Judgement for the Plantiff

So last Thursday Josh and I were in small claims court. We were sueing our past tenants from our duplex in bountiful for over $4,000 in late rent, repairs and new carpet. After weeks of stressing over going in front of a judge to plead our case, the judge heard our side of the story and saw our pictures, invoices and all the evidence we could come up with and awarded us all we were asking for!
I've realized that many things are not as scarry as they seem when you are right and have the proof to defend yourself.

Harrison Plays in the Snow

With all the snow we got yesterday we thought Harrison might have fun playing outside. After bundling him up in his coat, mittens and hat, we let him loose. Here are some pictures:

Harrison and Sabrina both love eating snowballs.

Harrison's attempt at making a snow angel.

Eating another snowball.

Having fun being buried in the snow.

Har and I making more snowballs.

BYU vs. UTAH

So what I'm about to say might be appalling to some and maybe offensive to others but also I might have some agree with me. Utah fans of the game on Saturday night were the most abominable fans that i have ever encountered at a sporting event.
Josh and I went to the BYU vs. Utah game Saturday night and our seats were in the North East corner just at the junction of where BYU (visitor seats) and Utah fans sit. So naturally there would be some rivalry and picking on each others fans.
As the game started and we were having a healthy competition on the playing field I began to witness some Utah student fans begin to turn around and yell obscenities of the vilest kind every single play and for at least 10-15 seconds each time. Not just the guys but also the 3 or 4 girls that were with them. It was so obscene and vulgar that I was totally appalled.
After I was reeling from how my ears had been assaulted and my mind had been angered to my right was a couple of middle aged men with who i can only imagine were their adult sons began to yell obscenities to BYU fans as they walked up the stands. I could not imagine what provoked that language from just fans trying to get to their seats. But what infuriated me even more is that as they were yelling obscenities there were young 8-9 year old looking children walking up while these middle aged men swore at them. To my utter shock the younger men commented to them that there were kids with them. Which the men responded "I don't care"!
If that wasn't enough there was an adult family in front of us who were not yelling profanities but were just as taunting. All of the family was put to shame by the outrageous Mother!
But after a few days of reeling in my experience I must admit that were I not just so upset with the vulgar fans I would not have been so put out by the 2 generations of Ute fans.
I was saddened and upset with the appalling sportsmanship of these Ute fans. I have been to many BYU vs. Utah games held at BYU and never witnessed anything so outrageous.
I love my BYU. I am not however an avid sports fan. So I do enjoy watching my BYU cougars win but don't get upset if they loose. It is after all just a game.
I am very grateful that my husband has the common sense to be a light hearted, devoted Ute. But after this experience I will have to have some serious convincing and generous scholarships awarded to allow any of my children to attend the University of Utah.
p.s. sorry if I have offended any Ute fans.

Har can walk!

We have been thinking that Harrison has been really close to walking for about a month. He has been able to stand by himself for a while and pull himself up on things and use them to get around. He has even been taking a few steps here on his own. I don't know what happened between last night and tonight but tonight he is walking!

I have a happy son!

Harrison is so expressive and I just love to get him to smile. He doesnt giggle much but his smiles are just as good to melt my heart.
I just love that toothless grin from ear to ear.

"OoooooooohH" Harrison Said.
His smile is so big his eyes have to close a bit to make way for his cheeks!


Harrison is so expressive and I just love to get him to smile. He doesnt giggle much but his smiles are just as good to melt my heart.

Happy Halloween from Pocoyo

We had such a fun Halloween getting Harrison dressed up as Pocoyo and taking him trick-or-treating to a few of our neighbors. The best part was the 100% tax we charged on his candy! Josh thought it would be fun to dress Har up like Pocoyo since he looks exactly like him. So I first though i'd try to get Muranda to help me crochet a beanie for the hat part of his costume. She was so great to teach me how, however i was so slow to catch on, it took me 7 or 8 tries to finally get it to resemble a beanie. Then Josh and I went to a few stores to try and find the right color of blue pajamas for the rest of the costume, but we were unsuccessful. Finally we ended up making the pajamas at my moms house and his radio trick-or-treat basket. The costume was a success... if i do say so my self.
We had so much fun Halloween night eating home made pizzas and carmeled apples and candy and taking harrison to a few doors to show him off all with Josh's family.
By the way Pocoyo is a Spanish cartoon. Pocoyo is supposed to be a 3 year old little boy.

Harrison and Joseph exchanged some curious looks at each other dressed up in their costumes

Wonderful Fall Leaves

While we were up at Josh's home for Sunday dinner the whole yard was full of freshly fallen leaves. It didn't take Josh and Jodi much time at all to get Harrison bundled up in a huge pile of them. Usually when you sit him down he instantly takes of in a speed crawl or tries to climb up. This time he didnt know what to do. He looked around and had all these crunchy leaves around him and didnt know what to do. It was so fun to look at him in all of these leaves and admire two of gods wonders, the seasons (fall) and my baby Harrison.
Finally he tried to eat a couple! Wouldnt you too if you were contantly shoving everything you get your hands on into your mouth.

