River Happy and Sun

 

 

 

 

Just got these pictures a few days ago.  They are from two years ago, but I just loved thinking of the sun and how happy we are on the river.

 

 

 

What We're Thankful For 2012

Tonight was our annual "What We're Thankful For" night.

 

 

I have record of our gratitude list starting in 1999.  Justin was 3 and Brady 1.

 

Every year on the Monday before Thanksgiving we pull out all the past year's thanksful lists and go over them.  It truly tells the story of our lives.

 

 

In 1999 we were thankful for toys, daddy's job, Jesus, and health, to name a few.

 

2000 brought the "whole earth," honeybees and mountains, warmth and T.V.   Brady even said he was thankful for Paige.  It's good we have record of that one.  She was 6 months old, and it really may have been the last time those words came out of his mouth;)

 

 

In 2001 we must have made a trip to Yellowstone because Buffalos made an appearance on the list along with "really pretty rocks" from Justin.  Brady was thankful for Mice...I'm pretty sure I wasn't. I was grateful to be a stay at home mom.

 

In 2002 we got our red leather couches because Darren said that he was grateful that he had kayaks to trade for Mom's couches....I remember that he traded Gus at Thursdays two kayaks for couches!  Brady learned to ride a bike that year and was also grateful for "all bushes and blueberries."

 

2003 was apparently the year of the reptile becuase in addition to the traditional Jesus, home and family we had lizards, cobras, and frogs.  Paige at 3 was grateful for heads and pencils. 

 

Skip to 2005 and we were way into bikes....the boys were grateful for "jagged edge, Evil Kneval, and Rocky mtn"  these were jumps they had made had the dirt hills not far from our house.  Darren was thankful for bike races - I think that was the year we did a few mtn.bike races.  We must have flooded the basement that year because I was thankful for "electricty and running water, but not in the basement."

 

By 2009 we had been grateful for many rivers.  Food, books and friends started appearing.  That year I was grateful for tough cars, a bike that I hadn't gotten to ride yet (due to the car not beign quite tough enough) and thoughtful, helpful people.  Life in general that year.  Being alive was good.

 

2010 and 2011 brought gratitude for ski helmets and unweighted oars (the oar to face incident), first kayak descents of the Murtaugh for the boys, rainbows for Paige, and LOTOJA drafting for mom.

 

This year the first thing out of Paige and Justin's mouth  - that we still have 1 month and 3 days to live (Mayan calendar),  stealing wishes at Shoshone Falls and parents that buy gas.  Three teenagers that are more fun than we ever thought, a 9:31 LOTOJA, and a survived mtn. bike adventure in Bend.  I am NOT grateful for WIND in St. George, but am thankful for being in a position where doing an Ironman was even a possibility.

 

Of course I am just writing the fun, humorous stuff.  Every year we are grateful for each other.  Every year it is written that Darren is grateful for me.  Every year we are thankful for the knowledge that Jesus Christ is our Savior.  Every year we are grateful for His mercy and grace.  We know we are blessed with health, home, and peace. 

 

Darren and I have reflected on the fact that each of us were raised in a home where parents expressed gratitude for all, and were content and happy people.  Gratitude is a key to happiness, and a true virtue.  There are many things every single day to be grateful for. Somedays you just have to look harder than others. I hope my kids will always remember to be grateful, everyday, not just at Thanksgiving.

 



Cyclocross

 

It's that time of year! Cyclocross season!

 

Today's race was at Rock Creek park.  It is a challenging course, maybe suited more for a mountain bike, but fun nonetheless.

 

 

 

 Justin camped last night down at Shoshone Falls, showed up to race, took third place, then headed home to shower just in time to go to Sadie Hawkins!  We are seeing less and less of this kid these days.

 Brady was home from school with a cold yesterday but decided to come help set up the race with us, and ended up racing.  He used my cross bike and did so great!  4th place!  This is against mostly adults!

Since Brady had my bike, I used Darren's.  His race was after ours.  In this picture I am trying look like the cool cyclocross people do when they just hop off their bike and just kind of skip over the obstacle.... by the fourth lap it was more like a fumble.

 Darren at the starting line



 Darren cruising. 

Last race he rode in the "B" group and kicked tail, so he jumped up to "A" this week.  He still took 4th behind some fast Ketchum guys.

 This is the crux of this race.  Two years ago I didn't even ride down it on my mtn. bike.  This picture doesn't even show the half of it!

