Roughin' it on the River

Seriously, could this picture get any cuter? Four kids fishing with Kris on a serene river with a mountainous view... Awesome!  Friends of ours own a family place on the Poudre River (north of Ft Collins) and it exceeded expectations!  We spent just over 24 hours up there, but it was so heavenly that it felt like a week.  Even Carter thought so.  He got so tuckered out when he was down by the river that he basically slept every other waking moment.  What a great experience for our old pal.  Pretty sure he slept for three straight days when we got home.

When the weather cooperated, the boys spent their time fishing on the river.  This was pretty different than our normal lake fishing.  It took a lot more casting practice and we had to pay attention a lot more to work with the drift of the river.

When the rain hit shortly, we entertained ourselves with a little Uno or just chatting and enjoying the view from the family cabin.

I think cornhole is a requirement in the Cannode and Tiley families.  The kids even had boards their size to play on while the adults practiced their skills.

This was seriously one of the best 'family weekends' we have had mostly because the Tiley family is just like ours.  We love to have fun and ensure everyone is included.  Jillian wanted to make sure it was ok to share her cheesy popcorn with little K.  Karsten just loved the hugs!

Another rainy moment - no worries... we must learn to play BeyBlade!  What? you haven't heard of that game?... you must not have any little boys in your house.  "Let it Rip!"

Just us enjoying some more time near the river... can we stay forever?

Ok, so I will claim that we loosely 'camped' this weekend.  Hard to call it camping when we stayed in such a beautiful home on the river, but we did make sure to do all the mandatory camping activities... like S'mores!  Who wants s'mores?!?!

This was one of my favorite parts of the weekend.  Camden showed his carved out river to the rest of the kids and they had 'boat races' with sticks found near the river.  What is so cool about this is that the carved out river was made by Leif back when he was Camden's age!  The Tiley family has owned this property since Leif was a kid.  They tented and used campers for many years and the beautiful home we stayed in... was just built this year!  So, they have a new home, but lots of memories dating back many years.  Love the family history and feel of this property.

My other favorite part? These guys! 

Thank you again to Jacqueline and Leif Tiley for letting us in on their family time.  We were seriously so relaxed and walked away from this quick weekend with memories we will cherish for years to come.  I am so glad that our little Minions are so loved by yours.  Fun watching them grow up together... and it wasn't even at a CSU event this time!

Tri for a Cure 2014

Amy has enjoyed doing this particular triathlon since 2008 and hopes to do it many years in the future.  The best part about this race is the women she gets to do it with each year.  This year, Amy got to have support from Kendall, Alisa, Angie and Amy (aka: Newman to avoid confusion).  Kendall is superwoman and was already in the competitive wave during the picture above and we couldn't find Newman until after the race was complete.  But here we are ready for the big race and here is my cheer squad.  I should mention that my three boys all got up around 4am today in order to get to the race in time.  Plus, it was ultra sunny out... these factors result in children not wanting to pose for pictures.  Maybe later, kiddos.

No pics of the swim, but trust me - it went excellent!  Amy was able to finish her swim in 15 min and 30 sec, which is just about a personal record for her.  She was happy with swimming straight and feeling strong.  I should also mention quickly that Amy came down with a severe cold on Saturday morning.  She had almost no voice and felt dehydrated and unsure of the race.  In fact, she almost backed out.  Good thing she decided to dope up on NyQuil Cold and suffer through.  Ended up being one hell of a race!

Amy grabbed her bike and a cough drop and hit the road!  Look at that Pretty Bike!  Melissa was looking to sell her triathlon bike and Amy had been "borrowing" a tri bike from Kendall since 2006 (no joke... I seriously 'borrowed' a bike for EIGHT years!).  Guess it was time to get one that fit me correctly and I could call my very own!  Amy is now in love with her new bike! It is not only pretty, but also helped her get her best bike time ever at under 42 minutes!

As you can see above... Alisa's Favorite part of the tri is the run.  And, why shouldn't it be - the girl finished in 26 minutes! Amy and Angie were a bit less in love with the run, but both felt strong the whole time.  Amy finished with her fastest time of 34 minutes flat and was pretty happy.  Overall, my time came to 1 hour and 39 minutes.  I missed being eligible for the competitive wave by 9 pesky minutes, but I promise... I will be back next year with a vengeance!

After the race, we had to take photos of all our men.  My kiddos still wouldn't cooperate at the same time, so I never did get all the boys in one pic.  Oh well, they are all represented somewhere.  It was so great to be cheered on by such a great group! I give extra props to Kyle who came to cheer on his favorite ladies even though he wasnt' required to (like our husbands were).

