Ever since I have been mountain biking I have heard people rave about the downhill at Deer Valley. My last experience of riding the lifts and biking down was not a good one, so I was a little hesitant to try it again. Our friend Alex has been trying to get us to come with him for a while now. He called this week and said he was going with a bunch of guys. I decided I was ready to try it. I got Lindsey to come with us, so I wouldn’t be the only girl!

I have gotten so much better at mountain biking. The uphill is still my strength, but I have gotten better at the downhill too. I am not nearly as timid and scared as I used to be. I have gotten better at taking more risks. But, I was still nervous about what the trails would be like, and how I would do

I had so much fun! We started out on Nail Driver, which was an intermediate trail. It had a lot of roots and rocks to ride over, and quite a few banking switchbacks. The switchback were great for me because the were designed for speed, so they were not very tight, but some of them were pretty technical. They were great practice for me, and did just about all of them on every run.

There was a really fun section in the middle with some fun stunts. There was an elevated path that I did a few times. There was also a teeter totter, which I was a total chicken on I did the teeter totter a bunch of times at the Dirt Series camp, but today I just didn’t do it.

I was really happy with how I did. It was great practice for me, since downhill is still my weakness. But, it was fun to see how much I have progressed. I rode so many things today that I never would have done last year. And I had fun while doing them!

Old Red Barn Co is giving away this quilt. It is so beautiful! I love the fabrics. I think it would look awesome in Emma’s room.

Enter by July 22nd to try to win it yourself! Click here to enter.

I saw this on a friend’s blog and thought I’d try it too. Maybe some of you who read all the time but never comment will leave me a memory

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Since this is our family blog, feel free to leave a memory about any of us.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. I look forward to the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game, and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you.

We have been having a great summer. I think I am enjoying it even more because it was such a long time coming! We had snow at the beginning of June and I thought that the weather was never going to cooperate. But, finally summer is definitely here.

And I have been fully taking advantage of the great weather. Since we joined Jeremy CC I started playing with the Ladies Association every Tuesday. I also joined their team, and have played a few team matches. It has been so nice to be back out there playing golf again. I am nowhere near the player I used to be. I have only broken 80 once this summer, and it was just in a casual round with my dad. I have been a bit frustrated about it, but I am trying to be patient with myself. I know that eventually it will come back. Right now I just have too many other things to devote my time to, and I am just trying to enjoy being out there.

Speaking of other things that I have been doing…..I have been mountain biking a ton. I have been riding about 3-4 times a week. I have really made a breakthrough this summer. I have gotten in so much better shape and it has made the rides so much more fun. Now I can enjoy the rides instead of trying not to die on the trail. Yesterday I did the Glenwild Loop with Vicky and Yori. I hadn’t done that trail since the middle of last summer. I was shocked at how much better I did–both in regards to fitness and my skills. Last year I can remember stopping because I felt like I was going to die. I also walked almost all the switchbacks and down some of the steep sections because I was scared. Yesterday I was like a different rider. I did most of the switchbacks and the steep parts didn’t even seem hard. I am really having a great time, and I am getting in shape at the same time.

Besides all the things I have been doing for myself, I have had a busy schedule with the kids. They just finished up their 4th week of swimming lessons. The last session I did a mom and me class with Nora. She had a great time. She loved the water. He most favorite part was jumping in off the side of the pool. After the first class, she didn’t want to do any of the other things. She kept yelling and squealing. She just wanted to get over to the side and jump in. She is so determined and stubborn!

This week Emma and Ian are going to summer camp at Little Miners. Today was the first day, and they had a great time. I am looking forward to a little break too. Running errands is difficult with 3 kids in tow!

Scott has been busy too. He has been working more than normal. He hasn’t been traveling as much as normal, but he has been working a lot at home. He has had time to do some fun things too. He did two centuries on his road bike–the Salt Lake Century and The MS 150. This past weekend he did the Porcupine hill climb. I was really proud of him for completing that! He is going a surf trip with his buddies from California in a few weeks, and then he has his big Ireland trip coming up.

All in all, it has been a great summer. It is flying by, and I can’t believe that in just a little over a month the kids will be back at school!

The “Dry Bed and Bye Bye KiKi” party was a success.

We had a pretty good turn out. Aside from a traffic jam on the way there, things went without a hitch. Emma was in all her glory–she was the center of attention with all her friends.

She absolutely couldn’t wait for the party. She asked “How many more days until my party?” at least a million times. I think we were as excited as she was that the day had finally come

The big slide and the air hockey game were big hits.

The nights since the party have been a bit of a struggle. Emma was really excited about the party, but I don’t think she really thought about the fact that she would be saying goodbye to her blanket forever. When we got home from the party, I gave her the blankie for one last snuggle session. I took some pictures of her with it. Then she helped me pack it up into a mailing box. I told her that we were going to mail it off to a new baby that needed a blankie. I could tell she was sad, but she acted pretty brave. She didn’t really ask about it until she got into bed that night.

The first night without it wasn’t too bad. She was exhausted after the party, and she pretty much just collapsed into bed. The next night, I went on my bike ride, and Garrett watched the kids. He called me about 8:30pm because Emma was crying and said she couldn’t go to bed without her kiki. I told her to get her stuffed animal that she calls “Little Darling” and snuggle with that.

Last night was the hardest night for her. I put her to bed and a little while later I heard her sobbing in her room. I went in, and she was just laying in her bed crying for her kiki. I felt so sad for her, I wanted to give it back to her. But I knew that I couldn’t. I just laid in there with her and cuddled her, and told her I knew how sad she was and how much she missed her blankie. I told her that each night would get easier, and soon she would fall asleep without even thinking about her kiki.