 

Darren made it look so smooth!  My first try I hit one of the poles at the bottom and lost my glasses.  On my second loop in the race I went head over heels and landed in the grass... I got dang lucky and only have a few scrapes and bruises.  See pic below! Although as I type I am getting more sore by the minute! I guess I don't bounce as well as I used to!

 

The next time around I was sooo nervous and didn't decide until the last second to go for it and I had a perfect run.  When they told me I had to go for a fourth lap I was so bummed because I really didn't want to have to ride this part again.  I did it and I noticed Darren in the distance watching to make sure I made it ok!

Seriously, how I did I get all the way over there?

 There were a few muddy spots on the race, which is what cyclocross is all about!  We all came home covered in it!

 Paige raced one lap in the kids race and in a sprint finish pulled off first place!

 

Girl Power!

I somehow pulled off second!  Does it count for something that I am 20 years older than her?:)

 

It wasn't even close.  She beat me handily.

 

 

 

What a great day!  We showed up early to help our friend Jerrod set up the course.  It was a family affair all around.  Everyone had a great day and went home feeling like they had accomplished something!  Brady and Darren headed out for some yard work, I started on the laundry, Justin was at Sadie Hawkins and Paige cleaned her room. 

 

We are a tired and happy family tonight!

Baseball in the Blood

 

 

I wish this was a more clear picture, but my mom took it through the chain link fence.

 

I LOVE love love this picture.  Brady LOVE love loves baseball. 

 

I love baseball.  Baseball runs in the Harrison blood.  It was a huge part of my growing up years.

 

Brady just has "it" when it comes to fielding a ball.  My late brother, Steve, made fielding a baseball look like a symphony sounds. Even several years after he passed away people would still comment on how "that kid could field a ball." 

 

I love it when my parents come to watch his games.  This year especially when the coach was driving me nuts I couldn't wait for my dad to come and give his opinion. He is always fair and balanced that man.  Sometimes drives me crazy, but that's just how he is. 

 

My dad spent a lot of time throwing the ball with Brady when he was little.  He loved it. 

 

I am the one in this family who Brady brings the mitt to.  I can't throw as fast as I used to but thanks to Angie Hardy I can catch anything ANYONE could throw at me.  She trained me well!  She could burn that ball as fast as any guy has ever thrown to me!

 

This fall we've already been talking about next baseball season.  Brady loves it.  I'm glad someone around here does!



Cookies For Sale

 

So what happened to the days when we would go out on the corner and sell lemonade ALL day and make a few dimes?

 

This past summer Paige and a friend went around with a menu from their "Cookie Couture"  flyer and pre-sold cookies and cookie dough.   $120.00 worth.    Seriously?

 

They divided and conquered, each making half of the cookies.  I think by the end they earned their money...and so did I;)



Fall Middle Fork Trip

October 4 - 9, our annual fall Middle Fork trip.

The family after six nights camping, freezing, oaring, pushing off rocks, hunting, fishing, pushing off more rocks (the river was 1.6 feet). 

 

This was at Otter Bar the morning of our last day....and we are ready to get off the river! Well, I should probably just speak for myself - I was READY to get off the river!!!

 

If you look closely you can tell I have an extra pair of gloves, a neck gaiter and who knows what else in my pockets.... was cold for all but maybe 3 hours on this whole trip!

In my own defense, it was only 9 degrees the morning we put on!

 

 

Paige hamming it up for the camera - thanks Justin - and do you love our splash guard?  Paco pads in the front of the raft are a must for a fall trip.  Who wants to get wet?  Not me.

The smoke from the Halstead fire was pretty thick.  The first day we were all getting sore throats and coughing.  It would have made for a long week, but it cleared out by noon almost every day.  It was weird because it never would warm up until the smoke blew out.

 

 

 

 

Paige above Velvet Falls

 

Coolest kid I know

 

He found the glasses at Hidden Lakes.  So proud.  Especially when he told me that the first thing he did when he got home with them is wipe them with an anti-bacterial wipe!  I felt much better.

 

 

 

 

Showering in Sunflower hot springs.  We camped at hot springs for the first three nights.  In the summer months you are only allowed one hot spring camp.  We also stopped at Hospital Bar hot springs on the fourth day - just so I could warm up!



Everybody knows that life jackets are required for hunting.

