Spring Sprint Triathlon

Mark and Tren were in the "Spring Sprint Triathlon" this weekend. For the kids division, Tren had to swim 200 yards, bike 5 miles, and run 1 mile. Mark had to swim 750 yards, bike 12.5 miles, and run 3 miles. They swam at the YMCA on Friday night and did the bike and run at Camels Back Park on Saturday morning. This is Mark's 4th year doing this race, and Tren's 3rd year. Tren placed 4th in his age group and Mark took second place in his! Way to go boys!!! This is such a fun race, and they love doing it. Tren looks forward to the Spring Sprint every year. I think it is so cool that he does triathlons. He started at 7 yrs. old. It will give him confidence and a great start, if he wants to do longer races. It is great that Mark has been such a good role model for the kids and getting them started in fitness and running.

They swam at the Downtown YMCA. Here they are waiting for Mark's turn to swim.

Tren at the pool. I can't believe that he doesn't even get nervous for this race. He just goes out and does his thing!

Everyone posing for a picture. Cooper and Bailey loved wearing Tren's orange swim cap! Ryann was at her cousin's house having a sleep-over so she missed the fun!

Cooper and Bailey are proud of their big Bubba! They were cheering so loud for Tren!

Mommy and Tren!

Movie Star In the Making! Bailey is a little Poser!

No, this is not drool on Cooper's shirt. He found the drinking fountain and decided to use it to his best abilities. (Everyone else was swimming)!!!

Here's Tren doing his laps. His time was 5:04. He had to swim eight lengths of the pool. He didn't stop to rest at all.

Go Tren!!!

Cooper and Bailey sat at the end of the Pool and were chanting "GO DADDY, GO DADDY"!! Every time Mark got to them, he would splash them as he made his turn. They thought this was the best thing in the world. They would scream and giggle. They got soaked too!!!

Mark's time was 15:22 for 30 lengths of the Pool.

Tren getting ready for his name to be called for the bike.

On the road!

This is the transition area. Here Tren is finishing the bike and getting ready to run.

Off he goes! He ran the mile in 7:30. Way to go Trenner!!!

Happy to be done!

Soccer and Baseball

Today was a fun cold Saturday full of soccer and Baseball games. It started at 10:00 am at the Boise Capitals soccer field. It was 35 degrees and very windy. We were there an hour before the game to get Ryann's team pictures taken. (which didn't happen) Anyway ,the kids and I were freezing and huddled up in blankets. Ryann is on the "LadyBugs" team coached by her Aunt Jenn. She plays with her cousin Lexy. Ryann and Lexy are great friends and always want to do everything together! Ryann has been struggling with soccer because she hasn't got a goal yet. She plays great and hustles, just hasn't scored yet. I told her that if she scored a goal, I would take her shopping and buy her a new outfit. Her eyes lit up and she was very excited. This is definately a girly girl who loves her clothes! So, towards the end of the game Ryann shoots ....and SCORES!!! She said that when the ball went in the goal "I started to feel really good inside". She later told me "Mama, we're going SHOPPING"! I just love my littl Ry-Fry!! She is such a sweet girl!!!! This was a great day for her and I hope she realizes how good she is at soccer and continues to want to play.

Cooper and Bailey played later in the day. It was a lot warmer. Thank goodness!! Their team is called the "Panthers" Neither of them knew what a panther was, so we had to go home and Google it to show them what their team was named after! Bailey and Cooper are so fun to watch play soccer. This is their first time ever playing on a team. They hustle and do great. Bailey is not very physical usually, so I didn't know how she would do. She shocked all of us by scoring 6 goals today!! She gets right in there and steals the ball and won't stop until she scores. It's fun to see this side of her. She says "There's No crying in soccer"! She fell down a few times and got right back up with out crying! What a sweet little girl! I Love to watch her succeed and grow. Cooper hustles equally as well. We call his fast little feet (Happy Feet). He takes little fast steps even when he's running! He scored the first goal of the game today and 4 in all!! Cooper is very coordinated with his feet. He can change direction and move the ball where he wants it to go (most of the time). He always has a huge smile on his face when he's playing! I love my little Coop-Doop! It was a long day, but so fun seeing my kids having fun!
After the twins, soccer game we went straight to Tren's baseball game. Tren and Mark were in a triathalon earlier in the day.(I'll post about that later). Tren's team is called the Road Runners and Mark helps coach it. Today was their first game. This is the first season that the kids are actually pitching. Last year it was a pitching machine. Tren got 1 hit, 2 walks, and struck out once. On his hit, he hit a hard linte drive to center field. His coach told him to keep going, and it looked like he was going to get a home-run. The player on the other team threw a great ball right to home plate. Tren slid, but was still out. He was pretty excited about how far he hit the ball . He played first base and did great! His team won 16-4! Way to go Tren! Did I mention it was a long day? It WAS a long day, but I wouldn't trade these memories for anything. My kids are my love and my life and it is so fun experiencing all this with them!!

Spring Break with April and....Snakes!!?!

