aero

Noah sent me this link, which is about a study comparing various combinations of road vs tt setups.  Since I just bought a tt bike, I find it exciting to see the power savings that they measured between the two!  I don't have an aero helmet, but comparing the drops on the road bike to areobars on the tt bike, I hope I can bike up the pace a little next season. ;-)

Key points, taken from the website:
Position: Going from drops to aerobars will save you ~30 watts at 40km/h
Bike: A time trial bike will save you ~20 watts over a road bike with clip-ons at 40km/h
Helmet: A time trial helmet will save you ~10 watts over a road helmet at 40km/h

a new bike

Frame: Javelin Lugano (Built in Italy, designed in USA)
Fork: True Temper Alpha Q Aero Carbon Fork
Campy Record 10 speed components; 11-23 cassette
FSA Neo Pro Crankset 175mm; 53-39
Profile Cobra Wing Base Bar
Profile T2+ Cobra Aerobars
Profile Hammer stem
Fizik Arione Tri2 saddle
Rolf Prima Vigor Clincher wheelset

Michael Lovato used this bike from July 2007 to April 2008.  I bought him from him in Boulder.

Kona failures

Yesterday, I watched NBC's coverage of the Ford Ironman World Championships in Kona.  I enjoyed it.  There were a couple personal stories that were covered, but much of the coverage followed the pro race and I learned a few things about how the race went.

Not that I'll ever race it, but one concern I would have going is of being one of the racers that fails... on national television!  It's very encouraging to watch the success stories, but some of the folks that don't make cut-off, crash, blow-up to the point of being physically sick, having to be carried off, finish with <1 minutes to spare, etc. also get some TV coverage... "and now we see Ehren van Melle being carried off by the medical staff as he is completely unable to even stagger under his own power!".  Yeah, great, how does the puke look all over the shirt?  Nice.  Hi Mom!  Aren't I great?!

I know it can even happens to the pros, but even they can't enjoy being filmed having an emotional break-down after having to drop-out.  At least folks that are somewhat familiar with pushing hard through endurance activities can understand the bonk/blow-up, but most people probably do not.

Good luck to those lottery winners who aren't quite prepared to complete the race - try to avoid the cameras. :-)

snow styles

After receiving our 2nd blanket of snow this past week, it reminded me of how the kids all responded differently to the 1rst snowfall on Thanksgiving weekend:

1. "love it" - Emily was quick to jump in and start making snow angels.  She wasn't worried about getting covered and the cold didn't concern her.
   
2. "eat it" - Jaelynn's primary focus was eating snow.  She took a break to help Emily & I with a bit of shoveling, but it was only a break away from eating.  The clean stuff isn't around for too long though...
   
3. "hate it" - Evan is not yet fond of the snow.  He really wants nothing to do with it and it's hard just to get him to hold some in his hand.  I'm sure he'll start to enjoy it soon enough.

We will have the girls out downhill skiing this winter - that should teach them what's snow is really for, eh?! ;-)  Actually, Emily already manages "green" runs just fine, but Jaelynn is in for some new experiences.

December 2008

Well we'll see how this all works in the "blog" format of true facts and mindless thoughts. Today will be based on true facts of the family. :-) As mentioned previously we're quite excited to have our basement done and functional. The TV's have been installed so we're ready to rumble! It's a great addition to the house and the kids have been having a blast. We need to have a set of lights replaced in the kids play area under the stairs then Janelle has plans to paint it over the Christmas holidays. Should be fun! Another "snowy day" project is to paint Evan's room. Could've been done Thanksgiving weekend but we were a little to late in planning to do it...too busy of a weekend.

We started off November with the birth of another niece! On Nov. 3rd Clara was born to Blain and Grace in Calgary. They didn't know if it was a boy or a girl so now Faith has a sister! Their family is doing well and adjusting to the wonderful addition. Wow, we're just full of new babies left and right! A couple days later we went to Levi's baptism. Most of the family from both Jay and Deana's side of the family were able to be here, so it was a nice little gathering.

