Hanging up the floaties but keeping the nose plug

There are a few things that must be said upfront so you can understand my situation.

1. This is my first time EVER taking swim lessons - thanks parents!

2. I would never drown because I do know the doggie paddle.

3. As hideous as the nose plug may look. . . . . it's totally worth it.

Typically swim lessons are taken as a young child however; growing up in Montana where pools don't exist only lakes do I did not have the opportunity to take lessons. After marrying Casey I realized that many summers would be spent in California and there would only be so many times I could decline getting in the pool with everyone before they would assume the unmentionable; she can't swim! So I swallowed my pride and asked Casey if he would teach me how to swim. I was thrilled when he accepted the offer. However, after a few lessons, poop in the pool, and nearly swallowing a glob of hair I started to question why I wanted to learn how to swim. Don't worry I haven't given up, but my enthusiasm for swimming hasn't increased either!

My swim instructor might say that I'm finicky and have issues when it comes to water but I would have to disagreed. I'm just not as fond as he is of the cold water, disgusting chlorine taste (it's inevitable you either swallow at least half the pool or it goes up your nose), and wet hair touching me (mine or other peoples). To overcome these so called issues that I have with water I have made a few adjustments:

1) I've contemplated wearing a wet suit to stay warm
2) I actually wear a pink nose plug
3) I now wear a swim cap to ensure my hair isn't floating in the pool

Even with all the adjustments I still don't necessarily love swimming. In the end I can only hope that I not only meet my goal but exceed it. The goal is to become a better swimmer so I can compete in a triathlon with Casey. And, exceeding my goal would be that I actually end up enjoying some part of swimming so that I continue doing it.

Warming up which doesn't involve getting my head wet!


I might be a little bias when I say that my instructor is the hottest one out there!


Learning the motion of a perfect stroke

The circus is in town!

Today Ryanne got her much awaited birthday gift from me. Yes her birthday is not till tomorrow but outside circumstances forced me to give it to her today. We made a stop at the Starbuck's my sister works at to visit her. As we were waiting for our drinks I gave her her birthday card. Inside was this card. . . . .

as well as pieces of paper cut up. The pieces of paper were upside down. To find out her gift she had to put the puzzle together and then flip it over to find out her gift.
Here is what took place. . . . . .

We will be sure to post pictures from the evening.

Younger Brothers are WAY cool!

So Patrick told me that I was missing out on some great snow fall early in the spring and that his days at working on the mountain were coming to a close. If I did not act, I was going to regret it. Well he did a great job convincing me to go because I took the day off and enjoyed the spring snow. You may be asking your self, "Where is Ryanne while you are boarding with your brother for FREE? Shouldn't she be able to partake of the FREE skiing?" Yes, yes, yes. This brings us to one reason why I suck as a husband. On this trip Ryanne was to come skiing with us but someone, me, forgot to set the alarm in the morning.The only way Ryanne was going to make it to the slpoes that day was to wake up way early, start working, get everything done in the morning, get people settled for the day and then slip away. Well, the alarm didn't go off and we woke up late. We hurried. She got on the computer and tried to get things going with work. I grabed workout clothes and made it to the gym. I got home and she said that there is no way for her to be able to go.
She started too late and would now not be able to go. Wow, I suck! Then as I'm getting ready I notice a pile of her skiing things that she got ready the night before because she was so exicted to go. Now I suck even more! She told me to have a great day and let her know how the day went. And sent me on my way. On the way up I called my buddy John and told him about my situation and we realized he could fill the vacancy. John was thankful that I did not set an alarm that day.
We ended up having an AWESOME day. It all started with the clicker that got us all on the mountain for free. PATRICK ROCKS! This clicker looked like a bomb detinater you would see on an episode of 24. We did not have to wait in any lines and were free to ski that whole mountain. The weather was a bit on the cold side with freezing wind hitting you in the face, depending on the way you went down. We got a lot of runs in before Patrick had to get back to work. He did not leave beofore getting hooked with a lunch from John. Thanks John for lunch, it hit the spot. John and I stayed for the rest of the day taking advantage of the backside of the mountain.
It was a great day.
Now to find a way for Trevor to get up here . . . .

