jan when I signed up for this relay, Jesse didn't have to work. So I thought it would be great to have him there in the support car helping along the way. But when his schedule got changed with the new Paramedic position, he then was scheduled to work that day. He tried to get a trade for it but couldn't. He tried to take a vacation day that day, but all the spots were full for that day. So we were out of luck. I was totally bummed. But it's part of having a husband as a fireman.

Anyway, that morning I was packing up my car and when I opened up the door I found this...(picture below). The sweet man bought me flowers and wrote me a note of encouragement that read...

Ashley,
I love you and want to say GOODLUCK and have FUN! Also be Safe. Sorry I can't be there for you on this race. I'll be thinking & praying for you all day. I'm sure you'll be great! I love you and am proud of you.
Love you forever;
Jesse
PS. the flowers are for the finish line but I

It took me by such surprise that I burst into tears.

After pulling myself together and got all my gear loaded up into my car I drove to meet up with the girls. The four of us plus Rolynn and Ryan (Timalee and Sarah's husbands) drove up to Eden.

 

Here is our picture from the Photographer at the starting line. She asked us to give sassy aaaannd... this is what is came out to be. Haha.

 

(Left to right: Me, Timalee, Sarah and Sue) 

 Sue and I were doing legs 1, 3, 5 and 7. So we had to get ready to go as soon as pictures were over. Before count down started the 6 of us offered up a prayer for safety and that our bodies and bikes will perform well. I love that I can be with a group of people that are willing to stand in a circle amongst other people to pray to our Lord.

Then it was time to start. Everyone went off at the same time.

 During this first leg most of the girls stuck together. They didn't have the highest pace, but Sue and I just decided to draft off of them to save our legs. This leg was around Pineview Reservoir so it was farely flat.

 Timalee and Sarah took legs 2, 4, 6 and 8.

 At each exchange point we were to hand off a slap bracelet. So this picture is us exchanging between legs 2 and 3.

Leg 2 was through East Canyon and I had heard that it was a killer of a leg. ALOT of hills and seriously steep. But it turned out not to be so bad. So then I thought that our last two legs wouldn't be as bad. Which they weren't really except for the fact that we had a serious head wind. There were times that I felt like I was going up a steep hill when we were on flat ground. It's crazy how much harder a head wind can make a ride become. Our legs were on fire for the entire time. But I loved the feeling of accomplishment when you get all done.

 

(For the last leg we decided to change our clothes because we were feeling really gross and sweaty.)

When Sue and I finished our last leg, we were able to stretch and get some dinner that the relay crew had provided for us. After an hour or so we rode out about a 1/4 of a mile to wait for Timalee and Sarah to come in so the 4 of us could cross the finish line together.

All of us at the finish line! Yay! What an accomplishment. I had such a blast! I can't wait to do another one! 

 

 

I have to give credit to our amazing support car. Rolynn and Ryan were the Best! Every time we got to an exchange point they would take our bikes from us and make sure the tires had air and all our gears were working properly.
Along our legs they were driving by to take pictures of us, check if we needed water and/or food.
They were the best cheerleaders. As we were going up a tough hill they were telling us we were doing awesome (even though I didn't feel like I was doing awesome). They would make us feel so great!
They were even cheering on the other girls!
Even though we didn't place in this race, we had the best crew, the best time, and the best support car!
All around it was a great day! I loved every moment, even the hard ones.

What's up with us?

School is now over and Summer has officially begun. Which explains my absence of posting. It's been a busy few weeks. I feel like I am always saying that. But trying to balance family, work, house-work, yard-work, callings and time for training becomes quite the act. I feel like there is always something to be done or be better at. And lately with the warm weather I just want to be outside and not inside worrying about the house and laundry. Blah.... I sometime wish those things could just take care of themselves. It certainly would free up a lot more of my time. Haha.

 

Anyway, I thought I would just give an update (yet again) on each of us.

 

So starting with Jesse:

 

About 2 weeks ago, Jesse went to Denver with his mom to help out with Grandma Sally (who is currently going through Chemo). Jesse had done this once before, back in March, but this time Heidi needed him to go and be the handy man with some new appliances that were purchased for Grandma. Jesse and Heidi drove down there and were gone for 5 days. It was kinda hard having him gone, but knowing he was doing it for a good cause made it easy to bear. And luckily it wasn't like I hadn't gone that long before without him. Sheesh, last year prepped me for just about anything (Maybe I shouldn't be saying that out loud, something bad might happen).

