Adventure Is Out There...! Part 2: Our Adventures A-Top the "High Ropes"

On March 25 Natalie and I left for an overnight school field trip to the Newcombe Ranch in New Braunfels, TX. The ranch is a resort mainly for tennis players (Google John Newcombe for background) but they also have programs for teambuilding training, which is why Natalie and her Quest classmates came. I came as a chaperone.

We arrived Thursday night, had dinner and then they divided everyone into several groups for a nighttime compass orienteering activity in the nearby forest. While Thursday had been a bright, sunny and warm day, the night before reminded us that it was springtime in Texas - major gullywasher thunderstorm. So our escapades in the forest were rather dark, wet and muddy. There was a beautiful moon out though, and it had the most amazing ring around it! So after about an hour figuring out how to read a compass and follow its bearings with flashlights, our group made it to the campfire to meet the other groups for s'mores. Then a muddy walk/ride back to our "summer camp" -like dorms for a quiet, cozy night's sleep with 50 chatty and hyper 12-year-old girls! Thank you to Apple for the creation of the iPod!! It kept me quite calm in the midst of the chaos until lights out at midnight.

The next morning after breakfast the kids were divided into groups again and tried their hands at several teambuilding exercises. Here are a few pics:

The challenges were trickier than they appeared and as an on-looker for most of the time, it was hard for me not to jump in and tell them the easiest way to finish the tasks. Guess that's just another lesson in patience for me!

After lunch came the fun - most anticipated - part of the trip. The high-ropes courses.

I'm sure the pictures do a better job than I can explain it, but basically it's climbing up 30-50 foot towers to either jump, swing, zip-line or tight-rope walk between towers. It's all "relatively" safe. We were harnessed in and hooked up to ropes to prevent us from falling if we slipped. Still, no matter how many times I told myself "I won't fall, the ropes will hold me" my hands shook and my knees knocked at the top of the towers. I climbed the 36 foot tower to stand on the top of the 12 inch diameter, swaying "telephone pole" and then jump off it while grabbing a brass ring suspended about six feet away. It was a serious adrenaline rush, that is after I was down on the ground! While I was up there I was just concentrating on what I needed to do to get down. I knew if I thought about it for too long, I'd FREAK OUT!!

Natalie was awesome too. She climbed up all the different towers with confidence and a healthy amount of fear. (My level-headed daughter!) She jumped for the brass ring, walked across the 50 foot high tight-rope to zip-line down and also team-tight-rope-walked with her friend Hannah (and me another time) across diverging wires to ring a bell at the other end. I also did the tight-rope and zip line. I love the zip line - brought back memories of the Costa Rican rainforest!

After we finished up on the ropes course, it was time for me to head back towards Austin, while Natalie had some free time and dinner while they waited for the buses to take them home. I however wasn't going home. I was off for the next part of my Adventure Weekend - the Zooma Women's Half Marathon in Bastrop, TX! Stay tuned for tomorrow's final installment of Adventure Is Out There...! Part 3: Kellie ran 13.1 miles?!

Adventure is out there...! Part One: The Phantom

So the past couple of weeks have been filled with new adventures for Natalie and me.
On March 18, Natalie and I went to a matinee showing of Phantom of the Opera. It was wonderful. I had already seen the musical about 15 years ago, but this time was so cool mainly because I got to bring along one of my favorite "besties" (Miss Nat) and because we had third row center seats!!!!! Talk about being "in" the action! No kidding, in the beginning, when the monterous chandelier explosively lights up and rises up and out into the audience, we were straight in its horizontal pathway! Then it stopped right above us about 15 feet up and rose to the top of the theater DIRECTLY ABOVE US!! Now if any of you have seen Phantom, you know what this means... what goes up, will come crashing down at the end of Act One! I kind of whispered to Natalie what was going to happen, but she still jumped out of her seat when she looked up and saw the chandelier free falling down on top of us. It did make an abrupt slide to the stage before it actually crashed, but it took some of the intermission for our hearts to stop beating in our throats. (Okay, that was probably a little overly-dramatic, but I am talking about Phantom here!)
The entire performance was awesome! To be so close to the stage to actually see the faces and expressions of the actors was way cool. And the costumes and special effects (besides the chandelier) were really spectacular! There was one point when flashes of fire explode from the stage and we felt the heat almost before we saw the flashes.
We went with several of my friends and their husbands and were able to snap a few pics after the show in the theater before the ushers reprimanded for taking pictures. Even with the curtains closed, we still weren't supposed to take pictures - huh? Like they're afraid we're going to recreate a red-velvet curtain? Anyway, when I get the pics from Christy, I'll post them.
Part Two (coming after I download the pictures): Our Adventures A-Top the "High Ropes"...

