Triathlon! Yeah Baby!

Billy and I signed up to do the Titanium Man Triathlon here in Kennewick. It was really fun to train for, but it kind of took over my life. I went to bed thinking about the transition from swim to bike and dreamt about biking hard and woke up thinking about the transition from bike to run. I love the workouts, but hate doing it over and over in my head.

Billy did amazing!!! He has improved so much in the swim and did great in the bike and rocked it on the run! I'm glad we had so many friends doing it with us. It was great to encourage each other all along the way. Great job Annette, Jacob, Sonja, Cory, Terry, Jared, and Eric!!!

I liked the swim, loved the bike, and thought the run was WAY too long! I just wanted to be done at mile 2 and we had to go 6.2 miles. Next time I think I want to try a Sprint Triathlon instead of the Olympic Distance. I am just not a runner. :)

Austin and Carson ran the last little bit with me. They were so sweet to come out and support us. Thanks Penny for watching them, I loved having them there!! Thanks Lisa for watching Jax and supporting us!! It is so great to have such good friends!
Thanks Pam for the pics and yells and screams!Thanks Wendy for cheering everyone on...we need to hang out more!

Overall a fun time, and even better time training for it! Thanks again Annette and Sun!

HaPpY bIRtHdAy JAX!!!! I LOve YoU!!!

My baby is 1! I can't believe it! Really.....a whole year has passed since I birthed him! I always think I don't want him to grow up, but then he gets to a new stage and just seems cuter. How is this possible?!?!?

Jackson has so many nicknames right now. I love that his brothers love him endlessly and are always coming up with new names. At first Austin called him "fragile football" and Carson called him "Jackson Wackson". Now it is either "Jack Jack", "Jax", or "Bubba". (I always wondered why some kids have the nickname Bubba. Now I understand it is a very loving way of saying "Brother".)

Jax now weighs 22 lbs., but feels like 40 after having him on my hip all day. He is not liking the sipper cup and misses his bottle, so yes I let him have it now and then.

* Sidenote - Do you know of a sipper that does not leak or is easy to switch to after the bottle??????? Anyone??

Well, Carson just got home from his first date (he went to the Rodeo with Mia...more to come, he looked adorable in his cowboy hat). I am so wore out from swimming a mile, biking 22, and running 2 miles today. Only 1 more week until the Triathlon!!!

Night Night! :) (Can you tell I'm tired?? HAHAHA)

My Sweet little Austin turned 8 and didn't really show much interest in the "cake and presents" part of it. He was just sooooooooo excited to be baptized!!!
We knew we would be camping on his birthday, so we asked him if he wanted to be baptized in a river. He was VERY excited until the night before when Billy, Billy's Dad and Austin went and picked out a spot. His grandpa told him it was the coldest spot it the whole river. WHY!?!? I don't know?!?!
From that time on he kept saying "the coldest spot in the river".

The next morning, I got the boys dressed in their church clothes, which is NOT what Carson thought he should be wearing on a camping trip. :)

My parents drove up to Lava Hot Springs to be there for the baptism. After breakfast, we all headed down to the Portneuf River. Billy's Mom did a quick talk on Baptism. Then Billy got in the water first and REALLY had to hold back a gasp at how cold the water was. Austin got in next and did his "this is SO cold, it takes your breath away gasp". Billy was amazing and did a perfect baptism in record time. I wasn't prepared for the overwhelming feeling of the spirit. I thought that with everyone in camping clothes and dirty, it wouldn't be as spiritual. But, it was by far the best baptism I have ever been to! Tears came to my eyes and feeling of gratitude and peace came over me. I am so blessed to have a husband that is worthy to hold the priesthood and naturally uses it to bless our family. I have the best boys that try so hard to do what is right. I loved that Austin was able to be baptized out in nature. What an amazing earth we have to enjoy! While Austin changed into his church clothes, my parents gave a talk on Confirmation, and then Billy confirmed Austin a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Austin, I am so proud of you! I love you soooooooooo much. You are so smart and active. I feel so lucky to be your mom! I love you Pumpkin!


