My Husband is Cool

He really is. And gets cooler with age, wouldn't ya know. This week I'm finding him particularly impressive because he rode his bike to St. George, 300+ miles, up more hills and down fewer dales than he'd anticipated, then decided to cap it off by running in a triathlon the next day.

Here's some pictorial evidence, so you don't assume I'm just making stuff up:


Okay, so this isn't Forrest. This is our neighbor Cody. I know Forrest's undergone a physical transformation over the last year and a half, but not THAT dramatic a transformation. Although one of the clerks at the hotel though Forrest and Cody were twins, which Forrest thought was AWESOME since Cody's like eight years younger than him and also Captain America. (That's what Forrest and I called him when he moved into the ward and we couldn't remember his name.) The reason I put his picture here is because Cody is the wonderfully-nice-but-crazy person who comes up with ideas like riding one's bike to St. George and then convinces Forrest to do it too. He's also probably a robot sent here from the future. Evidence: He's training to run a 100 mile race later this year. (He did NOT talk Forrest into that one, although Forrest is pacing him for part of it.) Anyway, I told Cody he'd better not kill my husband on this trip . . . and he didn't! And Forrest even kept up with him (and was often grateful to be riding behind him so he could take advantage of the draft).

Cody's friend Brad, Forrest, and Cody taking in the Zion Canyon views. I'm sure the scenery is even more beautiful when you earn it by busting your behind riding to the tippy top of some mountain.


Saturday morning, Utah Summer Games triathlon. Forrest did pretty well considering his energy stores were gonzo and his knee felt like "somebody had stuck a nail underneath [his] kneecap and was repeatedly jamming it into the bone." He assures me that his knee pain is temporary. As is his "handlebar palsy," which he self-diagnosed after discovering that he can't move his left pinkie.

Cody, Forrest, and Brad after the triathlon.

I really should have Forrest do a "guest post" on my blog and tell you all about the ride. It's quite a story. He had a great time--some ups and some downs (what a metaphor!)--and proved to me (again) how strong he is, in all sorts of ways. Good job hon!

I drove down on Friday to pick Forrest up. Can I just say when you're driving to St. George all by yourself, listening to podcasts of This American Life and singing Journey songs at the top of your lungs and eating Twizzler's Pull-Aparts time FLIES? (And thanks to my mom and dad and Forrest's mom and dad and Chelle and also Mindy and Peter for helping out with the kids while I was away!) Solo driving is also much more comfortable and climate controlled than riding one's bike, I'm sure. But I got there Friday night and we had some nice Asian food, did some outlet shopping, then Sat. morning did the triathlon (and when I say "we" did the triathlon, I of course mean that I woke up really early and brought my folding chair and cheered), then headed back home to South Jordan Saturday afternoon.

We got home just in time to head to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house with the Wilkeys. It's been so fun to see the temple emerging on the top of a hill just a few miles away from our house. It's a beautiful temple. See?




Aren't those some pretty pictures? The inside is beautiful too. I love the staircase and the murals on the walls in the endowment rooms. It was fun to tell the kids that this is going to be "their" temple--where they do their baptisms for the dead, maybe even where they get married.

The weather was beautiful that evening, but it had been stormy in the afternoon. Turns out the Angel Moroni had been struck by lightning just a few hours before we got there. Can you see how the statue's all black on one arm? I'm sure they'll be fixing that right away.



The temple's so prominent there on the hill, I wonder if it'll be getting more lightning strikes? And if it does, do you think the residents of South Jordan should be taking this as a warning of some kind? Perhaps God is tired of our beige stucco McMansions and gas guzzling vehicles and unnecessary consumer debt and inexplicable adoration of Glenn Beck? (Guilty, guilty, guilty, not guilty. :-).

Aaaaannnyway, it was fun to go with the Wilkeys. Because it's fun to do all SORTS of things with the Wilkeys, and besides Katie brought these AMAZING brownie/s'more creations for which she should win some kind of dessert award.

Who would have thought 17 years ago when newly-married Forrest and me rented the apartment directly adjacent to newly-married Darrin and Katie in the Lincoln Park Apartments ($330 a month, those were the days) we'd end up with all these other human beings tagging along in our lives?? Well, technically, I guess we could have suspected as much, since both couples intended to obey that "multiply and replenish the earth" commandment--but still! That's a LOT of people! And some of them are already taller than their parents!

This is a shot of Wyatt letting off some steam. Parental abandonment + weird nap schedule = crazy toddler boy at the temple. Needles to say, he wasn't very interested in using his "inside voice." Love you Wyatt! Now SHUSSHH!

Cute Elise and cute Jane.


And Handsome Jonas and Max and Ethan and Ian.

Ack! Did I forget to tell you? Ethan got a haircut. And wonder of wonders, he LIKES it!


He looked very handsome passing the sacrament today. Although I thought the floppy look was very hip, I missed my boy's good lookin forehead.

And that's our weekend in a nutshell. I think I'm going to go eat one of those brownies Katie left behind in a tupperware. Guests who leave you with extra dessert are my FAVORITE.