May 2013

The girls came home from their respective school's one day with a animal hat. Camille was a butterfly and Jill a frog. It made for a really fun afternoon with these two.

Jeff's sales have been improving each month. Last month they broke a company record so Jeff took them all out on a rented boat. The kids and I met up with them for a ride and cook-out. We went to a really pretty little place called Emma Long Park. The girls even braved the water after the boat ride.

Jillian had a Mother's Day music show with all the other kinder classes. It was fun to see her up on the stage singing.

Camille had her Kinder Buddy Day and was lucky enough to be assigned to Jillian's class. We love Mrs. Estes and CRE.

Coco is finally getting more comfortable with walking. He still will do his Jungle Book walk often but he's getting much better.

My ward does such an amazing job on Mother's Day. They cover all the classes and feed all the women lunch during third hour. Look at this spread and the chocolate fountain. We didn't even have a lesson either, it was basically social hour. It was awesome.

Mother's Day is easily in my top 3 for holiday's. I'm just so proud to be a mother. I feel like it's made me a better person and brought me closer to Jeff and closer to Heavenly Father.

After church we ventured out to a near-by park and had fun exploring. It was a perfect day.

Well, I've been wanting to get pregnant for about 5-6 months and it finally worked! With us trying, and with the home tests being so good now-a-days, I knew I was pregnant at 3 wks along. It's going to be a long pregnancy but we are so happy about it.  

Camille turned 5 this month! She is such a sweet, tender soul. She had her friends come celebrate in fairy fashion.

Balloon launch.

Painting butterfly and fairy sun catchers.

Fairy pinata

I feel a special connection with Camille. I think she's most like me in looks and personality. Sometimes I just love to watch her interact with others because I feel like I'm watching myself. It's crazy.

I'm so lucky to have her in my life.

Camille graduated from preschool.  It was a fun ceremony with laughter and singing. We had a great year with Laughing Hearts preschool. 

Camille has a hypersensitivity to mosquito bites. She got bite the night before right by her eye. By morning it was swollen shut. Camille was devastated. We ran to the drug store and got an eye patch. We bought some duct tape and glitter glue to make it a little cuter. She was still really nervous until the first little boy that saw her said, "Cool eye-patch. You look like a pirate princess".  I'm so thankful for the sweet kids in her class.

The weekend before Jillian's last day and the day of our move-out was my first triathlon. I convinced Nettie to do it with me. I felt like I was in pretty good shape and the distances were short so I wasn't too worried. The problem came on Friday. I started throwing-up. It lasted all day and through the night. I wasn't sure if it was pregnancy or a bug. With the Peterson's coming to stay with us on Saturday I knew I had to tell them. We hadn't told anyone about the new baby but had to warn them. They decided to still stay with us and we were all hoping that it was the pregnancy.  

On Saturday we took them the the Twin Lakes YMCA to explore and play.  I was feeling a little bit better and hadn't thrown up. I also hadn't eaten though. I knew the tri wouldn't be easy at this point.

On Sunday after church, Nettie and I had to got pick up our packets downtown. We took the whole family with us and tried to get a feel for the course.  As luck would have it Jillian puked in the car on the way home. Once we made it home we found out that Elsie also puked on the way home. It was AWFUL!! Nettie and Jeff had many different thoughts of just leaving, or staying.  They ended up staying. No one else puked all weekend, but I think it's fair to say we were all a little queasy.

We rented wet-suits and Nettie was smart enough to rent a road bike.

The hype of the race was contagious. I really love environments like this even though we weren't feeling 100%. I felt weak from two days of no food and Nettie was feeling sick. It wasn't a good combo before a big race with nerves going too.

