That time of year again..... Puyallup!

Usually we do the opening day of the Puyallup Fair with Derrick's auntie Margeret but this year she was gone, so I carried on the tradition this time with Derrick. He took part of the day off to spend with us. A quick rest under a tree, it was hot out!

This year Dora was there! Last year it was Jimmy Neutron and Josie wouldn't go near him. This year Josie was such a big girl she sat next to Dora!

The start of the rodeo is on the first day, they had a wonderful area set up to learn all about rodeo life, I loved this pic, just look at Josie's rope!

This truly is a remarkable shot, last year Josie wouldn't even go into the horse barn and she is standing by a large bull. John and Josie both walked up and pet the bull too.

John petting a sheep.

Heroes

I couldn't help but to write a tribute today to those that lost their lives in the attacks of September 11.

After witnessing the horrors of the attacks, I vowed not to take any days for granted. My security of "living in the US" was taken on that fateful day. But rather to live in fear, I say let's actually LIVE each day. Let's live for someone besides ourselves. Let's reach out and make a difference in other people's lives. Derrick has a wonderful saying of "Righteous Anger" Am I angry about what happened? Heck yes, who wouldn't be? Lives were lost. It is ok to be angry, it is what we call righteous anger.

Righteous – Meeting the standards of what is right and just.
Anger – A feeling of great displeasure or hostility.

Kind of describes the attacks to a tee for me. But what do you do with the Righteous Anger? Everyone has to ask themselves what they will do with the righteous anger they feel or felt regarding the attacks, I for one, do not want to live in fear so I live each day, loving and caring for my family and friends. I strive to do things to make each day truly count. Other people have gone on to start some amazing foundations for those lost on 9/11/01

One such amazing story is of a firefighter who was on his way home after his shift ended the morning 9/11.

When Stephen heard on his scanner that the World Trade Center had been hit, he turned his vehicle around and headed towards the site. When his truck was prohibited from entering the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, typical of him, he raced on foot towards the site with his gear strapped to his back.
He was last seen alive on West and Liberty Streets where he, more than likely, went looking for his Squad, all of whom perished.

He raced approx 3.1 miles from the tunnel to the towers complete with gear on his back! Wow! I can run the 3.1 but I don't know if I want to do it loaded with gear! His family has set up a memorial run to retrace his footsteps (footsteps of a hero) on that fateful day. I would like to go and run the run, it is Sep 30th this year(my cousin is getting married that weekend!) , maybe next year! Truly his family is making a difference by setting up this run and raising $500,000 for a burn foundation. Amazing ! they have turned righteous anger into something very positive!

What will you do with your Righteous Anger?

Crystal Mountain

We went up to Crystal Mountain ski resort a few weekends ago thinking that you could ride on one of the ski lifts... but you can't. So we had fun walking around the resort. I hadn't been up to the resort in years, atleast 15, so it was fun just to hike around a bit.

Climbing up the mountain!

Waiting "in line" at the chair lift.

We did get to sit on the chair though, that was fun!

Gulu Walk 2007

GuluWalk is focused on being a voice for peace in northern Uganda and a partner in the health, education and future of a generation of children being left behind.


On Saturday, October 20, 2007 I am going to ‘Be an Icon’.
An ‘icon’ is defined as an important and enduring symbol. This is not about status or celebrity. It’s about standing up (and walking) for what’s right. ‘Be an Icon’ and choose to be an important and enduring symbol for the children of northern Uganda.


There is no cost to sign up and walk, this is an event for all.

If you would like to donate money to this cause you can help me to raise money by clicking HERE! Any amount is appreciated($1.00 to $1,000.00 it is tax deductible as well)! THANK YOU!

Can you imagine sending your kids to walk to a safe place everynight? The thought is unimaginable, yet it is still occuring today. Not at the same rates as it was in 2005, but if 100's of kids each night can't sleep in their own homes for fear of being taken from their families, then something should be done. Well the SOMETHING that can be done, is this - raising awareness and hopefully funds to help stop the terror of these children!




Some history on how the Gulu walk came about and some history on the plight of the children ... careful, this may stir you into action.