There was lots of chuckar hunting, and even some bear hunting. Sorry Jennie that we finally allowed Chris to shoot a big game animal.....Each of the boys also shot bears.   And neither ever will again.  They are very greasy to clean.  And even kind of cute.  Once Paige saw the dead bears she stopped being as afraid.   I have bear claws and skulls drying at my house......Brady wants to make something out of his hide...it is in my freezer. Yum.

 We saw 8 bears on this trip.  They were everywhere!

I don't think Paige will ever forget our night hike to Loon hot spring.  It is about a mile hike up a canyon.  We took lights and saw two bears, five racoons and tons of deer.  The eyes were a little eery!  Seeing two bears not very far from our camp didn't help Paige sleep very well that night!  

In this picture we witness a miracle.  Brady agrees to eat an apple for 50 cents.  And guess what?  He didn't even die.  Only Uncle Chris could have pulled this off.  Brady still doesn't like apples.

This experience brought up a fun converstion between the kids and I as we were packing up our tents about Justin and the "special" apple in third grade!  I'm laughing out loud again thinking about it.

This is why I love this trip.  Six days with my family with no outside distractions. 

Heaven, really.

 

 

Paco pad splash guard has many uses.

I could post a hundred more pictures.  But none would capture the beauty, the wildness, or the silence broken only by the sound of the oars dipping occasionally in the icy water as just eight of us made our way through one of the most remote and pristine places in the West.

 

Despite plenty of warm gear, I was cold A LOT on this trip.  I went through one night not being able to warm up until the next day when I could get into a hot spring.  I went through one day contemplating if given only one option if I would choose warmth or food.  I totally chose warmth.  Of course each was within my ability to attain...but just thinking about people who have had to deal with extreme conditions (I recently visited Martin's Cove) made me wonder how people survive, and not wonder at how some don't.

 

One of my favorite times on this trip was when Brady sat in the front of the boat and talked for a  half hour straight about a book he had read recently.  I have a great relationship with my kids, but with the hustle and bustle or normal life, I value moments like this with my teenage son!

 

Paige was a delight to be with.  Besides the bear fear going on at night....she was independent and totally in to the fishing and hiking and helping out. She would set up the tent and get gear packed up.  It was so nice! I wouldn't have wanted to be there without her.  I love how she is the same person wherever she is - how she is on the river is how she is at school.  She doesn't put on pretenses or try to be something she's not.

 

It was awesome to see the Middle Fork with Justin.  This was his sixth trip down it this year. Four as a  guide.  I loved not worrying one single bit about him in the rapid and rocks.  I have total confidence in him.  Watching him oar  was a proud mom moment.  He and Chris had a great time being in the boat together.  Justin oared and Chris fished.   I loved the stories about what happened here or there on some of his trips this summer.   I felt so cool when he would oar up to me, "Mom, hey mom,  this is where....."

Some friends can't comprehend why I would go with my husband on such trips, and they say so.  It kind of gave me a complex this year, as if they thought this was only for the guys.  It actually kind of ate at me.  All I can say is not for all the warmth, showers, toilets, or cushy beds in the world would I miss out on this.



St George Ironman

 

I have been needing to write about my attempt at the St. George Ironman since May!  I just haven't really wanted to revisit it! 

So......

May 5, 2012.  Known as the toughest Ironman in the world.   No doubt the toughest Ironman bike course on the planet.   A life long dream to complete an Ironman.  Why St. George?  Because it is on a Saturday.  Most others are on Sunday.  I originally planned for Couer d'Alene, but in the end couldn't compete in it on Sunday.  I didn't think it would bother me....3 kids looking at me like "really mom?"   To make a long story short...a long story of agonizing over how BADLY I had to do an Ironman, how hard I had trained.... I signed up for St George because it was, of course, still open.  All other Ironmans sell out right away, but not this one, no one wants to do it!  2012 was to be the last year of Ironman St George because it never did sell out.  

 

 

 

This took eight weeks off my training, but it was my only choice if I didn't want to wait over a year to get into a different Ironman.  I was exhausted already and ready to just get it over with.  I couldn't imagine training for another year plus.  So I went for it, knowing it was a long shot because of the course, but also knowing that if I just plugged along I could do it. 

 

The morning of the race was beautiful.  Safety kayakers getting ready on Sand Hollow Reservoir.

 



Not very many pink caps.....less than 20% of the field were women.

