Little Bit O' Luck

Call it miraculous, good fortune, or just plain luck, but I definitely benefited from my mistake! While on vacation in the parking lot of our hotel in Portland, I took my Fitbit watch off and placed it on the car bumper to apply sun screen. I then got in the front seat of the car forgetting to grab my watch. About 5-10 minutes later after driving through city traffic on our way to the zoo, I looked at my wrist to see what time it was only to see a bare wrist. I then remembered that I had left it on the bumper. Alan pulled the car over and I jumped out hoping against hope that my watch was still there.  Thankfully, it was!!! I love my watch and don't know what I would do without it. I'm so grateful for that little bit o' luck!

[This is a reenactment]

Giving the Tri A Second Try

Five years ago, Alan and I went to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to watch Jared, Cheryl, and Kyle compete in the Hayden Triathlon. Kyle and Emily entered the competition this year, so Cheryl, Jared, and I decided to make the trip there to help cheer them on...and just to have fun as a family. CDA is such a beautiful place to visit.

Alan couldn't join me because it was kind of a last-minute decision and he had patients scheduled and didn't want to cancel them. This was the first time for me to see Kyle & Emily's new house.

I was there from Wednesday to Sunday, so it was a quick trip. On Thursday, while Kyle and Emily were at work, Cheryl and I took Milo and Clara to the splash pad in CDA. It was a very hot day, but although she liked the toys, Clara wouldn't really play in the cold water much. Milo, on the other hand had a ball.

Friday turned out to be a fun day for everyone but me. I already wrote about my back problems while in CDA, so I won't go into that. The others - Jared, Cheryl, Kyle, Emily, Milo, Clara, and Mark Pulsipher floated down the Spokane River. I didn't think I could do it with my bad back, so I was the designated driver who met them at the end of the ride.

These pics were taken before and during the river ride.

Although I was getting sick with a cold by this point in the trip, Saturday turned out to be a great day that started very early. It was the day of the triathlon for Kyle & Emily. This was Kyle's second time to participate, but Emily's first. 

Since we had to walk 1/2 mile from where we parked the car to the start of the race at Hayden Lake (which was very difficult because of my back issues), we missed Emily's heat take off but got to watch her emerge from the water.

Here's a picture of Kyle as he awaits the start of his heat. He is the closest person to me, so it was easy to get a photo of him.

Kyle as he emerges from the water

This is the only picture I have of the biking portion, which was just after the swim. (Emily bringing it home)

Here is Emily coming in on foot at the completion of the triathlon.

  

 Kyle nearing the finish line.

I'm sure his legs and lungs are pretty well spent by this time.

What an accomplishment! They both got participation medals.

They both performed very well! 

Emily got 3rd place in her age bracket so she got a second, even larger medal. Kyle ended getting 5th place in his age group.

Thanks to Mark, I was able to rest my back in one of his very cool, comfortable camping chairs while the race was going on. Of course, Milo and Clara wanted to be part of the action.

Even after the race, the day was just beginning. After a brunch at a restaurant by Lake Coeur d'Alene, we were able to go see John Pulsipher's new 1.7 million dollar home built right by the lake. It was built by Mark and his father-in-law. Pretty impressive house! It is 3 stories and has an elevator inside. I even got to ride in it.

This is the huge kitchen. That is the refrigerator against the back wall. So cool!

This kind of shows the patio just off the kitchen

After the tour of this house, we went to Doug & Sally Pulsipher's house on Lake Coeur d'Alene. They let us go out on their pontoon boat. We have done this before. They are so gracious to let us use their toys when we visit.

View of the Pulsipher's House from the lake

They have a favorite cliff-jumping spot that we have been to before. Kyle, Emily, Cheryl, Jared, and Mark all jumped off a few times. No way was I going to do any cliff jumping, but at least I got in the water. It felt great to get out of the heat.

As we were about to leave the cliff-jumping site, three fancy boats sped by. In the lead boat was a bride in her wedding dress and a groom in his tuxedo. Next to that boat was a boat with a canopy over it. I am assuming it was carrying the bridesmaids. Behind them was the boat carrying the groomsmen. This was so unique, that I decided to take a picture of it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered from Emily the next day that it was a celebrity's wedding.  Julienne Hough married hockey player (Brooks Laich) and this was her dream wedding. Pretty cool to have be able to see the boats carrying them to the ceremony.

Zoomed in so you can see the bride and groom better.

 Kyle couldn't resist asking if he could take the Pulsipher's Kawasaki Jet Ski out for a spin. Milo and Clara were happy to join him.

Cheryl even talked me into taking a spin with her. She is fearless!!! She goes too fast for my liking, but it was a lot of fun!

All in all, it was a very fun, but tiring day. Cheryl and I were able to get to bed early and catch some zzz's before our 4:30 departure from Kyle's house to catch our flights home. Our first flight was together with a landing in SLC, but then we had to split up for the final flight.

Spending time with family is at a premium lately as our children have spread out over 4 different states. I cherish those moment when we can spend time like this together. I will miss Kyle's family.