 

Before Jesse had left for Denver, he had purchased a brand new mountain bike. And it was killing him to not ride it. So after he got home he decided to take it out on one of his days off. Only problem.... I was working and he had the boys. But that didn't stop him. He decided to load Cy in the kid carrier and ride with Cy on his back. Crazy Right? Well it gets more crazy!

 

His next idea was to tie a rope to Ryker's bike, hook it to his own bike and tow Ryker up the mountain behind him....all while Cy is o his back!  Crazy Amazing!!!!

 

I didn't find all this out until I got home from work. It is freaking awesome that he did that, but when I found out that he did that all the way to Elephant Rock, I was BLOWN away. I mean come on... what kind of Dad does something like that? Duh! Jesse. The coolest dad in the whole world. These boys will have stories to tell their friends about how their dad carried and towed them up a mountain on his mountain bike. Insane!

 

Unforetunetly there isn't a picture of him in action, but in this picture you can see the set up all laid out on the ground. 

He's been trying to go ride every chance he gets. I don't blame him. He's so giddy about his new bike he is eager to get out and test its limits.

As for his job... he is just loving it. Everyone is always asking him and me how he likes it, and I think it's so great that we both can confidently answer..."Yes". Jesse is very happy with his work and it's a great feeling for him (and myself) to have found his place in life. He's where the Lord wants him to be. And that's a wonderful feeling.

As for myself...

I've been continuing my training in between being a mother, wife, hairdresser, Relief Society teacher and home maker. Every chance that comes up, I go to the gym, or go swimming or go ride my bike. I have a bike relay in a couple of weeks that I have been looking forward to. I will have to post about that after I do it.

While Jesse was in Denver I spent a lot of time in the yard. I got our veggie garden planted and the flower beds planted. Since then they have grown at least double in size. It makes me very excited to see them growing, yet very eager for the veggies to come.

This side of the house has always not looked so great to me. So Jesse gave me the idea to move the border to meet up with the house, instead of going past it. That way it would match the other flower bed. This wasn't as easy of a task as I thought it might be. Shoveling is some serious man labor. I never made it to the gym on this day, but I certainly felt like I got my exercise for the day.

This picture was a couple of weeks after I had done all the hard work. Now it's just up to me to maintain it all. But it's the best my garden bed has looked since we moved in 6 1/2 years ago. My thumb is slowly turning more and more green.

 Ryker Dude (or what my brother, Tyson calls him.. Rike-Dog or Rike-Puppy):

I feel like Tyson is so dear with Ryker. They have a really cool relationship.  Tyson works part-time for the South Davis Rec Center and he was telling me that he was coaching and helping out with their track program. And because he was helping out/working with the track kids, he told me I should sign Ryker up. So I did. Ryker was super excited to participate in it. I thought it would be great for him and when he was excited to go I was thrilled for him. I've been trying to figure out what kind of sport to put him in, but nothing sounded fun to him until I mentioned Track.

The program only was for two months. In that time period they had practice every Wednesday night and a total of two Track Meets. At the track meets they get to pick 2 track events and 1 field event. The options for his age group (6-8yrs) in the track events were: 50m dash, 100m dash, 200m dash and 400m dash. And then they could pick between throwing or jumping for their field event.

His first track meet Ryker chose to do the 50m and 100m dash. He told me the others were too long and he couldn't do it. And I thought his choices were fantastic.

We found out from these few months of track that Ryker doesn't have one competitive bone in his body. He didn't mind that he came in last almost every time. He was more excited for the ones passing him and finishing first. It's so cute. As a parent I feel conflicted because I really would like him to have the desire to win, but on the other hand I love that he is so happy for the winners. That to me shows such character for such a young age.

At his 2nd and final Track meet Ryker chose to do the 400m run and the 100m dash. When he told Tyson that he wanted to do the 400m, Tyson reminded him "Ya know that's the whole way around the track right?" and Ryker was totally ok with that. He wanted to do it.

Only one other boy in his age group chose to do the 400m run. So the two boys took off and with no surprise Ryker came in 2nd. ;-) But that didn't bother him. Ya know what he said to me when he finished? "Mom, I ran the whole time all the way around. Can you believe it?"

What an example to me of the kind of attitude you should have in a race and in life. Who cares where you place, all that matters is that you finished. I love it. And I find it funny and awesome that my 6 year old is teaching me life lessons.

School is out and that means Ryker graduated Kindergarten. Can you believe it? Sheesh. I can and can't at the same time. I really feel like it was a month ago that I was writing about my emotional break down when he went running into the school for the first time. And now he's done.

