Emily an athlete?

As most of you know, I (Emily) am hardly what you would call an athlete. However, a few weeks ago, Kristen invited me to go jogging with her, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Cory didn't think I could make it (when we were dating we tried jogging together, and I could hardly keep up), but I did. We then decided to jog again, and to go a bit farther. Needless to say we have been running 3.2 miles consistently. Our sister-in-law, Amy, has done several triathlons and suggested we try one too. So, we are officially signed up to do the Salem Spring Triathlon. (You can check it out by going to racetri.blogspot.com). We have been jogging our 5k, and swimming 800 meters (I have to do the elementary back stroke to make it), and biking. We have actually only biked 12.6 miles together once, but Kristen had been cycyling for several months and probably won't have any trouble with that. I, on the other hand, am a bit concerned. I have been trying to train on my own for the biking (it will be 13 miles), so my friend Maureen and I have been been taking the Provo River trail down to the lake (almost, we actaully stop a bit short in order to turn around easily) and then back home. Maureen has one of those nifty Schwinn attachments that converts her bike into a tandem bike, so she and Elsa (5 years old) ride together on their bike, and I tow the trailer Cory gave me for Mother's Day with both Olivia and Jane in it. Since that is an extra 65 pound plus the trailer, I think I'm getting a pretty good work out. We do usually stop at a park along the way back to reward the kids for working hard in Elsa's case and just putting up with all that bouncing around for mine. (ok, I admit that I also need a break to get my legs back for the long ride back up the hill to our house). Anyway, it was really hard last time we did it (today was only my second try) but today the wind was gusting so hard I couldn't even get any momentum before I reached the hill. Then, it was blowing so hard I didn't know if I was going to make it. I had my bike in its lowest gear, and was feeling like I was going to die. I can't even walk the bike with the trailer attached, so that wasn't an option. I felt kind of like the Little Engine that could. After I had made it about half way, I had to tell myself (literally) that I could do it. Thankfully I made it. The wind continued to blow the rest of the way home, and I had to go super slow because the wind was so strong. If you take a look at the race's blog, you'll see a place on the map of the bike race that designates where the CANYON begins. YIKES! I'm hoping that all that wind resistance combined with the fact that I was using a mountain bike and pulling the trailer will mean that it will be possible for me to finish the race, but I must confess I'm scared to death! Did I mention the race is NEXT Saturday! Well, after this week, I feel that if I make it through the race, it will be fair to consider myself an athlete, even if it is only for a day!

Celebrating Birthdays

This weekend we celebrated my (cory's), Kevin's, Craig's and Amy's birthday at the park. We enjoyed good food, played a little soccer and let the kids play on the playground. Here are some cute pictures of my kids and my neices and nephew. From top to bottom 1. Madeline my youngest neice 2. Isaac my Nephew 3. & 4. Two pictures of Jane 5. Olivia and Lucy popping bubbles 6. Craig and Jane catching some zzz's after a long day of playing.

Anne's Recital

Anne had her spring recital on Tuesday. She played two numbers, the first was a solo called, "A Little Swingin' Song." We tried to edit it down so that it would fit on the blog.

Dad's Favorite Picture of the Girls at Nelson's Grove

I couldn't resist adding my favorite picture of the girls in front of the tulips

Jazz victory on Mother's Day!

First off, happy mother's day to all. I hope everyone had an enjoyable day today. W enjoyed spending time with grandma Kramer and grandma Chambers. Emily received a bike trailor and some wonderful cards from the girls. We'll have to add some pictures of Emily pulling Olivia and Jane in the trailor. The girls smile from ear to ear whenever Emily pulls them in the trailor.

Again I couldn't resist putting some more sports highlights on our blog. The Jazz beat the Lakers today evening the series. After the two games in L.A. I thought we would be lucky to win one game. Who knows what will happen now? I'm thinking the series will go 7 games. Here's a great play by Ronnie Price in today's game.

Real Salt Lake vs LA Galaxy 5-3-08

Although I was frustrated that Real Salt Lake conceded a draw last Saturday night, I couldn't resist posting two of David Beckham's outstanding goals. It was a lot of fun to be their live. Go RSL!

How young is too young?

As a stay at home mom who is frequently overwhelmed by the various jobs constantly needing to be done around the house, I have wondered "how young is too young to require chores of the kids?" Lately I have tried to assign various chores to the kids and tried to make them age appropriate. Yesterday, I asked Olivia (4 1/2) to help vacuum the living room prior to playing a video game. I went downstairs to load some laundry and came upstairs to find this:

I was impressed both with Jane's "skills" and Olivia's attempt at manipulating her baby sister into doing her chores. I will confess that as soon as I whipped out the camera, Olivia was a bit more interested in doing the task, however the image of her vacuuming wasn't quite as endearing as little Jane.