Kyle's Motto - Tri Your Best

So what do most 42 year old men do on a Saturday Morning at about 4 AM? Well for Kyle, June 6 before the sun came up and while his wife and three kids were still catching some shut eye for a few more hours (well not too many more hours since we had to leave for a swim meet at 6:30 AM), Kyle was loading his bike & helmet, swim cap & goggles, running shoes & ipod into his jeep for a Sprint Triathlon at Lake Pleasant. And for any of you non-believers out there... here's the pictures to prove it.

Photos of Kyle's Lake Pleasant Triathlon

Our Dad is Superman!!!

So I know that there are a lot of really great Dads out there and we would even like to wish all of them a Happy Father's Day. Forgive us if we burst anyone's bubble with this next part...but our Dad is pretty much the best Dad on the planet. In fact, we would even go so far as to suggest that our Dad may be a superhero. Since he is out of town on this Father's Day, we've been snooping around just a little to see if we can confirm our suspicions. Evidence to date includes: an unusually large number of superman neckties (how many does the Dad at your house own?) and other superman paraphanelia such as fridge magnets, note pads, etc. It also seems that he throws suspicion off of himself by constantly calling other people superman. Interviews with numerous business, church and neighborhood colleagues verifies that they have been called superman on more than one occasion by our Daddy.

At the very least, our Dad possesses superhuman qualities such as the ability to rise at 5 AM and go for a 6-8 mile run then come back & swim laps in the pool. He then works a 10 hour work day and while driving home remembers to call the appropriate child and ask them about their school exam, talent show, swim meet, school play, sport or dance practice, etc. He joins the family for dinner and regales them with trivia that is so random but has been garnished from that day's learnings, radio listening, scripture study, self-help book, etc. He always has some advice for how each kid (& even Mom) can get more out of their next days swim practice, cross country run, gym workout, lifeguard class, backyard basketball drills, etc. He always believes that each of us has the ability to do a little better, try a little harder, stretch ourselves a little more. (I think he forgets that we aren't superheroes.) He doesn't go to bed until the last child is in bed and then reads from some kind of a motivational or leadership book before going to sleep. He then wakes up 6 hours later and does it all again. And his schedule on a weekend...last weekend he trekked close to 20 miles with a youth group. And the weekend before that he did a Sprint Triathlon then came home, did Saturday chores, then helped with a Young Women Fundraiser. You can see that he rarely runs out of steam.

So on this Father's Day we want to send a super duper amount of love out to our Daddy. Superman or not...you save the day for us on a regular basis.

WE LOVE YOU!!!

Lincoln, Tyler, Morgan & Daniece

A Mother's Payday

So as every Mother out there knows...sometimes our paydays are not very regular. I've even been known on a particularly hectic day (okay...so I've done it more than once) to actually call my husband at work and tell him that I need to renegotiate my contract. For it seems that when I took on the role of MOM, I should have thought to negotiate for sick days, vacation days, workman's comp, a normal length work day, etc. But, alas, I didn't and so I relish the mother paydays that make it all worthwhile. By the end of 8th Grade Promotion (yes...I somehow ended up being the Chairperson) I was a little tired & cranky until I found this sweet note from my 14 year old taped to my mirror:

Dear Mom,

Thank you for all you did for

the Promotion Dance. It really turned

out beautiful. I know you put in a

lot of time, work and money.

Thank you for making this a

memorable night. I love you.

Love,

Lincoln

Of course, all that work was suddenly worthwhile. I was immediately glad that I had been so involved no matter how much time it took. And, I will probably agree to chair the next event that my child is involved in. Cause face it...if I had a warning label on me it would probably read, "Mother, so easy to operate even a child can do it." A smile, hug, kiss or thank you from one of my kids and I'm pretty much putty in their hand. Caution: No one tell this to my kids as they are already too good at manipulating me as it is. I don't want them having anymore insider information.

Picnic in Paris

The 8th Grade Class of Paseo Verde Elementary celebrated their promotion from elementary school into high school with a PICNIC IN PARIS. Traditionally, this party is held at the school but hosted and paid for by the parents of the 8th Graders. And so the task commenced of transforming the multi-purpose room at the school into a Paris park with a skyline of the city and the Eiffel Tower in the background. Of course, efforts began in November to raise funds to pay for the event and many, many, many hours of labor filled the next 6 months (and I thought the only labor involved in raising children was going to occur at childbirth...right!!!) But the outcome was a night that our 8th Graders will not soon forget.