Hiking in Albion Basin

We did a Sunday afternoon hike to Cecret Lake. The wildflowers are in full bloom and the scenery was beautiful.

Goofy boys

The kids named this critter "Tom"

Stansbury Park Triathlon

Ed competed in the Stansbury Park Triathlon yesterday. He took second place in his age division, 18th overall amongst the men. Great job!Congratulating the first place winner who was 1:30 faster. It was close.Olivia and Harrison woke up early to go see their dad compete.

Happy Father's Day Ed!

Locks of Love

Olivia participated in the 6th Annual Locks of Love assembly at her school last week. She donated her hair a couple of years ago and wanted to do it again. We took some photos to help her remember her luscious, long locks the night before the big cut.

Her good friend Kaitlin participated in it with her.

The stylists were having a difficult time preparing Olivia's hair because it was so thick. The instructor ended up suggesting they make 5 or 6 ponytails instead of 3!

The school had all of the other students come in the auditorium to watch as 15 girls got their hair chopped off. The kids yelled "Cut cut cut" in unison. Olivia had 3 stylists cutting her ponytails off so I couldn't see her well enough to get a decent photo of them actually cutting her hair off.

The final result after 90 minutes of cutting and styling what was left after donating 10 inches of beautiful hair.

She looks darling, and it's a perfect cut for summer. Here she is with her certificate to acknowledge her donation. We're so proud of you Liv! Your hair is going to make a gorgeous wig.

Harry on his way to second place.

Pinewood Derby Boy

Harrison participated in his first Pinewood Derby tonight. Ed changed his work schedule so we could all go ... then life intervened as it has a way of doing, and I ended up in the emergency insta-care with Madeleine while Ed and Olivia cheered Harrison on. One splinted and slinged arm later, Maddie and I arrived at the Derby just in time to see Harrison's car in the Finals, racing for second place overall. There were 15 participants and he was sooooo excited to place! He had so much fun. Ed took some video and Olivia tells me she has other photos that she took with her phone so I'll add more as it is sent to me! Congratulations Harrison! Props to Ed who helped with making the car. My boys work well under pressure - they started on the car late last night and Ed finished it up early this morning!

Swim, Bike, Run

Ed participated in the Daybreak Triathlon on Saturday. He had been battling an injury so he was unable to train until 3 weeks ago so he was very anxious the night before the event. He did great - took 3rd place in his age division, just like he did last year!

He got lots of support from Rileigh, Olivia, Chad, Harrison, Maddie, Derek and me.

Here he was, just happy to be done, awaiting the results.

Happy 14th Maddie!

Where in the world has the time gone? Madeleine turned 14 years old on Friday.

Our sweet, fuzzy haired girl has grown to be a beautiful young woman. She still speaks often and in long sentences, just like she did when she was small!

She desperately wanted a new cell phone again this year - last year's model lost it's shine for her when it took the trip down the elevator shaft. She was thrilled to get exactly what she wanted.

Reading her birthday letter from Grandma Ziter

Celebrating with Nikki

Happy birthday Maddie!

Spring Soccer

This Spring has brought unusually cool and wet weather to Utah but we've still survived the Spring Soccer season. Olivia returned to playing soccer and has played really well. Her team has two games remaining and they are undefeated. She plays defense and forward. The girl has some good kicks and is incredibly accurate with her throw-ins. We went to see Sawyer Nelson play yesterday. Tami coaches the team so we helped to keep Thatcher distracted as much as possible. He still managed to run to mom twice!

Keira is on her first soccer team and we've made it to a couple of her games. She is darling - not all that interested in the actual game but has fun with her cousin Alex! She wears the uniform well and is always sweet to spectators.

Anniversary Get-Away

We celebrated our 15th anniversary Thursday by taking some time off work and spending the day together. Ed surprised me with lunch at Al Fornos ... a place we used to frequent when we were dating. We had a fabulous meal and enjoyed an unexpected reunion with a man I worked with 15 years ago who just happened to be having a business lunch at the restaurant! We spent the night at Stein Erickson Lodge in Deer Valley. We had a lovely room with a private hot tub on the deck. We had a wonderful dinner at the lodge and just wish we could have spent another day there.

15 Years into Our Shared Adventure

Happy 15th wedding anniversary to my loving husband - thank you for focusing on the areas where we are compatible rather than those where we differ, thank you for stopping when there are still a few words you'd like to get in your say and thank you for trusting that when there are moments of "for worse" there are moments of "for better" just around the corner. I see your dedication to work, fitness and hobbies and I admire your tenacity. I appreciate your willingness to try new things, to embrace change and to share this adventure with me. It's not easy to figure out how to dance a duet while both are doing solo performances at the same time. You make me laugh. You inspire me to want to climb mountains. I feel blessed to have the life that we have and to raise our children together. Thank you for loving me, thank you for walking this road with me, thank you for anticipating the next 15 years with me. I love you ~ happy anniversary.