Team Firestorm

This Saturday i particapated in the first

Team Firestorm Ben Jacobsen Memorial Ride

 

We rode up Emigration Canyon. It was my first ride up the canyon and my first ride on my bike this year. It was an amazing experience for many reasons. Ben Jacobsen passed away about 6 months ago when he lost his battle with Melanoma. Because of him i went and got my funny mole checked and was able to catch my Melanoma early. I feel very indebted to him and his family, so this ride meant a lot to me. There were a lot of people who showed up to support his family and remember Ben. He was an amazing cyclist and that is how he and Russ got to be better friends.  

When i got to the top i was proud of myself, but also felt very grateful for Ben and his sacrifice. One of my friends from my neighborhood was at the top as well and said, "this was my first ride with Ben." It was mine as well and i could feel his encouraging spirit when it was getting hard.  

His wife Allison is one of the most amazing people i have ever met and she is as solid as a rock! Her example of perseverance and putting on a Happy face will be with me always.  I will be coming back every year to this event to celebrate Ben's life and example. It also happened to be his birthday. It was very touching and emotional when everyone began singing Happy Birthday right before the ride started. 

This is Russ, me and Allison Jacobsen after the ride! Thanks Allison!

I want to say thanks to Russ for making sure i was ok during the ride and encouraging me to make it to the top, love you babe and loved riding with you! (you better watch out come tri time, i am gonna kick your butt!) I also want to thank my dad for watching the kids so Russ and I could ride together.

thoughts

This is an excerpt from my Journal, i think it was worth sharing.

So the other day i was brushing my teeth or some random task and a thought came to me. You know when you have a thought just come to you and it makes you want to change your life right then and there, and then you spit out your toothpaste and go on with life and nothing changes? Well this time i really wanted to change.

My thought was about Halle, and how that little girl loves me so much, oh so much. She almost started crying when i told her i was going to dinner with friends and wouldn't be able to put her to bed. I thought about how soon she won't be the one vying for attention, I will. I will want her to play with me, talk to me, sing, dance with me and oh how sad it will make me that she will want nothing to do with me. What have i been thinking or doing? Just today she wanted me to come outside and play with her and what did i do? i told her no, i need to fold the laundry . . . oh my goodness Lacey, really??? the laundry, that was more important then seizing the opportunity to go play with my 3 year old daughter? And that was just one incident. There have been so many more and it is breaking my heart just thinking about it. I basically told my baby that i would rather do laundry than play go play with her, how heartbreaking. Yet, she still loves me more than anything. Oh how ashamed i am. I needs a serious adjustment in my priorities, laundry . . . honsetly.

I love my kiddies more that anything and will try to make our time together more fun, enchanting, magical, happy, lovely, imaginative and joyful. Tomorrow is a new day.

Valentines Day and other Random Photos

For Valentines we went to my sister Lisa's and decorated cookies and played games, it was great!

Pudding Faces!!! We made chocolate pudding and the kids loved it, obviously! I wasn't loving the mess however.

Random pictures of my Miller! Pretty much the cutest thing ever!

Disney on Ice! Halle was a little hesitant to go to Disney on Ice, she didn't have any idea how AWESOME  it was going to be. When we left she was so worried about where Donald Duck was going to do? Where he would sleep and where Pluto would stay. It was so fun to see the excitement on her face. She was especially excited about her Swedish fish as you can see in the pictures.

Playing at the park. Since it has been warmer Halle has been begging me to go to the park. It is funny how when Halle was Miller's age i was up on the payground making sure her hand was held the entire time so she wouldn't fall. But with Miller, i just let him play.