November was beautiful weather here so we managed a lot of time outside. We had several days in the 60's and a handful in the 70-80's. Much warmer than the typical fall days. We finally got some snow Thanksgiving weekend...we really needed the moisture as we've been hand watering trees. There's even been some plants that have started to grow again and we're seeing more weeds pop up with the warm weather. Talk about confused vegetation!! :-)

Having such mild weather has allowed Janelle more time out running with Evan in the jogger. Ehren still gets out on his lunch breaks. We've both been playing hockey which is a nice mix. We also bought ski boots and skis so we're ready for the slopes! Hopefully we'll get out a few times this year.

We're ready for the holidays and had a full house for Thanksgiving this year. We cooked up a turkey and all the fixin's. It was great to have our friends here with us and we now look forward to being here for Christmas too this year. Ah, a nice quiet year!

Not much else to report on this end of things. We hope you all have a great month and we'll report back in 2009! Wow, it's hard to believe that the next update will bring us into the New Year. Have a great holiday everyone!

pin clock

I haven't tried it, but I think this would be a pretty cool gift for a lot of folks.

getting ahead

I feel good tonight, like I finally got a little bit ahead this week.

First of all, IHT guys were here this morning and got done most of the remaining work they needed to do downstairs.  Only 2 things left to take care of and they are waiting for the parts:  the Harmony remote and the HDMI splitter.  I need to order another HDMI cable and powerbar in the meantime.  I hope I don't forget.

I also got our other Harmony remote programmed tonight for upstairs.  The setup software is pretty slick.  It looks like I might have to add 1 new cmd for the tv, but otherwise it works great.

Finally, I got all of the kids pages and our regular updates page moved over to blogger!  Yep, I'm updating the last link tonight!  It should be much easier to make updates, but now we have to teach family & friends how to use "feed readers".  Reid is already a fan, but I'm not sure anyone else uses it (other then myself).

On top of it all, only a 3 day work week.  I'm in the middle of some fun stuff at work though, so I'm looking forward to getting back at it next week.  Meanwhile, it will be great to have 4 days off with the family & some friends.  I need to find a little time for myself in there too (missed my run today and haven't been swimming this week!!).

a new company

Another impressive move by Reid & co... they've started a consulting company called Brierwood Design. I'm not sure how quickly things are ramping up, but it sounds like they are having fun. I've linked to their blog, which often includes postings with code snippets and coding & design advice. It's a pretty sharp bunch of guys!

we'll try this again

After a 1.5 year hiatus, I am resurrecting my blog to see if I can add some content. Most likely I will add links to videos and useful pages that I come across. I've been impressed with Kerrie's blogging skills and I know I am not nearly that articulate. I'll probably just stick to the facts: KISS. So....

Things are going well. Work is enjoyable and I've been able to keep up with some activities. I've also created a Facebook account, which has been only a little more than a distraction. I can see how it can consume some people though.

I'm going to leave this for now. I'll try out some new things soon enough.

November 2008

October was an exciting month for us. We're back into the "swing of things" and have a routine set. We're biking less as the weather is cooling off now, but picking up in other areas. Ehren's now swimming three times a week (at 6a.m.), and Janelle is running more. We've been both playing hockey which gives us a nice balance. The kids have been busy with their swimming and you can read more about their progress on their pages.

We'd like to start with one of the exciting parts of the month...we've got another new nephew! Adam Zachary Ait was born on Oct. 21st at 4.15 a.m. He was 7lbs. 7oz. and 18" long. Both Lana & Adam are doing great and were at home with the help of Blair & Dar until just a couple days ago when they had to fly back to this side of the world. Janelle saw them no webcam a few days ago and they look great...and Adam, to everyone's surprise, is fair featured with light hair and blue eyes like his sister. What happened to those Arab genes Samuel?!?

Another exciting event for this month was the completion of our basement! It was done on schedule and wow, is it nice to have it done! We've started moving our "stuff" back into it and will fill it up in the matter of time. It turned out wonderful and we thank Jay and Jeremy for a great job!

