Winter Wonderland

Praise the Lord for sisters!! Seriously I have the 2 best sisters in the entire world. They are my best friends and I love them. I took Noah and Adrienne down early to Portland to Visit Shelly, Jared and Maggie Jane. I dont' think we could have fit more into the weekend. Lets see a Bakery a day, Zoolights, Shopping, a Christmas train ride with Santa, swimming, and well a Cross race. It was the best weekend ever. Most of all spending time with family. Noah is still talking about his Maggie Jane and Kris and I are still cleaning all the mud off of our bikes and selves. Adrienne is turning out to be a good little traveler and putting up with the craziness of her family. She is my little sweetheart! I am dreading heading back to work next week. I guess it is the way things go though. I am so blessed to have a wonderful nanny for them, it makes it easier. I will miss my time with them. Well till next time.

Halloween 2008

A Sleeping Pumpkin and the Fire breathing Dragon.

Racing again...

Well I am back racing again, this time racing myself into shape though. You got to start somewhere I suppose. I raced the INWCX race at Riverside. It was hard.... ok, brutal being only 4 1/2 weeks post baby. I enjoyed every minute of the race though. My HR hit 193, which I didn't know it could still do. I guess being out of the race scene for 10 months can have really good effects on your desire to race. I have been pretty excited to get back out there. Can't wait to do another one. Adrienne will be 5 weeks tomorrow. I can't believe how much she has changed. She has become a lot fussier, but mainly a lot more cute. She is a doll and puts up with her big brother wanting to give her kisses all the time pretty well. He is handling the big change pretty well. He dressed up as a dragon for halloween and got to go trick or treating. He thought it was pretty cool. I think he said it was awsome actually. He is a load of fun. Not much else going on, I will try and post more photos.

Noahs first bike races

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Noah's first bike race was a typical fall day. It had been raining and windy all day, we asked if he wanted to ride or stay home. Of course he wanted to ride. Mind you the only time Noah had ridden his bike was in the house. We had taken him outside many times, but he didn't want to ride. We weren't sure how it was going to go over. We got there and he was sure and steady, very serious. He did it though and was smiling ear to ear. So we decided to take him to the next kids fun race. It was a beautiful day and Noah was so excited. He did much better this time and didn't have to have Dad help as much. Now he loves to ride around the block with us. I am so excited this motivated him to ride a little. He is such a little stud.

3 Weeks... I can't believe it

I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since Adri was born. Time flies. She is already putting on some chub, which is just so cute. I have been having a blast staying home with Noah and Adrienne. I could really do this stay at home mom thing. Well I would race bikes I supose and maybe get an early bird job as Starbucks. Sounds like the life!!! Noah is still doing great with his little sis. Yesterday Noah and I made bat wings. He thought this was really cool.

Here is Noah being silly with his newly made bat wings. Well I started riding so I a super excited about that. I feel good, not fast, just good. It has been so awsome to get outside and ride. I had been on the trainer almost the entire last month of my pregnancy because I didn't want risk anything. I am really excited to get back into racing and well get back into shape. So I will have to wait and see how next season goes.

Baby Adrienne is Here

Adrienne Novalee Holden

Born Sept 30, 2008

3:15 pm

7 lbs 15 oz

21 inches long

Well after 9 months of waiting she is finally here. I was due Sept 26 but had set a date to be induced Sept 30th because my doctor didn't want her getting to big. Noah wasn't very big but was posterior and didn't want to come out. So with 2 1/2 hours of pushing, forceps, and finally a vaccum we got him out. So my doc wanted to try and avoid that. Well my due date came and went so I just planned on heading in on the 30th. So we did. They got everything started and broke my water that morning, and well I was pushing by 1 pm. Problem was that Adrienne was posterior also, so no matter how hard or what position I pushed in, she didn't want come out. So just before 2 hours we got my doc and with my history she just decided to use the vaccum and that helped and she was out about 15 minutes later. So now we have a beautiful baby girl. Noah is so excited to have a baby sis and well we are just so happy to finally have her here.

A few Pictures

Greenbluff Cherry Picker Trot 2008

Noah killing me on the walk/run.

The larger side of life...

