That’s what we call it in the Z family.  TriZathlon.  Everything is better with a little Z in it, right?  Quite frankly, not so.  I don’t care how many Z’s you put in Triathlon, I’m not sure it will ever make it better.  But, as I set the goal to do earlier this year, I DID finish.  And my bum hurts.  I think it should be against the law to make bikes with any seat other than one like this:

The TriZathlon is a little non-traditional in that we run, bike, and then swim.  The Z’s live in the heart of Box Elder County farm country, so while we could opt to swim in irrigation canals, we prefer the high school pool, which doesn’t open until 10:00….and it’s too hot by then to run and bike after the swim.  The route boils down to this: 

1. Run 2 corn fields to the west and then turn north. 
2. Run (or, by this time in my case, walk) 1 barley field, one saflower field, and two more corn fields to the north and then turn east.
3. Run (still walking here) 8 corn fields to the east, and be sure to pull to the side so you don’t get run over by that tractor, who is quickly gaining speed on you. Turn south.
4. Run (picking up the pace now, but only because the in-laws are gaining on me) 2 corn fields, one wheat field, and one weedy-looking-crop field south and turn west.
5. ALMOST DONE (with the run anyway).  As soon as you reach the starting line, jump on your bike and follow the same route until you get to a fork in the road.  Go left and ride for eons longer on seriously bumpy roads. 
6. Repeat step number five until your hind end falls off, at which point you’ll know you’re  halfway done.
7. If you forgot to take a Claritin at 5:30 this morning when you got out of bed, the joke’s on you!  Keep riding!
8. As you approach the end of the last lap of the bike, watch out for 4 small children, walking their sheep on leashes.  If their dog chases you, feel free to kick it out of your way.  Take extra caution not to ride through the sheep dung trailing behind them on the road.
9. Here it comes….the finish line!  You know, the place with everyone cheering for you?  You might be tempted to slow down, but don’t give in because this really isn’t the finish line…you’ve still got about a mile to go. BWHAHAHAHAHA!
10. Just when you think you can’t pedal any longer, you’ll stop in the middle of the road, where no one is cheering for you, and that’s where the finish line is.

Who made up #9 anyway?  Curse them!

And that, my friends, will take you through the first 2/3rds of the TriZathlon.  It’s all true too…I kid you not (except that the tractor lapped me twice).  The only thing I’d change about my experience would be to take a little camera with me to prove that it’s all true, because I know you think I’m jesting a little.

Another non-traditional aspect of the TriZathlon is that we get a nice long break between the run/bike and the swim….because, as you now know, the pool doesn’t open until 10:00.  And we started running at 6:00.  The true purpose of this break is to tempt you to sit down….those who do are far more likely to never get back up, making the odds of winning better for everyone else.  I didn’t eat before we started (was I supposed to?  nobody told me.), so rather than sitting down, I stuffed my face with bananas, poppy seed muffins, and a donut or two (ok, four).  I also took a shot of Mona Vie, which Aunt Denise told me would magically make my sore bum go away.  She lied.  Well, OK…maybe I misquoted her.  If nothing else, it had quite the kick to it, which woke me right up.

Much too soon, we headed to the pool.  I was in the last heat (the one for the slowpokes).  I don’t have much to say about the swim other than that I DID NOT DROWN!!  Given that the last real lesson I had in swimming took place when I was about 4, and that I feel extremely claustrophobic with my face in the water, it’s truly a miracle that I completed 20 lengths in that pool.

Overall, I came in 2nd to last….just barely ahead of my mother-in-law.  I honestly have no idea what my time was.  I don’t really care.  Finishing was the goal, and the fact that there were 5 particpants over the age of 50, and all but one of them creamed me didn’t bother me one bit.  Did I have fun?  Not really.  But, I didn’t die, and that’s all that really matters.  I’d say that Emmy’s face in this my-parents-are-so-mean-to-drag-me-out-of-bed-so-stinking-early-in-the-morning-even-though-I-do-it-to-them-every-other-day-of-the-week shot sums it all up for me:

Next year, I think I’ll go back to being a cheerleader rather than a participant.  There’s no doubt, my bum will really thank me.

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WARNING:  Incredibly Picture Heavy!