A couple days after we completed the basement we took a trip to San Diego, perhaps the most exciting thing this month for the kids. It has been almost two years since we've been there and it was nice to see old friends...some with larger families too! We had a lot of days visiting, spent an afternoon at the beach (we hit a bit of a hot spell in the weather), went to Sea World and Disneyland! It was interesting to be at the theme parks right before Halloween as they were "done up" for the holiday. In all the years we lived in CA we never went to any of the parks so close to Halloween. At Sea World, Emily loved the Seamore & Clyde show (Sea Lions). They did a spoof from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" with the Sea Lions and Emily loved it. Jaelynn loved Elmo's roller ride. Evan, well, he liked the rides too...got a lot of smiles from him. At Disneyland, Emily surprised us by loving Space Mountain...and even went on it a second time! It was neat to see Disneyland all decked out for Halloween, and of course, the big sight was the Haunted Mansion at this time of year. It was a bit of a hot spell in the time we were there but the day we went to Disneyland there was a real nice breeze...and best of all...NO line ups!

Now that we're back we're back into the swing of things. The kids were so excited for Halloween and had a blast. The weather was great (76F) so that made it even more enjoyable. It's fun now that they're a little older and they get so excited about this kind of stuff!

October 2008

September started off with a bang as our nephew Levi was born! We got a call just after midnight on the 5th saying Levi Sterling Landrigan was born at 5lbs.10oz. and 18" long. Both Deana and him were doing well(and Jay too ...didn't feel a thing!) and they were happy to have their little addition to their family. Of course Janelle was up to call Lana in Dubai and then Blair and Dar who were on the road from Alberta coming down to CO. After an hour of being on the phone it took another hour to calm down to fall asleep again! It was a short night...but even shorter for Deana and Jay! :-) At this time we of course got to have a visit with Janelle's parents as they came down to help Deana & Jay out a bit. It was a nice time and we look forward to seeing them again in November.

A few days after all this excitement, Ehren took a planned trip to Ottawa to see Reid & Eric. Ehren was gone for a week to relax, take in some swimming, biking, and running with Reid...not to mention, the gourmet cooking Janelle never heard the end of!:-) Ehren had a really nice time and enjoyed the time away. It was nice to get back to the sound of kids playing (oh yeah, and screaming and yelling too!!). It had been 6 years since Ehren had been to Ontario to see Reid so it was nice to get there.

As for both of us, Ehren's been doing some crazy sort of training thing with sometimes swimming, running and playing hockey all in the same day...does this sound like fun? The long and the short is that he's still running, swimming and biking, and now hockey has started again. The golf and biking will taper off a bit once the weather turns cooler, but lately it's been such perfect weather for all of the above! He's really busy with work right now as it's once again "review time", so there's a lot of meetings and writing to be done. Still really enjoying it though. Janelle's been busy with biking, swimming, and playing hockey. The running has tapered off as she complains that it's too hard on her knees...she'll get on the treadmill more once it's up and running! :-) It's a challenge to find time to do all she wants to do and balance family, work, and house "stuff" too...as like any other mother. Work is going well and the one day a week Nanny is even better. The kids love her and she does everything with them! She takes them to the library, reservoir to check out the fish and frogs, play dates, you name it! It makes going to work very easy for Janelle when she knows the kids are happy and in good hands.

One last exciting thing is our basement! Getting closer to completion, it's really starting to look like something! They're painting as we speak and will put in the granite on friday. Appliances, carpet and glass are part of the last couple weeks finishing touches, and we should be done by mid October! The thought of having this finished living space is exciting and we look forward to the finished product!

Well, with a trip to San Diego on our mind in mid October, and the upcoming election (yes, we get to vote now!), we've got a lot to think about over the next few weeks. Ehren's birthday and Halloween are right around the corner as well so we have a lot to plan for. We'll be back for another update in a month...at that time we'll have another nephew (to Lana & Samuel in Dubai), and possibly another niece or nephew (to Blain & Grace in Calgary). What a growing family!

