Thursday, September 3, 2009

Tri-ing Times....

I had to post this picture first because this is my #1 fan! I could not have thought about doing this triathlon without the help and support I got from Eric. He watched kids so I could train, put up with me being unbearably grouchy from nerves, got us a hotel room so I would have a quiet place to rest, helped me at every transition, and stood out in the heat on a heat advisory day to cheer me on. At first I was going to travel to Safford by myself for the triathlon, but Eric rearranged schedules so that he and our kids could be there cheering me on. The week of the race I knew I would not have been able to do it without the support of Eric and our wonderful kids! I am grateful to have a husband who holds the priesthood and who was able to give me a blessing the night before the race. About halfway through the race, I realized my body would not have been able to do the things it did without a priesthood blessing. Thanks Eric!!!!!
This is the only picture I got of Sonda (left), Laura (middle), and I. It may not be perfect but it shows our honest emotion of the day. Laura was the one who suggested we do a triathlon. I always thought it would be cool to do one but did not think I had the athletic ability to do so. Over the last couple of months Sonda and Laura have pushed me to do things that I thought my body could not physically do. Not only that, they have both pushed me to be better spiritually, I am so lucky to have these to women as friends and examples. A week before the race we were really nervous, Laura suggested we go to the temple together. It was such a great feeling to be in the temple with Laura and Sonda doing something that I needed more than anything at that point. As the race approached we all became so nervous again that we were feeling sick and grouchy! Laura and Sonda decided we needed to focus on something other than us and suggested we become "Carter's Angels". Carter is a little boy in our ward who has great struggles but alway has a smile on his sweet face. His mom, Lacee was amazing and got us "Carter's Angels" shirts overnight! I will post pics of them later -they totally rock! With a new focus and great friends at my side this was one of the best experiances of my life!

I actually don't know the correct way to swim so I am glad Eric got at least one picture of my face in the water so it looks like I know what I am doing. Mad props to Sheree who tried to show me how to swim the week before the tri!

We had incredable support from all of our families and friends. Probably one of the best things about that day was the way our cheer section cheered not just for each one of us but for the others. Our families and friends had not met before the day of the race yet they all hung out together and cheered us on. During the bike portion they would jump in their cars, park on the side of the road and cheer for us. When we passed them they would get back in their cars, head a few miles up the road and do it again. There was no greater feeling than seeing our cheer section waiting for us! This is a great picture of Sonda's friend affectionatly called "Mama Aj", she was giving me tips on how to beat Sonda at the first transition. Of course, as soon as I was gone she was probably telling Sonda how to beat me. I had only met her one other time but I know why the Bryces love this family so much!

Eric was so helpful at the transitions and at different points during the bike portion. He was quick to help me with anything I needed, especially things I wasn't even thinking about. As usual he was not only helping me but anyone else who needed an extra hand. At one point a boy started taking the wrong path on the run and Eric got him turned around headed in the right direction. He is truly my knight in shining armor!

Sorry to throw you under the bus Sonda, but I love this picture. She is yelling "Brooke is kicking my butt" o.k. so she didn't say butt, I'm just trying to keep it clean. This is great motivation for me. Actually she totally caught up to me in the run!
2nd transition, I couldn't get my legs to work, Eric was taking my bike so I could start running. I didn't have enough breath to tell him I was using the bike as a crutch. Eventually I started moving on my own, just not very fast!

The FINSH LINE!!!!! No words can explain what I felt so I will leave it at that!

One of the happiest moments of my life! I had shade, water, I was sitting, and I had just accomplished a major goal.....true satisfaction right there! Another example of the outrageus support we had, Garett Bryce stood by his "favorite mom" until Sonda crossed the finish line!


The best parents ever! My mom and dad came all the way to Safford, got a hotel room, woke up super early on a Saturday morning and stood in the heat for over two hours just to cheer me on. Who knew I would be 32, have a husband, 5 kids, and still need my dad and mom!



































Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Why you shouldn't get drunk......

