California Here We Came!

I love summer where I can actually sit and blog! Even better is that I can also go on vacations too! Mike and I took off for San Diego again to celebrate my 31st birthday and our 2nd wedding anniversary! (I feel so old!) Here are some of the highlights of the trip:

Awesome sushi bar! I'm not a fan of the raw stuff, but Mike was in heaven!

We have this Wahoo's thats right by our hotel and we can bike to it after a long day. Love their blackened fish tacos...yum!

Mike actually is reading! He really was sitting like this when we got back to the room!

Love love love the San Diego Temple! If I wasn't so partial to Las Vegas, I would have this temple at the top of my list of favorite temples. Mike and I actually got to do a session. I say "actually" because every time I have come it was either under construction, closed, or I had people with me that couldn't go.

Mike did some urban mountain biking and we found some cliffs in Torrey Pines. We biked about 20 miles north of San Diego this day, which was about 40 miles round trip. P.S. I had my eyes shut when I took this because I kept freaking out that he was going to go flying over the hill!

The workers at the temple were so nice. We got to tour the atrium, which was so pretty. The celestial room is two stories!

The view from Mount Soledad. (Yes, we rode our bikes to the top...phew!). If you look closely, you see the temple!

While we were urban mountain biking, we came across this little guy!

We really needed this trip and can't wait to go back!

Mindless Reading

So I have a huge pile of books sitting next to my couch that I told myself I had to read this summer or else. I am having a blast reading them too!

So its really embarrassing to say, but my school librarian recommended I read a few books from our book fair (one being "Hunger Games", which I have yet to begin). They are all young adult riders, which is like I said, embarrasing.

Well anyway, I've been reading Sarah Dessen's books and actually enjoy the mindless reading. Most of them take place in high school, but I like the way she talks about her characters discovering themselves. Being that I am immature in my ways, it totally fits me to read these kind of books. Ha Ha. But anyway, I just thought I would throw it out there if you wanted to suggest to your teenager or even if you want to read a book thats clean, intriging, but also quick to read.

Next up, "These Is My Words" and "Hunger Games"....

Just Had To Tell You...

I wish I had a camera for this incident today, but I thought I would blog about it since I am relaxing for a few. I took Barney to the dog park this morning as usual for our Sunday morning ritual. This time they were having their two year anniversary celebration.

As soon as I let him loose, he ran to the swimming pool and splashed around like a psycho. By then five other dogs were following in him in it, including two bull mastiffs. Then, he starts taking off in a dead run and the pack followed him!

Everyone was calling him a "wild child" and asking me how I put up with his energy...

I have no clue!

12 Hours In The Wild West

All of us went up to Ruidoso for a 12 hour race. All of us included: Wayne, Brad, Brent, Jared, Mike, and me so that we could make up two teams. Wayne and Mike were a duo team. Brad, Jared, and I were a trio team. Brent came along to do one lap and hang out.

Here is the starting line. If you look closely, you can see Mike. (Some of these are professional pics by Brian Leddy.)

This is Jared. Kind of hard to tell but man he was flying!

Mike coming in on his first lap.

Brad coming in from his first lap.

Brad and I were trading laps. He tagged me and then I went. This was my fastest lap (58 minutes). None of the other girls on the four man teams hit under an hour. :)

Here comes Brent.

Mike and I joy riding the finish line. :)

We got second place as a 3 man team and was placed with a 4 man team category.

Mike and Wayne would have gotten third place but Wayne's derailer busted!

Dawn to Dusk--- Gallup, NM

Last month Mike and I raced duo in Gallup, NM for 12 hours. We each would do a lap and then trade off a batan. The morning stated off really nice when we showed up at 7 am. Mike only had a few minutes to preride and then he had to take off to the starting line.

It begins with a really steep uphill climb! It was pretty hard for me but once you get through the tough parts, the rest of it is really fast downhill.

So. Guess what happens? Wind! Lots of wind! Then the temperature starts dropping. Then.....SNOW!

Here is what I looked like at the end when we were so tired we wanted to just go back to hotel and couldn't fit anything into the car!

At this point, I was out on my third lap and it was so muddy that I couldn't move at some parts.

It was so cold!

Mike was a trooper and did four laps. They even had to shut down the race at 5 because the weather got so bad.

We tried! :)

Barney -- The Teenager

Barney is going through his teenage phase right now and sometimes it really tries our patience. Dirty rugs, hair on the couches, chewing up things, digging up the yard, etc. is an everyday occurance at our house.

The thing is we can't help but like the guy! (Also, knowing he is going to grow out of it helps!)

Plus, look what torture we put him through!

And look how happy he is!
Such a ham!

Jen's New Mexico Trip Pictures

These are so out of order, but I love em! This trip was so much fun! Can't wait to hang out with them again!

Sliding down White Sands..

Mike showing Sarah the leopard geckos. Great pets. Angelina the bearded dragon.

Barney and Sarah playing...

He is getting so big!

Our favorite place! Taco Cabana.

It's a memory thing. :)

The Coyote Classic.

Sarah made us a sign for the race!

Inside Carlsbad Caverns...looks like outer space!

Such a cool place!

The opening entrance. It is sooo deep!

Love this shot with Sarah on the ground. Ha ha

Walking across the bridge in Carlsbad..

Jen and Sarah looking cute.

Road Tripper!

My lips were so burnt!

Playing at White Sands..

Cool shot of Sarah.