As we were jumping off the dock into the water to prepare for the start I lost all my competitive drive. Nettie went ahead and waited until everyone else jumped in. I was literally one of the last to jump in. (In retrospect I wish I had stayed by Nettie. I think I would have been more motivated to do better in the swim.) Anyway, I was in the very back of the pack when the race started. Right off the bat two or three ladies next to me started panicking and shouting for a kayak. One was carted out of the water right in front of me. Another one of the screaming ladies didnt' get a kayak right away. I reached out and grabbed her arm to help buoy her up. I shouted for a kayak for her but the one closest to us was already helping another swimmer. We had to wait for a kayak from the middle of the course to paddle over and help, all the while the race was going and I was helping her bob along. Finally she got rescued and I could start my swim (I hadn't even passed the start marker yet!) I was feeling pretty good after the first turn but my wet suit was a little too tight on my neck. I decided to unzip the neck part. Bad idea. I was on my back to unzip it and it instantly blew up like a balloon.  I tried to tuck in the flaps and push the water out. It didn't work. Then I decided to zip it back up. It wasn't the easiest thing to find the zipper behind me and pull it up while treading water. I finally got it up and was on my way again.  By the time I was almost to the last turn the male heat started. When I made my last turn they were on top of me. Literally. I had a least on of the fast male swimmers swim over the top of me and several passing me on the sides.  It was comical. 

Next was the bike. I had my mountain bike to ride on a road bike course. The route was really pretty and took us around the capital building.  I thought the bike would be the easiest leg. It was, by far, the hardest for me. I don't really know the proper gears for up and down all the hills. Also, there were many older, less in shape, women passing me that were on road bikes. I didn't know what a huge difference having a road bike would be. Nettie said having a road bike was amazing. Next time I'll defiantly be renting one. 

During transition from bike to run I saw Jeff and the kids.  It was really uplifting, but after the killer bike I was about done. Jeff said that I didn't look like I was having fun when they saw me. I was asking myself, "why am I doing this again?"  After the first mile of the run I finally found my stride and starting feeling really good. I picked up the pace and was having a good time. I felt as though I could almost sprint the last mile. Right as I was about it hit the last mile I caught up to Nettie. It was a good boost of moral to meet up with each other for both of us. Right as we were about to finish we saw the boys and all the kids. It was really fun to finish together. I'm so happy she did it with me. We talked of making this a tradition, minus the 6 wk pregnancy and stomach bug.   

Here's our times. Not that I'm particularly impressed but with all the special circumstances, I'm happy I did it and survived.

Open water 800 meter swim, transition, 10k bike, transition, 5k run, total time

Jillian had a fun field day on the last day of school and we were all so excited for summer time.

That same day we moved out of our beloved Quail Run home. That was the home I brought sweet Coco home to. We have made so many good memories and made such great friends in the ward and school and neighborhood. It was a sad thing. We will only be about 4 miles away, but it's a new ward and a new school. I really really loved that backyard. Our new home is nice and we have been welcomed by nice new neighbors. Hopefully in the coming years we can make it to some land and set down some firm roots. 



san tan moutain

this is me...
i wish. jeff and i went mountain biking last weekend. it was my first time. i got a quick lesson on gears and off we went. it was a great workout and way more fun than running! i think i have a new hobby. i need to wait until it cools off though and i have my own bike (hint hint jeff).

quick note: Pres. Bush does have some redeeming qualities. he's from TX and yesterday he rode the mountain bike Olympic trail then played pepper with misty may. i'd like to do that.

my husband the athlete

two saturday's ago jeff did a triathlon!! he had been training for about a month and a half. jill and i got to go watch. it was so cool. jeff and i were a little apprehensive about it because neither of us knew how it worked or really any information. the night before the race jeff "bic"ed his head for that extra advantage. once we arrived we realized how big of a deal it was. a ton of guys were sponsored and jeff said that he only saw 2 bikes that were worth less than his. he took 81 out of 110 for his group in 3 hours 2 mins. the race started with the swim, jeff's weak spot. . .

this is the athletes waiting for the race to start. . .must have been fun treading water. if you blow the picture up you can pick out jeff. he is near the back without a cap on.
once the horn blew the lake was full of activity.
jill and i then drove to transition point to wait for jeff to finish and start the bike. we waited and we waited and we waited. finally, after i saw an older women finish her 1 mile swim and mosey over to the bikes i thought "i must of missed him". i packed up jill and headed to the next point hoping to catch him at transition to the run. i was wrong. jeff was still in the lake. he came in dead last with a time of 43:16. he did however have to swim to the aid of another athlete and pull him to a safety kayak.