Well.....I have been absolutely terrible about posting. I guess I have been busy. I can hardly believe I am 27 weeks pregnant now. My belly is starting to look like I stuffed a ball under my shirt. He He He. It is all fun though. Noah is so excited to have a little sister. I love the way little ones think. Noah is 3 now and when we had the ultrasound 2 months ago, he thought the baby should come out of the ultrasound wand. Now there is a thought!!!! Wouldn't that be awsome if that little wand could just pull the baby right out. Sweet, no labor. I would be game for a few more kiddo's. Besides that I have been able to mountain bike still which I am so entirely thankful for. I might loose my sainity otherwise. Noah and I do a lot of hiking too. He loves being out on the trails. Last week we found an eagles nest and it actually had eaglettes in it. The crazy thing is Noah has a stuffed baby eaglette at home that makes noises. It sounds just like the real thing, he thought it was cool We are pretty lucky up here in the Northwest!!! Kris has been busy training for this, that, and the other. I think he might have gone roadie on me. I mean he trains on his mountain bike but keeps entering these road stage races and kicking his own arse. 'Till next time.....

California 2008

So we just got back from California. We headed down so that Kris could do the Sea Otter Classic. Kris did both the Short Track and Cross country. He had some good races, his stomach was a little messed up all weekend. During the cross country he had to make a pit stop, which is never a good thing in a Pro race, but he finished. The weather was something fierce, between wind and clouds, it wasn't warm. I am currently 17 weeks pregnant... so not really racing this year. Noah and I had a lot of fun watching and cheering for Dad, although he was really just wanting to play on the jumping castle that was down in the mix of all the vendors and tents. Now he thinks he needs one for his birthday. Can't beat that smile though. Besides racing we got to do a lot of things while we were there.

We went to the aquarium in Monterey which was pretty amazing. I think we all loved it. Noah thinks hammerhead sharks are pretty cool. He had fun touching the star fish and watching Dad touch a sting ray. We spent a lot of time on the beach, it was cold, but Noah just loves the sand. We hiked around on the rocks, which any 2 1/2 year old boy would love. Kris and Noah even tested out the water. Noah wasn't to excited about swimming after putting his feet in, it was freezing cold.

We spent some time with Kris's Aunt Karen and Uncle Frank who we haven't seen in quite some time. It was fun. Karen made an amazing post race meal for us spaghetti and meatballs, both turkey and/or beef. It was really good to see them again. We made it home Monday afternoon to more nasty weather and snow. Yes.... Snow at the end of April, what is wrong with Spokane. I suppose I won't be complaining about the cold in August when it hits 100 degrees. This is why we love it here.

Happy Easter

Well we had a wonderful Easter. Noah and I had fun Saturday doing crafts and then when Dad got home we decided to color eggs. Which wasn't all that much fun with a 2 1/2 year old. We all kind of had green and red fingers after wards. Here is Noah's art work. I had to cut and paste a few things but, he did most of it and did a good job. Well Easter came and with that meant the Easter bunny came. Noah thought this was pretty cool. After the morning we took Grandma Esther to church and to brunch at Ripples. It was pretty special. She watched Noah so we could get in our Easter MTB ride. And well we then had our second huge meal of the day at Nana and Papa's.

Now for what to do with all that ham that is left over. Actually I don't eat much meat but I actually like honey glazed ham. You got me on that, I am not sure what but I do. So here it is

Fried Rice with Ham and Peas

3 TBS oyster sauce

2 TBS soy sauce

3 TBS vegetable (peanut) oil

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 pound of baked ham, cubed

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups rice (cooked)

1 1/2 cups bean sprouts

1. Combine oyster and soy sauces in small bowl; set aside. Heat 1 1/2 tsp of oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add eggs and cook to make scrambled eggs. Then transfer eggs to small bowl.

2. Increase heat to high and heat remaining 2 1/2 tsp oil until hot. Add peas and ham and cook. Stir in garlic and gradually add rice and oyster sauce mix until heated. Add eggs and bean sprouts cook, stir consistently, until heated through. Then serve.

Then eat up...

So this was my night the other night. I had just I had gotten Noah to sleep( I thought), so I headed downstairs to do a little trainer time. I was chatting on the phone while riding and well didn't check on Noah for about 45 minutes. Usually if he gets up he comes and gets me. So I finally wandered upstairs to make a double check and well his light was on. I cracked open the door and saw this. I had to quickly close the door because I started laughing so hard. Noah had changed his diaper and decided he needed some lotion. So on the ground there were 2 tubes of lotion and well 2 tubes of diaper cream. He had covered himself and the diaper cream is think and white as you can see. So Noah had become half ghost. I had just boughtBurts Bees diaper cream (which isn't cheap) and well it is pretty fragrant when used in masive quatities. He smelled like a rosemary bush. I told him he smelled pretty good and maybe I would got night night with him. So I got him cleaned up and we went and layed in bed. Right before he fell asleep he says to me. "Mama, Nanu made big mess all by himself!!" He was pretty proud of getting himself all lotioned up. It was pretty darn cute. You just can't get upset with that. He is such a little bundle of fun and suprises.

