The year is half over and this is my second post...

 Tino did his first mountain bike race with his big brother Nix. Nix raced his 3rd mountain bike race 6-8 year olds. He came in 1st his last 2 races! and Tino finished strong!

 They love to climb and explore... I need to keep them hiking!

 Sunday family walk to the water tower on Father's Day!

 Nix graduated first grade and we all wore our tye dye shirts to celebrate.

 Nix was in a class play and against all odds, daddy was there to see it!  There were only a few chosen to play their flutes for all the songs of the play and Nix was chosen, I want to get him a flute to play at home because they are left at school and recycled after 2nd grade.

 Tino had a birthday! #5

Corbs thinks he can swim, Tino can swim now, and Nix doesn't remember not knowing how to swim! They love swimming with daddy, he is so fun, they can't understand how mommy is a faster swimmer than daddy.  He could probably kick my trash right now, but once this baby comes... I hope my body goes back into the correct places.  I am so achy and weak this time around, as long as she is healthy!  9 months pregnant and can't wait to see this little girl!  I've been doing what I need to every day hoping she comes sooner than later.  I'd like her to have her own month, but sharing with Corbs will be cool.  OH! and New news on the home front, Corbs is potty trained.  Nix's last day of school he pooped in his diaper and I said, "That is the last diaper you will poop in, we need to save the diapers for the baby."  And he said, "O Tay!"  He went 11 days without an accident.  He had his first accident today, but cousins were over and he was having too much fun playing so we won't count it.  :) 

They are all big sweet hearts!  I love my 4 boys so much!  And this little girl, she will probably love them all too!  Can't wait to meet her!

Tough Mudder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScwEn6VIYXA&feature=youtu.be

Here is the link to Brett's very entertaining movie.

A 1st

Nix does everything, and Tino doesn't do much. But when Nix was 3 he didn't do much either. SO here the boys are cheering on Nix! They love their brother! And he loves them TOO!

4th of July

I taught Nix the "Yankee Doodle Song" for the 4th of July. He sang the song at my dad's house on Saturday, then he sang it for my Granny (who loves the song) on the 4th. Before he sings it he asks me how it starts, then while he sings he smiles the whole time and is so soft spoken, but he's so cute to watch. He's so sweet!

Tino with a sparkler!

Fireworks on the grass!

We had a fun night with family and friends! And a fantastic weekend with everyone as well! I didn't gain nearly as much weight as I would have if I didn't ask my mom not to make any treats and to just focus on yummy healthy food. We ate so much yummy healthy food.

Nix with a sparkler!
Tino ended up with a little burn on the top of his upper lip. I'm not sure if it was from him pointing the sparkler at his face or from a scorching hot roasted marshmallow.
I almost forgot. Nix and his cousin raced BMX together for the first time Friday Night. Nix came in 5th place in the main event and his cousin finished 4th. The best part was watching them ride the track a few times together after the race. They both did so well. Nix was red and sweaty after the main race. He worked so hard.

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Trophy

Well, Nix won his first trophy! We went to BMX tonight, Nix hasn't raced for a long time, he wanted to race and I felt he was ready, so Brett came out and helped him with heats and starts. He did about 6 laps of practice, then Heat 1 finished 4th, Heat 2 finished 2nd, Heat 3 finished 2nd (which qualified him for the main event) He finished 4th out of the final 8 kids (5 and under) in the main event, earning him a little trophy. First thing he asked, "why is it so small?" He loves it and so does his little brother Tino.

Mud Run

We were a little disappointed with the event, but Nix still had so so much fun participating, so it was worth it. I wish that the distance was more accurate and I wish they timed it and gave out participation medals. I know, I ask a lot, but I've been to a lot of races and events and they are always a little competitive, not completely for FUN. It was called a Kid's Fun Run, so there you go, it was just for fun. Why did they get a number then? Probably to make sure they paid to participate. Hmmm... This dirty boy didn't keep anything that he is wearing except the blue shorts. The rest of his clothing was thrown in the trash. The shoes already were thrashed with holes, nice timing. I really enjoy the Kids run that they hold for the OC Marathon. We couldn't do it this year because of wedding conflicts.

So Nix woke up with me at 6:30am to register for the run at 7am. Then we went back to the event at 11am for the race. He ran the race, then after he finished, he said, "I want to do that again." It was too short, so I said, "Go for it," so he ran it again and again, until he was very muddy and they were almost done cleaning up. Tino wouldn't go in the mud, he had fun running around the weeds. We had some gatorade, showered Nix off, then headed home. It was a fun afternoon, and he has a muddy number souvenir.

The other teams we were cheering for!

Well done Everyone!!

