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.

A Visit from my "Blood" Brother

Seems crazy, but it was about 9 years ago that I was looking for a roommate for my junior year at BYU. I just happened to start talking to this wacked out West Virginian who was living in my complex, but surrounded by slobs. Well, that meeting literally turned the next two years of school on its head.

Dan Blood and I became roommates and did about everything together for the next two years. Of course, this stunk whenever we met new people. They would inevitably ask about our majors. Dan would say, "I'm studying Chemical Engineering." They would respond with "Wow, you must be smart." Then I would say I was studying Chinese and they would tilt their heads and say "what are you going to do with that?" I often felt like pulling out a stick and beating these people, but that would be impolite. So instead I would say, "Actually I'm the smart one, for all you know Dan here is failing out of Chemical Engineering."

Turns out they were right after all. Dan is a successful Nuclear Engineer working on the U.S. submarines (at least they better be our subs he is working on.) Meanwhile, the last time I spoke Chinese was just so Tyler wouldn't catch on that we were planning on putting him to bed a little early.

Dan and I really were a great pairing. We were even both born on April 8, "The Divine Day", and enjoyed nothing better than humor at our own expense. We were never the best looking duo in any of our wards. But on more than one occassion I was asked by a girl if I could get them a date with Dan because they heard our creative dates were a blast. Who knew dates that cost so little, like making boats to race downstream or marshmellow-gun wars at the park would be so fun.

Dan and I are both a little more grown up now. I still love hearing him tell stories of the crazies he taught in New York on his mission. I even think he still likes hearing me tell some of my "classic" missteps. This past week Dan and his beautiful wife and daughter were in town. It was so great seeing him again. You know you are really good friends when you can go a full six months without contact and pick right up where you left off without the need for apologies.

Dan is also still just as skinny as I am. Somehow the topic of the show "the Biggest Loser" came up and we both feel discriminated against. So, if anyone in TV show land is reading. You should seriously consider a show called, "The Great American Bulk Up." Dan and I would make great contestants.

Pool Party!

Not a lot to say on this post, but had a couple cute pictures and a video I wanted to share. This summer on several occassions we have pulled out the big blow up pool and borrowed the neighbors slide. Our boys seem to love cooling off in the water. Marcus surprises me with how much he seems to enjoy the water despite being so young. Tyler is constantly putting his face under water because "it feels cool." Both of our boys inherited their Uncle Carl's love of water and water fights. I love that I can already have a water fight with Tyler without his complaining when I get him. (The same can't be said for all the kids in the neighborhood, including some quite a bit older)."

Me and My Boys

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How My Parents Fell in Love

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Tyler's Water Belly

Last night was one of those parental moments that you could never see coming. Being the baseball junkie that I am I was watching the All-star game when Jamie and Tyler went for a little walk. When they came back Tyler drank a ton of water to cool down. We then sent him to get his PJs on. About two minutes later he came sprinting out of his room with a huge smile on his face and acting really excited. I thought maybe he had found a long lost toy or something. Instead he says, "dad wanna hear something so cool?" How do you say no to that. He then proceeds to do some little jig and asks, did you hear that? I was totally confused and he could tell so he did it again. His little belly made this very loud swishing sound and then he giggled over to his mom to show her.

He spent the rest of the bedtime routine (brushing teeth, scriptures, prayer, story etc) taking pauses to swish his belly around and each time he did it his face would light up and he would giggle for a solid minute. What a little nut!


I'm sure this is one of those experiences that you sorta had to be there to really appreciate, but I know Jamie and I definately appreciated our little Water Belly Boy.

Here is a little video we took, I don't think we caught the actual sound of the belly very well. However, Tyler's reactions are pretty great.(You can sorta make it out one of the times, but trust us, it was, indeed, pretty loud).

A Belated 4th of July Post

Well, given Marcus' illness last week I didn't get time to post anything about July 4th. I'm sure that some of you have had more than your fill of July 4th postings so I promise to add a video that is a little unusual (even if it is at my expense).

The 4th this year was a little more relaxed than previous years because the Guth's were out of town and the Laurence's went to Stadium of Fire. So, Tyler and Marcus had their parents and grandparents all to themselves. In the morning we went to the park and in the afternoon cousin Morgan came and played in our blow up pool. (I'll make another post later about the fun our boys have had in our blow up pool this year).

Since Tyler has been asking about Fireworks for months now (I'm not kidding!) we got started a little early with parachuters, sky spiders and smoke bombs. Luckily, our neighbors the Mellings and Halls had us over to watch some of their fountains so that we didn't run out of fireworks before it got dark. Of course, only yours truly is a fine enough connoisseur of fireworks to know that Black Cat Fireworks far exceed TNT fireworks for variety in color and size. As such, our finale, in my less than humble opinion, was the best! If only I could use my pyro skills for good!