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN DREAMING ABOUT.

Mt. Spokane in the summer. I found these old pictures in my computer. It was an epic day riding treacherous trees. Kris and I's favorite trail. Mind you it is even more fun to ride up and see how few times you can have to put a foot down. Kris is the man when it comes to that. Well the snow finally melted enough that we could get outside to ride this week. We still have about 12 inches in our yard but the roads are clear.

Actually it has been very pretty here. Sunny and cold. We took Noah up skiing a few more times. The last time there was a ton of powder and well the boys were skiing and I was snowboarding, of course. Gotta love the powder !!! Well Noah got tired of skiing so he hopped on my snowboard with me. It was pretty cool. He just stood up on the inside of my step and we had a blast heading down the mountain. He thought is was pretty cool. He now thinks he needs a Snowboard. Could you imagine a 2 1/2 year old on a board. It would be pretty funny. We had a blast though. Besides that we have been working hard and well riding the trainer way too much. 'Til next time......

I think even Mother nature is sick. We got 14 inchs of snow from Saturday to Sunday(current total of 19inches in my yard), with another 12-16 expected. Not sure what this is about but I do know my car is barely making in around. We haven't seen a winter like this since the 80's. The plow doesn't come on my street I don't think we exist on the Spokane map. I was fed up with winter and I actually rode the bus this morning, the only person jealous of that was Noah. He loves the bus. I went XC skiing with Erika on Sunday which was fun. She totally kicked my butt. I guess my backcountry skiis out of the 80's don't do the job on the groomed stuff. We would get to the top of a hill and I would actually have to work to go down and she sailed away. It was still fun. I managed to fit a little run in with my big sis which was awsome. She hasn't asked me to run with her in a really long time so I was excited. I actually kind of miss running and am planning another marathon when it can fit into my MTB schedule. We are both putting in our great base miles for the year, it is always fun spinning on a trainer most every night. Kris has been training quit a bit. He is getting for a rip roaring season. Not sure yet what he is focusing on probably MTB and some road stage races. We have this pull up competition, in which when we started I could hardly do 1. The goal is to do more then 1/2 what Kris and and I win. Wel I am up to 2 sets of 7. Pretty close to kicking is rear. Yippie.

So I am on day 10 of this horrible cold I got, now it is in my lung and I sound like I have been smoking for years. It is kind of funny. Well I just hope I get better soon. I am kind of tired of being tired. Till next time.....

Nanu's Winter Adventure

Noah calls himself Nanu, I can't remember what is means, but I think little one. I will have to look it up. Anyways he has called himself that since he was about 1 1/2 y.o. Silly Kid.

Spokane has been blessed with a crazy amount of snow this year. Although it keeps melting and about a week later a storm blows in and we have more. We live high enough above town we don't seem to loose as much and the stupid plows haven't figures out that there are people living on my street so they don't plow. My little VW Passat has been rubbing her belly for nearly two weeks now. I might complain a little, but we do love snow. I think I could actually live in Alaska. I would miss summer but maybe later in life we could move to Arizona or something. Actually I love it where I am. We have 4 distinct seasons and more mountain bike trails from our door step than we could find anywhere else. We have been snow shoeing just on the back side of where we live, as you can see I am the pack horse ( notice no little boy in back pack), so not too heavy of a load..... he was running around. I have been trying to teach him to ski, he is 2 1/2 and well he just likes to go fast ( kind of like Mom and Dad). Only problem is he hasn't totally figured

out how to slow down. It is fun either way, I really miss some of the things Kris and I use to do before mountain biking became such a priority. I had the joy of Snow boarding for the 2nd time in 3 years. It was a blast the only thing I forgot was where my edges were so I crashed a few times. It was a blast. Here is a picture of our snow pile, it finally covered up the lamp out front. Crazy year. It melted enough to clear up the roads so on Sunday Kris, Vinny, Tony and I went for an icy cross ride. It was fun. I actually made it 3 hours with them. I was stoked. I also am able to run again which is so awsome. It has been 16 weeks since I have been able to run so I am pretty excited about that. Happy trails and slopes!!!!!