Smithfield Triathlon

Last week Sam and I participated in our first triathlon. We had been training for a couple months so it felt great to complete the race. I love a good goal and it was great to finally reach this one.

When we first arrived at the event I felt completely intimidated by everyone who looked like triathlon regulars. We definitely had the least "gear" of just about anyone. When we set up our things (including our running shoes) at the transition station before the race started Sam and I were laughing at the fact that we were walking around barefoot while everyone else wore flip flops. We looked like such amatures. There are just some things you don't think of if you've never done this before.

Here is our "gear". We really didn't have much. Thankfully the Harbertsons were generous enough to let us borrow their bikes.






We didn't bring much gear, but we were among the very few that brought three kids with them. The boys enjoyed the "set up" process, but after that I'm afraid they were mostly hot, tired and a little bored waiting for the race to start...and finish.



Unfortunately we don't have too many great pictures from the race. I left my Mom (who was kind enough to come out and help with the kids and cheer us on) with the camera on the wrong setting and a low battery.

Sam did awesome in the swim. He actually had the fastest time in his division.


Swimming was what I was the most worried about. Despite nearly loosing my goggles and having to go almost a full length without being able to see, I survived this 250 meter leg of the race.


The 14 mile bike ride was by far the longest portion of the race. I actually saw Sam coming in from his ride just as I was heading out. It was great to see him since at this point I was still doubting whether or not I could do it. Doubting myself is actually my only regret of the race. About half way through the bike ride I realized that, "Yes--I can do this...what am I worried about?" and kicked it into high gear. I wish I had been able to feel that way the whole race.

I don't think Sam ever doubted himself since he flew from the bike ride and launched right into the 5K getting the 2nd fastest time in his division. He really did do so great.



Once I got to the run I knew I could do it and there was no reason not to give it everything I had.


Sam finished the the race in 1 hour 13 minutes and ended up 5th in his division and 69th over all. I was VERY proud of his hard work.


I finished the race in 1 hour in 34 minutes which was much faster than I hoped. When it was over we were both completely exhausted, but so happy.


The boys were mostly happy to get snow cones and be on their way home.

We didn't come home with any any awards, but as I walked around with a sweet sleeping Ruby after the race someone told me that I won the best prize...I totally agree.

Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day. It was a good day for Sam (I hope!) The morning was a little crazy for us, espeically since I was still preparing for my sacrament meeting talk so we had to have a Father's Day brunch instead of breakfast. I wanted to do something special for Sam so I tried to make crepes. Five attempts and 3 burnt pans later I finally had this sad little crepe for him. I did get a little better as I went along. They weren't beautiful, but with buttermilk syrup they were quite delicious if I do say so myself.



After brunch Sam did get to take a Father's Day nap. Here is Max joining him doing his "pretend sleep".


It was a holiday so Max thought this was the appropriate way to wake Sam up from his nap.



Brunch might have been slightly disastrous, but dinner was practically perfect.


After dinner Sam and the kids did what they do best. Reed said, "Now this is a Father's Day!"






I think I knew Sam would be a great father before I even knew it would be my future children calling him Dad. Seeing him in action I know my impression was right on. He is a funloving father who loves to play, teach and help his children excel in all the areas of their lives. They are lucky kids and I'm lucky to have a great partner in this crazy adventure called parenthood.

Sam and I have both been blessed in the father department as well. This post just wouldn't be complete if I didn't take a moment to record a few of the things I love most about my dad.

1. He is patient. As a father I think of this as one of his defining characteristics. Growing up this was something I really appreciated, especially when I did things that required correction. He was firm, but calm.

2. He always made me feel important and loved as an individual. Whether it was stopping by to get a doughnut (usually a maple bar) on the way home from school, or making an effort to come to as many of my gymnastics meets as possible (and record my scores), or taking me to Hawaii for the day because I was bored, he made me feel special. The one on one time I had with him was meaningful and helped me to know that I was important to him.

3. He is steady as a freight train in the gospel. I have never wondered or doubted how important the gospel is to him. He is steadfast and my life has been blessed by his consistency.

4. He has sacrificed so much to provide greater ease and opportunity in my life. This is a big one. I couldn't begin to list all of the ways he has sacrificed on my behalf. I am embarrassed to think of how little I understood or appreciated this fact when I was a child and teenager. I am beginning to understand now and I am so grateful for all the time he did without so I could be involved in all the good and fun things life had to offer.