September 2008

August has been a busy month for us. We've had a lot going on to start the new year (in relation to school). We started the month off by starting our basement. We're having Jay "do it all" for us! He's the project manager and things have been going nicely! All the framing is done and a lot of the "details" have been discussed. Dry walling will be the next thing to happen and then things will start to look a little more like "something". We're quite excited to have this new space created as it will give us more entertaining space, a roomy guest bedroom and bath, and extra play space for the kids. Finish date should be close to the end of the month and we're excited! For now, the kids love seeing Uncle Jay almost every day as he pops in and out to make sure all is going as planned and the "customer" is happy! :-)

The next big deal is that school has started! School started early this year so the girls have been in school for a couple weeks already. You can read more about their experiences and schedules in their updates. Both girls have been loving it and Janelle's really enjoying the extra time with Evan. Life is a little less hectic running around with only one child for a couple hours of the day. It also allows her to get out with the jogger stroller in the mornings and go for a jog!

Speaking of exercise, the routine continues for the two big people in the household. Running, biking and swimming. Next weekend Ehren will be doing the Buffalo classic which he's chosen to do the 100mile ride in one day. Lots of fun! In Sept. hockey starts for both of us and it'll be good to get the skates on after a bit of a summer break.

Ehren has taken in a bit of traveling lately. In August he took a quick almost "day" trip to Oakland to a wedding reception. It was a friend from University and he met 3 other university friends there...kind of a mini school reunion. Short and sweet and not much sleep! In Sept. he also has plans to go to Ottawa to visit brother Reid. Ehren will be gone for a week and plans on some "brotherly bonding" as they run, ride and swim the week away in Canada!

Another new coming for Sept. is our new Nanny. We have Martha starting with us in September. She'll be here to watch the kids, cook and run them to their activities and school once a week while Janelle works. We're excited to have her a part of our lives as she's great with the kids and has amazing energy.

Lastly, we patiently await the arrival of another niece or nephew. In a couple weeks Deana and Jay are expecting their first child. Baby's ETA is Sept. 14th so we'll see how late the baby is (sorry D!). Blair and Dar will be down for a visit when the baby arrives so we'll get to have a bit of a visit.

August 2008

July started off with a 4th of July party at some friends' of ours. It was a nice time and the kids had fun playing in the kiddie pool...a nice cool down in the 90F temps! A couple days later Janelle and the kids flew to Calgary. We had about 5 days to visit, shop, and take in the Calgary Stampede with Blair, Darlene, Lana, Isabelle, and Samuel. We had a day at the Stampede and the kids had a blast...it's always interesting to take in an event with kids and do the "kids" stuff. :-) Petting the baby pigs and the Super Dog Show were the two hi-lights. We also got to have a quick visit with Elaine and made a trip to Blain and Grace's to see their new house. After about 5 days Ehren arrived with Deana & Jay and we took off on our three day family reunion in Radium Hot Springs, BC. It's about a 3 1/2 hr drive, but on the way up it took us 5 hours. We hit a closed highway in the mountains which backed up traffic for miles. There had been a head on collision between two semi trucks. What a mess! Once we were there we had a great time. We left the kids with Blair & Dar for a morning and went white water rafting. What fun! They gave us wet suits which we needed in the 4C water...only 12 hours off the glaciers so it was nice and refreshing. :-) It was about a 3 hr raft and we hit a couple category 4's. We didn't lose anyone so we were lucky! While we were gone rafting the kids went to the Hot Springs and had a blast. It was nice to see everyone again as it had been about 15 years since I'd seem some of them last!

Once we were back in Longmont Ehren took in his second triathlon of the year. This one was much longer than the sprint one he did earlier as it was an "Olympic" distance tri. He did well, but left room for improvement in the last lag of the event...the run. It was a little hard after the long swim and bike which surprised him. Janelle took the kids to cheer him on and after they enjoyed their time swimming in the Boulder Res (where the tri swim started). This was Ehren's last "planned" event of the summer so far.

