Youth Temple Baptisms

On July 30 Lloyd and I got to take the youth to the Oakland Temple for temple baptisms. Since it was summer a lot of the youth were out of town and all the young men were at scout camp. We got this sweet picture of the young women who were able to attend. Katelyn turned twelve in May so this was her first time doing temple baptisms. Lloyd even got to baptize her. I feel so privileged to be able to serve in the Young Women program. I felt so much love and peace as we worshipped together in the temple. These girls are such precious daughters of our Heavenly Father. Here is a picture of our Young Women presidency. I also feel blessed to serve with such righteous and inspirational women. There is such joy in serving the Lord. I am so grateful for this special opportunity.

Meeting Chris McCormack

I received an email inviting me to hear Chris McCormack, 2007 Ironman World Champion, speak in San Jose. With my new addiction to triathlons and my dream of some day doing an Ironman, I jumped at the chance to meet Chris. The event was free. They only asked for a donation to Macca Now. Macca Now is a charity foundation that Chris established in honor of his mother who died of breast cancer. So Courtney and I went to meet Chris on July 15. I braved the long drive (for me) to San Jose to meet an Ironman Champ. Courtney got this picture of me with Chris before he started speaking. The first thing we both noticed was his Australian accent - we loved it! I mentioned to Chris that we were the same age - both born in 1973.

As Chris spoke he shared about his life and his childhood dream of some day winning the Kona Ironman Championship. He explained that his mother was the one person who never gave up on him. He talked about how he went to college and became an accountant and that he really hated having a desk job. He quit his job and decided to pursue being a professional triathlete. He was scared to tell his dad he quit so he would dress in his work clothes every day and then go out and train all day instead of working. He finally confessed to his dad and left to Europe to pursue his triathlon career. He had no place to live in Europe and really no plan, but he just went for it. He won the first triathlon he did there and began training with other triathletes. Chris then shared the ups and downs of his triathlon career. He had many successes and failures. He won a lot of races, but also had to deal with the disappointment of not being asked to be on the Australian Olympic team. The first Ironman Chris did in Kona was a disaster. Despite his pre-race bragging, he didn't even finish. Finally, in 2007 he reached his childhood dream of winning in Kona. Chris was very candid and sincere as he spoke. At first I observed him to be very humble, but I also saw his cocky and prideful side come out too. Chris is a fighter and he will openly defend himself. He spoke of a disagreement with Norman Stadler and how he wouldn't tolerate Stadler bad mouthing him. I felt touched when he spoke about his best friend dying when he was partying and fell out the window of a hotel room. Chris has been labeled as a "party boy" too, but he has settled down and is married and has two adorable daughters. I loved hearing Macca's life story and was so glad I got to meet him. I thought he would speak a bit more about inspiring others to be successful at doing triathlons. I would have liked to have heard more training advice and recommendations. After the event, Courtney and I went to my favorite restaurant in San Jose, The Sonoma Chicken Coop. The food was so delicious. I still think about this ranch calzone I had there; it was one of the best things I've ever eaten!

P.S. Chris went on the win the 2010 Ironman World Championship in Kona. I loved watching the race on the internet and then again on the NBC coverage months later. Chris was neck and neck with Andreas Ralert from Germany with less than three miles left of the 140.6 mile race. It was the closest race in the history of the Ironman Championship - even closer than the Ironwar between Mark Allen and Dave Scott in 1989. I loved watching Chris win and since I've met him and heard him speak I knew how much it meant to him. Awesome job, Macca!

Our 16th Anniversary

We celebrated our 16th Anniversary with a trip to Yosemite for two nights (July 8-10). It was just the two of us so it was such a treat. Lloyd and I both love being outdoors and with Yosemite practically being in our backyard we couldn't have picked a better place.
We got around the valley on our mountain bikes. It was a lot more fun than taking the shuttle. The first night we got there we had a beautiful ride at dusk, unfortunately that was the time when all the mosquitoes came out too!
We had a little canvas tent cabin in Curry Village. It wasn't real fancy, but you can't beat the location - right on the valley floor!

