LoToJa

This year Nelson decided to sign up and ride Lotoja again, but with a different approach. With Travis Poll’s passing he decided to ride in his honor. Instead of signing up and paying the money to do the ride he was going to raise the money for his entrance. The Huntsman Cancer Foundation does a fundraiser that you have to raise so much money to get into the ride. Nelson decided he wanted to do this.

During a few months he did what he needed to in order to raise the required amount. The night before race day he decided he was going to make and laminate a sign for his back. His sign simply said In memory of Travis Poll with his birth and death date. The next morning when he started the race he pinned his sign to his back.

At the finish line he told us and others that this ride was more emotional for him. He said the support he received during the race was amazing. There were several times in the ride that people would ride up to him and start talking about Travis. They wanted to know all about him. Other times people would ride up and say jump in with our group Travis would not want you to quit. He was amazed with all the support people were giving him.

When he finished the race we were waiting at the finish line for my brothers. We werestanding around talking and watching the other riders when a lady stopped and started reading the sign on his back. She got a huge grin on her face and started getting the attention of the other people with her. They approached us and began asking how we knew Travis Poll. Nelson explained that it was a good friend of his. They became teary and said, “That is our cousin and nephew, thank you so much for doing this for him”. They asked him if he would take off his sign so they could get pictures taken with him. I felt myself get emotional as I watched and listened to them talk to each other. The crazy thing is there are about 1,800 people who do the race. What are the chances we would run into someone who would know Travis?

Nelson had a great race and felt pretty good when he was done. This year for the race Nelson wanted to complete it in ten hours and 30 minutes. He actually got 11:08. He was not so pleased with that but still had such a great accomplishment of completing the race. This year was a little rougher on the training with the half ironman and his bishop responsibilities. He did a great job and I was grateful we could be there cheering him on.

Summer to do list

Our typical summers usually begin with me making a way too big to do list of all the things we want to accomplish. As it happens we usually only accomplish about one third of the list each year. This year with Nelson being Bishop it has made our summer a little crazier. There are so many things that he has responsibility to support that sometimes our life turns into a juggling act. We had a great summer and many opportunities to spend time with family.

Max wanted to run a 5k. He has never run a race before but has seen his parents be involved so wanted to join in. He is built a lot like his dad. They both have endurance to go and go. Max ran with most of his cousins and finished at 30 minutes. He did not even practice once before the race. He did a great job. I think next time we will practice a little more before the race.













We went Canoeing, many bike rides at the dinosaur park and enjoyed many fun trips and fun times with our little family.

Half Ironman

This summer Nelson decided he wanted to sign up for something that would push him a little more physically. He and a good buddy Tyler Dixon decided to sign up for a Half Ironman (triathlon). There are a few crazy aspects to this whole thing:

1. Nelson does not care for running. His take on running is you only run if you are being chased by a big dog. For the race he had to run a half marathon.
2. He has never done a triathlon before. So what does he do- he signs up for a half ironman of all things.

Nothing like jumping in fully dressed and experiencing it all without getting your feet wet a bit. He had a good time training (as good as it can get I guess) He did a great job on his race and said it was the toughest physical thing he has even done so far. The awesome thing is the lessons he learned from that and sticking with it can help him in so many other aspects. Sure there are times he wanted to quit and that it was downright tough, but he did it.

At the finish line when the people were coming in they said you can now check this off of your to do list- you just completed 70.3 miles. Wow what a big accomplishment. I am not sure this will ever be something that will ever go on my “to do” list. Nelson truly is our IRONMAN- he did a great job. We will see what is next on Tyler and Nelson’s workout to do list.

Nelson doing the run portion of the race and coming into the finish line

Nelson and Tyler Dixon at the finish line of their race. Nelson had a great time with this experience and training with Tyler.

First Day of School

I can’t believe it- both my cute, adorable boys are headed off to school. This year Max will be in fourth grade. It is crazy how fast they grow. He is the type of kid who absolutely loves school and loves hanging out with his friends. At first I was not too excited about some of the things they pick up from school, but so thankful for the life experiences he gets to have each day. Max is a great loving kid and draws all the kids near to him.
Here is to another great school year and many school parties that have way too much sugar (I just had to add that because I think they get too much crud)














Max's school talent show- showing off his break dancing skills. He has a mean spin on his head and loves to show that at the talent show. Makes me smile to see he is not shy and willing to get up in front of the kids and show his talent.

Asher is starting kindergarten and could not be happier. He just wants to be big like his brother and get to ride on the bus. Now that he finally gets to he is so excited. Before school started he had to go in for Kindergarten testing. He spent some time with his teacher and went through all the information she needed him to. As we were getting ready to leave Asher looked at her and said “Teacher I have to tell you something you don’t know about me.” He proceeds to tell her that he burps and farts a lot. Really- of all the first impressions he can make that is what he has to say. I swear you can teach your kids manners but as soon as you go in public those manners go out the window. He had the biggest grin on his face and thought it was the coolest thing he could have said. I wonder if his dad put him up to that- just kidding.
Hope that this school year is a great one for him. I am thankful for the opportunity I have to be home and spend time in their classrooms. It is fun to get to know their teachers and their friends.

