Missouri

I honestly thought I wouldn't have any fun on this 'business trip'

Boy was I wrong!

We got to Branson Saturday afternoon and decided to go do the Branson Zipline.
SO FUN!

Rode up the trail in this beast.

From left: Papa Fred, Mama Karin, Brooke, Brian, me, and Kip behind the camera

Walking across the rope bridges

Kip ziplining

Seriously fun times

Now on to 'business trip' stuff

The showroom. Welcome to Tracker Country.

Testing out the water

Product testing in Dogwood Canyon

Had 6 of these for people to try out. Random.

Meet and greet

For any fishing fans, THE VanDam and Snowden

Fred's Marine crew with the man himself, Johnny Morris (center)

(he owns Tracker and Bass Pro Shops)

The Showboat Branson Bell

Dinner cruise that included two shows and the best fireworks display I've EVER seen

Us girls got to go to the spa, lounge by the pool, and go on morning runs around the valley.

Such a beautiful place

We were so spoiled! We ate some pretty delicious food, were treated like royalty, and were given so many gifts it was hard to pack it all home. 

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that.

XTERRA 2011

Me, Amber, and Rachel

The 3 amigas

We did the XTERRA Triathlon as a team

And we took first place in our division

(We were the only girls team in the long course division)

Oh, and Lance Armstrong was there too. He took 5th overall

Winding down summer with a BANG!

Lets go back to the first of July...

The wonderful Child family again allowed us to go to Lake Powell with them.

**Interesting fact**

Kip and I, along with my cousin Susan, set up Jed Child with my cousin Amanda Ulrich

They just happen to be getting married in a week.

Kip and I are pretty excited.

Kip

Amanda

Amber

Adam

Rachel

 Clint

Curtis and Jed

Another extremely fun Lake Powell trip. Not sure how we'll ever repay the Child family, but maybe getting one of their sons married is a start... ;)

Kip's sister Bri and her family, Mike, Trent, Garrett, and Zack, were in town from China when we got home. I took zero pictures but we had SUCH a great time while they were here!

They live so far away, guess we'll just have to go visit.

Now fast-forward to the end of August

For the second year in a row Kip and I went to Lake Powell with the company Living Scriptures. They pay Fred's Marine (both mine and Kip's employer, also my Dad) to rent a boat and driver for the week. We, again, were the lucky ones able to go! 

Drove down Sunday afternoon and got on the lake Monday morning. 

Many of you began school that same Monday morning.

I must say it felt so much better being at Lake Powell!

We met so many great people.

It is very rewarding to see everyone doing what they wanted to do, and knowing you taught them how to do it. The smiles and excitement are so contagious!

I mostly took pictures of those we taught to surf, wakeboard, and ski, so this post won't have many pictures. It's basically leading into the next adventure.

Best. Driver. Ever.

This picture of me was taken the day we left Lake Powell, Friday.

I participated in the Bear Lake Brawl Triathlon Saturday morning.

Left Lake Powell at 7:00pm Friday night

Arrived home in Ogden at 1:30am

Went to bed at 2:00am

Woke up at 3:30am and drove to Bear Lake

Did a triathlon and loved every second of it! Yes, driving was exhausting, but Kip was a champ and did the majority of it. I love that man, he is so considerate.

Setting up my transition station.

Before-the-race shots

from left: Britanie, Me, Amber, Rachel

Kevin (Kip's Dad), Britanie (Kip's sister), and me

Me, Amber, and Rachel

Done swimming. We had to run through AWFUL sand for about 100 meters. Sucked.

Crossing the finish line. Yes, I did bike, but no pictures. 

In spite of no sleep, I improved my overall time from last year, which was my goal.

We had quite the group participating this year.

siblings: Amy, Ashley, Steve (basically a brother), Brady, Emily, Brooke

in-laws: Kevin and Britanie

aunt and cousin: Kathy and Ivy

friends: Rachel and Amber

wonderful support: Kip, Mom & Dad, Brian, and Clint (Rachel's husband)

All of us placed, and a few even got medals! Congrats to everyone!

It's more fun to do these activities with people you know.

If you ever want to do one, get others involved!

All in all it was another great summer!

Can you feel it? The crisp morning air? I personally love it, Fall is probably my most favorite season.

With my birthday and Halloween, why wouldn't it be?!

Now bring on school.

One and done!

Saturday, May 21, 2011 I participated in the Ogden Marathon, 26.2 miles. I have always wanted to do just one marathon, and I did it! My official time was 5 hours and 18 minutes, so not the fastest but I don't care, I finished! 

This is at the start line. Thousands of people!

 Here's my bib. This is something I'm definitely going to keep!

After many miles and a lot of pain, I finished!

 Just to get this...

 And it was totally worth it! Yesterday I wouldn't have said that, but today I don't regret it at all! Yes it was hard, yes my body hurts, yes I cried as I crossed the finish line, and no I probably won't do another, but it was worth it.

One more item to check off my bucket list!

Thanks to my awesome family and friends that stuck around to support me. 

You kept me going!

Newest addition to the family, our Titan

Well, here it is! Our 2004 Nissan Titan. I held off as long as I could after we sold the Tahoe, which was October, but SUMMER is coming and the boating season will soon be upon us, so it was time.

Although she's a few years old, mileage is very low and the interior is perfect! We got a screamin' deal on her too, one we just couldn't pass up! 

And to add to her awesomeness, she came with a carpet kit!

(for those of you who don't know what that is, it's carpeted seating that lines the bed of the truck)

We have zero need for a carpet kit, but one day we'll have kids that will love it. For now, it will sit in our basement taking up some much needed space.

See, already pulled a boat to the lake! 

Come on summer, we're ready!

Back to the blogging world!

Hey y'all! It's been a while... Lots has happened but minimal pictures have been taken, so here we go

I took this the other day... It's just too adorable!

Morgan at the Boat Show. Fred's Marine gave out mustaches, they were a huge hit! Here are a few stache pictures... 

How cute is this little guy?! Baby Chuck Norris!

We put up new exterior doors, the first is the front door and the second is our side door. They have been so wonderful!

I've been attending Weber State this semester, majoring in Secondary Education, Physical Education

I've been missing these puppies like crazy! I hope they are loving life with their new families!

We bought a new computer! With both of us in school, or soon to be going to school, we needed something that would allow us to look at and do homework... Our 6 year old laptop wasn't cutting it!

This week is the International Sportsmans Expo. Fred's Marine, my Dad's boat shop, will be there selling Tracker boats, Sanuks, Sherpani Bags, and Hapari swim suits. If you don't know what any of these things are, go to www.fredsmarine.com and look them up. Sanuks are sandals, Sherpani bags are multi purpose bags, and Hapari is modest swimwear that is so cute! And very durable! So go online, come to the Sportsmans Expo, or next week come into Fred's to see everything!

No baby news... Hopefully soon. Just trying to stay patient.

Happy Spring Break!

And Happy St. Patrick's Day. I can guarantee another post won't come before then...

Last few dam jams

Clint, he's awesome!

Nate, awesome as well!

Derek, awesome!

One of several skis.

The beautiful water.

The driver, Jed.

Me skiing. I'm not video worthy yet...

And last the best of all the game! Rachel skiing. Look at that spray!