The weekend after Janelle threw a baby shower for Deana. It was a lot of fun and she got some great gifts. While the "big" girls had fun at the shower, Ehren took the kids to the Qualcomm summer picnic. It was a Mexican theme and the kiddos had a great time. As of this last week of July, the girls are currently in a 3 day camp at the Sunflower Farm here in Longmont. They have been having fun and it's been a nice break for Mom, and a little 1:1 time with Evan. To bring the month to and end we're starting to finish our basement! Finally! We're quite excited and have managed to plan it with pretty much everything we wanted...can't wait for Jay to get it done!!

July 2008

June was a milestone anniversary for us! We had our 10 year anniversary! We've been together, oh, around 18 though...hard to believe! We're planning celebrating next year with a trip, so this year we had a round of golf and dinner...at least we did something right? :-)

June was a busy month for the adults in the family. The kids' activities has calmed down a bit but we're picking it up at our end. We started the month with both of us doing our first triathlons! They were sprint distance, but nonetheless, triathlons. It was quite enjoyable and we were pleased with our times. Ehren has another longer one in July. Janelle doesn't have anymore but just finished doing the MS 150 bike ride this past weekend (150 miles over 2 days to raise money for multiple sclerosis). It was a very enjoyable ride and the weather was perfect. So far there's no sore spots. :-)

We had a surprise set of company this month as well. Lana and Isabelle took a quick last minute trip down for a week. They were visiting Janelle's parents in High River, AB and decided to take a week to come down. It was really nice to have them here and Isabelle got some good playing time with her cousins. It was all good timing as they arrived for the week that Ehren was gone to New Jersey for a conference. Janelle was home alone with the kids but still had Lana for company.

We're planning on having a quiet 4th of July and attending a friends' barbecue. Right after that Janelle will be heading to Canada...Ehren will follow later. We'll update you when we get back!

June 2008

May was a very busy month for us. We started with Joop & Rose coming for a short visit. They drove out and had about 4 days here...maybe next time they'll stay longer? A week later we had the Johnson's arrive. They were here for almost a week. We always have a nice time with them and it seems like we just saw them yesterday. It was hard to believe it had been a year since we'd seen them. The boys are getting so big and Carter, who's Jaelynn's age, is almost as big as Emily! During their stay Janice and the boys came with us to Emily's preschool graduation. On the weekend we took them to the Butterfly Pavilion when Brendon wasn't working.

The long weekend in May was a busy weekend for us. We were quite involved in a wedding on saturday with the girls as flower girls and Janelle making the wedding cake. It turned out good and the most nerve racking part was getting the cake to the reception site and hour away (in the heat of the day), without everything shifting or melting. It was successful and rewarding to see something she made on display at a major event. Thank gosh it went withought a hitch! That same weekend Ehren ran in the Bolder Boulder (10k race) and had a great run. He was going to be very happy with a 46 min. run and he came in at 45.02! Very Happy! Now he's got a real challenge to beat for next year!

Apart from keeping up with the kids activities, we've been busy training as we're both running, biking, and swimming. We've both decided not to play hockey this summer as we're focusing on the previously mentioned. The swimming is going well and the running and biking...well, we're just trying to increase mileage and improve time! We both have sprint triathlons to do the beginning of June so we're working up to that. At the end of June Janelle is biking in the MS 150 (150 miles over two days to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis). She's part of Team "Plain Spoken" which she learned of from some biking friends in the community. We've both found a good group of people to bike with in our area so it keeps us busy. Ehren's also started into his "work" golf. They play 9 holes once a week..a good way to get on the course. It would be nice to get in more golf and tennis but the weekends don't seem to have enough hours (as you all know!).

Well, not much else to say. We'll see how June goes and then we're heading to Canada in July. Gosh, those airfares have gone up! Have a great month everyone!

May 2008

April was a very busy and exciting month for us. We started it with Evan's first birthday party. We had a house full of people and kids and had a great time celebrating Evan's first year. Emily and Jaelynn were both excited too. A couple days after Evan's birthday Janelle was scheduled to leave for 10 days to Dubai with sister Deana. The day before they flew she was blessed with strep throat. Ugh! Nothing a little antibiotics wouldn't fix....and a lot of rest...which is easy to get on an 18 1/2 hr flight!!

