First Day of School

Jameson-8th grade

Lynnlee-6th grade-Mrs. Howard

Kade-4th grade-Mrs. Bean

Taggart-2nd grade-Mrs. Byer

Sienna-2nd grade-Mrs. Byer

Everyone woke up bright and early. They were excited! The boys got new Under Armour shorts and tees to support Uncle Kasey. 

Lynnlee and her best friend Hannah.

James had practice right after school. First day of school pic soccer style…

Training: Week 12

This week was intense! Especially today. Gotta hit those long distances so I’m ready. Less than a month until race day!!! 

I was so happy the smoky air cleared out at the beginning of the week!

Monday: 30 min bike, 6 mile run

Tuesday: 2 mile swim, 60 min bike

Wednesday: 3 mile walk, 7 mile hill run

Thursday: 1.5 mile swim, 40 mile bike

Friday: 3 mile walk, 6 mile run

Saturday: 1.2 mile swim, 48 mile bike, 12.69 mile run

My swim went well. No complaints. Jumped in the pool at 5:00.

Started the bike at 5:45. My feet kept going numb after 15 miles. I had originally planned on biking 52 or 54 but the numbness was driving me crazy and none of the tricks worked to help get blood flow back. The only think that worked was stopping and getting off. Since I didn’t want to do that every 5 miles I just ended early. I did ride to Bridal Veil from my house so that was a pretty great destination.

I’m not sure what time I started the run but James came with and ran 3 because he is training for the Swiss Days 10k. Then he ran home and I ran 9.5 more. To the Saratoga Springs temple and back.

View of Utah Lake and Timp on the way home.

I love the “high” from each portion…I get so excited when I finish the swim, and the bike and during the last few miles of the run I’m super stoked and excited.

I finished running about 11:10. 6 hours of training is so crazy! It makes marathon training seem like a walk in the park. Speaking of walking, I found out that Olympic speed walkers can walk faster than my fastest running pace!

Anywho, I always take a really good nap after these really long trainings. (After I’ve eaten a really big breakfast)

Only 3 more Saturdays left of training!!!

Jameson’s 13th Birthday

It was an exciting week for Jameson. He turned 13! It was his golden birthday on Friday the 13th! He has been looking forward to this since last birthday. He talked about it a lot leading up to it because he was just so excited! He had his friend party at Fat Cats on Wednesday. Bowling, arcade, and mini golf kept them all busy for a few hours.

He wanted homemade Oreo cookies for his “birthday cake.” 

Friday we woke him up before Marshall went to work so he could open his presents. He requested egg toast for breakfast. 

He went out for sushi for lunch with Marshall.

I took his favorite sports drink, Body Armor to the end of practice. His team sang to him and he was all embarrassed.

Lynnlee made cookie cups for his actual birthday and put 13 candles on it 🤣 It was quite the flame.

It’s been a great year for James. He has excelled at the French horn, he loves soccer, is excited for cross country season, loves reading and is in a book club with his cousins, will eat anything, has his IBS managed pretty well, always positive and happy, and loves spending time with his friends. 

Last Week of Summer

We packed in the fun for the last week of summer. 

Monday: Jump Around Utah

Tuesday: Dinosaur Museum

Wednesday we went to Fat Cats for James’s friend birthday party. That will be a separate post.

Thursday: Lehi splash pad. No pictures. 

Kade got to go with his friend to Kanarra Falls that day. He loved it! Playing in water, floating sticks down the river, and exploring, perfect for him!

Friday we went to Splash Summit. Lynnlee was brave and went on Sky Breaker and Free Fall for her first time.

Lynnlee’s Heart Update

If you follow Lynnlee’s heart journey then here is an update for you. Every summer she has her annual check up. A week ago she wore a holter monitor for 24 hours in preparation for her appointment. Then she had an EKG and echocardiogram right before seeing her cardiologist. Everything came back normal for her. Her O2 sat was even in the 90s! 

Next year will mark ten years since having her last open heart surgery called the Fontan. I can’t believe it’s been ten years! I can still remember all of the feelings and memories of her surgery and recovery. I’m glad she was able to have a good recovery and has done so well since then.

Next summer she will have in-depth testing with a cardiac cath, blood tests and meet with a team of doctors to see how her other organs are doing. 

We try to treat Lynnlee like a normal kid. She has been playing soccer since she was 3-years-old and skiing since she was 5-years-old.  We never know if that is good for her heart or too much. Her cardiologist said it is good and that regular physical activity will help her heart not hurt it. 

She normally goes the the main campus but this time we only had to drive to Riverton. It was nice! We stopped for lunch on our way home.

Training: Week 11

Monday- bike 30 min, run 6 miles

Tuesday- swim 60 min, bike 

Wednesday- bike 30 min, walk 3 mil, run 7 mil

Thursday- swim  60 min, bike 

Friday- bike 30 min, walk 3 mil, run 6 miles

Saturday- bike 20 min, run 14 miles

This week was a steady week. No issues with the workouts and I felt strong. I wasn’t sure what I would be able to do Saturday with the smoky air. I really didn’t want to do training on a treadmill or stationary bike. When I woke up this morning the air score was lower and the weather channel showed it was ok to run outside. Me time/Running/Training is so therapeutic that it out weighs the risks of running in smoky air. So I ran to the Timp temple. It was exactly 7 miles from my house. It was a nice run, no problems, I didn’t eat anything before or during and it was nice because I didn’t need the bathroom. I had water with me and that was all I needed. This is why I struggle with pre run nutrition. It works for shorter distances but not for marathons. 

Aunt Pat’s Birthday

We visited aunt Pat’s grave on Sunday to celebrate her birthday. We went with Ali’s family and met up with Betsy. I took sugar cookies for everyone because aunt Pat loved making sugar cookies and the kids loved frosting them and covering them so sprinkles. Then we sat under the shade of a large tree and shared memories we all have of her. We miss her a lot! 

Clear Creek

Lynnlee went to Clear Creek with her best friend Hannah. It was a little different this year due to Covid. They went to an elementary school for the first day. The second day they went to Clear Creek for the whole day. No overnight, and way less people. Lynnlee really liked the whole experience. They played lots of games, learned about plants, animals, set squirrel traps, caught a chipmunk, did a ropes course, team building activities, classified bugs, and stamped leather.