Olympic Tri

Well, we finally reached race day again. My cousin and I decided to do another triathlon only this time at the olympic distance. What does that mean? A LOT longer. To give you an idea, my goal was to get under 3 hours for my total time...

My cousin and I ready for the start.

It looked like a perfect day out there when we first started...

That's my wave - a wave is a group of people starting at the same time. Since there are too many people to all start together, they break you down by age and have a new group start every three minutes. I am actually in there. It is hard to see but I am the closest person at the back with a white swim cap and a blue swimsuit.

Then the fog 'rolled in'...more like came charging in at the speed of light! Notice the horizon now, this is only about ten minutes from the last pic and looking out at the same island as before!  What island?  Yeah, it's gone.

After the sprint triathletes (shorter distance) got out of the water, I suddenly found myself all on my own. Well, me and the fog, that is. I had a hard time seeing the buoys so I went even slower...that's my arm. :)

I got into a swim club about a month ago and the coaching has greatly improved my swimming skills, but I am still slow. I can now swim the crawl for long distances, but I always forget to kick. I don't know why but I plan to fix it before I do another race, that is for sure. Anyway, you know you are far back when you get an escort in. I am in the water between all those people below. They decided to carry on a conversation while I swam in. Thanks! I thought this meant I was in last place but apparently there was one more person behind me...so, second to last.

I know it looks bad, but honestly, I was pleased with myself. I felt really good and swam the furthest I have ever swam in my life...1500m (just 100m short of a mile). It is a very long way and I was very nervous about it. Only a month ago I could only swim 100m at a time without stopping.

Yeah, so anyway, that is me getting out of the water feeling like a champion and telling the guy, "I just swam the furthest I have ever swum in my entire life!" He laughed and encouraged me to keep going.

And keep going I did...this is a ridiculously long transition...we had to run all the way up the beach, across the grass and to grandmother's house, oh, I mean across the parking lot to where our bikes were sitting. It was a five minute transition for me cause I spent two minutes getting there. :) Oh, well, I passed my first three people on it too.

Our next objective was to bike 25 miles...

Just a view of my cousin biking in the 'beautiful' surroundings...it's winter in the desert, that's for sure!

I had a solid race for me on the bike and caught up to most of the crowd before we headed out for the 10k (6.2mile) run.

I had a good solid run and passed a lot of people during this leg of the race. Minus the side aches I had the first two miles of the run, I felt really good all day. I could tell my legs were just jelly before the run even started so it turned mental at about the two hour mark.  Six miles feels like forever when you start it tired!

We were both just ecstatic to finish, as that was the first goal. But, as always, the secondary goal is to beat each other...so close, yet not quite, he beat me by three minutes. Three minutes! If only I could swim! I got 6th place overall for the women...which I thought was really good considering how far back I started. We have decided, though, that I need to learn to swim faster since if I had had even an average time in the swim, I would have won the race. Sad!

Oh, and I made it in under the three hours...2 hours, 53 minutes. It was a long time to race and I am already sore so I think a couple days off is on the agenda. :)

My cousin's girlfriend, who is always our photographer. It is a long day so I am always amazed at what a trooper she is! Thanks to my good friend, Jen, who was willing to be at our house by 6am, we were able to let the girls keep sleeping and then she watched them all morning. I appreciate it girl!

This is just a bonus for the road...K and Z playing earlier this week. When they walked out of the playroom looking like this, I HAD to snap the shot! They then asked me to put music on so they could dance. Ha!

Well, God Bless! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Just Because and Photo Shoots

Ink face...about time! K is very good about keeping clean, so I never worry about her writing on anything other than paper. I still won't worry, but that's why I love this picture...for her, this is a massive amount of ink on her face! In true K form, she did panic when she saw her face in the mirror ("Get it off!!!") and we had to wash it off immediately. Mom took the moment to make sure she understood why pens only write on paper.  :)

Man, I love this girl!!  Everyone tells you you can't imagine how much you will love your kids, what no one tells you is that every days it will somehow grow greater than the day before.


Found a helmet and pads at a garage sale and K thinks they are great! I just need to learn to enjoy all our 'bike rides' around the block a little more.

We were at G's bday party the other night and had a blast. Happy 5th big girl!

Nothing like a pancake breakfast for a photo shoot!! :)

She's laughing, can you tell?

This is Em's new way to get up. She calls to me and when I walk in, she is smiling at me through the slots. Such a goofball! She cracks me up!

Just Because...

I was going to save this for Emily’s birthday as a kind of acknowledgment of the day, but I just want to share it now…

We are just three weeks from Emily’s second birthday and as the day approaches, I find myself amazed at the little girl before me. Sometimes when I stare at Emily, I can still hear God’s voice clear as a bell, “Every day look at her and give glory to my name.” My heart responds in earnest every time, “I do, Father! I do!” and then I carry on with praise to my Lord.  He spoke those words to me almost a year and a half ago and at the time, I remember thinking, “It sure doesn't feel like a miracle yet God. I mean, I trust You, but right now it still feels like more of a furnace than a miracle.” And yet, almost simultaneously with that thought, my heart responded, “I will.”

Let me fill you in a little on the back story to this. This is an excerpt from my diary dated from just before Emily was released from the hospital:

"When I was in church yesterday, I saw images of me throughout my life...always asking God the same question: “Why don’t you do miracles like you used to anymore?” Just as I was starting to ponder this, I saw an image of my girl almost five months ago...a baby brought into this world so early that she couldn't do ANYTHING on her own. She wasn't supposed to survive the first weekend and her skin was translucent and so fragile that we couldn't touch her.

And then I saw her now...a fully functioning baby who gets angry when you change her diaper or take her bottle away. She breathes on her own, she eats on her own; she does it all. :) Not only can I touch her, I can burp her and she snuggles in close when I hold her. As I stared at her image in my mind, I heard God say, "Look. Look at my miracles. Right in front of your very eyes I have done this. Look at her and praise my name. Every day look at her and give glory to my name."

I was immediately convicted and my heart fell. I felt just like a child being reprimanded by her Father and yet fully understanding I deserved it. I paused in my spirit and heard my spirit respond, “You are God. I will.”

I hope no one misunderstands my initial question as I have seen many miracles throughout my life but I have always wanted more. I have always wanted God to part the Red Sea again. Not because He has to, but because I know He can. The truth is that God doing miracles doesn't change who He is or if we believe Him more or less, but for me, I have always wanted to see his power in a tangible way that I could point to and say to people, “See! There He is. He’s real. He’s powerful. Don't doubt.”

People always say to be careful what you wish for...we will have to decide on that later."

I think the journal entry says it pretty clearly but the thing that strikes me today is that I remember wondering if it would all wear off…if it would be two years later and I would still look at her and be able to feel the miracle all over again or if I would have already taken her for granted. The answer? It's not even a close call.  I still tear up when I hear those words in my spirit!

If I am honest, even as I sit here now, my head wonders if this will still be true in five years and ten years.  And my heart answers back, "You bet!"  God has changed me forever. God has shown and continues to show himself through Emily every day.  I will not forget who saved her life, nor will I forget who will ultimately save her soul.

As we pray now for continued healing, it’s not for fear of her life or her ability to function, it’s a prayer against hindrances. God has placed something special inside of Emily and I don’t want anything to hinder it from getting out.

Praise God for the good in your life today!  Don't keep it inside.  God deserves your praise, don't hold out on him!  If no one is around, tell the walls and couches...or start a blog!  :)

Have a great day and God Bless!!