Alta Canyon Triathlon

Jake, dad, me, and Sabrina flexing after finishing the Alta Canyon Triathlon

Last Saturday Sabrina, Jake, my Dad, and I all participated in the Alta Canyon Triathlon in Sandy. We all had a lot of fun and I was impressed with how well everyone did.

We got everything loaded up and made it to the Alta Canyon Rec Center at about 7:00am. We stood in like to get checked in and get our numbers written on our arms and legs and then we got our transition areas set up.

Swim - 400 M
This is an interesting triathlon because the swim in done in a pool instead of a reservoir, lake, or river. Since it would be really crowded and probably really dangerous to start everyone at once in a pool, they have you line up according to how fast you think you are going to swim and start you one at a time. Because the pool was so crowded and people were only started 5 seconds apart, we all passed people who thought they were faster than they really were.

Bike - 9 Miles
A few weeks before the race we rode the course to get familiar with it. It is a two loop course with a big hill going up one side of the loop and a long downhill on the other side. It's a really fun bike course with very little traffic. Sabrina got a new (used) road bike just before the race that she used. She was really able to notice a difference between the mountain bike she had been riding on the training rides.

Run - 5K
The run was also a two loop course and also had a steep hill and long downhill. On both of my loops I saw my dad riding up the hill on his bike. I also saw Jake, who was also running, on my second loop. It was fun to have so many people racing and to see them on the course.

I finished in a time of 1:07:03 which was 4 and a half minutes faster than my time last year. I ended up with second place in my age group and only missed first place by about 18 seconds. My dad, who did awesome on his first triathlon, also got second place in his age group. The swim has always been our strength in my family. Jake was the 6th fastest swimmer overall and I was the 4th fastest. Sabrina, who also did her first full triathlon, also did really well and only came in a few minutes after Jake.

Me, my dad, and our medals

Harrison had a lot of fun with Jod, B, and my mom

Deer Creek 5K Open Water Swim

On Saturday the 16th I swam the Deer Creek 5K Open Water Swim at Deer Creek reservoir. It's a pretty new event that was just started last year by Jim Hubbard. There were several distances available to swim: 1 mile, 5K, 10K, and 10 mile. I'm not sure exactly how many people entered, but I counted at least 20 boats. There were at least three people that tried for the 10 miles.

We woke up at 5:30am the morning of the race after a short sleep (thanks to Harrison) and headed up Provo canyon. It was really cold when we got there and I am glad that we all thought to bring jackets. I was worried that the water was going to be really cold since I didn't bring a wetsuit. Luckily for me the water was much warmer than I thought, probably around 70 degrees.

I didn't realize what a fast bunch of swimmers I was going to be swimming with. At the start they all took off and I was just taking it easy. My thought was that I would catch some of them when they got tired...well none of them got tired and I ended up finishing second to last with a time of about 1:44.

I felt fine for most of the race, but my arms started to get tired on the way back to the start. It also felt like the water was moving against me on the final stretch.

Each swimmer had to provide a "paddler"; someone in a kayak for support, navigation, safety, and feeding. Sabrina was my paddler and did a good job of encouraging me and of giving me gels and Gatorade while I swam. I have never swam with a paddler before so it took me a while to figure out exactly what I needed Sabrina to do to help me navigate.

Jod and B came up to watch me swim and to take care of Harrison while Sabrina and I were in the water. It's nice to have family that comes to support me in all the things I enter.

When we got home, all three of us crashed for an hour or so. When I woke up I had this song in my head by Midlake:



Here is a map of my swim thanks to my Garmin Forerunner 305 and MotionBased.com. You can also click here to watch the satellite view of my swim on MotionBased.

Here are some things that I learned about open water swimming from this event:

Training:
I need to do a lot more. Seriously, I think the last time I swam before this race was the 1 mile swim at Spudman (and that was down river). I wasn't worried about finishing the distance and knew that I would be able to since Jake and I swam about 2.5 miles a month or so ago. I need to work on my speed.

Navigation:
You can't really tell so much from the picture above, but I was zig-zagging quite a bit and I think, besides a serious lack of training, this was what cost me a lot of extra time. We finally figured out where I needed Sabrina to be to help me navigate with about 1 mile to go.

Chaffing:
This is so stupid. I bought a bar of Body Glide the day before and then I didn't use it. As a result I got some pretty nasty chaffing on my neck, armpits, and some other places that I would rather not mention...

I had a lot of fun and am planning on entering again next year. I would like to try for the 10K next time, but we will see how much training I actually do before then...

P.S. Pictures to come...

So peaceful!

I just love to watch my sweet boy sleep. I think he's teething right now and has been a sad little boy this moring. After a bottle and some teeting tablets he calmed down enough to fall asleep in my arms... (sigh)... and then i laid him down in his crib.
Can I just say again how much I love being Harrison's mom.

