San Rafael Classic Triathlon

The 4 of us after our race. I love my Tri fam!

It's the middle of another triathlon season. We've done this for 6 seasons now and every season, we get to do something we haven't done before. This year, for the first time, we were able to do a triathlon where all 4 of us competed!

San Rafael Classic Triathlon is held in Huntington, UT- a tiny little town in central Utah. It just so happens to be the same tiny little town that I grew up in. I did this race once before, back in 2009. That year, I just did the sprint distance because I had an Olympic distance coming up soon after. This year, however, we chose to do the Olympic since we didn't have another tri for 3 weeks.

This race was special to me. My children have never had a chance to see where I grew up. I rarely visit. When we left in 1994, we had no family there. Most of my friends have since moved, and since we were living in Idaho until a year ago, it just didn't seem worth the trip. However, now that we are closer, I wanted a chance to show them where I grew up. It was the icing on the cake that this race also happened to have a junior triathlon that my kids could compete in.

Daniel and I registered for the Olympic distance, along with our good friend Melissa (who grew up in Ferron, a neighboring town. She and I attended the same high school). Two of our other friends, Shari and Sarah, registered for the sprint distance. My two older kids registered for the junior triathlon.

I made plans to meet up with one of my childhood best friends, Melanie (Holdaway) Bernard. While she and I were discussing plans, she reminded me that our other best friend, April, might be coming down, since her husband, Jeff, was interested in competing in the race as well. I got in touch with Jeff and April and was beyond thrilled that Jeff was indeed racing. This meant that April, Melanie and I would be able to get together for the first time since high school. We made plans to meet up after the race on Saturday. April also invited us to stay with them, at her parent's house. I think I spent more time in that house during my teenage years, than I did in my own home. Her parents were like my second parents and I was excited to be able to see them again.

We arrived in Huntington on Friday evening. After checking in for the race and getting our race packets, we spent a little time at the lake. Our kids enjoyed skipping rocks on the beautiful lake, and I was caught up in the childhood memories.

The family skipping rocks on Huntington Lake. I grew up swimming in this lake.

When Jayden saw these Great Danes, he said, "Mom, are those camels?" Love that kid!

Daniel, Jayden and Savannah looking over the lake the night before the race.

It was obvious that our swim would be a beautiful one.

 Later on, we headed over to the Nielson's to get settled for the night. On the way, we drove by my childhood home. I showed it to my kids and told them a few things I thought they might enjoy hearing about. We also drove by my old elementary school, the local grocery store and a few other places that hold fond memories for me. When we arrived at the Nielson's, I was so happy to see Boyd and Maryellen again. They were always so good to me. We spent a little while catching up with April and Jeff and then headed to bed to get some good rest for our race in the morning.

At 5:30am, we got out of bed and headed to the race. The little boys stayed at the house with April and her kids, while her husband Jeff, Daniel and I headed to the race. April brought Mason and Savannah over with her a little later so they could watch some of our race without getting up quite so early.

The race was fantastic. We thoroughly enjoyed the course and felt it was well run and enjoyable. The weather was perfect and the water was amazing. There really was nothing to complain about. Daniel's wave started first. My wave was 5 minutes behind his, and our friends who did the sprint started 10 minutes behind me. It was fun to have the waves so close together because it meant we got to see everyone at some point during the race.

When all was said and done, we couldn't have been happier. Daniel took first in the Clydesdale division. I took first in the Female 30-34 division and 5th overall. Jeff took first in the male 35-39 division. Our Saratoga Springs friends all placed in the top 3 of their divisions as well.

Daniel and I after the race.

Melissa Brown, Sarah Smith, me, and Shari Wycherly- our good friends from Saratoga Springs.

As soon as we were done, we had to rush to get the bikes and transitions set up for Mason and Savannah. They were both nervous and excited. Mason was finally tall enough to ride my road bike instead of his heavy bike. Savannah is still much too small, but she sure looked cute on her pink, shiny bike! Both kids did fantastic. They didn't have the kids divided out by age, which bummed Savannah out (since she knew she couldn't really compete with 17 year old boys), but Dan and I couldn't have been more proud of either of them. Mason ended up coming in 6th overall, which was exciting! There were so many kids this year. They really enjoyed themselves and we enjoyed sharing such a fun race with them.

