Firecracker Triathlon

About two weeks ago David asked a handful of us if we'd be interested in doing a sprint triathlon on the 4th of July. I thought my excuse of 'I swim like a lead weight' would suffice, but he kept twisting my arm until I consented. I'm glad I did. I borrowed a bike from Bill, Melis's swim goggles, and had to get some biker shorts. I knew that I'd be towards the end of the pack in the swim (I was), but I was hoping to make up time on the bike (I was). I had passed about 25 people on the bike before mile 7, when my smooth-riding bike got bumpy real fast. A blown back tire had me walking until a guy named Lance (I doubt his last name was Armstrong) lent me a tube & a tire changing kit. It took me a while to figure it out, but 19 minutes after I went flat I was racing again. Before the race started, I had hoped to finish before 1:30 in my first tri, but I still came in at 1:33. . .so I'll take it! Thanks to Abee (& Melis) for making a sweet sign to root me on. It helped!

I'm sure there are some spiritual parallels to be found the race. Trials, tribulations, being helped out when you can't help yourself, continuing on even though dissappointments may come, the blessings of supportive friends & family, etc. Granted, this is a small-scale race that doesn't mean anything. But participating in it sure was rewarding, much like this journey we call life.

Camp Muir. . .almost

As much as I'm missing Melis & Abee Joy (visiting her folks in UT this week), I'll be honest - I was pretty stoked about this hike. Darrel, Mike & I left after our softball game (we won 14-0) and camped at Cougar Rock campground, near the entrance to Mt Rainier NP. Mike treated us to dough boy's & a killer breakfast. On Saturday morning we were joined by Kristin, Steve, and Jeremy for the assault on the mountain. We were headed roughly for the horizon behind the two tall trees on the right.

We started at 5,400' elevation, on a mission to get to Camp Muir, which is at 10,100'. Attempting a 4,700' climb in June takes a bit of luck, as the weather at that elevation is always a wild card. For a couple of hours, it was beautiful - about half sun & half clouds. But the clouds kept building, and soon we started hearing far-off thunder. Around 8,300' the clouds moved in pretty thick. Below is a group trying for the summit. Is that a ghost?! Oh. . .just you, Kristin.

As we sat & grabbed a bite for lunch, we started getting pelted by hail, which sent us scrambling for our jackets. Shortly after that, the lightning got a little too close for comfort, and chased us down. I think we could have endured the pounding of the hail, but none of us wanted to have to explain to someone else's family why we didn't turn back when the lightning started.

It hailed on us for ~45 minutes non-stop, with plenty of booming thunder - a reminder to how quickly conditions up at elevation can change. We were all pretty soggy before long, but had a great time on the way down. Steve here demonstrates perfect glisading technique.

Darrel, Kristin, Steve, Mike, Jeremy, Brian

And, just as we got back to Paradise, most of the clouds on Rainier broke, and it looked like the weather was pretty decent up there again. Typical.

As Darrel pointed out, it's nice for the mountain to win once in a while. It breeds a healthy respect for the wildness of Creation, deepens the legends of those tough hikes, and gives you a good excuse to go try it again.

Mtn Biking the Mount Tahoma Trails

No. . .the road wasn't like this for long.

Trillium

Cooper Creek Hut

Mount Si & Waiting for a Return

After dropping Melis & Abee off at the airport (heading for UT), I took Matty & climbed Mount Si. It's a Seattle favorite, and despite the crowds, a pretty good hike. Here's the view I was met with at the top.

Looking close, you can see the skyscrapers of Seattle just left of center, with light glinting off the waters of Puget Sound on the right.
Matty couldn't have done better. We moved a pretty brisk pace, which probably made her more willing to stick by my side most of the trip.

Melis snapped this one a few days ago, as Abigail was waiting for daddy to come home. Now the roles are reversed ;-)

Let me leave you with a stimulating John Piper quote that Tom shared with us in Sunday School today:

"From all eternity the ever-existing, never-becoming, always-perfect God has known himself and loved what he knows. He has eternally seen his beauty and savored what he sees. His understanding of his own reality is flawless and his exuberance in enjoying it is infinite. He has no needs, for he has no imperfections. He has no inclinations to evil because he has no deficiencies that could tempt him to do wrong. He is therefore the holiest and happiest being that is or that can be conceived. . .

To share this experience - the experience of knowing and enjoying his glory - is the reason God created the world."

Saturday Close to Home

Chronicling a few poses in the life of abee joy:

layin' out a blanket. . .

practicin' her quarterback pose. . . bein' silly with the daddy. . .

chillin' out on the perch of daddy's shoulders

and just when we thought she was too tired to play any more, daddy got on his bike and impressed her with a few wheelies & other tricks. she's pretty good for my ego ;-)
go daddy go! yaayyhhh!
she might be a bit small for a big bike now, but she won't be for long!
the following two pics were taken at burfoot park by ashley m, who is a great photographer (obviously). thanks for picking us up when we forgot our camera!

abee & lauren

isn't this what going to the ocean is all about?

and finally we leave you with a shot that was taken at the state capital a couple weeks ago. when we look at this pic, we are reminded that we have a little girl now. . .not a baby anymore.

Ski to Sea 2009

I think the video is pretty self-explanatory. I wish I could have gotten more footage of the road bike, canoe, & mtn bike legs. Well done to everyone on our two teams!!! Hopefully, David will have more footage before long.

