Viva Mexico

Who would've thought a 14 hour drive would've taken us nearly 20? It was all worth it! This was Nate and Edie's first trip to the Colonies. Nate was worried that I wouldn't give him any time to work on his thesis and he was right! We lived la vida loca!

We visited my Grandmother, two uncles, and their families. Here are some pictures to show the other things we did.

My cousins have quite the set-up in their backyard. A pool, trampoline, and giant swingset decorate their large lawn. Here Edie is relaxing in a tire swing from a traumatizing swim in the pool. Apparently, she doesn't like being splashed.

Later she discovered the apricot tree.

We couldn't get her to stop eating apricots.

Here are my twin cousins, Caroline and Cristina, entertaining the baby. She made them read to her for about an hour.

Later, we drove to the Paquime ruins. What you see behind Nate are actual ruins from an ancient Indian city.

We ate at a restaurant called Elmers, formerly known as Mechy's. Their faces might tell you the food wasn't good. Don't believe them.

Here's Edie and me outside of the Academia Juarez where I graduated from High School.

Behind us, you might be able to recognize the Colonia Juarez Temple. I got to help work on it during it's construction in 1998.

Here is Nate holding a crawdad. We fished for them in my uncle's pond. He was one of two to catch one.

Grandmother, Mom, Edie and Me: a 4-generation shot.

Edie kept trying to teach Grandmother how to use her walker. She thinks she's so smart.

While there, my cousins adopted Nate as their recess soccer team captain. I've never seen Nate look so tall. He's the one stealing the ball from the little 5th grader. He was also seen knocking many players down. But, the kids loved him anyway.

Other news from this trip:
1. Nate got the flu
2. My mom got the flu
3. My uncle got the flu
4. Grandmother started feeling better

Salem Spring Triathlon

TRI, our spring motto, had been posted on our bedroom wall for months. It was to act as a reminder that we needed to actually try to train well for our triathlon. Rather than a motivational reminder, it acted as a dark cloud of doom that we could not seem to escape. Training was sporatic. For Nate, it was nearly non-existant. June 2nd came, no matter how hard we tried to postpone it. It was time to swim 1/2 mile, bike 12, and run 3.

We were not alone for this. In fact, it was my sister Ana who pressured us into participation. From L-R, Me, Nate, Jess, Mom, Carrie, Ana, and Silas. Let's get it on.

Here are the Knoebels and Hodnetts. Mike and Stephanie are our really good friends from church. The Hodnetts are tough. Steph has actually biked from Provo to St. George! The Hodnetts were the ones that actually got us training for the swim. Thank you!
P.S. Wetsuits were a requirement.

I'm not sure who's in this picture, but I'm posting it just to show the pond we swam in. There was lots of kicking and hitting during the swim portion of the race.

Here's Nate exiting the swim. Lookin' good, babe!

On my exit, I caught up with Jess. We were by each other most of the race.

This is Nate zooming by on the bike. Nice helmet!

If you ride your bike at all in the transition area, you're disqualified. You have to run your bike up to this line before you can mount.

Nate's running up the last hill to the finish line!

Yeah! Great finish by Nate. It only took him an hour and a half.

Somehow, Mike and Stephanie caught up to each other. They romantically finished hand in hand. Where was Nate when I finished?

Eating oranges behind the finish line. That's me crossing the finish. I passed those 2 girls on my way up the hill! They are probaby the only people I passed the whole race.

Here, Ana and Jess are cheering on my mom who started in the last heat.

We were all so proud when she got 3rd place in her division. This is my mom accepting her medal! Good job to everyone who raced. It was lots of fun! When the race was over, everyone, on a high, said they wanted to do it again. But, now that a couple weeks have passed, it doesn't sound like fun anymore! We'll see what the future brings.

Practice Makes Perfect

Nate and I stumbled upon a jumperoo before Edie was even born. We are so glad we did! That girl has had some major workouts in that contraption, which is great because we're determined to make a dancer out of her!

This video is evidence of her countless hours of dance practice. I think she was about 7 months old.



This next video is a recording of her first dance recital...in my mom's living room. Edie was 9 months old. I accompanied the dancers, Edie and Kalia, on the piano with a piece called Tarantella. You'll also see guest appearances by Madison, Ana, and Justin Kreitel's leg. Special thanks to Nate for making this recital possible.