I finally got Emma’s “Dry Bed” and “Bye Bye Kiki” party all set up. We decided to just go ahead and rent out Bouncin’ Off the Walls. This way, we won’t have to share the place with any other kids. She is thrilled and can’t wait. Every night she asks me how many more days until her party.

She has been working on invitations. The one that she made was so cute, I just had to post it:

I just love how she spelled the words, and how she put it all on the card. BiBi CeCe, and Dri Bed Pardy, how cute is that?

I made some too, to send out. I thought people might have a hard time figuring out the details of the party if we sent out Emma’s

On Wednesday Bryan’s old girlfriend Lindsey invited me to a Modbe party. I always love seeing Lindsey, and it sounded like fun. I convinced Vicky to go with me, and off we went to try on swim suits. I was pleasantly surprised, and really liked a lot of the swim suits. Finding any bathing suits that I like is always a challenge, so I was excited.

They are all tankini styles, so I got one bottom to go with both tops. I got this one:

and this one:

I really had a lot of fun trying them all on. So much that I am thinking about having a party of my own. I’m thinking I might wait until September, because that is when the new styles come out. A bunch of the prints that I liked were no longer available, so I thought I’d wait until the new collection comes out. I think it will be fun–invite a few friends, drink some wine, and try on bathing suits

Yeah! Our pictures are up at Peekaboo Photos. I think she did a fantastic job, as usual. I love the one of Emma looking all grumpy! I can’t wait to see the actual prints.

Today was graduation at Little Miners. They have a graduation ceremony for all the kids–even the ones coming back next year. So both Emma and Ian got to participate. They both had little speaking parts that they had to memorize. They both worked hard on them. Emma’s was quite long, but she learned it the day they handed them out. Ian was a bit stubborn with his practicing. The paper that the teachers sent home had a whole paragraph on it. They had his part highlighted. But, when Ian practiced he wanted to say the whole thing. I kept telling him that only part of it was his, but he just wouldn’t listen. I kept having nightmares that he would say the whole thing and take someone else’s part! But they both did great.

Ian was very animated–as usual–when he did his part. He was very cute! Emma had a long part, and she knew every word. She was so focused when she did hers. She was concentrating so hard, she just kept looking at the floor.

Emma has had a great few years at Little Miners. I am sad to see her graduating, but I know that she will do well at Jeremy Ranch too. She has made a lot of nice friends, and she has really learned a lot. She is really a social butterfly, and she is so popular. I can’t count the number of parents that told me that Emma was their child’s best friend, or the ones who told me their kids talked about Emma all the time! She sure didn’t get it from me But, besides being popular, she is also a great student. She really focuses and worked hard. She learned to read this year, and she started to add and subtract. Miss Melissa and Miss Sarah were great teachers for her.

Ian had a great first year of preschool. He had a bit of an adjustment period, but he settled in and did great. Miss Stacey was a perfect teacher for him. She was laid back enough to be able to deal with his energy, and just strict enough to encourage him to concentrate on his work. Miss Stacey always talked about how focused he was. He wasn’t very social in the classroom because he was so focused on the works that he picked out. I was thrilled with how he fit in, and how the year turned out for him. He learned so much! He even learned to read this year. I was shocked that he could do it. He really learned a lot at Little Miners this year.

Little Miners is a great place. They gave Emma a fantastic start, and I am looking forward to a few more great years there.

Last night was the first mountain bike ride with Team Sugar. One of our local bike shops has a women’s mountain bike race team. They put on weekly women’s group rides. They divide everyone up by skill level, and they put a few team members with each group. They have a ride every Tuesday night from June until August. I started doing it last year, when I first got my bike. It was a great way to see some new trails and to learn some new skills. I went to my first ride last night, and it was really great.

Last year when I started out I rode in the first group, level 1. As the season went on, I moved up to Level 1+. Near the end of the year I was tempted to try out Level 2 endurance, but I just didn’t think I was fit enough. Those girls ride fast and never seem to get tired Since it is the beginning of the year, I decided to go with Level 1+. This spring has been so wet and cold, that I haven’t done much biking at all. I have been riding the trainer, and I worked out off and on all winter. I wasn’t really sure how in shape I was, but this ride gave me a good idea.

We rode up a trail called Skid Row. Last year we rode up the street and down Skid Row most of the time. Once, near the end of last season we rode up Skid Row. The first part of the trail is all uphill–fairly steep with a lot of switchbacks. When I heard that was the trail we were going to ride I had flashbacks of stopping and gasping to catch my breath last year. I decided to go for it anyway, and I was glad that I did. The initial switchbacks were hard and tiring, but I wasn’t nearly as tired as I was last year. I was able to ride almost all of it without stopping–I just stopped where I had to, when the rest of the group stopped. And this group hardly ever stopped This was the fastest Level 1+ ride I have ever done. But it was good. It helped me to see that I might actually be ready to move up to Level 2 endurance!

It was a beautiful cool spring evening. It started out a little cold, but once we got riding I warmed right up. The choke cherry trees were blooming and the views were awesome. I was really proud of myself. At the beginning of every ride I get a little bit nervous. I get butterflies in my stomach and I worry that I won’t be able to do it. But, once I get going I surprise myself. I felt great at the end of the ride. I was happy at how I did on the ride. I felt like I didn’t lose much over the winter, and I think this is going to be a great summer of mountain biking for me!