Summer Live Ins

This summer ended up being a little different for us then all of the rest. At this point in my life I should have learned that every time I complain that I can’t keep up or just can’t get everything done- I will be tested more. As you can guess I have not learned that yet. I just finished complaining to Nelson that I was overwhelmed. A few hours later I received a call from my nineteen year old niece asking if she could stay with us for the summer. As you can imagine my first thoughts were no way, I just can’t add one more thing. I had to give it a few hours and then think about it again. I knew it was one of those things that I really needed to pray about and have help from my Father in Heaven. We agreed and frantically started putting up sheet rock in the basement to make a rough bedroom.

I have to admit it had its ups and downs. It took a bit of time getting use to each other and accepting each other for who they are. The biggest frustration was not knowing if our efforts really helped out.

Shortly after this all happened Nelson's nephew Skyler (10 yrs old) got the opportunity to come stay in Utah for a few weeks without his parents. He chose to stay with us. At this point we had two extra people living in our house. There were times that I felt like our house had a revolving door. With the extra people and with Nelson being the bishop I felt that someone was always at the door. It was good though- I needed to learn to not be so uptight on my schedule and learn to just go with the flow of things. Max also loved having his cousin here with him since we don't get to see him much.

At this point I am still not really sure why all this happened this summer but do know there were reasons for it. I know there were lessons I needed to learn in patience and needed to learn to be more understanding. Looking back I know there are things I could have done differently but am thankful for the lessons that I learned from it.

I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to go through this. I know we have been very blessed financial and with a nice home. Nelson and I are both willing and know we need to share all that we have been blessed with. We love our family and are grateful for all opportunities to strengthen family relations.

Bear Lake

Every year my family and Nelson's family both plan family trips to Bear Lake. We love it up there. My parents are both from the Bear Lake area so I have enjoyed going up there since I was a little kid. The two family vacations usually end up being a week or two weeks apart from each other, but are so different.

The Weston Trip- With the Weston family we usually stuff all 34-40 (depending on who is in town) of us in a Condo and have a blast. We spend lots of time playing out on the grass, at the park, in the pool and at the beach. This year also included a mean game of hockey on the basketball courts and many hours of bike riding. It is just such a relaxing time hanging out with the family. So thankful for all the fun memories we are able to create with our families. Here are some fun highlights from the trip:











Max & Asher spend most their time doing crazy tricks on the diving board












Asher playing around & Nelson training for his triathlon










My sisters and I Asher and his funny faces

Max, Logan & Skyler playing on the boat

Bowen Trip- with the Bowen family we go with all the Shurtleff family. As expected we always have a great time on our Bear Lake trips. Who does not enjoy being in the sun and playing all day.
This year with the Bowens there was a bit of excitement. A bunch of the kids were out on the sail boat with Uncle Kirt when it tipped over. All the men jumped in the Kayaks and headed out to rescue the kids. Most of the kids kept their cool while others were in the water crying their eyes out. Max and Asher on the other hand thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
We had a great time with kayak races, skiing along the beach, digging swimming pools for all the frogs that were caught and just laughing around the fire. Here are a few pictures:










The kids playing on the sailboat

This was the first time in a long time the whole Bowen family was able to come. We took family pictures while we were up there. The sun was not to kind on my eyes and the wind did not do miracles for my hair.

Oregon

My family consists of 2 parents and 7 kids. Getting together with the whole family is fun, chaotic and does not happen as much as we would like it to. I have two brothers who live out of state, it makes it harder for us to get together as much as we would like. Our family does a thing that every 2 years we go on a family trip together. This year was my brother Greg's turn and he planned Oregon (that is where he lives). We all drove out to the coast to spend a few days with them. I am so glad we could I have never been to the Coast and it was amazing.

This is us on the drive there. I am not much of a car traveler. If I have something to organize I do ok. I also do ok if I can talk, but Nelson loves looking at the scenery. Good thing the kids travel better than I do. The kids played picture scavenger hunts with the camera. It was fun. I was a little worried we were going to cause a wreck with Max trying to take pictures of the drivers next to us. They kept looking over trying to figure out what he was doing. On the way there we stopped at an awesome waterfall.

We stayed in beach houses on the coast. While we were there we were able to go to some tide pools. It was awesome to see the different Sea life that was hanging out on the rocks. The kids favorite part was the crabs that they found and got to hold on to. In fact a few of the girls were convinced they were taking theirs home for their pets. Let's just say that did not happen like they thought it would. While at the tide pools we went through some lighthouses. Below is a picture of all the kids bothering the poor worker. They kept telling him he was Joe Jonas and asking for his autograph. I am sure the kid was so glad when we left.

We went down to some shops and were able to see a bunch of sea lions just hanging out. This is Max and his normal crazy facial poses. This is a picture of my whole family minus 1 nephew (we missed you Josh). I love being with my family.

We spent many hours on the beach building castles, looking for crabs, skim boarding (which by the way I am really bad at),walking, picking up seashell and having bon fires. The guys were able to bring their bikes and go on a few rides. I am so glad we were able to spend this time with my family. Max even let the girls paint his nails, now he is not so proud of that but it is ok it was just for fun.

This is Asher after getting his foot on some of the coral. He did not care for that much. My dad and Nelson tried making a bandage out of seaweed. Then he spent a good part of the day being buried in the sand by his cousins-