Time in the Saddle

Well, Bill has finally made some decisions :)  ....Just joking, but we really have been seriously pondering and praying about this summer.  So much time!  So many choices!  Do you feel sorry for us yet?

So, one thing we know that WILL COME TO BE.  It's settled, it's bought, it's nailed down.....

July.  Bill's 40th b-day.  Bastille Day.  France.  Tour de France.  Us!

Yep.  We'll be there.

So, the plan is we are going on a guided Tour de France vacation.  We (by "we" I mean mostly Bill, but possibly me if I can get my big bum up the hills) will be riding.. on our bikes... some of the most famous tour de France routes.  The Alpe d' Huez, Pyrenees, and other formidable climbs.  (Someone please help me!!)

So, we have been working the past three weeks, and will be working for the next 3 months, on getting our tired, old middle-aged bodies ready for this.

I have ridden EVERY day, 6 days a week, for the past little while.  It hurts.  Hills suck.  BUT, I am getting better every time and I can definitely feel the improvement every time I go out.  We are beating our times consistently each ride. (It's not hard to beat some of my first rides that were at at a granny pace).

Last Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL sunny day.  One of the very few, very rare ones that we've seen in these parts during the spring.  The boys were conveniently at a scout camp over the weekend, so Bill and I took full advantage of the gorgeous day and the lack of responsibility, and went out for an amazing ride.

Bill took me on one of his favorite routes to Snohomish.  It was a gorgeous ride through farmland, rolling hills and plenty of manure smell.  The odor aside, it was one of the best rides ever.  There were a few challenging hills, and a few places where I had to really push to keep up with Bill, but for the most part, a very good ride.  Challenging, but not killer.  It was about 35 miles and a little over 2 hours in the saddle.

We stopped in Snohomish for lunch at the same cute little bakery that mom, Deb and I ate at while they were visiting.  Bill liked it, too!  Then it was back on the bikes for a ride home through the farmlands of Monroe.

We should have taken pictures, but alas, I'm not that good at thinking ahead for blog worthy moments.  I'll work on getting better at that!

I'll just put an old picture of us when we were riding through part of that same area.  You'll never know the difference.  All our bike riding photos look the same, anyway.

So....so sum up this blog post.  There will be much bike riding in my immediate future.  Wish me luck.

Ethan's Ordination

I guess it's time to write about Ethan turning 12 and receiving the Priesthood now since it's only two months behind us now.  That seems to be my style.

He had a fun birthday!  I usually make a big elaborate cake for the kids birthdays, but I'm kind of over it.  I just couldn't bring myself to make one more star wars/ lego cake.  I've done Yoda, two clones, a space ship, busses, cars, trucks, fish, boats, etc, etc.  I just didn't have it in me this year, so I convinced Ethan that he should choose taste over design this year.  Here is what we came up with:

He was happy and so was I!!

We ended up choosing the Sunday on February 26th to do his ordination.  I was so happy that we could have family with us to show support of Ethan.  Grandpa Staples came and so did Grandma and Grandpa Fotheringham.  We were even lucky enough to get Debra along with mom and dad! It was so nice to have them all here, and I know it made Ethan feel really special.  I was especially happy to have dad here as he is having a hard time getting around lately and I'm sure the trip was rough and probably painful for him.  It meant a lot to me.

Some of my favorite memories were of Grandpa Staples taking Ethan up to his room and having a one on one chat with him about what it means to be a priesthood holder.  Ethan thought that was very cool and told me all about it after.  Grandpa even brought along a paper that showed Ethan his line of authority all the was back to Christ.  That will be a treasured keepsake for him, I'm sure.

Another wonderful moment was when we were all in the bishop's office to ordain him.  It was rather strange, but kind of nice.  Our bishop was out of town that week, so Bill, being the first councilor, was in charge.  So it was different that the only people taking part in the ordination that day in the bishops office were family!  It was a very nice blessing and the spirit was very strong.

Here are some cute pictures of Ethan on that special day!

He looks so handsome in his new suit and how tie that matches his big beautiful eyes ;)

We are so happy that Ethan made this big decision in his life and has lived in a way that he is able to be a worthy priesthood holder.  He is already enjoying all the new responsibilities that being a decon affords him.  He loves passing the sacrament, especially the day he got to be the one who passed it to the people on the stand. (Dad is up there, you know).  He has had the opportunity to do fast offerings and tonight will be his first temple trip to do baptisms for the dead.  He has been talking about it for weeks!  He is a very special young man and we are do glad to have him in our family!