This is my parent's neighbors Raymond (Raymee) and Jeannie. What else can I say....mmmmm. Jeannie had recently become unemployed and decided to celebrate by drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels. So glad I happend to be at my parents house so I could see the show! Really, they are the best neighbors anyone could ask for. For all my homegirls, here is the proof all of the stories are true!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Charlies Angels

This is a month late but I had to post about the lunch date I had with my good friends Jenny and Velvet. The three of us have not been together in way too long, it was great to meet up with these girls and do some catching up! Back in the day we had more fun with squirt guns than anyone should have and probably broke a couple of laws but whatever, we had a blast and alway had a good laugh! We met at Joe's Farm Grill, I had never been there. The food was really good, the weather was great and it was so fun to be with Jenny and Velvet again. Alright girls, it has been a month, time to get together again!

Background Misery

O.K., so anyone who knows me knows how computer illiterate I am and that I just don't have time to sit at the computer and figure most things out. By now I hope you noticed my fall background is FINALLY GONE!!!!! Thank goodness for my sister in law Lindsey who pretty much take care of my blog. I had her help me chang the background and could not believe how absolutly easy it was. I can't believe I procrastinated this long!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Run Forest, Run!

On January 31st I ran my first 10k (6.2 miles) at Londons Run! I enjoy doing the 2 mile fun run and trying to beat my time but this year I decided to try the 10k, it pretty much kicked my butt! I trained with my friend Sonda and could not have done this without her encouraging words, her training schedule, and most important the awesome playlist her hubby put together for us for our little music players. It was fun to run with someone listening to the same music! Last minute Eric decided to come run with us. I was sooooooo proud of him! 6 miles is a LONG way when you have hardly trained! It was such a feel good day, we ran for an excellent cause, my love machine was there to support me and run with me, I got to hang with my sister Lacey, my brother Reggie and his freakn' cute family, and I accomplished my goal for time. We are running another 10k on Valentines Day because theres just nothing like spending that romantic day feeling like your going to puke all day! :)
This is at the finish line, if it were a close up you could totally see the pain on my face!

It felt good to accomplish a goal and show of my sweaty pits!






Sunday, January 11, 2009

Grady Man

Our little Grady man turned 1 on the 10th! This year has gone by too fast and he is growing way too fast for me! We celebrated his birthday on Friday night with our families and some friends, the Bryces and Hursts. Unfortunately, Grady was a little under the weather this weekend. He was not himself on Friday night and was pretty sick on Saturday, the advantage of this is Saturday he wanted to be held all day and wanted to cuddle-who could pass that up?! We sure love this little boy and couldn't imagine our family without him!
Grandpa Garner held the birthday boy while we sang to him, probably a good thing since grandpa actually has a good singing voice! :)

Poor little Grady was FREEZING while he ate his cake! He was already cold before we stripped him down, then it didn't help that the cake was also fresh out of the fridge. Obviously it did not stop him from chowing!











I love this picture, luckily he is too young to know any better. His sisters and cousins couldn't help opening presents for him since he was so slow and really had no clue what he was doing. Thanks everyone for the noisy, obnoxious toys, just remember payback is coming!





Friday, January 9, 2009

Baby News!

This is my brand new neice, Ellie May Asburry. She was born on January 8th to my brother, Riley and his wife Annette. I am so excited I just had to show her off! She looks so much like her big (kind of) sister Ava who is only 12 months old! They are definatly going to have their hands full but we are so happy Ellie is here! This is going to be a great year, I am happy to annoucne that I am NOT pregnant! Even though we love babies at our house, it is nice to take a break and enjoy all of our little neices and nephews who will come into our family this year. So far we know we are getting 4 (including Ellie) unless anyone else wants to announce! :) I love that I can enjoy these babies and not be soar and not stay up all night feeding! Good luck Riley and Annette!


Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Ahhhhhh.....Vacation

Eric and I both had time off while the kids were home from school, we had many great and wonderful projects planned to accomplish around the house, but instead we enjoyed sleeping in, playing games, watching movies, and a couple of trips to the zoo. Our zoo pass has been one of our best investments! We went to the Phoenix zoo and then found we could use our pass at the Tucson Zoo, I'll post pictures of that later.....maybe!
This poor boy can't go too long without a snack, I can't wait until he's a teenager!

Poser!


Who can resist Grady-man?!