Savannah coming out of the water- Can you believe that grin?

Mason coming out of the water- he swam strong!

Coming in to T2 after the bike.

Savannah on the very tail end of the run- sprinting to the finish.

After the awards ceremony, we headed back to the Nielson's for some much needed food, showers and rest. Our kids were having the time of their lives playing with the Mower's (April and Jeff's kids). After a little while, I got a message from Melanie that she was on her way over. It's hard to describe how great it felt to have the three of us together again. I moved after our sophomore year of high school and hated leaving them behind. While the move was a positive thing for me, and Idaho quickly became my home, I never replaced April and Melanie. Being together again felt like coming home. I love them both so much.

While there is more of that story to tell, I want to post that in a separate blog, complete with pics from then and now....soooo, that's all the girlfriend reunion talk for now!

Saturday evening, we headed back home. Everyone had a perfect weekend. We enjoyed our time together as a family, as well as catching up with old friends. I am so thankful for a healthy body, a healthy family, and the ability to do these things that we love so much. I am thankful that I can share these things with friends, old and new. It truly was a beautiful weekend.

15 Years

This is the picture that went with our wedding announcement. I only have the teeny tiny file uploaded so it's really poor quality.

May 31st 1997- I woke up with a migraine and took some medicine to help with the pain. Because we had to be to the temple so early in the morning for the 8:30am ceremony, I didn't have time for breakfast.  My dad ran back to the house to get the ring- because I forgot that little detail. The rest of the story has been told many times (how I puked on my dress, how there was a tornado that day...) but as entertaining as that all is, it isn't what matters. That day was the start of everything we have built for the past 15 years, and everything we'll continue building throughout eternity.

A year after we were married- our trip to Lake Powell- May 1998

On May 31st, Daniel and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary. I could write a sappy blog about how amazing it has all been and how perfect everything is, but those who know and love us know that that isn't the reality of how our story has been written. The past 15 years have mirrored our wedding day in so many ways. Not much has been perfect. Sometimes one of us was ready for what was coming next while the other one drug their feet. Sometimes one of us- or both of us- forgot what was important. And yes, there has been plenty of puking ;-)  We've been through some really rough stuff. It's been touch and go for us at times. But here we are, in a great place. We are happy and in love and we have a beautiful family. I love our story. I love it because life isn't always about everything magically falling into place. Sometimes life is about fighting hard for what matters most. And fight we have ;-) We've gotten where we are with blood, sweat, tears, prayer, faith, and a lot of love and hard work- and it has been worth every single minute.

The birth of our first baby- Mason Wade- October 1999

Savannah's blessing day- October 2003

Family picture- December 2003

 

Family picture- June 2005

Looking back and reflecting on the past 15 years- all the good and bad- I would do it again in a second. The beauty of our story far outweighs our struggles. We are surrounded by so many blessings and so much joy. We have never been as happy as we are today. I don't expect the next 15 years to be a cake walk. We're knee deep in kids who will soon be teenagers. We're still going to be us- stubborn, spoiled and completely opposite in every way. We will have good days and bad days, good months and bad months, and most likely, good years and bad years. It is marriage after all. But what I know is this- I married the love of my life and I am incredibly lucky. There is not a person on this earth that I would rather be married to. He makes me laugh every day. He makes me love him more every day. And every time I look into those bright blue eyes, I still get butterflies.  Every memory we have made together is a piece in our own unique story. So while it hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine, it has been OUR story. It is beautiful.

In front of the Emperor's palace in Japan- 2004.

Jaxon's blessing day- Feb 2007

Jayden's birth- June 2008

Daniel, thank you for the past 15 years- and thanks in advance for the next 1,000. Thank you for loving me enough to see through the weaknesses, to stick by me when it's not easy, and to laugh sometimes, even when I'm not funny. Thank you for building a life with me. Thank you for teaching me so many things, and making me a better person. Thank you for trudging with me, hand in hand, through the mud, to the other side, where we have found so much happiness and true joy. We've made it here- together- and I love you with everything I have.

