IronJen

I headed down to St. George to watch my good friend Jennifer Lane Newman compete in her first Iron Man. The Iron Man is the triathlon of all triathlons. It starts with a 2.4 mile swim, then a 112 mile bike ride, and finishes with a 26.2 run (a full marathon). Insane! Lacy Jenkins and I made this candygram on the way down in the car. Jen's sister, Kim and I made posters the night before to support Jen and her friend, Stephen who competed as well.

We woke up at 4:30 in the morning in order to be to the reservoir by six to wish Jen good luck.

This is Wes. He is a triathlon coach. Jen claims he's her boyfriend.

Notice the lady in the pink swim cap. Take a look at her right foot. Incredible.

Thanks to Mike Hanks, we were all able to sport "Team Newman" shirts for the event.

Heading out to the water Jen was so excited...she got the cameraman's attention with her pre-swim dance.

There were some crazy spectators...trophy husband? Really? Pretty funny.

I got super claustrophobic thinking about swimming in open waters with people kicking me in the face...but Jen made great time and ran out of the water to jump on her bike.

Lacy and I thought we were pretty cool with our Iron Man tattoos. Mine left a killer tan line after being in the sun all day.

This guy was a Marine. He carried the American flag the entire run. It was pretty inspiring.

This is at mile 2 of the run...Jen was all smiles.

Her support squad.

And at mile thirteen...still smiling.

She finished in 12 hours and 31 minutes...and somehow had the energy to do a celebratory heel click when she crossed the finish line.

Stephen's sunburn. OUCH! He finished just about an hour or so after Jen.

Massage tent at the end of the race.

I'm not sure why anyone would want to do this, and how its physically possible. But it was pretty cool to be a part of. Congratulations Jen-you're a machine. I'm really glad I was able to experience such an accomplishment!

Motherhood

A few months ago, Conner volunteered us to watch these 4 children in our ward while their parents were in Florida...he thought it would be good parenting practice, a good experience...an adventure. We decided to do it and boy was he was right!

 

Annie had the best bed head I have EVER seen!

Conner got to practice living vicariously through his son.

I attempted the soccer mom roll (Ella was a half an hour late for soccer practice).

It was amazing to see how much energy these kids had. They would have never gotten off the swings if I didn't pry their little fingers off of the chains.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the week.

We painted nails...

Tried new hair do's...

Made our own personal pizzas...

Told bedtime stories...

Made them clean the house...

Played at Grammy's...

Got adventurous and took them for a night out on the town...I now see why Chik-Fil-A is such a hit with young families- They ate all their chicken nuggets and then played in the play place for an hour and a half!

Then we splurged and took them out for ice cream. When we got home they were worn out and ready for bed.

Although these pictures remind us of all the fun we had, we were EXHAUSTED! I never knew that being a mother could be so hard. I learned so much and was sure to take a few notes of things I wanted to remember.



To every mother I ever judged for letting their children wear their shoes on the wrong feet, for sending their kids to school without brushing their hair, or not making their children wear a jacket when they went outside, I apologize. I now understand. Although these darling kids were well-behaved, having to worry about 4 other schedules, personalities and favorite foods is difficult, to say the least. I guess I live a pretty selfish life. Motherhood has got to be the most selfless calling in the world. I used to think that mothers who had rag-muffin kids were crazy. Now I wonder if the mom's who seem to have it all together are crazy...I just don't know how they do it every day. 

Despite the difficulties of parenting, Conner and I learned a lot. We look forward to the day when we will raise our own family and now know what we're in for. There is no one else I would rather share this journey with. I know Conner will be a fantastic father...even if he does live vicariously through his son.  

I am amazed at what a fantastic job my own mother has done and continues to do with 6 children- not to mention in-laws and grandchildren. I love my mom so much and am so glad that we have the relationship that we do. I am so thankful that she taught me to be polite and respectful. I'm glad she taught me how to dress to flatter my body. I'm impressed that she did my hair every morning when I was in elementary school. I will forever be indebted to her for cleaning up my vomit. I miss the back tickles at night while singing Fourteen Angels. She taught me to clean and to organize. She taught me to serve those around me. Through her actions, she constantly shared her testimony of the gospel and love for our Savior. I owe her for staying up late to finish projects or to sew my prom dresses. Thanks to her, I have a hard time buying anything that is not on sale. She is a fabulous cook, poet, seamstress, gardener, maid, and the list goes on and on. I only hope I can live up to the woman she raised me to be.

Happy Easter

Conner and I traveled down to Ephraim with his family for the annual Ephraim egg hunt. Unfortunately, it was such a rainy day, the egg hunt was cancelled and they just handed out candy...BIG bummer. I was really looking forward to stealing all of the eggs from the 3-year-olds.

The weather cleared up a bit a few hours later so we drove out to Uncle Carl's ranch to feed the horses.

This picture kills me... I think Craig is bigger than the pony that is pulling him.

We went to the wardhouse for an Easter feast with all of the Nielsen clan, stuffed ourselves full, then headed home. Danielle and I had to drive while the babies slept in the back.

Easter morning, we woke up to a surprise...Look what the Easter bunny hid in the front room!

Conner received these slim fit jeans. He thinks he looks super hot...and I have to agree.

I love the movie Tangled. I was so excited...we watched it right when we got home from church. And I'm not sure what Conner was hinting with tweezers and facial Nair...

We watched the Testaments movie on Easter Eve and it was fabulous. I had forgotten how wonderful it was- I don't think either of us had seen it since the Visitor's Center years ago. I was able to share a clip in Young Womens on Sunday and it was perfect for my Easter lesson. I love when Christ appears in the Americas and everyone falls to their knees. I couldn't help but think of the second coming and how it will be when He comes again. I can't wait to experience such a magnificent event. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that through His atonement we will be able to live with our Heavenly Father again.