I wish you could see his face here. So funny!

Summer Time Fun!

We have had a lot of fun this summer so far. I will be so sad when it starts getting cold. I LOVE SUMMER!! We went to Lava Hot Springs for the Gilbert Reunion (Billy's Moms side) the middle of June. And then I flew out of SLC with my 3 adorable boys. We went to North Carolina and stayed at my sister Dani's lake house. I didn't think my boys could possibly love the lake house anymore than they did (they talk about it ALL year long) but my amazing brother-in-law Darrell built a waterslide from the house to the lake! The boys LOVED it! My sister Camine was also there, and it was so great to see her before she left for another river trip for a month.
I was able to do one of my favorite things in life ~ ski on glassssssss! The water there is so warm and sometimes when you stretch out, you can see your reflection in the lake. And yes, in that reflection my smile can not possibly get any bigger! :)

Then I spent some time with my amazing sister Mikkel in SLC. I'm so lucky to have such a great family!

Then it was off to Bear Lake for the Neff Reunion. Billy bought a Jeep in SLC and the boys loved driving it on the sandy beach!

It was wierd to be home after being gone for more than a month! Next stop is Tremonton for my brother Jake's Homecoming. I am so excited to see him!! The other night while eating dinner with the missionaries in our ward, I thought there is no possible way my brother can look as old as these guys!?!?!?

After that we are heading to Flaming Gorge for Billy's Mission Reunion......

I made a photo book for my sister Dani. It is kind of hard to see, so I will try to post a few more pics. I hope you all are having an amazing summer!!!

BEAR LAKE



LAVA HOT SPRINGS (with billy's nephews)


LAKE HOUSE
(my friend from BYU-Hawaii lives in NC now, and came out to play with us and brought her 3 cut kids. Thanks Candis!)

Danis Book 2009

Click here to view this photo book larger

Things I LOVE about my HOT husband!

- loves me back
- loves his kids
- adventurous
- athletic
- has a hunger for learning
- works hard for us
- gives GREAT lovin'
- HOT
- my best friend
- ambitious
- strong
- plays hard with the boys
- loves the outdoors
- hard worker
- helpful to others
- knows the mornings I REALLY need him to get up with Jax
- SMOKING HOT
- worthy to hold the priesthood
- cleans up after himself
- amazing
- always complimenting everyone
- great kisser
- HOT
- loves life
- great dad
- love of my life
- soul mate
- loves nature
- looks HOT in a suit
- smart
- makes me laugh hard
- gives me a kiss and hugs me so hard that he pops my back before he goes to work
- Oh, and did I mention that he is HOT?!?!?

Here are a few pics from his latest trip to Peru. I'm so glad I get to spend the whole weekend with him!! We are going to have so much fun camping with the family!
I hope you have the best Father's Day ever!! I love you Babe!

Field Day!

Austin was so excited for field day! That morning he was out front waiting for his ride to school. I looked out the window and he was dancing and singing. I took a video of part of it (I can't get it to download right now). I am so glad I have such a happy kid that gets excited for activities at school! I love you Austie!!!

I had a great time helping out at field day and then having lunch with Austin's class. Everyone LOVED having baby Jax there. Especially Austin - what a proud big brother!

So, Austin had his field trip today and after they ate lunch they played at the "Playgoung of Dreams". Well I got a call from school to go pick him up from the field trip...He was swinging on the round tire swing really fast and threw up on himself and 2 other kids. I felt so bad for him, but he didn't seem to care. He said he was dry and wanted to play again, but I'm a mean mom and made him come home and take a bath.

I can't believe he is going to be in 3rd grade next year! WOW! He talks constantly about his baptism in a few weeks. He is so excited and so smart about baptism. I am very impressed!