Adrian Bradbury and Kieran Hayward first heard the stories of the night commuters of northern Uganda in the spring of 2005. They read unbelievable accounts of children — as many as 40,000 — walking from their rural villages into the town of Gulu and other urban centres to sleep in relative safety and avoiding abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) for use in the country’s 20-year civil war. In the midst of this conflict, over 1.7-million people have been displaced, on top of thousands of night commuters. These displaced persons have been forced into abhorrent conditions in camps where hundreds of people are dying every week because of a lack of clean water, food and medical care. The plight of the children sparked the idea for GuluWalk, a 31-day night commute in support of these children. Every evening in July of 2005, Adrian and Kieran walked 12.5 kilometers into downtown Toronto to sleep in front of city hall. At sunrise, after about fours hours sleep, they made the trek home. Both men continued to work full-time and attempted to maintain their usual daily routine, to mimic the lifestyle endured by the Acholi children of northern Uganda. Over the 31 days they walked 775km in 154 hours 18 minutes and 872,739 steps, and there was everything from front-page news to freezing cold nights to face-to-face rat encounters (no, not a typo). Adrian and Kieran walked to tell their story and draw attention to their plight. What started as an attempt by two people to better understand the ordeal of the children of northern Uganda, has now grown into an impassioned worldwide movement for peace.

Team Toyota pics/ Top Momma!

Here is the photo they took at the Danskin Expo for the Team Toyota!

Look at these strong, athletic, triathletes! Go ladies, Go!!

and......



A while ago Marcie put up something about a topmomma site. So ofcourse I had to go register, well I am up on it! So go and click here! See how long I last.

This weekend was the Danskin Triathlon in Seattle!

I was pretty excited to do my first whole triathlon on my own!

This tri was aprox 1/2 mile swim, 13 mile bike ride and 3.2 mile run!

Kalei and I getting ready for the swim, Kalei did awesome I am proud of her!

My nerves weren't too bad before the race, the only bummer was that the weather didn't hold out and it began to rain. It wasn't cold, just raining. I headed to the swim start to see the "elite" athletes and the cancer survivors start the race. The elite athletes are amazing to watch, they were flying through the water! The average time on the 1/2 mile swim is something like 20-24 minutes some of the elites were done in 8 minutes! craziness!



Here I am waving in the sea of green hats!

As I headed out into the water my nerves were gone, I was going to do this! At the start I quickly realized it is a lot different to swim in a wave of 150 people kicking you and splashing water on you. I calmed down about 1/3 way through and relaxed and just went at my own pace. I was surrounded by some great ladies who were all together and adopted me into there group. They were truly phenomenal! Thank you to all the ladies in red! As I got out of the water I looked at my watch and thought wow I am doing good time wise and I feel great! Bonus!


Me coming out of the water



Here is my friend Dianna coming out of the water! I talked her into doing the tri this year, first time for her and she did so good!


I walk/ran into the transition area to put on my shoes and grab the bike - due to the rain I hadn't laid out all my gear so it took me a little bit to find my socks. I saw a friend (Cory) on the sidelines as I got my bike, we both gave a yell and I ran with my bike to the start.


I felt great, but I couldn't get my bike to go correctly. I don't know if it was me or the bike, but I am blaming the bike! Let's just say the bike didn't go very well! I think I was wetter on the bike than I was on the swim! The rain was pouring, you could barely see when I was going over I-90! I felt like I was pulling a car behind me! I don't know what happened! Let's say I have some major room for improvement.



Got off the bike, wow I still feel good I thought! Ran into the transition area again and racked the bike, and grabbed my running belt, and I was off.



My toes were numb for the first mile, then finally I could feel my toes! They felt like they were asleep, so I walked the first mile. Wow amazing after I could feel them, I began to run. I was feeling good. To my surprise I wasn't completely out of breathe when I was running. I am not a fast runner, but I was doing it! There is a small hill at the end of the course... once at the top I knew I was close to the finish so I picked up the pace! Rounding the corner to the finish I saw Patty from Raise the Bar, yelling my name! Wow what rush that is, so even faster I went! I passed four people in the final 1/10 of a mile! Right as I entered the finish chute I heard Derrick yell I couldn't see him but it was great to hear him cheer.







This pic of Kalei is just too good I have to put it in! I think it should be the main pic for Danskin! Way to go Kalei you are wonderful!!


Kalei, Nani, Dianna we did it our first triathlon!! Thank you for all the training everyone - you all did fantastic!

My time wasn't what I would have liked, but if I take out the bike troubles, then I would have been right on, so I can't complain! I did it!!

I have to say a special thank you to Derrick for getting up at 4:30 am to be at the race site and for being a trooper and standing in the pouring rain for hours! Your the best!

There is a couple in September, anyone want to join me?

A blast from the past!

I wasn't going to blog about this, but I figure you have to have a sense of humor in life right? So here I go....