Tyler was so enamored with the fireworks that he even convinced me to let him attend the Laurence's firework party on Monday night (the last night fireworks were legal). For more on that show see the Laurence's post here.

A little story here before the video I promised. When I was in college we used to spruce up our firework shows by running through the fountains much like one runs through the sprinklers. However, once I started hosting firework parties with children in attendance this no longer seemed like such a good idea. As such, I was trying to find a way to spruce up a fireworks show, but still have the show on a budget (and legal, I have enough illegal fire stories). So, I discovered that if I made a goofy face or dance while lighting one of the strobe "flasher" fireworks the kids would all laugh. This trend grew to where the kids joined in the dance and now the flasher is the Besaw favorite as all the kids whip out their favorite dance moves. I especially like a few of Tyler's moves in this video. He is the kid on the far right.

This tradition evolved to the point where the first year in our Lehi home I broke out my ole stand by dance move, "the worm." Now, it is tradition that each year I have to do the worm at least once. Well, this year it was caught on tape so...here is a video of my making a fool of myself doing the worm (the Laurence post has a great video of my nephew Clayton's version of the worm).

The Memory Game Craze

I've seen this on a bunch of blogs today and though you may be burning out of it, I think it sounds fun. So, I figured that I'd give it a shot as well. Please feel free to play along.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

A Dose of Perspective

I always worry a little when my blog postings aren't simply a record of an event or a quick story. I guess I fear that when I write the more serious things in my head it will either sound trivial, cheesy or something. However, this past week gave me such a reality check that I wanted to share a few of my reflections (and they say writing is good therapy).

In the Book of Mormon the cycle of pride is outlined multiple times. A rundown for those who haven't heard of it, the pride cycle goes something like this: a people (or person) is righteous, due to their righteousness they are blessed, owing to their blessings they becomes prideful, being prideful drives them away from righteousness, trials fall upon the wicked, overcoming the trials leads them back to righteousness. They key is to find a way to be humble without the trials being put in your path. If you can get on your knees and be penitent without trials then the chances go up that you won't face the trials aimed at humbling you. Of course, that isn't the reason for all trials, but it can be a reason for trials.

I think sometimes I fall victim to not only the pride cycle, but also the perspective cycle. I have all these blessings in my life. Seriously, I have SO much to be grateful for. However, when I begin to pursue or be consumed with those blessings (usually things) that I don't have is when something happens to alter one of my life's greatest blessings.

Are you with me so far? If you are baffled, its probably me and not you.

So to the heart of my point. Over the last little while it seems my focus has been on things I wish I had (like a killer vacation, a wii, the funds to finish my basement, etc) and am bugged by things less important (why do I still have acne at 31, why is it so hard to find time to exercise, why does my lawn have so many dry spots). To be fair, I'm generally a pretty optimistic and grateful guy (I think) but like a lot of us, I struggle at times.

Well, this past week I got a pretty sound Wack upside the head to remind me what really matters. Starting last Thursday little Marcus had flu like symptoms. Friday the 4th he did pretty well, but again Saturday he couldn't keep anything down and had a pretty serious case of the dry heaves. Sunday came and his condition continued to worsen. He was so lethargic that all he wanted to do was sleep or lay on your lap. After many calls back and forth to different clinical nurses and doctors we decided that we would let him sleep Sunday and take him in on Monday.

Monday came and we were sent to American Fork hospital where Marcus was hooked up to an IV and they ran tests on his urine and blood. When the results came back my world came to a stop. The doctor reported that Marcus' Pancreas levels were about 4 times the normal number and that this was VERY unusual in a child of his age. We were rushed down for a CT scan and those results were favorable for the pancreas but showed a good deal of abnormality in the Liver. The doctors that we saw were thorough and helpful, but didn't relieve our fears much.

Added to the problem was that owing to either nerves or the flu virus, Jamie began showing all the symptoms of the flu. Monday night I stayed with Marcus at the hospital and realized that no matter what happened, the only things that really mattered to me weren't things at all. I realized that my perspective was all wrong in dwelling on envy or my shortcomings and that I should be so grateful for my healthy and wonderful boys, my amazing wife, and the great network of friends and family that I enjoy.

The next morning poor Marcus had to get poked about 3 times in order to draw enough blood to run some (but not all) the tests the doctor's wanted. The poor little guy will likely have a fear of nurses until he is well past adolescence.

