16 more days...

til Ironman!!

I'm so excited and scared all at the same time!

I've been watching all kinds of Ironman videos on Youtube to get pumped, and this one is my favorite so far.

I cried.

I will do this!!

My Costume by Drake

Getting excited for Halloween over here.

At least the kids are.

I'm wanting at least another week in October please.

life goes on

I got on my blog and realized that no one was updating it for me.

Darn.

I guess I can at least through up some pictures to prove that we have been surviving since school started.

Ryan had a birthday.

 Drake got pneumonia.  :(

 I don't think it was because of this...

 But he survived!

 Gwen has lost some teeth.

Tawnya had her baby.

Sweet little Skyla.

 We love her.

 D-backs game.

 My mini me, and my giant forehead!

 Triathlons.

 And serious training!

Now if I don't update for a few more months, please be understanding.  

It's going to be a BUSY next two months!

getting schooled

Today was my first day of my last year of school!  And since I don't have a wife or a mother to insist on first day of school pictures, I have no visual proof to show you.

But since I am a mother of kids who already started school, I do have back to school pictures of them!

 Drake - 1st grade, and Gwen - 3rd grade

The first day of school their bus was 1/2 an hour late getting them home!!  And the worst part of it, was that they were stuck on their bus for an hour, and their bus DOESN'T have air conditioning.  It was 115º that day people!!!  Both of them had just sweated through their shirts and had their hair sticking to their wet little faces. 

So this has become the after school routine.  Drake loses his shirt (and eventually his pants too) and eats a popsicle.  They deserve it!

[And he's wearing pants because he has to as part of their school dress code.  Cruel?  Yes.]

It was oh so nice having them start school two weeks before me and getting to be a stay at home mom.  I loved getting my work outs in (Ironman is only 12 weeks away!!!), having a clean house, and baking all sorts of yummy after school snacks for them.  And sadly it's come to an end.  This last year might be the death of me, but it's only a year.  And that's not that long, right?

 Oh, and their first day of school also just happened to be our anniversary.

So their first back-to-school night, they got to stay up late at Gigi's while we Benihana'd it up, celebrating 9 years of putting up with each other.

I seriously love this guy!

Meh-he-co (Mexico for the lay people)

Summer is the greatest time of year!  Because I get to have a life other than school.

So to maximize the fun we spent some time in the sun.

And to make it even better, we brought our besties, the Wevers!

I'm not going to pretend that we weren't a little scared to go to Rocky Point.  We had never been and had heard a mix of scary and awesome stories.  We crossed our fingers and hoped for an awesome one for us, and we got it!

This was the view from our room.  Not bad, eh?

Drake got to channel his inner monkey.

I think I heard him say "I can't go any deeper!"

The Wevers chillaxing in one of the many pools.

The kids and their killer Nascar boogie board.

They loved the ocean, until it got in their mouths.

But we were still able to convince them to try the banana boat, and they loved it!

Yea!  Ocean lovers after all.

And they will still mention in their prayers, "thank you Heavenly Father for helping us to overcome our fear of the banana boat", and keep asking when they'll get to ride one again.

No pictures to prove it though.

We did do a lot of shell collecting.  I might have even put some of said shells down my swimsuit so I could use my hands to catch a fish with my bare hands.  I did catch that fish because I'm awesome like that, but then FREAKED out when I realized those shells I put down my swimsuit had crabs in them!!!

Ryan who WAS NOT a cheerleader in high school, but a member of the stunt team (they totally only through girls around) had fun with the kids in the pool.

Gwen:

Drake who always thought he was being the Statue of Liberty:

Lennon:

Gwenny getting her hair braided by a darling little lady

And also super exciting was Gwen losing her first upper tooth!  Her third tooth lost.

While that was exciting, we were panicked about whether or not the tooth fairy would come to her in Mexico.  You see her tooth fairy brings her a Sacagawea dollar coin for her teeth, and the tooth fairy couldn't find any in Mexico.  So she got stuck with a regular $ bill.  Gwen didn't mind.

This is what Gwen left for her tooth fairy.  She was worried the tooth would fall in the crack between the mattress and the back of the couch since she was sleeping on a couch bed.  Luckily when Gwen goes to Mexico, she brings a little fancy box, so she put her tooth in that.  She also left a note asking the tooth fairy what her name is. 

When the tooth fairy woke up at 3am to watch the women's Olympic marathon she made the exchange and left a note telling Gwen her name is Samantha.

Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures of the inside of our condo, or the sweet meal we BBQ'd up with the Wevers.

But we did get a picture of Ryan's injured toe that we thought was broken until it healed two days later.

We also ventured into town for some shopping.

Mexican vanilla?  Check!

Drake, Gwen, Lennon, and Larry

I wish she lived closer!

And finally one last lunch before the Wevers continued their drive home.

Thanks for the best summer vacay yet!

...9...

9 years ago today I made what would have appeared to most, the stupidest decision ever.

I married a guy that I had known for five months.

Ya, we are those people.

The people we thought we'd NEVER be.

Well guess what?

Best decision ever!

young and dumb... and in LOVE!

Thanks for marrying me Ryan Harper McPhie!

And I've got lots to blog about, but that'll come later.

Christmas in July

July is a crazy month in the McPhie home.

The kids and I have our birthdays, hence the Christmas in July feeling, and we are at the peak of swim season.

Gwen was so excited that her friend Kate came back to Arizona again this summer.  So they decided to do a duet together for synchro.  They did a cute little routine to a Taylor Swift medley and got first place at regionals!!

