Wyoming Vacation

This trip to Wyoming was bitter-sweet. It was so nice to get back and to see so much of my family. It has been a while since I have seen my sisters, my nieces & nephews, and my cousins. However, the reason we were all there was to have a memorial for my Grandpa Sherman, who passed away in February. It's sad that's the only time we all get to see each other... we need to make it more of a priority to see each other more often.

My Grandpa Sherman brings back such great memories. Every year on my birthday he would take me to lunch at Antone's for a cheeseburger. He worked out in the oil fields as a government trapper, so he would often bring us back pet horny toads. He always wore jeans, cowboy boots, a western snap shirt and a cowboy hat. I also remember him bringing me clove flavored gum. I thought it was cool, because it was from him. You could always find Grandpa at 11am at the local restaurant, eating half of his sandwich, and taking the other half home for his dogs. He never parked in a parking spot, he parked right up by the front door, and often left his truck running so his dogs could have heat or a/c. He had someone that printed jokes off the internet for him, and he always shared them, no matter who you were, or where you were. Most of them were dirty. He was a man of few words, but he was loved by everyone he came in contact with. We will all miss you dearly, Grandpa. Luckily, we scored you an awesome place to rest, in the outdoors where you can find true peace.

My dad and Uncle Tim.

Me, my oldest sister, Tina, and middle sister, Devon.

Booker and Bodey riding up to Grandpa's resting place in the back of the car with cousins, Audrey & Ethan.

I feel a sense of peace and relaxation when I reach this border.
Wyoming is honestly Heaven on Earth.

Booker flying off the wall in Thermop.

Bodey (who 5 minutes earlier had an extreme fear of the water) taking his turn!

The kids and their cousins at the cabin, aka What-the-hey.

While visiting Rapid City, we went to Reptile Gardens, did the alpine slide, rode go-carts and bumper boats, and spent time at the indoor water park. This was our favorite slide... it's like a toilet bowl!

Camping 101 - The Lot

There is this boy that lives down the street. He happens to be married to one of my best friends. I need him everywhere I go, because he is the best event photographer EVER! Thank you Johnny for capturing our camping adventure!

For as long as I've known Cori, I've know that the girl doesn't camp. Not only that, but the Ingram family doesn't camp. Jen grew up camping and loves it, and Kim is a fair-weather camper. As long as it's not too hot, not too cold, and not raining, she's game. A few months back I got this hair-brained idea that we should take all the kids camping. But, it would just easily break Cori in, not being too far from all forms of civilization. The Lot. My in-laws bought 10 acres outside Tongie and it was the perfect place for us to try it out.

Step 1: Set up camp. Dusty got off work a little late so he wasn't there when I got there to set up camp. However, the Ingram's were! Cori kept an eye on the kids and while Johnny and I got the tents set up. For never setting up a tent before, he did awesome!
Step 2: Start a fire. Two small problems. It started down pouring on us so our wood was wet. And secondly, my dear husband couldn't wait another second to eat, so he took off to town to get a burger. With the lighter fluid. Luckily he was fast and we didn't have to rely on wet wood, paper and matches.

Step 3: Wine.

Step 4: Good friends. This picture cracks me up because Avery and Bodey are the same person. Stubborn, bossy, wild. This is a bad combination when you get them together. They have a love/hate relationship. Here they were apparently friends. Later that night, enemies. The next morning BFF's again. Love them!

Dusty, Sharon and Morgen hanging out by the campfire. So glad they let us use their land to camp on!

And best for last, the three girls I couldn't live without.

The kids had an absolute blast. They had free reign, and took full advantage of it. They started the evening off with kickball and riding four wheelers, and ended the night catching fire flies and playing flashlight tag.

I think the thing I love most about camping is the memories. When I asked Cori if she would go camping with us, she actually posted on Facebook, "Friends don't let friends sleep in tents." But you know what? She did it... and actually had fun!

All Boy

Last weekend the boys stayed the night at Nana and Papa's.  They were playing outside when Bodey had to use the restroom.  Nana went in and helped him pull his pants down and Bodey said, "Nana, you better back on outta here, when poop starts coming out, it's really gonna stink!"  What a hoot!