Butt Breaker Triathlon

The first triathlon of the season came and I could not be any more happier! I heart triathlons (and I love John Emmett for introducing me to them).
The triathlon is actually called the Ice Breaker Triathlon but due to an accident last year where I crashed on my bike and tore up my butt it has now been renamed. I will start off by saying that as I took that frightful corner not once but twice I made sure to go slow so I would not ruin another racing suit. The other reason was so Ryanne would not consider herself a curse. She surprised me last year for this race by flying out from Seattle to cheer me on. The excitement was so much that I did not focus on the race as much as I just wanted to show her how good I portrayed myself to be. In doing so I did not even finish the race.
It is always a cold day but that just adds to the excitement. As the race started I had a small but powerful cheering squad, Ryanne, Chad and Blake. The swim was in an indoor pool so that was very nice. Once you stepped outside dripping wet the good feelings froze. But those feelings were over shadowed by my sister and her family cheering me on. They suprised me and their cheers were very welcomed and appreciated. Next on to the bike. This was no bueno. First of all my biking sucks and then to add cold everything makes it even worse. I started and felt good for the first 500 feet till I was passed. For the rest of the bike I just kept telling myself that I get to run next. Luckly I only had a handful of other racers pass me.
No one but myself knew of the joy and excitment that was running through my body as I got off my bike and put on my running shoes. I always look forward to this point. I got changed and was off. The run was a 5k. I felt great and finished 6th. My time was about :30 faster then 2 years ago. I had the fastest run of the day and that is one thing I try to accomplish each time. I can't for next years Butt Breaker or the rest of this season.

Going from my swim to my bike.

According to Ryanne this is my best side. Who can argue with that ?

Finishing the first of 2 loops. I had just come from the dreaded

Butt Breaker corner and survived!

Finishing the second loop and seeing the transtion area.

Success once again for not being taken out on the Butt Breaker corner.

I told you this is my favorite part. This is me about 5 feet from the finish line.

OD'ing on good food.

A few weeks ago Ryanne and I went up to Layton so Ryanne could spend some time with her Aunt Jennie scrap booking. Ryanne had been looking forward to this evening for a long time. She has not been able to scrapbook like she would like to. When the oportunity presented itself to spend over 4 hours of uninterrupted scraping time she jumped on it. I went up with her and spent the day with her grandparents. As the evening went on I got a call from Ryanne telling me she was not feeling that well and would be leaving the party early. She got back to her grandparents and we headed home. She had not eaten much that day and was hungry. We stopped at BK and got her a chicken sandwich. Well the picture shows what happened after we were on the road for a little bit. I thought it was pretty funny so I snaped this moment while driving, I went to great sacrifices to get this and live to tell about it.
*Don't get mad at me for this post, Ryanne approved it.

Who doesn't want to party?

Back in February our cousin Cami gave us all a call and reminded us it was our cousin Rachel's birthday. We rallied the troops and made the journey up to Salt Lake City. We converged on Olive Garden and the rest is history.
We had so much fun. The waiters were not that fun but we did not let that dampen our spirits. We even had fun with camera time but none of the pictures came out the way they were supposed to. Sorry. We are hoping that everyone in the picture is still together but if not we are sorry and hope you forgive us for posting this picture. Let's have more birthdays!

Jordan Temple Open House

My mom, sister and I had the opportunity to go to the Jordan Temple Open House while they were in town. It was neat to experience this with the two of them. We were impressed by the detail put into every single room and the breath-taking pictures that were hung throughout the temple. There was one pictures in particular that caught my eye so now I'm on a quest to find it then buy it. If you can I highly recommend attending a Temple Open House.

Brett Dennen Rocks!

I owe a big thank you to Pandora.com for introducing me to Brett Dennen. I can still remember that special day where Pandora put a new artist on my stream list and I instantly fell in love. I didn't know at the time who it was but I knew I had to hear more than just that one song. So when Casey came home I asked him to download Brett's CD and from that night we became huge fans.

Naturally we were estatic when we found out Brett was coming to the Salt Lake area and immediately bought our tickets. Casey's brother, Patrick, knew Brett's music as well and came with us. The night of the concert was the first time that I felt my enthusiasm for Brett fade.....so sad, I know! It all started when they made us wait outside for over a 1/2 hour in the cold weather. Once we got inside we had to wait almost an hour before the opening band came out. Let's talk about wanting to slit your wrists cause that's how the opening band made you feel. Then we had to wait another hour for Brett to come out. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that I threatened to leave because it just didn't seem worth it. However, I quickly repented once he started to sing. In the end I would have to add this to the list of best concerts I've been to. I highly recommend downloading a song or two of his because you won't be disappointed!Waiting outside the venue in the cold. We would have waited many hours to watch Brett.

Ryanne calling the venue asking them why they have not opened up.


Patrick thought he saw Brett. False alarm, he would not be out for another 3 hours.


The newest Brett Dennen fan club.

We pulled ourselves away for just a moment to capture a precious moment.