Our family as we are today <3

"This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you"

Curled up on the foot of my bed, I buried my face into my baby blue comforter and sobbed. My heart was broken. I was all of 13 years old, in 8th grade, and I KNEW that this was the boy I wanted to marry. But he had just dumped me. We'd been "dating" all of 2 weeks. He was in high school *swoon* while I was still in junior high and he was SO cute! I'd even held his hand (a first). He dumped me for my neighbor, who was a junior in high school- with a license! How was I supposed to compete with that? And so I cried. I cried and I cried and I cried. After a while, my mother came into my room and sat on the edge of my bed. She rubbed my back and tried to comfort me. I don't remember the entire conversation, but I vividly remember this one thing: "Honey, you're heart is going to be broken a lot more times before you find the person you're going to marry." I don't remember if or how I responded, but I remember thinking she was crazy because that boy (the only one I'd ever held hands with- I'd still never been kissed) WAS the one. She knew nothing....

I'm sure it took me all of about 4 days to find a new "boyfriend" and forget the hurt that just a few days earlier had seemed so life altering. Looking back, that boy wouldn't even make the list of "Who's Who in Adolescent Anna's Life". Until I became a mother, I never gave a second thought to what my own mom was feeling at that moment. I know that she could clearly see how insignificant that moment would be in my life, yet it's never easy to see your child hurting.

I don't yet have teenagers. Our big hurts are still limited to "he called me a doodoo face" or "She won't sit by me". And yet, as my children get older, and I slowly see the hurts start to grow, I find myself hurting for them more than they even hurt for themselves.

A few weeks ago, my daughter was invited to a birthday party for one of her sweet friends. She was ecstatic about it. We went out and bought the perfect gift, wrapped it, and made sure everything was ready to go. The night before, we had an unexpected late night with family rolling in from out of town, and then an extremely early morning. I was exhausted and laid down for a few minutes. The next thing I knew, Savannah was shaking me awake, "Mom! My party!" I asked her what time it was and she said it was 10:45. The party had started at 10:00. It was a spa party and they were planning to leave for the salon right at 10. For some reason, my phone had been turned to silent and when I checked it, I had multiple messages from people asking if she was coming, if she needed a ride, etc... She had lost track of time and I had fallen asleep. I tried calling but couldn't reach anyone, so she missed the party entirely. She was slightly bummed. I was a basket case. I felt like a failure as a mother. I knew she wanted to go to this party and I had a hard time saying to myself, "It's just a party." And yet, by mid-afternoon, she was right as rain. Why did I let it bother me so much more than it bothered her?

Today, Mason stayed home from school, sick. He had been running a fever and not feeling well for a few days. When I woke up this morning, I took one look at him and knew he should probably stay home. He was all dressed and ready, but it was apparent that he needed to rest. I talked him in to staying home one more day. About 9:15, I got a call from his teacher. She asked how he was doing. I told her he was still sick. She said she was calling because today was the school spelling bee. Mason had won his class spelling bee and qualified for this one. He had been so excited about it, but was unsure what day it was on. I knew he wasn't going to want to miss out, so I asked her to hold on while I checked with him to see if he wanted to go to school just for the spelling bee. As adamantly as he could, he said yes, he wanted to be there. I let her know I would run him right up. We were out the door in 5 minutes flat and he was in her classroom in less than 10 minutes. However, I got a call 20 minutes or so later saying he had arrived too late. They had begun giving instructions already and would not allow him in. Holding back my own tears, I told him I would be right up to get him. My heart hurt for him. I knew how much it would have meant to him to do well. It was something he had been looking forward to. I made plans in my head as to what I would say to make it better for him. I told myself to plaster a smile on and make as light of it as I could to make it easier for him. When I pulled up to the school, he was waiting on the curb. As he hopped in the car, I asked him what happened. He told me, without the least bit of emotion, and then said he was happy to be going home so he could get some rest :) I breathed a sigh of relief. He was fine.

I don't know if all parents get so emotional over every little thing in their children's lives. My guess would be that some are far more rational than I am :) I'm a highly emotional person. That said, I would guess that most parents, particularly mothers, find themselves in these same situations, just perhaps not to the same degree, over things so insignificant. There is something about being a mother that makes you literally FEEL the hurt your child is feeling. You don't just understand it, you actually feel it- and you will do just about anything to make it better for them. Each time I face one of these moments with one of my babies, I can't help but reflect back on my own parents and wonder how they did it. How did they keep it together when we were falling apart? Heaven knows we went through a lot bigger hurts than these (some as consequences of our own choices, some as just part of life). How were they feeling when we got cut from the basketball team? When we made poor choice after poor choice and they had to sit back and watch us face the consequences we brought on ourselves? When our house burned down? When we were in an accident? When someone we loved hurt us deeply? When as much as they wanted to, they couldn't protect us?