Joseph’s parents rented a house in Bear Lake for a few days for their family reunion this year and we had a TON of fun!  Here are some of the highlights:

LOADS OF FUN AT THE LAKE

FHE LESSON BY UNCLE DAVID, FOLLOWED BY SOME SERIOUS LIMBO-ING

GLITTER TOES BY AUNT MELANIE & PUZZLES GALORE

LEISURELY WALKS TO GET YUMMY BEAR LAKE SHAKES EVERY NIGHT

THREE CUTE KIDS (we won’t mention the puking incident caused by one of them)

A QUICK STOP ON THE WAY HOME TO CATCH ONE MORE VIEW UNTIL NEXT YEAR…

THANKS MOM & DAD Z FOR SUCH A FUN-FILLED WEEK!  CAN’T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN!

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We weren’t able to have a big family party this year, due to so many busy summer activities going on.  Grandma Dart and Grandma and Grandpa Z. gave their gifts early, and we would be in Bear Lake with the entire Z family on his actual birthday, so we decided to invite Grandpa and Dedee up for Sunday dinner and a little cake and ice cream.  We are really getting with the technological times around here and were even able to Skype with Auntie Em and Uncle Nick while he opened presents. 

He’s been really into robots lately and told us that he’d be really sad if he didn’t get a robot for his birthday.  Thankfully, we came through for him.  I also made a robot cake and was reminded of why it’s not smart for me to wait so late at night to try to decorate cakes….luckily Ryan didn’t take notice of my shoddy workmanship! 

The next morning, on his actual birthday, we made pancakes with the Star Wars molds from Auntie Em and Uncle Nick.  Then, it was off to Bear Lake for a few days of fun with the Z family.

No way was I going to try to transport a cake to Bear Lake, so I made mini cupcakes instead.  Joseph packed them at the very back of the car, and when I opened the gate they fell out, flipped upsidedown, and all the cupcakes stuck to the lid of the pan (which I had smartly rubberbanded shut, just in case…otherwise, they’d have been covered in dirt).  Once again, I’m grateful that kids simply see sugar and forget all about how ugly they actually looked.  The house we were staying in had a nice theater room, and Ryan loved being able to watch his birthday video on the big screen.  He had a great day and has already started planning his 7th birthday!

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Six Years Old!

Today marks 6 years with our crazy, fun-loving, fearless, brilliant, animated, best-hug-and-kiss-giver-in-the-world boy!

This is the first year that Ryan’s birthday has fallen on the same day of the week that he was born. I was amazed at how nostalgic that made me feel. I sat through church yesterday thinking about where I was 6 years prior, singing a hymn in sacrament meeting and watching the clock, realizing that my braxton hicks contractions were coming in much quicker succession than they should be. For some reason, I brushed it off and fulfilled my duties in the primary presidency…I even remember mentioning to the primary president that I was having quite a few contractions, but I must have been in denial about how real they were.

When we finally decided we should head to the hospital, the news from the nurses and doctor on call was that it was false labor. Since my own doctor wasn’t on call that weekend, they decided to keep me overnight and get her OK the next morning before sending me home. Much to our shock and surprise, a quick check the next morning showed that I was 8 centimeters dilated. 20 minutes later, Ryan entered the world. His birth day (and the 4 weeks that followed before he was released from the NICU) was a complete whirlwind and the past 6 years have been the as well! It’s a ride I wouldn’t trade for the world! Happy Birthday RyPie!

Fun facts about Ryan since his last birthday:

• He still loves The Backyardigans
• Duggin and Son (and company) are still around, but visit less often
• He learned to ride his bike without training wheels
• He loves to work on projects in the garage with daddy
• He’s a great big brother to Owen and Emmy (most of the time!)
• He’s still smart as a whip
• He could get lost for hours building with his Legos and K’Nex
• He is very polite….lots of pleases and thank yous
• He was the shortest boy in his kindergarten class
• He woke up this morning a little disappointed….he thought he’d be much taller when he turned six

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This post is mostly for my sister, who gave us her tickets to the Stadium of Fire.  She and her husband hadn’t planned on needing to be back in Washington DC quite so soon, so they had to miss the show.  Here are a few words to describe what you missed out on Em!  Sorry about the pictures….I’m the only who remembered a camera, and it wasn’t our nice one.

YUMMY!  We started off with a BBQ at dad’s house.

PERFECT!  The weather….couldn’t have asked for anything better.

DANCERS!  Mom said you wanted pictures of the dancers.  Why, I don’t know, but I took some for you anyway.

COUNTRY!  The first act was Eric Dodge, who I’ve never heard of until recently.  Coincidentally, the song he sang was co-written by a neighbor of ours when we lived in Logan.

AMAZING!  Jenny Oaks Baker…need I say more?

CHEESY!  The Osmonds 2nd Generation….need I say more? Very Sons of Provo.