Then these little cuties also did a team routine to The New Girl In Town from Hairspray.  Since they couldn't have their hair all big like in Hairspray (because their hair has to be put in a bun and then covered with gelatin so it doesn't get messed up or move in the water), they went for a big hair bow.  

These girls got second place for their team routine!

(I think, I can't remember, isn't that horrible?!)

So on to the birthdays.

Gwen kicks off July with her birthday on the first.

This was a big one, our little girl turned EIGHT!!

She wanted a "Brave" birthday party, so we rounded up her girlfriends to go see Disney's Brave.  

Now you have to know Ryan to know how excited he was for this.  But let me try to explain.  McPhie.  Scottish name.  Ryan served his mission in Scotland.  Ryan LOVES Scotland!  So he was relieved that Disney finally created a Scottish princess.  

To add to the Scottish excitement, he took the afternoon off to help with Gwen's party and accompany the girls to the movie... in his kilt!!

Gwen and Drake loved it!

Some of the girls thought it was weird.  

"Why are you wearing a skirt?  Boys aren't supposed to wear skirts."  

Ryan quickly let them know it was NOT a skirt.

Seeing the movie, and the men in their kilts helped.

Look at cute little Drakey, being the ladies man.

Gwen's actual birthday was on Sunday.  A FAST Sunday!  And cute little Gwenny was all about fasting since she was now eight.  So we had her birthday cake that night at Gigi and Papa's.

Part of turning eight in the LDS church is reaching the age of accountability.  That is the age when children can be baptized if they choose.  Gwen definitely wanted to be baptized and counted down the days.  

Look how sweet they are.

The baptism was beautiful and afterwards our Bishop asked me to bear my testimony.  Umm, okay.  Maybe he doesn't remember I can hardly do so without bawling.  You see I'm very emotional when talking about my gratitude for my Savior.  Couple that with my admiration for Gwen and the good choices she's made and being surround by so many loved friends and family members.  I was an emotional mess.

I hope Gwen knows how proud I am of her!

Next was my birthday.  It was pretty kick back, but just how I wanted it to be.

I got to hang out with my kids during the day, go on a date with Ryan that afternoon, and hang out with my family that night.  

Then later go out with my girlfriends who spoiled me and took me to Jesterz for a hilarious night!

It totally looks like I have a bald spot in this shot!

Next up was Drakey boy's birthday.

He was asking me how many days and hours till his birthday ever since Gwen had her birthday party.  So it was his turn to have a bunch of boys over and play with light sabers, water balloons, water squirters, beat a pinata and eat junk food.  

 He had a good time.

 Apparently I didn't get a picture of Drake's birthday cake, but it was cute, you'll just have to trust me.  It was a Lego cake, with a red, yellow and blue lego.  And it was super yummy.  Again, you'll just have to take my word for it.  ;)

Here he is getting his 6 pancake.

He was so tired!

And so we survived most of our family's birthdays, swim is over and summer is winding down.

School is just around the corner, but until then, I will squeeze every bit of fun out of what is left of the summer!

We had a quick trip to Utah last weekend.  

It was funny how the 9.5 hour drive seemed so short compared to the longer drives we've done recently to Sacramento and home from Santa Cruz.

Also, luckily my girl Kassidi wanted to squeeze between the two sleeping kiddos in the back seat because she had to bail Ryan and I out driving when we got too tired.

Overnight drive to Utah:  success.

The first thing we did when we got there (besides take a nap) was take the kids to our old stomping grounds, BYU.

It's very important to us that we brainwash our kids into having an overwhelming desire to get stellar grades so they can (because of course they'll want to!) go to BYU.

It's a magical place where Ryan and I met and fell in love, so of course we want our kids to have as cool of a college experience as we had.

So operation BYU brainwashing.

First we go to the Cougareat where the kids get to pick whatever they want for lunch.

They love it, and Drake thought we were in a mall.

Next the BYU bookstore where they each get to choose their own BYU souvenir.

Next, rolling down the library hill:

Ryan showing the kids how it's done

Ryan is at the bottom trying to gain his balance

Then off to the BYU Creamery because yes, at BYU they make their own ice cream which is sold in the cutest on-campus ice cream shop.

The kids love BYU.

Brainwashing: success.

The next day Ryan hit the golf course while the kids and I hit the Utah Valley Marathon expo.

Drake had to try out the human hamster wheel.

And of course we were at the expo because the next day I ran the marathon.

For a full recap of that, go here.  

Drake running up to me at mile 21

Kassidi, Kristin and Catherine
Running mammas.

 Unless you've lived in Utah, you may not know what a Creamie is.  They are ice cream popsicles that are to die for!  I ate 3 banana Creamies after the marathon.  Yumbelievable!

Utah Valley Marathon: mostly success.

 Then after the marathon, even though I really wanted a nap (we woke up at 3:00 am to catch the busses to the start!!), I let Ryan talk me into going to the Scottish games where he met up with one of his old mission companions.  They served in Scotland.

Ken and Ryan

 Ken's boys and Drake loved it.

What boy wouldn't?  There were all kinds of swords and fights to watch.

They even busted out their own sword fight.

Drake getting stabbed in the neck

Ryan and Drake enjoying some shepherd's pie

And finally before heading back home, we had to squeeze in some more cousin time.

The kids LOVE their cousins and it's just too bad we don't get to see them more often.

Jorgensens and McPhies

 These two are so silly together.

 Then we cleaned up, packed up, and started out journey home.

But luckily we got to stop in Las Vegas where we got to have dinner with these two:

Tod and Holly, our couple soul mates.

Utah weekend: success.