Bear Lake

Josh had to go to Bear Lake yesterday for work and invited Harrison and I along. Boy was it a long day of driving but we had fun once we had a little time to hang out.

Josh has been there a few times and i've only been there once. This was Har's first time experiencing a few things.

The Mediterranean ocean like water and beaches. Bear Lake Raspberry Shakes

I have the 2 the cutest boys in the whole world!

Har and Josh love the water.

He loved feeling the sand on his feet

We spent quite a few hours in the car but we had a whole lot of fun being together!

Stephenie Mayer is a Genius

While Josh, Har and I were in Barnes and Noble on Tuesday buying Breaking Dawn Josh said to Har, "Ok now Har, it's just you and me now for a few days until mom gets finished reading her book." I though how rude, but then really... how true. Thrusday I finished BD and it was in some ways the best and in others not my favorite of the 4 book series.
I loved this one because of all the loose ends that were tied up and all the answers to questions were answered and Oh so much more that I would never have dreamed of like.... just kidding like i'd spoil it for anyone still reading!
But I really think that Twilight was my favorite because there was so much EDWARD! then Eclipse came in a close second because there was a whole lot of Edward. Then Breaking Dawn because it completed the saga. And then New Moon because there was too much Jacob and way not enough Edward.
This series definately tops my most favorite reads list!

Great New Band - - Fleet Foxes

This is one of my new favorite bands. They kind of sound like a mix of My Morning Jacket and The Beach Boys with some folk thrown in. They have many other songs that I like more than this one, but this one had the best video and sound quality. The band is definitely worth checking out.

Spudman 2008

This year I was finally able to get into the Burley Lion's Spudman triathlon after three years of trying to get in. After having done the race I can see why it sells out so fast every year, it's a really fun course! The best part for me was swimming down the Snake River.

Here's the a recap of my race:

Swim: 1.5K
This was my best leg of the race, and I felt really good. I rented a tri wetsuit just for fun, even though the water wasn't that cold. I had a good swim time of 15:25 and felt like I wasn't trying very hard. I wished that I would have put a little more effort into it. I was one of the first few out of the water in my wave. I even caught up to and passed a few people from the previous wave. It was a lot of fun to swim down stream.


Bike: 40K
I had a pretty good bike ride. The bike is not my strong sport (neither is the run), but I was happy with my time of 1:08:55 and averaged just under 22 mph. The course was relatively flat (it's in Burley after all).


Run: 10K
I was really surprised by my run. I was expecting to have a pretty slow time since I hadn't done a lot of running before the race. I averaged just under 10 minute miles, which for me is great. The local residents turned on their sprinklers and pointed them into the street for us to run through, it felt really nice after a few miles of running.


Overall I had a lot of fun and am already planning on entering the race again next year (it will be on my 30th birthday!). I had my GPS watch with the for the whole race and have uploaded the data to MotionBased so you can click here to see the satellite map of my race.

Sista, Sista!

Congrats Leslie & Jake Songer!
Yesterday was a gorgeous day for a wedding. My niece got married yesterday at the Salt Lake City Temple. She was so beautiful and I couldn't be more proud than if she were my own little sister.
My sister has the most beautiful yard and they had the most beautiful outdoors wedding reception last night. Harrison even had so much fun getting to play with his cousins at this wedding.

Leslie & Jake leaving the temple as husband and wife

The whole family wedding picture

my beautiful sister Teresa and Leslie the bride

Devin, Harrison, Allie and Susy

Happy Birthday to my Sweetie

Happy Birthday Josh!
Harrison and I took Josh out to Eggs in the City for breakfast for his birthday. Josh and to go to Idaho for the Burley Spud Man Triathlon on Saturday. We were not able to go because my niece got married this weekend so since i wouldnt see him much on his birthday we went to breakfast.
Josh just turned 29! Harrison and I love him very much.
While we were out to breakfast we sat Harrison in the booth with us and i noticed that the seats were covered in black leather. I had my camera with us and though it looked like a tincy wincy photo studio.
Here's some pictures of Josh's birthday with our little family.

Harrison is 6 months old!

Harrison is 6 months old and SO much fun. We went to the Dr.'s office today for his check up and the dreaded shots. He did such a great job. He cried while they gave him the shots and then was find after that.
Well it's official we have a very healthy tall and skinny boy.
He weighs 16 1/2 pounds and is 28 1/2 inches tall. He is only in the 30% for weight and has shot up to the 93% for height! My little boy is growing tall but not fat! All the food he's eating must be going to his adorable chubby cheeks.

Here are some pictures that we've taken in the last little while.

Being a mom is just the BEST!

Harrison getting his work out on

Harrison love his Grandma Great... and she like him too

Harrison having fun with his cousins

This was Harrison's favorite part of Lagoon. He had a blast with Allie and Kate

My two cool guys wearing their shades

Those are just the most adorable baby blue eyes i've ever seen

Josh had just made Harrison laugh... a little bit

Happy birthday Harrison. He eats so well in his new high chair.

He loves to eat, and eats so well... That makes me so happy