Oh yeah, School's back in session!!

So one last quick post to end the catch-up... On August 23rd Natalie and Emma started school again. Natalie is now in 7th grade at Henry Middle School. She has some pretty intense math and language arts classes. And to just round out her busy life, she's practicing and fundraising like crazy for her band trip to Chicago in December. It sounds like it's gonna be a really fun trip! Performing pieces for the composers, seeing Wicked and Blue Man Group and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are just some of the highlights.

Emma is now a 3rd grader - I can't believe it!! She's actually the only one I managed to take an official "first day of school" pic.

She loves her teacher, Mrs. Meeks and has started in the advanced math curriculum at Reagan Elementary. She's getting used to riding her bike to school and back again, but she can't wait for it to cool off soon. The ride home up the hill in 100 degree heat is a killer.

Here's to back-to-school and football and cooler weather! We Love the Fall!!!

This Summer's pictures are finally posted!

Okay, so I've failed miserably to keep up on the blog this summer, but I've finally got the picture slideshows loaded. So I'm hoping that if a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm almost caught up now!!
But just in case you need a little clarification on some of our fun:
One boring day in July we found out about Chick-Fil-A's Dress Like a Cow Day. If we dressed like a cow, and went to CFA we each got a free meal. We talked LaDonna and the girls into joining us. Keely did a great job on Maggie's cow makeup and my girls got creative with their cow spots!
On Aug 3 we took the whole family to San Antonio for an overnight trip that included a fun day at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. We had fun despite the ridiculous August heat and stayed cool in the afternoon at their waterpark. At the end of the day we stayed overnight in a hotel and dinnered at our favorite pizza spot - Costco food court! The next day, Jeremy and I spent some time at the S.A. Temple while the girls watched the big screen and lounged around in the hotel room. Definitely a fun overnighter!
Finally, I mentioned in my last post that I was training for a sprint distance triathlon. Well the training paid off when I finished in about two hours with my training partners, Madi and Christy, on Labor Day morning. Christy and I decided to skip the big crowds and fees of the downtown Austin Tri and do our own. When the word got out we ended up having about 10 friends from our church (youth and adults) join us. Jeremy and the girls were awesome to take pictures and track our times. The weather was perfect with a wonderfully refreshing downpour during the run. (Little did we realize that was the beginning storm of T.S. Hermine which did some serious flooding to our local creeks and rivers two days later.) We had such a fun tri that we're all agreed that more homemade tri's are on the way! Come join us for the next one!

Summertime and the blogging is overwhelming!

Yep, I did it again - or maybe a better way to phrase it is that I DIDN'T do it... again! I have totally slacked off keeping up on the happenings of our fam. So here's my effort to catch up on the highlights of the last couple months.



Tri and Tri again?

As my last post stated, I was gearing up - and wiping out - for my first triathalon. I did complete the Capitol of Texas Triathalon on May 31st in downtown Austin, TX. I loved the race! I enjoyed it so much I knew even as I was crossing the finish line, that it wouldn't be my last race. I competed in the smallest distance the CapTexTri offered. It was a 400 meter swim, a 10k bike and a 5k run. I finished in 1:30:38. The event time break-down went like this: 14:43 swim; 27:19 bike; and 38:52 run. I was pleased with my results and especially happy that despite my sore leg and the 100+ heat running in downtown that I RAN (all be it very slowly) the entire 5k.

My mom came especially for my first race and took lots of pictures. I've posted most of them on Facebook, but I'll eventually get some posted on the blog too.

As I said earlier, this tri will not be my last. In fact, I've already committed to a sprint distance tri with my friend Christy on Labor Day. This tri will be a little more low-key, and a lot less expensive! Christy and I have mapped out our own routes and just she and I will be enjoying the swimming and scenery in Avery Ranch - Christy's neighborhood just south of my house. We're hoping for cooler weather and a few family supporters to provide "more cowbell" along the routes. We aren't exclusive though - if you're feeling the urge to join us, just show up!



Ahh, the Chime of Wedding Bells...

So just five short days after the triathalon (and finishing the school year), the girls and I hopped a plane for San Diego to join in the wedding festivities of my little bro Rob. He married an awesome chick with an awesome name: Kelley! She now is the 3rd "Kelly, -ie, -ey" in the Harmon family! Yes, family reunions are getting a little trickier!

We came about a week before the wedding so we had time to play in the fun and sun of San Diego. (Okay so the sun stayed hidden in the June gloom, but the temps were heavenly compared to the Texas summer scorchers!) Between all the wedding travel back and forth from San Diego, Thousand Oaks and Santa Barbara (where Kelley is from), we were also able to sneak in some beach time, Grandma Joyce time, a trip to the San Diego Zoo, the Mormon Battalion Museum and the San Diego Temple. Natalie was able to do her first temple baptisms/confirmations with her dad and Uncle Rob performing the ordinances - way cool! We were so happy when Jeremy flew out for a couple of days before the wedding. Besides the temple, he came with us to the zoo, and, of course the wedding.