My mom and I have talked a little about these sorts of things in the past. She has told me how hard it is to know we are going to crash and burn, but to have to sit back and watch us do it. I'm not quite sure I'll be able to do it quite as well as my own parents. I have a feeling my tendency will be to jump in when I'm not needed, to try and rescue my children when they need to learn to stand on their own two feet. I'm thankful that my parents gave me the chance to learn, to fall and to fail. Because that is how I became me- and I am strong. In these same moments, I can't help but think it must be like this for our Heavenly Father. He loves us so deeply and while He has the power to rescue us from our hurts and pains, He knows that what is best for us is to learn and grow from our own choices, and the choices of others. Sometimes He has to sit back and watch us crash. It must be so hard.

As my children-the loves of my life- grow and make their own choices, I hope I can learn a lesson or two from my own parents and my Heavenly Father. I hope I can be the shoulder to cry on, the words of wisdom, a tight hug, when it is needed. At the same time, I hope I can learn that at times you have to take a step back and let them learn to fly- even though it will mean many falls before they find their wings.

Details of Life- My car :)

Looking back on my childhood, I often wish I had pictures of things and places that hold special memories for me. There are plenty of me and my siblings, in all our mullet and plaid pants-ed glory, but few of our home, schools, cars, neighborhood etc. How fun would it be to look back on our "SUPER COOL NEW '77 DODGE DART" (okay so it wasn't new- it was actually a hand-me-down from- yep, our grandparents :)  -  or our "SOOO awesome Vanilla Ice casette tape that we could play in our boombox!" So in the spirit of looking out for my children's future nostalgic sides (and making fun of what they used to think was sooo cool), I thought I'd post a few of those things here on my blog :) It might be boring to others to see the mundane details of our life, but I keep this blog mostly as a journal and a record of my kids' childhoods- and this is all part of that.

A few months ago, we finally decided to trade in my long ago-paid off Ford Expedition for something a little newer and nicer. We found a great deal on my dream car. I've been wanting an Escalade for a while but it was hard to commit to that kind of a payment when my current vehicle was paid off. But when we found this one, we were sold.

  It's a Cadillac Escalade ESV, Platinum Edition. It is the most comfortable vehicle we've ever had. It's so great for long drives, like our frequent trips back to Idaho.

Some of our favorite features are:
- Two built in DVD players- one for the second seat and one for the third seat with Bose wireless headsets.
- Heated and cooled seats for all 4 captains chairs, front and middle.
-Heated and cooled cup holders in the front and middle seats.
- Built in GPS navigation system
-Bose Surround sound.
- Large amount of cargo space in the back, behind the third seat (the reason for going with the ESV instead of the regular Escalade).

My kids absolutely love it (and so do I). Our road trips are much more fun than they were with our previous car. The captains seats in the middle are very wide and so comfortable. We wouldn't want any trip to be conflict free however, or we might start to wonder if these were really our children. This vehicle even has a solution for that- the kids tease each other by turning on the seat coolers in the middle of the winter :) Our kids are still our kids after all!

2010 in Review...

One of my many New Years Resolutions for 2011 is to keep up on my blog :) I didnt send out Christmas cards this year, which is very unlike me, but I thought I would post here what I would have put in a Christmas letter.

2010 was another wonderful year for our family. We continue to feel so blessed to have each other, our extended families, our friends, and the gospel in our lives. We cannot overlook all the blessings we are given each and every day.




Mason: Mason turned 11 in October. He is in 5th grade and still smart as ever. He played baseball this year, enjoyed a bit of golf this summer, and can't wait to start snowboarding now that the resorts are open. He gets to do ski club for the first time this season and he can't wait. He is also starting basketball in a couple of weeks. He has continued playing the piano (although I dont teach he and Savannah anymore, I now send them to someone else) and has progressed so well. I am so proud of him. Mason is such a graet help with the younger children. He is such a loving, caring boy and his siblings think he's amazing (as do we). He loves to help Jaxon build elaborate train tracks on his Thomas train table. Mason can build them so much better than anyone else. I have a feeling he'll be good at geometry!



