My FIRST Triathlon

So it has been a goal of mine for years to compete in a triathlon. The biggest thing holding me up from reaching this goal is I DON'T SWIM!!! So in January I decided to do something about that. I took a beginner swimming class at the university. At the beginning of the class I was unable to swim the width of the pool. Slowly I improved. After 10 weeks of the beginner class I was okay swimming 25 metres. I signed up for the intermediate swim class and did that for 10 weeks. Slowly my confidence in the water has increased. I'm still a little unsure in the water but I can do it.
SO my first triathlon was July 19th! It was a 700 metre open water swim, 27.5 km bike ride and a 5 km run.
Here's my gear layed out waiting to be put into my transition station bags. Tri's are so different then just running. A lot more gear involved.
Nali putting a little good luck on my swim cap!
Me and my friend Crystal. She was the only other person I knew doing it. It was FREEZING that morning. When we first arrived at the lake to set up our bike transition there were white caps on the lake.
My ready to swim...or at least I thought I was ready to swim. About 25 metres in the swim I had a panic attack...seriously I thought I was going to die. It is SUCH a different feeling swimming in open water then in a pool. You can't see the bottom, there's no edge...pretty much no bottom and there's waves crashing over your head PLUS people kicking you in the face...I stopped at 25 meters and looked at the shore and thought "I CAN'T DO THIS" as I thought this I saw 2 people get in the boat and quit...I thought "YOU HAVE TO DO THIS" so I paddled on....I was unable to put my water in the rest of the swim...I really lost everything I had learned in my lessons BUT I DID IT!!!!
Here's me SO happy that I didn't drowned and that I did it! Sam, Nali and Ella were there cheering me on as I got on the bike. I need to mention I was the THIRD last person getting out of the water...am I proud of that YES! I'm proud of that because I was brave enough to get into the water.
How beautiful is this! I loved the bike section...I was able to pass about 12 people on the bike.

Me telling my little family I love them.
The run went well...so cool to see that finish. I kept thinking as I was doing all this how lucky I am to be able to do all this. That I have a supportive husband and family. That I have a healthy body. It was really incredible to complete one of my long time goals.
I DID IT!
My good luck charms. Sam, the girls and my mom and dad were there at the finish! I was SO HAPPY!!! I'm TOTALLY sold on TRI's. I can't wait for my next one next month!!!

A little update!

So the joy of Ella now being old enough to know whats going on is she HAS to have everything that NAlI does...So this means either big mess or Nali has to go without! Notice the cute matching shirts from H&M...LOVE that place!

For Canada we went to the parade in Raymond. It's about 31 km's from where we live. Me feeling ambitous road my bike out there and met up with Sam and the girls. That's the explanation for me being seen in public in spandex. Ella sat right there for the WHOLE parade.
Nali enjoying the parade.
Ella is getting to be a little strong willed. This is her refusing to leave the car...I was able to unload all the groceries which was nice though. She taking on my ipod.

Nali's Last Soccer Game

So we just finished up the soccer season. Nali was VERY excited to play. Sam was able to be her coach. This was her first year in soccer which proved to be interesting. She enjoyed it...Sam and I think though that she just doesn't get it yet. She enjoyed being on defence with the 2 other girls on her team so pretty much they could have a little tea party. In the end it was a good time and Nali was VERY excited at the prospects of playing next year.
Playing goalie...
Her looking like she might actually be playing. The hard part was the boys were SO aggresive. She actually had a few boys on her team that were AMAZING to watch. So you pin up a not so aggresive girl against one of those boys and she just couldn't compete. Regardless it was great experience for her.
Sam coaching with Ella as his Assistant.
Ella showing off the medals she found.
Nali getting her medal from Sam. She was so proud of this. It was her first medal ever. She wore it all day.

Canadian Womens National Soccer Team here we come....well maybe not!

Difficult But Cute Photo Shoot

So I got these girls cute matching dresses at H&M a few months ago. After church one Sunday I was TRYING to get some cute pic's of them together...none of them really worked out well. It was next to impossible to get them both looking together!
Ella was enjoying the coke zero bottle.
I liked this one...
No! the camera...look at the CAMERA...
What a doll!

