For the love of Spandex

Weekend in review: Devin went to Chicago for a two day seminar on nutrition and exercise. The babes and I decided to stay home this time, and instead got to watch all of our studs for friends not only complete a triathlon, but ROCK it. Almost all of them placing during their first ever triathlon! It was SO exciting! I was sure glad I got to enjoy it, by watching, and not competing as was planned originally. Maybe next year, maybe... NOT. I was a really good fan. So maybe I have found my niche. Cheering. Here are some pictures from that fun morning!

Swim. bike. run.
(the order of the race)

Brennan was the first person to come in on the bike. They start in different waves, so not necessarily meaning he was in first, but we knew he and Mary weren't in the first wave, so to be coming in from the bike first meant he was doing pretty darn good to say the least. The picture on the right is of Cade and Sam giving high five after Brennan went by.
I thought it was pretty sweet how excited they were about their friend doing good.
It looked pretty cool to see Brennan being the first one finishing the race. MILES ahead of anyone. Just jogging down the street. The only people in sight were those just starting the race.

Mary was in second place when coming in from the bike, then took a 3 minute transition time (forever!) so basically gave the girl a 5 minute head start) and then blew the girl to smithereens in the run. She started 5 min after but came in a good 6 minutes BEFORE the next girl. She is amazing. Her running split time I think was faster than Brennans. AND she could have pushed harder, she said she didn't want to make herself throw up AND when she crossed the line, you could tell she had more in her.. genetic superiority does exist. At least in Mary.
Here is a picture of the first man and first woman across the finish line. They were like: "Hey your super fast like me, we should date!" Just kidding, they are already husband and wife(and have 4 children together!)

If this award existed, Summer would have also won the beauty queen award. While everyone else passed looking like they were either gonna die or kill someone, Summer smiled, posed for pictures , cheered back at the crowd and just looked super cute while doing it. She is so funny. Crossing the finish line, she lost the smile and started to feel it, Cade ran with her the last couple of yards giving her that extra boost. They are so cute. Oh let me just brag some more for my friend, this girl broke her collar bone 2 months ago, and despite her chiropractors advise NOT to race(ahem Devin) she still took 2nd in her age group! Shows how much her chiro knows. Haha. Just playin.

Here Brennan and Rick doing awesome race faces. Brennan is showing us the face you need to come in first place. It helps. Haha. Rick, I think took 1st or 2nd in his "Clydesdale" division. (big muscle guys over 200lbs)

Here is everyone that is in our ward that did the race. Marty and Tracey did the long coarse. Which is like a mile swim, 30mile bike and then half marathon run. Astounding. Gerard ( the skull cap) finished the race with what may be a torn shoulder muscle! Devin taped him up the night before and he did it anyway! Anyway, Devin and I looked at these pictures and said: "How come we always find friends that are WAY cooler than us?" Talk about stamina! I guess they have a HUGE group picture of all the people in the stake that did the race including the stake president AND his counselors. Pretty fun! Why do Mormons like triathlons so much? What weird people ;) Good job everyone!

And because "some" get annoyed at me for not posting pictures of ourselves here are a few of Naomi on "The STOOP." She hangs out here well, Most of the day. Favorite spot.

Cache has taken on the responsibility of getting Naomi when she wakes up.
Usually by climbing in and then they just hang out for a bit. Nay usually loves it, except on days when Cache is a bear.(Like this day)

How did we ever Not know this face?

Nicknames:Naye,Yo yo?, Nanny, Nemo, Naye-bird, Nanny nooners

Clothing: 6-9 months and some 12 months.

teeth: two little toofers

Favorite things: Doggies,(screams until you let her pet them, then she's all smiles!) swinging at the park(giggles the whole time), sitting on mommies left hip, her silky pillowcase, slinkies, her babydoll, emptying anything and everything, "beeping" her nose.

whole peaches and plums(don't mess with her when she's eating these), "The stoop"(pictures to come),brushing her own hair, swimming and bathing,Buttons, being read to.

Dislikes: having to wait for food, being told "no", being rocked to sleep. The bathroom door(they are always fighting, I'm not sure why but she hits it and yells at it.)

Talents: blowing her whistle! making a fishy face, crawling like Mowgli from the the Jungle book.

Love that baby girl.

A picture from our backyard

Naomi is the only one with cute enough undies to dry on line. The rest of ours have to settle for the bar stools in our Kitchen, so until our dryers repaired.(In 2-3 weeks) Please don't think us rude if we take more than a few minutes to answer the door.
We gotta hide our skivvies!


