June 13, 2011

Dear Children,

We did it! Our first triathlon! It is a great one with which to begin as all the paths are mostly flat; nothing difficult. I was wishing that we had been signed up for the half mile swim instead the quarter but, once I got into the water, I was relieved to only be going a quarter mile! It is VERY different swimming in a lake with in a pack of people going along the same route.

A fun extra to our event this weekend was that Nate joined us. He was in Seattle this week for some Zappos meeting with Amazon. Instead of going back to Las Vegas, he bought a ticket to fly down here, brought a wet suit and gear, signed up for the event and joined us! Although, Nate didn’t bother with the quarter mile swim, he went for the half mile all without any training!

The only mistake we made was going to Mongolian Grill late the night before. You probably remember how you kind of feel sick the morning after going there; well, our morning came VERY early since we needed to drive across town and get our transition area all set up before the race. We decided that next time it would be best to go to Mongolian Grill AFTER the event!

We had good triathlon weather, not too cold and not too warm. It was overcast most of the time with a few sunny moments; the sun breaks felt good as I was waiting for my swim start. Nate start was well before Dad and I started since he was in the macho group of twenty somethings doing the half mile swim. Dad’s group left a little before my group. Since I was in the last start group, it was going to be obvious all event that I was on the slow side (not being able to blend in with later starters . . . rats!)

Dad and I had a great time. Dad says the triathlon was 10 times more fun than he thought it would be. We enjoyed “the ride” the entire event which was evidenced by our transition times. They keep track of how long it takes you in between events; where you change gear. While most people around our numbers were in and out of the transition area in 3 to 4 minutes, one of our times was 15 minutes! We stopped and chatted with Nate during one and of course, I had my potty stops. How can you swim in cold water and not have to go to the bathroom the minute you get out??? Dad had fun looking at our statistics on the website Saturday evening. He placed first and I placed second in our divisions which was in direct correlation to the number of people in our divisions!!! Hey, it was our first and we had fun . . .and finished!

As we walked away from the event, Nate, Dad and I all were planning next year’s event and wondering who would be willing to join us. Blue Lake Park is a beautiful place with lots of picnic facilities. It would be a fun place to gather the family. The grandchildren would LOVE digging in the sand and all the grassy areas to run. There are BBQs all around. Who wants to come?

With a fat permanent marker, they write your name on the back of one leg and your participant number on the back of the other. As I was scrubbing my age off of one leg and starting on my number, I got the idea that I could use it in my Primary Sharing Time the next day. I was talking about the joy of keeping our baptismal covenants, to remember Jesus, to keep His commandments and to live like Him by helping others. As I started to scrub that number, I was reminded of what it represented and the planning and hard work to work to complete the goal of finishing a triathlon. It was so exciting to reach that goal; I felt so happy. I realized that the great sense of happiness was pale in comparison to the great sense of true happiness we all feel when we know we are doing out best to keep our covenants daily (and the rewards are much greater!).

Katie and Grandma joined us this weekend for some fun events with Nate. Katie and Nate went to a Timbers soccer game while Dad and I went to Megan Jensen’s reception. It is always great to see and talk with old church friends that we seem to never run into. Katie arranged for the day off on Sunday so Nate could go with her to the singles ward. She also stayed here Saturday night and got up to make German pancakes which Nate appreciated. We had a steak BBQ for Nate after church and played a few games before having to rush him to the airport. We were all sorry to see Nate go; he adds so much fun to everything.

Meeja turns seven this Thursday! Send her some well wishes. Everyone here in Oregon finishes school this week. Last week was Rebekah’s last day on school (on Ainsley’s birthday). Alina is getting an award as her school assembly this week. Adam had a fun campout at this weekend for Father’s and Sons. He went with a ward friend since Dad couldn’t take him this year. Klaire had a talk in Primary and she needed help so Adam went up and helped her through the talk. He is such a kind brother.

This is birthday week with Blake and Aunt Denise having birthdays also. Blake and Adrianne found a WorldMark room to rent for the weekend to have a little vacation for his birthday. They both were able to take off an extra day for a long weekend. I am anxious to hear how the property is at Bear Lake.

Well, have a great week ahead. I love you