Thanksgiving

I am in a new ward now. Well actually this was the ward I was in when I first moved to Denver but it has changed a lot. It was good timing because the day after I started at the new ward they were having their annual Maplewood Thanksgiving dinner and auction on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I bought a Nuggets ticket while I was there for the next day. A girl in my ward is a nanny for some really rich people. He has season tickets on the 10th row center for the Nuggets games. I bought one of these at the auction. I was really excited about getting to sit close at a Nuggets game because I am always up in the high balcony.
I have long said that before I die I want to be on the gaint screen of some sporting event. Well at some point during a tv timeout they asked people to get out their King Soopers discount card. I got mine out and started waving it around. All of a sudden I was on the giant screen so I got really excited and started jumping around more. The camera went off me and I still was jumping around. After about a minute I was on again and it said winner around me. I, of course, was really excited so I jumped around more. I asked my friend what I won and they said $100 gift card for King Soopers. So now I can die a happy person. I was on the big screen for about 15 seconds and even got a gift card. It was awesome.
This year at Thanksgiving there was just four of us. We had a great dinner and I eat to much and apparently drank too much kool aid. My stomach hurt so bad for the next two hours but it was worth it.
At the dinner table we noticed my Dad's shirt. Both his elbows were worn out. He told us he saves those shirts so when he has to wear his suit for a short time he can still wear them. He marks an X on them so that he knows which ones he has to keep his suit jacket on for. We all got a good laugh about that.


My Dad is retiring at the end of the year. We got recruited to help move some filing cabinets from his office to our house. Little did we know there was more he had in mind. We had to move boxes of files to a storage unit.



Carol and I did have fun with the moving dolley. The filing cabinet was a job that was a little bit too big for us. I have a big bruise on my leg to prove it. At one point one of the cabinets fell off the dolley and rolled down a hill at our house and then we dropped the big one which broke a painting in our family room.
We also went to the BYU vs Utah game. Here is my Dad and my Uncle Don dressed for the game. It was 37 degrees that day. It was a good one.
Most of you probably (or you should have) watched or listened to the game. Very exciting.
Students rushed the field. I remembered how much I loved those games, especially since we won.

Fall Break

We get a week off for fall break. Last year we went to Guatemala this year Carol and I decided to visit Kim in D.C. After talking about it we decided that we probably should spend a long weekend in New York since it has been almost a year since we have been there last. Connie and Kim didn't want to be left out so we had a Single Summers' sisters' long weekend.
Carol, Connie, and I took the red-eye and arrived Saturday morning. Kim was taking the China Town express bus from D.C. and didn't get in until that afternoon. It rained the whole first day we were there. I had to buy an umbrella from a guy on the street.
We went to two plays this time. We wanted to see musicals that we hadn't seen yet. The first night we saw Legally Blonde. The story is pretty much the same except for a couple of things at the end. The songs were pretty funny but the singing was great. The girl who played Elle also played Glinda (Wicked) on Broadway. She was really good.
We also saw Drowsy Chaperone. It was good but not my favorite.
Oh and Bob Saget was in it which we thought was funny.

We waited too long before we found a place to stay so the cheaper hotels were all booked. We decided to stay at a hostel again. Last December we stayed in a hostel so we decided to use the same one, The Continental. It isn't very nice but at least we knew what to expect. It is located on 95 on the Upper East Side. Our room had two bunk beds. It was simple but it worked.
Washington Park is one of my favorite places to visit.
Every time I have been to New York City with my sisters we have tried to eat at a place called Serendipity 3. It is suppose to have really good desserts. So this time we made reservations since it is always busy. The dessert was pretty amazing.

All we did this time was shop, eat, and see shows. Connie went back to Texas and the three of us went to D.C.
I have never really been to the D.C. zoo so we went. One of my favorite safari animals is always the hippo. It was cool to see one up so close.

We also went to the Spy Museum. It was awesome. I have always been upfront about my desire to be Sydney Bristow. Here I am trying to go through this heating duct without being loud. They had a little noise meter. Watch out Jennifer Garner.
One of Kim's roommates works in the West Wing of the White House so we got a private tour. We weren't alowed to take pictures inside the West Wing but here we are outside.
I really wanted to sit in the Oval Office but we weren't allowed to go into the room. It was still pretty cool. We ended our vacation in Delaware at our Aunt Ann's house. I didn't take any pictures but we had a great time. We drove to Intercourse, Penn to see the Amish Country. Good times!