So, I get to write a story on this month's update. The trip to Dubai was amazing. It started with a flight to Houston and then a straight 16 hr flight to Dubai. Both Deana and I were extremely glad to touch ground and walk again after the long flight...don't get me wrong...Emirates airlines is an amazing airline, but c'mon, 16 hrs! We left the house at 8.30 friday morning and arrived in Dubai at 8 p.m. sat. night (on time). Right away I noticed what a different world it was...from the arabic signage, different dress, and the sand...oh yes, the sand!

Dubai is one of 7 Emirates. There's Abu Dhabi (the capital), Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al Quwain (hopefully I got the spelling right!). The population is 1.2 million although that is increasing at an amazing rate. Once they have all the palms and the world islands done the population will be more than triple that. The city which was once a pearling and fishing city has started to build it's foundation on tourism. They're making all the "biggest", "best", and most amazing structures in the world. It currently has at least 90 5 star hotels and one 7 star hotel...a lot for the population! A couple of it's marvels are the Burj Al Arab which is the 7 star hotel located on it's own made made island, the Burj Dubai (tallest building in the world) at 164 floors...and it's built so they can add on so it will always be able to be the tallest, the Palms and World Islands, and the indoor ski hill located in the Mall of Emirates. The second day we were there Deana and I took a bus tour of the city. We saw all these and more. They give you so many facts it's mind boggling. Everywhere you look there's shopping, cranes, and something "gold plated", or so it seems. Because Dubai is so hot in the summer months all activities are indoors...and most of those are in the malls. Outside temps soar and unless you're into sand and construction...it's best to be inside! :-) We had beautiful weather while we were there...most of the time the temps weren't above 90 which was nice...and always a nice breeze. We noticed such an array of people there from all corners of the world. One of the biggest concerns most people have is "how did you have to dress"? We wore our usual clothes...shorts, tanks, skirts (not short of course). We get looked at funny at times because we're westerners, blue eyed, and white skinned, but other than that...we were one of the several different cultures that exist in such a diverse culture.

Many of the pictures you'll see initially are from the bus tour we took. For anyone who's been to London and on that bus tour...it's very similar. In fact, much of Dubai is based off the British "way". In fact, you'll see there's several round abouts in the city. One interesting architectural feature is the Bastakiya's or "wind towers". These were standard in the houses in the "older days" as it served as a type of air conditioning. The air would blow through the Bastakiya's and then be pulled into the house and cause a wind current that served as a type of air conditioning. Very important for the extreme heat of the desert. Now, many people have air conditioning so you don't see as many of these Bastakiya's in the modern architecture.

One of the coolest (for lack of a better term) things we did was tour the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It's one of the most amazing buildings I've ever been in. The detail in the design is amazing with walls and floors of marble from several parts of the world. The largest green carpet in the world exists in the mosque which took 2 years to make. When you look at the pictures you'll see all the facts about the mosque. It was great that we were able to tour it as most mosques are closed to the non-muslim population. For us to be able to be in one, and one of such enormity was great. We were also grateful that they provided the Abaya's and Khimars as we went "prepared", but were much more comfortable to find that they supply you with the appropriate attire.

Over the week Lana and Isabelle were troupers as they took us around the city to the malls, shopping, etc. Lana even dropped us at an Ice Bar (she'd been to it before) one afternoon. We figured "oh, we'll meet you in an hour"...being the tough(in respect to cold) Saskatchewan raised girls we are. Well, even though they provided the mittens (actually, mini gloves and we all know how useless they are!), jackets, and down filled booties, we barely lasted 1/2 hr! :-) The temp was only -6C but we were in skirts, drinking cold drinks, holding glasses made of ice with remember...useless mini gloves on! The great part was when we were done and left the room...they gave you warm wash clothes to thaw out your hands. :-) We were also informed that they replaced all the ice every 6 months.