Sleep Over

Ryanne and I decided we wanted to be a cooler aunt and uncle. Ryanne came up with the idea of a sleepover with the nieces and nephew (Ryan we wish you guys lived closer so we could do the same with your kids). We finally had an open weekend and went for it. We showed up at about 5:00 on a Friday afternoon. The kids were ready to go. Reagan even went outside to play with some friends because it was taking too long for us to get there (she was ready to go once she got home from kindergarten in the early afternoon). We had not decided on an activity or dinner and left it up to the kids. We told them one got to choose dinner and the other the activity. Cooper said he knew how to pick good food so he called dibs. Between pizza and tacos it was a no brainer, PIZZA! Reagan had more options to choose from, playing at my school, a movie at the dollar theater or Nicklecade. It was a no brainer once again, NICKELCADE! The reason behind it . . . . . video game are the best! We had lots of fun. Cooper went through his the quickest and thought Reagan was being mean for not letting him use her remaining nickels. After our nickels ran out we cashed in our tickets and got prizes (the first picture). We got home and went to bed. I got up early to go swimming and when I got back Ryanne had the kids up, dressed and fed (she is going to make one killer wife). Our fun sleepover concluded with a trip to Cooper's soccer game. We are looking forward to Sleep over part two.
The funniest part of the sleepover was provided by Reagan. As we were getting our pajamas Ryanne grabbed the bag of Reagan's clothes that her mom put together for her. Reagan was going to put on a new pair of underwear. Ryanne told her she should wait till the morning and change her underwear. Reagan told her that she changes her underwear every two days. After asking Melissa about this and having her tell us she puts out a new pair of underwear every morning for her, we no longer worry about her.

The last slice of pizza.

Coopers longerest strand of winning tickets!


Taking a moment from the video games to show how much fun we were having.


Ryanne, step away from the game and let the kids have a turn.



We decided to bask in the glory of our winning tickets. I think Cooper sums up our inner emotions that we just could not express ourselves.

Younger Brothers ARE cool!

This past October Patrick moved up to Park City and got a job working at rental shop at the Park City Resort. His job was to get skiers and boarders set up for their day of skiing/boarding. I know he did not come all the way up here to put boots on people and then a few hours later have to take them off of them only to have the boots be hot a steamy. Doesn't sound fun to me. Then he told me of the perks that come with the job and I knew why he choose to come up to Utah. He has been letting me know since he got here that I should come up and take advantage of his perks. It's hard for me as a teacher to take a day off. The sub plans are not worth it (any teacher will agree with me). I finally made it up to Park City and we spent the day at Canyons Ski Resort. I kept asking myself why I didn't come up sooner. Patrick hooked us up right. First the passes were free! He took me on the route he usually takes before he has to go in for work. Next thing you know it's lunch time and we stop at a shack on the mountain and next thing you know we have two bacon cheese burgers with fries and drinks in front of us. Total cost - $0. SWEET! The best part of all was the catching up that took place. We have not spent a lot of time together over the last few years with him being in Costa Rica and then up and down the coast of California and me being in Utah. I could not have asked for anything else then to spend the whole day with Pat. Love you tons man.


Patrick and his infamous pinky in the nose pose. On the next lift up we tried to take another picture but the camera fell off the lift and into the snow. If it would have fallen 10 seconds later it would have landed on the ground and broken into pieces. We had to ski down and play a fun game called, "Find the camera buried in the snow under the ski lift." Patrick won the game.

Two photo shots throughout the day.

The last lift of the day. Patrick thought he should show me how a true snowboarder looks and saved his best for Doc's Run. He was ahead of me getting to the run. As I came up over the top Patrick was already on his way down. As I came over the top my eyes caught a big white cloud of snow. And who came sliding head first out of the cloud down the hill - Patrick. He obviously forgot or did not know the "One more after this rule." I hope you learned your lesson. I was just glad I was able to grab his cap and goggles that were left way behind.

A good ol' Cousin get together!

Sarah was in town and Corrine thought it would be a good idea to get together. It was a GREAT idea. It's so much fun when we get together. We laughed, caught up, laughed some more, found out who everyone was interested in and laughed some more. Next thing you know we started having "FUN WITH CAMERA" time. Here is what happened. . . . .

Most of us wish we could only be so lucky. . . .

A quick photo of the Robles family. . . . . .

Here's where we all put on our best face:

Lastly. . . . . Cami was explaining to us what happened when she got sick a few days earlier. Jordan was in charge of the top half and Cami covered the bottom half.

We had tons of fun and think we should do it again.

Issues with blogging

I'm so frustrated with my laptop right now because it won't let me upload photos to our blog page - argh! We're behind on blogging because we forgot our camera cord at my grandparents house two weeks ago. This past weekend we got it back but now my computer is being dumb and won't let us post pictures. No worries though because once I figure this out we'll have about 10 new posts. Keep checking back!