My Darling, My Super Hero, My Husband

Jon in his "supersuit"

This past weekend was the culmination of 8 months of hard training. Although he has been training on his bike for the past 3 years, Jon wanted something specific on which to focus his fitness goals, as well as give him variety in his workout. He decided to do the Grand Columbian Triathlon.
We loaded up the van on Friday and headed for the Grand Coolie Dam, right there in Coolie, Washington. Jon’s friend Evan was also racing that weekend, in the half Iron Man competition and we met him there to finish the registration process. We had a great time in camp that evening and settled down to an early night in order for everyone to be fresh for the morning’s races. But, that wasn’t in the cards for any of us. Ja`el woke up with a terrible cold and kept Jon and me up pretty much the entire night. Although, she had absolutely no symptoms of fighting anything the day before, there was no doubt that she was sick. No luck for poor Evan either. Some idiot campers decided to take the camping spot next to us…at 3 am. They had their headlights pointed directly into Evan’s tent, and then went hammering away to put their tent up, using a loud air pump to inflate their air mattress, and speaking as loud as they could in the process. Needless to say we were all a bit beat when we woke up in the morning.
But, all that didn’t stop my man for absolutely killing it out in the race. It was so exciting watching him go. Ja`el especially enjoyed watching the swimming. She would yell out “Go Daddy, GO!!” and “Yay, Daddy!” as we watched him run by. Since he knew his times pretty well going into the race, we were able to be there during all his transitions and cheer him on. He ended up doing very well. He took 6th in his age division and 55th over all, within the top 40%. I am soo proud of my husband!!
Here are some pics from the exciting event.

It is fun to stretch Daddy’s face as far as it will go! See?

Jon was pretty excited that he was #357.

Crossing the finish line! Yay Daddy!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

When Jon decided that he was going to go on 2 “man-trips” in a row, one to go camping in the Black Hills and another on a long fly fishing trip, Ja`el and I decided that it was high time we had a “girls only” trip (who wants boys with us anyway!). We wanted to go somewhere fun, but not so far that we couldn’t drive. What better place than to Grandma and Grandpa’s house and then over to see her favorite “Ja`el’s” (Note: they are no longer “Ja`els” but “Crameron and Tristan” Sad to see her baby words go.). Although I was a bit nervous to drive all that way alone with a 2 year old, I was completely prepared to when Mema came to the rescue. She decided to join us for the drive and the visit. And good thing she did. Although Ja`el was awesome, 10 hours is a LONG time to be stuck in a car. So, after a few setbacks, we all piled into our trusty Outback and road tripped all the way down to Boise to see Grandma Karen, Grandpa Jim and Aunt Erin. We met my sister and her kids there, who joined us for dinner and then took Mema back to Twin Falls with them, while Ja`el and I stayed in Boise for a weeks worth of shopping, going to the zoo, the park and playing in the water! We had such a great time and I wish I had taken more pictures to share, but, again, I was having so much fun, I forgot to bring my camera in most cases. I did get a few shots, though.

Although she enjoyed looking at the real animals, Ja`el LOVED the fake ones.

Here is Grandma and Ja`el at the lake. Two of her favorite things in the world.

After we left Boise, we met up with Mema at my sisters home in Twin Falls. What adventures we had there! We went to the fair (“Crazy round and rounds!” she laughed when she saw the rides as we pulled into the parking lot), on a hike up in the South Hills, and lots and lots of quality cousin wildness.

Playing teeter totter during a break on our hike

The Three Musketeers, Idaho style

I love it!!

First roller coaster ride. Look at the smile on this face!

First corn dog. She didn’t know what to do with it, at first. She just looked at me like, “what the heck am I supposed to do with this?”

Not a huge fan of the goats.

It was a great two weeks! Cannot wait to do it again!!

That's MISTER Vice President

I am proud to annouce that, yesturday, my fantastic, wonderful, amazing husband was made Associate Vice President at Intermountain Bank Corp. No one deserves it more, my darling. I am so proud of you!

Happy, happy birthday, babies!

We started last Saturday with the Cherry Festival at Green Bluff. Green Bluff is a small community of 35 farms, just outside of Spokane. All the farms collaborate about 6 times a year for these huge festivals, full of hay rides, contests, music, food etc. You could spend all weekend just going from farm to farm, picking fruit and vegetables, wine tasting, and enjoying the beauty. This weekend was the last of the Cherry Festival and, since we were going into Spokane anyway to pick up Lolo (Ja`el's grandpa Shine), we thought we would stop for a bit.

We found a beautiful lavendar farm that was very reminiscent of Provence.

Here are some beautiful cherries.

