A Brief Pause

I've been a bit of a slacker with this blog, but this is a really cute story and won't take me long to write so I decided to share.

A few weeks ago, our family received an early Christmas present from my parents, a Nintendo Wii. Of course, Tyler has loved playing it (especially the boxing and the fitness assessment that lets him "see how old he is"). Recently, I showed Tyler that if his mom calls him while playing he can pause the game. This is useful so that she doesn't get upset at his lack of response and he doesn't have to lose out on his game. Now that Tyler has figured out how to pause the games, he often pauses them for the smallest little scratch or just to tell me something. Clearly, this new found power to pause is something he really enjoys.

Last night, Tyler was saying his goodnight prayer by the side of his bed. He had said a couple of "thank thee's" and then I heard this, "Uh-oh Dad! Pause the prayer!" I looked up and he was rubbing/scratching an itch on his nose. Then, as soon as he was done, he went right back to his prayer. I had a hard time not busting a gut as he finished up. It was pretty funny, but I do think maybe he needs a little better grasp on when it is appropriate to use the "pause" button.

Marcus Turns Two!

I've seen other blogs where parents have written up a tribute to their children on their birthdays. I think this is such a great idea. I wanted to try it this year on Marcus' birthday, but I am also worried because it is so difficult to express the emotions you feel for a child in writing.

Marcus was born while I was still finishing my MBA and just a little over a month after I had started my new business. Combine this with also having to help care for and play with Tyler and I felt so bad that for the first six months of his life I was not able to spend as much time with him as I had with Tyler. As a result, he was also much more of a Mama's boy. However, from the moment he came to our family Marcus has been such a joy. He has so much energy (for good and bad). He is quick to laugh and already at the age of two he has a well developed sense of humor.

Jamie reports that Marcus was a really easy newborn, but from about 3 months to 18 months he wasn't much of a sleeper and this resulted in his being a bit of a monster. I've always said that Marcus is like "Jack Jack" from the Incredibles. He is so cute and then BAM fireball!

One of the best/worst memories I have of Marcus is the time he spent at the hospital. I think seeing him in such a fragile state really tugged on my heartstrings. He was so sweet and loving those few days. In fact, I really think that his personality underwent a fundamental change that week. I never would have believed that a year and a half year old could learn a lesson of appreciation. However, as soon as Marcus came home he really did seem to have a greater appreciation of his mom and I. Since then his personality has developed at the speed of light.

Of late, Marcus is such a beacon of light. I've nearly cried on a couple of occassions when I get home and he and Tyler lead the charge to the door chanting my name. I'm so blessed to have such wonderful boys.

I love you Marcus and hope we are always able to have so much fun together.

Family Pics on a Budget

First of all, try not to drop dead, but this is......yes, Jamie blogging for the first time ever. I'm surprised Kent's not doing backflips around the house(he's probably waiting to see how long it lasts). What can I say, I like to ease in slow to the IT world. I never used email until after my mission(I'll let you all guess when that was).

So, anyway, a few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon, my sister obliged us(thanks so much Tracy...we love you) and took some family shots of us over by the ever famous "stage" across from the Timpanogus Temple. As much as I would have loved to spring for a big fancy photographer, well you know...tough economic times means family pics on a budget. Every time we try to take pictures with our kids, I gain a greater level of respect for family/child photographers. You'd think that the main difficulty would be the youngest munchkin, but we seem to have just as much trouble with the 41/2 year old sabotaging our efforts. I thought I'd post some of the results to show everyone how our family has grown.

California: Where Swords Grow on Trees

As a lot of you know, at the beginning of September Jamie and I braved the drive to California to attend the blessing of my brother's youngest daughter, Ashlyn. I also had a conference the next week in San Deigo so it ended up being a good, week-long adventure.

One of my favorite days on the trip was Labor Day. A lot of the family had already left to go back to Utah. With just the two families left, Carl's gang joined mine for a day at the park. The first park we went to took Jamie back to the mission days as it was an Asian Invasion. There were Chinese women doing their fun dance/exercise routine and men doing Taichi. Unfortunately, there were also no courts that were not being used up. So, after doing some relay races and generally exhausting ourselves, we went to another park where Carl and I were able to play a set of tennis.

I'd love to say that the reason I lost to Carl was because it had been five years since I played. Unfortunately, since he had also not played in about that long I guess I'll just say that I didn't want to beat him in front of his new born baby. Ya, that's it! (We did have a very close match that was a lot of fun though).
While we were playing Tennis, Adam, Annaka and Tyler discovered hanging pods from the trees at the park. They quickly became "swords" in the mind of Adam and Tyler. Once they had finished picking off the low hanging and already fallen pods, they turned to Carl and I to jump or climb for more. It was pretty fun to see how many hits your "sword" could dish out or take in before it would break apart.