IT'S SNOWING IN CEDAR PARK!!! So here's what it looked like an hour ago...

Emma has already left for school (hopefully the teachers let them out on the playground for a quick romp in the, um,"powder"), but Natalie and Dani were totally excited about these HUGE flakes! These flakes definitely rivaled some of the best I've seen growing up in Utah!! But, to be fair I heard that this storm came from Utah - Greatest snow on earth!!!

It was fun to see the snow since it's so rare in these parts, but I still don't miss it. I guess 20 years in the stuff does that to you. But seeing the happy, red faces of the girls made me realize how different my childhood was from theirs. I grew up with snow every winter in a rural mountain valley, skiing every weekend. They're growing up in the typically warm Texas suburbs of Austin, where the A/C doesn't usually get turned off until Thanksgiving! And we can go camping in March without freezing!

It's all good!! Hope everyone is staying warm, though!!

Ironmaiden Jen

So on November 20, the girls, my mom and I pointed our car westward and headed to Tempe, AZ for my sister Jen's second Ironman triathalon. Fortunately, Jen's triathalon was scheduled during the week break the girls had off for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, it was still a workweek for Jeremy, so he couldn't come with us. I'm so grateful, though, that my mom flew to San Antonio to meet up with us and be our second driver for the 2-day drive.

It was a very rainy start to our drive, but by the middle of the day, the clouds had cleared and so had most signs of life. There really isn't much between Austin and El Paso, just lots and lots of road! After driving all day and stopping only for gas and lunch we stopped for the night in Las Cruces, NM. For dinner we bought some yummy tamales from a family selling them at a rest stop.

After a good rest, we got breakfast and a chilly start (it was around freezing when we woke up) for the rest of the drive to Tempe/Phoenix. Keeping entertained during the drive, we listened to books on tape and watched DVDs. Still there was plenty of time for the girls to get bored and annoy each other. We were more than happy to get out of the car for lunch in Tucson at our favorite cheap lunch spot - Costco!!

We arrived at our hotel in Tempe mid-afternoon. We, of course, got turned around a bit, but after taking a driving tour of the Sky Harbor Airport, we somehow managed to pull up behind Jen's car on some random street and follow her to the hotel. We all laughed when we realized she was in front of us and gave her a surprise "look who's behind you" call. Jen had just picked up Rob from the airport.

After hugs and getting settled into our rooms. Jen surprised the girls with backpacks filled with fun stuff to keep them entertained and not hungry during the race the next day. It was super cute that Jen was so thoughtful of them while she was training so hard for her race. The kids even made posters with their new markers to cheer her on. So with all of us in our yellow "Ironmaiden Jen" t-shirts and our posters and cow bells we were hard to miss the next day!

Ryanne, Kristin (my cousin and Rye's right hand woman) and the boys arrived later that evening from St. George, UT, just shortly after my Dad drove in from San Diego. We all had pizza for dinner and just hung out at the hotel, letting the kids swim in the pool.

The next day was an early start for everyone, especially Jen! The 2.4 miles swim started at 7am, but Jen was there around 6am to get ready. Around 7:30 we got the kids out the door and up the block from our hotel to the bridge that the swimmers went under in Tempe Town Lake. The lake was crowded with black wetsuits and white swimcaps. It was impossible for us to find Jen in the "sea" of swimmers, but SHOCKER, Jen saw US on the bridge and stopped swimming long enough to shout out to us! It was awesome to be able to cheer her on her swim when we didn't think we'd even get a glimpse of her. She completed her swim in 1:25:33 (hh:mm:ss).