Trip to Utah

So I know these pictures are a LONG time coming but life has been pretty darn busy. At the end of May I went to Utah for my nephews High School Graduation. I went down with my parents and Nali and Ella. We were able to spend almost a week down there. I had a GREAT time . Below are a few pictures that were snagged along the way. I'm SO annoyed though I didn't get any pictures with me and my friend Bev. We hadn't seen each other in about 3 years. We were able to go see The Breeders in concert the first night I was in town. It was great!
Me and Jaynann.
A little picnic at the park with old friends. So good but crazy to see them all.

My Nephew with his Aunts.
The Richards and the Leavitts. The girls had a great time playing together.

May Long Weekend in Waterton...of course!

For the Victoria Day weekend we planned a day in Waterton with 2 other families. I've known the wives for years...I believe Lor(bottom left corner) and I have known each other since we were 5 and Crystal(bottom right corner) since we were about 14 or so. Between the three of us we have 8 kids under the age of 6. It was great fun. Our kids are so close in age the all seemed to get along great.
We hiked Bears Hump. The two 3 oldest kids pretty much ran up the mountain. Sam stayed up with them to make sure everything was ok. Here they are arriving at the top.
Me and my sweeties.
What a view...it seriously never gets old.
Ella had these cheese bun in her hand for a good hours of the day. Thank goodness! It kept her pretty occupied!-

I love this little girl!

Sam with his girls.
You can't leave the top without doing a family picture.
This was the whole crew that made it to the top. It was my job coming down to keep up with the fast ones. It's quite steep and I was SO paranoid that one of them was going to do a face plant. Luckily that didn't happen. The cruised down, I had difficulty keeping up with them.

Making Messes

So it seems that my girls are good and many things. Mostly it seems like making messes is at the top of the list. Here's Ella enjoying her Rice Krispies.

Or should I say thoroughly enjoying her Krispies.
This would have to be pre-mess. Trust me they didn't stay this clean. In the background is our fish Bob. Nali got this fish over 2 years ago when we still lived in Utah.
Mess for sure...
Look at that face. How can you not love it!

Nali's First Road Race

On April 19th Nali did her first race. It was a 2 km family run. Sam and I ran it with her. I had run a few times with Nali in preparation...running with a 5 year old is a little bit painful. They run...stop...walk...stop...run....stop. We started a rule that no matter what you keep moving. Now don't think I'm a mean parent and made Nali do this. She was SO excited to run a race. The morning of as we were driving there she was bouncing off the walls saying "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M RUNNING MY FIRST RACE!" It was awesome. Sadly the weather was HORRIBLE, we had a freak spring snow storm that made it miserable out. Needless to say though we still did it. We never mentioned the weather and didn't want to make it an issue. About 1 km it we had to pick her up as the wind was awful. But she finished the race and ran it out across the finish line ahead of mom and dad. It was a GREAT family experience.
Post Race in the GYM, so cool, Nali getting water and eating oranges! It was awesome!

TOOT TOOT CHUGGA CHUGGA!!

So about a week ago we took Nali and Ella to The Wiggles. We also went with my brother, his wife and their daughter Hailey. Lets just say it was AWESEOME. Seriously. When we heard that they were coming to Lethbridge we didn't even hesitate in buying tickets. Nali has been a BIG fan for 5 years and since Nali is a fan we're fans. They put on a really great show and really interact well with audience. It was so cute, kids had brought roses for Dorothy and bones for Wags. They went around part way through the show and collected all of them. Before the concert started Nali and Hailey were jumping up and down chanting "WIGGLES, WIGGLES, WIGGLES!" It was hilarious.
Ok, I know it's a side view but can you see the joy on her face?! For days before the concert she would say "I can't believe I'm seeing the REAL Wiggles!"
Cousin Hailey sporting the Wiggles gear!
Ella quite enjoyed the show as well. She was a little apprehensive a few times but was nodding her head to the music for most of it. Notice the Henry the Octopus, Wags the Dog and Dorothy the dinosaur we're holding. Those were Nali's toys from when she was way little.
The girls singing Twinkle Twinkle with The Wiggles. I found myself singing along to every song. We ALL had a great time and would go again in a second. I guess you could say we had a "Romp omp a stomping" time.