POTENTIAL!  The 5 Browns….not really the best venue to truly appreciate their talent, but the Star Wars suite they played kept Joseph entertained.  Hopefully we can catch them sometime in the future in a location with better acoustics.

WACKO!  Lou Diamond Phillips. Where did this guy come from?  If nothing else, he was so goofy that it was entertaining to watch.

PREPARED!  They filled the stage with Boy Scouts who would receive their Eagles that night.  They asked all the Eagle Scouts in the stadium to stand up…I didn’t get a very good picture of Joseph, but I’m proud that he earned his Eagle in his youth.

INSPIRING!  My favorite part is always the fighter jets that fly overhead.  We were super excited when one of Joseph’s best high school friends, who was flying one of the jets, came onto the screen to congratulate all of the new eagle scouts.

COUNTRY (again)!  Joseph’s favorite part….more country music.  I only knew a few of Carrie Underwood’s songs, but the show was entertaining enough.

CUTE!  The three little girls sitting in front of us, with their patriotic ribboned pigtails, were so fun to watch as they danced to the music.  They shared one of their light sticks with Dallan and tried to talk to him, but he was a bit shy.

FIREWORKS!  As always, it was a spectacular show.

FUN!  Overall, a really great time!  Thanks for sharing your tickets!

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Owen and Emmy completed their first round of swimming lessons last week and they LOVED it! For the past several months, Owen has prayed every day that he could go swimming, so he was in 7th heaven when he was finally able to go every single day for 2 weeks. Emmy was in 7th heaven getting to decide on a new swimming hairdo everyday!

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Last Wednesday was a hard day with the kids and by the time early evening came, I was done being a mom.  I said to Ryan “I think I’m just going to throw you kids out into the street to fend for yourselves”.  He looked at me for a minute, and then said in a very patronizing tone “Mom, that’s just a figure of speech”.

Later that night, when I came home from Young Women’s, this note was waiting for me:

Translation:  “Mom, sorry for being naughty.  Next time I will be good.  Love, Ryan”.  And, off to the side, “Ryan is a loving person”.  Needless to say, my mommy stress melted away and I loved him again.

Filed under: R, Ryanisms | 4 Comments »

I’m a little behind on several things I’ve planned to post about, the first of which is our family pics for 2010.  I generally do them in the spring, halfway between the twins’ birthday and Ryan’s birthday, so that I can count their individual shots as those milestone birthday pictures that every parent likes to have.  Having pictures done is a major stress for me, so it’s nice to get it done all at once!  This year was the best by far in terms of kids who obeyed….still not perfect, but much better than past years.  I’m really happy with how they turned out, but I haven’t ordered anything yet because I just don’t know what to choose!  Here are a few of my favorites, but if you want to see the whole session, you can do so HERE.  Which ones do you think are frame-worthy?

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Our weekend started out with this:

My first 5K!  I have been told by several people that once you run your first race, you’ll be hooked.  I do have to say that it is LOADS better than running on a treadmill, but by no means am I hooked.  We did have fun though and it was for a good cause.  Joseph left me in the dust early on, and I had forgotten to bring my MP3 player, which left me with nobody to talk to and nothing to listen to.  I probably would have done a little better with a few distractions, but it wasn’t too bad.  My mantra through the whole thing was that I was in labor with Zoey for 12 hours, I could run for her for 30 minutes. The truth is, I also did a lot of walking and crossed the finish line in 36:09 minutes. I was happy enough with that…my time wasn’t very important to me. Will I do another 5K? Absolutely! But don’t be looking for me on the Ragnar course anytime soon!

The race was held at Thanksgiving Point, so we took the opportunity to spend the weekend in Utah County with my dad and his wife Dedee. Their house has been under construction for the last few years, and now that it’s nearly done, it’s much easier to take the kids and stay. We spent Saturday mostly just relaxing. The kids practiced the songs they would sing the next day at church for Father’s Day and enjoyed a bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub (with not-so-kid-friendly bubbles, which left Emmy SCREAMING a couple of times after she rubbed her eyes when her hands had soap on them). They were all good in church and sang like angels. Sunday night, on our way home, we stopped for a concert in the park, put on by the Utah Premiere Brass, which my dad plays in.  We had a great time and were sad to have to come home and face another week of work.

We had some late nights, which caught up with everyone by Sunday afternoon.  Emmy was so exhausted by dinnertime that she just curled up on her stool and went to sleep.

She perked right up when we got to the park!

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Unfortunately, not quite as cute as last year’s, but quite a bit tastier!

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