5. He has 'saved the day' for me numerous times in my life. If I am ever in a desperate situation (and I have been a few times) I know my dad will make every effort to 'save the day'. I can think of a few times at BYU where he was the only one who could have helped me and he took the time to do just that. In more recent years he saved the day for my whole family when he flew to Connecticut and packed up our apartment and truck while Sam was in the hospital and Reed and I out of necessity had to return to North Carolina without him. Knowing that I could call upon him has brought me comfort throughout my life.

Here are a few things that Sam loves about his father.

1. He laughs at my jokes. Not the eye-rolling half laugh I get from Lindsay, or the chuckle I get from my mom because she's being nice, but a full laugh that let's me laugh with him. In fact, my laugh is his laugh and I'm sometimes surprised to hear my laugh echoing in the phone when I talk to him.

2. He gives good advice--not because he always gives perfect advice, but because he gives it with such confidence. When my dad gives advice, it's easy to follow it because of how he gives it.

3. He likes to be useful. I've finished thirty-one years of life and I'm still trying to learn from his example in this department. When he comes to visit he always has to jump in immediately and help with whatever project he feels needs his attention. Because of him I have trees in my frontyard and a gate in my backyard, and when he works he works hard and gets things done.

4. When he is spiritual he is very spiritual. Sure he likes to cultivate the image of a cowboy or a hunter, but it's no secret that he has a soft center (just ask him to tell you about the I.O.U.s). My mom may have been responsible raising the spritual bar in our home when I was growing up, but my Dad made it cool to be spiritual. I love to listen to him talk about the gospel because he is very passionate and has great insight.

5. He loves dogs. Oh wait, this one belongs on a different list. I guess I should say that I admire his persistence when he wants something. I truly believe that someday he will find a way to give us a dog, but I will fight it. Maybe we should have taken a picture of our fish decomposing in its bowl so that he stops thinking a dog would be safe in our house.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Yesterday was Sam's birthday. I forgot to get him a card, so I will record here what I wanted him to know about how happy I am to spend my life with him. There are lots of things I love about Sam---too many to list here, but since this is a record of things I don't want to forget here are some more random reasons that I love him at this moment in life.

1. He can find just about anything. We often joke about it being his "super power". When something is lost around the house, whether it be a shoe or my wedding ring (it happens way too often), Sam is always the one that finds it. He's so confident in his finding abilities in fact that when I say "I can't find the ___" he will sometimes say, "Do you want me to find it in less than 5 minutes?" And amazingly enough he usually does.

2. I love to listen to him sing Ruby to sleep over the baby monitor. Sam has been so good about singing our babies to sleep. He is much more patient with that activity than I think I would be. I am amazed sometimes by how long he will try. That is probably one of the reasons he knows so many song lyrics----the real ones, not the ones I sing most of the time.

3. He's trying to use a day planner. Sam has an amazing memory....for certain things, but no one can remember everything they have to do all of the time without writing it down once in a while. I've been trying to convince Sam of this for years and he is now finally giving it a try. I know he's not completely sold on the idea of a planner since we often call it his "paper weight" but I love that he is willing to try just for me.

4. He is willing to watch chick flicks and old movies with me. When we rent a movie he usually lets me pick. This is especially nice considering I can't remember the last time I made it though a whole movie without falling asleep.

5. He works hard. The other day Sam needed to get the lawn mowed before other things on our agenda for the day, but we were crunched for time. I couldn't help but laugh when I looked outside and saw him nearly sprinting across the lawn running the mower back and forth. I tried to get a picture, but video is what I really needed.

6. He's supportive of the things I try to do. I don't know if there is ever a project I get involved in that he doesn't end up helping me out with. Most recently he helped me finish up Ruby's crib bumper which had stayed unfinished for way too long. He cut out all the strips of material I needed to do the ties and as he said himself, "They were perfect!"

7. He loves his family. I know this is very general, but the list wouldn't be complete without it. From the moment he arrives at home from a long hot commute in his 'sauna car' he jumps right in to help me or play with the kids.

8. He loves to make BIG dreams and plans. Unfortunately he doesn't share my same affinity for making a plan for the day or week or monthly budget, but he does LOVE to dream and talk about more outrageous things like what our dream house would be like--emphasis on the DREAM. Last time we spoke of the dream house it included a basketball gymnasium, an indoor racquetball court with a glass wall through which the pool can be seen, and secret passageways.

9. He will do "embarrassing returns" (i.e. returning almost everything on the receipt, or return an item we've had for too long, etc.--he wants to create a family crest with "No sale is ever final" on it in latin) and he will do "super coupon deals" for me ( e.g. going to 3 grocery stores late one night for me so we could get 24 boxes of cereal and 4 movie passes for $20). He was actually really excited about the cereal thing--less excited about the returns.

