Fort MacLeod Triathlon

This year was the 7th annual Fort Macleod Triathlon. Don’t go getting any funny ideas, I was not (nor have I ever been) a participant in the triathlon, but this was my 3rd year volunteering.

My Father-in-Law loves training for and taking part in any triathlon he can find, the problem is the majority of them run on Sundays. So 7 years ago he decided that he would organize his own triathlon right in Fort Macleod on a Saturday. He, however, is not alone in his love of Triathlons and after only 2 years realized that when you are the one running the show you can not be running in the event! For any of you who don't know a triathlon consists of...

Swimming

Biking

and Running

Year after year Al and Lorraine spend countless hours planning, organizing, setting up, and taking down the Triathlon. It is a major undertaking but every year has been extremely successful and the numbers just keep getting bigger and bigger. Although we might not be ready to take part in the Triathlon, Aaron and I have always made it a priority to get out each year and volunteer along the course.

We have been sign holders, direction givers, pylon placers, lap counters, people markers, and sandwich passer outers. One day a year, from the crack of dawn until we are told to leave, we are at Al’s beck-and-call, so to speak. This year Aaron was unable to make it home and AJ was a little to much for me to handle while volunteering but Miles and I were up and out the door by 8:15 to get in on all the action.

After a fairly miserable week it was suppose to be scattered clouds and +10 degrees, which is pretty perfect weather for this particular event. Unfortunately the clouds decided to settle right over Fort McLeod making it cold and rainy all morning. Oh well!!! The racers where still out and ready to go with smiles on their faces as well as the, slightly more bundled up, volunteers.




Since everyone is pretty busy with their various jobs I decided that I would take it upon myself to photograph the event and help out anywhere I could. I was especially excited about the race this year since my Dad, Steele, has been training for the past year to do his first ever Olympic length Triathlon. The Olympic consits of 1.5km Swim, 40km Bike, and a 10km Run! All I can say is OUCH! When I think of my Dad I think of many thinks but, no offence, one of them is not fitness. When he first told me he had signed up for the Olympic triathlon I though, "Yeah right!" but he put his mind to it and spent the last year working his butt off (quite literally) to reach his goal. I know it was not an easy raod but he never gave up and in the end it all payed off.




Congrats Dad! I am so proud of you for achiving this goal and makinhg such heathly life style changes.

Another exciting twist this year was Chelsie, Jared, and Anthony decided that they would challenge Jorpo (a triathlon veteran) to a race in the sprint category. Talk about ambitious!

Chelsie was first up in the pool.

How can she not give it her all with such a cute cheering section, that's right Jeff we're talkin' about you!

But Jorpo wasn't far behind!

Here they are looking neck-in-neck! In reality Chelsie was already a lap up!

A flawless switch gets Jared out on the course a good 3 minutes befor Jorpo hits the transition.


But Jorpo wasn't discouraged, honestly I don't know how anyone could feel down it that hat!


On to the run! Jared arrived with Jorpo hot on his heels. Jorpo made up sometime on the bike but could he catch Anthony!?!


In the end Anthony came in about a minute before Jorpo but it all comes down to the overall time, since Jorpo had to do all his own tansitions. And the winner is......


Team JAC! They came in with an overall time of 1:09:58.4 Congrats!!! Jordan's overall time was 1:12:24.5, just 3:26.9 behind his competitors. And he did all three legs of the race himself!!! Good work Jorpo, you almost had them.

Workin' hard or hardly workin'?

Although we are up here in Canada on vacation not everyone can be so lucky. We have been kickin' back and relaxing whole our families continue to slave away at their jobs, and Grandpa Zoe is no exception. Since AJ can hardly stand to be away from him while we are home, he to has been punching the time clock night and day.

Here they are working on an new wall unit for the TV.





And here they are working on the front deck, pillars, and steps. As you can see AJ is still working out how to use his measuring tape.

Summer nights

I have so much to catch up on and I haven't had much luck getting the pictures of the camera but I finally managed, so here come the posts!!!! We have been busy, busy, busy, since we came to Canada but we are also finding time to kick back and relax!

I wish I had a few pictures of the night we got here but I wasn't awake enough to remember my camera! We came home had a nap and the went straight over to Grandma Sandra's to see Aunt Marla and here family who were up from Texas. It was our first night in town and their last so we didn't get to see a lot of each other but at least our paths crossed! Of course I wasn't very quick with the camera but I spent a morning at Lana's this week snapping a few shot's of Miles and Bree, born just 8 days apart.

On Wednesday we had a Fairbanks family BBQ. Not everyone was able to make it but we had a pretty good turn out. Everyone seemed to approve our our new little man and he didn't disappoint with all his cute little smiles. Mom and Dad put together a great meal and we all had a blast watching the kids play and catching up.

Of course half way through the evening he got hungry and came back looking like this......

Just as cute as ever I say! Miles and Cru were born one week apart. they are 2nd cousins and look nothing alike, lol. I do see one similarity, the are both going to be HEART BRAKERS!!!! Aren't they so handsome?

One of AJ's favorite parts about being at Grandma & Grandpa Peterson's house is playing with the dogs, Angus and Zoe. Angus is a 3 year old little Yorkie who spends most of his day hiding from AJ and seeking attention from anyone else willing to give it. Zoe on the other hand is a 10 month old Boarder collie full of energy and eager to play with anyone who has the time.