My First Triathlon

So sometime during July I decided to train for a sprint triathlon (500M swim, 15.5 miles Bike, and a 5K run). Carol and I have been biking a lot this summer so I wasn't worried about this part of a tri but I have no real experience with swimming laps. I had to find a tri that was at least a month and a half away so I would have enough time to practice. Most of them were on Sundays so I picked the Montrose Triathlon on October 6th, a Saturday. I thought it would be a nice way to turn 28. I invited friends to do it with me and there were a lot of people who were excited. However, when it came down to it, almost everyone backed out. Carol, Bo, and I were the only participants. The first time I went swimming I thought that my heart was going to explode it was beating so fast but each time I went, it got easier and easier. Here,I have documented our journey.

Since the triathlon was in Montrose and it is 1 1/2 hours away from Grand Junction, we decided we would need to get a hotel. Carol and I took the day off work even though we left at 3:00pm. We met Bo in Grand Junction and drove to Montrose. We wanted to go to the information meeting that night but I got pulled over in Montrose for being in the left lane too long without passing. I was trying to find the road that we were looking for. Basically the state trooper was bored but he didn't give me a ticket. This caused us to miss the meeting but it wasn't a big deal. We decided to eat at Chile's that night after we drove around trying to find a movie theatre. Carol ordered a Diet Dr Pepper to prepare her for the tri.
Here is Bo showing off his really really tight swimming/biking/running shorts.
Bo is getting the bikes ready.
I am at the transition stage setting all our stuff out. We really didn't know what we were doing. We just kept looking at everyone else and copied them.

They had to write our number on our legs and arms. It only took a couple of showers to get rid of it.
The bike portion was the part that we were the least worried about. The swimming was actually really easy. The bike was horrible. It was really windy and at one point it blew me off the road. No matter what direction we rode the wind was in our face. It seemed like it would never end. I got to the transition zone first and waited for Bo and Carol. Needless to say our transition time wasn't that fast.
Here is Bo and Carol running for the finishline. The run was up a hill and back down.
Here is a picture of us at the finishline. They had to take the finishline down while we were biking since it was so windy.
After the tri we decided to award ourselves with Wendys.
I had a great hamburger and fries.
Carol enjoyed her frosty.

I think Bo had a hamburger and the frosty.

Summer Fun in Denver

Even though I was gone a lot this summer I was in town long enough to enjoy the great Denver weather.



Dave and I went to a Rockies game with his sister Ann and her boyfriend. Dave caught a foul ball. It was pretty cool. I think the Rockies won but I can't remember.



We also hiked Pikes Peak with my Dad.



My Dad didn't start hiking 14ers (14,000 feet peak) until he was 60 years old. After learning that he had Parkinsons he decided that he wanted to finish 10 14ers. Pikes Peak was number 10. This was really important to him and we were all excited to be there.



You can actually drive to the top of Pikes Peak so my mom met us up there. My dad does really well hiking up but his balance is not what it has been so going down is harder on him. This was my mom's second 14er. She drove up to Mount Evans last year with us.



I have been biking a lot this summer. A couple of my friends did the Moonlight Classic with me on August 18th. It was a midnight 15 mile bike tour through downtown Denver. It was a lot of fun. People dressed up in random customs. We decided to make this an annual event. Here is my friend Jeff from work, me, and Bo.



Carol, Lauren, and Joe



Joe had the best bike out of our group, 3 gears.



There were about 6,000 people there that night.



We all made it to the finish line without accident. We are planning on doing a 25 mile bike tour in Palisade on September 15th. I am also training for my first triathlon in Montrose on October 6th. I figure it will be a great way to celebrate my 28th birthday 2 days early. Anyone is welcome to participate. It is a 500 meter swim in a pool, 15 miles on the bike, and a 5K run.

Ouray, Colorado

The first week of August my family met in Ouray for a little bit of a vacation. A family in my parents' stake offered their "cabin" for us to use. We like to call it the mansion. It is incredible.



My sister Kate surprised the family by showing up on Monday with her two boys. My brother-in-law Aaron wasn't able to get work off to join us. My nephews loved throwing things into the lake. Here is Curtis 4, Drew 3, Ian 2, and Michael 1. My newest nephew, Owen was just about 1 month old at the time. The boys had a blast playing with each other.



The four "singles" and my dad when jeeping on day. It was amazing. The San Juans are probably my favorite mountains in Colorado.



One night we were giving each other pedicures. Michael (1 years old) wanted to join in on the action and scrub his feet. He was pretty funny about it.



Our last full day Carol, Connie, Kim, Dave and I went on a hike to a waterfall. It had some amazing views of the town.



We had to take our trash with us when we left the mansion so we piled it into the car. Connie and Carol were the lucky ones who got to sit by the trash.



Last year there was an attempted to get rid of the trash at Subway. It didn't go well. This year we decided to give the KOA a try. So Kim and Connie tried to sneek the trash into the garbage bin. Kim forgot to put the car in park so it started to roll as she ran out to throw the trash away. There was a lot of giggling but we did get rid of the trash.