Some of you know about the era in history I like to call the ".com" era, this is where everyone was going to make millions selling things on an online storefront. This started booming in 1999 and was short lived until approx 2001. There were tons of investors throwing money ant start up companies, and there were average Joe's going from making $45,000 a year to $125,000 a year overnight. Money was no object. Some of you are aware I worked for a couple of these start ups. Well one of the companies I worked for took (if I remember correctly) $6million dollars to get there software company going. I have to admit this was some of the best people I have ever worked with, we all gelled and had a great time. We all put in long hours and took one for the team, because we were going to conquer the world. Then in and around late 2000 the investor money dried up. The $6 million was gone and the employees were left with no paychecks. The vendors were knocking at the door, screaming for payment and things went from bad to worse. No paychecks were given for a few weeks, but us soldier employees we were fighters and we were going to fight our way through, so we stayed. Going unpaid. After all we could save this company it was a righteous product (so we thought) after all it blocked out pornography on the internet, how couldn't we fight for it? Well after I think it was month of no paychecks morale tanked and the ship sank. There were many employees owed tens of thousands of dollars. I personally was just under $30,000 from both salary and commissions. This was Feb 2001 employees were told 30 days we would get some kind of payment. Well this "30 days" went on for months and then years. Lawyers got involved and after about a year I stopped wondering when I would get paid. A year ago I got a letter from the lawyers saying there would be a payout! Wow after 5 years? cool I thought. The kicker it was going to be $.03 on the dollar. 3 cents for every dollar I was owed? what that is crazy! Well at this point what can I do, I was going to get something... so be happy. Well a couple of weeks ago I got my check 6 years later this ordeal is over! Out of $30,000 owed to me I received a check for ..... drum roll please..... approx $1,000.00!! oh wow. Derrick and I had a good laugh, wow, we got jacked..... but no... The lawyers got the last laugh. You see the company I worked for was a Canadian company. So when I cashed the check it wasn't even in US funds! Ah smack! They got the last laugh and I received a portion of the $1,000.00! As Derrick says, "now that's funny!" what else can you do but laugh! The story is now over I can put it to rest completely. So I say a final farewell to the .com era. I count it all joy as I did meet some great people during that time and had a blast working with them! I can't complain because I know I worked hard, and some where, at some point I will be given back what was taken 7 fold! So really what is there to complain about? Have a laugh with me ~ oh to the .com era!! What fun it was.

30 years Elvis lives on!

Today marks the 30th anniversary of Elvis (death). Last year I dawned the Elvis suit *with detachable cape in honor of Elvis and my brother John, who is a avid Elvis fan. This year I thought I would post a pic of my brother in the Elvis suit *with detachable cape. Although fuzzy the pic is great, you see my brother only dawns the suit on special occasions. It was his friends birthday so he dawned the suit!









Look at close, he has the glasses on too!









The great thing about Elvis and his music is that it is classic. Uncle John (my brother) has just about every Elvis album and movie out there. Little John who so looks up to Uncle John is now enjoying the Elvis music and he listens to it on his ipod shuffle. He watches the movies with Uncle John and copies the moves of Elvis. I will video it and put it up ~ little John is quite good. Little John has perfected the arm swing that is one of Elvis's signature moves!



I am proud that the love of Elvis is living on in a new generation!


There is a theory out there that Elvis really didn't die, people believe he is in the witness relocation program... while unlikely it is quite interesting that people loved Elvis so much that 30 years later they are still waiting for him to appear. If you would like to dive into that crazy world of conspiracy theories you can! Best of luck!

Fishing time!

Family vacation time! We went fishing again this year - we always have a great time and so many fun stories. The town itself is tiny and really there is nothing else to do but fish. The kids had a great time we played on the beach we went fishing on the boat and just hung out. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for letting us go out on the boat with them~ we had lots of fun!

We went out to the little town on the Washington Peninsula called Sekui to catch our limit of salmon. We were in luck this year ~ the season was ending in two days for King salmon so we could go after the big fish. I believe that the fish Derrick is holding is a King, I am not great at telling which fish are right species it is actually a bit complicated.

Here is Grandpa with his catch!

Lots of fish were caught. I think we caught our limit each days of "pinks" and then close to our limits on Kings and Cohos. I caught a few "pinks" and one Coho! I caught 3 Kings but I couldn't keep them because they were wild, you can only keep them if they are not wild meaning they have a clipped fin.

Josie on the boat! She had lots of fun driving it in circles, Grandpa and I almost got sick due to the boat doing donuts in the water!