Jon's 29th birthday was Tuesday and in celebration we all (about 20-24 people!) headed to Western Pleasure Guest Ranch for an amazing steak dinner. We were the only party there, (other than about 5 darling 11 year olds who were there for horse camp) so we had the run of the place. And I am in love! The stables, the cabins, the lodge, the setting! If I cannot own it myself, I will just have to make it my local hangout. (Jon has already agreed that Ja`el and I can take mother/ daughter English riding lessons once Munchie is old enough. hm...I wonder if he remembers that!!)

Jon being serenaded on the violin for his birthday.

And the Thursday, my sweet little baby Ja`el turned 2 years old. Although I would like to say "I cannot believe it has been so long", my heart is so full from these past 2+ years that it feels like I have loved her for eternity. She is such a delight to love and everyday is a new adventure. Here are some pics from the special day:

Here are some of her accomplishments from the last year.

1. speaks in near full sentences. (I say "near" because, although she has all the big words down, she has yet to learn the little ones. Instead, she uses "placeholders". For example, she will say "Tristan na na car na na packpack" Translation: Tristan has a car on his backpack.)

2. can count from 1 to 10.

3. knows all her primary colors and then some.

4. knows most of the shapes.

5. knows alot of animal names and sounds. The one's she doesnt know, she makes up.

6. has really good pitch (She may have inherited her daddy's perfect pitch.)

7. runs, jumps (with both feet), skips, hops, dances and twirls. Sometimes all at the same time.

8. just slept through the night for the first time ever 2 weeks ago. Mind you, she hasnt done it since, but I havent lost hope!

What a year!! I so look forward to the many blessings the Lord has in store for us in the future.

Yellowstone!!!

After the week we had, we all needed a vacation. Jon had been furiously working on the front deck that he was replacing, while I was managing Ja`el and finishing our landscaping project. We wanted everything to be perfect and beautiful when Grammy came to visit. And so it was and we got the delighted response that we desired when she arrived on Saturday evening. Then, Sunday came. A few weeks prior, I discovered some sort of leak in one of our basement bedrooms. We had about 3 contractors out in 2 weeks to see what they thought the matter was, but nothing. Finally, a family friend, who is also a contractor, came out that Sunday and thought he had figured out the problem and it would only take a few hours work to remedy the problem. Then, Jon started digging. I am not exactly sure what compelled him to dig (one thought brought me back to King's Tommyknockers) But thank the Lord he didbecause, oh no. Lets just say Jon found himself knee deep in you-know-what with a broken septic pipe. AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! So, the week before we were to leave on our grand trip to Yellowstone (which we had been planning and looking forward to for 6 months), we couldnt use the water (or toilets), therefore couldnt stay in our home. There was still ALL the packing to be done; Jon was having issues with a vendor at work and had to work late; everything seemed to be working against us. "If we could just get out of town" I said to Jon, "I think we will be alright". I knew the Lord had something wonderful planned for us with this vacation, and someone was trying to ruin it.

And wonderful it was. We met our dear friends, Mike and Traci and their daughter Hattie, just outside of Yellowstone that evening and the blessings were just poured onto us from then on out. I didnt know how much I missed having my spiritual "kindred spirit" near me again and began to feel centered and focused again just after one day. Our week was full of laughter and prayers, wildflowers and bears, and everything of which our haggered souls needed. Oh, there were plenty of opportunities to choose a bad attitude (ie: LOTS of rain, Ja`el getting the 12 hour vommitting flu, realizing that we had left behind all the diapers we needed for the trip back in Sandpoint, etc), but we, by grace, "chose God" instead. And we were so blessed because of it.

I wont get too much into the details of our trip (who like a boaster ;)) but here are some pics instead.

Jon slaying the brookies outside our camp

(also where they saw a young grizzly every day for 3 days straight!)

Our good friend Rick Linden happened to be in the park and we got to see him again.(Jon hadn't seen him since he was 14!) These two were two peas in a pod! Best Friends instantly.

All of us at Canyon Falls

As we drove the 12 hours home (mind you, it is only supposed to take 7/8 ish, but alas, roadwork) we had peace and rest. A week later, we still have workmen in and out of our house, but the house no longer smells like an outhouse!

Tea Party

Ja`el and I have been enjoying the outdoors just about everyday this month with trips to the beach, park and the garden. Therefore, when last Friday clouded up and began to rain, we needed to think of something quick to make good of the day. So, we asked some friends over for an impromptu tea party. Here are some pics. What a good hostess!
Complete with party tricks

Cheers!

Cramming their mouths full of scones

My Wife is Amazing

The Triumphant Mom!