Me and my BFF April after Mark's race. We had a great time visiting with the Jardine's. The kids all missed each other so much, so it was great for them to get to spend time together. Not to mention that I got to spend time with April just after her birthday! We had a blast catching up, shopping and eating...Thanks guys for all your hospitality. We love you and treasure your friendship!!OK, so the Jardine's have three snakes...Lilly, Daisey, and Petunia. They are wild ball pythons. I am terrified of snakes, so imagine my delight... My sweet little Ryann absolutely LOVED them. She was always wanting to hold them, play with them, let them crawl on her. Who is this child???!! In this picture, Ryann has Lilly, And Jessica has Daisey.

Lilly is Ava's snake. She is the littlest snake and she doesn't move around as much as the other ones.

Jaden put on a rock concert while we were there. He is getting so good at the guitar. He played Twist and Shout, and Sweet Home Alabama. He totally has the rocker image with the electric guitar and the snake around his neck!

I think my face says it all here! I hate snakes. I thought I was getting Lilly(who I held before and had no problems with). But this was Daisey. She was slithering up my arm and I about lost it!

On day two, Tren couldn't be outdone by his little sister. He finally held a snake. He was pretty proud of himself. I think he takes after me in his anti-snakeness attitude!

Bailey finally touched Lilly. This was as close to her as she got. Cooper wanted nothing to do with the snakes and went nowhere near them! (smart boy).

Ryann loves these snakes and wants one of her own... RIGHT! It actually was pretty cool to be so close to these snakes. I couldn't believe how mellow and docile they were. We got to see, I think it was Petunia, shed her skin. This was so cool. She just wiggled right out of it. It made a crackling noise as she moved. The skin came out in a long tube. Wierd, cool, gross, amazing!

Ryann the snake whisperer!

Ultra Marathon March 28th 2009

The race was called the Buffalo run. There were a few giant buffalo like these around the island...and a lot of real ones too!

We went to Utah this weekend so Mark could run in his first Ultra Marathon. We stayed with the Jardine's and had a blast visiting, shopping, letting the kids play, and most importantly, cheering Mark on at the race! The race was held on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. It was a trail race that ended up being 32 miles long (it was supposed to be 31). Mark finished in 7hrs, 35 min. It was so fun cheering for him. The kids loved it, and Tren even ran across the finish line with him. I was so proud of Mark for accomplishing this goal of his. He has trained hard for this race, and says he wants to do more! Way to go Markie! We love and are proud of you!!!
This was our first glimpse of him behind the fence line. Just before Mark came in, Life Flight was there picking up another runner who got dehydrated. Good thing Mark missed all the dust, it was nasty.

Here he is coming down the home stretch! The cow-bells were ringing and everyone was cheering him on. Tren was there for moral support, and finished with Mark.

The body was hurting right about now, but it was almost over!

"Wow, I just ran a freakin Ultra marathon"!

Everyone congratulating Mark after the race.

All the gang posing for a picture after the race. Bruce, April, Jaden, Jessica, Ava, Tren, Ryann, Bailey, and Cooper(who is hiding behind me)! Mark loved that everyone was there cheering for him. We have great friends!!!

Basic 5 Fun Run

Every year for the last 3 years our family has done the Basic 5 Fun Run. We do this with the Woodland's, (some good friends who used to be in our ward). All the kids ran the race this year. It was Bailey and Cooper's 1st year to offically run the race. Tren took 2nd place overall and 1st in his age group(9-10). He beat a 15 year old boy, and we were all shocked at how fast he ran. Ryann ran with Cooper. He was running with his friend Caleb, but Caleb didn't feel good and was walking. Ryann didn't want him to get lost so she ran with him! What a sweet sister! Bailey ran with Mark. She ran all but 50 yards of the whole mile! What a little trooper. I was so proud of all the kids. I hope they learn to love running and exercise. This was a fun, fun day!
Tren got a blue ribbon for finishing 1st in the 9-10 age group.

There was a balloon clown at the race making swords for all the kids.

At the start of the race it went Tren, Tyler, Caleb, and Cooper. The boy next to Cooper is the one who won the race.

Ryann and Cooper finished together. Ryann let Cooper go across the finish line before her, so he "would feel good, and maybe get a ribbon". Ryann is such a sweet sister!!!

I wasn't expecting Tren so soon, so we only got a picture of him from behind. His time for the mile was 7:04. I am pretty sure, I couldn't run a mile that fast. Way to go Tren!

Here comes Bailey! She ran so hard. I was super proud of her. She beat the kid in front of her across the finish line.

Ready...Set...Go!!!

All the gang after the race. Everyone was cold and tired.

Bailey and Mark trying to get a good position at the starting line. Tren beat the kid in the Green hat (#390).

The Woodland's and the Halladay's. Bailey, Cooper, Caleb, Ryann, Tren, Tyler, and Ethan

3rd grade music program

Tren just had his 3rd grade music program. Their class dressed up for the 50's. They did a cute dance and sang some cute songs. Miss Burr, the music teacher, always does a great job with the kids. Tren was really looking forward to this performance.