Team Thirsty Fish

Monte facebook messaged Brett and I a few months ago to see if we wanted to participate in a half ironman triathlon relay. I would swim, Monte would bike and Brett would run. I started to swim a few times a week so I would be strong enough to compete, and a lot of fun things happened during my training. My friend in the next picture, happened to work for the company putting on the triathlon. She invited me to swim in the ocean with her on Thursday nights, so I had a few open water training days, and then she informed me of a 1 mile ocean swim race, that Sophi and I did without signing up. I had another friend agree to wake up early one day a week to swim in her pool, and we only missed two mornings in the 2 months that we did that. Then when I went to visit my family, I went swimming with my mom and sisters a few times at 5 am which was really fun too. Brett didn't find the time to train like he wanted to, so he contacted a ringer for our team. Wadley, who is one of the fastest swimmers in the nation, and an amazing triathlete. Brett and Wadley served in the same mission, at the same time, and have remained in touch after a decade. So in the end, his quick pace running really helped place our team in 3rd place in the mixed relay category. Sophi's team was right behind us.

Well done Monte! The bike was the longest, hardest and most gruesome leg of the entire race. And probably one of the hardest bike routes of any race out there.

#1 fans

Wadley

If you are wondering where my swimming picture is, well, I don't know if there is one yet. And if there is one and after I look at it, I may not want to post it on my blog. So there you go.

Brett's Trip to Indianapolis

Here is a picture of my lucky husband. He went to Indianapolis last weekend and watched MotoGP. He is touching the last of the bricks which used to make up the entire race track. He is home safe, and we are glad he is back.

On a Race Track in a Porche

Today was a memorable experience for me. My brother-in-law has a GT-3 Porsche. For his birthday yesterday he drove it on a track and today he did it again. Tino and I headed out there after a baptism to watch him drive. Brett and Nix were already out there. But James didn't drive when we were there. Brett rode as a passenger with an instructor in the GT-3 and then when he stepped out he pointed at me. I thought "ME?!? Really?" I was not expecting that at all! So I put Brett's helmet on and it made my head hurt with a piercing pain as it began squeezing my brains out. I took it off and James let me use his helmet. The instructor was racing around the track super fast, breaking super heard, turning super sharp. It was Awesome! He said he only pushed the cars capacity about 4 or 5 out of 10. What a great, fast track car. The tires were hot, we went 3 laps around and he only screeched around one turn. Thanks James!!

This morning Brett and Nix went to Bellflower and spent 2 hours on the BMX track out there. They had about 30 minutes of instruction and the rest of the time they practiced. At the end Nix raced another boy out there and won 3 out of 5 times around the track. Brett said that the instructor told him that Nix needs a race bike. We hear that about every time we go out to the track. We want to make sure this is something he REALLY wants to do before we buy all the stuff for it. He wants to earn it. He needs to ride the track 10 times before he receives a new bike. He has practiced 4 times, this next Wednesday will be 5, he's almost halfway there.

We have a neighbor who owns a "Porky's Pizza" in Aliso Viejo. So tonight Brett went out there and picked up two pizzas and our neighbor gave them to us, no charge! How awesome is there? He full on made us dinner! And the pizza is excellent. I think we have just become loyal Porky Pizza customers.

LA Marathon

This is me at mile 15.  My friend Heather and her family, were the only people I saw who I knew along the course.  Everyone else I knew was running or waiting at the finish line.  It was fun to see her two times during the run.  Thanks for the picture Heather!

04:06:59  My official time!  I was 56th place in my division.

04:14:23  Brett's official time!  270th in his division.  Marathons are so much more competitive for men.  What an accomplishment!  It was really a great experience like none other.  As we approached the finish line we both become emotional.  I can't tell if I was crying cuz I was in so much pain or if I was crying cuz I accomplished something so great.  Maybe it was a combination of the two.  Brett was ahead of me for most of the marathon and somewhere at the end I passed him, and neither of us knew it.  I was looking for him the whole time.  I would have ran the end of it with him had I seen him.  We both hit the wall around mile 18.  His knees buckled on him about mile 20.  And for about 4 miles for me my pace dramatically decreased.  The strong people around me were my only motivation to keep trying and keep pushing, so I did and the last 4 miles my pace increased slightly till the last .5 miles, I was running so hard with the people cheering and the adrenaline surging through my body.  It was an amazing feeling.  I don't think I will run another marathon, although my sisters say if they do one they will pressure me to do it to.  We will see.

Our first marathon, we didn't stay together, but we were running it together, and we finished.  My mom was out there too, her time was 04:46:02 and she placed 30th in her division.

Nix's first race

We signed up the little guys for the OC Marathon Kids Fun Run, 1 mile.

I trained Nix for a few weeks to run .7 miles.

During the excitement of the start of the race Nixon took off which didn't last long, he walked for a little right after that, then while we were walking he looks at me and said, "I'm not going to walk anymore." And he didn't. He ran the whole way to the finish without stopping again. I didn't see him race, but he looks like he did well from these pictures and from his time. 3 years old, my little racer.