Hero to Zero? Or Zero to Hero?!?

Saturday, was my first fully completed triathlon. First fully completed meaning that, if you remember, about a year ago, I trained for the Yuba Lake Triathlon, and got into a bike accident a day or two before the race. Well, I thought I would once again give it a try. And let me tell you what, it was the saddest attempt ever.
In January, I started having a sharp pain in my left knee, but decided to ignore it. Well the pain got so severe that I was not able to run more then 1 to 2 miles, which is a big deal for someone who runs 6 miles on a daily basis. In April I finally made it to a orthopedics spectialist who told me I had IT band syndrom, and I needed to take time off of the running (Ya Right!). After a few weeks without running in large quantities (may I add), I was feeling better and decided to go for a 6 mile run. Well on mile one of the 6, I sprained my ankle and finished the remaining 5. I was out for another 2 weeks after that. In the mean time, I was swimming once or twice a week and biking on my parents stationary bike.
I decided to sign up for the race anyway because I knew I could do it, even if I hadn't trained. The sunday before the race, I got this terrible head and chest cold. I could not stop coughing. I kept thinking "the force is against me."

So I raced. Before the race I said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to suppress my cough during the race. And guess what, it worked! I coughed all the way up until the whistle blew, then nothing until the finish line. Amazing right!
The race was the hardest thing I had ever done physically. The swim was definitely the hardest. I thought I was going to drown the whole time. I was doing breast stroke, but the weat suit was not cut for breast stroke and was not allowing my neck to bend backward. I was thinking that I should just turn around now and save me from possibly downing. Or that I should not do my second lap, and call it good after number one. But I finished. My time was 34 and 58 minutes for .9 miles.
As soon as I got out of the water, I raced toward my station, and changed out of the weat suit, got on the bike and left. The biking didn't seem to bad, at first, and then after checking my timer, noticing I still had not passed the half way point after 45 minutes, I got worried. Not mentioning that the chain to my bike came off multiple times. So many times during the bike portion did I tell myself "quit, it is okay, if you cheat and turn around, no one would ever know." But I didn't, I pushed though it and finished with a miserable time of 2 hours 3 minutes and 27 seconds (24.8 miles.)
Then, my final task the run. My legs felt like they were jello. It was so hard to keep myself going in a forward motion. But I made it. My dad was so cute, he was running beside me for part of the run to help me keep going. I finished the run in 42:39 minutes for a 4 1/2 miles run which was suppose to be 6 originally (portions of the run got flooded the night before.)

Happy Father's Day!

Jon rocking out his awesome Father's Day 80's Heavy Metal wig. He had wanted one for a while to play Guitar Hero with, and to get a head start on his Halloween costume. It looks pretty cool. I especially love it when he walks around Wymount with it like it's no big deal.

Babe,
I know I don't tell you enough, but I truly love you and a so happy to be married to you. You are so kind, and caring to us, trying your best make our life fun and enjoyable. I love your determination, and your hard work. I love your cute face. And even though you might not believe me, I also enjoy your humor, sometimes. Know that I love you so much, and I am proud of you.

Love Always,
Maeva

Dad

What Makes a Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,

He called it ... Dad

~~Author Unknown.~~

Daddy,

I hope you had a wonderful father's day. I hope you know that you are the most wonderful father. I truly admire you; your wisdom, your patience, and your love and compassion for others. I am so proud to be your daughter. Thank you for all that you have taught me growing up, and what you continue to teach me in my adult years. Thank you for your wonderful example to me and my family. I love you so much.
Love always,

Maeva

Karate day with Dad!

Today was a Father and Son day at Julien's Karate studio where Bobby Lawrence (the owner and founder of all the Bobby Lawrence Karate studios) taught the dads some karate moves, as well as how to coach their children when they practice karate. I addition to that, the dads got one month of karate for free. Jon is planning on taking them up on that offer.


Here are Julien and Jon stretching. Master Lawrence told the dads that starting the kids in karate young is better, because they are more flexible then adults.
This picture testifies of that perfectly!

Julien is showing off his Hatchet Kick.
Look how high is leg is above his head!

Now it is Jon's turn to show off his amazing kicks!

"Toulouse, France- Chinese Mandarin!"

Yesterday, my brother Thiefaine got his mission call. As I pulled up to my parent's house, T blurts out "Toulouse, France- Chinese Mandarin." At first, I was kind of confused and thought to myself "well you have to choose, you can't have both." Once I got in the house and read the letter, I realized that he was right indeed; Thiefaine was called to the Toulouse, France mission. And believe it or not, the language he will be learning at the MTC is Chinese Mandarin. WOW! What a mix! But T is already fluent in French, so this gives him an excuse to learn another language.
We are all so proud and excited for him. He is going to do great. And the mission field will be somewhat of a familliar territory, with plenty of friends and family close by.

Big Boys idea of fun!

This morning, Jordan picked Jon up very very early to go to the desert to install trail cameras for Jordan's wild life research project. So off they went four wheeling into the back country for the Doug Way mountain range. Jon said Jordan tried to convince him to bring home a garden snake for the boys, and I am so glad Jon did not give in.
It was a long day for them, about 15 hours. Jon was pretty tired when he got home, but I know he had a blast!

Brazilian BBQ with the Goncalves

Today, we were invited to Anderson and Regina Goncalves house for a Brazilian BBQ. Through out the year, every time Anderson was barbecuing, Jon would go over to their house being allured by the delicious smell, and talk to Anderson about the meat and the preparation he uses to barbecue.

It was long overdue for our families to get together, but we finally made the time to gather and feast on delicious Brazilian food, while enjoying each others companies.
Anderson made a delicious picanha top sirloin steak on a skewer, and Regina delited us with Brazilian rice with a bell pepper salad, and a falafel dish.

Anderson in action, preparing the picanha top sirlion steak.

We enjoyed the meat so much that Anderson offered Jon a Brazilian skewer (the one you are served with at Rodizio Grill), along with an invitation to teach him how to cut, prepare, and cook the meat. Jon without hesitation took him up on that offer. Heck, if he didn't, I would have. I don't think I have ever eaten that much meat in my life.

Dans les bras de morphee

Those boys are out! Aren't they so cute when they sleep?!? As I was doing my rounds last night to check on them, and give them one last kiss, this is what I came across: two cutie kids deeply asleep. I could not resist, so I grabbed the camera and took a quick picture of their adorable self.