Funny story about Ryker's teacher that we learned the last month of school. Apparently her parents lived across the street from Mike and Heidi years ago. They were really good friends with the Wilkinson's. I guess Hayley Wilkinson (Ryker's teacher) was just a baby when Mike and Heidi were living by them. Small world huh?

I think Ryker is such a special kid. He truly is so smart, kind and loving towards everybody. Any where we go Ryker sees other kids and he doesn't call them kids, he calls them friends. Again, another great life lesson to learn from him. All his peers are considered his friends. No matter what. I hope he can keep that attitude throughout the rest of his days. It will serve him well.

Now Cy Guy:

Man oh Man does he continue to keep me on my toes. He's still refusing to poop in the toilet. So everyday there is a pooping incident that must be cleaned up. Oh! I don't know how much longer I can handle this. 6 months of potty training with a poop surprise everyday isn't my ideal way to spend time with Cyrus. Not going to lie, I will be VERY happy when this stage has passed us.

I actually have 2 very cute stories about Cy this time. Usually I have stories of how naughty he is. But I want to highlight the cute side of Cy this time.

A week ago our whole family (meaning, me Jesse, Ryker and Cy) were all outside. Jesse and I were working on the yard and the two boys were playing. Typically Cy goes down for a nap after lunch time. But on this day we were all just having so much fun and working hard in the yard that by 2:00pm I realized his nap period had past. If I put him down at that time then he wouldn't go to bed on time. So I just thought that he'll just have to skip his nap that day. He skips his nap every so often and doesn't seem to phase him too bad.

Well around 4:00pm I asked Jesse if he knew where Cy was. You know that moment as a parent when it's too quiet that you know something is up?  Well I got that feeling. He has been known to hide from me and not make a peep as I'm calling his name.

Anyway, Jesse mentioned he thought he saw Cy go inside the house. So I went into the house calling his name pretty loud. Over and Over again. Looking in every corner, behind every door, under blankets. I walked downstairs (still yelling his name) to turn the corner and I see into his bedroom. I had to take a second look because something was in his bed. And it was Cy, all tucked in, and ASLEEP!

Seriously? This is the kid that we have to lock in his room and disable the lights so he'll actually fall asleep. He must have been super tired to put himself down for a nap. Haha, I couldn't believe it. I didn't have the heart to wake him up at that moment, so I let him sleep for an hour before I woke him up for dinner.

On the morning of Ryker's Graduation, Cy wanted to ride his bike. Since Jesse was just home from work and I still needed to get ready Jesse said he would walk to the school and let Cy ride his bike. I would then drive over there once I was done getting ready to meet them there.

About 3 minutes after they left I received the following picture text from Jesse that read "He got tired of riding it."

I literally burst out laughing by myself in the bathroom. Because carrying his bike is easier than riding it? Haha... Honestly. The things that he comes up with are so creative. Jesse told me later that Cy carried his bike like that for 2 blocks. Haha. What a hoot! This kid is funny.

 

So those are my two favorite stories from the last month.

 

As a side note, and maybe for recording purposes, we are all having the hardest time to get Cy to poop in the toilet. 6 monhts later and we are having a poop incident almost daily. It's rather exhausting.  I just hope and pray that he gets it figured out before he starts Preschool in the Fall. Fingers and toes crossed.

 

There we are. That's us sort of in a little nut shell. 

Mother's Day

This year was so sweet because I have Ryker in school now where they do fun little projects for the mother's. This last week he came home with this questionnaire he answered about me. I died laughing at how cute it is. I don't know if you can read it, but i'll type it out to make it clear.

 

My moms name is; Ashley

She is: 29 years old and weighs: 900 lbs.

My favorite meal she makes is: Broccoli and Chicken

My least favorite meal she makes is: Shrimp

My favorite thing to do with my mom is: Go on a Cruise

My mom is good at: Exercising

My mom is proud of me because: I clean my room

I love my mom because: she makes me dinner and takes me on rides.

 

Haha I was so tickled by this. Especiallt since and weight 900lbs and am good at exersing. Haha. 

 And painted this for me.

 ...along with this drawing. I felt loved. Such a dear sweet boy.

 Today Jesse had to work, so I got to be single mom today for Mother's Day. And that's ok. It's how it's going to be for the next 20 plus years. There are bound to have some Mother's Days that he won't be around for.