At one point, Carl pointed out that California must be a pretty cool place if Swords can grow on trees. Tyler agreed wholeheartedly.

After we got back to Utah, I asked Tyler his favorite part of the trip to California. He told me that his favorite part was Adam. Then he added, "and Ashlyn and Annaka." It really was great getting to spend time with my brother and his family. They were great about dropping everything and letting us invade their lives for a few days. I'm so glad that Tyler has such great family influences.

Relay-A-Thon

I apologize for the blogger's cramp over the past few weeks. I have plenty to blog, but am just now getting back into a post-vacation routine where I can put a few pictures up and tell a few stories. I also apologize for blogging out of order...I do want to blog about our California trip, but I am still arranging those pictures.

I know what some of you are thinking...another blog about a race. Well, this is more about Tyler than Jamie and I. It started out as a relay marathon that Jamie, Tracy, Tracy's friend Kyle, our neighbor Veralyn and I were going to run. We each were set to run a fifth of a marathon despite varying illness, injury and lack of training. (Our team was still 19th overall so I'm proud of our group!) I could blog about our team runs and that we all had fun and stuff. But you've heard about that from me before. I'll just leave it at we had a great time and everyone did a great job. (By the way, I tried to checkerboard these photos, it didn't work...oops! Maybe I'll figure it out next time).

When we got the race it was pretty cold and the kids were not exactly enjoying the playground because they were too busy being cold. However, once it started heating up they announced that they were having a kids race. Tyler decided that despite no training, wearing his Crocs and jeans and without having a clue how far the race was that he wanted to run the kid race. I was nervous thinking he would never be able to go the full distance (I think it was a 1k race which would be about .62 of a mile). Fortunately, his mother has more faith in him than I do because she signed him up and he did AWESOME!

He ran the whole way and at the end was so proud of his accomplishment. At one point in the race his best friend Lauren started to slow down and walk. Veralyn (who was running beside them at the time) reports that Tyler slowed to a walk for a few seconds and then said, "This isn't a walking race, this is a running race," and kept on chugging along.

Tyler has seen his mom and I race a fair amount in the past. I think this is one reason why he was so proud of himself that morning. They also gave him a really cool medal that he didn't stop wearing all weekend.

Last, but not least, Marcus has now started standing next to a wall or door and saying "GO" and then running (or quickly waddling as the case may be) across the room. Looks like we have yet another racer in the making.

Playing Superhero

About a week or so ago Tyler had his first invitation to a non-family birthday party. His friend Luke invited him to a superheroes birthday bash. At the party, he even made a cape (that Marcus also really likes). Of course, given the fun he had at the birthday party he and Marcus did a lot of dressing up over the next few days.
Perhaps my favorite was the day that I received a package from Amazon. That night Tyler kept cutting the box up and trying to make things out of the pieces. Eventually he came to me for help and I was at a loss. Then, in a flash I remembered that he had been on his superhero kick so I took the strips he had cut up and convinced him they were superhero arm and leg bands. The results were one very funny "Cardboard Man." Watch out, he might just be the next big superhero.

Marcus' Good News

Thanks to all those who prayed and fasted for Marcus over the past little while. We are very grateful for the faith of good friends and family. Yesterday, Marcus' tests were all normal and it appears as though the issues he was having this time last month were just a minor blip on his overall health radar.

We are so glad that he is doing well, in fact, he has gained most of his weight back already.

My Helmet Story: Tender Mercy or Coincidence

I am now in my third year of posting on this blog and have posted a total of 5 or 6 "deeper" posts. Oddly enough, it seems that all of them have come recently. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Either way, here comes one more than is a little more personal.

My post begins with a story. Last Saturday Kirt Melling and his dad dropped me off at the Spudman triathlon transition area where Kirt would finish the swim and my bike would begin. They then headed off to the area where the swim would start. About a minute later, I realized in horror that I had left my helmet back at the Melling home. Race rules would prohibit me from racing without a helmet (not to mention it isn't a good idea for safety sake). I just about dropped an expletive when I made the discovery and, frankly, am pretty proud I held it in. Though I didn't drop to my knees in prayer, my mind was racing asking how it could work out for me to still race. I decided to walk out and see if I could hitch a ride with a local as the Mellings didn't live that far away. I had about 20 minutes before Kirt would begin to swim and figured it would take him another 20 minutes to complete the swim. I figured that worst of all, I could probably run to the Mellings and back in about 45 minutes, but I would be exhausted for the rest of the race and that would really stink.

As I dejectedly headed out to see what luck I might have "thumbing" a ride, I immediately spotted Jeff and Melanie Lambert from my ward. When I described my plight they didn't hesitate at all to drive me over to get my helmet (with some risk that they would be late for the race themselves).

I hate to admit it, but I sorta just shrugged this off to great luck and went on the race. However, as I biked and ran amongst so many competitors (over 1,750 competed) Elder Bednar's 2005 conference talk (found here) kept coming back to my mind.

