The Leadman

 My Daddy is amazing.  This last week he showed us all what he is really made of.  And that would be lead. He officially claimed the title of leadman.  To become made of lead a person has to run the leadville marathon one week, do the silver rush 50 mile bike or run (he did the bike) the next week, then a few weeks later race the leadville 100 mile bike race.  WELL, that is not all.  The day after the 100 bike, which is one of the most grueling bike races that starts at 10,000 feet  and just goes up from there, you then have to run a 10k.  No big deal, right?  Oh wait.  Six days after the 10k when you are still recovering from the 100 bike you then go and do the leadville 100 trail run.  Run 100 miles? Who does that? Not me that is for sure.

Well last Sunday he finished the 100 trail run and now is a leadman.  I am so proud of him.  His road was not easy at all.  Early on in the race, when it was still early enough in the morning to be dark, he took a good fall and tweaked his IT band.  He still ran through the pain for over 80 miles, and through that whole time he had a strangely optimistic outlook.  He was even cracking jokes.  I would stop cracking jokes around mile 8.  My whole family, me and my 6 siblings,  were all there to cheer him on, crowd him at feed zones, and pace him.  At mile 60 I saw him and started to cry a little.  I was so worried about what he was doing to himself, and was worried he wasn't going to finish and be let down. But he never gave up.  The cutoff to finish was 30 hours.  He finished in under 29 and got second in his category (did I mention that he is 57?).  Well I have taken this time to brag because it really was one of the greatest things I have ever been able to witness being done.  I love you Dad!

about a mile from the finish.  Do you like how his legs are wrapped in bandages?  They were pretty hurt.

My family took the week between the bike race and the running race and turned it into a family reunion.  We stayed in at Copper Mountain Ski resort in Colorado and had a blast.  Here are some of the things that we did:

"Hot tubbing"  in the jacuzzi bath and playing in the "splash pad" aka  amazing huge shower

We got passes to all of the fun things at the resort.  My favorite was riding the chair lift to the top of the mountain and then mountain biking down.  Thanks Melissa for letting me ride the Jekyll.  It was awesome.  here is Brinley on the bungee trampoline.  Aren't glad I am not posting a video of me on the trampline?  You should be.

Bumper boats

Go cart racing

The climbing wall.  Brinley was brave to try it.

Three of my brothers and my brother's fiance and I hiked Mt. Elbert.  At 14,440 feet Mt. Elbert is the second highest mountain peak in the continental U.S. It was my first time hiking a 14,000 ft mountain, and it was hard.  Although not very long in mileage, it goes straight up making it pretty difficult.  Especially when you are out of shape.  I was sore for days after.

Anyway, my brothers built this cairn.  It is unofficially officially the new highest point in Colorado.

 We went on a beautiful drive up mt. Columbine.  My family thought the most beautiful part was their cars.  haha.  Well mostly we just thought it was funny that all 5 cars are Toyotas and three of them are 4runners.  We were raised well. 

 

Three generations of 4runners with Mt. Elbert in the background.

We had fun. And I liked that everyone came close to me for a change. Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful week!

Elsie is ONE!

I can't believe this little munchkin is one.The past year went by way way too fast. I know I say that all time, but it is always proving to be true.  My baby is gone and is well on her way to becoming an independent toddler.

At age one Elsie is an amazing little girl.  I have never met a baby with so much energy all the time.  Everything she does it is like she does it in fast forward, and manic mode.  She has to be a part of everything and thinks she is just as old as Brinley. She loves to be chased, loves to snuggle (as long as she can head bang you a couple of times first), and LOVES to eat.

She says a few words and makes the animal sounds of snake, cat, lion/tiger, and giraffe (sticks her tongue out).  Her 4th word was taco, which she first said after stealing a taco from Brinley.  She blows the sweetest kisses and if you ask her to give you a kiss she just wont stop. She just started walking last week and boom, today she is walking all over the place. She has figured out how to get off couches and beds by herself, which I am liking because it makes my life a little easier. This girls brings so much light into all of our lives.  You can't help but smile when she looks at you with her big toothy grin.  

For her birthday we had a fun little family party complete with plenty of cousins.  I was a little bit in denial that she was going to be turning one and put off planning the party we had already invited people to until 10 the night before.  Not smart.  But it turned out great, and more importantly Elsie loved all of the attention, really loved the food, and was a little overwhelmed by opening presents.  

Brent did a great job planning the activities.  Dads are definitely more fun than moms.  If it were me planning the activities I would have just given the kids a hose and let them go at it.  He set up an obstacle course through balloons and water that ended in a slip and slide.  He also made little marshmallow shooters for everyone.  The kids had an absolute blast.  The grass didn't.  It was pretty sad after being slid over all day.

Elsie loved her cake and loved getting her own spoon even more.

Oh my goodness I love this girl more than anything.  Happy Birthday baby girl.

Glasses

This girl is so cute.  I love her.

S

I've always loved this letter that is hung outside my sister's house. Bold.

Newport Beach Part 2

This year our Newport Beach trip was awesome.  We got to invite our good friends Natalie and Bretton Wall and their little boy Charlie.  Charlie has been Brinley's best friend for the past two years while we were in Mississippi.  It was great to have one last hurrah with them since we moved to Colorado and they are moving to Michigan.  They were great to put up with us too. The second half of our trip we spent with Brent's sister Kristen and her husband Jake.  I kind of like them too:)

This year I really wanted to try surfing.  So crazy Brent up and bought me a surfboard for $50 off of craigslist.  It was a blast trying it.  It also made me tired.  Really really tired.  

The best part of the trip was finishing a book!  I don't know why but it is so hard for me to find time to read these days, and reading is one of my favorite things. Thanks to Brent for letting me go out on the beach by myself while the kids slept. Sigh.  I want to do that right now. 

My memories of going to the beach are some of my favorite.  Brent proposed to me while we were there 4 years ago.  How can it not be one of my favorite places?  I am glad we now get to share it with these cuties. There is nothing more fun than seeing the joy the beach gives to them.

I want to go back. But for now I will just look at these pictures.

Completely off the subject, I just posted about an apron I made for Brinley here. Two posts in 1 day.  That is more than I have done in the past 2 months.

Newport Beach CA 2012 Part1

We had an amazing time at the beach a couple of weeks ago. You would have to be CRAZY not to have a wonderful time I think.  We go to the beach every year and stay in Brent's grandpa's house.  It makes me glad I married him. 

We have tried to make it a tradition to get a family picture when we go.  Here are all of the good ones.  Seriously out of over a hundred pictures I think we only got two or three of all four of us even looking at the camera.  In at least half of them Brinley had her tongue out and was coughing up a lung.  

Brinley loves loves loves water.  Why is water so much more tempting when not in a bathing suit?

 We love this place so much.  Looking at these pictures makes me want to go back....

Happy Independence day

We have enjoyed a wonderful day full of a great breakfast, dancing, swimming, eating, napping, and family.
Unfortunately, we won't be watching fireworks because of all the fires here in Colorado, and my parents had to leave suddenly and fly to Idaho in the middle of the day. We miss them being here with us and our prayers are with Grandma.