Look at their faces. Don't you just want to squish them? I just love these boys. Even when I don't know what to do with them and wishing I had a manual that told me what to do for them. I just love them to pieces.

This evening I had my family over and I cooked Sunday dinner. I didn't think it was right to have my Mom cook Sunday Dinner on Mother's day. So I took care of it. Which, you know I enjoy cooking. So it was nice.

2014 Splash N Sprint

Yesterday Jesse and I participated in the Triathlon at the South Davis Rec Center. I was so excited about this one because it was Jesse's first triathlon. The past several weeks we have been attending the Masters Swim class at the Rec Center to help us improve our swimming skills. Man, there is way more to swimming that you'd think there was. Sheesh. I'm humbled every time I get in that pool.

 

(Also a big thank you goes out to my brother Tyson and his fiancé for watching our boys so Jesse and I could attend these classes. Thanks guys. Love you).

 

Anyway, my point that I'm trying to get at is how nice it has been to have Jesse and I could go to these classes together (when he isn't working). And afterwards we can talk about what we have improved on and what we need to work on. I love that we can do these things together now that school isn't taking up every spare minute of his time.

 

Friday it down poured several times and we were hoping it would clear out by yesterday morning. But with some grey skies and chilly temperatures it wasn't looking to great. But the show must go on.

 

We all lined up at the edge of the pool. Rolynn and Jesse stayed back at the 12:00 minute group, but I kept telling them they should come up with the 7:00 minute group with me. But they wouldn't. So I started before they did.

 

My swim felt stronger than any of the other swims I had done. I think the class is helping. I usually would get out of the pool totally gassed. But this time I felt so great during the whole thing and came out not feeling gassed at all. It was my fastest swim yet.

 

The weather held out for me ok, by the last mile of the run it started to rain pretty good. But by this point I didn't mind so much. I crossed the finish line and I saw that Jesse was coming in from the bike. He told me that it was hailing so hard during the ride he thought he would be bleeding. Poor thing. And he still had to go run. But he kept with it and finished strong. I was so proud of him. He finished with a time of 1:15:39. That's faster than my first triathlon. How awesome is that? I am so proud of him. And I am looking forward to watching him improve with every race. 

 Timalee was so dear to offer her services to watch our boys while Jesse and I raced. I owe her big time. She was able to get some pictures of us while we were transitioning and finishing. So photo credit to her on this picture. I thought this was a cool one of me putting my finishers medal on. I finished with a time of 1:11:07 and placing 3rd in my age division.

 Post race we were all trying to warm back up from being wet from not swimming, but from the rain and wind. Happy to be there though. And happy to be a part of a great team. I love that Jesse is on it with me now. It's going to be fun doing this together.

 Ryan and I showing off our water bottles we won for placing in our age division.

I found a quote that seemed so applicable for this race day. Yes of course we always want ideal weather conditions when we are racing, but that isn't always the case. We suck it up and do it. And we do it well. "If the word quit is part of your vocabulary, then the word finish is likely not." - B.G. Jett

Despite yucky weather none of us quit. We all finished strong.

9 years...

Wednesday May 7th was our 9th Anniversary. To celebrate Jesse and I went out on a simple date. Our big trip back in February was suppose to be for our anniversary, and both of us just bought new bikes, so we just wanted to keep things small.

 

Our plan was to go to dinner and a movie, but we were kinda early for dinner. We were both starving though. So to make things interesting and fun, we went to dessert first. Haha. Our favorite place to go lately is called YogurtLand. It's by far the yummiest self-serve frozen yogurt place we have had. We are hooked. I have to admit I try not to go more than once a week, but I struggle with that. It's just so scrumptious and kinda guilt free. 

 Once it was time for dinner we went to our go-to favorite restaurant. Mikado. Mmm Mmm Mmmmm. It's always so so good.

 Of course we had to take a picture while we were at dinner. We took several pictures before we took this one. And by this time we were feeling goofy so we have our excited faces on. Haha. This is what 9 years of marriage looks like.

After dinner we went to a movie. It had been so long since we had gone to see a movie that wasn't a kid movie, that we had so many options it was almost hard to pick. But we finally chose to see the new Captain America movie. As we were thinking about it, we are pretty sure we haven't seen a movie in 2014 that was for us, we have gone for the boys. Before kids we were up on all the latest movies, now we are up on all the latest kids movies. A time and a season for everything. And we are in the season of kids.

