Back to School

Last week my kids went back to school. I'm not a fan of ending summer days. I love having my kids home with me. I have missed them terribly this past week as they have gone off to school.

Ryan is in 5th grade

Sydney is in 2nd grade

For the past few nights I have put Sydney to bed. Last night we lay next to each other and read a new book she got from a friend for her birthday. Sydney has never been one to just listen to a book that doesn't have pictures. I hope this is a dawn of a new day that she will grasp the wonderful world of literature.

Last night Sydney snuggled in close to me after we were finished reading, her body curved into mine. She grabbed my arm and lay it over her and then asked how I could move my arm without her noticing when I leave. I told her it's because she's asleep. She then drifted off to sleep, and I drifted... off... with... her.

Pick 4

On Sunday Brett told each of the kids to go out to the garden and pick 4 carrots. Ryan hit the jackpot. He got a 4-in-1

Oh What Do you Do in the Summertime?

We've had a busy summer this year.

We began with swimming lessons (I failed to get pictures).

Then we ran for Desmon. Actually, the "we" was Ryan and Sydney. I'm proud of them for running a mile and for supporting a great cause. You can support the cause too by going to www.teamdcoy.com. Your money will support a family with great medical needs.

Next up, a surprise party for Martha. She is now 75 and one of my most favorite neighbors. (She was one of my favorite neighbors before she was 75 too).

We played a little baseball in the back yard on Father's Day and Sydney is trying to show her magic skills by hitting the ball with her eyes closed. She's still working on that skill.



Girls wouldn't be girls without a little dress up.


We went on a very fun, very relaxing, much needed camping get away.


July brought a surprise trip from our cousins. We were SO happy to have them here.


Sydney celebrated her 7th birthday. Actually, we all celebrated Sydney's birthday.


We enjoyed another yearly trip to Lagoon courtesy of Novell. Our cousins got to experience that with us.


We've harvested from our garden.


We got to spend more time with new cousins, and finally pick our peaches from our tree.


Brett and I rode in a century bike ride - My first, his second.

Ryan celebrated his 10th birthday. Where has the time gone?

Happy Summer. School starts next week. I will miss my kids, but my days of having 6 hours of freedom are upon me...hmmm what to do, what to do.

107 Miles to Somewhere

Last weekend Brett and I rode together in the ULCER (Utah Lake Century Epic Ride).

This was my first century.



Up until this day, I had only ridden 81 miles and we ended up riding 107.4.

Our day started out with very little sleep. Normally that happens because I am anxious about the ride, but this time I received a call from a neighbor at 12:45am and I ended up helping her in her home until just after 2am.

If you wonder what you do at that time of night while helping someone -- I'll tell you-- you name their barf buckets.

We named hers "Buddy".

Fitting I think.

"Please pass me Buddy."

"I need to puke, where's my Buddy?"

"Everyone needs a Buddy."


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So, after getting approx 3 hours of sleep, we got up and prepared to leave for the race.

Breakfast consisted of oatmeal with honey, cinnamon, and almonds...mmm. I also took a banana, but was too full to eat it.

We arrived in Lehi just a few minutes before our scheduled departure of 6:55am. We used the restroom, spoke to a few of Brett's co-workers and we were off.

We had a friend about 3 miles into the ride that was out taking pictures. Brett started with me, but then stopped and waited for his co-workers so they could work together as they all wore matching 'kits'.

I wore the wrong 'kit'.

Pink and gray shirt that showed my muffin top.

Did you know that you can still have a fat gut after training for such an event? Well, you can and I have the pictures to prove it.




The idea was that Brett would ride with his groupies for a while and catch me in a few miles.

Well, of course this presented a challenge for me and I decided that I needed to show these said 'groupies' that I could ride solo if needed. So, while Brett thought he would catch me at mile 5 or possibly even 10, he actually caught me at mile 26, at the rest stop. - GO ME!

There was a terrible accident at about mile 10. The lady reminded me of what I must've looked like with my face planted in the pavement. It was awful.

Anyway, the ride was six hours, so of course I have six hours of material to share. That would make for a terribly long post though so I'll just say that I learned a few things on this ride.

1. It is much easier to ride with a group than it is to ride alone.
2. Hot headwinds are a terrible companion on any ride, especially at mile 60.
3. Meeting up with your kids 1/2 way through is motivation to finish anything. (Thanks Terry for bringing them to see us).


4. Having your seat adjusted to fit your height sure makes for an easier ride. (Thanks stranger for suggesting I fix my seat)
5. I'm super impressed with Bonneville Cycling for putting on such an amazingly supported race. The food and support at the rest stops was unbelievable.
6. I like long rides. They make me want to GLOAT (see my Facebook status for further gloating)
7. Riding with Brett makes everything better. I'm grateful he didn't listen to me and he actually rode with me through the majority of the ride. We needed each other many times that day.
8. There are as many stupid cyclists out there as there are motorists. Get it together people!! If we're going to make a name for ourselves, make a good name!
9. I like looking at my Garmin and seeing that I have burned over 5000 calories in a day
10. I'll do it again.

Thanks 107 miles to Somewhere for a great day.