Spudman Triathlon

Last summer I got the idea to do a triathlon relay with my great neighbors and friends who just happen to be a swimmer and a cyclist. Trying to find a triathlon that fit into all 3 of our schedules was the hardest part. We entered the lottery for the Spudman Triathlon in Burley, Idaho. Luckily our team was chosen to be able to participate and we got excited for a girls night away - oh, and the race too.

This particular triathlon is advertised to be the one with the fastest swim time since the .93 mile swim is downstream in the Snake River (apparently the 4 mph current will even let people float down the river in about 30 minutes). Maggie did an awesome swim and never even saw a snake!



Here I am waiting for Jennifer to finish her 25 mile bike ride through the flat farmlands. I must've been more nervous than I thought because my heartrate even before running was in the 180s.

Jennifer did a fabulous bike ride even though she'd never biked that far before.

We did it! I've never raced a 10k distance before and Jennifer has never ridden 25 miles and Maggie has never swam a mile in a river before but we made it!

We had a great time together. I was so inspired by all the athletes that did the whole triathlon that I might just do one myself sometime in the near future (of course, I'll need to get a bike and learn to swim in a straight line).

A Fishin' they will go

The day before the 5k race, my dad took Caleb fishing for the second time ever. But this time Caleb caught 3 fish but one got away.

That night my mom fried up the rainbow trout. Yummy! It reminded me of when I was a kid and I'd go fishing with my dad. Fortunately for Caleb my dad now fishes in lakes instead of tiny streams and he uses marshmellows instead of wiggly worms for bait.

Pleased as Punch

This weekend we went down to visit my parents in Panguitch. Four of us were entered into the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon and 5k.

Trevor ran the half marathon. He did a great job and beat his personal best by 7 minutes.


My dad ran/walked the 5k with Caleb. Caleb took 6 minutes off his 5k from last year. My dad could've placed 2nd in his age group if he would've run it his own speed, but he was a great grandpa and let his grandson beat him to the finish line.

I would've run the half marathon but I'm doing the running part of a triathlon relay next weekend so I just ran the 5k this weekend (not to mention it was fun to finally be able to see Trevor cross the finish line since I'm usually running 20 minutes slower than him).

I didn't meet my time goal (28 seconds slower than I wanted) but I placed 3rd in my age group! It was a great feeling to go up to the podium at the awards ceremony and claim my medal. Third place has never been sweeter!

Lil' Slugger

Due to 2 rain-outs in June, Caleb had a baseball game at 5:00 tonight - in 94 degree heat. He got a hit each time at bat but his best hit was his last. He slugged the ball clear to the outer side of the track, it took a great bounce even further. This gave him plenty of time to run all the way home. What a homerun!

Where have you been?

We found this plaque displayed at the Golden Spike monument. The plaque list 25 essential historical sites every American should visit.
I've been to 9 of the 25 and Trevor has been to 12 of the 25. How many have you been to?

1) Mesa Verde - Colorado
2) Fort Sumter - South Carolina
3) Williamsburg, Va
4) Gettysburg - Pennsylvania
5) The Freedom Trail - Boston
6) Mystic Seaport - Connecticut (whaling)
7) Independence Hall - Philadelphia
8) Golden Spike - Utah
9) Monticello - Virginia
10) Yellowstone - Wyoming
11) French Quarter - Louisiana
12) Little Bighorn - Montana
13) Fort Clatsop - Oregon
14) Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty - New York
15) Washington, DC
16) Wright Brothers - North Carolina
17) Seneca Falls, NY (women's rights)
18) Hollywood, California
19) The Alamo - Texas
20) Mount Rushmore - South Dakota
21) Springfield, Illinois
22) USS Arizona - Hawaii
23) Harper's Ferry - W. Virginia
24) Trinity Site - New Mexico (1st atomic blast)
25) Montgomery, Alabama

July 4th Vacation

Trevor took a few days off work and we were planning a trip to Denver but all the tickets for the US Mint were sold out. We decided to postpone that trip until we could get into the mint besides there's plenty of things in our own "backyard" that we haven't seen.

We started by going to the Kennecott Copper Mine where both my grandfather and Trevor's dad worked back in the 60's. We've now seen the only man-made hole that's visible from space.

Here's Trevor's dad explaining to Caleb what he used to do when he worked here at the mine when he was a teenager.

After the mine, we went to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. We didn't see antelope, buffalo or any other wildlife besides birds, spiders and brine flies (which bite).

The next day we went up to Logan where we visited the American West Heritage Center where we got a taste of what life was like in the late 1800's. I couldn't believe Caleb actually milked a cow!

Gabriella didn't exactly enjoy the pony ride as much as the other kids did.

We all got to take a turn throwing tomahawks - it's actually very fun and could be addicting.

This is Patch Peterson the pirate woodwright that showed me how to use ferrier's rasp (normally used to file horse's hooves but he claims it's the best wood file he's ever used).

Trevor, his mom and dad, and Caleb had fun shooting arrows.

After the heritage center we drove through the marathon course that Trevor and I will be running in September.

On Friday we visited the air force base's aerospace museum.

And had dinner at a great pizza joint where Trevor and his dad taught Caleb how to play pool.

On Saturday (Independence Day) we went to the Golden Spike Historical Site - where the last spike was driven to complete the transcontinental railroad.

We had a fun trip. We were even able to watch the fireworks show from our hotel room that overlooked the town.