 

Looking at this pictures is giving me a panic attack!  Because I know what is about to happen!

But even then, I felt like a lamb to the slaughter.  I was almost numb.  Looking back I just forced myself to put one foot in front of the other.  I was so nervous, felt so unprepared, and also had a head cold!  But sometimes there is no better way OUT of a situtation than to be all the way IN!

 

 

 

 

 



 

I lined up to the left of this picture.   I wanted to be in the center, but to start about 3/4 toward the back of the crowd.

The start.  Chaotic.  But I felt great.  I was passing people and staying calm.  I had trained swimming 2.5 in the pool (boring boring boring)  but I was WAY nervous and open water swimming is a head game for me.  It wouldn't be fast, but my plan was to just keep moving forward at all times.



 The wind starts. 

From my perspective, about five minutes in, I was really annoyed because I was wondering why the safety boats were causing a wake!  Didn't they know we were trying to swim!

 

 If only it had been the boats!  35 mile winds.  Total chaos ensued.  People  panicked.  You couldn't see the buoys.  We couldn't tell which direction to swim toward! 

 

I wasn't scared.  I had prepped myself for swim panic because of my disastrous Boise 70.3 swim.  I knew it had to keep my head.  I thought how I had swam rapids, big waves didn't scare me.  But Bummer.  Fighting 4 foot swells is hard.  The longest section of the swim,  1.2 miles in a straight line, went directly against the wind.  Hundreds of people got into safety boats.  Safety kayaks were flipping and flying across the lake.

 

On the shore Darren said people were freaking out.  1700 people in that kind of water was not a good thing.  I wouldn't let myself look at my watch because I knew it would send me into a panic.  You have to finish the 2.4 mile swim in 2:20 or you can't continue.  I had 1:30 - 1:36 in my head for my time.  I needed every minute after that for the bike.   I finally looked at my watch when I was on the back side of the island and had at least 1/2 mile left.  1:54!  I was so frustrated and went into overdrive.  I quickly realized all that effort didn't make much difference against the waves and if I was going to finish this thing I had many miles to go ......I just settled back in and realized there were many people in the same position I was in. 

Coming into the finish I could see volunteers lifting people out of the water like rag dolls.  Would I be able to stand?  The clock said 2:17 when I got out.  I had totaly mixed emotions about whether I was even glad I made the cut off.  I was wiped and pretty bonky.  That is a long time without food at that effort and my body felt it.  The volunteers literally dressed me.  I didn't even so much as put on a sock.  They shoved my banana in my hand and said "Go! You made that swim!  You made that swim! You can do it!" 

 



Off I went.  112 miles of biking in front of me.  

The wind was horrendous.  I was pushing it to go 10 mph at times.  It took me an hour to get enough food in me to make me feel like I even wanted to go on.  After about 20 miles and a few hundred calories I was really excited to be there!  The climb up to Gunlock was brutal.  It is steep.  The wind was screaming. 

 

25 miles out from the first cut off I knew I wouldn't make it.  With that wind there was no way I could make it.  I shed a few tears.  I felt love and gratitude for Darren who didn't blink an eye at letting me throw money at a race that was a long shot just to let me feel that I tried.

 

I missed the cut off at mile 65 by less than 10 minutes.  In other races they would have let you continue,  but this was a road closure and the Highway Dept was dead set on opening it that time. 

 

Lots of people pulled up to the cut off.  There was lots of swearing and crying.  I wondered how they hadn't realized 20 even 30 miles back that they weren't going to make it?  More people missed the cut off than in any other Ironman in history, like by double!  This did help me feel better:)

 

I rode back to town and had a heck of a time getting hooked up with my family.  Nice volunteers let me use their phones.  The bummer thing was that I really wasn't even tired.  I had trained to ride another 45 and then run 26.2. 

 

I cried for two weeks.  But I also felt that this was not my time.  I did not feel a sense of urgency to sign up for another one to get it done.  Still don't, really.  Maybe it will come back.  But deep inside I know I had it in me to finish an Ironman, probably any Ironman but that one on that day.  And that is good enough for me right now.

At least I got my family to St. George where they love to play!  We celebrated Paige's 12th birthday.  Everyone had a great time while I was out suffering!

 

Aunt Clara's is the best place in the world!

Boys rode Poppy - apparently the best mtn bike trail EVER - and found this little gem!


Thanks for the great pics Heather!