Run-Bike-Swim

Bailey loves a challenge! She wanted something to work towards this summer, so she decided to do a triathlon. She worked hard all summer to get ready for it. She would swim laps at the pool, with all the old people, a couple times a week. She biked everyday, and tried to run a couple times a week. She competed in the Pocatello Triathlon this past Saturday. All her hard work paid off, and she did an amazing job!

She had to be up at 4:30 am to make it there on time. It was still a little dark outside when we set up her stuff.

The run was 3.1 miles. This was her weakest area, as far as her training went, but it ended up being her strongest leg in the race. She kicked butt!

Finishing the run.

Getting ready to start the bike leg.

It was a 12 mile bike leg. This was the hardest part for her. She got really frustrated, because she lost a lot of ground here. She was on my 17 year old mountain bike. Everyone would go whizzing by her on really fast racing bikes, and not even seem like they were working hard. All the ground she earned in the running, she lost in this section. We didn't want to buy her a nice bike for 1 race, but now we realize that if she is going to do more, she'll have to have one.

It was a 500 yard swim. She did awesome in the pool. She's a really strong swimmer.

Crossing the finish line!

She was happy to be done!

The medals were really cool!

Her finishing time was 1:36:53. She was the youngest athlete to compete. The next youngest was 17 years old. We were VERY proud of her! I can't wait to hear what she decides to try next summer!

Girl's Camp

I spent 3 days at Pasa-La-Coma for Girl's Camp. The theme this year was BOOT Camp (Building Our Own Testimonies). These young women were challenged physically, mentally and emotionally at camp this year. Every single one of them stepped up and did AMAZING! I love these girls to death. It didn't matter what was dished out to them, they were not going to be defeated. They rallied around each other and took care of each other, like I've never seen a group of girls do before. I'm so proud of every single one of them.

The sunrise hike was awesome!

Eastview Ward Young Women

Chuckars!

Sawyer, Bailey, Katie, Marlee, Shaneesha

Sk8r GuRl!

Bailey has been babysitting a lot this summer. She has saved a lot of money, and decided to buy a long board. I think that's so funny! She shopped around, and finally found the one she really wanted. I must admit, she is pretty cute skating around the neighborhood :)! She has already had one pretty hard fall, and I'm sure there will be more to come. She is very determined though, so I'm sure she'll have it all figured out in no time.

Nature Date

Mark and I are still doing dates from our 'Date of the Month' club. We have been so busy this summer, that I have fallen 2 dates behind! We did have our 'Nature Date' this Saturday though. We went to Ashton for lunch. We call it the huckleberry milkshake place, since we don't know the actual name of it. It used to be the drugstore, and now it's converted into a little restaurant. They have yummy sandwiches and pizza. We took a detour drive to Cave Falls, because Mark had never been there before. It's a beautiful waterfall. It doesn't drop very far, but it goes all the way across the river. We also realized that there are some hikes up in that area that we want to try.

Cave Falls

There is a cave beside the falls, but there had been a rock slide, so you can't get to it now. Bummer!

After Cave Falls, we headed to Mesa Falls. We stopped along the way to feed the fish.

Feeding the fish.

This is Lower Mesa Falls. I love this whole area! It is so beautiful!

Upper Mesa Falls.

We did a hike from the Upper Falls down to the Lower Falls and back. Other than the bugs, and giant horse flies attacking us, it was a great time.

Sewing!

Bailey is taking a summer sewing class from my friend Esther. She's made two really cute projects so far.

Here is her pillow that matches her bedroom.

She also made this bumble bee puppet for her babysitting kit.

I'm so glad she's learning how to sew. Maybe she can teach me someday :)!

Bailey n Marlee

Bailey has been working really hard this summer on some goals. First, she decided that she was going to do a triathlon. Her race is in less than 2 weeks, and she's trained really hard. She has also been working on the DARE 300 mile bike challenge, and the 100 mile walk/run challenge. Most kids pick one or the other, but she wanted to do both. We've been gone a lot this summer, so that cuts into a lot of her biking opportunities. So, when she is here to bike, she has to go pretty far. Her minimum is 6 miles a day, and she usually goes a lot farther. I wanted to do something fun for her, since she's been working so hard. I took her, and her best friend Marlee out for a photo shoot. I got a bit carried away, and took 184 pictures! I deleted the bad ones, and that brought it down to 110! What can I say? I was working with two pretty cute girls :)!

This is one of my favorites!

I love this one too!

The girls love this one.

I wanted to show how different the girls are, yet they are the best of friends.

This picture was all their idea, and I think it turned out so cute! I love it!

I could have posted just as many with all the goofy faces they made too! I should have, but I already felt like it was picture overload.