A Touch Of Tyrell

I actually meant to title this post Dunes Trip #45 but apparently I didn't hold the shift key long enough to catch the pound sign above the number 3 key.... but wither way, they are both an exaggeration! Jake only had a day-and-a-half between his Idaho trip and dunes trip. He squeezed in as much work as he could before he left.  *This is Kevin... not Jake. (I'd undoubtedly frame it if it was Jake!) This trip didn't start out as successful as the other 344 dunes trips have 😉 The trip to Kanab UT (from SLC) was snowy and slow.  The bikes were totally frozen and covered in dirty ice when they got there. After a long car wash the bikes spent the night inside their airbnb to dry. It had snowed a few inches in the town of Kanab... but surprisingly it snowed even more out on the dunes... about 8 inches!  The first day of riding was completely unsuccessful and a total bummer for the guys. So they changed plans a bit and drove to St. George for the next two days of riding.  ...

  Having a family member have a birthday a mere  days after Christmas and the night before New Years Eve adds an extra challenge. Everyone is partied out and you've already given that person all the gifts! But Jake is the easiest to please when it comes to birthdays!!  He's one of those people that says he's the age he WILL be on his next birthday all year long. So he's been saying he's 38 for a while now but he actually just turned 38! We made him a cookies-and-cream cake, decorated, and the kids made his birthday cards.  We had his favorite... Costco lasagna, salad, and french bread.  The kids were super excited about cake and presents.  We gifted him some new, fun family games, some Lego sports cars, and a new pair of Bogg boots for the winter snow and slush.  Happy 38th Jake!

Everytime Jake goes out riding I tell him he has to take pictures.  He's been very diligent in taking pictures... and taking trips!!  

Last month, one of Jake's younger sisters and her family, came for a visit.  They were freezing in  Idaho and needed to warm up!  They were loving the 70 degree heat here.  One day they went to the zoo and Jake & Roxy tagged along.  Roxy and Haley were big-time buddies! *Roxy sitting on Elephant "poop" They had a fun time and totally wiped out the kids.  And they even got to ride the camels!! It was Jake's first time to the zoo, too!  I've been more than a dozen times so I thought I'd let him go this time.   

I know that this year has been pretty intense for most people... us included.  I can't really tell what's been a blessing, a curse, a misfortune. a lesson, an opportunity for growth, etc.  Have you ever heard of the Chinese Farmer? Jake actually read it one Sunday to the family. Everett mentioned that he had heard it before... but it was my first time hearing it: "Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate.  They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.”  The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.”  The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then ...

I remember getting braces in 5th grade. I had them from 5th-7th grade.  I sucked my finger as an infant/toddler... all the way 'till kindergarten. I had a side-overbite because of it and needed braces.  Everett has always had an adorably wide, toothy smile and we knew at some point we'd need to bring them all together. Jake never had braces as a kid. He was blessed with mostly straight, good-looking teeth. His teeth on the bottom were a little crowded and crooked... so Jake and Everett went in to get their teeth check out together.  And a week later, they were getting braces! Turns out, we were right on time for Everett. The x-rays showed that his canine teeth were trying to come in but his front 4 teeth needed to be closer together to make room for them.  He was SUPER excited to get braces.  They currently aren't causing him pain or discomfort at all.  Jake is entirely a different story! His face hurts, headaches, it's hard to focus his eyes...  Evere...

Jake has been transforming himself over the last 6 weeks.  We've had a lot of conversations about working out and nutrition.  Jake has been a big fan of Diet Coke and energy drinks for the past decade or so. He's tried to "quit" soda before (about 3 of 4 times) but it always reappeared in the pantry or his work fridge.  But he finally decided to quit and change other things/habits he'd been wanting to change.  He's always wanted to be the guy that gets up early and works out. He just hasn't been able to get there. But when your world falls apart and you allow yourself to rebuild, you get to decide how to do it. Jake also has been a part of a business coaching program for a while and he's seen some improvement in his personal life because of it.  He's been working out regularly, has been more mindful with his nutrition, and has stopped drinking soda and energy drinks. He's been drinking a lot more water, taking vitamins and has been trying to ge...

*** Jake wrote this post *** Here is the part where I tell my side of the story…    Tyrell wrote a great post that described some of the struggles we’ve had in our marriage recently and over the years. I’ve always appreciated her honesty and spiciness.  One of the greatest parts of her writing that post was the affect and influence it had on so many others.     One of the hard parts about marriage  life is that you often feel that others don’t have hard times. I think it’s important for people to know that life is hard for everyone. EVERYONE has struggles.     Sometimes it’s helpful to learn about the hardships of others. Not because we get joy from their pains, but because it helps us learn and grow from each other. So, as I said before, it was amazing to hear from so many friends that appreciated Tyrell’s post and took something from it.       There is however a major correction that I needed to add. Tyrell told me that she w...

I have been floored with how much love I've received since our anniversary.  I posted pictures of us (on Instagram/FB) on our anniversary announcing that we had made it 14 years :) I posted pictures of us in Switzerland (last July) because I really didn't have many pictures of the two of us this past year. Things had been rough and we didn't have any pictures together.  In fact, the last family pictures we took was one of my toughest moments with Jake.  So I posted older pictures (on Instagram/FB) with a link to where I wrote about the tough things and how we've decided to work on our marriage.  And the love I've received since people have read that post has filled me so completely.  I had been feeling so alone and defeated. I had no idea that opening up in that way would bring me so much love and support. Jake has mentioned how important it is to him that I've been opening up more because it allows him to know where he can improve and do better.  I know I'...

Once we were back home and getting into "the grove of things" (aka, swimming on Monday), Jake went out early Tuesday morning on a road bike ride and totally got hit by a car.  He (obviously) survived but it messed him up pretty good.  He can remember the car hitting (or almost) hitting him but then the next the he remembers is getting up off the pavement, throwing his bike to the curb, and finding his two water bottle (that flew into the street).  Because he can't remember how it all went down, we can't figure out how he was bruised and scraped on both sides of his face/body/arms AND his back.    Jake was wearing a helmet but still must have suffered from some sort of minor brain injury because HE WALKED HOME (about a mile and a half in clip-in shoes!)! He doesn't even know why he didn't call me or get insurance information from the lady that hit him.  I remember him walking into our bedroom a little before 7 (I was still in bed) and he was sort-of limping ...