"Wait...Back Up"

Time sure passes by quickly and before you know it the summer is over and there isn't a single thing posted on the blog. So, we are going to back-up....way back...like 4-5 months back, because I have been looking at photos and trying to organize them over the last few days, and I think that I would like to share some and share some the things that have been going on in our lives lately. (Plus I like to use this blog as something of a journal, and since I haven't been writing in my real journal this summer either, the blog will do the job).

In May, Isaac's Grandpa, Harland Dale Goodwin, passed away after a long fight with cancer. There were so many special experiences that occurred during his last few months and the weeks following his death helped draw us closer together as a family and which made his passing so bittersweet. Isaac was sad that he wasn't able to see his Grandpa one last time before he died, but we have joy in the knowledge that this earth life if not the end and that we will see him again one day. We both feel that just being able to attend the funeral was a tender mercy from the Lord. It was really difficult for me to get time off work at the clinic. A few months prior to Grandpa's passing, I asked for work off for a couple of seemingly random dates Isaac and I had chosen, planning to use to take a small vacation together. Not so coincidentally those few days that I had asked off ended up being the exact dates the funeral would be held allowing us to make it to Grandpa's funeral that we otherwise would not have been able to attend. We both feel so lucky to have known Grandpa Goodwin during this earth-life and we look forward to seeing him again and getting to know him even better (especially me, since I only was able to meet him a few times).

While in Utah, Laura asked if I wanted to do the American Fork Women of Steel Triathalon Relay with her and a friend (which friend was coincidentally Isaac's old girlfriend). I hadn't trained at all, but they needed someone to help out, so I agreed. Jenny swam, I biked, and Laura ran. Luckily the weather was just perfect and it ended up being really fun. The swimming portion was at the American Fork Recreation Center in this tiny pool, so it took forever for Jenny to even enter the water. Laura and I laid out by the pool wishing that we hadn't gotten up so early and chatting about random things for over an hour. Finally it was time to get on my bike and go. They made the swimmers run about a half mile to the transition area to switch off, which was kind of hilarious owing to the fact that Jenny was rather pregnant at the time and she was more waddling our way than running. We cheered her on enthusiastically shouting something along the lines of "get your pregnant but over here....you can do it!" Everyone around us seemed to get a kick out of it and joined in the cheering. I totally loved the biking part a lot more than I thought I would. I was using a really nice rental road bike which made it a lot more fun. There was one big hill to climb that was a total beast, but then I got to ride back down a big hill (alpine highway) at speeds faster than I have ever gone on a bike. So fun. Twelve miles passed very quickly. I traded the band off to Laura feeling glad that I didn't have to go run seeing how my legs were already starting to feel a little wobbly. When Laura reached the finish line, we all ran through together, none of us even bothering to look at our time as we really weren't doing this with the intention of trying to place. When we got our race bags and treats at the end of the race, we laughed and laughed. I suppose everything they gave us was so different from any other activity like this due to the fact that this is was female only race. We got cool t-shirts (which for some reason I decided not to wear, I know, I look really out of place) but we also got a necklace, a hand-held mirror, a lot of ads about where to get a massage/pedicure/haircut, and at the end they treated us with chocolate and diet coke. Sick right?! Who would want that after running? Well, I guess the dark chocolate bars were good, but diet coke, seriously? Is that what women are all about is diet coke and chocolate? haha. hilarious. I had a total blast and may even try and do a triathalon on my own one day. All in all, it was a good morning, and a good trip to Utah!