Here is Uncle John on the boat.... he has invented a new way to get off of a boat ~ you throw yourself on to the dock and land on your back, everyone is doing it!

Waiting for the big one! Watch those poles.

Spiderman fishing pole ~ little John trying to catch fish.
Here is Grandma teaching John how to fish off the boat!

Show Time!

He rips phone books.............

They couldn't pull his arms apart............

He bent rebar.... notice it is already twisted once!

He popped a pop can.............

He broke hand cuffs.........
What can't he do? Derrick caught the attention of all in the church, he gave his powerful testimony, just a reminder of how awesome God truly is! And on another note ~ don't mess with Derrick he is one strong guy!

It was very cool to watch him do all the feats ~ he did everything and talked inbetween with out really a break, he is truly amazing. Congrats babe!

Some weekend fun...

Mom having fun on the motorcycle, it is hard to ride cuz you are so close to the ground. But I managed nicely. I know I am setting a great example, shorts and no helmet! oops
Loveley pic~ look how close to the ground you are!

Uncle John gave little John an ipod. John's life will never be the same! He loves it.

Jammin on the ipod fun.

Our cutie pie!

This is our friend "Scissors" he is doing his best impression of "Frank N Beans" from, There's Something about Mary. It was quite an impression really, scary how good it was!

Are you worthy? Do you know you are worthy? You are!!

Jimmy, Derrick's friend and a member of the Oasis Power Team (you know the big guys that break stuff for fun?!) recently preached about Derrick's healing. I had never heard Jimmy's full story on all the events that led up to Jimmy and Greg (another Power Team member) coming and laying hands on Derrick when he was in the hospital. Very powerful message.



At our church site Oasis Seattle click on The Miracle, the audio file for July 15 ~ What a wonderful message! ~ Let me know what you think.


If you have a few minutes, this is so worth listening too.

The Garage

“Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and leave useless junk in the garage." only in America

So the pic is not of our garage, it doesn't look that pretty, but now I have hope it could look like that... we just need all the hooks and cabinets.

So we can't stop staring at our garge, there is actually a car in it! wow 7 years and we can put the car in the garage. We actually could fit both mine and Derick's in the garage, but my truck has a lift on it and will not phsyically fit through the garage door. It was a contractor oops when the house was built (no one noticed until it was too late) .... We are feeling pretty happy and satisfied that it is now organized, we literally stood out in the driveway for about an hour just staring at the car saying "wow, look it is in the garage!"

You know it is the little things in life.

For those of you with 3 car garages, there is no excuse you have an extra stall in which to put boxes and stuff! (my opinion on the subject!) We have a two car garage, so you need to pack and stack nicely in order to get it all in. Anyway just wanted to share our excitement. It feels so good to tackle something that you thought was impossible!

Fun in the Water

We have one of those little 10' pools, so we filled it up in time for the record breaking heat! Suppose to hit a 100' today. This is the Seattle area people, a 100'!

I've come such a long way, I am actually posting the pic of me in a bathing suit!

To stay cool we are busy playing in the pool.

Here is John being a goofball.

Team Toyota!!

Most of you know that I like triathlons. Well this year after I signed up for the Danskin race in Seattle. I got an email asking me to fill out some stuff for Team Toyota. I filled it out, and didn't really think I would get picked.... but I did get picked! I am being sponsored by Team Toyota this season. I get some really cool stuff ~ triathlon events are not cheap!

I get my own webpage off of Team Toyota's site http://www.toyotaenginesofchange.com/Page532.aspx
I don't know how to put that into format so you will have to cut and paste. Team Toyota Engines of Change is all about people who have made a difference in their lives and changed it for the better. They asked me why I do triathlons, and ofcourse I told my story of eating on the cruise, and mentioning I wanted to do a triathlon... after the laughter stopped, something clicked and I went home and signed up. Then the unbelievable happened the stroke (Derrick's) After he was home my mom urged me to still do the Danskin and we did! So there you go that is how I got started.

Why do I keep doing them? Besides being crazy!? Well I fell in love with the sport. It is a goal that I accomplish all on my own. I take time out and train, and I show myself that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to! So that is why I keep doing it.

Come check out the website, I need to change the pic it came out all fuzzy...
I really didn't think I would get picked, and there are only 10 of us for Seattle so I am very honored to be a part of Team Toyota Engines of Change!

Camping

We went camping! What an adventure it was! Here are some fun pics.

Little John catching a football, he is getting good!

Hanging out by the campfire

Double marshmellows!

Uncle John!