Race Day

 Last weekend our kids all participated in a children's triathlon.  It was probably one of the most fun things that we have done together as a family.  Well, I guess that is totally my opinion, you would have to ask my kids, but I think they would agree.  There's nothing like seeing them nervous before the race, going to excitement when it started, and then watching them run through the finish line is PRICELESS!

It was one of the hottest days of this year.  I think 105 degrees.  Good thing it started early!

Jessica just ran the fun run (1/2 mile).  I got to run it with her.

She did great!  I wish I had a video of her little arms going back and forth, running with such enthusiasm and confidence!  I kept asking her if she wanted to walk and she would say, "No, I want to keep running!"  She ran the whole distance.  Here we are almost to the finish line.  I love her face in this picture.

All that running was worth it for the MnMs and snow cone!

All the other kids did the short triathlon.  It started with the 50 meter swim.   Megan was in the parent assist group, so Mark got to do the whole race with her.

Here are the kids at transition.

The bike was 2 miles....

LOVE this picture!

Then the run was 1/2 mile...

To the finish line...

It was so fun for the whole family to participate.

It was also fun for the kids to have some friends and cousins racing too!

We can't wait till next year!

Swim lessons

I enrolled Megan and Jessica in swim lessons after school. Jessica loved this session because her teacher was sooo smiley and awesome!

She progressed a ton and is now a little fish!
Megan on the other hand didn't like her lessons.  She said they were hard.  (The teacher was really working on her stroke and correct side breathing.)  She was counting down the days until it was over, but she did great!

Since Tom and Sam had to be there, I decided to put them in lessons together.  It was fun to see those two swimming together.

The heat is here and I think we are ready for the summer!  Only problem is we need to get a pool in our backyard!  :)

Silly Sam

Here is Sam being silly with the paper mache gorilla that he made in school.

Megan turned 6 years old!

This was kind of a cool birthday year for Megan because her birthday fell on Memorial Day which was the day that she was born.  The whole day I kept replaying in my mind what happened 6 years ago on that day!  I will never forget when Mark and the kids were next door swimming while I was at home doing laundry and suddenly I knew it was time!  I yelled over the gate for Mark to come home and then we headed off to the hospital.  Her delivery was different from all of my others.  I was the only one in labor and delivery that night.  I had about 6 nurses taking  care of me, which was good, because Megan was born so fast that there was no time for an epidural.  I hadn't had a birthing class since before Rachel.  Back then, I remember Mark and I laughing at the breathing techniques and thinking I would never really have to use them with an epidural.  Things don't always go as planned, and I was in major pain.  I still remember looking into one of the nurses eyes pleading for her to help me do the breathing. Her face was about six inches from mine as she told me to do exactly what she was doing and I did.   I was he-he-hawing and doing all sorts of breathing that you see in the movies.  No way was I laughing now! Every now and then I just couldn't help it and I would let out a huge scream.  Mark had no idea I could scream like that and neither did I.  It was totally involuntary!  It wasn't necessarily the pain of the labor, but it was the nurses telling me not to push when I had contractions.  They were trying to get me to wait until the doctor showed up.  That only lasted about 10 mins and then they had mercy on me and delivered Megan without the doctor.  He showed up a few mins later.
Another unique thing about Megan was her dark hair!  She was my first baby with dark eyes and dark hair like her daddy!

and her Grandma Lu (All of Lu's family tell me that Megan looks just like her!)

It was fun to see dark hair among all the blondes!

She sure was cute!

Oh how I miss that little newborn baby.  But I sure love my six year old now!  She is such a sweetheart!

This year she wanted a Teddy Bear party.  I have never met a girl that loves and takes care of her stuffed animals as much as Megan.  She talks to them, feeds them, and she has to tuck them in every night before bed.  So, we decided to have a Teddy Bear Breakfast on the morning of Memorial Day (her b-day).  She and Jessie were so excited.  While I was getting everything ready, Rachel saw them by the door waiting for her friends and took some pictures...

The friends finally came with their stuffed animals.  The first stop was the animal beauty parlor...

Then we ate Bear-shaped cinnamon rolls (forgot the raisins for eyes), bear-face sausage, and "bear-ies."  Haha, I know.....so creative!  :)

Here are my helpers, and there's no way I could have done it without them!!!

The girls then made matching bracelets for them and their animal and also matching flowers for their hair.  They were really creative with their color choices for their flowers!  :)

They did a Teddy-Bear Treasure hunt...

Megan was spoiled by lots of presents...

She is so lucky to have such great cousins and friends!

Later that night (after having a BBQ and swimming in the same pool that we were swimming in six years ago when I went in to labor), Mark and the boys got home and we had cake and ice-cream.

Happy Birthday Megs!

We sure love you!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Mark, Tommy and Sam went up to BYU for the annual Father and Son's Basketball camp.  They were there from Friday thru Monday evening.  Thank you Mark for taking some pictures!   I can tell they had fun....

Mark was in heaven reconnecting with some of his friends from BYU and UCLA whom were there with their boys.
Tommy and Sam also had cousins and friends up there so it was really just a party all weekend.  Here are the rest of the photos.  I'll let them talk for themselves because I really don't know any details!...

This is Mark, Tommy and Sam with Mark's brother Zach and his sons, Harrison and Ben at the SLC temple.

While they were in Provo playing, just us girls were here having fun too!  We pretty much shopped all Friday night and Saturday.   Rachel was in need of some summer clothes, so we went with a purpose and it was so much fun!
This was also Megan's birthday weekend.  There's two things that she really wanted to do....get her ears pierced, and go to Build-a-bear (she LOVES stuffed animals more than anything!)  So, we headed to the mall on Sat. morning.

Before we left, I put Sam's numbing cream on her ears, just to make it a little bit easier....

She was really excited, but of course, really nervous too.

Rachel was her little coach.  She held her hand and gave her encouragement all the way through the mall.

Here's the before... (Jessie is wearing sticker earrings)

Picking out the earrings.  Of course, the pink flowers!

Nerves building...

But Rach was still there for her, holding her hands and giving encouragement, it was cute to watch!...

Almost ready!

When Megan saw the earring gun, she needed her mom to help her, so I stepped in...

She did great!  She was so excited to look in the mirror when they were done.  

Then we were off to Build-a-Bear.

I caved and let Jessica make one too.

Those animals were lifesavers!  They entertained Megs and Jessie while Rachel was in the dressing room trying on clothes all day.

After the long day of shopping, we got some food and went to the movies.   It was so fun to be with my girls!  Mark had such a great time with the boys too!