Olympic Trials Omaha - June 2008

On the airplane headed to Omaha, Nebraska

When we landed they sent us immediately into a tornado shelter due to severe thunderstorms and high winds. We were a little frazzled and confused, but we were just happy to land safely. As we drove to our hotel we could clearly see that the storm did it's damage... the power was out everywhere and trees were up rooted all over town. The 20 min. drive from the airport to our hotel took us 3 1/2 hours due to detours, whole trees blocking the road, you name it! We sure felt bad for the people of Omaha - what a mess and it caused a lot of damage to their homes and property...

Good luck at Trials NICK!!! Nick and Spencer overlooking the Omaha Pool. What an awesome place. Nick had a wonderful time swimming there. You could feel the excitement in the air from all the athletes and fans. Nick had two wonderful swims - they weren't his best times, but he said he loved swimming with all the hype and competition. He liked it so much he did a time trial just to swim one more time before throwing in the towel.

WE LOVE YOU NICK - YOU'LL ALWAYS BE OUR HERO!!

Spencer is getting close to Walking...

Let's back things up a bit...

Derek, Kristi, Nick and Jen

Nick graduated from BYU in the MAcc program - Kristi graduated from the business school.

Congratulations you two :o)

Jen and Nick celebrated graduation and their birthdays! What a fun week!

Spencer's first pony ride! We loved it... he was a little freaked out.

We joined Zach, Andrea, and Annistyn at the petting zoo. The little guys thought this was really fun. Spencer was having a great time until we had him feed a goat - that was scary!

Derek and Kristi got married on May 16, 2008! They didn't ride off on his motorcycle, but I'm sure they wished they could - too much luggage I guess :o)

Spencer looking dang cute sitting in the sink...

Nick did the Splash-n-Dash at BYU. Not to brag but...he took 1st place in the standard division. When he jumped out of the pool the guy sitting next to me was astonished. (Who said swimmers have the advantage?!!)

Almost Cafe' Rio...

It only took Nick and I six hours of preparation and cooking... but by 9:00 p.m. we had a delicious meal. Next time I suggest just going out to eat. It's faster!!! Costs less!! and you don't have to eat the leftovers for a week! (But boy did it taste great)

Spencer learned to drink from a straw :o) Yipee, eating out just got easier.

Washington swim trip!

Nick swam the 200 Breaststroke on Thursday and the 100 on Saturday. This was a perfect practice meet for him. He hasn't had an opportunity to swim much in a meter pool - the college season is all short course and so his competitions have been in yards. Things went great... he did awesome in both swims, and was happy with his times. He made finals in both, so he was able to swim both morning and night races. Don't get me wrong - there is still more time to drop before trials in June, but things are looking good. This is exciting!!

Nick and Spencer outside the pool. The pool was in Federal Way Washington just a little south of Seattle. It was a beautiful town - mostly overcast and really foggy in the mornings. It was a breathtaking view :o) Nick and the guys being escorted out for Finals Saturday night.

Yeah - Daddy got a medal for swimming so well in the 100 Breaststroke! I think he should get one of these every time. This is the best thing I've had to play with all week!

What?! Super Fan sleeping during the race... this is hypocrisy! Doesn't he know that the race is usually under a couple of minutes. If you blink the whole thing is over. (Maybe the other 50 some odd races he waited through to watch daddy wore him out?! - ya think)

Trip into Seattle

Nick, Spencer and I spent all day Friday, between swim days, touring Seattle. This was my first time there. I was fascinated by the city...and a little freaked out. Big cities, people hanging out on the streets all day, ghetto looking buildings ready to crumble, funny smells and people shouting - I was constantly looking over my shoulder and holding tight to my purse, and Nick for that matter! Over all though, we were perfectly safe and had fun walking up and down Pike Place (the street fish market etc.) eating seafood, and collecting souvenir items.

This totem pole just happened to remind me of "FORKS" If only I had realized where it was on the map! I would have insisted that Nick drive us out there - simply for the nostalgia of having read the books!

Spencer gets plain old mush - we got delicious fish tacos!

You too can be a big pig! Check out the size of that doughnut!

Nick standing next to a painting of the worlds tallest man. And no we didn't pay the 50 cents to peek into the window and see his ACTUAL shoe.

Hands Down This was a Lot of Fun!

We went to Color Me Mine this weekend (a pottery store where you pick out the item and then paint it how you’d like) It was rather entertaining. The whole point was to get Spencer’s hand and feet prints before he was a year old. I meant to get this project done at his half year mark, but 8 months will do. Spencer loved the paint and had fun curing his fingers, too bad for mom – she needed a flat hand to get the finger prints!

Nick's Swim Meet here in Utah

Nick did great at the swim meet…for fun he swam in quite a few different events. He was in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, 200 Individual Medley, 100 freestyle, 200 Medley Relay and the 400 Medley Relay. Nick and the 3 guys he swam with, on the 200 Medley Relay, were trying for the Utah State Record. I am pleases to announce that they did beat the old state time, and they now hold the Utah State Record for that event. There time was a 1:38.97 (for those non-swimmers that is read 1 minute 38 seconds and 97 hundredths)

The Roberts family came down for the weekend and enjoyed watching Nick swim. We spent most of our time at the meet, going over wedding plans with Kristi and Derek, and eating good food!

Happy Valentine's Day

Nick surprised me on Wednesday and took me out to dinner up at Sundance! We spent our first Valentine's Day there three years ago. We had a wonderful time. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was perfect - quite, cozy, and romantic :o) I loved it! What a perfect date!


Spencer and I spent the afternoon decorating sugar cookies. I went to town on my creativity! Really I had too much frosting, and I just kept adding more :o) They were yummy!

Spencer is Growing Too Fast!

Spencer started crawling last Sunday, and
he’s now getting pretty quick! He sure likes
the freedom of going where ever he chooses.

If crawling isn’t enough – he’s now pulling
himself up to a standing position. Here come
the bumps and bruises.

Spencer loves to play with his Daddy! They are always having a good time :o)

Did we Blink or What?

This was Sunday the 3rd of February - the first day that Spencer crawled.

By the way, I was on the phone at the time
and had no idea that Nick was recording.
Please disregard all the background chatter.