Children need early bedtimes

There are several valid scientific reasons why children need early bedtimes and lots of sleep--brain development, conversion of short-term memory to long-term memory, growth, promotes strong immune system to name just a few.

However, the main reason children need early bedtimes is...

some daddies just can't make it to their children's bedtimes if the kids don't go to bed by 9 p.m.

Out of the blue--almost

My little Honda Civic is my mom/work/run-around do errands car. It is a trooper. Unfortunately, because of its job description it looks more like it should belong to Oscar Madison than to Felix Unger. Sad, but true. Yesterday I had to take it to the emissions testing place--making my tabs $58 to renew (43 for the tabs and 15 for the test), but I digress. Anyway as I was waiting for my results, the nice young man who did the test casually asks, "So, what ward are you in?" How did he know I was Mormon? Could it have been my below-the-knee length shorts or maybe I just had that extra "twinkle" in my eye that set me apart? Then I realized that it probably had more to do with the 3 sets of scriptures and the Aaronic Priesthood booklet in the back seat. Well at least he had pretty good deduction skills and didn't ask the question entirely out of the blue.

Summer's Last Hurrah

We spent last week in the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. It was a grand time!

We saw some beautiful scenery:

We saw some of these: and some of these:

lots of these:

3 of these:

(that's a grizzly bear)

We got to enjoy spending time with Nathan and his family--just wish you guys could have stayed longer!

Dave and the kids found a great fishing stream (never mind that it was a 4 mile hike down this canyon)

But the looks on their faces when they caught fish was priceless...

What a wonderful way to send off summer!

I love my legs

My legs are awesome! This week I have required a lot from my legs and they have been there the whole way without complaint. Monday there was a 23 mile bike ride with a gruesome 1.5 mile hill--nary a complaint from my legs. The bike ride was immediately followed by a 1+ mile swim and while my arms were griping, my legs just kept on kicking. Tuesday was a 5+ mile run and my legs carried me over the run with a nice even pace. Again we went for a 1+ mile swim and while my arms were still a little grumpy, my legs never gave any indication that they couldn't handle whatever I asked of them. Wednesday was supposed to be a recovery day for my wonderful legs, but plans changed once we started running. We hit the hills and wound up going 6 hilly miles. My legs stuck with me and even though my lungs were saying "enough", my little legs just kept on truckin. Today I asked my legs to take me on another 23 mile bike ride and they did great. Up the hill without a problem and back. Then my legs took me on a little walk after the bike ride. I wish I could say that my legs are going to get a break, but we are heading to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone tomorrow. I envision a lot of hiking--a lot of it done at "DisneyWorld pace" (someday I'll have to post just what DisneyWorld pace is). Well legs, I promise that in a couple of weeks we'll go back and see Drashell for a really good massage. Until then you'll just have to enjoy the ice baths and stretching after the workouts.

I couldn't be prouder

This is what my family did Saturday morning:

Swim (David is the hottie in the swim trunks)

Bike

Run

That's right. They competed as a team in the Medical Lake Kiwanis Mini-triathlon. I was so proud of them. They all had a great race! Some highlights:

• David didn't drown--he was very afraid that he might, especially after getting kicked in the abdomen. He also noted that he was the only one wearing regular swim trunks.
• Katelyn ROCKED on the bike. She rode the 10 mile course in 45 minutes. This was great considering that on her 10 mile training rides she hadn't ridden any in less than an hour.
• Carson had the run of his life. His time was roughly 25 minutes (maybe a little more) for the 3.5 mile course. This was impressive because he refused to run farther than 2 miles during his training.
• David has caught the triathlon bug and is wanting to do more. Katelyn hasn't completely ruled out being on a team again next year. Carson secretly enjoyed the race, but don't ask him because he'll say running is stupid.

My family ROCKS!