We Tri!

Philip and I did our first triathlon together! This was my second ever and my first with an open water swim. We were both pretty worried about the swim because the water temperature was 66 degrees, and we didn't have wet suits. As we walked over to the swim start we noticed about 90% of the people had wet suits. Philip reassured me that everything would be fine and I would do great on the swim (I did really well and placed high during my first tri back in October). That made me feel a little better, but Philip is perpetually optimistic, so it didn't make me overly confident. It was certainly chilly, but we both decided we were glad we swam in just our suits, and that it was not as bad as expected. Perhaps standing around in just our suits in the 50 degree early morning weather acclimated us to the cold :).

This was another sprint distance triathlon, so we swam 400 meters in the lake, then rode our bikes on the road for 20K (about 12 miles) and finished with at 5K (3.1 mile) run through the McKinney neighborhoods. Philip finished in 1 hour and 20 minutes and I finished in 1 hour and 41 minutes. We were both surprised to see that we "medaled" in our divisions. I finished 3rd and Philip finished 2nd. However, after seeing the full results Philip's results remained pretty impressive, but mine...not so much! Ha! There were only 4 women in my division and I finished 95th out of 111 competitors. So, not too great. BUT, I was proud of myself for finishing the whole race without ever stopping, and pushing through all the hills. Even Philip, who has done many of these events, said this was a very tough course. I think I was most proud of my bike because I averaged 15 miles an hour even with a lot of climbs. My run however, was pretty slow at about 12.5 minutes per mile, and my swim was 11 minutes (could have been about 8 or 9) possibly because I got pretty off course before the first buoy. I had to really adjust because I am used to swimming in a pool where you can see the line on the bottom to guide you. In this lake I could barely see my own hands through the green water! I stayed on course a lot better between the buoys after that first stretch.



Philip finishing his swim

Here go the girls! I'm the crazy one on the right with no wet suit :)



Philip finishing his bike



My bike finish

Philip running strong through the finish

Me thanking God to safely cross the finish line!





I NEVER thought I would say this, but I really enjoy doing a triathlon and plan on doing at least one or two a year from here on out. The 60 and 70 year old competitors always inspire me and Philip and I would love to compete with our grandchildren cheering us on one day. :) It's exciting for Philip and I to have a activity that we can do together that will also keep us in good physical shape. Philip has been encouraging me to increase and maintain my physical fitness and health ever since we started dating. I know it makes him happy for me to be active and participate with him in a hobby that he loves so much. I'm looking forward to training and racing together again in the future, and even getting our little guys racing soon too! 

**Thanks for all the pictures and for cheering us on and supporting Philip, Allen!**

Fun on the Farm!

Levi and Joel LOVE anything that involves animals and being outside. So, when my church play group decided to go to the local goat farm on Earth Day, I knew we had to be there. They must have advertised their Earth Day Celebration, because the place was very crowded! Even with the crowd, we managed to have a nice visit. This particular play date was filled with mostly kids Joel's age (which meant lots of boys, yay!) and they enjoyed all the special activities.

All the BOYS!

Joel really wanted to sit next to his buddy Wyatt

well hello...Levi liked petting and talking to this goat

We went on a quick hay ride around the property, saw horses, pigs, chickens and goats. The boys fed hay to the goats; or rather, watched them eat in their hay filled barn. I enjoyed checking out the specialty shop and buying some local honey. There was also a small area with activities for the kids and booths selling local goods. Levi enjoyed planting some green beans, and both boys were really into the chicks and chickens. It was a fun morning and felt festive to celebrate Earth Day on a farm. I sure am glad God created this world and all it's blessings for us to enjoy!

Scootin' Machine!

Moe and Pop bought Levi a fancy scooter for Christmas, and over the last few months he has become quite the scootin' pro. With all this pretty weather he has been showing off his moves and recently asked me to take some action shots while he did tricks in the driveway. It's hard to tell in this picture, but he was zipping around in a large circle pretty quickly during the photo shoot. Enjoy the show!

Bye Bye Diapers!

Well, I guess it's official, Joel is potty trained! I'm so pleased with how easy the process has been!  Last Monday Joel decided he was done with diapers and started asking to go often and even taking his diaper off and getting on the potty himself. So, on Tuesday morning we "threw away" our left over diapers, and put on some dino-underpants (Joel's choice). 

 
That first day he had only three accidents! Philip convinced me to go ahead and put him to bed in his underpants, even though he had not been waking up dry, and to my surprise he stayed dry all night! He has been in underware 24 hours a day ever since and has been doing great. He has been completely independent (other than the occasional help with wiping or getting his pants up or down) for the past two days and has not had a single accident.