Even though it was a simple night, it was still very nice to have a night alone with Jesse. I feel very blessed to have him in my life. I would marry him over and over again. Every year with him seems to get sweeter and sweeter. I am so thrilled that we have let our relationship continue to grow stronger and stronger each year. I had a couple of clients mention to me that not very many couples that 9 years now a days. So that made me feel good. We have come a long way together.  9 years ago I only had a small glimpse of how perfect Jesse was for me. I look forward to the years ahead.

Easter Week

Knowing that Jesse would be working on Easter Sunday we tried to make the most of the week. Tuesday night we dyed Easter Eggs after dinner. One of the dye kits I found had stickers to make faces and some orange fuzz to make hair. Both of the boys loved to make faces on the eggs, especially the fuzzy hair.

 

When we were finished Ryker came up to me and told me thank you for letting him do that activity and how much he loved it. Made me feel good to hear the sincere gratitude from him. He's so dear. I love his tender little heart. He can make me feel so loved. 

 Last night when I got home from work I made a little Easter dinner. Simple, but the boys got a kick out of it. Mostly Ryker. Cy didn't seem to care much. He wasn't feeling all too well yesterday. Ryker loved it so much that he asked me to make a bunny face again for breakfast this morning. So I did. Funny how you make their food into a face and they seem to like the food more than ever. Haha.

 After we ate our breakfast dinner we explained that the "Easter Bunny" came earlier to our house so that we could have a family Easter Egg hunt together. Of course Ryker was better than Cy at finding the hidden eggs. But Ryker was sweet and would bring Cy some eggs.

 Yup. They are in their jammies. We are cool like that.

 Had to get a picture with this guy since we wouldn't get one today. I love him.

 This morning the boys woke up to another visit from the Easter Bunny.  They each got a suit, bow ties, stickers, glow stick, a puzzle and the movie Frozen to share.

Jesse went off to work and the boys and I went to church. I was dying when I got them all dressed up in their suits and bow ties. They look like little handsome men. I can't imagine how handsome they are going to be when they are all grown up.

 Now all the Easter Egg dying, food, candy, baskets, new clothes  and traditions are all fun. But let us not forget that Jesus is the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. Because of Him death is not the end, and life takes on new meaning. We can change, we can start over- and we can live again with God.

On the InstaGram a lot of people are hash tagging #BecauseOfHim with their reasons why/how the Savior's atonement has made an impact in their personal lives. That phrase "Because of Him" speaks so loudly to me. Such a simple statement and yet it has so much meaning behind it.

Because of Him I get to be with my family forever.
Because of Him I can make everyday a fresh start.
Because of Him the mistakes I make today can be made right tomorrow.
Because of Him I will never be alone in my trials.

The list can go on and on. I am so grateful to my Savior for His sacrifice he made for everyone. Today in church we had an awesome reminder of his loving sacrifice. One thing that struck me today was the fact that he was nearly alone in hours of agony and suffering. And he did it so that none of us would ever feel that way. He knows EXACTLY how I feel. It's such a wonderful thing.

2014 Legacy Duathlon

Yesterday I participated in the Legacy Duathlon for the second year in a row. I was feeling a little sentimental about this race because this was were I got my start last year. Over this year I have grown to love the guys and girls on this team. They are good people. I love that none of us have to be elite athletes to be on this team. We all have jobs and families to take care of, but we do this for ourselves. Weekend Warriors is what Rolynn likes to call us. I like that.

 

I ended up being the only girl yesterday. At the last minute Rolynn and Timalee were having a hard time finding a sitter for their girls, so Timalee decided to stay out this race. So I had to hold my own with these awesome guys. Left to right: Me, Ryan Daley, Rolynn Snow, Jeff Lewis and Brett Gilmore (Manager).

 



Last year I did the short course (1.5 mile run, 11.2 mile bike, then 1.5 mile run again) and this year I was contemplating doing the long course instead (which is double the length of everything). When I was registering I really couldn't decide. Should I try the long one to see how I do? Or do the short one and beat my time from last year? Jesse ended up talking me into the short one. A great easy opening for the season. Everyone else (except Ryan) decided to do the short course as well.

They let the long course people go first followed by the short course. One person at a time, every 15 seconds. This picture of Rolynn and I was right before it was our turns to start the run. We were getting ourselves all pumped up.

 

 

 This is coming in after the first run. It was perfect weather and I was feeling good. The 1.5 miles took me about 11ish minutes.

