Spudwoman and Mountain Bike Mania

Ready to go

Tomorrow is the Spudman Triathlon. I am not ready. I only started riding my bike 3 weeks ago after trying to rehab from a back injury.

I was going to just do the swim. Then I decided I could probably do the bike too. This morning I decided I would do the run too. Why not, I can always walk it. Hopefully. I have not put my running shoes on in 3 months. I am an idiot.

Darren got into the Spudman too. He has been sick for going on 2 months. He has not swam or ran. He is opting for his own Spudman. Somewhere in the South Hills on his mtn. bike. He may or may not be going all the way to Oakley.....

• bike pump - check
• water bottle - check
• wetsuit - check
• extra goggles - check
• shot blocks - check
• banana - check
• chamois butt'r - check and double check (you don't want to know)
• bottle of headshot to possibly be chugged 10 min. before swim - check (don't ask)
• a brain in either one of our heads - ??????

Standing for Something

When you want to have fun, who do you call? TED. He has this really cool rack on his truck and it is usually filled with fun toys. Tonight it held Standup Boards.

He has been trying to get us out on these for a while. We finally did it tonight.

I'm in my wetsuit so I could get a swim in while we were there.


The boys got the hang of it right away.

The Stand Up Gang.

There were some boys jumping off some cliffs at the back of the lake and as we approached they started yelling at Ted. "Ted, is that you? We didn't know you had a Stand Up gang!" Everyone knows Ted.

We stayed until close to 10:00. Beautiful time to be there.

Off into the sunset.

Shoshone Wave

So, we went surfing in Hawaii.....or was that Shoshone on the canal? It's hard to tell from this picture. And the conditions were so similar - sandy beaches, palm trees....or was that hard lava rock and sagebrush? What's the difference really?

The Jenkins came to visit and we had to take them to one of our favorite spots.

The longer the surf, the harder the fall.

Then a skydiver was reported missing. Suddenly he fell from the sky just as Brady was about to surf the wave!

It didn't stop Brady, he remained focus on the task at hand.

Sharing the wave.

Walking up for a second float down the canal. The Lazy River at Seven Peaks has NOTHING on this!

I haven't surfed it in a few years. I forgot how fun it was!

On Their Own

What do you get when you put three boys in three kayaks and turn them loose in the canyon?

Dinner?

This was the first time I let Justin paddle up to Vinyard Lake with no adult supervision. I had no doubt in my mind that these boys could handle it, but still.....We had so many obstacles in getting them to the lake.....no receiver hitch to be found for my car, Darren needing stuff delivered in the middle of all this, finally getting the trailer hooked up and loosing the tail gate SOMEWHERE along the way, leaving one of the boys with the boats to go find the lost tailgate, Paige thinking she broke her finger while she was home alone while I was doing all this. Nothing is ever easy, but they had a blast so it was worth it.

They paddled up Twin Falls Reservoir, swam in Vinyard Lake to avoid Poison Ivy and caught way too many Crawdads. A fun summer day if you ask me.

Fisher Creek

It just doesn't feel like summer unless we have biked Fisher Creek.

Darren, Justin and I headed north, picked up the Weber's along the way, and drove over Galena Summit into the Sawtooth Valley.

Justin smoked me to the top!

I haven't been on my bike for WEEKS because of an injury. I felt it today. UGGGGHHH! I hate being out of shape!






This is such a great ride. Eight miles up, eight miles down. The downhill is the most fun you will have on a bike. Banked corners, whoopty doos (?), and lots of smooth trail. There are a few scary spots, I found one and have a little blood to show for it.


My back did OK, I did a lot of stretching on the way. It is the drive up and back that killed me. As Justin and I drove away with the Webers, Darren headed up the trail again for a second loop before heading to Bradley.

I was a little jealous, mostly of the fact that I wasn't in good enough condition to do it twice, but I was quickly consoled when I remembered that Ketchum Burrito was on the way home!

I am motivated by food! And Diet Coke.

