500 Miles on a Bike

The boys in our stake who are 14 years old and up were given the opportunity to train for a 500 mile bike ride from Salt Lake to Las Vegas. Since Cody is the Young Men President in our ward, he was able to go as a team leader. They left on Saturday June 18th by bus and spent Sunday at Temple Square.

On Monday morning, they were up at 4:30 am.



Cody is at the far left in the above picture. I think this might be Spanish Fork Canyon.

They rode past the Manti Temple.

Some of the boys needed to be pushed up the hills. The stronger riders and the team leaders would push them if they were struggling.

This is the beginning of the hardest climb which was up Utah Hill.

The scary part. They rode down I-15 from Mesquite to the Love's Station. I was sure someone would get squashed by a semi, but everyone made it back safe.

Almost home!

They rode in on Friday June 24th. They averaged about 100 miles per day.

This was a HUGE accomplishment for these boys. Now they know they can do anything they set their minds to. I'm proud of Cody for giving 110% on this ride. He trained hard, he went ready to motivate the boys on his team, and then he came home and slept for two days. I thought he would be damaged goods when he got home, but he's recovered pretty well except for the big toe on his left foot which is still completely numb. That will probably go away, right?

It's A Girl!!!!

Yesterday we found out our baby is a girl. We are all so excited to have a sweet little sister in our family! We can't wait to meet her.

The Twins Learn to Ride Without Training Wheels! (Finally)

On May 21, 2011 the twins both finally learned how to ride without training wheels. I say finally, because Aiden and Parks both learned when they were 4 years old. The twins are five, so we knew they could do it, it was just a matter of them wanting to learn. It's pretty cool that they learned on the same day.

Drew attempting a turn.



Poor Cody did a lot of running up and down the street!

Garrett

Do you like the outfits they picked?

Parks Turns Nine!

We celebrated Parks's ninth birthday by taking him and three of his friends to see the movie Rio in 3D. Before we left for the movie, we had a little cake and ice cream of course.

The kids loved the movie. It was the first one they had ever seen in 3D. It was so funny to look over at the kids watching the movie in their 3D glasses. I kept cracking up at Drew because he looked just like my brother Zach in his glasses. I had to call him Baby Zach after that.

Pinewood Derby Time Again

Cody helped Parks make another awesome pinewood derby car this year. Parks helped pick the design, sanded, and helped smooth out the wheels. I even helped out a little by putting on the skin they used to cover the car instead of paint. His car didn't place but it looked really awesome, and I think Parks was proud of the work he did. 

Good job Parks!

Easter 2011

Egg-dyeing in Grandma's backyard

Drew



Garrett

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Picnic-ing in the sand

Egg-hunting

Treasure-hunting

Garrett

Drew

Easter Sunday

The Triathletes

Cody and Aiden each competed in their first sprint triathlon this weekend in St. George. 

Cody's race was first. He started with a 400 meter swim.

Followed by a 10 mile bike ride.

The end of his first lap.

Here is Cody approaching the finish line with his friend Dave after running 3 miles.

Cody did a great job on his very first triathlon.

Aiden's race started with a 100 meter swim.



Aiden's bike race was 2 miles long.

He was still smiling at the end of the bike race.

Here he comes to the finish line after running 3/4 of a mile.

I am so proud of Aiden. This was a big accomplishment for him. He says he wants to do it again, so I think he enjoyed it, even though the running was hard. I am so proud that he pushed through to the end. Way to go Aiden and Cody!