After we saw Jen swim by, the long day of waiting to see her pass by on her bike and run began. We found a good place to stake our claim while we waiting for Jen to pass by us a total of six times on her bike route of 112 miles. It was just on the other side of the bridge we'd been standing on to see her swim. The day was beautiful and a perfect temperature. Plus, this race course worked great for all of us to watch for her. And it was within 10 minutes walking distance of the hotel, so we could take the kids back for food, naps, pool etc. Jen biking was pretty uneventful - no bike or health problems. We were able to snap a few pics of her coming and going and she looked great! She completed her bike portion in 6:53:21.

Just as evening was coming on, Jen began the 26.2 mile run. To say she was spent from the swim and the run would be an understatement. The run course was 3 loops on a dirt run/walk path near Town Lake. Once again we could cheer Jen on multiple times as she passed us on both sides of the bridge. Unfortunately, the dust kicked up from the trail set off Jen's asthma. She had her inhaler, but combined with some pretty intense stomach problems, Jen was having a tough time walking let alone running. Her morale was pretty low on several of her earlier passes by us all. We all did our best to encourage her, but it still brought tears to my eyes to watch her struggle and know there wasn't much I could do to help. Jen's no quitter though, and with strong encouragement and a few friends and family taking time to walk/run with her, she finally managed to pull the last bit of strength she had from somewhere and run for the finish. Overall her run took her 6:20:07. It was pretty late when she was rounding the corner for the finish. I volunteered to stay at the hotel with the little ones who were sacked out. Everyone else, including Natalie, rushed to the finish from their watching spot to be there in time to see Jen cross the finish line. It was a close race to know who got there first - family or Jen, but Jen crossed the finish line and everyone was there to congratulate her. Her total time was 14:56:14 - about 9 minutes faster than her first Ironman finish!

Jen did spend some time at the medical tent, just making sure she was going to be okay after such a grueling day. She was exhausted and pretty sore the next day, but our Jen Jen's an Ironman - Maiden, two times around! We're so happy that she acheived such an incredible goal, not just once, but TWICE!!!

Tomorrow: the adventure continues as we head out for Thanksgiving in Cali!

Baptism, Birthdays and Christmas, Oh My!!!

...and Thanksgiving, and an Ironman, and an anniversary, and New Years. Well I think that's everything I'm supposed to blog about. Seems kinda daunting (no wonder I've been putting it off), so maybe I'll take it in chunks. An event a day until I'm caught up.

Let's start with Emma's Baptism:

Wow, that was over two months ago, already! She was baptized on November 7, 2009. She wore the same baptism dress that I made for Natalie. And her Nana Linda gave her a beautiful white dress to wear afterward. She was baptized and confirmed by her dad, Jeremy, at our Stake Center in Round Rock. There were quite a few baptisms that day, but part of what made it extra special was that she was baptized the same day as one of her best friends, Brayden Watson.

Other people who came for the baptism were: Natalie, Dani, Mom and Dad, Nana Linda, the Checketts, Paul and Elizabeth, Lane, LaDonna, and Maggie and Grandpa Doran and Grandma Susan. Two of Emma's Primary teachers, Sis. North and Sis. Weston also came.

President Oldroyd presided over the baptisms and encouraged all the kids to write down their feelings and memories of this day. Of course, Emma and I got so swept up in everything that we didn't write anything down until now. Here is what Emma remembers:

"The water was warm. I was a little nervous and when I got out it was freezing. I remember Sis. Weston and the Primary President and the Bishop were there."

Natalie played a Primary song (Popcorn Popping) on the piano while we were waiting to begin the confirmation. Nana Linda told Emma that she noticed when Emma came out of the water, that she squirted some water out of her mouth, just like a fishy. Nana thought it was cute, but I think Emma was a little embarassed.

After the baptism and confirmation, everyone came back to our house for lunch. We had Chinese Chicken Salad and rolls and cheesecake (Emma's pick - yummy!)

We're happy that Emma decided to be baptized. She looked so pretty in both of her white dresses. It makes me so happy to have children following in the footsteps of Christ. I am so grateful for my Savior. I know that He loves us so much and has blessed us beyond our understanding. I'm especially grateful for the family He's given me and I'm glad to know that we will be together forever.

Tomorrow: Ironmaiden Jen...