Paige's Trip

Paige got to go on a trip with Grandpa and Grandma Smith and her cousin. They went to Phoenix by way of St. George. The highlight was staying at Paige's great aunt's place! She was gone for a week, and we really missed her. It was pretty quiet around here without her!

Paddle boating in Clara's pond.

Clara's library.

They had to pass Grandpa's driving test before they could drive around on their own.

In Phoenix they went to an aquarium.

The awesome play house at Clara's. I think Paige was ready to move in!

Pretending to fall out the playhouse window?

Grand Canyon. Paige took great pics don't you think? She loved staying at Aunt Laurie's and seeing her cousin off on his mission. It was a great experience for her. We firmly believe that Grandpa just turned off his hearing aids in order to survive the giggling girls in the back of the car! Two girls that have only brothers enjoyed having a "sister" for a week!

For a tour of the playhouse, watch the video by Paige and Autumn.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Brady went on his first Scout campout as a deacon. It was a "Shoe Box" campout. He came home and told me they could only bring what they could fit into a shoebox. Uh - huh right. I promptly called his leader's wife. Seriously? Seriously.

We pulled out a boot box. This is not just any old boot box. This box holds the mountaineering boots that my brother Steve bought not long before his death. We decided together that Steve would love to have his box go on a survival campout. The boots have been used quite often. They fit Darren and he has ice climbed in them several times. We have used them as a visual aid numerous times for lessons for the youth. These boots look like serious business when they have the crampons attached - stand firm, be immoveable type of thing.

We taped it up in weak spots and filled it to the brim.

Brady did well that night with only a fleece blanket to sleep in. He had an emergency blanket, a pot for boiling water, food, extra clothes, and gummi worms. Important stuff first, you know.

I think he slept about 1 hr. They froze and got rained on. Just what the leaders were hoping for. They can do hard things!

Into the Pioneer Mountains

The Pioneer mountains hold some of the most beautiful lakes and peaks in Idaho. Justin is lucky to have a scout leader that wants to "bag" a few of these peaks.

You can see the Pioneers best from Twin when they are covered in snow on a clear day. They are North and little East. Whenever I see them I am in awe of how giant they are!

Why Him?

Enough already. This poor kid and his head. This happened while he was ASLEEP. He and a friend were sleeping out under the Wing (a shelter we use on the river, held up by raft oars). A wind storm came up and BAM! Raft oar to the face. How is that for a rude awakening.

I'm just mad he hasn't been wearing his full-faced helmet to bed. What did we get that thing for anyway?

More of Paige and Guns

If we ever moved back to town we would be in serious trouble.

I love where we live!!!!

PHS class of 1990

Last weekend I attended my 20 year class reunion. I was half excited and half dreading it. It ended up being so much fun! Darren was bored out of his mind, but was such a good sport. I got to see some dear friends. I have to say all the girls looked more beautiful than ever, and the guys...well, they all looked older!

This is eight out of the twelve of our Varsity Cheer squad. We seriously were the best cheerleaders that school has ever seen! These girls were great friends of mine and influenced me in such a positive way!

OK so they called us up to do the Provo High Fight Song.....It was really funny that some of us could actually remember parts of it! Emilee wanted me to run out doing back handsprings! At that point I really did feel 20 years older!

I laughed so hard that night! We had a great program and remembered some great times. I went to school with really good people. High School was a positive experience for me and it was nice to see some of those friends who had a profound influence on me!

The Drops

Yes, we Idahoans swim in canals. And it is dang fun! This was our first day at the Shoshone Drops this summer. The kids have been begging for weeks to go there, but the water has been too low - those dang farmers think they need the water more than we need to play in it?

Justin surfing the wave.




Three boys on the wave at once. This is the biggest we have ever seen the wave.

Brady getting ready to jump.

Paige would only jump in if someone was already on the wave and would follow her down if she got flushed out. Here her board was getting away from her....

It kicked both of them off.

It was only in the low 70's here today and the water was freezing, but they had a blast. The wave was easy to surf at this level. The kids are such fish, they can never get enough of the water!