Son.....today you are a man.

Well.....yesterday I took all FOUR kids to the dreaded hair cut appointment. It was a joy, let me tell ya. And apparently, someones MOTHER did not wash their son's face beforehand. Who could that be? Oh....I know. Maybe it was the MOM who has had four kids BY HERSELF all week and is slowly starting to shut down. Face washing, schmase washing.....that's what I always say. So as they continued to cut Braden's hair, and more and more fell down on his face and stuck there....I had to grab my camera to document this priceless photo.

Is it just me....or does my 2 year old look like he's got a five o'clock shadow??

Want to know the real irony? Before I took him to get his haircut, Lewis tried to talk me into getting it buzzed. But I protested. He's just too young. He'd look too old. Um yeah. Not quite as old as a two year old with some sweet facial hair. Gotta love it!

Idaho. No wait....you da hoe. No.....you da man!

Redemption.


That's what this post is about. You might remember a couple of months ago I posted this as a tribute to my dear husband and his awesome accomplishment. Well, what you don't know is that shortly after the fact, my dear old brother-in-law, (who you can partially see in the picture) told me that I had cut him "real deep" when I failed to mention his awesome accomplishment as well. (Well, that and the obvious fact that I had to do some serious cropping to edit him out of the photo.) So, after I asked him why he was pms'ing and if he needed to borrow a little gyne lotrimin or a tampon, I decided to write this little post to redeem myself as the favored sister-in-law.....(and don't you forget it!)

This past weekend the fam loaded in the car to take a nice little jaunt to Idaho. Besides the fact that I LOVE me some potatoes.....there really isn't much to see in Idaho. But, we were there as the support team for my most awesomest brother-in-law Todd who competed in his very first (but definitely not last....I'm sure) HALF IRON MAN! People, people, people.....I am not a triathlete by any means. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I won't be in my lifetime, but do you realize what a half iron man is? Well, let me break it down for you.

Swim: 1.2 miles
Bike: 56 miles

Run 13.1 miles

(And holy shiester......If that doesn't make you want to vomit.....then I don't know what does.)

Now, I'm not gonna lie. We stood outside in the pouring rain for hours waiting for him to finish. And again.....not gonna lie when I say I'm pretty sure that I had a little tear in my eye when he crossed the finish line. It was worth every second of torturous, hellish, wet rain....with four kids, mind you.....and I'd do it all over again. (And I say this in all honesty because I'm 100% sure that we'll be in Boise again next year so that Lewis can say he did it too.) Somehow, I will never forget how Todd ran beside me for those last few miles of the St. George marathon....just when I thought I wanted to die.....and gave me the encouragement I needed to finish the dang thing! So there, Todd. Oops....I mean Mr. Iron man. This post is for you. Congrats on your major accomplishment, although, I just have one more thing to say. Since you only finished a HALF iron man, does this only make you half a man? Ponder on that for awhile.

And just in case this post bored you to tears....and also, just in case you were wondering if all family functions are all about Todd ( Jeesh Todd.....get over yourself. Everything is not about you.) We did some other things in Boise that were noteworthy as well.

We went to the Zoo. And by dang if it wasn't one of the better zoos we've been too. In fact, it kinda kicked Hogle Zoo's butt. What it lacked in size ( it really was quite compact) it made up for in animal activity! I will swear to my dying day that Hogle Zoo sedates its animals. Every time I go there I end up never seeing any animals or pointing out sleeping animals to my children. Well....this zoo was a hoppin'. The penguins were swimming, the lion was pacing, the bobcat was licking it's chops and eying my kiddos down, and the monkeys were swinging around like it was no body's business. ( And all would be amiss if I also didn't mention that one of the monkeys flipped my mother-in-law off.....I am crappin' you not! You can even ask her.) A fine day was had by all until a torrential downpour rolled on in and we made a hasty exit from the zoo into our cars.






Also.....seriously....have you ever seen a cuter picture than this one? We told Braden and his cousin, Claire, to pose together and wouldn't you know it....it looks just like an engagement picture. Funniest. Dang. Thing. Ever. Have you ever seen such stunning children in your life?

Also, just in case I didn't mention it......it rained. A lot. A literal downpour of soaking wetness. These pictures don't do it justice as to just how wet we all were. But we had a ball cheering Todd on, and I just have to say, again......Todd, you may just have the best family in the world. That's for dang sure!

So there you have it. Again, my dearest brother-in-law, congrats on the incredible feat of strength that you just pulled off. You are my hero and the second coolest person I know.

Love ya.