Latyon Triathlon!

I arrived bright and early at 6 a.m. to the Layton Triathlon on Saturday. I had to get my bike and everything ready in the transition area, get body marked, and be there for orientation. This picture was taken right before it started. Cory got there at 7:45 with the kids ready, fed, and he even did Mataya's hair! He deserves a lot of credit just for doing all of that and keeping the kids entertained during the race.

This was a long wait at the pool. All of the mini-sprint people are in the water swimming. All of the sprinters had to wait until the pool cleared so we could start. They stagger the swimmers every 10 seconds.

Where's Lindsay?I waited until the last second to put on my cap and goggles because they squeeze my head so much. I didn't want to have a headache before I even started. I didn't get nervous until it was my turn to get in the water, but once I started swimming it was all good.I look like a legitimate swimmer here....right?!I put my helmet on before my shirt....smooth!

Biking back in after the first 5.5 miles. Here I am heading back to the pool. This was a unique triathlon. They split everything in half and you do each thing twice so that means jumping back into the pool. It's 5 transitions, but I thought it was kind of fun.

Back out on the bike!

It was a great run course. It was a cloudy day, which made it even sweeter!

Crossing the finish line!Olive Garden for dinner!

And this cute boy will make his racing debut in September doing The Dirty Dash! Stay tuned:-)

This was such a fun race, I'm so glad that I did it! I've missed doing triathlons I haven't done one in a few years.

A big THANKS to Cory, I couldn't do it without him;-)
Check out the next post about Parker's triathlon!

Parker's First Triathlon!

I made this sign for Parker as a surprise and when I pulled it out of the truck he was so excited to see it. We don't call him PJ, but his friends at school do and he loves it....so I went with it.

Here we are setting up his bike and gear at the transition area. This kid was so excited and ready to race.

Getting body marked.
Eating a few Starbursts while he waits for his turn to swim. He really had his head in the game!

He's up next to jump in.

Cory was on one side of the pool and me and Mataya were on the other. I was holding his sign up and he could see it as he swam.
And the lady with the pink shirt and the huge lense on her camera....you would think her son was Michael Phelps! She was getting right in there snapping those pics. There were a lot of us nerdy, overly excited parents cheering from the sidelines.

Go, Parker, Go!

A quick 1 mile on the bike. I ran the .44 mile run with him and I carried a Gatorade and camera with me. I captured this picture and shortly after he told me he thought he was going to throw up. I said, "welcome to the wonderful world of running!" LOL!

Crossing the finish line!
Way to go PJ....you really do ROCK!

temple.

I pretty much have the best calling ever. I am the temple preparation teacher. Which means I get to study and teach other people about the temple on a weekly basis. I went on Tuesday to the Salt Lake Temple with a couple I just finished teaching. It was wonderful! The Salt Lake temple is so unique and special. I love the fact that it is downtown and temple square is always buzzing with people, but once you walk inside you forget all of that. Plus I saw Elder Jeffrey R. Holland cross the street when I was on my way to park....bonus!

24th in Marysvale

We were so excited to be able to celebrate the 24th with family in my hometown of Marysvale, UT. Here are my kids, clearly thrilled, in the back of Grandpa Blackwell's truck ready to be in the parade. Spencer didn't want to wear a hat, Mataya had a fever, and Parker is giving me a courtesy smile here.

We had a disco theme and it was super groovy. The disco ball was the perfect touch. We made a sign that said, "Peace, Love, Popsicles!" We blasted some 70's music and the kids danced and threw otter pops to the parade crowd. The last half of the parade the people looked confused as to why it said Popsicles in our sign because the kids managed to throw 200 otter pops out in a very short amount of time...haha!

Mataya decided riding up front with Grandpa was the place for her. She actually fell asleep during the parade amidst the loud music and whatnot. Poor girl was getting some molars.

Becca standing tall in the middle with the full outfit on. We now refer to her as the Disco Queen.

During the parade Grandpa was rockin' that little purple, sequin hat!

Ahh, the fish rodeo. A place where kids go to catch fish and parents pretend that they aren't totally grossed out. We got there a little late so a lot of the fish were gone, but the boys managed to run around and grab a couple. They had a lot of fun!

Parker with his "prize" fish!

Spencer back at the house telling tall tales only fishermen can tell.

Later that evening we had the 1st Annual Blackwell Family Talent Show.

Here we have Thor (Spencer) defeating The Bad Guy (Parker). They worked out a whole fight scene. It was cute.Beau a.k.a. David Blane worked his magic with a quarter trick.Mataya jumped right in to show us her talent. She held really still by the tree. I think her talent was that she held still longer than any 2 year old ever that is conscious. Which was a little over 7 seconds. Parker and Thomas got the crowd pumped up with the "Banana Dance".

Those two really know how to work a crowd because we were all going bananas by the end!

Luke showed off some of his sweet swimming skills.

Cooper and Carter had us all laughing with some stand up comedy.

And then out of nowhere Super Campbell came flying in!

Allison and Rebecca ended the evening with a song and dance. It was lovely!

We love coming to Grandma and Grandpa's house!

There seemed to be a grasshopper migration happening. Lots of boys+grasshoppers+ant hills='s little boy heaven!

We stopped at the little convenient store in town to grab some bottled water and there was a sign on the door that said, "There will be no beer sold at the rodeo!"

Thank you Marysvale....you always make me smile!

4th of July

Waiting for the 4th of July parade to start.

Mataya got to pet the horse or as she calls it "hee hee".

The boys were on a float with their tumbling group.

Waving to Dad, Mom, and Mataya.

I walked to pick them up and they got to watch the end of the parade.

We went to my sister's house later for a BBQ. They have a fun sandbox in the backyard. The boys were loving it!

Cute Mataya!

Crying because......

She wanted to hold the kitty, but it needed to drink it's milk first. Melissa's neighbor does a foster program for animals. She is taking care of two kittens that had been abandoned and she has to feed them. Mataya did get to hold them and she loved it!

Parker held one only with a blanket on his lap. The kitties were pretty scratchy.