Funny memories during Joel's potty training:
-at first he would always pull his pants down to his ankles in what ever room he happended to be in and then waddle penguin style all the way to the bathroom
-we met a friend at the park one day and he just pulled his pants down and peed without a word, right there on the wood chips for all to see
-sometimes during the first couple of days he would pee every 15-30 minutes just to get a jelly bean (Levi would try to do the same! ha!)
-he always calls his underwear "underpants" (probably from one of his favorite books, Dinosaurs Love Underpants)

He seems so big getting himself on and off the potty, flushing and washing his hands all on his own! We have been so lucky to have two boys that were fairly easy to train, especially at night. All the horror stories about potty training boys have not held true in the Boyer house. Way to go Joel! You aren't our baby boy anymore :( but I sure am glad to ditch the diapers and all that goes with them! After almost four years of diaper duty it's a nice, but strange feeling to have a diaper free house.

Seth's Engaged!

Sunday my little brother, Seth, got engaged to a great girl! We are so excited to have Morgan as part of our family! Morgan and Seth have a lot of common interests and a shared love for the great outdoors. We think they are a great match! I can't wait to see what God has in store for these two! Congratulations Seth and Morgan!

Veggie Tales Live!

Levi LOVES veggie tales. So, when my good friend noticed that Veggie Tales Live was coming to town she made sure to let me know. We bought tickets right away, and my sweet co-workers made sure I could leave early Saturday night so that we could go together as a family. Bob and Larry were there with all their veggie friends and Levi had a great time watching them dance around and sing his favorite veggie tales songs. He danced in his seat, he danced in the isle, he clapped, he sang, he laughed. We all had a good time. I'm glad we were able to take Levi to experience his beloved Veggie Tales live and in action! What parent wouldn't be thrilled if their kid loved that show...what's not to love; vegetables and God :).

Ressurection Day!

Levi and Joel love to help me in the kitchen, so this year I decided to have them help me make some pretty Easter cookies. I made the dough a few days in advance, and then on Thursday evening we cut out and baked the cookies. Then on Saturday night we decorated the cookies. I'm going to toot our horn, we made some awesome cookies! I LOVED the way they turned out, and had a blast making them. Levi did a great job dipping them in the frosting and sprinkling (or dumping) the sprinkles on top. Joel was shockingly good at cutting the cookies out, but not so helpful with the decoration part. Not only did they look pretty and festive, but they were darn yummy too....I see this becoming a tradition!

On Friday night we dyed hard boiled eggs. I love this tradition and plan on continuing it even though it seems like a lot of people just do the plastic eggs these days. My memories of doing this with my family growing up are so fond, I want to pass that along to the boys. Plus, it's always nice to have hard boiled eggs around for deviled eggs and egg salad, right?! Joel's favorite color is yellow right now, so all his eggs spent time in that color, and his hands were a lovely shade of mustard by the end. Philip pointed out that this was probably the best color to make a mess with, and that it did match his shirt :). Levi on the other hand wanted to make every color egg, and wanted to put each egg into several colors. He was chatty and enthusiastic the whole time, as usual.

We had a busy, but fun Easter Sunday! Levi and Joel woke up bright and early at 6:20am, which was a little painful, because I had stayed up a little late the night before finishing up all the Easter prep. However, it allowed us time for the boys to enjoy checking out their baskets, hunt for eggs and eat some blueberry muffins complete with Easter egg decorated wrappers. After all the early morning celebrating we put on our Easter best and headed to church. This year's service was beautiful, and I cried, as I seem to every year, while we remembered what our Savior did for us by dying on the cross and then raising three days later to give us all victory over death. Joel was wild the whole service, probably due to all the jelly beans he had with breakfast, so Philip sweetly spent a lot of the service with him in the narthex.

 

After church we jumped in the car and headed to my parents house for Easter lunch. We enjoyed and very delicious meal, seriously, my Mom and sisters - really all the women in my family - know how to cook! I ate way to much. Once we were done pigging out on ham, spring shaped biscuits, green beans almondine, deviled eggs, fruit salad, creamed spinach, corn casserole and greek marinated veggies we all relaxed in the living room while the kids played. Nora and Levi enjoyed some old school My Little Pony and Wishbone on VHS with Gran. The kids also had fun cracking cascarones on their heads with Philip, Uncle Seth and Uncle Dustin. After that break from eating we were ready for dessert and enjoyed cookies and carrot cake.

As if that weren't enough, once we got home we had a visit from Papa and Nana D! They brought lots of Easter goodies for the boys! Levi and Joel were very spoiled, and loved seeing their grandparents. After they headed home we cooked up our catch from the day before, per Levi's request, and enjoyed relaxing and eating a yummy meal with just the 4 of us. All and all it was a wonderful Easter, and I feel very blessed by all the gifts God has given us. Our cup over flows!