Saying I Love You Is....

Hard to say?  Difficult to pronounce?  Funny?

House For Sale

It’s kind of sad and exciting all at the same time.  We just put our house on the market to see what happens.  The panic hasn’t really set in yet.  We are hoping to find a bigger place… that’s when the panic will hit me.

We Wondered What Would Happen If…..

You crashed on the bike while Olivia was in the bike trailer behind you. 

Elaina answered that question yesterday.

Don’t worry everyone, Olivia is ok.

Conan

We had a fun and tiring weekend.  On Friday night, Elaina and I went with Jase and Jane to see Conan O’brien’s show in Spokane.  It was nice having an adult night out while Olivia was with Britney.  The show was funny and we had a great time.

Elaina even made an appearance on the jumbo screen while he was panning the audience looking for groupies.  She looks a little too eager if you ask me!

Charlie was recovering from having ten (that’s right… 10) teeth pulled a few days ago.  He looks like an old man now with nothing but gums on the lower jaw.  He got a little spring in his step when we took him for a walk around Tubbs Hill on Saturday.
 


Then we went to the park for some swinging and sliding.
Look who’s  Little Miss Independent at the park now!


Then Olivia got to play with the boys… Jettie and Tavin.
The next day Elaina went to the gym and worked out for a while.  Thinking that she wasn’t tortured enough at the gym, we suspected a 10 mile bike ride should do the trick.  This was Olivia’s maiden voyage in the bike trailer.  She was pretty content sitting around with the breeze in her hair. 
I hit a bump along the path just as she was taking a drink and and nailed her in the eye with her sippy cup.  She quickly recovered though and enjoyed the ride.

A Little Wife Bragging

The CEO at Elaina’s hospital writes a weekly newsletter detailing plans and highlights of the week.  Last week’s newsletter included a little blurb about Elaina:

 

“We got a great note this week about Elania Matthews, who is a Registered Nurse who works on PCU.  The patient wrote, "Elania deserves special recognition for making me and my family feel that my stay here was as important to her as it was to us.  It was very apparent to me that she had my best interest at heart.  Elania is attentive, friendly, provides outstanding patient care and has a delightful sense of humor.  Elaina displays a warm heart and genuinely cares about the people she is around.  Her outstanding care should be recognized."  Wow, Elania, you have really impressed this patient with your care - thank you!”

 

It should be noted that this patient was from Elaina’s first day by herself at this hospital.  I’m not at all surprised… She has a special way with people….. good job sweetie!

 

Road Trip Spring 2010 – The Final Chapter

Elaina tried to kill me invited me to participate in the St. George triathlon with her.  In retrospect I probably should have trained more and eaten less in the weeks leading up to the event..  It was a little tougher than I expected.

  

The first two of my 16 laps were a breeze…. and then…..  woah… maybe I started off too fast.  Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten that banana so quickly beforehand.  Maybe I shouldn’t have swallowed a gallon of water.

Laine was already on her bike ride when I finished swimming.

I took my 30 lb mountain bike thinking it’s only 10 miles, a heavy bike shouldn’t be that bad.  My friend Kevin saw this flaw in my logic and let me use his road bike…. thank the lord.  Biking was the hardest part for me even with the road bike!

Here is elaina barely breaking a sweat on the run.

 

And here is me rounding the finish line looking for the nearest CPR station.

In the end I was exhausted and burping chlorine and banana, but I'm glad I did it.  Might even do another one.  Elaina came in 4th in her age group missing 3rd (and a metal) by one minute.  She is still ticked about it, but will be motivation when we she does it again next year.

Thanks to everyone who came to watch.  And thanks Jase and Jane for taking pictures!

Road Trip Spring 2010 – Part Two

After a few days in Layton we went to St. George to Visit Sandy and Val.  Olivia was pretty good on the 5 hour drive.  Especially with a stop at the park with winds that nearly knocked her over.

St. George is so pretty this time of year.  We haven’t seen green grass in 6 months.

I met up with my high school friend Kevin Connor and did some riding in the dunes at Sand Hollow.

 

We had a great time seeing everyone.  Katie, Brendan, Jase, and Jane all met up with us in St. George.  The local aquatic center held an Easter Egg hunt for the kids.

 

Olivia didn’t participate.  She mainly wanted to bonk her head repeatedly on this baloon.

 

Luckily, grandma sandy elbowed her way through the kids and came out with a toy for her…..

   

 

The  weather was awesome.  Charlie even took his first ride in a convertible.

Then we had an easter egg hunt at grandma Sandy’s house for Olivia and Brendan.  They had a great time and scored year’s worth of candy.

 

Here are a couple of videos from the day…..

There was a wide assortment of candies, but tiny shiny eggs were the only things on Olivia’s mind.  Watch her contimplate the sucker before giving it back…..

 

Here she is turning away a colored egg…

 

In this video Olivia is looking for eggs and Brendan is too busy to get his picture taken.

 

And finally… her is Olivia showing her best attempt at jumping.  She really got her dad’s vertical leap.