Savannah: Savannah (7) is still our busy little bee. On Mondays, she gets home from school and heads straight to piano lessons. She is doing fantastic in piano as well. As soon as the kids are done with piano, we head into Idaho Falls for ballroom. She made the Pee- Wee gold team this year and has loved being a part of that. She recently took 2nd in the Cha-Cha and 3rd in the American Swing, at the Christmas Classic ballroom competition she competed in. She was very excited that she did so well. On Tuesdays, it's off to gymnastics. In typical Savannah fashion, she has excelled here as well. She started off the year at the top of her beginnner's class, and quickly moved into the intermediate class. Within a couple of months, she was moved into the advanced class. She can now do her backhandsprings, her roundoff backhandsprings, and almost has has aerials down as well. She is working on her back tucks, double back handsprings etc. She loves gymnastics more than just about anything. On Fridays, she has cheerleading. This is her first year in cheer and she is loving the heck out of it.




Savannah is the little mother of our house. I'm always amazed at what a little nurturer she is. She helps me with the little boys every day, and they follow her around the house. She is such a happy, lively little thing. She is still our itsy-bitsy girl and hasn't gotten much bigger. We like her that way :)



Jaxon: is still Jaxon :) He had his 4th birthday yesterday. Jaxon is still a big bundle of energy! He keeps me on my toes every day. He is old enough to crack jokes and say funny things and enjoy getting a reaction. Jaxon loves trains. He got a Thomas the train table this year with the wooden rail sets, and he has lived in the playroom since then. He spent half the year playing with the trains, and the other half dumping ketchup, yogurt, frosting, toothpaste and other various sticky things, over them, and running the trains through it all. He collects the Thomas train cars and that's pretty much all he asks for. He sleeps with them, takes them to church etc. He still hasn't outgrown the terrible Twos but I havent given up hope yet :) He is the life of the house and we love that kid! He makes us all laugh every day.




He is so smart and knows all his letters and their sounds. He loves to count, to spell and to learn new things. He also started preschool this year (he gets to be taught by Aunt Dana) and he looks forward to it every day.



Jayden: Jayden (2 1/2) is the little angel of our house. What a joy he is! Jayden walks around with a big grin on his face, always says please, and wants to hug and snuggle everyone, all the time.



He truly is the baby of the family in every way. With his big dimples, blonde locks, and adorable grin, he has all of us wrapped around his finger!




The little boys love playing and fighting with each other. They get pretty rough and beat the heck out of each other regularly. This is a new concept for me as my other kids never tended to do that :) But each of them holds their own, so hey, I guess that's what brothers do, much to their mother's chagrin ;)

Daniel: Dan continues to work for Docutech as the Vice President of Product Engineering. He has been there for almost 7 years now. He loves his job and the people he works for and with. We feel so blessed that he gets to provide for us by doing something he loves every day and working with such great people. We were able to enjoy a few fun vacations this year thanks to his job. In September, as a thank you to their management team, Docutech flew us to San Diego for a few days of fun. We stayed in a beautiful hotel, ate some delicious food and enjoyed touring the USS Midway, taking a Harbor cruise and relaxing and enjoying time with coworkers, away from work. It was so nice of them to do that for us. We recently returned from a 3 day trip to San Francisco. Dan was invited to the year end party for a client of his, so we decided to use a few frequent flyer miles to fly me out as well and enjoy a little getaway. We flew in on Friday, and then got up early on Saturday morning to do a 10-mile run over the Golden Gate bridge and around the Crissy Field area and marina. The run was gorgeous and we both enjoyed the sea level elevation benefit ;) We attended the party that evening and then spent time just not being in a hurry! Daniel also got back to the gym this year after taking a few...err...a few few...months off. He has loved becoming active again and lost 20 lbs. You can find him at work or at the gym pretty much any time of day. He didn't race with us much this year but I think that will be different next year. He has recently found his own love for running and now understands what all my raving was about. It's been nice for us to be able to take long runs together.

