Polish

For some reason I waited three years to paint Avery's toe/fingernails.

She is obsessed with looking at her "colors".

After Dinner

St. George Tri 2011

The night before: spaghetti dinner at the park.

You should hear these kids giggle when Jimi does the underdog.

Riley is graduating from High School as I type this. I hope Avery grows up to be just like her. She is such a good girl.

tennis ball launch/catch

This is my friend who talked me into doing the Olympic distance this year. Physically it wasn't too bad, but mentally, I feel like it sucked the fun out of it. The thing I love about tris is competing with all my family members. Unless everyone decides to do the Olympic in the future, I am sticking with the sprint distance from now on.

The swim was fun. On my second loop around the buoys, Jimi's group was in the water, so I was looking to pass him. I saw his profile, and we swam together for a few seconds before I left him in my wake.

Don't worry, he left me in the dust on the bike ride. Far, far in the dust. He gave me a nice little tap on the toosh as he rode by. I really enjoyed the bike ride because it was on a little farm road with giant sprinklers watering fields. It ran up to the foot of a butte named "Molly's Nipple". It really does look like Molly's nipple.

The run is where I started feeling like I was the last person on the planet still running the race. It was pretty tough especially because I felt like I was making everyone wait for me.

My goal was to finish before 3:30, and I finished in 3:22. Which is great except I got like 50th out of 70ish people.  I'm slow even though I reached my goal. I cannot believe how fast some of the girls were! Maybe I should raise my goal standards a little.

When my family was walking toward the finish line to meet me, Jimi asked Avery:

"do you want to get in the stroller?"

"no"

"do you want to walk?"

"no. I want to run like mommy and daddy."

Then she started swinging her arms like a runner. I can't wait to do this kind of stuff with my kids when they're older.

One last thing...I stubbed my toe a while ago, and on the drive home from the tri the nail finally came off, and I threw it out the window. (hmmm that story seemed cooler in my head.)

Here are our times:

Jimi

Kelli

Birthday Quilt

Here is the completed quilt, fresh out of the dryer.

I love the puckered look. It makes the quilting more visible. We did 5 inch squares, and quilted around each of the little squares.

My favorite is how much Avery loves to look at the little characters. She has named a few as family members. For example:

I started it by telling her the doggy is Piper, and the little girl is Avery.

Then she pointed to the girl above that square and said, "here's mommy!"

And then we decided Daddy is the cowboy shooting the gun to the left, and Evan is riding the horse.

I was worried the quilt might look too "valentiney", so Nettie suggested I do a blue binding. I pretty much do whatever Nettie says when it comes to quilting. I love it!

this is Grandma...

I used the new Denyse Schmidt fabric at Joanne's for the back and the binding.

this is Grandpa...

(she burned her leg on the iron)

Now she just needs a new bed for her birthday to put it on.

Also after her birthday she no longer gets a pasi. I am nervous for that.

Baby Girl Kelvington!

Who is ready to see Jamie's baby?

here are her toes...

here is her hair...

here is her mommy...

and here is her sweet little furry face.

She's only two days old!

So little and sweet.

I like being on the "Aunt" end of a newborn. It's not as hard as the mommy end.

When she got done eating she just curled up on Jamie's lap like she was back in her belly again.

Grandma 

Jamie is just beginning the fun stage of engorgement, so when we got to her house she looked at me and said, "oh, your boobs look so small..." (in a jealous, wistful way). She's funny.

(ps jamie gave me permission to post pictures of her new baby, but i will let her post stats and info. however, here is a stat: she is the cutest baby ever!)

Willow Beach

Let's go!

The Colorado River.

Here is a true story:

We watched a bald eagle glide along the river, scoop down, and catch a fish. Then it flew away with its dinner looking a little bogged down by the weight.

Yes, the desert is alive and well. So far this season on the bike trail I have seen two giant red snakes and Jimi has seen two tortoises.

The little boy who doesn't walk,

and the Golden Retriever who doesn't swim.

But boy and dog love to get wet.

tired

naked

babies

My Little Weeds

Today was Evan's 15mo well check. For those of you claiming him "tall", you're right. He's in the 93% for height and 60% for weight.

I came home and told Jimi the stats and he said, "oooh, a cyclist."

One of  my sweetie pie little sunbeams brought me this bouquet. I love sunbeams.

Anyway, before Avery could have a treat she had to eat her dinner.

 She had thirds and fourths of soup. It's rare to see her eating anything I make for dinner. A little motivation goes a long way.