Of course, by this time I was feeling the flu symptoms as well. All day Tuesday both Jamie and I were struggling. But, Marcus was the worst off. Poor little guy. He did finally start feeling better once Tyler came to visit and his fluids came back. In fact, for a while we were optimistic that we might get to go home that day...alas, that was not the case. Despite his color coming back and his smiling and enjoying playing catch on his bed, the doctor was still quite worried about Marcus' liver test results. As such, we had to stay the night again and more blood had to be drawn this morning.

I spent Tuesday night tossing and turning hoping my fever would break. It did finally, and when I went back to the hospital this morning the doctor came in and was pretty encouraging. Marcus' levels had dropped down much closer to normal. Combined with his having not thrown up since Sunday night we were allowed to leave.

We came home and Marcus' face shined! He was running all around and so excited to be home. Of course, to keep us from being too comfortable, he did throw up his lunch. AHH! I really hope this passes soon. The good news is that I am pretty sure that the worst is behind us.

Perhaps the best thing to come from this...I think I'm back on the right side of the perspective cycle. I can honestly think of nothing that I want more right now than for my little boy to be healthy and for life to get back to normal.

Lehi Round Up Parade

One thing that is awesome about being a dad is when you just know you are helping your children make memories that will last a lifetime. I was blown away this morning when Tyler came to my room talking about fireworks. He remembered that last year we had a parachute that we shot off at the Laurence house that went over the backyard fence. He remembered that Spencer had his football helmet with him last year and he remembered that we played a running game (we had played "kick the can"). His face was aglow the whole time he was telling me about these memories.

Often, making those types of memories for our children can be taxing. That was the case this past weekend when the boys, Jamie and I participated in our ward's float for the Lehi Parade. Following a hurried dinner on Friday, Jamie and I took the boys and our wagon over to join with the ward at Wine's Park in Lehi. Our float theme was "FootLoose" and the children were all wearing funny socks or mismatched shoes or the like. We won an award for "Most Unique" (is that a compliment?). The children had even learned a little line dance that went along with the chorus. Tyler went to the dance practice, but I think he was relieved nonetheless when he was able to ride on the float instead of dance.

Jamie pulled Marcus in the wagon and he seemed to really enjoy it. Of course, Tyler was in his element. His favorite part was when I would take the squirt bottle I was using to cool kids off with and spray it into his gaping mouth. I enjoyed being the unofficial squirter, but I'll tell you what, my sister Melissa really seemed to get into squirting the crowd. (If you look really close you can see a line of water going into Tyler's mouth)

When we were all done with the route on Friday night, Melissa asked if I might be willing to help out the next day. When I told Tyler he could ride on the float again he exclaimed, "I love Parades!"

Jamie and Marcus took day two off (and who could blame them) but I really had a special time with Tyler. I walked him around before the parade started so he could see all of the floats. He was so cute and excited. We had lunch together and played around while waiting for the parade to end.Perhaps one of the most special things was seeing how much Tyler enjoyed throwing candy to the crowds (even if most of it had to be picked up and thrown again by those walking near the float). I hope that he always prefers the giving to the receiving.

For those not able to witness the parade, you are in luck. Uncle Craig captured the following video that shows the troops as they pass by. Notice how much fun the kids (and adults) are having. You can also see a little of Jamie dancing, Tyler on the float, and my causing trouble with another adult (all pretty typical of the evening). My favorite part of the video is that the little Fuller girl is being pulled behind the float as a "princess." Check out how awesome her little wave is...great fun!

I was "Tagged"

Apparently there is something going around where people tag readers of their blog and they have to respond to the questions. Well. my friend Jason Russell tagged me, so here are my answers (pretty boring I know):

Four places I visit over & over:
1. My office
2. My house
3. Costco (especially their gas pumps)
4. ESPN.com

Four People who e-mail-txt me regularly:
1. Ken Farr
2. Any of the guys from my fantasy baseball league
3. Word of the Day
4. My wife

Four favorite foods:
1. Most Seafood (too bad its so pricey here in UT)
2. Authentic Taiwan Breakfast (how I miss those mornings!)
3. Cafe Rio Pork Burrito (or salad)
4. My mom's meatloaf (which is also great when my wife makes it)

Four places I'd rather be:
1. Wrigley Field
2. Great Wall of China
3. Some sweet Beach somewhere
4. Goblin Valley (coolest adult playground anywhere)

Four movies I'd watch over & over (...or DO watch over & over):
1. Batman Begins
2. The Bourne Trilogy
3. Mission Impossible (I or III but not II)
4. What about Bob

Groups I love to listen to:
1. The Primary Kids in my Ward
2. They Might Be Giants (tee hee)
3. U2
4. The Ramones

Four People I am tagging (However, I won't mind if you don't respond, I'm picking you because I think you actually check my blog more than once a year):
1. Matt
2. Melissa
3. Miranda
4. Carl