He said, "Some may count this experience as simply a nice coincidence, but I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord's timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them."

I, too, testify that this was not a random occurence. I have a loving Heavenly Father who knew that although this wasn't important in the grand eternal scheme, to me on that morning it was a big deal. After the race, I spent a lot of time trying to find the Lamberts to thank them for their help. I never did spot them again amongst all the participants. Coincidence that I just happened to see them at exactly the right time earlier that morning?

As I said before, this could be easily chalked up to good luck. However, I am so grateful for this little experience as it reassured me of the many other ways, both big and small, that my Heavenly Father watches over me. I hope to work harder to be worthy of these tender mercies.

Spudman 2008 Recap

As the sun rose in Burley, Idaho on Saturday, Jamie and I were preparing for the Spudman Triathlon. (It was a hectic morning and that story will be a post of its own that I'll put out here in the next day or two.) Some of you may remember that last year I did the swim and run for this race. This year, my intention had been to do the whole thing with Jamie. My April ear surgery rendered me unable to do the swim portion, but my neighbor Kirt (whose parents let us stay at their home) helped me out. Although Kirt's swim was a little slower than my swim from last year, the time was gained in the transition since I didn't have to dry off before getting on my bike. Therefore, I feel as though my time was an accurate reflection of my racing abilities.

Jamie, who has really been doing an awesome job of keeping up with her workouts completed the entire race in 2 hours and 38 minutes. She killed her goal of 2:45! My time was 2 hours and 36 minutes and was also ahead of my goal time which was to finish. Fortunately for me, since my heat started about a half hour before hers, I got to cool down and still watch her at the finish line. It was pretty awesome watching her as she finished really strong and with an incredible time. (In the picture of her finishing, I am on the far left in blue cheering my wife to the finish, while clinging to the fence post for support.) To see a breakdown of our times click here and here.There were over 2,000 people who signed up for the race, and over 1,750 that actually competed. This included Jamie's sister Tracy (who rocked the race with a time of 2:55) and several others we knew.

The great thing about the Spudman is that the mile swim is in the Snake River so you get a little help from the current. Jamie flew down the river beating my time from last year by almost 3 minutes. The 25 mile bike course is pretty flat, and that is a good thing. Jamie toasted me on the bike, and I learned the hard way as I watched packs of racers fly by me that I should have done more bike work (I never rode for more than about 8 miles before the race...oops!). The bike course took us around the farmland of Burley and if my legs hadn't been yelling at me, I think I would have enjoyed the scene. Jamie, meanwhile, didn't even notice that there was a strong headwind and managed a pace of 20 mph throughout her ride. No wonder her legs have been looking so good lately! The run was a 10K loop that followed some of the canals around the farm. I felt pretty good on the run, considering my legs were so achy from the biking. In fact, I never got passed on the run and did a fair amount of passing. Of course, considering the hundreds that passed me on the bike it should be no surprise there was no one left behind me to pass me up.

One funny thing, as I was running by a guy, trying to be encouraging I said, "Great stride man." His response floored me and I almost burst out laughing. He said, "Don't patronize me, I recognize those hairy legs and must have passed you an hour ago on the bike!" My legs are pretty one-of-a-kind. Though my run time wasn't great for just a 10-k, considering I'd just done 25 miles of biking I was proud to have kept my average mile well under 8 minutes. The run is also the only part of the race where I was better than Jamie who is seriously in amazing shape.

Of course, our boys were also very proud of us. According to my mom they were as good as gold while we were gone. Special thanks to my parents for watching the boys so that Jamie and I could do this together. Tyler was a little disappointed when I told him that I didn't win the race; but I told him that his mom and I are definately winners just for doing so good. Not sure he totally bought it, but I tried.
One very unfortunate story that did put a bit of a damper on the event was that a Provo man passed away during the swim. I don't know a lot of the details, most of what I do know came from this article here.

Pioneer Day 2008

This year's Pioneer day was a total blast! I hope you are all willing to check out my sister's blog here because she has given a great recap of the evening at my parents' house. Rather than even try to match the sweet blog entry they have, I'll just refer to hers and add these few pics. Oh ya, I'll also add the clip of Tyler's song he made up for his favorite firework, The Sky Spider.

I do have more to add from that morning. Jamie wanted to get out and try an open water swim in preparation for our Spudman race on Saturday. So, we packed up the kids and went to Deer Creek where we met up with Jamie's sister, Tracy. They both swam and we had the kids out in little blow up rafts. Marcus loved throwing little rocks in the water and Tyler, of all things, enjoyed pulling me around the shoreline while I lounged in the boat. It was so great!

I was a little bit of a scrooge the night before. I didn't really want to get up early on a day off, pack everything up, etc. However, I'm glad we went as I had as good a time as anyone.