once jeff finished the swim he determined to make up time in the bike. this was no ordinary bike trail. it was 17 miles of off road desert mountain trail. the trail began with a 1000 foot ascent that they called "pack your bike". jeff said that not one person could ride up the mountain, everyone had to get off their bikes (they had to do this at one other point too). when the athletes came in on their bikes some helpers grabbed the bikes and helmets so the athletes can run down the shoot and change shoes, grab a drink and start the run.
at the transition point i waited and waited again. biker after biker came in and no sight of jeff. i had become temporary friends with another wife. this was her husbands second race. the longer we waited the more anxious we became. as athletes came in we heard of a racer down with a broken collar bone, another down with a bike broke in half, yet another with multiple bike wreck, the stories came in as if to make me and my friend more uneasy. i kept seeing racers come in covered with dirt and bloody. "this must have been a brutal trail", i thought. finally, her husband came in...now jill and i were alone in waiting. about 3-5 mins later i saw jeff come around the corner. my excitement was too much to contain, until i saw the blood and dirt on jeff. jeff jumped off his bike and i ran with him down the shoot (me on the outside). i asked if he was okay and jeff just said how much fun he was having. i felt so much better.

jeff's about to change into his running shows. i knelt down by him and tried to help him change shoes and pin his number on his shirt. he came in 78th in the bike at 1:35:37. movin on up!
the 4.5 mile run was through the mountains too. jeff is the one with the white shirt on.
as my temp. friend and i waited for the hubbies to finish the race i got comfortable. i decided to wait until her husband came in to get ready for jeff. all the sudden, he comes into view. i wasn't even at the finish line with my camera ready when he crossed. jeff took 64th (43:20) in the run passing my friends husband.

we had a great time. it was really fun to cheer jeff on and jill was a trooper too. i would love if jeff got into triathlons and raced more. jeff did enjoy himself and he felt very accomplished.
back to jeff' s wreck. jeff was going too fast (trying to make up time) on a down hill and hit a big rock. this caused an "endo" i.e. flipping over the handle bars and bike flying over the top. once jeff realized that all of his appendages were still in-tact he checked his bike. a few parts were jacked up but jeff was able to keep riding. on the way home we stopped by my work to have the doctor check jeff out. she stated that jeff needed a few stitches on his shin and 1 or 2 in his elbow. jeff refused because we'd have to check in, so we've been taking care of his battle wounds at home. . .
here's jill waiting for daddy to finish.

memorial day

i've been wanting to go camping for quite some time now. last weekend jeff's family went up to the cabin with the crane's for some fun. it was a loud and crazy weekend with jeffs mothers family. my neck is still sore from all the indian leg wrestling!! i mean my legs are sore from flipping the cousins. :) monday, jeff and stan went mountain biking and the rest of us went up to the rim to ride 4-wheelers and dirt bikes. jeff had the camera so here's some of his fun.

weekend apart

johnson ranch golf course.
yes, this is in arizona. i wish i would've seen it! getting lost (while biking)sometimes has its rewards:)
colin and i at the airport.

jeff catching some air on the crazy terrain.
another cool discovery while trying to find the way home. . .

jeffs friend colin from tx came into town this weekend. we haven't seen colin for a couple years and it was fun for jeff to have him in az when i wasn't here. they played tennis until the wee hours of the morning, golfed, went to the cabin and had a crazy time mountain biking (you'll have to call jeff for the whole life-threatening story), and went to a comedy show. we love monica and nora!
britta, jill and scott. jill loves her daddy's toothbrush:)

congrats amy!
olivia and jill pretty in pink.

gma and gpa pete
jill was getting too popular while in utah. we had to hide her celebrity. that tongue gives her away though!

i got to go to utah for Amy's graduation from UVU (previously known as UVSC. it was a much needed dose of mom and dad pete. jill also got to play with olivia and meet scott and britta and the beans. we were able to meet up with monica and nora too. utah is so beautiful at this time of year. the size of the tulips blew me away!! i really enjoyed the good scenery (big flowers and bigger mountains) and great company!

even though we both had a fun weekend, it's not so fun to be apart. the best part of the weekend was coming together at the airport on sunday. i love jeff and jill and me together forever.