My Daddy - My Baby's Daddy - My Baby's Daddy's Daddy

I love my dad - and I knew from the time I was a teenager that I wanted to marry someone with his amazing qualities. My dad is a master of children. I had a chance yesterday to think back to my childhood and all of the fun memories: funny bedtime stories, weird bedtime drinks (drinks of water brought to us in various containers from the kitchen), braiding hair abilities, goofy sense of humor, favorite phrases to be repeated over and over again with each child, camping and fishing, a bat hanging by the door with a poem for my dates to read out loud while my dad stood close to his face and tapped the bat on his chest...so many fun and funny memories! And it continues today; my dad can always make me laugh! He holds a VERY special place in my heart and I cherish our relationship. He is a hoot and loves his kids so much. To me he will always be "Daddy" and I will always be his favorite oldest daughter. :)

Now, most of you know how quickly Tyler and I met, fell in love and married. From first contact to marriage was less than 3 months. I felt like I knew him really well - and to some extent I did - but there was no way for me to know then exactly how he would be as a father. I knew that he wanted kids and I saw that he was good with kids, but I didn't know how he would be in the day-to-day caring of a child. I just assumed that he would exceed my expectations, as he has in everything else. After about 7 months of marriage we decided it was time to bring a babe into our lives. The pregnancy was so exciting for both of us! And then came the day when Max came into the world and changed us forever. I remember the first time that Tyler held Max. That picture is premanently in my mind and heart. He was hooked, and so was Max. They have been such great friends. Ty is so involved in everything! He is so excited to come home and see our little dude every day. He loves the nights when I have Young Womens so that he and Max can spend time together, just the two of them. He loves to teach Max new things and is so in awe of his growth and learning. I LOVE to watch Tyler as a father. I've thought so many times that Heavenly Father knew exactly what I was looking for and gave me the very best husband and father. I was going on faith and a sure feeling that it was right to marry Ty. I have not been at all disappointed. I have been SO blessed! I love you, Tyler Michael. I constantly feel so lucky to be your wife. And Max is one lucky little dude!

That brings me to the other father whom we honored yesterday, my father-in-law. It is because of the Mick's example that I have such a fabulous father for my kids. I love the relationship that Ty and his brothers have with their dad. Mickey is a very involved, loving, fun, funny father. I hope that he realizes as he watches his sons that it is because of him that they are the men and fathers they are today. And each one of them (6 total; 3 dads and 1 dad-to-be) are such great men, fathers and future fathers. I feel lucky to know, and be eternally tied to, such a great, great man!

I love each of these men in my life so much. Happy, Happy Father's Day!

The Sass is Back!

Two and a half years ago I married a wonderful man and moved away from the one woman that I completely trusted with my hair - my sister-in-law, Jennifer Mann. I'd been a highlighted redhead for a long time, but decided to go back to brown so that I could maintain the color while we lived cross-country. I tried a haircut at a salon in New York and was sorely disappointed. So I would wait until I went to Vegas for a visit.

Then we moved to Washington. I found another Jennifer who became one of my good friends and who happens to cut hair and happens to have a salon in her home, which happens to be just 4 houses up from mine! I tried her out with a cut and was really happy with the results...

(good thing since my wonderful sister-in-law who already had two little ones had twins last month and there is NO way that I am asking her to do my hair on this or any subsequent visits, as she already has enough to do with her time!)

Recently I have felt a little sass absent from my life...I decided it was time to add some color! Yesterday that's just what we did. Oh, and a really great cut that I also love!

*Mind you, this is "second day" hair, so it looked even better yesterday and will again tomorrow. :) I'm definitely feeling the sass comin' back!*

A few bonus pictures of a baby shower I had for a friend in the ward last night - lots of fun and food! The pictures just don't do justice to the good times we had... I love my friends!

Stephanie, Tristalene, Charla (the woman of the hour) and Me!

The one on the right (below) is Max's adopted grandma, Ilona Rought. We love this lady! And on the left is my good friend, Tristalene, and her babe, Cooper.