The wedding and reception were beautiful. They were married in the Los Angeles Temple on Friday, June 11th and we had a luncheon at a nearby Mexican restaurant. The next day they had a reception in Santa Barbara. It was an outdoor reception at one of the local LDS church buildings. This church house was old school, so it had a beautiful, grassy parklike area perfect for an outdoor reception. The decorations were simple and stunning: yellow lemons and navy accented tables and receiving area. Kelley and Rob kept it classy and informal with croquet and bocci ball, as well as a wedding cake shaped pinata for the nieces and nephews. The buffet dinner was delicious too. My Grandma Joyce and I collaberated on our first chocolate fondant covered wedding cake. We learned a lot in the process (Grandma definately isn't fond of chocolate fondant), but in the end, Kelley and Rob said it was just the kind of cake they wanted. Hmm, guess I'll have to post a picture of the cake too.

Oh, and of course pictures from the whole vacation will make it up on the blog too.


Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to Girls Camp We Go...

So after 10 fun-filled days of vacation, we rushed home to quickly unpack and then repack for my 3rd year as a church girls' camp leader. But the most exciting thing about this year was that Natalie got to come with me for her 1st year of camp!

We spent five days at a Scout camp located an hour northeast of Houston called Camp Bovay. As far as camping goes, this is a pretty nice place with lots of fun activities like archery, canoeing, a traverse wall, swimming pool with water slides and - of most importance - a large dining/activity hall with air conditioning! Texas summers are brutally hot and the girls did actually spend their days and nights at campgrounds in canvas tents. So coming inside the hall for meals, crafts, dancing, skits, etc. was heavenly. As a leader in charge of the media and technology (yes, camp does now include such craziness) I could stake a claim in one of the air conditioned cabins - well how else was I going to protect the expensive laptop and projector I was responsible for? ;-)

Natalie had a great time hanging out with her friends and trying all the activities. We did spend some time together, but we were usually heading in different directions during the days. I was glad for the time we spent getting our feet massaged together while sharing chocolate raisins and girl talk. We both agree that camp has some trying moments, but feeling the Spirit every day from study, service, testimonies and well, fun, far surpassed the unbearable heat and challenges of camping with a bunch of girls.

Well folks... that pretty much sums up our June. I think I'll stop here for now and catch up on July next week. My goal is to get the blog caught up before the kids go back to school on August 23rd. Wish me luck - I just got called to be the Stake YW secretary so I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with my new responsibilities and the realization of all the meetings I'm going to be in now. BLECK!!! Although, I keep telling Jeremy, I have to do this - we need the blessings!!!

What Not to do 4 days before your race...

So I was out for one last bike training session yesterday morning and, umm, it didn't go so well.
I thought I was being safer sticking to the sidewalks since I was riding during high traffic school drop-off time. While this theory DID help me to avoid all the cars, I wasn't so lucky avoiding the school kids! I was cycling passed a couple of boys who had started to move over for me. Unfortunately, I didn't slow down enough and the gap wasn't wide enough, sooo, my bike took a little detour onto the grassy edge of the sidewalk and then when I tried to correct myself and get back on the sidewalk, my tire got caught in the gap between the grass and the edge of the sidewalk. I had enough momentum going to jump the gap, but the control was gone and I took a beautiful spill on the sidewalk in front of the two boys. I completely landed on my right side. My leg took most of it, but I've got a nice raspberry on my shoulder too. I'm so glad I had on my bike gloves and my helmet because my hands would have been hamburger and my head would have had a bump to match the one on my knee. I was able to ride the couple miles back home, all while watching my knee swell up to make the biggest goose egg I've ever seen! Jeremy hadn't left for work yet when I got home and he helped clean me up. I am so glad he was there, because he did a much better job than I ever could have - still, that alcohol cleanse just about did me in!
Luckily, the bike took the crash much better than I did - no dents or major broken parts - just a few cosmetic scratches and bumps. Unfortunately, it's not my bike, ughh.
Twenty-two hours later I'm still hurtin' (well duh!) enough that I've given up trying to sleep any longer. You can only lay on one side for so long, and the Advil PM has totally worn off. So I thought I'd come sit mindlessly in front of my computer until it's time for the troops to get up for school.
My big concern right now is how do I race in my triathalon with a banged up leg? The wetsuit is gonna be a killer to get on and wear, but I'm not swimming in Town Lake without it! I think I'll have to slather on the vaseline for the bike and run to keep the scab from crusting over, but I'm taking suggestions on how to protect it overall.
Sue from our office saw me yesterday and has been following my training and preparation for this race over these past monthes. She's watched me suffer from spring allergies, sprang my toe, mess up my back and now cycle myself into the sidewalk - literally! She asked me yesterday if I ever considered that maybe someone or something was trying to tell me not to do this race. I considered it for 1/2 a second and said no. I set this goal for myself months ago and put in a lot of work training, learning to really swim and borrowing lots of gear to give this a go. I'm too close to let a scratched and bruised leg stop me now! Maybe it's determination, maybe it's insanity, but it's gonna get me to that finish line!!! Wish me luck... and pray hard!

Bryson Bluebonnets 2010

This year had the best crop of Bluebonnets I have ever seen. We couldn't pass up the chance to take some photos of the family. Enjoy the beauty of Spring in Texas! (Special thanks to Natalie and Noel for taking and editing the pictures.)