Triathlon!

I did a triathlon yesterday. It was awesome! Powertri sanctioned it and it was at our facility, so I didn't have drive anywhere far this time! I really don't know why I get such a thrill out of these races, but they are a blast to do! Thanks to my cousin Peter and to Natalie, I was able to have a few pictures of my race yesterday. It was a very chilly morning getting ready to jump in for the swim. My feet went numb against the cold cement. Once I dove in the pool, however, I stopped noticing the cold. The bike course also heated me up. I would have to say that 80% of the bike course was spent going uphill. It was a killer ride, but I loved it! My mom is really starting to get into triathlon's with me. She's been working on her tri lingo, and I think she's got it down now. :) Anyways, here are some pictures from my race yesterday. Can't wait to race another one! Jumping out of the pool and starting my run to the transition area to get on my bike. This transition run was quite a long one.
This is me running towards the finish line. The run ended inside the Olympic Oval.

Starting the run after the bike.

Starting the run.

Me coming into the transition area after the bike course, and transitioning to the run.

Cole Steven Wilson

Cole Steven Wilson was born April 20th, at 8:15pm. He is my sister Maddie, and brother-in-law Ben's baby and he is the cutest baby ever! He is my first nephew and I love him so much! We finally got to go see baby Cole tonight for the first time. Here are the pictures. My dad is now a grandpa. He's old. And he is so excited to finally have his boy scout!
My mom is the proudest new grandma ever! You can tell by this picture that she loves little Cole and is so proud of Maddie and Ben.

Baby Cole Wilson! You can tell he is definately a wilson! He's adorable!

I love my nephew! I'm so happy for Maddie and Ben! What an amazing experience this has been and will be for them.

Maddie is one proud new mom! She loves her baby boy more than words could ever express. I love this picture.

Maddie is going to hate my for putting this picture on my blog, but I think it is way cute and really a precious moment. Ben is a great dad allerady. He does not let little Cole get out of his sight. What a cute family these three are.

I love you Cole!

Weekly Adventures

I love this week! The weather has been awesome! Monday it rained like crazy. I LOVE rain! Then, the sun came out and the temperature became warmer. I've been playing outside all week! I love walking on campus in the spring. All the trees are blossoming and students finally look happy to be alive. I look forward to my one-mile walk to get to class now, and the mile walk back to my car. I could do it every day! I've also been playing outside with my work-outs and it has been AWESOME! I am also very excited right now because I finally was able to get all registered for my triathlon that I'm doing next week. Below are some pictures from my weekly work-out adventures of this past week. I was soaked on Monday after running through the rainstorm! It was the coolest run I've ever done!
I tried to get the full effect of my rainsoaked clothes. This picture doesn't really do any justice to how wet I got.

I finally got my bike up and running and road out to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. What a beautiful temple and what a great location looking out over the valley.

Looking out over the valley from the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

Re-thinking Life

My women's health class at school has kind of been depressing me these past couple of weeks. The topics we have been discussing related to women's health have been very sad topics. I have this class on Tuesday nights, which means that's where I was tonight. Tonight we were discussing cancer. My professor gears each topic towards women. However, the entire class session tonight, the only person on my mind was my Grandpa Stapley who passed away last fall from leukemia. At the beginning of class, I thought I would only get depressed due to our family's recent experience with cancer. But as my professor lectured, she said some things about cancer that I have never thought much of before. One thing that she said about cancer is that it does not matter if you are the cancer patient or if the cancer patient is a loved one of yours, you learn things going through the cancer and cancer treatment process that you could never learn otherwise. This statement really hit me, and caused me to rethink what my family went through last fall with my grandpa. Something I realized tonight that I never really realized before is how brave my grandpa was through his cancer. I never once saw fear from him. He did everything the doctors asked him to do, no complaining, and no questions asked. He never feared his cancer. In my eyes, he never let his cancer win, because he fought it the entire time. I realized from this that there really is no reason to fear in life. The Lord has a plan for each of us. Yes, bad things happen sometimes, but we always have to learn that we are in the Lord's hand and whatever way life takes us is where the Lord knows we need to be. I think that is why my grandpa was so brave - he knew this was the Lord's plan for him. The Lord's plan was not for my grandpa to survive the cancer. The Lord's plan was to call my grandpa back home to him. I truly believe that my grandpa knew the entire process of his cancer, that he needed to go back to Heavenly Father and do a different kind of very important work. I never knew a class at school could cause me to think this deeply about the subject. Usually I go to class, learn what the professor wants me to learn, and leave. I had a completely different experience tonight. I'm really greatful for my professor's comments tonight. It was good for me to let something I try so hard to not think about come back into my thoughts. My Grandpa Stapley is one of the most AMAZING people I have ever met. I'm so glad I am his granddaughter.