Side note: (Or I should say side blessing) Our electric bill will hopefully be much cheaper, we are way more careful about wearing aprons in the kitchen and using napkins at the dinner table(instead of our pant legs). So manners are improving. We somehow magically create less laundry than before. And I never realized that how quickly it dries on the line. Seriously 20 minutes guys. Faster than the dryer! wwwhat? And every time I go out at night to hang our bring in laundry, our neighbor gives me tomatoes from his tomato plant. It's actually been quite lovely. I'm totally feeling all pioneerish.

I can now better relate to one of my favorite poems:

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Dream Car...

If I could drive ANY car in the world ...


I cannot explain my attraction to this car. I just love everything about it from it it's leather seats, quality of build, sweet imitation wood paneling, even it's speedometer. I just love it. Well driving to Nauvoo there was one for sale on the side of the road and I almost drove into the ditch. Yes, I'm coveting SO bad. Good thing I don't know anyone personally that owns one. Anyway I just thought I would share. If you ever see one for sale tell me!

On second thought.. don't tell me.
no really tell me.

10.7.09

When not wanting to do something Mom and Dad say, usually Cache just pulls out the:

"well I said it's okay, so it dus(just) fine."

Which is always followed by a:

"Cache, it matters what MOM and DAD say,, NOT Cache."

Well he finally had heard that enough and beat us at our own tactics.

He figured out how to trump Mom and Dad.

LAST NIGHT:

Cache: "Dad can I have a popsicle?"

devin: "Yes when ALL your chores are finished."

Cache: "I ALREADY DID MY CHORE!!!"

devin: "You did one chore, but you have to do ALL your chores."

Cache: " oh NO dad, how bout I eat my popsicle and DEN(then) do my chores and DEN get another popsicle."

devin: "That's not how it works buddy."

Cache: "OH Dad, HEAVENLY FATHER told ME, you do ONE chore, den you get ONE popsicle."

devin: " oh really?He told you that?"

Cache: "Yep ONE chore, den ONE popsicle!"

devin: "Oh, so when did you talk to him?"

Cache: "Dus(just) yesterday."

well that's that, and here are some pictures of Sarah.

oh little danny boy, we already love you.

So, those are not super professional or anything, I blame it on the weather and carsickness, so most weren't in the mood for pictures(especially Sarah). But even bad pictures can't hide Sarah's perdy face :).

H.O.M.E s.w.e.e.t. H.O.M.E

Since I'm home sick, here is a couple pictures from home. I've gotten pretty use to being away from home, except two times a year it still stings a bit: Holidays and Harvest!

pic on left: my dad driving combine.
Pic on right: my little brother Joey who turned 16 last week!

I don't consider myself that old, but I can clearly remember rocking Joey to sleep when he was smaller than Naomi. I love to see my family working together in the field. Joey is driving grain truck full time this year, which means he is one of the older boys.. crazy to think about! And Sammy is driving stubble buster. He's too little to work that hard! haha, just kidding it's high time. These two baby boys have life WAY too easy. Mom and Dad have turned into softies! :) No really.

Sawah

I guess I finally whined enough to get visitors! Sarah came for about a week. She missed her husband, but I we still had a great time. We went on a bunch of wogs(walk/jogs) in the beautiful Missouri countryside. Running as far as her little pregnant bladder would let us:) Shopped at two different malls(and Target of course.)

Ate at the Cheesecake factory and St. Louis bread Co. Which are my two favorite spots. Went to the zoo, stayed up past midnight every night. Watched movies only sisters will watch with you: BBC version of Sense and Sensibility and Sisterhood of the traveling pants II.

Devin took the babes one night so Sarah and I could go see "Meet me in St. Louis" at the Muny. We got there an hour early to get good seats.(the free seats are first come first serve) Only to find out that we were one day late and they were showing "God spell." Very disappointing, we left early. Enough said.

It was so so so great to have a sis around and see how much she has grown up. I mean my heavens she is a first grade teacher, married, expecting her first child, and I still think of her as a teenager. So it was high time I got with the program and caught up on reality. On Sunday we took another drive out to the country side and tried to take maternity pictures, but I couldn't find the perfect spot, all we got out of it was a few "test shots" and a very car- sick Sarah. ugh.

Thanks for visiting! We loved every s.i.n.g.l.e minute.

Naomi steals the show lately. She is such a camera hog. Geez Naomi.
You better believe we kiss and snuggle every one of those rolls, every day.


Blue eyed beauties:

More pics of the baby whisperer at work. Let this be documented that Sarah got Naomi to sleep

1. Without her crib

2. In public!

3. With out a pacifier.

All unheard of task accomplished, not once but almost every day she was here!