Our wedding day was 7-09-94. We thought it was very ironic that our cabin was #7-09. It was meant to be for our anniversary!

My best souvenir was this little towel from the pool. The attendant said I could keep it. I just love it because it's the perfect size for spin class!

The highlight of our trip was floating down the Merced River. It was so peaceful! I loved letting the river pull me along as I enjoyed the gorgeous views of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and all the beauty of Yosemite. Our only complaint was that our river trip was too short - less than an hour of floating and then the river is blocked off. I could have been on that river for hours!
You can see upper Yosemite Falls in the background!

We are so glad we brought our own boat. We didn't want to rent one for such a short trip!

Relaxing by the pool (without any kids) was heavenly!

On our final day of the trip (and Lloyd's birthday) we hiked to the top of upper Yosemite Falls. Here we are at Columbia Rock. The view was breathtaking! Here's Lloyd next to the falls on the way up the trail.
Here's the view of the valley floor once we reached the top of the falls...

...and here's the top of the falls!

Glad to have reached the top - hold on! The foot bridge over the falls was a cute little bridge.

We hiked a bit more to Yosemite Point. A nice man took this photo of us with Half Dome in the background. It was a strenuous hike. First it was all uphill and then, on the way back, it was all downhill. The downhill is actually a lot harder for me. We've done Half Dome the past two years so it was fun to do something different!

After the hike we celebrated Lloyd's birthday at Claim Jumpers, our favorite!

The kids sang "Happy Birthday" to their Dad and enjoyed his favorite birthday cake - an apple pie. We were so grateful to Bryce and Chareen for watching the kids. It was a perfect anniversary and birthday celebration for me and Lloyd.

Conner's Swim Lessons

This was Conner's first year of swimming lessons (June 21-30). It was quite an experience! On the first day he HATED it! He wanted me to hold him and didn't want anything to do with the water. I literally had to sit by the edge of the pool and force him to stay there. I really felt like he was the "problem child" and I got several sympathetic looks from parents! The next day was a little better, but not by much. When the teacher asked all the kids to put their face in the water and blow bubbles, Conner emphatically said, "I NOT blow bubbles!" The swimming lessons were for two weeks and every day he improved a little more and cried a little less. I took all of these photos on his last day. I was so proud of the progress he made. We'll see how next year goes!

He finally agreed to blow bubbles. He was so proud of himself!

His teacher was very patient!

I adore his smile!

He loved grabbing his fish ring!

This took a lot of courage for him!

I love my little swimmer. I think he's a real cutie!

Eclipse

Yes, I did it again! I went to the Midnight Showing on another Twilight movie. The third movie, Eclipse, came out at midnight on June 30. So we headed to the theater late on June 29. It was really crowded with lots of Twilight fans! Katelyn got to come along this year with her friends Brianna and Caslynn. I had fun hanging out with their moms! I think we all agreed this was the best Twilight movie so far (and I didn't hear many complaints about Taylor Lautner having his shirt off for most of the movie). The Twilight midnight showings has become a tradition for me. I guess I'll have to continue it with the fourth and fifth installments!

Serpentarium

On June 26 we took a little field trip to the Serpentarium in Stockton which is a living reptile museum. We got to see tons of reptiles - snakes, turtles, lizards, iguanas, etc. We also saw several insects, frogs, and snake eggs about to hatch. The highlight of our trip was seeing a live feeding - it was truly amazing to see how quickly the live mouse was snatched up by the reptile!

All of us, except for Conner thought the animals were pretty interesting. It is amazing how many different creatures there are here on earth!Cameron

Kylie

Kristi Lloyd

and Conner not looking too thrilled!

We were glad we could shared this fun trip with the Haslem, Lees, Boyds, and Counters!