Kansas City Triathlon 2011

Jen and I participated in the olympic distance KC Tri this year. I loved the triathlon I did 2 years ago and knew I wanted to try another one. The first one I did was a sprint distance, and the swim was a breeze since it was only 200m in a pool. I've always been a swimmer, and never had any anxiety about swimming. Until the tri got closer and closer. Then I started freaking out. The weather here has not been as warm as May usually is, and that means the lakes are still cold. And this swim was 1500m (.93 miles) in the lake! I didn't help matters any by checking the lake temp daily, which dipped down to 59 degrees 3 days before the tri. Let me just put that in perspective a little. A 78 degree pool is cold. A lot of indoor pools are kept around 80 degrees, and that has quite a chill to it at first. They allow wetsuits if the water is below 76 degrees. So 59 freaked me out. I dipped my toes in the outdoor pool at the gym, which was 64 degrees and it took my breath away. And I don't own a wetsuit. I'm going to die. Not to mention the distance was messing with me a little. That last 500m gets tough. So I invested in a 2mm wetsuit, which is not very thick, but it was all I could find on such short notice.

I picked Jen up at 5:45am and headed to Longview Lake. Upon arriving I spotted the Water Rescue Team truck. It looked like an ambulance and made my stomach turn. We got our transition stations all set up and headed to the porta-potty line. And who do we see? Our dear friend Cori's first patient was in Lee's Summit that morning so she stopped by to watch us (make sure we didn't die) start the swim. She knew right where to find her two nervous girls... in line for the bathroom! It was so nice having her there to support us, and also to take some pictures of us while we were still "fresh". I'll have to post those pictures when I get them from Jen, but all I have now are from Dusty's camera, and they are, well, not so fresh.

As we stood on the beach and the mens waves started, my stomach was in knots. I looked out at all the buoys that I had to somehow swim around and make it back. In that cold water. Then it was our turn. Jen and I were in the same heat, and the bull horn went off. Our super competitive heat all ran into the water, dove in, and were on their way. Jen and I ran in, and stopped. We looked at each other and started laughing. How in the world were the rest of our bodies supposed to get in? Once we finally got in the water it was like I had never swam before in my life. I just couldn't go. My body was in shock. I couldn't even take one stroke. We finally got into a rhythm about 100m in. Open water swimming was very different for me. You can't ever just put your head in and go, or you'll end up way off track in the middle of the lake. And there are people just as lost as you, bumping in to you. I finally started doing about 4-5 strokes, poking my head out, getting back on track, and continuing on, with Jen right by my side. We finally made the turn to head back, but the water got really choppy. Every time I went to take a breath, I would open my mouth and a wave would crash into it. Yuck. We were very pleased with our swim time. I was expecting it to take me forever, but we got back to the transition area in 36 minutes.

At the transition area I had to try to remember what all I needed to do before jumping on the bike. First things first, get out of that wetsuit. Fun. Then I put my socks and shoes on, my t-shirt and my bike helmet. And we were off. Almost. I forgot to take my Gu and Jen had a rock in her shoe. So we stopped to get organized, Jen's bike fell over, she yelled, "It's ok, it's just a Schwinn!" and we jumped back on. Expect now her handle bars were crooked from the fall! We were laughing at our great start. The first loop of the bike was intimidating. These people are competitive. And mean. I decided I don't like triathletes. We got yelled at several times for slowly being in peoples way. Sheesh. However, the second loop was better because all the men were off the course. The best part was when I saw Dusty and the boys. I was waving frantically and ran smack into a cone. I don't know how I didn't wreck because that cone barely budged. We were laughing so hard I almost had to get off the bike so I wouldn't pee my pants. Booker was so excited, telling everyone, "My mom ran into a cone!" We finished the 25 mile bike in 1:43. Not bad for us, but pretty much the slowest people on the course. We didn't care one bit though, we had so much fun and that's all that mattered to us.

And then came the run. It was 6.2 miles of torture for me. My mind was completely in the wrong place. I just wanted to quit and walk the entire time. I can usually pull myself out of it, but not this time. The sun was out and it was humid, and the heat and I don't get along when I'm running. Jen was such a good friend, trying to keep me motivated. I felt bad because I know she could have done better, but she stayed with me the entire time. We did our run in 1:02, which isn't horrible, but if I would have been in the game, I know we could have done a lot better than that. But you know what? We finished this bad boy in 3:29 and that is our personal record... for now!

Finishing the bike

Run... I don't even know how I got a smile out.
Finally done, STUDS!

Me and Booker, Bodey didn't want anything to do with me.

"A" Month Update

April 2010

August 2010

April 2011

Easter 2011

Monster Eggs

KC Wolf @ the Basehor Easter Egg Hunt

Bodey and his 2026 classmates, Cooper & Avery

And last, but not least, the Easter Bunny!

The True Meaning of Easter

Last night, Booker was going to bed, but he was scared he was going to have nightmares. I told him, he won't, just think of happy things before falling asleep. Like Easter, and candy, and Easter eggs, and the Easter Bunny. He interrupted me with, "And Jesus dying on the cross!" This kid truly gets it and it makes mommy soooo happy!