1/2 Marathon & Mother's Day

Three months ago, when Melis & I ran the Valentine's Day 1/2 Marathon together, I had made up my mind that I was done with long-distance races for the year. Well, in a wild turn of events, I decided 3 days ago that I'd go ahead and run this year's Capital City 1/2M again. I play basketball once in a while, and a few times a month I'll put in an hour or so of cardio at the gym, but I haven't been training like I should for 13.1 miles. But I was kicking around the idea of running 8-10 miles to prep my heart for the 4 miles of XC skiing I plan to do in the Ski to Sea race next weekend. If I was willing to do that distance, I may as well put in a few extra miles and get a nice shirt out of it (I got the shirt for Melis, by the way ;-) I thought I'd have a nice run with Michelle (who wanted to finish in 2:30), and David & Jeremy, who both wanted to finish between 2:10 & 2:20. I had strict orders from Melis (in light of my last Capital City 1/2M) not to come anywhere close to killing myself ;-). Little did I know what speedsters I was running with. It was a very enjoyable run, but truth be told, I couldn't keep up. Michelle & Jeremy both finished in 2:04, and I came in at 2:06. David came in a few minutes after that. Oh ya. . .Kelly smoked us all with 1:44. Well done, Kelly!

I started cramping around mile 10, but after sucking down a couple waters at the last aid station, I felt pretty good. Until the end. Thanks Michelle & Jacob for helping me untie those knots in my legs!

On Mother's Day last week, we took out some of the scraggly bushes in the back corner of our backyard, and planted a dogwood!

It's a bit on the small side now, but trees don't stay small for long out here.

Just liked this pick right out our back door. We love our yard, because it's pretty low maintenance - cool stuff just comes up!

A couple weeks ago Abee had her first dentist appointment. She had a great time there, and had an even better time with the 'ba-oon' they gave her as a parting gift.

Proud Wife Post

Yesterday was a very special day for our family!! While at a conference in Kennewick, WA, Brian was given an award for:

Young Optometrist of the Year

in Washington State!

Brian had no idea about this, so let me fill you in on a little background.

Several months ago, Dr. Tosland and his wife, Jamie, along with Susan, the Office Manager, asked me to help fill out some paperwork because they wanted to nominate Brian for this award! This award is for optometrists who are doing an exceptional job serving in their practice, the profession as a whole, and mostly in the community.

Already I was so honored on Brian's behalf that they felt him worthy of such an award. Of course, being his wife, I think he could get this award every year though because of what a great doctor and person he is! : ) Realistically though, I knew that there would be many other great nominations as well, and I was excited just to know that people held him in such high regard.

I enjoyed writing down so many of the things that he is part of! So...I'm going to brag.

Brian absolutely LOVES his profession and has such a huge desire to help people see...both with their eyes, but he also hopes he helps others see God's love for them. Because of this, he naturally does things to reach this goal by doing presentations for retirement homes, doing school screenings, or by giving special eye talks to kids. He has been Society President of the his Optometric Society (OPW) for 3 years. He loves serving at our church in several ways, and this past year also helped dream up the No-Cost Vision Clinic at the Union Gospel Mission.

I didn't hear anything since the nomination was sent off, so I figured that he wasn't selected this year...that is until about a week ago. Susan called me to tell me that he indeed was chosen for the award, but she and I were sworn to secrecy or the committee chairman said she'd have Susan's head. :)

So...Susan and I schemed a plan to get me there without Brian knowing. Brian left for the conference Wednesday evening, thinking he wouldn't see me until late Sunday night. I wasn't going to go because what do you do with a 1.5 year old for 4 days at a hotel when she doesn't like to swim! Little did he know! I talked with him each evening, letting him know how much Abee was missing him and that maybe we could skype while he was there. He bought it all!

Friday morning Abee and I made the long drive out there. We got there a little early, so we spent some time at the local McDonald's Playland. Yes, Abee was in her fancy Easter dress playing on the slides!

We waited there until I got a call from another co-hort in crime, Donna, saying that it was safe to sneak into the conference center. We listened outside the door, waiting for several other business speeches and awards, and then finally they presented his award to him.

The presenter first went through a list similar to the one I gave above of some of Brian's accomplishments. Brian said that he thought it was a little funny because each thing matched what his story was. It didn't take long for him to figure out they were talking about him.

As he went up to accept his award, all the doctors and conference attendees gave him a standing ovation. So neat! Then...Brian had to give a little speech! I felt a little bad for him because he had no idea, so he didn't have time to prepare anything, but he did a wonderful job thanking them for the honor, understanding that there are many other worthy candidates out there. He also thanked those who help out with the vision clinic at the Gospel Mission. He then while looking around more, started saying something like, "I'd also like to thank my wife..." and mid sentence said, "Holy smokes! My wife is in the back with my daughter! When did you get here?!"

Of course everyone looked back at us and we waved while those around giggled!

And that was it!

So...Brian says that there have been only a few times in his life where he has been bamboozled, but that this definitely was one of them!

Brian, I am so proud of you! What an incredible honor! Thank you for allowing God to use your life to bless others around you! I love you!

From the Mountains to the Sound

This is going to simply be a picture blog. . .at least for now. . .