So, one of my other hi-lights was the Desert tour Samuel and I went on. He was a good sport in being my date as we figured the pregnant girls shouldn't be 4x4'ing and riding camels. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the 4x4'ing in the sand dunes was a lot of fun. We very rarely let go of the "oh shit" handles as it was a very bumpy ride. We ended the 4x4'ing with watching the sun set and then headed down for the festivities. I did the Henna on my hands and then rode the camel of course. It was a short ride which was good b/c it was dang uncomfortable! Not much padding! It's also rough as the camel gets up and down. Getting up they go from sitting, to their knees, then to their feet...two big jolts up. Getting down is the same...a drop to the knees, then another drop to the belly. You don't want to let go of those handles!!! The festivities also included sheeshaw, dates (as in the fruit), dinner, and belly dancing...all which were interesting. I had Samuel with me so I knew exactly what I was eating. The beef and chicken were good, but I'm not a big fan of lamb. We also figured the hummus was from a can as I can make it better than what they had. Anyways, we arrived home around 9.30 that night tired and ready for bed.

That's a brief overview of some of what we did. I could write 5 times that much! The trip home was not one to be desired. We left Dubai and hour late and missed our connecting flight in New York. Ended up stuck in the airport for 7 hours before we managed to catch a flight home. Boy, I never thought I'd say this after just flying for 12 hours, but were we glad to be airborne again! We arrived back safe and sound and Emily was still awake and waiting for her good night hug and kiss. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

That leads me to the kids...my parents and Ehren did great with them. Jaelynn had the stomach flu for one day but other than that all went well. Mom looked after everyone and Dad did a lot of the running back and forth for school and activities. Ehren had to work, but did his share of chipping in when he was at home. I can't say enough thanks to all three of them for making it possible for me to take such a trip. After all, how often can someone leave 3 kids under the age of 5 for 10 days, fly to the other side of the world...AND not even worry about them!?!? It was some great sister time and something that we'll always remember. Mom & Dad stayed for a couple days after I got home and then ventured back to Canada. Oh, and for those of you wondering...Evan only shunned me for about 10 minutes when I came home...then he was back to tugging at my leg! :-)

The last week of April was busy with getting ready for more company and spring cleaning. We're expecting Oma & Opa this week and then the Johnson's after that The long weekend in May the girls are in a wedding in Denver and I'm making the wedding cake. Ehren is also in the Bolder Boulder that same weekend. A busy month ahead!

April 2008

March was a very busy month for us. We managed to get through the "double" birthday party. It was quite fun and busy. Janelle had two cakes to make...a lady bug and Ariel, and both turned out pretty good. One more to make this weekend for Evan's birthday then we're done for another year!

Ehren got skiing a couple times this month. He also got Emily out and said she did pretty good this time. The green runs are a breeze and she even tackled a blue one or two! We're both playing hockey (Janelle has a tournament this weekend), and both busy trying to get running, biking, and swimming. The swimming has come a long way. We're both doing quite well with the freestyle, and Ehren's starting his flips at the end of the pool. We've both signed up for triathlons this summer. Janelle's is a sprint one so it's shorter, and Ehren is doing one shorter one and one long one. Janelle's also thinking of doing the MS 150 the end of June. Guess we better get training more! It's a lot of fun but keeps us busy.

Work has been good for both. Ehren just made another trip to San Diego for business, and Janelle's had a few less hours since their babysitter had her baby. Once May hits she'll be back to her usual once a week working.

We've started into a steady stream of company. Elaine & Peter were just here and next week Blair & Darlene will be here. We're also expecting Joop & Rose, and then the Johnson's from San Diego in May. In between all this Janelle's greatly anticipating her trip to Dubai in the UAE to visit her sister Lana and her family. Deana & Janelle will be going together (sister's trip) for 10 days. This will over lap with Blair & Dar's time in CO as they will help Ehren with the kids. We'll tell you next month how they all made out (especially Janelle being away for so long!!).

Well, we had a great Easter and a really nice visit with Elaine & Peter. Last year we didn't get to see the kids wake up to the Easter Bunny trail as we were in the hospital (Evan was born Easter weekend). It was so much fun to watch the excitement. Next year Evan will be into it too!!