No Pain, No Gain

A trip to visit Kyle's family in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho with Cheryl and Jared sounded like a great idea. The plan was for me to work my regular Wednesday morning shift at the temple, catch a flight at LAX with a layover in Portland, arrive in Spokane about 6:25 p.m., and enjoy 4 days of bliss with family. That's not exactly what happened. 

On Tuesday, the day before my flight, I could barely walk because of back pain. I didn't know how I could pull off a temple shift and a trip. Thanks to much prayer, a little ibuprofen, and a restful night, my back felt a little better by morning. Having to lift my heavy suitcase gave me some concern. How was I going to lift it up into the shuttle bus at the airport? Because of some tender mercies that day, the trip was made much easier for me. For instance, the parking lot bus driver jumped out and loaded my suitcase for me.  I don't remember every having a bus driver do that for me ever before. When she told those of us on the bus to switch to the bus in front of us, once again she jumped up and took my suitcase to the other bus for me. My back really appreciated her help. Then, after checking in at the airport, I noticed that I had TSA Pre-check on my boarding pass. That meant I got to avoid standing in a very long line before going through security. Just what my back needed. It was still a long, painful trip, but it was made a little easier by these tender mercies.

I thought by next morning that my back problems would all be behind me, but that was not the case. Cheryl & I took Milo and Clara to the Splash Pad. By the end of that adventure, I was at about a pain level 9. I knew I needed some kind of medical intervention. I tried to get into a chiropractor, but the two offices we tried were closed on Thursdays.  Bummer! I was, however, able to get an appointment for massage therapy. It was one of those "hurts so good" kind of massages. She was able to give me some relief, but not total relief. She told me that my back was very inflamed and suggested that I ice it to reduce the swelling, which I did.

The next morning, I was able to get an appointment with a chiropractor who works in the building next to Kyle's practice. It turns out that my treatment by him was very beneficial. Every chiropractor I have ever been to has a very different way of treating me. I loved this Dr.'s approach. He determined that my spine was twisted and was causing extra strain on the rest of my back. Also, my bulging disc bulged even more than usual  My hip was also rotated, causing extra back strain. No wonder I was in so much pain. After the treatment was complete, my pain level had been lowered from a 9 to about a 3. It was so nice to get out of pain. I have been icing my back several times per day to keep the swelling down. I hope I can stay pain free for a very long time.

On top of all this, I got ill while in Idaho. I thought it was just allergies at first, but then it turned into a full-blown head cold. I am still suffering a week later, but am hopeful that I am on the mend and will be feeling well soon.

This experience has taught me that when we have pain, it helps us to appreciate our pain-free days a little more. When we are ill, we appreciate good health. Adversity helps us to grow. We can't appreciate the good until we have experienced the bad. As the adage says - "No pain, no gain." Bad times help us to draw closer to God, too. I need to appreciate the good times in my life more. I need to be more diligent in expressing gratitude for my tender mercies and recognize God's hand in all things. I know God is there and that he is very involved in my life. I want to express my thanks to Him for all He does for me, which is a lot! He is the sunshine of my life!

Fun With Family

We had two weeks in a row of family visiting us here in Lancaster. First to arrive was Eric's family and I already posted about their visit. The day after they left, Kyle's family flew in to spend a week in California.  Jared came over from Arizona and we all met at Cheryl's house for a fun weekend. We went to the beach and had a great time...well, for the most part, that is.

This picture was taken on the ride home. I fell while riding my bicycle and skinned my knee. It was definitely a klutz moment. I like to blame Alan because he stopped suddenly in front of me. I tried to put my foot down to stop and somehow ended up falling over. It all happened so fast that I don't really know what went wrong. At the same time this was taking place, Kyle scraped his forehead while diving down in the water to escape a boogie boarder heading directly for him. What a pair! (I don't have a picture of his injury)

Some beach pictures:

Milo was proud of this cute little crab they found. 

This is how Alan has fun at the beach!

I helped Milo and Clara build a sand castle

Kyle & Jared "peppering" with the volleyball. They haven't lost their touch!

Emily and Kyle's turn on the bikes.

Cheryl showing Milo how to pop the sea weed.

On Monday, Kyle took his family to Disneyland for the first time. I wasn't there, but I understand that they loved it!

Here are some pictures Kyle sent me:

 Milo is a big Darth Vader fan

Pocahontas and Milo

Clara taking a mid-day snooze.

Long day for a little 2-year-old, I guess.

The Last time Kyle & Emily were at our house, Milo was two years old and Clara was only 3 months old. They don't even remember ever being at our house. It was December then - too cold to go swimming. Therefore, the kids had never gone swimming in our pool before. They had never used these kind of floaties before either, but they took right to them and did real well.

Our littlest sun bathers.

Milo and Clara taking a break from swimming.

On Friday, the family hit the beach one more time before Emily and Clara had to fly back to Idaho to attend Emily's brother Adam's wedding. Coincidentally, Kyle's best friend from High School, Wes Horn, was getting married on the same day so he and Milo stayed here.

Kyle was a groomsman and looked pretty spiffy in his gray tuxedo.

 The happy couple - Aly & Wes