Here are some pics of beautiful ladies who were all really happy with their times.  None of us look too beat, which is a great thing since we have a BBQ at the Ryersons to get to!

Kendall, Angie, Amy, Alisa and Kendall's friend



Newman!  We found her!  She did excellent and we were pleased we could catch up with her briefly after the race.  One more try getting our boys picture together.

This is a picture of a lady who just PR'd her Entire Race!  Amy couldn't have been happier with her time.  I felt a little birdie pushing me the entire way and wanted to make her proud.  The day of the race was the one year anniversary of Betty joining Jesus in Heaven.  She is truly missed here on earth, but with us on a daily basis. I'm proud that I have been running races and triathlons in her honor for over a decade and will continue until my legs won't carry me!

Did I mention my cheer squad got up at 4am to support me?  These kids are such troopers and so is their Daddy!  Thanks you guys for always being there to support me!  My favorite part of every race is looking for a high five from my men!

Rugged Maniac

Not sure who talked me into this race, but they are Crazy with a capital "C"!  ... wait... I was the one who talked everyone into this race?  Are you sure?  Did we train for this at all?  You mean it is FULL of hills?  Crazy, just Crazy!

This is our group of crazy Girls.  Amy Newman talked me into this race last year and I graciously repaid the favor by inviting two new girls into this race (Bri and her friend, Rebecca).  The race was on a motocross race course (aka: Hills Galore) and had 20+ obstacles throughout the course.  It was Entertaining if nothing else!  Here is a picture of Rebecca and Bri ("like the cheese") getting ready for the race.  They look super tough in those Belle shirts.  At least the tape looks tough.

The boys lost track of mommy after the first high five, so Kris took them to their own obstacle course to pass the time.

The only way to get pictures during the race was by the professional shots.  Here are some of the favorites.  We jumped through fire, monkey bars, jumped over chest high walls, climbed over 8 ft high walls, crawled under barbed wire, and ferociously ran up a skateboard ramp like a Ninja Warrior. This was Amy's favorite part.  She was so proud she made it up on her first try!

The end of the race was an awesome water slide.  Great way to get the mud off and finish on an extremely fun event.  Bri was first down with her friend, Rebecca and the Amy's followed in suit.  I in particular was really glad it was over.  My body didn't have much more fight left in me!  Time to celebrate with a beer.  ... wait... Where's the beer line?

The only way to end this crazy person race is a tasty beverage!  #Earned!

Dozen Years of Love

Kris and I cashed in a babysitter voucher with the ever understanding Erika Krueger and decided to head out for our date night.  We were jazzed cause our kiddos were going on their first 'friend sleepover' and we had the night (and quiet morning) to ourselves.  Off to dinner we went.  Where did we go you ask?  Melting Pot!  Yummy!  Kris got all romantic on me and bought me flowers and we even enjoyed a lobster tail together.  Was a perfect night.  The kid sleepover ended early as Kasey came down with an unexpected fever, but no worries.  We really enjoyed our three hour dinner in quiet.  Thanks again to Ms Erika for taking this sick kiddo; who by the way got her kids sick (whoops!)  We owe you!

Frontier Days

What a Great Group of friends and a Beautiful day to enjoy a rodeo!  We were missing a bunch of our regulars this year, and they were missed, but we sure enjoyed this crazy crew.  We had tickets to the Frontier Rodeo on our 12th Anniversary.  What a way to spend it together! ... wait... we did NOT have tickets for our anniversary?  You say they were for yesterday??? Um, Carey Ryerson... have any extra Magpul tickets?  THANK GOD!  OK, disaster averted and we are ready for another fun day slipping into the Frontier suite.

The rodeo was a blast to watch and our kiddos just LOVED it!  They even got to meet a few Rodeo Queens as well as a Bull Rider.

This next picture is pretty important.  Not only is is of me and two of my favorite girls, but ... it is also the moment that I packed my kids in the car and left my husband with another woman (ahem - Angie) on the night of our 12th Anniversary.  Yes, I am a Totally Understanding and Wonderful Wife!  Angie and Kris got tickets to Gary Allen and were stoked.  Amy was glad Kris got to see one of his favorite singers and even more happy that she didn't have to hear "Smoke rings in the dark".  It was a great day for everyone.  Guess we will celebrate our anniversary next weekend, right Kris?