For many reasons, being an amazing mother, wife, friend. But this blog isn't about that. It's about how my wife could kick my butt... running that is. Yesterday was the day that Leah had been training for five months, The Coeur D'Alene half Marathon. Yep! My amazing wife ran the CDA half marathon yesterday and did amazing.

We went down to Post Falls and stayed with our good friends Houng, Chevy and Alyx Mathews (Houng is a friend of Leah's from High School). First thing bright and early we all headed over to the starting line. Leah had modified her race number as well, Leah dedicated her race to a very good friend who went home to Jesus last year, Lisa Kemp and thought of her and her family all day yesterday.

Houng went bandit yesterday and ran with Leah for a while and then met me at the finish line where we all waited for the grand arrival of my awesome wife. A funny side note, Chevy & Alyx and Jael & I were waiting for the girls and we went to Starbucks so I could wake up fully and the most peculiar/hysterical thing happened. We were all Standing outside and then Chevy and I looked around and noticed the absence of something very noticeable... MOMS! There were about 7-10 Dads on daddy duty with all the kids sitting outside on a nice day with all of us chasing down the Kids. We all looked at each other and then all started laughing, annnyyyway back to my awesome wife. Houng came back early but not before Chevy had to go to work. So that meant that I was pulling double daddy duty with both Jael(in the pack) and Alyx(in the Stroller) BTW.. it's hard to navigate with 2 kids a Camera out just in case Leah crossed and lots of people finishing a race. The longer I'm a dad the more I marvel at the capability of Mothers (Hats off to the most amazing group in existence)

Sure enough 2 hours and 30 minutes later my awesome wife crossed the line smiling and loving every minute of the fruit of all of her training. Words can't describe how proud I am of Leah and the dedication and perseverance she showed through this entire process. I'm Proud of you Baby. Enjoy the Pics!

No Safe Place (at least for a almost 2 yr old)

As Ja`el gets older, I find that I am learning that there are many more potential dangers in this world than I thought. Take this morning, for instance. While Jon was outside burning things (think Beavice and Butthead--"hehe. fire, fire.") I decided to take a shower and get ready for the day. I set Ja`el up with some toys, etc in the bathroom and we were good to go. After I got out, I let her go in and stomp around in the puddles while I continued to get myself put together. Mind you, I took special precaution to put all the dangerous items out of reach and thought we were covered until, a few moments later, I heard Ja`el say "stuck". She then followed it with a more panicked "FINGERS! STUCK!!" I ran to the shower and, sure enough, she had stuck one of her fingers into the drain holes and couldnt get it out. Thankfully it wasnt so bad as she sounded and after a little more water and a slight tug, we got the stuck finger unstuck. She cut it pretty good and howled even better, but alas, we now know not to stick our fingers into shower drain holes...or any drain hole for that matter.

Swimming lessons

I have a fish for a daughter. I had a small inkling that swimming would be her thing when she would yell "BATHTIME!!" every time we crossed the long bridge and completely bypass all the toys at the park and head for the lake when we are at city beach. She is a water baby. I kept trying to describe swim lessons to her this morning and afternoon, but I dont think she really got the full picture until we were at at the gym, looking at the Olympic sized pool, full of "friends" swimming and splashing. She was literally squealing with excitement. There were about 9 other parent/child pairs in the group for our first swim lesson tonight, but none happier than my daughter and myself. Daddy came and joined us for a little while before starting his own workout and was able to capture some of the excitement. Although she didnt cry when we got out of the pool like I was expecting, she talked about it the whole way home. We cannot wait until our next lesson on Thursday!

Easter in Sandpoint

So Jael is growing faster than we could have imagined and so we thought we'd share a bit of what she looked like this Resurrection Day(Easter). There's aprox 175 pictures we took narrowed it down to about 15 and that's still a bit much to post here, until l looked at that cool publish feature in Shutterfly. Enjoy! But here's a few teaser pics.

14 pictures
View Album at Shutterfly

That was AWESOME!!

So Ja`el was playing in the hall with her sippy full of water and she spilled some on the floor. Saying more to myself than to her I said "so are you going to clean that?" Then down the hallway she goes, I was assuming to her bedroom. She instead comes back from the bathroom with one of her washclothes and starts to clean up her mess!!!! Of course, she then proceeded to spill more water onto the floor in order to continue cleaning, but I am so proud!

The Great Skiing Adventure

If there was any doubt of this fact, there isn't anymore. Ja`el loves skiing and her Carharts. With squeals of delight she was enjoying the 50 degree weather and the soft spring snow while sliding down a hill in our yard. Uncle Jimbo, Auntie Erin, Mom and Dad all pushed her around in the snow. She started to shuffle by herself but preferred the sliding around letting gravity do it's thing.

I don't know about you all, but this looks like a Tele turn.