The Big Day

We have talked about today with Dylan for MONTHS!

Dylan's Tonsillectomy

He did a wonderful job, I would like to attribute that to my amazing Child Life Skills but he really was amazing himself. He knew everything that was going to happen and it really helped. He was a trooper taking his very yucky "silly medicine" (versed) and here he is being very silly...

The anesthesiologist even thought he was funny. By far the hardest part was waking up! Harder for mom or Dylan I don't know (notice no picture for that.) He slept all morning but then he was ready to be back to his old self. We are having to get really creative to keep this kid resting! Our doctor specifically told me he needed three days of REST!!! I will feel lucky to get two!

I know it wasn't a fun experience, but I hope I did him a favor! It definitely beats my three week recovery!

We also wish best wishes to our friend Ali (Dylan's best friend's mom) who was right behind Dylan for the same procedure.

Little Gifts

I've been busy making birthday gifts and they are just so yummy that I had to share!

An adorable bagA Skirt with a flower pin to match

The flowers are so cute and fun, make one here, and make a quick skirt here! Happy sewing.

All 13

Today Dylan passed off his 13th article of faith. I believe he knows them better than I do. I am so proud of his hard work and persistence in learning them. Well, hard work, it actually comes really easy to him! I have already seen the fruits of his labors as he is now helping Ashlyn learn them as well. However, the down side is that he sings them ALL THE TIME! He wakes up at 6 am EVERY morning and will lay in his bed singing them- inevitably waking up Ashlyn. I am sure the Lord will bless us in the end!!

Meena

Our little friend down the street left this earthly life on Sunday to go live in Heaven. We did not know her long but she radiated a special spirit. She had a rare brain tumor and battled it well. I am glad to know that she is a child of God and is loved dearly. We are so grateful to know that her family will be able to see her again soon -an amazing and everlasting gift of love.

He Did It!!

Saturday night (our time) was Jamie's Big triathlon. He did great:

Swim: 12:46 - 19th place after swim

T1: 1:50 - He ran right past his bike and couldn't find it - dropped from 19th to 25th!

Bike: 31:20 - 16th place after bike

T2: 0:52 - still 16th

Run: 19:01 - 15th after run - probably his fastest run ever!

Total: 1:05:47

Place (age group): 15th (2nd American)

Place (overall): 126 (but this includes a whole age group that is messed up) - And 10th AMERICAN!!!!

Congrats Jamie!!!

Triathlete

My brother, Jamie, left today for Australia. What is he doing in Australia you say? He is competing in the World Championship. He has traveled all over the country for years competing in Triathlons and has always done very well. He recently competed in CA to qualify for World. I think it is safe to say that I have a famous professional Triathlete for a brother!!

Now, Connor would not let you forget that "if it hadn't been for him Jamie would never be where he is." Meaning, Connor was the first one do compete in a triathlon and now my family, especially Jamie, has taken over the sport with flying colors. I could go into detail about how awesome they all are (my mom constantly wins her category and does about 3 official ones a year.) So Jamie just started this sport about 4 years ago!

This is a picture of my brother coming out of the water at his most recent Echo Triathlon. He made the cover of this Western based magazine. He is super amazing and I am proud of all he has accomplished and all that he has accomplished on the side (new wife, graduation ,brand new baby.) He has amazed me that his two strongest sections (swimming and biking) of his triathlon are one's he has completely had to learn from scratch and his weakest part (running) is the one thing I thought he would never be able to do again (so many knee problems in HS.) Not to mention that in the middle of all these years of training, he was in a huge bike/car accident where he was hit by a car and flipped over it and tore his MCL. That didn't slow him down a bit. He now works for PowerTri and teaches spin classes. By the way, Carrie, out of no bias, says he is the best spin teacher!

Check out his triathlon blog here where you can keep tabs on him during his big race and learn about his triathlon history and even SPONSOR him!!!

Congratulations and Good Luck!!! Have fun in Australia

What They Did When I was Gone

While I was upstairs on the phone, for what I thought was a short time, Ashlyn pulled a chair up to the drawer, pulled out two markers, gave one to Corbin and had a party! What I did hear was a lot of giggling and a lot of silence!!! HMMMM!!!
These pictures will not do justice for two reasons...
1. The camera was not at home with us at the moment and I was not willing to wait until it was so I put them in the bath and scrubbed them each for 5 min (the water was blue when we were finally done!)
2. My camera is not a great one and still did not capture the residue, so just imagine with me!

Corbin had marker on his legs, arm (hard to see), face and tummy...
Ashlyn had marker all over her hands, red dots all over her legs and arms...

Somehow, with all his clothes on, Corbin had marker ALL over his back...

Notice the eyeshadow and nose...

There was marker in hair, in necks, IN ears, and you can only imagine what the rocking horse and carpet looked like! They did a lot of scrubbing with me!

Here's to being a mom and leasons to be learned (on both sides.)

Big Catch

Dylan caught his first fish! He was very excited about it. But didn't want to get too close let alone hold it. But look at this big sucker! A catfish too!

It just about pulled him right in!