**Maternity pics of Sarah coming**

Sorry, but if you visit me, you probably should were make up because
your probably going to be plastered all over my blog. I can't help it. :)

Vaning in Nauvoo

We finally made it to the Nauvoo pageant. Our budget for hotels was basically zero and I was not up for camping, so the next best option? Vaning. This was our first time, so great. Every summer they hold the "Nauvoo pageant" and we hadn't seen it yet! It was AMAZING. We took the back seats out of the ol' minivan, put down a feather mattress and that that is what we now call "vaning.". No bugs, fairly sound proof. Definitely bear proof,(there aren't bears in Nauvoo, but what if?) It was great. Cache slept on the floor behind the drivers seat. And Naomi slept in between us. The weather was in the 70's, so welp, it was perfect. At least that is how we will choose to remember it.

Over view of Nauvoo:
1. Arrived in Nauvoo, ate chicken salad pitas and cut up fruit and veggies for supper.
2. Walked over to the pageant grounds. Devin and Cache played with old pioneer wooden toys while Naomi and I did a "girly craft" which was make a braided headband, I thought they were so cute!
3. Joined back together to watch a puppet show, play tugowar, stilts, ride in a handcart, and saw wood, to make our very own souvenir. Pictured below.
4. Got our seats for the pageant! Cade and Summer joined us after they got out of the temple.
5. Went vaning. Slept...sort of.(ahem Naomi)
6. Woke up, drove our tent- van to the nearest playground, ate a breakfast of whole wheat muffins, cantaloupe and grapes, yogurt and Capri suns!
7. Walked the down Parley street and experienced the "Trail of Hope" that lead us all the way down to the Mississippi. Along the way actors helped us re-live what the saints went through as they were driven from their homes, and walked down that road as they left Nauvoo.
8. Lolly-gagged around Nauvoo, went to the blacksmith shop and to get our matching Prairie Diamonds.
9. Drove over to Carthage Jail. (where the prophet Joseph Smith died). Ate a picnic lunch of whole wheat bagel sandwiches, veggies and sweet potato chips.
10. Drove home in time for dinner.
I included all the food, because for us food makes or breaks a vacation. And I was determined to keep us happy and fed for free. We did it! Yay for me and our bellies. I don't have a lot of talent when it comes to feeding my family so I was happy to pull off some free, healthy, satisfying food. So thanks for letting me toot my own horn on the subject. My favorite trick: two giant tupperware. One full of cut up veggies(green peppers, carrots, broccoli, celery) and the other full of cut of fruit.(watermelon cantaloupe grapes). These two tupperware served as our side dish to every meal. I got this idea from my neighbor who is super healthy and i love her influence on me. :)

Prairie diamonds always bring me a smile, because the first time we got them I was with all my cousins and family in Nauvoo and at the time we all were dating someone seriously back home. They told the love story behind the prairie diamond and then we all nonchalantly took TWO. Ben took one for Cindy and I took one for Devin and Sarah did you take one for Nick? We were all love sick in Nauvoo. That was the best trip! And everytime I go back to Nauvoo, I'm flooded with so many good memories with my cousins and grandparents and Aunts and Uncles in that Beautiful city.

There was a TON of people at the actual pageant that night. But when we walked around Nauvoo, there seemed to be nobody. Just the way i like it. The acting was superb. I really liked who they had playing Joseph Smith.

For all of you who are envious of my "stilt skills" I never recovered from that one legged stunt, falling on my head right after the flash of the camera. Never the less, I did beat that little punky pioneer boy around the tree and back who told me 100 times:
"I've been doing this for FOUR years can you believe it?"
Yah that's right. I'm proud of beating and 8 year old.

Cache thought the idea of riding in a hand cart was ridiculous, and choose to stay sitting in the stroller rolling his eyes at his parents. He has such attitude. Oh boy, I don't know where he gets it. ;)

There is a neat memorial with names of all the people that died while leaving Nauvoo. There are thousands of names. I didn't know THAT many people died. Devin found an Orton. I'm sure a great great ggg..... grandpa's brother or something.



Nauvoo has a feeling, peace about it that no other place I've ever felt. Cache got away from us a couple times but I didn't go into panic. I knew he was safe where he was, and if anyone did find him lost I'm sure it was one of the hundreds of missionaries. I love to see all the senior missionary couples walking around town, or home from the temple holding hands with their cute white hair. You can tell they are just so fullfilled serving their time there. It is easy for me to imagine how much the pioneers Loved that city and and how heart breaking it was when the mobs drove them out of their homes having to say good bye to their homes, their beloved temple in the dead of winter and the city they built up from a swamp. Man I love Nauvoo, I would honestly live there if it was feesable.

With all the stories of sacrifice and death, you would think this would be a somber place, but it's not! It perfectly reflects the gospel:

calm. simple. happy. peaceful

There is lots of laughter in Nauvoo. Great sacrifices were made, BUT its in the past, and they were not made in vain. We are enjoying all the blessings that those people died for.
Great trip.