Life lately

Wow, it's been since April 20th for my last post.  A lot has happened since then.  I've had my St. George Half Ironman Triathlon that I participated in with my twin brother and older sister Deanna with her friend Anne McClure.  I've been able to go to the pool quite a bit with my kids and take the cousins at the same time.  I keep going to church and trying to be a better person, although, I feel like I never get better.  At times, especially at work, I feel like "grumpy" from the Seven Dwarfs.  Ethan quit his job with Papa Murphy's and came to work with me and our company for the summer.  I was a little surprised he wanted to do that just because of the difficult and unexciting nature of this type of employment.  As a father, I was a little saddened because it meant that we don't get anymore discounted or free pizzas.  That has been an awesome perk with Ethan working there.  We were having pizza 2 or 3 times a week...and at least 30% off. The kids are growing up.  They got out of school and are now enjoying summer break.  We've had a court of honor in which Brad and Jake were able to earn a few scouting things and be recognized for their efforts.  Preparation for all the summer camps and other activities is underway.  Here is my schedule for this summer.  I just had a hike/campout with the deacons last Saturday in which we hiked from Grove Creek Canyon around to Battle Creek Falls which was an 8.5 mile hike with quite a bit of altitude ascension and descension.
June 11-13:  Youth Conference.  I will be attending all three days.  Ethan is the only one old enough from my kids to go
June 16-20:  Cub Scout Day Camp.  I will have to help, but not exactly sure how much time or what is needed.  Sandy, the cub committee chair is going to let me know
June 20-21:  11-year old Camp.  I get to go with Jake...should be fun to spend some one-on-one time with him
June 27-28:  Ragnar.  This will be my fourth year in a row.  I wasn't planning on doing it this year, but Donald got injured with a torn meniscus, so I'm filling in for him.  And, of course, he had the longest mileage leg, so I get to do that.  His was a 22-mile leg.  This year I was trying to reduce the number of straight running events since I tore up my knee in the last marathon.
July 7-11:  Girl's Camp.  I get to go on at least the Thursday, the 10th.  I might get to go more.  They were passing around sign up sheets and I told the young women leaders that I can be the back-up plan for whatever is missing
July 12:  Echo Triathlon.  This will be an Olympic distance triathlon at Lake Echo.  Last year I signed up for the event, but then I forgot about it and missed out.  So, I'm excited to do this triathlon.  I hear it's a fun one and pretty competitive.
July 16-18:  High Adventure.  Of the past 4 and a half years of being in the bishopric, I have only been able to go once.  This year is not going to happen either.  The leaders already have 4 guys going and say I'm invited to go, but that I'm not needed.  So, I may have to sit this one out.
July 23-27:  Family vacation to Disneyland and Huntington Beach in California.  I came home from work this past week and Nichole told me the good news that she had spent nearly $ 3000 that day.  After taking a deep breath and trying to relax, she told me the reason and I felt good about it.  We need to get away and go do something together.  We always just stay around here and do things here in Utah.  It's time to get away.  Should be awesome and fun
August 2:  Hotter than Heck Bike Century.  I'm excited to add some bike events to the race calendar.  I've done this course on my own but have never entered the event.  This event used to be called the Ulcer.  It is a little over 100 miles on the bike around Utah Lake.  Looking forward to it
August 4-9:  Scout Camp.  Every year I've been to Scout Camp.  This year is no exception.  I guess being the Second Counselor, I get the chance to help.  So, I'm going for 3 days of this, Monday - Wednesday
August 16:  Mom's and Dad's 55-year wedding anniversary celebration.  The whole family will come together to celebrate their marriage
September 12:  Bear Lake Brawl.  This will be a Half-Distance triathlon up at Bear Lake
November 8-9:  Lake Havasu Triathlon.  This will be my first Full-Distance Triathlon.  I'm so excited to finally be signed up for a full.  I want to get this off the bucket list pretty badly.  I think it'll be a good one because the course looks pretty flat.  So, this should be a great introductory full triathlon.  Triathlon events are so expensive.  They are definitely the most expensive events, a lot more than the running or biking events.  I went running the other night with a group of guys up Provo Canyon, the normal running group from the neighborhood.  We were talking about the XTerra Triathlon events.  I want to look into those.  They sound fun because they are the off-road triathlons where you swim in the open water, then bike and run on the trails.  I wonder what the cost comparison is

So, with all these things on the calendar, I still have to somehow get some work done, spend more time with the family, and, oh yeah, I have to keep the training up, too.  Lately though, it has been nice to get outside and do more training outdoors instead of just going to the gym all the time.  A couple Saturday's ago, Don and I went on a short 80-mile bike ride together.  I realized how out of bike shape I was.  My legs are weak.  God is keeping me humble with these scrawny wimpy legs.  After the ride, I realized that I was in no way ready to do a full tri.  Hopefully by November I will be.

Yesterday, Ethan and I bought a moped scooter.  He's been wanting to get one for such a long time.  The funny thing is, that deep down inside, I've been wanting one, too.  They're just so manly!!  The scooter should be arriving on Thursday while we are away on Youth Conference.  So, I guess we have to go get a motorcycle license, or addendum to our regular driver's license, or something like that

Yesterday was an ideal day for me.  I was able to go the Legacy and get a 3.5 hour workout in.  I swam a couple miles, did weights and plyometrics then did a running cool down.  I got home a little after 8:30 and told the kids and cousins that we were going to the pool.  The day was beautiful and I just did not want these kids to just sit around the house.  But, I didn't want to go the Legacy either.  So, we spent the day at the Provo Rec Center.  They have an awesome interior pool with cliff diving, rock climbing, tubes, multiple pools to have fun in.  The facility is amazing.  I wish the Lehi community center was like Provo's.  Eli came with us for the first hour and a half, then we went to Ava's soccer game and had lunch, and then we went back and spent the rest of the day there.  Swimming and hanging out at the pool has got to be my favorite past time.  I remember as a little kid just always being at the pool.  All of my siblings swam.  In fact, I remember swim team events where we used to have the Ralph kids, me with the brothers and sisters, against the rest of the team.  There were 7 of us and all of us in different age groups so there was at least one of us in the different age categories.  But, then we would also have the relays.  Our family always won.  I just remember thinking of how cool my brothers and sisters were and how awesome they were.  We were all good swimmers.  I wonder why that's why it was pretty cool for me to win the swim portion of the triathlon at St. George this year.  I beat Don by 1 minute and Deanna by a few.  That was the first time I've ever beaten Don in freestyle.  He got me by 1 minute on the run and 25 minutes on the bike.  I need to buy a triathlon bike! But, back to the kids...they had a blast at the pool.  And, I got to spend the day with Ava.  I need to get her more confident with her stroke so she can go off on her own with the bigger kids.  She still struggles with breathing and being able to maintain the stroke after breathing.  I'm failing my kids

Ava - Autumn - Jake - Jesse - Brad - Dillan

After church today, I came into my room and saw this little boy sleeping in my bed...how precious and calm, escpecially when he's not shouting, screaming or yelping at his brothers and sister!  This kid is so sassy!!