The BIG race

Kevin and his brother Cody, pre-race.

 Corey's big race of the year is the Park City Point to Point.  It's an 80 mile mountain bike race with huge amounts of climbing and technical trails.  It's what he trains all year for.  The night before the race we woke to huge rolling thunder and wild rain.  The week before there was talk of the trails being dusty and miserable, now there was talk of postponing  the race because of lightning and mud.
     Thankfully after about an hour of deliberating they decided to go ahead with the race.  I was really glad since we'd gotten my parents to come over at 5 am to spend the day with the kids and I simply didn't want to arrange the day all over again.

     Corey's had a great year biking this year so there was a lot of pressure for him on this race.  It's crazy how nervous and excited I get for him.  This year he asked me and his Dad to "crew" him.  This means we meet him at the aide stations and re-fill his bottles, give him the food he needs and help with anything he wants.  He stops at two aide stations for less than 2 minutes and it's an 8 hour race so there is a lot of waiting, expecting, crazy rushing and then cheering him as he speeds away.

Drew, Corey & Nick

     Stan and I went to a spot where we could see Corey before he got to the first aide station.  It's funny how I've come to know Corey's biking friends and know how they compare to Corey, their different riding styles and strengths.  At this first spot Drew, a Pro rider, was way in the front, then came Nick, very strong and then, quite a bit later,  Corey.   It made me a bit nervous, but Corey is an endurance guy and gets more strength as he goes so I knew it'd be okay.  They all were splattered with mud and wet.  We were cold ourselves, but they were all moving so Corey says he wasn't cold.  At the first aide station Drew came in looking good and was gone.  Then a bit later Corey came in followed closely by Nick.  He looked strong and didn't want much, especially to loose time.

The Podium

     We had much more time at the second aide station.  It was fun visiting with the other "bike wives."  We all get this whole obsession with mountain bike riding and it was nice to visit with everyone.  I knew a lot of riders this year and it made it fun to have so many people to cheer for and help.  Corey's Dad became the expert chain luber of that aide station since everyone's chains were in need of cleaning after riding the crazy muddy trials. 

Russ and Corey at the finish

     The finish was awesome.  Corey rides a singlespeed bike which means he chooses (obsesses over) one gear and that's what he rides the whole race, no gears to switch to make it easier, he just stands up and pushes through it.  It's an amazing and challenging way to go and Corey's really good at it.  This year his goal was to finish under 8 hours.  They cut about an hour off the course so it's hard to compare, but he finished in 6 hrs and 38 min. He finished 11th overall and won his division.  Amazing.  I'm so proud of him for working so hard and balancing his riding with a big family that takes a lot of time and attention.  Way to go Babe!!
     Thank you Mom and Dad for taking the kids for the day.  It's fun to have a day to think only of Corey and to support him.   The kids had a great time with my parents going to the Aviary, out to eat and spending time together. 
   

End of Summer Bash!

      The last weekend before school started we headed up to the cabin to celebrate.  I know I always say this, but there's something about that place...so relaxing and fun.  On Saturday we went hiking up above Smith-Moorehouse.  It was fun and the kids loved being goofballs for the camera. 

      Here are our goofballs-in-training...this girl needs a whole slideshow because she comes by this talent naturally.

      Back-in-the-day we were into kayaking.  We got both of our kayaks while Corey was fighting cancer.  One from college friends who pinched and saved to get us this awesome boat and the other from a pro kayaker who ran a camp for kids with cancer that Corey spoke at.  We haven't kayaked much since we had our third kid but wanted to keep the boats in use so we took them to the cabin.  Now anyone up there can take 'em to the lake and paddle around.  Our kids had a blast and I hopped in to see if I could still roll a boat. Another great weekend at the cabin!

Tracey Aviary

  This was not the Tracey Aviary of my youth!  If you haven't been recently I'd highly recommend it!  It's totally remodeled and my kids had a blast

                                                                            Lovin' this picture

Summer Afternoon

     I really think kids have the best time when they can just be kids.  Marci was a genius with this idea to go up AF canyon and just let the kids play.  They had a great time building a damn, squirting the water guns and being together.  That Tanner (lower left) is a riot!  This could be my favorite picture of him yet! Thanks for a fun day Marc and Blyth!

Avery being...well, Avery

Day at the Lake

     Avery wanted to go knee-boarding.  Jase did an awesome job making it fun for her, they didn't even go underwater when they were done.  Nice! Gotta love this girls spunk!

     Breck loves being on the boat!

         A great day on the boat = crashing at the cabin with tired kids.  Thanks for the fun day Moirs!!

Draper Days & Happy Birthday Twinners!!

     Draper Days is a big deal in our community and we had a great time celebrating it.  My cute friend Alison had us come over and tie-dye t-shirts for the parade and the kids loved them.  We biked to the parade route and my kids got enough candy to rival Halloween.
     It also happend to be Brecken  & Avery's third birthday.  I outfitted them with a Birthday Princess Crown and Birthday Boy Badge so they could get extra attention at the parade and it worked.  Avery loved all the "royalty" and would wave to the "princesses" as they passed.  They all wished them Happy Birthday and they were in heavan...so fun!!
     That afternoon we spent time with our friends the Leggetts.  Brooklyn Leggett is an amazing tumbler and the kids had fun with a hand-stand contest.
     The day ended with cupcakes and fireworks at the city park. We made sure the twins knew the fireworks were all for them.  A great day to spend a birthday...or two. 

     Funny side note:  Corey called me from Wal-Mart to let me know they only had blue scooters.  I told him that Avery wouldn't care and it'd probably be good to get them matching ones anyway.  When he brought them in Avery immediately said "that's not my scooter, my scooter is pink."  Corey got on the phone to every nearby store and found Avery her very own pink scooter...it's pretty fun having a girl.