 

Transitioned into my bike stuff fast and was on my way. Within the first mile I realize that my left shifters on my bike weren't shifting at all. So I could only be in the highest gear on the right side. When I would go down a hill I couldn't shift anymore to pedal faster. It made me really frustrated. I was pedaling as hard as I could to keep going. Sometimes to pedal seemed pointless because my wheels were going faster than I could pedal, but I didn't just want to coast. So I kept on pedaling. haha.

 

Got back from the bike and was feeling grateful at this point that I had decided to only do the short distance because of how my bike was acting. 22 miles would have been really sucky without a shifter working properly.

 

Second run I just wanted to push it as hard as I could to make up for the mishap on the bike.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 1 hour and 22 seconds. Shaved off 4 min minutes from my time last year. Granted last year was cold and windy and this year was clear and sunny, but I'll take it. I was happy to have a placed 3rd in the overall women short course category. 2nd in my age division. I found this quote online that is so fitting...

 

"Everyone is life is looking for a certain rush. Racing is where I get mine." -John Trautmann

 

I love it! I'm using that from now on. Racing is my rush!

I was so proud of my fellow teammates who too placed in their age divisions. Every single one of us that raced yesterday stood on the podium. It's good stuff. Rolynn took 3rd. Ryan took 3rd (long course) and Jeff took 2nd. Way to go team!

I know it's just a short course and nothing spectacular like an Iron Man or something. But I still had fun doing it. Isn't that what it's about? Having fun? A great way to start out the season. 

Top Gear Tri Team Training Weekend

Last weekend Jesse and I headed down to St George with the Top Gear Tri Team. Not all of the team was able to make it down, but that's ok. We were looking forward to being with the Snow's and the Daleys. Jesse didn't really know them all that well yet, since he was schooling all last year when I was developing these relationships. So I was eager for him to get to know these great people.

 

A big thanks to Jesse's mom and dad for taking the boys for us. We thought about bringing them along, but we were planning on riding our bikes, swimming laps and running, but we thought they would have more fun with grandma and grandpa.

 

Thursday morning (April 3) I was in charge of getting the car all packed because Jesse was working until 11am and we were convoying down with the Snow's around noon. I'm not gonna lie it was a hectic morning running Ryker to school, going to the grocery store, stopping by the bike shop to get my new bike and make sure everything was packed. But luckily everything came together just fine. We met up with the Snow's on Bangerter Highway after we dropped the off at Mike and Heidi's.

 

We split up the drive in shifts so that Jesse could sleep. He had just come off of a 27 hour shift.

 

When we arrived in St George we got settled into our condo then went to dinner.

 Friday morning we met at the lap pool and Rolynn had some swim exercises for us to do. Once we were done with that we all changed our clothes and went on a bike ride up through Snow Canyon. From our condo to the top of Snow Canyon and back was 25 miles. It was a great ride. Especially since a lot of us haven't been on the bike since the late fall.

The afternoon was spent getting ready for dinner and running errands in town.

 Saturday morning we met for a run. This year Altra Running is sponsoring us, so we each got a free pair of Altra's. I got Jesse's at a discounted price (another perk for being sponsored). So far I am loving this shoe so much. The toe box is wider than your typical running shoe. It's meant to let your toes spread. Also they are zero drop soul. More of natural run.

 After our 5 mile run (Ryan Daley did 7ish miles) we got ready for another bike ride. This time we drove to Sand Hollow. The start of it has some killer hills. Maybe I'm weird but I kinda like climbing these hills. It gives you an intense burn with a spiked heart rate at times you feel like you want to quit. But overcoming that and arriving at the top is the reward. It reminds me of how life can be. We have moments we want to throw in the towel, but when we keep pushing forward the Lord blesses us with our reward.

 This particular hill had these words of encouragement written on them. I loved it.

 That evening the boys went to the Priesthood session at a nearby church. I am grateful for men who respect their Priesthood, even on vacation. Doesn't hurt they're super good lookin... especially the one on the left ;-)

While they were getting spiritually uplifted the girls went shopping.
We met back at the condo to play games and have treats.

This weekend was so much fun. Good people make great friends. Great friends make a perfect team. A mixture of fun, hard work and tons of laughs made for a great time together. I love these guys.

I'm honored to be a part of such a good group of people. They accepted me from the beginning and did the same for Jesse. It's a matter of fact, he's been asked to officially be a part of the team. Yay!!! It's going to be great.

Something to look forward to... Jesse and I signed up to participate in the Splash n Sprint Tri in May. He'll get to represent Top Gear on that race right along with the rest of the team. It's going to be awesome.