Uncle Mak Goes to Washington

It was so fun to have you here, Mak! Thanks for everything!!!

Mak was a champ at distracting Max into looking at just the right angle while I cut his hair.

(we thought that this post-haircut, hairy back picture was a hoot - let's hope it's not a sign of things to come, for Max's sake!)

He even braved a night in a tiny hotel room with us the night before the triathlon!

Finally once we had recuperated from the busy weekend we were able to do something fun. We drove up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic Mountains and got to see some amazing sights of this beautiful part of the country! It was breathtaking - both because it was super windy and cold and because it was gorgeous!

I was privileged to find out that there is an entire mountain named after me

And here it is...(the one partially covered by snow) enough majesty and beauty to match the woman for whom it was named :)

I know, it totally looks like they could slide down and off of the edge. I was a little freaked out myself!

Ty's artistic shot...

One tired babe - a quiet ride home!

We had such a fun time with Mak! I don't know if it was the world's funnest trip for him, but we are so grateful that he came. Max loved him. It's nice that we could say when he left, "See you in a few weeks!" And only 1 week from today!

These next two were actually taken the day after Mak left - this is Max's first time licking a beater. The dude loved it!

We're doing it again!

GO DEEP ~ GO LONG
All events take place in the recreational paradise of Lake Chelan...offering a memorable race experience for first timers to competitive athletes.

July 21st and 22nd, 2007

Another triathlon! Let the training continue!

The Triumphant Triathletes!

*Note: the captions for each picture are below the picture*

WE DID IT!!!

Looking a little ragged from the race - but triumphant, happy and oh, so proud of ourselves - we take a moment to shoot a picture with our most adoring (and adorable) fan!

Hangin' in the hotel the night before the big event!

*We got the Lake Sammamish State Park at about 6:20 a.m. We set up our stuff and got ready for the swim. No picture of the swim portion, however. Our camera man was also our babysitter and the little dude is way more important than a picture or two. So Uncle Mak was tending to Max and heading to the park from the hotel when we hit the water. When Tyler and I first got there and were getting ready, we looked around to find that we were among the 10% of people (of like 875 participants) who were not wearing wet suits. We felt a little sheepish and novice. The web site had recommended wet suits, but we'd opted out of making yet another purchase to gear up for the event. Turns out the water was wonderful and those with wet suits were the silly ones after all! We did pretty well...this is the event I probably held Ty back on the most. He could have gone MUCH faster, being a much better swimmer, but he stuck with me. It was a 1/4 mile swim*

An action shot!

After our 15 mile bike ride, we're entering the TA (Transition Area) to throw off our helmets, ditch our bikes and put on our running shoes to hit the trail for the 3 mile run.

The Finish Line!

We were so fast that Mak barely had time to get the camera out! :) You know, I had told Ty the whole time that he wasn't allowed to sprint past me at the end of the race. Well, we always kick it up at the end of our runs and that's just what I was doing. I thought he would be right there with me. Turns out I sprinted ahead of him (and some unsuspecting runner who didn't see this woman of speed coming!) and finished ahead. Pretty lame of me, but I didn't mean to. Besides, we all know that Tyler could have blown me out of the water in each event, but he stuck by his woman and made it possible for me to complete this daunting task! I love you so much, Ty. Thank you!

Some post-race pictures - Max loved watching the kid's triathlon. Only a few more years, bud!

You'd think from looking at these pictures that Max was the one who just ran a triathlon. :)

A fabulous experience! I would recommend this to everyone. It's a sport for anyone to compete in. It does take some training, but there were people of all shapes and fitness levels there. It is such a great feeling to accomplish something like this! We are definitely doing more! (We'll be taking applications and resumes for a camera person/babysitter/cheerleader for the next event! :) ) Thanks to Mak who was so supportive and cheered so loud and especially took such great care of Max so that we could focus on the race. We love you and are so glad you were here!

We'll know in a few days what our time was - we're thinking around 1 hour 45 minutes which would be great for us! We'll let you know the results when we do.