Here we are Sunday night out on the deck with AJ, Miles, and both puppies. It was a beautiful night to sit and relax but Zoe had other plans! Here she is attacking the boys after getting all slobbery in her water bowl, lol, perfect timing on the picture!
We had a great time sitting out on the deck. Unlike Portland it actually cools off here in the evenings so you want to go outside.
And even when there's no time to take the Dogs out for a walk Grandpas a good sport and let's AJ take HIM for a walk, ha ha.

Two big boys.

Here are the boys snuggling in the chair this morning. AJ always wants to hold Miles but at just 7 weeks he is already too big. Our little Miles is getting to be pretty juicy and we are lovin' it. Aren't they both just to cute!?

This was not how I planned it!

As most parents out there know, things rarely go the way you plan them to, but I have to say I am pretty good at rolling with the punches. I do my best to plan out dinners, fun daytime activities, girls nights, dates, etc. but if things don't work out I just let it slide. But this week has really thrown me for a loop! (What does that saying even mean? where did it come from!?!?)

Miles and I developed thrush last weekend and have both been pretty miserable ever since. Thrush is a yeast infection passed back and forth between you and your baby while nursing and is fairly painful for everyone involved. The doctor gave me a prescription which cost $25.00 bucks and can take up to 3 weeks to get ride of the problem, BLAH! Good thing for us mothers we share everything because it was only by mentioning this to Nicole that I found out about Gentian Violet, an over-the-counter remedy that takes care of the problem in days. THANKS NICOLE!!!!

Before getting this information our week was hectic! We were getting little to no sleep which makes for a run-down couple. The dishes and laundry were backing up but I just couldn't find the energy to put into my house work. Dinners = Sandwiches/Mac'n'chesse and little Miles was always crying! AJ was less impressed and often ended up in front of the TV while I tried to get things together. Poor kids!

This morning it all came to a head. Miles was a mess, AJ was exhausted from being up all night with the heat and his sad baby brother and what do I decide to do? Potty train. LOL. I took AJ to the potty and told him about pooping in the potty like a big boy and getting treats. Showed him how the pull-ups worked and then he was off to play. I finally got Miles to settle down and what should I find when I go to check on Age but a nice little poop log in the middle of his floor. He was quite excited that he had taken off his pull-up and gone poop but when he saw my face he said, "uh-oh Mom! AJ poo on the floor." Not only was it on his feet and hands but he also informed me, "AJ try it, not like it. Poop make AJ sick." That's right folks, in the mouth!

So I cleaned him up, sent him to play and went back to my screaming baby. That is when Nicole arrived with the world changing news about Gentian Violet. THANKS NICOLE!
My mission for the day was to find and acquire said drug and start using it immediately! Lyndz was nothing but a life saver taking me to three places to get it and offering to take Miles so I could get some rest. It started to help immediately and things are on their way back to normal!

It was a long week. Sure I haven't washed my hair in 5 days, 3 dirty diapers accidental went through the wash, and my son ate cookies for breakfast on more than one occasion but we are all alive and well so I'm still good! Plus our little man learned to hold his head up and roll over. Here is a picture of him enjoying is tummy time with his big brother.

Did I mention Gentian Violet really lives upto it's name by staining everything it touches violet? well there ya go, kinda cute eh!?

!!!Surprise!!!

As most of you know Lyndz is basically my best friend in the whole world these days. We spend our time together running around, chatting, swimming, and enjoying (or some days just coping with) the Boys. I was so excited for her and Dust to make their first trip home over spring brake but a little bumed that I would be stuck here in Portland and miss her birthday!

I wasn't about to let their little trip get in the way of us Portland girls celebrating another year of Lyndz, so I started planning. We've heard so much about Papa Haydns desserts I decided it would be the perfect location. I e-mailed the girls and made the reservation for July 24th. I decided that at the last minute I would tell her Aaron bought something on-line and the two of us needed to go get it.

Nicole was worried that she would jump in the car in her PJ's and then be sad that she wasn't all dolled up for her big night. So earlier that friday Nicole called up Lyndz and asked if she could practice doing her make up before a trial she had that night. It worked out perfect and you'll see just how beautiful Lyndz ended up looking.

The girls did great at keeping the secret! I though Bex added an nice touch when she casually asked us what we were up to that night, lol I almost said, "we're going for desserts remember!?!" good thing Lynz piped up with an answer first!

I got us lost going down there and just about ripped Lyndseys head off when she tried to take my paper to check the directions. We ended up having to stop and ask for direcions. Since I couldn't just yell out that we were looking for Papa Haydns I actually jumped out of the drivers street and ran over to a couple to whisper where we were going, which was just two blocks away.

We got out and started looking for "the guy with the book" to no avail. I thought Lyndz would start catching on when I ran back for my wallet and camera but when she asked what I was doing I just mumbled something about getting my valuables and walk on ahead of her. I walked into the restaurant, past the hostess, and around the back wall where 8 of our closest friends yelled, "SURPRISE!"





She was shocked!!! All she could say was "You jerks! ha ha I can't believe you did this!" We had a great night together celebrating our friend, eating cake, and visiting. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYNDZ, YOUR ONE IN A MILLION!