AnnaMarie: I've had another busy year as well. I continued to build my photography business and found myself busier than ever. Senior season was a blast and kept me running like crazy, August-October. Seniors are my favorite sessions though so I enjoyed every second of it. And then we went straight into families, so things never really did slow down. I am so thankful for the chance I get to meet and get to know a little about so many awesome people. I also returned to school for the fall semester. I took spanish, college algebra and consumer health. Grades have yet to be posted but going into finals, it looked like straight As. But it would be typical me to work hard all semester and then bomb a final and blow what would have been a 4.0 for the semester. Either way, I enjoyed putting my brain to work.



I continue to do triathlons and running races. I think I did 4 tris this year and maybe 6 running races. It really is a passion of mine and Im so thankful for a healthy, strong body that is capable of doing these things. In the off season, I've been enjoying some time in the gym. I am working with a trainer and focusing on strength training and body composition changes. I'm hoping it'll make me a faster triathlete. I am hoping that 2011 will be the year I complete my first half-ironman. The majority of my time, however, is spent with my amazing kids. I am so thankful to Daniel for providing for us so I can stay home with them and enjoy raising them. I can't imagine my life without that. They are each such a huge blessing to us.




As a family, we are headed to Disneyworld on the 31st. We though it would be a great way to finish off this year and start the new one. It will be the first time we have taken the whole family on a big vacation. The last 2 times, when we went to Disneyland in CA, we left the boys and took only the older 2 kids. This time, we are heading to FL and taking all of them. We can't wait.

Looking back on the year, it's just amazing how blessed we have been. We are thankful for all of you and the part you play in our lives.

Love, The Miller Family
Daniel, AnnaMarie, Mason, Savannah, Jaxon and Jayden.

Well hello strange Blogging world!

I haven't seen you for so long-again. And unfortunately I dont have time to do all the pics etc that I would love to, so here is just a brief update.

Mason and Savannah are finishing up school tomorrow. Mason is in the middle of baseball season. It's his first year of Cal Ripkin and it's been fun! Dan is his coach and they have a great team. They are 6-1 so far and only lost that game by 1 point. Mason got all advanced on his ISATS this year which he was thrilled about. He is growing like a weed and wears the same size shoes as I do!

Savannah is also doing great! She had ballroom tryouts a few weeks ago and made the GOLD team! She was so excited to make the highest team for her age! She can't wait for next year. She is also loving gymnastics and has her back walkovers down and almost has her back handsprings as well. She just had her 1st grade play, in which she was a penguin named Neatly and she did a wonderful job!

Jaxon is busy as ever! He is in primary and gets along well with the other kids. He and Jayden fight and play all day long, sometimes both at the same time. He loves to have one on one time with mom and snuggle a lot. He still loves his blankey and wants to be outside all the time (in Idaho, that's not really practical!).

Jayden will be 2 in a couple of weeks. He is the snuggliest, sweetest boy around! He really is the darling of the family. He love me to sing songs to him and he loves being held and loved. He loves kisses and is all smiles, unless he's fighting with his brother. I am so thankful that we have our baby boy!

I just did my first triathlon of the season on May 15th. It was Irongirl Vegas. I will do a separate blog for that to give you the details but it went well and I had a great time. Our next one is in 10 days in Utah. We (Daniel and I) are both excited for that as well.

Dan is staying crazy busy at work. He is still at Docutech, where he has been for 6 years now. He is always moving up and is lucky to have his head above water right now with all his responsibilities, but he loves his job and we are thankful that in times like these, he has such a secure job.

That's all for now!

Carmeled Apples with my girls- Oct 2009

Back in October (yes, that's how far behind I am. Shame on me.) I had a girl's day at Tammy's house. We made carmeled apples (YUM) with all kinds of goodies. Now, I myself am no domestic goddess. Nope. *gasp, really?* yeah, no one is surprised by this revelation. Anyhoo... so of course someone else's carmel recipe was required, as was much brain power from Tammy, Torrie and Erica (who we called in a panic after butchering the first batch of carmel without her there).

The apples were *voices from the heavens* glorious! I gave some to my visiting teaching families and kept a few for my own family. I had a great time (as I always do when Im with these ladies!) and ate waaayyy too much sugar!

Thanks guys for a fun time- and trying to teach me a thing or two! Let's hope it sticks!