When I grow up...

Savanna informs me there are 8 things she wants to be when she grows up.

A Pilot
A Digger Driver
A Firefighter in a Parade
An Ice Skater
A Dentist
A Doctor
A Clown
and
A Mom

I'm glad she's aiming high....what do YOU want to be when YOU Grow up?

I made it...

Proof that I started...

Proof that I finished...some 37 miles and 5 hours later. (They handed out lei's and Hawaiian Drinks as we crossed the finish line.)

We didn't win any speed records but we did complete.

Some Random things about the race.

*My sister Peggy is like the Energizer Bunny. She totally rocks and was my rock today. I never would have made it with out her. Thanks a ton Sis!

*The Little Red is one sweet race to ride. They served us great food for breakfast, rest stops and when were were done. They really treated us great and the bikers were all very nice and supportive.

*My, shall we say, 'seat' is SORE!

*Note to self. If you do this again park on the East (DOWN) side of the park.

*Thanks Mike for surprising me at the finish line. When I saw Emily I almost started crying. I really appreciate your support when I do crazy things like this.

*How on earth can you have a headwind in all of the 4 directions we traveled?

*Picture perfect day, cool, yet sunny!

*Don't ask me if I am going to do it again...at least until tomorrow. ;)

The Countdown's On...

That large # 1 on my sidebar countdown is staring me in the face. It seems it thinks that I'll blink first. Honestly I'm a bit nervous that I might, then I remember that I have told all of YOU that I'm biking 37 miles tomorrow so I can't bow out now. In fact I'll be thinking of each and everyone of you and the heckling I'll get if I don't make it to the finish line. Please be gentle if you end up having to heckle.

Now there is nothing left to do but load up on carbs and put the pedal to the metal or the asphalt as the case may be. If I don't make it back tomorrow, please know I have enjoyed your comments on my blog for these last 5 months. :)

Remember our digging project?

Yep...this is our latest yard project. Who says 11 1/2 years to put in a yard is a long time???

This play set has been brought to you by a lesson in patience.

5 Things I Love About My Yard Right Now

#1 My cherry tomatoes are blooming! I have about 30 tomato plants in all. Most are Romas for future tomato sauce and salsa making. A bunch of them had a rough start, but they are all looking healthy and happy. MMMMMM Home grown tomatoes--the best! #2 My brother's squash finally poked it's head out. My brother Ken loves to try different veggies. He is a member of a group that trades seeds and a couple of years ago he happened across these squash seeds. They are round like a pumpkin but have flesh like a banana squash...but 10 times better...ok even more. They are DELISH!

#3 My apples are setting! This is the off year for apples, last year we got TONS and they were TASTY. We managed to get 30 something pints of applesauce that have kept Ethan quite happy this last winter. We won't have many apples this year, but the ones we do have look happy.

#4 Our family history rhubarb is established. Family history rhubarb you ask? Well the story is that this is a start from a plant that came with Mike's ancestors from Scotland across the plains through various stops including Snowville, Salt Lake City and Kaysville to our house. I don't know if its true...but it sure is fun to think we have antique rhubarb that tells a family story.

#5 NEW TREES! We have 3 new trees in our yard. The first one is an Autumn Blaze Maple. It's a cross between a silver and red maple. Only another 11 1/2 years and we will have a 'little' shade!

The second is a Coralburst Crabapple tree. Isn't it cute? I love its little ball head. :) Should have beautiful pink flowers in the spring.

And the last is a Blue Damson Plum tree. This one has a family story too. The one thing my Grandma successfully taught me to do was make blue plum jelly. Ethan has been going through withdrawals as we ran out of jelly early this year due to the kids taking their lunches to school everyday. Just think in a few years we will be almost Jelly Self-Sufficient. :)

Life is good.

The First Rose of the Season

Mike has a tradition of picking the first rose of the season from our yard for me...

Isn't it beautiful? Well in real life it is, but on the screen who knows. See my monitor is not synced color wise with Photoshop so apparently what I see and what is really there is quite different. 3 weeks ago I printed out a picture I spent a LONG time editing and it looked TERRIBLE. I haven't opened Photoshop up since because I was so discouraged. I guess I'm going to have to get a device that fixes that problem. *Sigh* Anyway, I hope this picture looks sorta, kinda good because its incredible from my vantage point.

Thanks Mike!

Just Suppose...

Your sweet, feisty, cute, devious, kind, mischievous 5 yr old daughter comes up to you and says:

'Mom'

'Yes?'

'I just wanted to come up here and say.....I love you.'


Would you smile sweetly and say I love you too, or would you run screaming to the backyard from whence she came to see what happened?