March 2008

February seems to have been a really busy month for us all. We had birthday's to attend, a lot of extra-curricular with the girls, and then a couple of ski days in there too. We had Janelle's cousin Stephanie come for a long weekend to visit from British Columbia as well. It was great to see her as it had been a long time...seems like only weddings or funerals, now isn't that just how it goes??

One of the biggest changes for us is that we both started swimming. Not just swimming, but learning how to really swim! It's been close to 20 years since either of us have even tried to swim. We're taking a beginner masters class. Janelle has a fear of water so there's one thing to conquer! :-) After a month of swimming once a week we're seeing progress!! We both have hopes of one day maybe doing a tri or half tri. We'll see! For now it's fun and by far the hardest sport we've ever done. We both continue to play hockey and Ehren has started pilates as well.

We have a busy couple months ahead of us as the girls' birthday party is right around the corner and we are expecting Elaine & Peter in March for Easter. Ehren's had a couple ski days and if you check out our pictures...he almost impaled himself with a stick!! Janelle is also extremely excited as she's going to Dubai with Deana in April. Fun times ahead!

Ehren continues to enjoy his work...and is in a busy time with reviews. Lots of meetings. Ugh! Janelle continues to work once a week and is really enjoying keeping up with her specialty (or trying to keep up with it).

Lastly, we're very excited as we found out we're going to be an aunt/uncle two times over next fall. Both Deana and Lana are expecting in the fall. Busy times ahead!! Congrats guys!

February 2008 - Puerto Vallarta

We had a great start to the New Year. Once we got back from Canada we got ourselves sorted around and back into schedule. Ehren took Emily skiing one weekend and she did pretty good. Hopefully they'll get out a couple more times yet this year.

Part way through the month we went to Puerto Vallarta to visit Janelle's parents. Janelle and the kids went down first and Ehren joined them 4 days later. The flight went quite well for her with the three little ones, and she was glad to be around extra helping hands once they landed in PV. The kids adapted well and we all had a nice time. Ehren got in a couple rounds of golf, Janelle got a little pampering, and we all had a lot of beach and pool time. We took one day to go to Nuevo Vallarta to take the kids swimming with the dolphins. We have a lot of good pictures on the web site. We also took a couple trips downtown on the bus...this was a lot of fun for the kids...good 'ol public transport! It has improved over the years but is still much different than around here. Ehren and I spent a lot of time relaxing, playing tennis, and eating. :-) Gotta love that Mexican food (not to mention the cervezas!). We will certainly miss being there, but it will give us something to look forward to next year! We also need to brush up on our spanish (ok, I mean learn it!). :-)

Now that we're back, we've made the decision to start swimming. We're each taking a class once a week. We continue to play hockey and Ehren is running quite faithfully. Janelle continues to work once a week which is about right, and Ehren is still really enjoying work. In a few weeks we look forward to a visit from Janelle's cousin Stephanie from British Columbia.

January 2008

Well, Happy New Year to everyone! It was a very busy month of December for us. We started with more than one Christmas Party. So exciting, lots of fun, and the kids even saw Santa a couple times...3 actually...now I never saw him that much when I was little! :-) We got some good pictures of them with Santa and it seemed that none of them were "Santa shy" this year. It's so much fun to see them get excited about seeing him, as well as the anticipation of Christmas.

We had a fair amount of snow in December so between keeping the driveway clear and getting ready for Christmas...it's kept us tied up! We haven't even been out on the slopes yet. Ugh!

The third weekend in December we flew to Shellbrook where we had Christmas with Ehren's side of the family this year. It was a great time and the first time to see a couple of the brothers in a couple years. We caught up with some old friends, and some of Janelle's family while we were there as well. It was a great Christmas and the kids had a blast. We got back on Sunday and Janelle worked Monday...so it was a fairly quiet New Year's Eve. We celebrated New Year's Day with Deana and Jay. We've got a copule weeks to recuperate, then we head to Puerto Vallarta! Janelle leaves on the 16th with the kids and Ehren will join a few days later. You'll find out how it all went next month!