10. I know it will drive him crazy if I stop at 9 and not 10 (I guess years of watching Monk have had an effect on him) so I will add one more. I love that he loves to have fun for the sake of having fun. Sam often seems like a big kid to me. I know our kids enjoy it, but I too love that because of him we have a lot more fun in our family. This last reason leads perfectly into a quick recap of Sam's birthday celebration.

Yesterday was a scorching hot day so as soon as Sam arrived home from work we ambushed him with water guns and then continued our war in the backyard. It was amazingly refreshing on a 90+ degree day. I don't have many pictures since you can't shoot water guns and pictures at the same time.

Max didn't quite get the concept of a water gun fight at first and was not happy when people squirted him.

After our water gun fight we set up a slip and slide, which was fun but not quite what I remember it being like as a kid. The ground was much harder, the slide was much shorter, and I am not as slippery as I used to be. Even so we had a great time.





After our water activities we had a dinner of Lasagna, watermelon and some truly awful bread (3x the yeast=gross). At least we didn't mess dessert up. Sam requested brownies from a box with ice cream. Sam got the brownies and Ruby got the box.


Happy Birthday Sam! I love you and hope your 32nd year is your best yet.

6 months

I think the fact that I'm almost a week behind with this post is evidence of how fast time is flying and how quickly this girl is growing. Last Wednesday Ruby turned 6 months old. Six months is actually one of my favorite ages/stages. I'm not sure exactly why-- maybe it's because it's so much fun to watch her start to gain control of her body and simultaneously start to let her personality shine.


At 6 months Ruby....

1. Eats. She's only tried a few things so far, but she seems to love it all (especially carrots). She gets so excited when the she sees the food is on it's way. So excited in fact that you've got to be fast with the food once she knows it's coming. Ferocious might be a good word to describe how she attacks the spoon sometimes. (As a bonus her meal of prunes gave me a sneak peak of what she might look like in 16ish years if burgundy lipstick comes back in style.)


2. She's really starting to play. She is no longer just content to watch the boys do their thing. She does her best to get in on the action too. They of course love her interest in them. Her favorite things seem to be balls and guns. I was looking forward to a little bit of a girly girl so I think I need to get her a few more dolls or something.


3. She's ready to say, "Bye-bye" to the Bumbo. Whenever we put her in the bumbo seat she immediately shifts herself to the side and hangs over the edge. I guess she finds that more comfortable or maybe she's just looking for a way to wiggle out.


4. She sits like a champ. Almost overnight she started sitting for long periods of time without tipping. I always love it when they hit the age when they are so happy to sit and explore a box of toys, knock over block towers, or fold themselves in half like a sandwich trying to get something out of reach. How do I not have a picture of this? Here is a random cute picture of her instead.


5. She does yoga. She's got the plank pose down at least. I've always thought she had pretty strong ab muscles for a baby. The plank pose may not be too impressive, but I've also seen her with both feet over her head---never long enough for me to grab the camera, but impressive none the less.

Speaking of feet...

6. She likes to eat her feet. I know babies do this, but my babies have never done this so it makes me laugh whenever I see her chewing away on her toes.


7. She's trying to get a move on. This girl wants to go. She seems too little to me to be working towards crawling already, but don't tell her that. She's already started scooting a little (backwards mostly). All she needs is the right motivation. The little flaps on the game, "Guess Who" really get her going.


8. She laughs. She has the sweetest little laugh. Sam thinks she's the least ticklish of our kids. I don't know if that is true or not, but maybe the infrequence of it what makes it that much sweeter to my ears. I can almost hear her laughing when I see this picture.


9. She's got a mohawk. I guess Ruby was jealous of her brother's St. Patrick's Day styling, because her hair has fallen out in such a funny way that uncombed she looks like she has a little mohawk of long hair right up the middle. Her hair really is crazy. Without a headband she always reminds me a little Cindy-Lou-Who from "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" or any of several of Dr. Suess characters with crazy hair that sticks up just in the middle.


10. She has stopped screaming non-stop in the car seat. Don't get me wrong, she still doesn't love it and we will definitely not be planning a road trip anytime soon, but she has found a way to deal with her time in the car seat. Usually she will cry for a minute, start sucking her thumb and then be mostly content or asleep for the rest of the time. This is probably the biggest and best change we've enjoyed during the past month so I'm not sure how it ended up as number 10. I guess I was saving the best for last.


We sure love this girl and can hardly wait to see what she has in store for us at 7 months.